Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

Upon hearing this, Su Yang and his companions immediately stopped and turned to look at the man. A man dressed in armor and riding a military horse slowly approached them, pointed at Su Yang with his riding whip, and said, "You look unfamiliar. Did you just arrive in Nanwan City recently?"

Su Yang nodded but did not answer. He looked at the man carefully and saw that his appearance matched the image of "thief-like eyes" in Su Yang's mind.

Seeing Su Yang nod, the man chuckled and said, "That makes things easier. According to the city lord's decree, everyone in Nanwan City needs to pay a war preparation fee, including merchants and travelers from outside the city. Since you've just arrived in Nanwan City, you're naturally considered outsiders and need to pay the same war preparation fee."

"What preparation fund?" Lin Anlan asked back.

“There’s a war on the outlying islands, and Nanwan City is the closest. To prevent the war from spreading to the waters near Nanwan City, the city lord must strengthen coastal defenses. Everyone in Nanwan City must contribute to this effort. Alright, everyone pay five gold coins.” Seemingly not wanting Lin Anlan to continue asking questions, the man blurted out the reason in one breath. To prevent Su Yang and the others from resisting, he added, “If you don’t pay, then you’ll have to be treated as a spy for another country and sent to jail.”

Having said that, the soldiers following behind him stepped forward and surrounded the group. Upon seeing this, Die'er immediately flew into a rage: "What war preparation funds? The island war is already over, what's there to prepare for? I think you're just robbing us!"

"How dare you! How dare you discuss war and the city lord's orders! Guards!" Enraged by Die'er's rebuke, the man immediately called for his men, who loudly replied, "Yes, sir!"

Seeing that things were not going well, Su Yang quickly counted out five gold coins and asked Lin Anlan to give them to the soldier. The man had been watching Su Yang's actions, and when he saw that Su Yang only took five gold coins, he angrily said, "I just said five gold coins per person!"

Helpless, Su Yang had to count out another fifteen gold coins and hand them to the soldier. Only then did the man give up and lead the soldier to continue knocking on the closed shops.

Su Yang felt a pang of regret for having inexplicably handed over twenty gold coins, but he decided to consider it money to buy peace of mind. The group went to the restaurant where they had been forced to pay the preparation fee earlier because it was still open. As soon as they sat down, Die'er complained, "Why did you actually pay? You've been put through this for no reason. We could have just beaten them up and left."

"Forget it, just consider it money spent to buy peace of mind," Su Yang said helplessly.

"What do you mean by paying for peace? What if they come back for it tomorrow? What if they don't come tomorrow, but come back the day after with some other excuse? Are you still going to pay them?" Die'er was still angry.

Just then, the restaurant owner, who was taking Su Yang's order, overheard their conversation and asked, "Gentlemen, you've just paid your preparation fee, haven't you?"

"Yes, boss, you just paid too, right?" Lin Anlan answered truthfully.

"Yeah, you bet! They collect a small amount every three days and a big amount every seven days. Besides the war preparation fund, there's also the war preparation tax, the supplies tax, and the land defense fund—there are so many names for it, it's really making our lives miserable." The shopkeeper complained when Lin Anlan asked the question, then seemed to remember something and added:

"If you don't hand it over, we'll arrest you, put you in jail, torture you, and then release you. If you don't hand it over, you'll suffer physical pain."

"Are these all orders from the city lord? Nanwan City has tens of thousands of people, right? With so much money collected, has the defense really improved?" Lin Anlan asked.

"Hey, what's so good about it? This was an order issued by the city lord, and there were definitely a few nobles involved. They divided up all the money and used the pretense of preparing for war to plunder us common folk. There haven't been any changes to the city defenses or the sea defenses. They just pretended to train a few times, but those soldiers still indulged in eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring as usual. They don't look like soldiers at all."

Seemingly even more helpless after saying that, the boss simply stopped talking, waving his hand: "Forget it, I won't say anything more. What do you want to eat?"

After Su Yang and Lin Anlan finished ordering, they stopped discussing the topic. It was indeed a distressing matter. Fortunately, they hadn't considered settling here. If they had, who knows what kind of exorbitant taxes they would have faced in the future.

After finishing their meal, the group strolled back to the hotel. On the way, they saw a woman carrying a child on her back running by in a hurry. Su Yang followed her with curious eyes and saw the woman kneel down in front of a building, seemingly in prayer.

When Su Yang and his group entered, they found that the building resembled a church. The woman was kneeling in front of the door, praying loudly for the people inside to save her child. The door creaked open, and a person dressed in a gray robe came out, saying expressionlessly, "The Healer is having a meal. It is currently recess time. Please come back tomorrow."

After saying that, he slammed the door shut without a second thought, ignoring the lives of the women and children. Su Yang watched this scene and asked Die'er, "Where is this place? A hospital? And what is the Healer for?"

"This is a branch of the Sage's Sect. The Healer should be a low-ranking Healer sent by the Holy Healing Hall."

"The Sage Cult? What kind of cult is that?"

"The Church of Saints believes in the supremacy of the human race and has set up three institutions: the Holy Knights Hall, the Holy Healing Hall, and the Saints Hall. To put it simply, they are in charge of the church's military, healing, and administration, respectively. In each city, the Saints Hall will set up a branch hall of varying sizes, and depending on the situation of the branch hall, the Holy Knights Hall and the Holy Healing Hall will send Holy Knights and Healers to reside there. That's roughly how it works."

After hearing Die'er's explanation, Su Yang was puzzled: "If humanity is the supreme race, then why not help this mother and child?"

"Hehe," Die'er laughed disdainfully, "Of course there's no money to be made. Look at that woman's clothes, she must be quite poor. Why would the healer be willing to do such a thankless job?"

After listening, Su Yang sighed deeply. Only today did he truly understand the darkness of this world. It really is a world where the strong prey on the weak.

After being turned away, the woman knelt on the ground and pleaded for a long time. Seeing that the door remained closed, she could only wipe away her tears, pick up her child, and get up, intending to find another place to treat her child. She then encountered several adventurers, among whom the healer immediately noticed that the child was not in good condition. He stopped the woman and said, "Sister, I think your child doesn't seem to be doing well."

When the woman saw the adventurer stop her and say that her child was in bad condition, she anxiously asked, "My child is sick and dying. Do you know where I can get him treated?"

The healer stepped forward, glanced at him, and said, "I'll give it a try, but I'm not sure I can save him."

Upon hearing this, the woman seemed to have found a lifeline and knelt down, bowing deeply: "Thank you, thank you for saving my child's life."

"Sister, there's no need for that. I don't know if I can save him; I can only try my best." With that, the healer used her wood elemental power, enveloping the child in a faint green light. As time passed, the child slowly opened his eyes and coughed up a mouthful of black blood. Seeing that the child had woken up, the healer withdrew her elemental power and said weakly, "He should be alright now. As for what illness he has, I don't know. Sister, you should find someone else to take a good look at him." With that, she bowed and left.

The woman knelt and kowtowed several more times in the direction the adventurers had left, then took her child and departed. Su Yang watched, and some of the gloom he had felt earlier dissipated; it seemed the world wasn't all so dark.