Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1369: Surface Rules

If you observe a little more, you can feel the weirdness in Shengyuan City.

The noble families do not manage every matter in the city in detail, but they can be asked to judge any matter, and these noble families will try their best to make fair judgments - because other families will be watching, and if someone makes a judgment that is not convincing, it will probably become a laughing stock at the next banquet of other families, which is something they absolutely cannot tolerate.

It is conceivable that in such an environment, the government is almost in name only, and no one would go to the government to file a complaint. Of course, these local officials would be given enough face, and their lives might be more comfortable than those of the emperor.

Oh, the emperor is already dead, but the prefect of this place can still live a life of being pampered by others. He is really better off than the emperor.

Lu Ning originally didn't plan to stay here for long, but when she went to the street to buy some dry food and supplies, she discovered something unexpected.

A demon was walking down the street with a middle-aged man who, judging from his clothes, was obviously of high status in a noble family. The middle-aged man introduced his family's property to the demon in a rather proud tone, and the demon praised it highly.

The reason why no one reacted was that this demon was a highly anthropomorphic demon. If it weren't for Lu Ning's demon eyes, no one would be able to see anything abnormal.

"Mr. Fang, just looking at Shengyuan City, it's hard to imagine the constant natural and man-made disasters outside."

"Mr. Jia is right. Are natural disasters and man-made disasters inevitable or can they be mitigated through means? This is a difficult matter to evaluate. It probably depends on what the emperor can do. We live in this city and can only protect the people of this city. We are unable to go further."

"Oh? Even a big family like the Fang family can't protect more people?"

"If the Fang family really has such omniscience, why would they still coexist with other families in the same city?" Mr. Fang laughed, "Mr. Jia, you should take a closer look at us..."

Having said this, he suddenly noticed Lu Ning standing on the street.

"Outsider..."

Mr. Fang smiled politely and said, "Mr. Jia, Mr. Fang will meet you in person next. If you don't mind, we can go there as soon as possible."

"Of course, Mr. Fang San is famous for his talent, and I would like to get to know him a little bit."

This movement of sending people away was so obvious that even Lu Ning could see it, and Mr. Jia was also aware of it. Mr. Fang raised his hand and waved, and five or six people came out from the crowd on both sides of the street. He pointed at two of them and took Mr. Jia away first, and he took the rest of the people and walked straight towards Lu Ning.

Lu Ning didn't avoid him and just stood there waiting for him.

Mr. Fang was also very polite. He came over and didn't care about Lu Ning's age. He just bowed and asked, "Miss, are you a tourist from out of town?"

"Indeed, I just arrived in Shengyuan City yesterday, and went to the street today to buy some things." Lu Ning replied with a smile.

"Oh? The girl has come to the right place. There is no place like Shengyuan City within a radius of dozens of miles. I wonder if the girl felt that the hospitality was not good enough when she stayed in this city last night and this morning?"

"Shengyuan City is indeed a place where aristocratic families live. The inn is the best I have ever seen, and the shops here are very welcoming to guests. There is nothing wrong with it."

"That's great. I saw the young lady looking at me just now, but do you have any other difficulties? Just tell me. If I can help, I will do my best to help." Mr. Fang said.

"Since you said so..." Lu Ning looked around, "Is there a more appropriate place to talk?"

"Of course there is. This way please."

Mr. Fang found a restaurant and walked in. He just greeted the shopkeeper, who immediately understood and said, "The bamboo sheng is empty now, you can use it yourself, sir."

"Settlement at the end of the month." Mr. Fang waved his hand, then led Lu Ning to a room upstairs with a "bamboo pipe" hanging on the wall. He asked the others to guard outside the door, and he went into the room with Lu Ning.

The room was naturally top-notch. As soon as Lu Ning sat down, someone brought her some hot tea and placed it on the table after Mr. Fang agreed.

"We won't be using you for the time being, so there's no need to call us." Mr. Fang said to the waiter.

"Yes."

After the door was closed again, Mr. Fang picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Lu Ning.

"This cup is for our guests. Shengyuan City always welcomes guests."

