Gluttonous City
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“Roar—”
A high, piercing beast cry echoed along the endless mountain ridge, scattering the layers of cloud.
The cultivator riding atop the beast gave the whip a light flick, and the enormous creature immediately lowered its head, docile as could be.
Great beasts laden with cargo and passengers stretched for miles, forming a winding black line. At the far end stood a magnificent city pass built against the mountains.
Its walls were extraordinarily tall, the bricks and stones ancient and weathered, making it resemble some primordial beast crouched along the mountain’s edge.
Though it towered over this desolate land, auspicious clouds and divine beasts gathered from every direction. Yet once the flying travelers reached the city outskirts, they obediently descended and joined the queue to enter.
Every major immortal sect enforced a no-flying rule. Without it, order would be impossible to maintain.
Each gate of Taotie City was divided into a large entrance and a small one. The main gate was immensely broad, allowing huge spirit beasts and caravans carrying goods to pass through. Because they moved slowly, the line stretched far into the distance.
The smaller gate was for people and small spirit beasts, so its queue advanced much faster.
In terms of size and population, Taotie City naturally could not compare with Panyang City, the capital of Yu. But it was the only city in the world whose principal inhabitants were cultivators; ordinary mortals made up less than half of its population.
Chu Liang stood in the line, moving forward at a leisurely pace.
He wore a fine silk robe with narrow sleeves, dressed much like an ordinary young master from a wealthy family. Nothing about him suggested that he was a cultivator. Beside him walked Imperial Daughter Feng in a red-and-white high-waisted ruqun. Her long legs and striking figure drew eyes wherever she went.
After passing through the deep, lengthy tunnel beneath the gate, Chu Liang raised his head and saw a broad avenue. Four- and five-story towers stood on either side, hung with signboards of every description, all bearing the names of shops related to cultivation.
Figures occasionally flitted between the towers, landing as lightly as falling leaves. Flying was still forbidden within the city; no one was allowed to rise higher than the tallest building along the street.
Anyone who violated the rule would be punished by the city’s enforcement squads.
For such a vast city, the enforcement force was considerable. Only a small number were disciples of Taotie City itself; most were hired retainers.
The retainers of Taotie City were ranked from first to ninth grade. The lower-grade ones were less like honored retainers than hired muscle. Taotie City was also the only sect in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths where outside retainers outnumbered its own disciples.
There was no helping it. They simply had money.
“Let’s exchange some money first,” Imperial Daughter Feng said beside him.
This was naturally not her first visit. She was not nearly as impressed as Chu Liang and merely walked along with both hands tucked lazily into her sleeves. The first building inside the city gate was a money house, conveniently placed for visitors to exchange currency.
The currency commonly used in Taotie City was the divine beast coin. Its applications were broader than those of Mount Shu’s currency, and its denominations were more finely divided. There were four in all: Azure Dragon coins, Tiger Head coins, Vermilion Bird coins, and Black Tortoise coins.
From largest to smallest, one Azure Dragon coin was worth ten Tiger Head coins, and so on, each denomination exchanging at a ratio of one to ten. The second-smallest denomination, the Vermilion Bird coin, was equal in value to Mount Shu’s sword coin.
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“Please exchange one thousand Vermilion Bird coins and one hundred Black Tortoise coins,” Chu Liang said, handing a pouch of sword coins to the cultivator inside the money house.
The man took the coins and examined them briefly before nodding in approval.
He then returned a pouch of tiny spirit-stone coins carved in the shape of Vermilion Birds. Chu Liang pinched one between his fingers and sensed it carefully. There was indeed a distinctive spiritual quality within it.
The various immortal sects used spirit stones as the material for their common currency precisely because they were durable, rich in spiritual energy, and easily imbued with spiritual signatures, making counterfeiting impossible.
Otherwise, if just anyone could carve ordinary spirit stones into these shapes, there would be no way to regulate the currency.
“Heh.” Imperial Daughter Feng looked Chu Liang up and down and laughed. “You’ve saved quite a bit of money, haven’t you?”
Chu Liang eyed her warily. “It was all hard-earned.”
After leaving the money house, Imperial Daughter Feng saw that Chu Liang still had one hand resting protectively over his money pouch.
