Qingshui City

Qingshui City

During the day, everything in Qing Shui County looked perfectly normal. Old Zhao brought Ming Shu into the county town with only the two of them, a single horse, and a few simple bundles of luggage. They walked slowly through the city gate.

The rest of their belongings and luggage had been left in the carriage, watched over by Little Zhao at another, relatively safer campsite.

Qing Shui County was said to have a population of more than a hundred thousand, inside and outside the town combined.

That alone showed how prosperous it was.

Following the nearby Qingshui River southward, one could take a boat onto the Azure Dragon Great River. Along the banks of Qingshui River stood docks and harbors for loading and unloading goods and embarking and disembarking passengers.

Some northbound freight shipments traveled by water to the docks of Qing Shui County, where they were transferred to land transport and sent farther north.

It was a bustling hub where goods from north and south were exchanged and distributed.

Ming Shu was still repeatedly mulling over the matters Second Senior Brother Qilin and Chong Li had warned them to pay attention to before they came.

They might encounter demon spirits, so they had to remain wary of every small animal. They had encountered Ghost Spirits before, and Ming Shu could see Ghost Spirits himself, so in that regard, he had to be more careful than Old Zhao. As for demon spirits, they had to run the moment they encountered one. Ming Shu's current strength did not yet allow him to charge in recklessly.

Qing Shui County had rammed-earth walls. The walls were twenty-five feet high, fifteen feet wide at the top, and thirty feet wide at the base. The circuit stretched for more than nine li, with four gates to the east, south, west, and north, each protected by a barbican.

Barbicans were usually built to the side of city gates. By adding winding entrances and exits, they enhanced defensive capability. Arrow towers, portcullises, crenellations, and other defensive structures could be installed in a barbican to strengthen its defenses further.

A corner tower had been built at each corner of the city wall, with guards stationed atop them.

By contrast, the guards at the city gates seemed extremely lax.

By rights, the poll tax and transit tax should have brought in a considerable amount of revenue. Why weren't they taking that money?

Old Zhao was dressed like an old servant, leading the horse by its reins. Ming Shu was a young master, sitting on horseback and leisurely observing the surroundings within the city.

The city was extremely noisy. After entering through the western gate, they proceeded onto a broad avenue lined with shops on both sides, where crowds surged back and forth without end.

Shouts and cries from every direction filled their ears. Donkey carts and ox carts laden with goods formed long lines.

Walking along the main avenues inside the city, they could also see several taller buildings, including the Temple of Literature, the Temple of War, the county office, and the City God Temple. All of them stood out conspicuously. The two of them made a simple tour of several main streets.

On every street and in every alley, they could see several thugs, ruffians, and idle toughs squatting at key junctions.

They looked as though they had nothing to do, yet they were also diligently remaining in place instead of wandering about.

Although Qing Shui County looked lax on the surface, it was actually on alert beneath that facade—indeed, it was guarding itself with ironclad vigilance.

They had seen everything worth seeing during the day, yet had found little for the moment. All they could do was wait for nightfall.

Old Zhao led the horse to an inn near the city gate. The two of them asked for a superior room and rested.

They had wandered around for most of the day and sampled several of Qing Shui County's distinctive snacks. They looked just like a young master out sightseeing and enjoying himself.

And because he was still young, he had not yet gone to the pleasure quarters to indulge himself.

Having endured three years in the Cold Palace, Ming Shu's frail body made him look even younger than a thirteen-year-old boy.

His complexion had only gradually recovered during this recent period.

Otherwise, he would have had to pretend to be a sickly young master.

Night descended. Lamps lit up throughout the streets and alleys of Qing Shui County, in every household, while wisps of eerie aura continuously began to rise and spread.

Although the inn where Ming Shu and the others were staying was near the outer city wall, it was also close to a bustling thoroughfare. From upstairs, they could look down over the surroundings and observe the movements in the area.

Qing Shui County seemed perfectly normal tonight as well. Old Zhao had not noticed anything amiss. There were many strange places in the Imperial Palace, and over the years, he had seen and experienced quite a lot.

There were many outsiders in and around Qing Shui County: merchants, travelers, scholars, peddlers, laborers, and even people from various factions traveling north and south to gather intelligence or relay messages.

