Land of Divine Wrath

Second Master Shi clapped him on the shoulder. "Once we reach Tongluo County, have all the fun you want. It's on my tab." For the life-saving grace on Wind Demon Mountain, he had to repay it bit by bit. Walking across the plain, He Lingchuan finally understood why this place was called "Twilight"—it turned out to be a glorified name. It was already mid-May. From the Yuan Kingdom to Beijia, where was it not a season of lush grass and darting orioles, dancing bees and fluttering butterflies? Even at Wind Demon Rock, where fierce winds blew year-round, a patch at the foot of the mountain was left to a riot of blooming flowers. Yet the Twilight Plains were truly steeped in twilight gloom; the vegetation grew limp and lifeless, sickly green and half-withered. There was clearly water here, yet reeds that reached ten feet tall elsewhere grew to four or five feet at most. In three li of travel, the caravan encountered fewer trees than could be counted on two hands. It could not even compare to the high-altitude Gale Plains, which in this season were lovely meadows of flowers and grass. The roadside farmland was pitifully sparse, the crops looking as if struck by autumn frost, equally half-dead. He Lingchuan saw no one working the fields, not a glimpse of a farm dog on the ridges or cooking smoke from farmsteads. "What's the matter with this place? Crops won't grow?" "This is a land of divine wrath." Second Master Shi popped a piece of chewing tobacco into his mouth. "Nearly two hundred years ago, wasn't there a war of extermination fought here? It was ruined by that very battle. Supposedly, the Demon Emperor issued a slaughter order, and in Thousand Stars City, the capital of the Yuan Kingdom, not even a chicken survived. Afterward, it became a land forsaken by the gods, unable to grow crops or raise livestock. Some also say that because too many people died back then, the entire plain was choked with soaring resentment, ruining the feng shui and earthly aura." "What does Heaven have to do with it? Seems to me it should be called a land of the gods' wrath. With so many capable figures in the Beijia Kingdom, couldn't they dispel the resentment here?" There were four National Preceptors alone, not counting other great figures. Besides, back when he captured that prisoner in Zhao Pan's camp carrying the Dragon-Torture Pillar, the man had claimed the National Preceptor wanted to gather resentment and hatred from the battlefield to ferry them across. Why hadn't they managed to redeem this place? "How would I know? It's just a legend. An old story from nearly two hundred years ago—who'd take it so seriously?" Second Master Shi gave a dry chuckle. "Though it seems something similar happened elsewhere." "Where?" "The Panlong Desert in the Yuan Kingdom. I heard there used to be cities and people there, but later they angered the gods and it turned into a desert where the living could scarcely tread, even worse than here." Second Master Shi suddenly remembered. "Hey, aren't you from the Yuan Kingdom? Do you know about it?" He Lingchuan nodded. "All too well." Yet the primary cause behind the Panlong Wasteland being engulfed in wild sands was quite simple: the rampant havoc of the Three Corpse Worms released by the Dafang Pot. But as He Lingchuan walked across this plain, though the sunlight was bright, it brought no warmth to his skin, and when he walked on foot, an eerie chill seeped through the soles of his boots. Places like this had another moniker: forsaken by gods and shunned by ghosts. "Over the past five or six hundred years, quite a few demon kings have rebelled. Did their territories all receive this kind of treatment afterward?" Second Master Shi chuckled. "How would I know?" "It's truly strange that Tongluo County was built here." "Not strange at all. The Twilight Plains are so vast, travelers and merchants need somewhere to rest." Second Master Shi thought nothing of it; after all, no matter how often they came, they were merely passersby. "Besides, those outcastes can't leave the Twilight Plains anyway. They had to build somewhere to live." He Lingchuan's brows furrowed slightly. Possessing a merchant's natural sharpness, Second Master Shi saw his expression and waved his hands at once. "Calling them outcastes isn't me insulting them—it's the official designation." "An official designation?" He Lingchuan asked in surprise. "This is a place of exile and banishment?" The young master had lived among outcastes before. Blackwater City was a borderland, and the Yuan Kingdom had always favored banishing criminals to the frontier. Marked as convicts, they weren't entered into the local household registries, only recorded on a roster. They were the lowest class locally, surviving only by selling their labor or their bodies. "Ah, you could say that," Second Master Shi said. "Those poor devils are all descendants of the people of Yuan. Over a hundred and ninety years ago, Thousand Stars City was put to the sword and the Yuan Kingdom was destroyed. The survivors became slaves of a fallen nation. Because the King of Yuan angered the gods, the Demon Emperor punished their descendants, decreeing that men be slaves for generations and women prostitutes for generations, never to rise above their station and forbidden from buying their way out. Later on, whenever Lingxu City had criminals to banish, they would exile them here as well." He Lingchuan clicked his tongue. "Nearly two hundred years, and the punishment still hasn't been expiated?" "The Demon Emperor has a long lifespan. To us, that's a dozen generations, but to His Venerable Self, it's merely half a lifetime." The previous Demon Emperor had reigned the longest—a full three hundred and eighty years. Who knew if the current one could break that record? "Perhaps His Venerable Self's anger has never cooled?" "Such a heavy punishment. It seems meant to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys—so everyone else watches, remembers, and abandons any such thoughts." The Demon Emperor let the vassal demon kingdoms battle for kingship among themselves, but forbade them from defying the celestial gods; otherwise, he would casually bestow the gift of destroying their nation and enslaving their offspring for eternity. This showed just how powerful the gods' grip on this nation truly was. Soon, the caravan entered what Second Master Shi called a sinkhole of gold and silver. Tongluo County was built along a river bend, making water