Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1154 Scenery of All Beings (23)

after a while.

Shenjing.

After dealing with the refugee issues, Bai Qinghan concealed his appearance and sneaked into the capital.

She arrived in the outer city area.

Compared to the outskirts of the pass and the suburbs inside the pass, the outskirts of Shenjing are already more prosperous than imagined. A huge, boundless, semi-transparent light curtain covers the entire outer city and even blocks out the sky.

Inside the light barrier, the air is fresh, carrying a faint scent of grass and trees. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, forming its own world. Outside the light barrier, however, is the normal environment, with few houses and only a few scattered, simple warehouses.

At first glance, rows of detached houses built of bluestone and wood are neatly arranged. A well-developed underground water system ensures the cleanliness of every household. Various puppets walk silently on the streets, searching for even the smallest piece of trash.

These were originally human jobs, but after the new method of automated puppetry was introduced to Shenjing from the Northern Frontier, Shenjing popularized these puppets at the fastest speed, causing many people to lose their jobs. However, that was not within the scope of consideration of the officials in charge of related matters.

A cold wind was blowing.

Originally, Shenjing should have had a spring-like climate all year round, but due to the recent incident of insufficient grain reserves, Shenjing has begun a strict curfew in order to search for hidden criminals.

This curfew was different from the one outside; instead of blocking the streets, it directly lowered the temperature in parts of the city, turning the climate into a severe winter with a biting chill. Everyone had to go straight home after get off work and hide indoors. Anyone who dared to go out on a cold winter night would be treated as a suspicious person by the patrolling soldiers and immediately investigated.

Even though it was daytime, the atmosphere on the streets was exceptionally tense, with thousands of soldiers in fine armor stationed at key points throughout the city, with guards every three steps and sentries every five.

They were all celestial warriors, and above them, in the sky, there was a fleet of thirty floating giant ships slowly patrolling.

Below, densely packed houses with dark blue-green tiled roofs formed clusters of dark clouds. Through the gaps in these clouds, the streets were filled with people dressed in various styles, and the air was filled with all sorts of hawking and shouting.

There are more than ten main roads that neatly divide the city into several sections, and on both sides of the main roads are mostly shops selling all kinds of goods from the north and south.

Some businesses dealt in medicinal herbs, cattle and horses, rare flowers and herbs, restaurants and teahouses, brothels, theaters and casinos.

The inner ring of the capital was filled with the residences of powerful families and officials, as well as many government departments. Apart from restaurants, there were basically no other shops. On the contrary, the outer ring, due to lax supervision or the absence of any relevant supervision, was a place of debauchery and extravagance, which could not be an exaggeration.

Actually, the current situation is much quieter than usual. You should know that in the past, this place was not restricted to air travel. Many shuttle ships would shuttle through the air, intertwining like a net. The lights would not go out until sunset, making it a city that never sleeps. It is nothing like now, where only warships are stationed and patrolling, and at night it is pitch black.

Even so, compared to other cities in Dachen, this mere outskirts of Shenjing is worlds apart.

Bai Qinghan avoided the Heavenly Soldiers patrolling the main road and wandered through the crisscrossing alleys.

Every inch of Shenjing was permeated with the power of the earth vein array, rich in spiritual energy, but also oppressive. She could feel countless eyes secretly watching the city's every move.

However, her method of infiltration came from the Heavenly Will Cult. She might make mistakes in the inner circle, but in the outer circle, it would be just like going home.

The reason she chose to infiltrate the capital instead of waiting for An Jing's return at the outer refugee camp, according to the original plan, was because she learned a piece of information from her inside contact in the Demonic Sect.

The children of the officials in charge of disaster relief in Da Chen may attend the auction held in this district.

If it were anyone else, Bai Qinghan wouldn't care, but if it were them...

The girl walked on in silence.

At the corner of the alley, the whispers of several patrolling soldiers drifted over. Bai Qinghan stopped and listened quietly.

"Damn it, where can you find any criminals here? They're all like quails. If you really want to find any, you have to go to the refugee camps in the south."

"Shh, keep your voice down. The refugee camp is so dirty and chaotic, so crowded, it's like a maze. You can't even tell which way is which, how could you possibly find anyone?"

