Sleeping

Early summer, a light rain brought coolness.

A great ship sailed along the waterway to the Southern Wilderness. The boatmen's cries echoed between the steep cliffs on both banks. The waters were clear, the mountains high, and ships came and went in an unbroken stream. A flag hung high from the great ship's mast, bearing the character Zhe.

On the second deck of the tower ship, Zhe ChangGong hunched over, coughing without cease. His breathing rasped in his throat, and he looked terribly unwell.

"Cough, cough... When will we reach Demon City?"

"My lord, we have passed Gushan Market in Qutang Gorge. We will arrive in another two hours."

People of the Central Plains were accustomed to calling River City, the territory of the snake demon, Demon City—the City of Ten Thousand Demons. Yet there were no shortage of humans among its various races. People had simply grown used to the name and could not be bothered to change it. Besides, Demon City sounded more mysterious.

Among the merchants and travelers on ships plying the Southern Wilderness waterway, Zhe ChangGong saw vigor and hope. Though the capital was more prosperous, people's faces there held only numb, deathly stillness, like a stagnant pool that no stirring could disturb.

It was said that the snake demon's city underwent minor reforms every few years and sweeping reforms every few decades.

Its systems were sound and its laws harsh, yet it allowed tremendous freedom.

And that was precisely what the nobles throughout the Central Plains feared most. The ruling class and their many supporters had grown accustomed to sentiment, reason, and law—in that order. Sentiment came first; all matters were judged by sentiment. Sentiment itself was considered reasonable grounds. To put it plainly, whatever happened was decided by those in power.

Demon City, however,