Chapter 699

The East Island is in chaos.

The common people at the bottom have no idea what's going on. They only know that those noble Masters, who usually don't act like human beings, have suddenly started acting like they've all gone collectively insane.

They began to issue one unrealistic task after another, requiring the villagers to complete them within a certain time limit.

But those tasks were simply impossible to complete.

Thus, naturally, batches of innocent people died miserably because of this, and another group of people began to flee.

It was also at this time that news of a pure land called "Wan Guo" spread among the bottom layer.

Legend has it that Wan Guo is an isolated fantasy land, where there are no damn noble Masters, no unreasonable oppression, and only sisters who are as close as family and a peaceful daily life.

Of course, people would usually just listen to such news as a fairy tale; after all, how could such a place exist? It sounded fake the moment you heard it.

But when the noble Masters' demands became more and more excessive—today asking you to build a garden wonder, tomorrow asking you to plant a field of rare and exotic fruits, and the day after asking you to capture legendary mountain delicacies and seafood—people began to believe a little in that beautiful fantasy land.

A light word from the noble Masters was like a mountain pressing down on the commoners at the bottom. And when there was no hope left in life, only endless suffering and despair, people would always struggle desperately like drowning people. Even if they were only grabbing a straw on the water's surface, they would absolutely refuse to let go.

Everyone knows a straw can't save a person, but what else can they do? They have to grab onto something, right? What if it really is a life-saving straw?

People are very fragile, especially those in desperate situations. If there's really no hope, how can they endure those hellish days?

Is the rumor of the Wan Guo fantasy land the last hope in the hearts of these commoners who can barely survive?

What if? What if this isn't a legend, but real?

Thus, a group of people with no way out finally decided to risk their lives. Anyway, the noble Masters' tasks were definitely impossible to complete, so it would be better to just run away and look for that legendary fantasy land.

Of course, such an escape was destined to be difficult; the noble Masters' pursuit was not so easy to avoid.

However, even the power of the nobility had its limits. They could hunt down one or two fugitives, but when everyone started to flee, the noble's retainers were not enough.

Especially as they hunted and hunted, these noble samurai retainers suddenly discovered that many of the commoners actually knew sword techniques, and not just low-level ones, but authentic Yagyu Shinkage-ryu sword techniques.

In this process, many noble samurai suffered setbacks.

And when the commoners discovered that the noble Masters didn't seem as terrifying as they had imagined, more bold people appeared.

In the end, everything reached a climax with the true appearance of the Wan Guo fantasy land.

It had only been a few months, and these short few months were not worth mentioning in the face of the tens of thousands of years of history of the East Island.

But when the first batch of fugitives truly arrived at the fantasy land, and when the boundless fog covering the fantasy land finally dissipated, everyone was surprised to find that a new city had truly risen from the ground on the East Island at some unknown time.

It was a city whose scale was many times grander than Heian-kyo, a city built from countless rare treasures, a city that seemed to flow with sugar and honey...

It was also a city that turned no one away, a city full of redemption and hope.

Its name is Wan Guo.

After this Wan Guo city truly appeared before the world, everything began to go crazy.

Naturally, the noble Masters could not tolerate this. They immediately wanted to send people to attack the city of Wan Guo; as long as this damn city of heretics was destroyed, the East Island would still belong to the nobles.

However, before the noble Masters could really start acting, the Onmyo-ryo's onmyoji jumped out first.

The onmyoji sealed Heian-kyo, saying that there was a great demon in the city bewitching people's hearts, and many noble Masters had already been bewitched by the demon fox and needed to be purified.

But just as the onmyoji finished speaking, the Security Bureau and the Tenryo Magistrate had already taken joint action, directly sealing the Onmyo-ryo in return, and at the same time making public the crimes of the former Onmyo-ryo head, Kamo no Tadayuki, for raising demons and catalyzing the loss of control of demons.

For a time, the Onmyo-ryo began to be denounced by everyone, and even half of the onmyoji in the Onmyo-ryo rebelled overnight, with ninety percent of the shikigami backlashing, resulting in heavy losses.

Just like that, the crusade against Wan Guo fell into a stalemate, and the nobles began to fight internally with the onmyoji.

The entire East Island was in complete chaos.

And in the city of Wan Guo, a transaction was taking place at this moment.

"Thank you very much for your help, Lady Miya."

