Fate Toys with Men

The Imperial Capital was divided into four districts and ten rings.

The four districts were Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

The ten rings were layers of districts separated by city walls twenty to thirty meters high.

They passed through ring after ring.

Before long, Chu Qing arrived at the entrance to the Tenth Ring.

The big-headed soldiers guarding the gate gave them a curious glance but asked no questions.

They simply let them pass through a small city wall thirty to forty meters high.

Then Chu Qing saw densely packed Earth Towers.

Some of the Earth Towers were seventy or eighty meters tall, while even the shorter ones stood fifty or sixty meters high.

The gaps between the Earth Towers were only three to five meters wide.

Walking through the Earth Towers felt like walking through a towering forest.

On the narrow roads, many people wore nothing but shorts.

Their Spirit and Energy were terribly weak.

They were even worse off than farmers in the County Town.

Others leaned beneath the Earth Towers, as though sunning themselves, or as though waiting to die.

Potbellied children darted about beneath the Earth Towers, laughing and playing.

But before long, adults dragged them away, scolded them, and told them to find somewhere to lie down, saying that living was a waste of strength.

"This isn't the Imperial Capital I imagined."

Chu Qing said to the mysterious dean, "This place is worse than the countryside!"

The mysterious dean smiled. "That's because you've never been to the Underground Imperial Capital."

"Once you have, you'll know that this place still counts as a paradise on earth!"

Chu Qing fell silent.

For the price of a flatbread, the mysterious dean hired seven or eight children to lead them to Manager Zhao's residence.

It