House of the Rising Sun

Chapter 41: Vol. 2 [House of the Rising Sun]

Clutching the steel engagement rings in his hand, Jiang Xueming felt somewhat at a loss.

Aside from some cryptic ceremonial prayers, there was no other information.

How were these rings supposed to be used?

Even if they were talismans, why didn't they come with an instruction manual?

He tried the sizes of the two rings.

His thumb was too thick.

His index finger joints were too tightly packed.

His middle finger could barely fit, but wearing it for too long would surely press into the skin of his knuckles.

His pinky finger was too thin.

Jiang Xueming pondered for a very, very long time.

Eliminating all the wrong answers, he finally slipped the rings onto his ring fingers.

--They fit perfectly.

Xue Ming took the rings off again, remembering the manager had said to keep them safe and not flaunt them.

The two rings were the same size, identical, like twins. No matter how closely he examined them, he couldn't tell them apart.

He recalled the eccentric Old Spirit's words—these rings were heavy, weighing 168 grams, and required two people to use.

He handed one of the rings to a waiter.

--Was he really going to do this?

He looked again at the inscription on the monument.

[--Hephaestus]

He remembered this name belonged to the god of craftsmen in ancient Greek mythology.

He bent down and wiped the dust off the inscription on the monument, revealing the label: the god of craftsmen, not some Cupid or matchmaker.

"Well, I don't know what you mean," Jiang Xueming said to the statue, "but I appreciate your good intentions. I'll give the rings to my attendant."

The Old Spirit statue suddenly moved--

--It quickly and strangely gave Jiang Xueming a thumbs-up, raising its eyebrows and smiling broadly.

Then it quickly returned to its original, solemn and majestic posture. Only the kicked-up dust and fallen debris proved that it had indeed moved and even struck a playful pose.

"." Jiang Xueming felt something was off, but he couldn't quite place it.

When mythological creatures from history books or artistic works appeared before him, they had long since adapted to the times and learned many new, glib phrases.

Especially when the Old Spirit displayed its divine power, the exaggerated and lengthy rituals were a far cry from the rigid image people had of traditional deities.

Jiang Xueming mused--

--Throwing this old man into a senior dance group, shaking his hips under the disco lights of a wealthy women's club, wouldn't feel out of place at all. In fact, it would possess a strange sense of harmony.

He persisted, quietly taking notes in his notebook.

"Upon my first encounter with the Old Spirit, I believed he had become a mythological creature adapted to the new era."

"Perhaps he had long since blended into the human world, enjoying himself as time and history flowed, silently observing the masses and subtly influencing events."

"He speaks modern Chinese and is a humorous old man. Heroes often boast of their past glories, sharing their romantic exploits with strangers they've just met."

"He likes to play matchmaker, making rings based on the size of ring fingers. He's not a simple, honest person."

He silently jotted down this information in his small notebook.

Jiang Xueming left the Atrium Courtyard.

Returning to the porch of the Path of Radiance, the lobby manager had been waiting for a long time.

"It seems you've obtained the stone."

"Yes." Jiang Xueming didn't see A Xing and asked, "The one who came with me."

"Still in the restroom," the manager replied respectfully. "I've already explained the details of the stone-bestowing ceremony to Mr. Bu Liuxing. There's no need to waste time here. Please follow me. We need to go to the House of the Rising Sun to get your second safety insurance."

"We're leaving first? Is that really okay?" Jiang Xueming was a little uneasy.

The lobby manager said casually, "Don't worry, the Old Spirit is a friendly and easygoing old man. He won't conflict with Mr. Bu Liuxing."

Jiang Xueming murmured, "I'm just worried..."

Before Xue Ming could finish, the manager showed a hint of impatience on his face--honestly, today's work had made him very unhappy.

It was rare for a new passenger to be sick in the restroom for over ten minutes without stopping.

"The Council of Five Kings is the safest place in the station, Mr. Jiang Xueming. You can put your mind at ease! Do you think the Old Spirit would drag Mr. Bu Liuxing to a bar to pick up women, gamble, and get into fights?"

"Alright. You're the boss." Jiang Xueming shrugged and followed the manager out.

