I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 652 The City of Laughter
After driving for half a day, a breathtaking green expanse finally appeared on the distant horizon. The green continued to expand, gradually revealing the outlines of towering palm trees and the faint outlines of earthen-yellow buildings.

We've arrived in Zelan City.

The city walls are built of huge, earthen-yellow bricks and stones, exuding a strong Arabian style. People come and go at the city gate, the jingling of camel bells mingling with the sounds of car horns. Residents in traditional robes jostle with pedestrians in modern clothes, creating a sense of temporal and spatial dislocation.

Looking at the massive city, Chen Xuan felt a little uneasy. He had developed a psychological aversion to cities after traveling so far.

Although no crisis warning has been triggered yet, his rational mind strongly resists entering into it.

But before he could even speak, he felt relieved. He hadn't gone into that oasis before either, and yet he was still surrounded by the army. In fact, because he didn't go into the city, it directly attracted high-end combat forces, and he fought a huge battle with his older brother. In the end, he still went into the city and stayed for a few days.

In addition, the journey had left me with considerable mental and physical fatigue, so taking a break in town seemed like a good idea.

Anyway, I have my older brother here.

After parking the car in the designated spot, the two got out and were immediately hit by a wave of heat. Only then did Chen Xuan realize the presence of the car's air conditioning.

However, the complex smells of spices, naan, livestock, and gasoline quickly distracted him from thinking too much. He used his internal energy to block his nostrils to prevent the strange smell from assaulting his brain. Only then did Chen Xuan catch up with Feng Xue and begin looking for a place to stay in the city.

The streets within the city were fairly wide, lined with all sorts of shops—carpet shops, copperware shops, spice shops, date shops, you name it. There were also some repair shops and gas stations, showing signs of the times. Most of the buildings had flat roofs, and the windows often had carved wooden latticework that shielded them from the scorching sun.

At first glance, it does indeed appear quite prosperous, even bustling.

But soon, Chen Xuan sensed something was wrong.

There were many pedestrians on the street, and vendors were hawking their wares, but upon closer inspection, not a single smile could be seen from beginning to end.

No, there were smiles, but they were mostly work-related smiles, devoid of emotion, even stiff and rigid. Only a very few travelers and merchants, who could be easily identified as outsiders, would show a slightly genuine smile.

Something is wrong!
Chen Xuan's cautious radar instantly went off, and after realizing that "there's something wrong with this city," he looked around again, and more and more anomalies surfaced. More than those somewhat nitpicky details, the biggest problem was now clear—

I didn't see many children in this city!
Yes, normally speaking, children being noisy is a natural instinct, it's ingrained in their DNA, a necessary means to "exercise" their physical functions and maintain their growth. No city with a large population can be without noisy children.

But not here.

"Do you attend school?"

If he were still in Chang'an, Chen Xuan would probably have had such thoughts, but after traveling and experiencing many civilizations, Chen Xuan realized that the world was not as stable as he imagined. The miserable life he used to think of as hell was actually quite a privilege in these places.

If it were truly possible to make an exchange, Chen Xuan had no doubt that countless people would be willing to pay the price of constant bad luck to experience the life Chen Xuan had lived for the first eighteen years of his life.

So... where did the child go?
They had encountered childless areas before, but those were mostly small settlements that served as traps, like this one...

No, it's not that we don't have children!
Chen Xuan's gaze suddenly focused on a petite figure, a figure he had occasionally glimpsed from the window of a residential house.

But this discovery made Chen Xuan's feelings even more complicated, because the child didn't have a smile on his face either.

To be precise, he was devoid of any emotion; he was numb, cold, and even felt as if he were facing those hypocrites from the Guanyin Temple back then.

In an instant, this seemingly prosperous oasis city was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere in Chen Xuan's heart.

"Brother, this place..." Chen Xuan couldn't help but whisper, wanting to remind Feng Xue.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xue simply replied casually:
"You've discovered something? Looks like your observation skills have improved quite a bit. But don't rush, let's find a place to stay and take a shower first, otherwise it's still early and if we find out anything, we'll have to start fighting again."

As he spoke, he casually bought a few skewers of grilled meat from a nearby stall, handed two to Chen Xuan, and began to eat them himself. But in a place unnoticed by ordinary people, nano-units, like dust particles rising and falling in the city's heatwave, were building a vast scanning network, recording every detail of the entire city.

Chen Xuan took the sizzling, oily kebab, its aroma filling the air, but suddenly felt a little unwell.

He watched Feng Xue's leisurely walk forward, then looked at the bustling city that was now shrouded in shadow in his eyes. The unease in his heart spread rapidly, like ink dropped into clear water.

This Zelan City is probably not a good place.

A break? Hopefully.

He shook his head, gripped the kebab in his hand tighter, and quickly followed Feng Xue, navigating the eerily atmospheric city. His inner energy circulated, sharpening his senses, allowing him to increasingly perceive the oppressive and stifling atmosphere permeating the air. It wasn't a physical aura, but rather a kind of spiritual stillness, as if some invisible force had drained away all the laughter and joy from the city.

Unlike Chen Xuan, Feng Xue, who was well-traveled and knowledgeable, did not lose her appetite. She finished the barbecue in a few bites and even wanted to buy a few more skewers. They walked and ate along the way until they finally stopped in front of a hotel that looked fairly clean.

There was no quick-witted waiter like those described in storytellers, who would rush up to greet people as soon as they saw them. It wasn't until the two entered the room that they saw a withered old man at the front desk. His eyes were cloudy, and when he saw the guests come in, he mechanically raised his eyelids and said in a dry voice, "Stay?"

"A standard double room, preferably clean." Feng Xue booked the room in fluent local language, but her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, while her hand in her pocket had already rubbed out a handful of local banknotes.

"Five dinars a day," the old man quoted the price, handing over a brass key. Throughout the process, he showed no emotion whatsoever, as if he were simply performing a meaningless task that he had repeated a thousand times.

Feng Xue paid the bill, picked up the key, and gestured for Chen Xuan to follow. The wooden stairs creaked underfoot, sounding particularly jarring in the unusually quiet hotel.

(End of this chapter)