"Thank you." Lu Ning picked up the teacup, but only took a sip. The tea was still hot, so she just had to pretend to do so. This was also the rule in Shengyuan City.

"Since there is no third person here, I will ask directly. Miss, do you have any questions? Can I answer them for you?"

"Mr. Fang, do you know the identity of the guest who just traveled with you?" Lu Ning asked.

"There are many identities." Mr. Fang smiled. "The simplest identity is like you, a tourist who came from afar to expand his horizons. If you go deeper, you are a man of the world, a supervisor from the Iron Face Building, who wants to develop some new business in Shengyuan City."

Iron-faced building?

"But - I don't think the young lady is referring to these two things." Mr. Fang changed the subject, "The young lady wants to say that he is not a human being."

Lu Ning's fingers slightly turned the teacup. Although the cup was very hot, she could completely isolate the heat. If necessary, she could even freeze the water in the cup in an instant. Similarly, Mr. Fang in front of her...

"Looking at the lady's expression, I probably guessed it right. You are probably a young knight with special skills or some experience, who can distinguish between humans and monsters. But you didn't take action immediately, and you were willing to come here and sit down and talk with me, which is very good... If you are willing to consider the face of Shengyuan City, then Shengyuan City will also give you enough face." Mr. Fang said with a smile.

"I'm a little curious about what's going on. Shengyuan City is where aristocratic human families live, yet they have dealings with demons. Although I haven't taken any action, I still demand an explanation." Lu Ning said.

"Can I ask why? For a traveler, how Shengyuan City acts is not of much concern to you, right?"

"Saibei." Lu Ning stared at Mr. Fang's movements. "I am going there. Sir, you should understand?"

Mr. Fang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he showed a look of regret.

"You are still young, but you are willing to get involved in such troubled places... I understand. You are worried that you will be involved with monsters in the back while you are killing monsters in the front, and be plotted against?" "Yes."

"Miss, if you're talking about dealings with demons, then Shengyuan City had already been doing this before the Wei Dynasty." Mr. Fang said, "This has long been a tacit understanding, but most people don't know, and they don't need to know. There are also many forces among the demons, and Saibei... at least my Fang family has no contact with the Saibei demons."

"You mean at least?"

"Families don't interfere in each other's affairs." Mr. Fang smiled, "However, Shengyuan City is based on this. Everyone who comes is a guest. This applies to girls and monsters. As long as you don't show hostility, we can be friends. As long as you give us face, Shengyuan City will not treat you unfairly."

"How should I believe what you say?" Lu Ning asked.

"Building trust is not an easy thing, girl, especially in such a short time. If it were ordinary people, we would just use our names as credibility. But for someone like you, that might not be enough?"

"That's true. I only know the names of your families, but I am not from here. And the conditions of the villages and towns I saw along the way are not enough to trust the families here."

"It's human nature." Mr. Fang nodded. "If that's the case, then there is usually another way. Who do you need to endorse us in order to approve our actions? There are always people in the world whose words you can trust?"

"If I talk about Grand Tutor Qin, you might think I'm deliberately making things difficult for you," Lu Ning said.

"Grandmaster Qin will not provide any proof for our actions." Mr. Fang nodded, "But Grandmaster Qin also has some dealings with the Iron Face Tower. After all, it is a top-notch secret information assassination sect in the world. Do you think Grandmaster Qin would not learn about it?"

"Of course I know that Grand Master Qin knows about the Iron-faced Tower, and I also know the true situation of the Iron-faced Tower. Because of this, I need to be more cautious about negotiating with the Iron-faced Tower - if the demon race wants to assassinate someone, how can the human race compete with it?"

"The demon tribe can only assassinate a single person." Mr. Fang shook his head. "If the young lady really goes to the northern frontier, even if she only advances and retreats with the army, she doesn't need to worry about the demon tribe's assassination."

"Why?"

"Unless the Iron-faced Tower comes out in full force, that would be a confrontation in another sense. Under normal circumstances, Grand Tutor Qin's army has a good ability to fight against the demons. This ability will also protect the surrounding civilians. I don't know the specific situation, after all, I live in Shengyuan and have never really been to Saibei." Mr. Fang took a new teacup and poured another cup of tea for Lu Ning, "I can only make a promise to the girl, Shengyuan's behavior will not have any impact on the girl."

