Chapter 43: She Doesn’t Look Like a Bad Person
Chapter 43: Chapter 43: She Doesn’t Look Like a Bad Person
He walked along a country path.
Wu Chen glanced around at the desolate fields and the crisscrossing paths that led to a dilapidated, bleak village in the distance.
For a moment, he felt a sense of dislocation.
If not for the greenery clinging to the leaves of the plants by the roadside, he might have thought he’d been walking in the wrong direction these past few days and was on his way back to Qingzhou.
"If a few Demon Corpses were to pop out now, it would be even more fitting."
Wu Chen grumbled to himself, then muttered again:
"But speaking of which, something felt off about those Demon Corpses on the road from Qingzhou."
The thought of Qingzhou always brought back images of those monsters, baring their fangs and claws as they overran the wilderness.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that it wasn’t so simple.
Setting aside the bizarre matter of humans transforming into demons...
If the people of Qingzhou were all devoured by Demon Corpses, where would be next?
Wu Chen shook his head, not wanting to think about it anymore.
"The imperial court has its officials, the martial world has its famous sects and heroes. This isn’t something for a refugee like me to worry about."
He felt he was worrying for nothing. Matters of such importance would naturally be discussed by the civil and military officials of the court.
Surely, those high-ranking officials were also worried about the countless lives in Qingzhou... right?
Shaking his head to clear it of wild thoughts, Wu Chen continued to sprint forward.
Before long, the outline of a gray, ancient, and somber city wall gradually came into view.
But as Wu Chen drew closer to the city, his heart sank.
’The refugee situation in other places seems even worse.’
At the foot of the city wall, hundreds, if not thousands, of refugees in rags were gathered. Their faces were ashen as they lay curled up on the ground, motionless.
If not for the rise and fall of their chests, Wu Chen would have thought them all dead.
Only when two or three people came out from the city to pick and choose among them did the refugees stir to life, their eyes shining with a glimmer of hope.
"Sir, please, have a heart and take this child. Just two taels of silver!"
"Two taels! Are you mad? Twenty copper coins, tops!"
"Sir, take a look at my wife here. If she pleases you, one tael of silver is all it costs!"
"Not interested in the woman. You, come with me!"
"Huh?!"
"..."
Wu Chen shook his head and looked toward a path leading to the distant mountain forest.
From that direction came a series of loud shouts:
"The quarry is in urgent need of twenty laborers! Two meals provided! First come, first served..."
"Anyone who wants the job, first lift this rock beside me..."
A crowd of refugees had gathered around the crier, but most lacked the strength to lift the man’s rock and were thus unqualified for quarry work.
They could only leave in disappointment.
’It’s like this outside the city.’
’I’m afraid it won’t be much better inside.’
Looking at the scene around Black Stone City, Wu Chen wouldn’t believe for a second that there weren’t at least eighty or a hundred Blood Slaughter Sect members lurking here.
Gazing at the dilapidated city gate, Wu Chen strode inside.
Two soldiers stood at the gate. The younger one was about to step forward and question Wu Chen’s origins but was stopped by the older soldier:
"His clothes are neat—he’s no refugee. And he’s carrying a saber. He’s clearly a man of the martial world. Don’t cause trouble!"
After the veteran soldier’s warning, the younger one didn’t approach, allowing Wu Chen to pass through the gate.
Wu Chen, who was constantly aware of his surroundings, had been ready to pull out some silver to smooth things over. When he overheard the hushed words, he couldn’t help but grin.
"In this world, a saber really is the most useful tool."
Stepping into Black Stone City, he saw that the streets were nearly empty. The few pedestrians who did appear kept their heads down, hurrying on their way.
They all looked terrified of attracting trouble.
Few of the shops lining the streets were open for business, and those that were had no customers. The entire city felt deathly still.
Wu Chen knocked on the door of an inn. After he knocked three times, the door opened a crack, and an assistant poked his head out.
The assistant asked, "Are you here for a room, sir, or...?"
Wu Chen nodded. "A room."
"A room is one hundred copper coins a day."
The assistant stated the price first. "Meals are extra."
Wu Chen was shocked. By his calculations, the money he had on him would only last for a month at this inn?!
Perhaps noticing Wu Chen’s surprise, the assistant said with a long face:
"Sir, you must have seen the refugees at the city gate, right? They all came from Qingzhou."
"I also heard the fighting with the barbarians over in Qingzhou has gotten fierce, and the war effort is strained."
"So most of the money we earn, we actually have to hand it over to..."
He pointed upward.
Wu Chen nodded. He now understood why most shops were closed. They probably had to pay more than they earned.
As for whether that money was actually being used for the front lines, that wasn’t something he could concern himself with.
Wu Chen weighed the bits of silver in his pouch.
Including food and lodging, he could probably only last for half a month.
’If I can’t sort out the gangs in this city within half a month, then I’ll have come here for nothing!’
He pushed the door open, handed the silver fragments to the assistant, and was led to a room on the second floor overlooking the street.
Wu Chen was at the Eighth Layer of the Flesh Refining Realm, and his hearing was extraordinary. From the faint, scattered sounds around him, he could tell there was another guest on the second floor.
’This person’s breathing is erratic. They seem to be injured.’
’But then again, to be injured in Black Stone City and not leave... are they unable to go, or have they not yet killed the person they came to kill?’
Wu Chen took a room one door down from this person.
Sitting on the hard plank bed, he opened his bundle. There were still a few flatbreads left inside.
Having been stored for too long, the flatbreads had lost all their moisture and were as hard as rocks.
Fortunately, Wu Chen was strong enough to easily crush the flatbread into crumbs, which he swallowed down in one go, mixed with his own saliva.
He actually wanted to be like one of those magnanimous martial arts masters, ordering two catties of beef and a jar of wine at the inn.
Never mind the question of whether Black Stone City was so corrupt that even an inn would poison its guests.
Judging by the ridiculously high price of the room alone, the beef certainly wouldn’t be cheap.
Or they might not have any at all.
After eating the flatbread and filling his stomach, Wu Chen lay down on the hard plank bed and slept with his clothes on.
He didn’t open his eyes again until the sky was dim and the room was pitch black.
First, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the pitch-black room.
Once he could make out the faint outlines of his surroundings, he rose silently, picked up the saber by his bed, and walked to the window.
CREAK!
The window slid open quietly.
Wu Chen put one foot on the windowsill, ready to vault down, but he froze.
He saw the window of the room one door down opening at the exact same moment.
The person inside leaned out at the same time.
It was a young woman dressed in a snug-fitting, ink-black outfit. Her dark hair was tied back with a red cord into a high ponytail.
In the cool moonlight, her pale face, a result of her injuries, looked coldly beautiful.
But her eyes were like a pool of stagnant water.
They were unsettling to look at.
Seeing Wu Chen, the young woman also froze, and for a moment, neither knew whether to advance or retreat.
"After you~"
Wu Chen didn’t care who went first, but since she seemed to have urgent business, he made a gesture for her to proceed.
The young woman nodded, then leaped from the window. Like a cat, she landed without a sound.
After two or three steps, her figure vanished into the darkness of the city.
"What incredible Qinggong."
Watching her disappear, Wu Chen sighed softly. "And judging by her strength, that woman is probably at the Meridian Passage Realm!"
"For a good person at the Meridian Passage Realm to get injured... it seems there’s more to this city than meets the eye."
Wu Chen stared thoughtfully in the direction the young woman had disappeared.
As for why he called her a good person—well, she just didn’t look like a bad one.