Before he knew it, Duan Yun had already been in Springwatch City for more than half a month.
At first, everything had felt fresh. This place was unlike any other, with countless ingenious crafts woven into daily life. The whole city was prosperous and vibrant, as if even the air smelled sweeter. But now that he had gradually learned more about it, the great city's charm had begun to fade.
This was not a paradise. Like other towns and cities, it was filled with all manner of absurd sights.
Compared to Springwatch City proper, the outskirts were where ordinary people truly lived.
There was no other reason—the prices inside the city were too high.
Duan Yun had received an eight-hundred-tael silver reward, enough to count as a small fortune, yet even he was finding it hard to bear.
He had a little over four hundred taels left, so he could not squander it for now.
When he had entered the city before, he had already paid an entrance fee of one qian of silver.
In other words, this city required a ticket to enter.
It was fine for Duan Yun, but for ordinary folk, it was no small burden.
If they could not earn even one qian of silver, they would never enter the city lightly.
The outskirts of Springwatch City were still lively, but the buildings were clearly far more disorderly. Even when the stone slabs on the roads shattered, no one repaired them.
Within Springwatch City, so long as you had silver, there were simply too many pleasures to enjoy.
After roaming about for a while, Duan Yun felt that everything was turning into a brothel.
Even when studying martial arts at a martial academy, so long as you paid enough silver, beautiful senior sisters and junior sisters would be there to soothe your weary body and mind after a day of training.
Poor bastards, meanwhile, could only find men and help each other relax.
Even the shops in the city selling manuals and weapons emphasized gaudy extravagance.
Duan Yun would rather scour the outskirts for martial manuals than go into the city.
He always felt that the women selling manuals had learned seduction arts. They seemed eager to enchant you right in front of the bookshelves, making it impossible to tell whether they were selling books or selling flesh.
That was what was strange about Springwatch City.
At every moment, it exuded the scent of drunken luxury and gold, stirring up your desires. Everything around you was like a brothel tempting you, urging you to spend money.
It could be said that Springwatch City was a colossal gold-devouring den. Duan Yun had played around inside for barely twenty days, and half his silver had already sunk into it.
He was still a young hero who had escaped lowly desires. Not to mention all those fellows who could not keep their big head in control of their little head.
In his eyes, this great city was constantly sucking in the wealth and desires of its surroundings.
Countless outsiders spent their gold and silver here. Once they had none left, they went out to steal and rob.
The desires that could not be satisfied here became rape elsewhere.
Life for the people in the outskirts was comparatively normal. Though that sort of industry remained thriving, from time to time one could still encounter women standing at alley mouths, stealing souls with their glances.
Yet what he saw today gradually became absurd and bizarre once more.
Springwatch City was a city of the Ink Sect. The Ink Sect gathered countless skilled craftsmen—people who, in Duan Yun's understanding, most resembled scientists.
They possessed martial strength, but unlike ordinary martial artists, they were not one-track-minded fools who only knew how to kill and rape.
They liked conducting experiments, but the things they experimented on made Duan Yun's scalp tingle.
For instance, a long queue had formed on this street right now.
The people in this line were here to sell bones.
Not the bones of cattle, sheep, or pigs, but ribs from their own bodies.
It was said that someone from the Ink Sect wanted to use human ribs for an experiment, and had thus posted a reward.
As the saying went, money could make even a ghost turn a millstone. The Ink Sect ruled Springwatch City, and silver was the one thing it lacked least.
Under such a reward, countless commoners formed a long dragon of a line, allowing Ink Sect members to remove one or two ribs in exchange for nearly a hundred taels of silver.
A hundred taels of silver for two ribs from one's body—Duan Yun naturally would not do it. But to the commoners standing in line, it was like a blessing bestowed upon them.
Springwatch City had so many things that enticed desire. Losing two ribs would let them satisfy desires they had never been able to fulfill. Or, if they restrained those desires and lived in the outskirts instead, the money would still be enough for a comfortable life for quite some time. That made the bargain seem worthwhile to them.