She smiled. “Relax. Don’t look like some country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time… though that is exactly what you are. I’m telling you, the more nervous you look, the easier it is for thieves to notice you.”
“Heh heh.” Chu Liang returned her smile.
Master, you don’t really think I’m guarding against other thieves, do you?
…
“Moo—”
A deep beastly bellow, resembling the call of an enormous ox, suddenly sounded from behind them.
Chu Liang turned and saw a beast three stories tall slowly advancing down the center of the street. It had thick gray-white hide and a bald head, with dozens of long chains wrapped around its body. The chains dragged a lengthy wooden carriage steadily forward.
The creature was known as a Mountain-Sitting Beast. Diligent, docile, and fond of people, it was the most common demon beast used to transport heavy loads.
This enormous Mountain-Sitting Beast, however, was not hauling cargo but people. It pulled one of Taotie City’s sightseeing carriages, where travelers who did not wish to walk could ride along with it.
Imperial Daughter Feng pulled Chu Liang into the carriage at the rear. A cultivator sat by the entrance beside a merit box. Chu Liang dropped in two Black Tortoise coins, but the man did not even lift his eyelids.
Once seated, master and disciple leisurely admired the scenery outside. Chu Liang noticed that the shops along the street sold more than spiritual plants, pills, and magical artifacts meant exclusively for cultivators. There were also restaurants, inns, teahouses, gambling halls, and all the other establishments found in ordinary cities. Taotie City had them all.
As he watched, he overheard two cultivators seated nearby.
“Hey, this month’s Seven Stars Gazette is out,” one of them said with a laugh.
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“Yes, and it’s quite sensational.” The other cultivator held the Seven Stars Gazette and read it with great relish.
Hearing this, Imperial Daughter Feng’s eyes lit up. She leaned over and asked, “Brother, does this issue of the Nine Provinces Wind and Cloud Register have any news about Imperial Daughter Feng of Mount Shu?”
Ever since the incident at South Pass City, she had been brooding over it. Unless she accomplished some great deed and managed to get the better of that old man Wang Xuanling, she would never feel satisfied.
“It does!” The cultivator nodded. “It’s the very first article.”
With that, he read out the headline:
“Shocking! Mount Shu’s tyrannical peak master blows a man’s head apart with one punch—only to discover that her victim is a marquis of the imperial court?”
“Hm?” Imperial Daughter Feng’s brows drew together.
She had assumed that this time they would praise her glorious achievement. Who could have guessed they would give her another slanderous headline?
“Master, please calm down…” Chu Liang hurriedly tugged at her sleeve and whispered, “We’re out in public…”
“I’m not angry.” Imperial Daughter Feng forced out a smile, then turned toward the cultivator and barked, “Keep reading!”
“Ah…” The cultivator’s hand trembled in fright, and the Seven Stars Gazette nearly slipped to the ground. But with Imperial Daughter Feng’s intimidating presence bearing down on him, how could he dare refuse? He immediately continued.
“On that day, Imperial Daughter Feng, peak master of Mount Shu’s Silver Sword Peak, received a disciple’s cry for help and rushed to South Pass City. Upon landing, she encountered a middle-aged man who was likewise burning with anger. After the two exchanged a few harsh words, Imperial Daughter Feng, heedless of the eyes of the multitude, punched him squarely in the head and blew it apart!”
“Only afterward did she discover that her victim was none other than the Marquis of Stabilizing the Mountains!”
“What caused this tragedy? What secrets lie behind it? One can only say that the two young heroes of Mount Shu displayed both wisdom and courage in solving a strange case, while the father and son of the marquis’s household indulged in such depravity that—”
“Allow me to relate the details…”
Chu Liang sat beside Imperial Daughter Feng and felt a wave of heat strike him in the face. His master was clearly on the verge of losing her temper.
He hurriedly called out to the cultivator, “That’s enough. Don’t read any further…”
Then he tried to soothe Imperial Daughter Feng. “Master, don’t be angry. Please don’t be angry. Anger only gives the devil room to work…”
As he placated her, he could not help grumbling inwardly:
That Zhang Xiaohan really had no sense. How could he write everything down and print it for the whole world to read? Even if it was true, he could not put it that way.
It was terribly embarrassing…
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