easily accessible. The scenery on shore was unremarkable, but the water was crystal clear, so many painted pleasure boats were moored at the docks, the tallest rising three stories, gliding across the water like floating houses. In the county seat, there were inns and taverns, theaters and gambling dens, bathhouses, the Red Pavilion Quarter, pleasure labyrinths... Whatever amusements other places had, this town lacked none of them, and strove to make them bigger and grander. Because there were simply no other industries here. Of course, pleasure came in different tiers. Take the main street He Lingchuan had just walked down: the signboards on both sides competed to be bigger and more magnificent than the next, blazing with lanterns until daybreak, cups clinking amid endless music and revelry. The men and women in the establishments smiled with all their might. As long as you had money, you could savor the freshest seafood, drink the mellowest fine wine, and of course find a charming courtesan to whisper secrets and ideals under the blankets; but if only two coppers jingled in your pocket, you were fit only to seek out clandestine brothels outside petty diners. He Lingchuan saw a man standing by the road, bargaining with an unlicensed prostitute. The unlicensed flesh trade was usually run straight out of their homes. Their husbands were all outcaste slaves, tasked with serving tea, pouring wine, handing towels, and emptying spittoons for the patrons. The moment the caravan settled in the town, the hands scattered in an instant. Even the groom had vanished—just as He Lingchuan was about to tell him to feed the rock sheep extra bean cakes and aged liquor. After the peril on Wind Demon Mountain, Second Master Shi had given them a bit of silver to steady their nerves. Before it had even grown warm in their pockets, they were already itching to spend it. Second Master Shi advised He Lingchuan, "You can have fun anywhere on the main street, and the two rows of streets behind it are fine too. Just don't go any farther—it's dangerous." "There's danger here?" "The ones up front are all properties of dignitaries and wealthy gentry from Lingxu City, looked after by dedicated wardens. As long as you step in and spend money, safety is guaranteed." The two stood on the second floor of the inn, and Second Master Shi pointed down to show him. "See those pitch-black areas in the back with no lights? Nine times out of ten, that's where the outcastes live. All sorts of riffraff and wicked things dwell in there. Two years ago, a hand from my caravan got drunk and wandered in; to this day, I've never found him." Seeing He Lingchuan turning back, he asked, "Decided where you want to go?" "Not yet. Go ahead without me, Second Master." "Huh? You're only seventeen or eighteen, right at the age of hot-blooded youth—how can you not fancy this sort of thing?" Second Master Shi stroked his chin, sizing him up from head to toe. Belatedly, he recalled that along the entire journey, He Lingchuan hadn't sought out women even once. Could he have some hidden ailment? Ah, what a shame, wasting such a handsome face. He Lingchuan could tell from his gaze that his thoughts had strayed. "Ancestral cultivation technique. I'm forbidden from this until I turn eighteen." "Oh, right, right." Second Master Shi took him at his word—or pretended to—and didn't push. "Whenever you change your mind, just head down. Also, the Golden Spring Elegant Baths across the street is a respectable establishment. You can take a bath or soak in the hot tubs. If you don't give the nod, no girls will throw themselves at you." With that, he sauntered downstairs. He Lingchuan shook his head. Looking out at the glittering lanterns and hedonism of the main street, he had no desire to visit brothels, but a man is made of flesh and bone—he couldn't skip a meal. Having swallowed dust on the wasteland for two days, the sight of the sign for Golden Spring Elegant Baths suddenly made his whole body feel itchy. And so, a quarter of an hour later, he was soaking in a large wooden tub at Golden Spring. Tongluo County had everything for one-stop indulgence, except a real hot spring. Guests who wanted a soak simply got hot water, seasoned at most with a sprinkle of powdered herbs to play the part of a medicinal bath. Yet aside from the hot spring being faux, everything else was genuine. The service was exceedingly thorough: haircuts, shaves, nail trimming, and bone-setting massages, with wine, tea, and tobacco in endless supply. The kitchen chefs were on call round the clock; at any moment, you could order a steaming bowl of fresh pork liver congee or two or three steamers of pan-fried buns. The establishment was divided into elegant baths and communal baths. The elegant bath meant a private room equipped with a table, chairs, a bed, and a wooden tub; as for the communal bath, that was shared merriment. Naturally, He Lingchuan took an elegant bath. Still, even the private rooms had rather poor soundproofing, not to mention that the large tub sat right by the window. Looking out, he could see the backstage drama unfolding in the Red Pavilion Quarter across the way. The rooms across the way were brightly lit. Those with shut windows staged frantic shadow puppet plays, while those with open windows put on live-action spectacles, accompanied by women's unnaturally exaggerated shrieks drifting in through the dense steam, sounding utterly unreal. Earning a full meal wasn't easy; one had to put one's back into the performance. After soaking for half an hour, He Lingchuan grew hungry. Changing into clean clothes, he was just about to head to the front parlor for a bite when the private room door was kicked open with a loud bang. Three men burst in, fiercely demanding, "Where did you hide them?" An owl also fluttered in with a flap of its wings, perching on a beam and peering in all directions. He Lingchuan wore a look of utter bewilderment. "Who?" The three men seemed out of breath from running. They checked behind the screen, glanced at the roof beams, and peered under the bed, even flipping open the commode lid for good measure, terrified someone might be concealed inside. One of them glanced out the window, only to be transfixed by the live-action drama across the way, eyes glued. He Lingchuan leaned over to take a look—truly a high degree of difficulty. The other two walked over and smacked their companion hard upside the head. "What the hell are you gawking at? Keep searching!"