Lu Ning picked up the teacup and said after a moment of silence: "It sounds like I have no choice but to believe it?"

"Exactly."

"If I continue to investigate, would that mean I am not giving face to the Fang family and Shengyuan City?"

Mr. Fang shook his head: "No."

"Oh?"

"Miss, you can investigate secretly, or find an opportunity to come to our house alone to collect the debt. All of these are your freedom. Unless you come to our house directly, it will be considered as not giving us face. I have said that Sheng Yuan is hospitable. How can Sheng Yuan restrict the behavior of guests? Unless it makes everyone unhappy." Mr. Fang said with a smile.

"Then I understand." Lu Ning drank the tea in the cup in one gulp. Of course, the tea had already cooled down.

"It seems that the young lady has made up her mind... All right." Mr. Fang also stood up, "If the young lady has any questions, you can come to the Fang family's house... You know the rules."

"nature."

Lu Ning breathed a sigh of relief only after she walked out of the restaurant.

There has always been a strange sense of oppression from Mr. Fang. The abilities he mentioned in Master Qin's army are probably not unique, but also exist in Shengyuan City.

If she had attacked just now, it would be hard to say who would have won or lost. These noble families must have some background to be able to negotiate business with demons like this.

As for the Iron Face Building, Lu Ning actually knew a lot of relevant information. The sect opened by this demon was also legal in the records of the Demon Suppression Division of the Great Wei Dynasty, and the Demon Star Yin Yang Mirror was a demon directly registered. This demon star was different from the other elusive demon stars. He was a regular on-duty person in the Iron Face Building every day to handle various affairs. It can be said that he was the one you could see once you entered the Iron Face Building.

Compared to other elusive monsters in the book, Tiemianlou is the most well-behaved one, and it acts completely according to the rules, and basically does not show any characteristics of a monster.

In a city like this, it would be difficult for Lu Ning to conduct any investigation. Even if she wanted to find Mr. Jia who was taken away, it would be difficult. However, she did not need to really spend energy to investigate those things. Through the conversations along the way, she had already confirmed many relevant people, and the next thing to do was very simple.

A moment of scenery.

Although Lu Ning cannot use this trick to influence others now, and cannot switch between dreaming and waking up instantly like Ye You, she can still use it to enter the dreams of people who are already asleep and induce changes in their dreams.

It’s a pity that the offensive capability cannot be developed in a short time, and at most the intelligence capability can be utilized.

She took another good walk around the city, carefully observing the scenes that needed to be simulated in her dream, and then in the afternoon, she began to intervene in the dream.

It was really troublesome to enter the dream one by one, so Lu Ning pulled all the sleeping people around her into the same dream, and looked for the remaining clues in the dream.

Shengyuan in the dream was more prosperous than the reality, and the people who were proud of this place made more beautiful decorations in the dream. Lu Ning noticed these subtle changes, but as long as they did not exceed a certain extent, she was not going to intervene.

This street was the one Mr. Jia was taken away from before. She saw Mr. Fang and others again, and even herself, but this time, she followed Mr. Jia all the way. This should be the dream of one of the two guides. The road was very clear, and it was obvious that they had walked it countless times.

After entering a luxurious garden, the dream blurred for a moment, but was soon continued. The two people only took Mr. Jia to the entrance of the garden, and then a servant came out to take him in. Lu Ning now took over the servant's dream, and her understanding of the garden became clearer.

Walking along a corridor around the lake, we came to a bridge across the lake, and at the end was a pavilion in the middle of the lake. A young man with more than a dozen servants was waiting in the pavilion.

Lu Ning took a glance and saw that among the dozen or so servants, there were four who were dressed in blue-gray, standing on both sides of the young master. Although they were in the form of men and women, they were obviously not living people.

"Mr. Jia, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"I've been waiting for a long time. Mr. Fang San has four iron corpses. It will be just around the corner to move to the next level." Mr. Jia also raised his hand to salute with a smile.