Chen Jin's eyes snapped open. Rain pattered down from the sky, pelting his face and body.
The air was stifling and oppressive.
Boom—boom!
Heavy drumbeats tore through the curtain of rain, echoing across heaven and earth.
Nearly at the same moment, the pedestrians on the street, who had seemed fairly unhurried just moments before, quickened their pace. Heads lowered, they hurried in panic toward their homes.
Chen Jin instinctively looked up—
Beneath the gloomy rain clouds, countless enormous eyes floated in the sky, constantly scanning the world below!
The eyes crowded together, covering the entire sky. Each one was as large as a house.
They hung silently in the air, slowly turning without any discernible pattern as they watched every inch of land and every living thing below.
It was as if rainwater dripped through the gaps between those eyes.
A wave of intense nausea and dizziness washed over Chen Jin, and he quickly lowered his head.
As far as he could see, raindrops struck the puddles, sending out countless ripples. In the murky water, lines of tiny characters shimmered into view with a faint bronze glow:
Time: 215 BC
Location: Langya, 35.5° north latitude, 119.5° east longitude
All under heaven united, the four seas subdued.
The First Emperor made an eastern tour to the sea, gazing out over its boundless waves.
Life and death had become the only unfinished part of his great ambition.
Xu Fu submitted a memorial, claiming there were immortal mountains in the sea.
Three thousand boys and girls, seeds and craftsmen, towering ships and giant vessels.
A silent fleet, bearing the empire's deepest hopes and fears, vanished into the East.
Bronze edicts, laws carved in stone.
Black-armored ranks, crossbows aimed at the four seas.
In Xianyang Palace, alchemists and the Minister of Justice stood side by side, their furnaces and instruments of torture burning hot.
Requirements for this Yanfu Event:
[Obtain a Yanfu token carrying the legacy of one of the Hundred Schools of Thought]
[Investigate the Shrine of the Four Seasons Deity at Langya Terrace]
[Investigate the elixir of immortality Xu Fu brought back from across the sea]
Completing any one of the above requirements will officially begin the Yanfu Event.
You have gained a special proficiency in this Yanfu Event: Ancient Script, 75%. It will be forgotten when this event ends. You may also spend 750 Yanfu Points to obtain it permanently.
The writing flickered in and out among the ripples, then quickly faded.
Just then, the heavy drumbeats echoing across the city abruptly stopped.
The instant they ceased—
"Crack!"
A sharp, crisp snap rang out!
Chen Jin felt an intense stab of pain across his back, as if he'd been struck hard with a red-hot branding iron. The force sent him stumbling forward, nearly pitching him to the ground.
The coarse cloth of his shirt split open in a long gash. His skin tore, and searing pain swept over him.
He spun around. There was no one behind him—only the cold rain and the empty street.
"Ugh..." He groaned, cold sweat instantly soaking his forehead and streaming down with the rain. An attack? From where?
Before he could think it through—
"Crack!!"
The second blow came right after, harder and more vicious than the first! It felt as if he'd been struck directly on the bone. Pain blackened his vision, nearly choking the breath from him. Blood welled from the wound, only to be diluted by the rain.
Rules! These were the rules of this place!
Chen Jin's extensive experience with Yanfu Events let him grasp the truth in an instant.
The special abilities granted by the Flesh of Vision legacy weren't limited to rapid healing after injury. They also included numbing pain. Otherwise, if a Walker with this legacy fell into enemy hands, wouldn't he become a plaything for torture?
The pain he felt wasn't from his injury. It was punishment for violating some absolute "rule" of this place!
The panicked pedestrians rushing home, combined with the drumbeats that had sounded like an announcement...
"Curfew!" The word suddenly sprang into his mind.
He had to get off the street at once! He needed to find shelter, fast!
He gritted his teeth against the pain and scanned his surroundings.
The pedestrians had already disappeared, and the doors along both sides of the street were shut tight.
But just before the drums stopped, he thought he'd glimpsed a few people as ragged and terrified as himself, stumbling into a building ahead and to the side, with a tattered banner hanging outside.
It looked like an inn!
