To keep their newly bought clothes from getting soaked, Jiang Han and Cen Jing called for an island taxi from a phone booth.
Island taxis were still quite cheap—more expensive than buses, but cheaper than Griffin Carriages.
They were vehicles similar to carriages, only smaller. A single griffin could pull one, though they were not very convenient for long journeys; their service range only covered Sky Island and other very nearby Sky Islands.
After leisurely admiring the rain-soaked shopping district, they finally arrived at the hot spring inn.
"How strange. It's built right in the city..." The hot spring inn Jiang Han saw had been constructed within the shopping district itself. Amid the modern buildings was a stretch of terraced earth, planted with all kinds of vegetation on both sides. The inn stood in the middle, looking thoroughly natural and ecological.
Cen Jing got out first, then, with all the gallantry—or rather, ladylike grace—of a true lady, extended a hand to support Jiang Han's as she helped her down.
She removed the soft hat from her head and looked over the inn, built from natural logs, as well as the wooden flooring of the same material and the Birch Flame Dragon-hide carpet. A satisfied expression appeared on her face. She walked ahead as she said:
"Building Sky Islands is a difficult undertaking. If all you want is to make a lump of earth and stone fly into the sky, that's easy. But to build a reasonable Sky Island like this one, with its own ecosystem and natural scenery, we usually need to modify and expand naturally formed Sky Islands. And witches can't be too certain about where hot springs will emerge. Building them within cities makes them convenient to access and easier to monitor the flow of the springs."
Jiang