"Then let's tear off the roofs of those dilapidated shacks and search for them. Anyway, they're all illegal structures built by the refugees themselves. Just tear them off." "Forget it, are you out of your mind? I heard that someone is sheltering us over there now. If this gets out of hand, and another General Cang gets angry like last time, we'll all be dead."

"Alas, what a waste of the bounty... What was General Cang thinking? A mere twenty-year-old lieutenant general! If he were promoted in the future, he would surely rise rapidly through the ranks. Yet, he flew into such a rage over some refugees and even went against the Yuan family..."

"Who knows? Most martial artists who aren't Heavenly Officials are mentally unstable, but I heard he was a refugee during the Frost Tribulation, so he understands what it's like?"

"I understand now, but I'm still a fool."

Bai Qinghan frowned slightly and sighed softly in his heart.

She continued walking inwards, and near the inner part of the city, the noisy crowd suddenly parted to both sides.

A magnificent carriage drawn by a magnificent dragon horse defied the anti-flight formation and descended from the sky, slowly coming to a stop.

As soon as the car door opened, two agile attendants jumped out. One of them quickly stepped forward, opened the back door, and bowed to the people inside, saying, "Young Master, we've arrived."

"Hmm." A handsome young man stepped out of the carriage. He wore a thick, long robe made of a rare light silver fabric that shimmered with a soft luster. Paired with a snow-white fox tail scarf around his neck, he exuded an air of nobility.

"It's so nice to have this cool air outside the car. The wind makes me feel refreshed!" The young man in fine clothes stretched and yawned. The attendant who had opened the car door for him immediately smiled obsequiously and said, "That's because you've achieved great success in your cultivation, and your inner energy circulates naturally, so you're not afraid of the cold or heat. Look at all these people on the street, who would think the weather is cool? They're all shivering from the cold."

The well-dressed young man glanced at the surrounding streets and said disdainfully, "A bunch of lowly commoners from the outer ring, how dare they compare to me?"

“Young Master is right. With your qualifications and background, your future achievements will be worlds apart from those of ordinary people.”

As they were talking, they arrived at the entrance of an auction house ahead. Just as the attendant was about to step forward to lift the curtain for the young master, a middle-aged man carrying a large box squeezed out from inside.

The box in the man's hand blocked the view, and he shouted, "Excuse me, please make way!"

"Who gave way to whom?"

The attendant's smiling face instantly turned cold and hard. He reached out and pushed the man away, and an invisible force sent the man staggering, throwing him and his box to the ground.

Crash! The ground was solid, and the box probably contained some kind of porcelain. In any case, it made a series of crisp sounds, indicating that it had broken.

The man carrying the box, ignoring his own pain from the fall, quickly checked on the person carrying it. But was checking even necessary? He immediately became indignant and was about to confront his attendants: "How can you do this? This is outrageous!"

"Hmph." The richly dressed young man frowned slightly: "Too long-winded."

With that, he went straight into the auction house. Another follower stepped forward and, without saying a word, began punching and kicking the man. The screams and the sound of bones cracking could be clearly heard.

The richly dressed young man who entered the room still had a hint of resentment on his face: "These lowly people are getting more and more outrageous. The capital is the most virtuous place, so why are the rules worse than those in other places? We should restore the old customs. Lowly people must kowtow when they see nobles. Then there won't be any stupid things like blocking the way."

The obsequious attendant immediately chimed in, "Without rules, there can be no order. The capital is indeed too lenient now; it should establish proper rules!"

Before the richly dressed youth could even nod, he suddenly frowned, covering his nose in disgust: "Ugh, what's that smell?"

The attendant was also taken aback. He carefully sensed the stale air caused by the cold weather and the lack of air circulation when the door was closed, but he still quickly replied, "Young master, there are many people in the market, and their breathing mixes, so there will naturally be a smell."

"The smell of the lower class..."

The richly dressed young man complained, "Does this auction house not even filter the air? They make so much money, yet they don't know how to serve their customers. I'm going to go back and have a serious talk with my father. I'll demand hefty taxes from them and use that money to improve their service."

"By the way, close the surrounding markets before the next auction!"

"Yes Yes!"

(End of this chapter)