Chen Jin clenched his teeth, clutched his aching back, and used the Flesh of Vision's ability to heal his injury. Then he sprinted toward the inn as fast as he could.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" He pounded on the heavy wooden door. Rain ran from his hair down his neck, icy cold.
The door creaked open a crack, and a pair of wary eyes peered past him through it.
"Get in, quick!" a hushed voice urged. The gap widened.
Chen Jin slipped inside. The instant he crossed the threshold, the invisible threat hanging over him—the threat of a third lash about to fall—abruptly vanished.
Beneath the inn's dim oil lamp, the air was murky, but the place carried a reassuring sense of safety.
He leaned against the door, gasping for breath. The muscles in his back twitched with pain. Rainwater dripped from him, forming a small puddle at his feet.
A man in coarse clothes, who looked like a waiter, quickly shut the door and bolted it.
Just then, the innkeeper—a slightly plump man wearing a greasy apron—came over with a coarse pottery bowl and handed it to him. "Here. Drink some hot water and warm yourself up."
The water in the bowl was murky and lukewarm.
Chen Jin took it and hesitated for a moment. Considering that the Flesh of Vision's ability could render him almost immune to all toxins, he gulped it down.
Warmth slid down his throat, briefly driving away some of the chill. He took a deep breath and was just about to thank the man—
But the innkeeper spoke first. His face was expressionless, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather. Rubbing his fingers together, he said, "Thirty Spirit Coins for a night's lodging. That bowl of water you just drank will cost you one Spirit Coin. That'll be thirty-one Spirit Coins altogether."
Chen Jin froze.
...Spirit Coins?
The innkeeper looked him up and down, a trace of contempt in his eyes. He curled his lip. "Another country bumpkin? Your clothes looked clean enough, so I thought you were from the city.
"You don't even know what Spirit Coins are? After the First Emperor united the four seas, he abolished the flawed currencies of the Six Kingdoms and established the Heavenly Craft Balance Law! See those Law Eyes in the sky?"
He pointed at the ceiling, as if he could see those terrifying giant eyes through the roof. "Spirit Coins are the supreme legal currency the Emperor minted on everyone's Identity Tablet, borrowing the power of the Law Eyes! You need them for trade, taxes, food, clothing, housing, and travel. You have an Identity Tablet, don't you? Just take it out and settle the bill."
Damn... He hadn't expected to get caught up in capitalism.
Chen Jin instinctively felt around his clothes. Apart from his soaked coarse shirt, he had nothing.
He had no Identity Tablet.
He had used the special channels of Wan'an Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. to open a Fruit Passage. The Ren Tus lying in wait inside the Fruit hadn't had time to prepare a perfect identity for his arrival.
Seeing him pat himself down, the innkeeper's gaze turned cold, openly contemptuous. "Oh, you don't have an Identity Tablet? Then you're an unregistered outsider. You don't even qualify for credit."
Chen Jin's heart sank.
But the innkeeper changed tack.
"Still, His Majesty is merciful. He knows it's not easy for you outsiders. These days, they're undertaking major construction projects in Xianyang. Epang Palace, the Qin Straight Road, the Mount Li Imperial Mausoleum... Everywhere needs workers. As long as you have the strength to make it to Xianyang and are willing to work hard, you can earn Spirit Coins. Save up enough, and you'll have a chance to be granted Qin Person status and registered on an Identity Tablet. Then you'll become a true Qin Person and enjoy the Law Eyes' protection... Of course, until then..."
The innkeeper pointed to the empty bowl Chen Jin had just drunk from. "We can put those thirty-one Spirit Coins on credit. Interest accrues daily, and it compounds. How does that sound? Quite fair, isn't it?"
Chen Jin slowly straightened up and surveyed the room.
Seven or eight people sat scattered around the cramped, dim inn. Most wore shabby clothes and looked weary and frightened. Their eyes darted about as they silently ate dry provisions or simply sat staring into space.
No one spoke. Silence and oppression filled the air.
—Outsiders.
Like him, they had no identity and no Spirit Coins. The grand, terrifying city rejected them, leaving them to struggle for survival in the cracks, selling their labor in exchange for the promise of an "identity."