Please Cherish This "Normal" World
Whether it was the way the government was in this world, or whether this priest was in a hurry to get rid of Feng Xue and Old Li, these two "plague gods," in any case, only half an hour later, the two Travel Permit were delivered to them.
This so-called road guide is actually a palm-sized piece of bamboo, with some simple information such as face shape and height carved on it in a font similar to official script. There is a word "zong" on it. I don't know if it refers to the so-called "grandmaster realm" or has some other meaning. On the back of the bamboo piece, there is a delicate mark that looks like it was made with a high-temperature iron, which probably serves as an official seal and anti-counterfeiting.
"What do we do next?" Feng Xue toyed with the Travel Permit in her hand, looking at Old Li with a slightly mocking expression.
Old Li didn't seem to care at all. He gently stroked the engraved characters with his thumb, paused for a moment, and then said:
"Let's go to the market."
At this point, seemingly worried that Feng Xue wouldn't understand, he added another sentence—
"With so many ingredients in the inn, it's impossible for this small County Town to be self-sufficient."
"I see." Feng Xue nodded in realization. Although Old Li often made mistakes after coming to this world, his problem-solving approach was still worth learning.
"Brother, you're so much more worldly! Unlike me, I've been holed up in the mountains for over forty years. I've never seen the world, and I've never even been with a woman. Now that I've finally come down the mountain, I don't even know my way around..."
Sitting in the makeshift camp, Feng Xue watched Old Li chatting enthusiastically with the caravan owner and couldn't help but admire his social skills. With just a few words from the waiter and the Demon Eradication Department, he had already created a persona for himself. Not only did he infiltrate the caravan by hitchhiking and providing security services, but he also managed to chat with at least a few people in the caravan within two hours.
The desire to be flattered is human nature, and coupled with Old Li's somewhat hypnotic and suggestive abilities, he quickly put the boss under a spell, launching into his usual boastful rant.
"Of course! I used to travel the trade routes through Yanzhou. You have no idea how ruthless those Demonic Cult Demonic Person there are. Usually, seven or eight caravans would gather together and hire an entire escort agency to ensure safety. It's just that I'm getting old and have made enough money, so I've come back to retire here. I'm here because Sizhou is peaceful!"
"Is Yanzhou still so chaotic?" Old Li actually had no idea what Yanzhou was, but that didn't stop him from asking. Sure enough, the caravan owner, upon hearing this, immediately sighed with a touch of melancholy:
"Actually, Yanzhou is already quite good. At least the government can still make decisions. Unlike Qingzhou, since Tianya Pavilion was destroyed ten years ago, it has basically become the domain of the Demonic Cult Sect. Even the Demon Eradication Department can only send people to guard the border. It's only because there are Hundred Thousand Great Mountains between Sizhou and Qingzhou that..."
At this point, the caravan owner seemed to realize his slip of the tongue, immediately chuckled, and stopped talking about it. Old Li didn't press further, but simply shook his head and said:
"Peace and tranquility are good things, but Master sent us down the mountain to eliminate evil and uphold justice. Who knew we wouldn't even encounter a petty thief these past few days? It's a complete waste of all our skills! Brother, you're so knowledgeable, do you know where there are many martial arts practitioners? To be honest, I'm also afraid of death. I just want to show my face in front of my fellow martial artists. As for a godforsaken place like Qingzhou, I don't want to go there."
"You've stumped me with that question, but if I had to choose, it would definitely be Yangzhou! After all, that's the headquarters of the Hehuan Sect. Other martial artists can live in seclusion in the mountains, but the Hehuan Sect lives in brothels!"
The caravan owner was clearly pretending to know what he didn't, but Old Li still maintained a flattering demeanor and continued with various platitudes. Feng Xue returned to her tent, planted the Hometown Tree in the soil in front of her, and placed a bowl of water beside it. Only after the unsettling feeling slowly subsided did she dare to enter a meditative state.