It was not as though they would die anyway.
It was said that the Ink Sect's craftsmanship was superb, and removing someone's ribs was not overly painful.
So Duan Yun watched helplessly as these people went to sell their bones.
When they emerged, injuries hung from their bodies. Though they had clearly lost one or two ribs, their faces were full of delight.
The bizarre sight made Duan Yun think of penned cattle and horses.
Every person was cattle and horses raised by the Ink Sect.
Springwatch City manufactured beautiful desires, which required silver to satisfy. The cattle and horses only needed to offer up parts of their bodies, such as ribs, in exchange for silver.
Good heavens, it was practically an internal circulation—trade for money in one place, spend it in the same place, and do not even dream of bringing your body home intact.
This sight made Duan Yun's skin crawl even more than rape and murder.
Duan Yun had basically confirmed that the Ink Sect was not made up of normal people either.
Beneath this seemingly incomparably prosperous Springwatch City lay rib after rib that had been removed.
Yes, the Ink Sect wanted human ribs this time. What about next time?
Still, compared to the rape and murder outside, the Ink Sect's conduct wore a coat of gold and silver.
They did not take for free; they paid silver. The environment was also safer than the towns outside, which was why countless people flocked here like ducks to water.
Watching these people trade ribs for silver, Duan Yun felt something strange in his heart. At the same time, he was glad that his big head had kept his little head under control, and that he had not fallen into the desires of Springwatch City.
At this moment, Duan Yun was sitting in a tea stall, where he encountered the second strange thing of the day.
A storyteller was telling tales in the tea stall.
And the tale was about Hua Wen and Hua Wu, whom he knew.
"Have you heard? A newly risen fiend has recently emerged in Cloud Prefecture, bringing calamity upon an entire region!"
"Who is it?"
The tea drinkers sipped their tea as they listened to the storyteller ramble on.
"Has anyone here heard of the Lingshui Twin Heroes?"
At this point, someone answered, "I have. Two big-bearded fellows, and their swordsmanship is quite good."
"That's right. In these times, anyone who still dared call himself a great hero naturally had a few genuine skills. But a month ago, something strange happened to the Lingshui Twin Heroes."
"What strange thing?" someone asked.
"The dignified Lingshui Twin Heroes—standard big beards, strapping men seven chi tall—yet one day, they suddenly underwent Feminine Descent!" the storyteller said excitedly.
"What? Feminine Descent? They became women!"
At that, the customers in the tea house were no longer sleepy.
"Exactly."
"How is that possible? How could a person who was perfectly fine suddenly become a woman?"
That was also Duan Yun's question.
This is fucking fabricated nonsense. Hua Wu and Hua Wu had only been separated from him for a short while—how could they suddenly become women!
Thinking of the two brothers' great beards and square faces, Duan Yun truly did not dare imagine how strange they would look as women.
This storyteller is making up filthy rumors!
"That is precisely what makes this new fiend so terrifying. The Lingshui Twin Heroes underwent Feminine Descent because they cultivated a technique the fiend passed on to them. The Lingshui Twin Heroes had been wise and glorious all their lives, yet even they were deceived by that fiend!"
At once, the people in the tea house became interested.
"What kind of technique is this, to be so wicked?"
"Yeah, turning men into women—Feminine Descent? I have a brother asking where he can find this technique. He wants to learn it, then let me enjoy him first."
"Hahahaha!"
"Exactly. This storyteller has no proof, not even the fiend's name."
At that, the storyteller slapped his sound block and said, "I did mention the fiend's name. His surname is Duan, his given name Yun. He looks young and handsome, has clear eyes, and travels with a donkey."
Duan Yun: "???"
Good heavens, the protagonist was actually me?
So you storytellers can spread rumors without breaking the law, huh?
Duan Yun had never imagined that one day, he too would become the protagonist in a storyteller's tale.
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