As they passed through the outer porch of the Path of Radiance, the strange passengers swarmed forward again, first recoiling in fear as if avoiding Jiang Xueming's gaze due to Inspiration.

But when they saw that the new passenger had been personally escorted out by the lobby manager, they perked up again—

—and shouted enthusiastically.

"Newcomer! You got a stone, right? What color is it?"

"Is yours gold? Or green? Come to our school, join our Workers' Guild."

"What type of amulet does he have? Manager? Can you tell us? Is it a necklace or a ring? What talents does he possess?"

"The Business School always welcomes blue stones, we'll find you a job!"

"I'll be waiting for you at the Rare People's Palace if you're heading north! Remember this number! I'll also be waiting for you at the Mimil Hot Spring Market!"

"Manager! Manager! Give me a chance! Let me touch his stone! Let me just touch it! I lost my amulet. Let me see these rare treasures again. Please."

"Newcomer! What's your name? If you're red and want to make money, I can teach you how to cook incredibly delicious food!"

This time, the lobby manager didn't chase away the recruiters.

Jiang Xueming remained silent, not responding to anyone.

To him, these unfamiliar things were things he had never encountered before, reminding him of the human traffickers he met in his youth.

He didn't want to attract any unnecessary trouble. As he left the porch, he could still hear the disappointed hisses of the crowd.

The two walked through the Council of Five Kings and boarded the elevator.

In the relatively private space of the elevator.

Jiang Xueming finally spoke.

"Those people just now? Were they recruiting new passengers to join them?"

The manager looked straight ahead, unconcerned.

"Yes, the underground world is short on people everywhere now, much like the westward expansion in America. People use stones to identify each other's attributes and temperaments, forming factions to start new businesses."

Jiang Xueming asked again, "Doesn't the BOSS handle these matters?"

The manager continued, "No. Just operating the station and building new ones already drains the BOSS's mental energy. Wherever a station is built, passengers will flock there to try their luck. If there are large mineral deposits, new villages and towns will spring up, eventually becoming cities over time."

"I also heard someone begging just now to touch a stone. Did that person lose their amulet?"

"Yes, I hope you don't become such a pitiful person."

"After losing his amulet, why did he become so frantic?"

"According to the station's regulations, travelers who lose their amulets are restricted from many places unless someone is willing to help them find their treasure or forge a new amulet. Otherwise, even if they have a family deep in the underground world, they can't go home. Perhaps this fellow still has something he cares about deep underground, which is why he's acting so frantic."

"Mm."

"Mr. Jiang Xueming, what are you thinking? Are you sympathizing with the guy who was asking for your jewelry? Please don't let your guard down—this person has already lost three stones for various reasons. This is the limit the station can tolerate. We suspected he might be doing it intentionally. If we find evidence that he's been selling the light stones, this criminal will go to jail."

"So, if I accidentally lose my amulet, I can only get replacements twice at most?"

"You could say that, but it's best not to. The manager was starting to feel uneasy. He turned to glance at Xue Ming, then explained, "The replacements will inevitably be inferior to your first piece of jewelry. Each stone is incredibly precious, a unique treasure carefully prepared by the Old Spirit for passengers. Moreover, you need to complete corresponding investigation tasks, and the replacement process is very complicated. It's not a gift given freely for you to exchange for light stone currency."

Jiang Xueming continued to jot down this information in his notebook.

"I understand."

The elevator stopped on the twenty-sixth floor, the location of the observatory.

A reinforced plastic bridge lay to the east, and a wide corridor stretched to the west. Beyond the corridor, its destination was unknown.

Next to the corridor stood a sentry post, named the House of the Rising Sun.

A large pile of goods was stacked beside the sentry post, consisting of cotton, wool, leather, textiles, and many ready-made garments.

"Is the second insurance the passengers receive these clothes?" Jiang Xueming squatted in front of the raw materials by the sentry post and asked, "These items look very similar to the large windbreaker I received when I first arrived at the station."

"Quiet down, Mr. Jiang Xueming. We are about to meet a very distinguished tailor." The lobby manager knocked three times on the door of the sentry post.

He then quickly walked up to Jiang Xueming and gestured for him to stand up, as he was squatting in front of the raw materials.

His movements were solemn and polite, as if he were afraid of disturbing the person inside.