Nothing was said that night, and then dawn broke.
The security in Sizhou was so good that it was almost unbelievable; not even a single bandit or brigand had been seen, and everything on the road seemed exceptionally peaceful.
Feng Xue and Old Li maintained this group tour pace for two whole months, changing seven different caravans, before they could barely get a grasp of the world.
This country is called "Chu". It has nineteen provinces. The closer to the Central State, the more peaceful it is. Provinces like Sizhou, which are right next to the Central State, have exceptionally good public security. However, the closer to the border, the more chaotic it is.
Currently, three provinces have been occupied by the Demonic Cult Demonic Person, and most of the remaining areas are in a state of war. Only the most central Nine Provinces, including the Central State, are relatively peaceful. However, judging from the attitude of the Demon Eradication Department of Si Province towards Feng Xue and her companion, the situation here is probably not much better.
However, the caravans were mostly vague about what these so-called demonic Demonic Person actually were, offering descriptions such as "eating children to practice their skills," "covered in pus," "extremely ugly," and "madly bloodthirsty." Feng Xue found these descriptions, which were clearly demonized and sounded like they were just trying to coax a child, to be highly unbelievable.
However, in general, he knew that this world—or rather, this country—was quite different from the conventional Wuxia World. Righteous Sect were not allowed to set foot in the martial arts world unless they reached the rank of Grandmaster. The Demonic Sect was more like a rebellious religion than a Demonic Cult arts sect. The main members of the martial arts world in ordinary Wuxia Novel —the wandering martial artists—seemed extremely scarce in this world. On the contrary, the official Demon Eradication Department seemed to have a large reserve of experts, to the point that each small town could be equipped with four or five Grandmasters.
After obtaining this basic information, Old Li and Feng Xue returned to the Tower of Babel from Qingyuan County and tried to buy information from the bartender. However, the bartender had a catalog of over two thousand pages that met these characteristics.
"There's no other way. Let's make a decision. Where to go next? Should we go our separate ways or continue traveling together?" Feng Xue and Old Li walked out again. The two people, who had undergone simple disguises, stood facing each other on the plain street of Qingyuan County.
Old Li thought for a moment, then instead of giving a direct answer, he spoke in a persuasive tone:
"That should be enough basic information. Anything beyond that can't be decided through discussion. Why don't we write down the places we want to go, then open them at the same time? If they match, we'll continue cooperating; if they don't, we'll each go our own way."
Feng Xue thought about it and realized that it was indeed true. In the end, ghost Weird Tale were not something that could be done in cooperation. The reason she followed Old Li was simply to learn from the experience of the senior.
Now, it is indeed time to make a choice.
"Alright."
As soon as they finished speaking, they each wrote a word in their palms, then simultaneously unfolded their hands towards each other.
"Yan"
"Middle."
Why Central State?
Why Yanzhou?
What I dislike most is discussing data with people, because once you start talking about it, you see a whole bunch of outrageous opinions.
For example, I said that the protagonist's normal speed is about 100 kilometers per hour, and someone told me that Bolt's instantaneous speed can reach more than 40 km/h... You know that's an instantaneous speed? Let him run for a minute and see!
There's also the calculation of forces, and the mere mention of that reminds me of that clever bird in the paradoxes... but this time, I encountered something even more absurd...
You're calculating "force," which, as the name suggests, refers to "the amount of force that is borne," not "the required strength." It's about endurance, not explosive force, understand?
Take the airplane example you gave. What you calculated is the force the airplane would experience when breaking the sound barrier. This force is determined by the strength of the materials, not the engine thrust, understand?
When a person breaks the sound barrier, their fist has to withstand several tons of force, not that you can break the sound barrier with just a few tons of force, understand?
Or to put it another way, if a dump truck had a fist-sized ramming horn attached to its front, and it rammed into it at full power, wouldn't that fist carry a force of over ten tons? But would it break the sound barrier?