Ordinary observers in fast time travel

"It smells so good!" Landlord Uncle Zhou and several neighbors, with biscuits in their mouths, hurriedly gave Shi Jia a thumbs up.

"Little Sun, draw me another cake," a neighbor said.

Shi Jia turned pale and was about to refuse.

"Little Sun, when are you planning to open a pie shop?" Uncle Zhou asked, enjoying a pie. "I think tomorrow would be a good idea. I happen to have a shop along the street that I haven't rented out yet. I'll give you a discount, Uncle Zhou."

Shi Jia quickly waved her hand, "Uncle Zhou, no need, I don't plan to open a shop for the time being."

"Not planning to open a shop?" Uncle Zhou frowned, somewhat displeased, but didn't show it on his face.

“Yes, my first priority as an artist is to stabilize my cultivation level. Tomorrow I plan to go to the Black Zone to hunt down turbid beasts and obtain crystals.” After saying this, Shi Jia looked at the person who had asked him to make empty promises, “Sorry, I’ve already exhausted my energy.”

The man immediately looked down and glanced at him sideways. "Oh, you really need to work on your skills. That painter who sells steamed buns up ahead can paint two hundred steamed buns in a morning. You've only painted a few pancakes so far."

"Old Liu, what are you saying! Young Sun is trying to be nice to us by promising us something, and you're still criticizing him. Aren't you heartless?" The others quickly condemned the man.

Shi Jia wasn't very happy at first, but after hearing what his neighbors said, he felt much better. He was willing to come and make empty promises to everyone for two reasons: first, to announce his identity as an artist, and second, because of the kind invitation from his landlord, Uncle Zhou. He only came to give his landlord face.

"Little Sun, no, I mean, Painter Sun, please don't mind him. Old Liu just has a foul mouth." The neighbors gave Shi Jia a friendly smile.

Shi Jia shook his head, "I'm fine, thank you all for your concern. Uncle Zhou, it's getting late, I'll head back now. I'll come back to talk to the neighbors about it another day after I've stabilized my level."

"Oh, Little Sun, Artist Sun, you're leaving already? Don't! Stop making empty promises and sit down and chat with us! We still don't know how an artist awakened!"

"Ahem!" Landlord Uncle Zhou interrupted everyone, turned to look at Shi Jia, his expression unreadable, and said, "Little Sun, the Black Zone is dangerous. It might be dangerous for a physical artist like you to go out there. If you're short of crystals, Uncle Zhou can lend you some money to buy some."

“There’s absolutely no need to go out and take risks. Do you know that although there’s only a wall separating us, the Black Zone and our Red Zone are worlds apart? Not to mention the turbid beasts, the turbid air in the Black Zone alone is enough to make a person drink a whole pot of it…” Uncle Zhou advised worriedly.

"Uncle Zhou, don't worry, I'm not going out alone. I just contacted the captain of a hunting team. He's agreed to come with me." Shi Jia was touched. This was the first time since coming to this world that someone had cared about her like this.

I need to buy crystals, but going to the Black Zone is also a must.

"The hunting team? You know people from the hunting team?" Uncle Zhou asked in surprise, his eyes subtly scrutinizing Shi Jia. The others also looked on with curiosity.

"Yes, we met last time. Back then, I was penniless, so I went to a hunting party as a last resort. I didn't expect to find such a good hunting party and even had a good haul."

Wang Quan was indeed quite good. After Shi Jia left Madam Lan Xin and the others, he contacted Wang Quan, who immediately transferred his full payment and gave him a thousand yuan in compensation.

"Hiss~ You're really bold." Uncle Zhou said, half in shock. "In that case, I won't try to persuade you. But even if you have a hunting team with you, you still need to be careful."

"Yes, thank you, Uncle Zhou. I'll be careful."

After watching Shi Jia leave, everyone turned to look at the landlord, Uncle Zhou.
"Brother Zhou, this kid doesn't seem so easy to control."

"Yes, and I think this kid's talent is really limited. Do you see that paintbrush? It's dusty and full of cracks."

"Brother Zhou, why don't we give up on this kid and find someone else?"

Uncle Zhou shook his head. "I've inquired. Apart from Sun Yu, everyone else who awakened this time has someone behind them. This kid has no parents and no power behind him, so he's our only choice."

"That hunting team..." Uncle Zhou pondered for two seconds, "Xiao Sun has only cooperated with this hunting team once. Even if Xiao Sun has become an artist now, the hunting team probably wouldn't even look at him."

"Besides, you just ate the pie in the sky he promised. What do you think?" Uncle Zhou said, his eyes lighting up.

"The pancake from earlier? It was delicious!" "It really was delicious. I think it's much better than Lao Bai's steamed buns."

"Pshaw, steamed buns and pancakes are not the same thing, what's the point of comparing them!"

"Why can't we compare? The pancakes drawn by Xiao Sun taste better than the steamed buns drawn by Lao Bai!" The two started arguing like that.

Uncle Zhou frowned. "Alright, stop arguing."

The previously noisy crowd immediately fell silent, watching Uncle Zhou quietly.

He took a deep breath. "Judging from your expressions, you were only focused on tasting it, weren't you? Didn't you notice that the spiritual energy in the pie was much greater than that in the bun? Didn't you feel a little lighter?"

Everyone looked confused. "Really?"

Uncle Zhou sighed, "Forget it! What's the point of talking to a bunch of people with moderate levels of turbid qi in their bodies?"
Meanwhile, Shi Jia left the residential area and headed straight for the crystal shop. She had just learned this from Wang Quan.

The Red Zone isn't entirely populated by ordinary people, except for the Hong family, a family of painters who reside there. Due to its proximity to the Black Zone, many spirit painters and spirit martial artists come and go from here.

Of course, in order to disturb the lives of ordinary people, or rather, to prevent ordinary people from disturbing them, the areas where they operate are set up with barriers, and only painters and spirit warriors can enter.

Just like now, Shi Jia walked onto a street he used to pass by often and saw a scene he had never seen before.

At the end of the street, where there used to be a wall, there is now an even longer street, brightly lit and bustling with traffic.

Various strange objects either float in the air or hang on the walls. Each shop has a different shape, some like pumpkins, some like maple leaves, and some like clouds. The unique shapes are dazzling and overwhelming.

Shi Jia stared wide-eyed at everything, from the street to the end, completely absorbed in the experience.

"Young man? First time in the dark alley?" A voice suddenly rang out beside him. Shi Jia was startled and quickly turned around to see a man leaning against an open carriage.

Shi Jia subconsciously took a step back. "Did I bump into you? Sorry!" he said, turning to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute, young man, where are you going? I'll give you a ride, just one red crystal!" the man said hurriedly.

Shi Jia walked even faster. A single red crystal? This is robbery! Even if he did have one, he wouldn't waste his money like this.

But where are the crystal shops?

Shi Jia walked another hundred meters, looked around in confusion, and regretfully realized that she was lost. "That's not right, I definitely didn't turn just now, I kept walking, so why can't I find my way back?"

"Young man, the dark street is dynamic; the shops move every half hour." It was the same man who had pulled the horse-drawn carriage earlier.

Shi Jia suddenly realized, and was even more surprised—the streets were dynamic! "The person who built those dark streets really invested a lot!"

"Investment?" the man asked, puzzled. "Oh, right, it's normal that you don't know since this is your first time here."

"Don't know what?" Shi Jia asked, confused.

"The Dark Street is the embodiment of the artist Lan Chen's work."

"An artwork? A painting?" (End of Chapter)