Jiang Xueming also fell silent.

The door of the House of the Rising Sun slowly opened—

—a slender, fair hand, holding a tape measure, first emerged from the door.

Then, a woman who looked haggard, appearing to be in her mid-twenties, walked out.

Her steps were unsteady, her cheeks gaunt, and her complexion pale, as if she hadn't had a good rest in a very long time.

She didn't speak. She was wearing a dark, slit, qipao-like dress reminiscent of the Republican era and had a gentle and virtuous bun hairstyle.

Her eyes were large, but her eyelids drooped, giving her a perpetually wronged look, as if she were about to cry at any moment.

This woman, or perhaps a lady of refinement and virtue.

She slowly walked up to the lobby manager and nodded.

Then she approached Jiang Xueming, took his arm, and measured his dimensions with the tape measure.

She then said, "Turn around."

Jiang Xueming turned around in place at the Madam's request.

"Alright, I know your measurements. Thank you for your trouble." The Madam bowed to Xue Ming with great politeness and slowly returned inside.

Jiang Xueming then heard rustling sounds from within the room.

After a while, the Madam emerged holding a finished garment and handed it to Jiang Xueming.

"If it's damaged or dirty, just send it back with your girl—she can come to me for a new one." With that, the Madam slowly walked back and slowly closed the door.

The clothes were obtained, and the second layer of security had been successfully completed.

The lobby manager tugged at Jiang Xueming's sleeve, urging Xue Ming to leave.

The two returned to the elevator—

—Jiang Xueming only snapped out of the strange silence then, asking curiously.

"Who was that tailor in the room just now?"

"I'm not sure either. BOSS never allows us to exchange idle chatter with this lady. We're only instructed to retrieve the clothing—perhaps you can guess yourself. She's from your hometown. Your hometown's history might mention her."

Jiang Xueming pondered deeply, then took out his notebook again and wrote down his speculations.

"Next to the observatory on the twenty-sixth floor, there's a transparent suspension bridge leading to Moon Lane."

"Beside it is the House of the Rising Sun. Inside lives a beautiful tailor who looks perpetually troubled."

"The cottage's doors and windows always face Moon Lane, facing the direction of the human world, as if waiting for passengers to return to this station."

"Perhaps that Madam tailor is also waiting for someone to return—the starlight from the dome casts dreamlike shadows on the transparent acrylic bridge, turning it the color of the Milky Way, a sky bridge without magpies."

"The manager told me that the Madam tailor and I are from the same hometown."

"I dare not think too deeply. If this is true, then she must be waiting for her husband, waiting for her children."

"The Weaver Girl waits for her Cowherd."

He closed the log—

—From the garment in his hand, Jiang Xueming found a certificate of conformity.

[Nine Realms Station External Procurement Standards · General Certificate of Conformity]

[Yi · Wen Jing]

[Spirit Garment · Ji Ji · Fenxing]

[Properties: A knee-length robe, black on the inside and yellow on the outside, with gold thread embroidered cloud patterns for other purposes.]

[Garment Category: For Spirits]

[Description: This item is used for defense and pacification work on spirit-type creatures.]

[Versatility: The garment will continuously provide a constant temperature of twenty-four degrees Celsius to the passenger's body, adapting to most environmental temperature variations. For cleaning, please contact your attendant.]

[Garment Explanation: Taken from the sixty-third hexagram of the I Ching, the meaning of 'Water over Fire, Ji Ji'. Black inner, yellow outer, initial fortune, final chaos.]

[Usage Instructions: Keep away from open flames. In a spirit disaster environment, it can resist some mental damage, but it will also disrupt your Inspiration perception. Please use with caution.]

[Production Agency: CGC (State-owned Apparel Enterprise Co., Ltd.) / Tian Tong]

[Note: Passenger, your journey is about to begin.]

[Note II: Thanks to the omniscient staff of the station's procurement department for obtaining this item from some unknown place. It's quite effective against spirit disasters anyway.]

[Note III: Thanks to Ms. Fenxing for her embroidery enchantment work.]

[Note IV: Distinguishing the nine provinces by the earth of the stars, all sealed regions have Fenxing to observe good or ill fortune—Book of Han · Treatise on Geography]