The last time they came to the North District, the North District Wizards had just emerged, like a fresh spring bubbling up in a stagnant pond. It had brought a few signs of renewal, but most of the water in that pond was still dead—foul-smelling, with passing visitors hurrying along as though afraid of getting even a speck of grime on themselves.
A week later, when Zheng Qing entered the North District again, he found that many striking changes had taken place.
The most obvious was the color.
The North District used to be a gray world—gray linen robes, gloomy faces, dusty streets, and gray-black mud walls lining either side of them.
Now, the North District was far more colorful.
The pedestrians coming and going on the streets—whether North District Wizards or tricksters—now dared to dress themselves in brighter clothing. The filthy street corners piled high with garbage had also been Scourgified. The cracked glass in the windows along both sides of the street had disappeared, replaced by clean, transparent panes. Even the Gargoyles crouching at the mouths of alleys had been scrubbed spotless, with red satin ribbons tied around their necks.
This change had slightly exceeded the two young wizards' expectations, and it caused them a small amount of trouble.
Because the feeling of being "watched" the last time they visited the North District had been so awful, Zheng Qing had long decided that, on their next visit, they would wear gray robes similar to those of the locals.
And that was exactly what they had done.
Zheng Qing wore a gray linen robe that day. Although Jiang Yu wore a plain-colored robe, she had added a gray cloak. Combined with its broad hood, the two of them should, in theory, have looked far more inconspicuous than before.
But