If no problem erupted, then in the long run, things should more or less remain like this.

I've already cast out this bait. Will the water become murkier and murkier first?

The bustling night market had also opened. The roadside vendors had changed shifts, and the tall restaurants were only moderately lively. The liveliest place of all was the pleasure quarter.

Ming Shu vaguely saw many eerie auras rising from that direction in wisps and spreading into the surroundings.

Even the atmosphere of ordinary life was swallowed up and assimilated.

Is this the art of observing qi that Chong Li mentioned, the one used by ritualists? What use can it possibly have?

The small pagoda on Ming Shu's body had also been given a simple disguise. Someone possessed by an ordinary demon spirit would not easily notice it without approaching.

If the two sides drew too close, however, both would be able to sense the unusual demon-spirit aura on the other.

Chong Li had deliberately placed several "disguises that only made things more conspicuous" on him, precisely to test the hidden enemies and see whether they would lose patience and attack Ming Shu directly.

"Let's go!" Ming Shu silently wrote in the Life Book the number and characteristics of the unusual people he had counted while standing by the window that night.

Thugs, hooligans, ruffians, and scoundrels came in groups of three or five. They appeared to wander aimlessly everywhere, as though patrolling something. Their numbers were abnormal.

Quite a few guards and household retainers began standing on alert the moment night fell and the lamps were lit.

Several prominent households in the city had faint treasure-light protecting them.

These were the people he intended to visit.

The brothels, gambling houses, and slums, on the other hand, were places he needed to stay away from.

According to the information he had previously obtained from the Ghost Spirit, one forbidden Ghost Raising site was deep beneath a brothel, while another was located deep beneath a large gambling house.

In fact, Chong Li and Ren Yuan had also entered the city. They had deliberately followed behind Ming Shu and his servant, allowing the enemy to discover them and assume they were important figures.

Without real status or position, one could rely on indirect hints, affected airs, disguises, cultivated bearing, and comparisons to make the other side guess and fill in the blanks for themselves.

Two minor experts at the third tier were merely passable in strength. But one was a ritualist, while the other was a Demon Hunter—and both were Demon Hunters who possessed demon spirits. That immediately placed them in a different league.

Ming Shu and the others had actually disguised themselves very well, and they would not attract much attention in the short term. But with the tails following them, the pressure kept mounting. With three demon spirits appearing in the city at once, they could draw the attention of even more hidden watchers.

Old Zhao had just gone out for a casual stroll—or rather, had merely gone around inside the inn and checked on their horse—when he received a small paper-message halfway there.

It had been delivered by a confidant of Earl Ying, a prominent household in the eastern part of the city. Earl Ying's ancestor had been the Duke of England, but by this generation, the family had fallen into some decline.

Among the several courtyards Ming Shu had just seen faintly protected by treasure-light, the Earl Ying residence was one of them.

Judging from the situation, they should not be enemies for now. They could investigate first and see who was a friend and who was an enemy.

Although Demon Hunters had previously sent people into the city to investigate, they had not found much useful information. Was the bait not large enough?

Ming Shu walked directly to the gate of the Earl Ying residence. Old Zhao gently knocked, and a servant soon opened a narrow crack in the gate and ushered the two of them inside.

Earl Ying was a middle-aged man in his fifties, yet he showed no signs of age. He was broad and imposing, with a heroic bearing. It was clear he was a martial arts expert.

His presence was formidable.

He got straight to the point: he already knew that Ming Shu was the disgraced prince.

It seemed he had been waiting here specifically for him.

"King Chu has already headed south safely. The new Emperor won't be able to catch him. The Dao Sect will provide protection in the south. All that remains is to wait for uprisings to break out in various places, answer King Chu's call, and unite against the new Emperor who murdered his father and sovereign."

Earl Ying had probably gone mad. King Chu was far away in the south—what use was there in him making a commotion here?

Fortunately, he had not rushed to act. Instead, he wanted to recruit more people and have them join their great undertaking together.

There was more than one faction in the city. Northern agents had already been laying plans here for years, and they also wanted to stir up something big for the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty.

For the moment, they all had grounds for cooperation. At the same time, they were also competitors. That was why the atmosphere in the city was so strange now.

Several sides were pulling against one another.

A delicate balance had been achieved.