Wan Guo City Lord Butterfly Zhen stood up and bowed deeply to the graceful and luxurious Golden Beauty in front of her, expressing her gratitude.

And the tall and plump Golden Princess just waved her hand and said with a smile:

"It's just a fair trade, not really help. The money and goods are cleared, and the weapons and equipment you need will be delivered to you by the Golden Township Chamber of Commerce very soon."

Hearing this, Butterfly Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Wan Guo shouldn't have been born so early; they had wanted to develop in secret for a while longer, but the situation changed too fast.

Maybe the rumor that there was a great demon bewitching people's hearts in Heian-kyo was true; those nobles had been oppressing others like crazy recently, and they had no choice. They couldn't just turn a blind eye to those sisters who were suffering, right?

However, showing their cards too early inevitably meant insufficient strength. With Wan Guo's current strength, it was very difficult for them to resist the nobles' attacks.

Fortunately, the Onmyo-ryo helped them delay for a period of time, and they had once again luckily received help from the Golden Township.

Because of the wealth constantly sent by Lord Battousai, the current Wan Guo city lacked everything except various treasures and money; those things were so plentiful they could be used as building materials.

What they truly lacked was the strength to protect themselves, and the appearance of the Golden Township changed that.

As long as you have money, you can buy everything you need from the Golden Township Chamber of Commerce, and Lady Miya, the supervisor of the Golden Township, had just agreed to her request to purchase contraband like weapons and equipment.

And the Golden Township was truly very powerful. In addition to conventional magic staves, battle robes, attack spells, alchemy props, and various potions, they even sold Witch Warships.

Although as a native East Island witch, Butterfly Zhen didn't know what a Witch Warship was, this didn't stop her from waving her hand and spending money directly, ordering a full squadron of warships right away.

Although this almost emptied Wan Guo city's treasury and spent almost all the wealth sent by Lord Battousai, this was a necessary expenditure.

There was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between them and the nobles; there would definitely be a battle in the future. If they couldn't survive, then no matter how much money they had, it would just be useless.

Peace is never given by others; it must be fought for by oneself.

Before, it was always Lord Battousai helping them, but they couldn't always rely on Lord Battousai's salvation to live. Hiding under someone else's wings blindly would not lead to growth; in the future, they should walk their own path.

At the very least, they should be able to walk alongside Lord Battousai; in any case, they couldn't let the Lord always carry the burden alone.

Just as it is said in "Genesis," everyone is a sister, a family member, a fellow traveler, and should not be a burden, a drag, or an obstacle.

After expressing her gratitude to the Golden Township again, Butterfly Zhen left the chamber of commerce.

And after Butterfly Zhen left, Miya also put away her business-like smile. She stood up and looked to the side.

Thus, Wenwen, who was holding the camera, lifted the illusion of "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" and revealed her figure.

"Senior Sister, how does this look? Are you satisfied?"

The Black-Winged Witch revealed a fawning smile, handed the camera over, and asked cautiously.

Sigh, there's no way around it; even a free journalist has to eat, and the printing and distribution of news also require funding.

She could submit to the President's lewd power for the sake of the newspaper's funding, so naturally, she dared not neglect the Golden Princess in front of her.

After all, the largest shareholder of the Witch Daily was the Demon King, and the second largest shareholder was the Golden Township. This was a true "gold-master mother."

Besides, the exclusive sponsor for this magic film shoot was Senior Sister Miya in front of her, and since people were generous with their money, the product placement had to be professional.

Although the name of the Golden Township didn't need advertising anymore, the gold-master mother could not be ignored, and she couldn't be ignorant of the situation.

In short, bow to capital.

"Hmm, it's pretty good. Just keep it plain; there's no need to disrupt your magic film shoot for the sake of forced placement."

Miya reached out to take the camera, took a casual look, and nodded.

Did she invest in this magic film just for this little bit of advertising?

The Golden Princess continued to look at the famous paparazzi in front of her, then reached out her hand and smiled without saying a word.

Wenwen was confused at first, then suddenly realized. She skillfully took out a few magic stones storing the footage of the young lady she had recently filmed and handed them over.

The smile on Senior Sister Miya's face suddenly brightened.

Yay, handsome stills of the little fairy get!

She carefully put away the magic stones and gave an approving look to this junior sister who was very perceptive.

Hmm, the Witch Daily is a good thing; I can add more investment.

"Where is the little fairy?"

After completing this shady transaction, the Golden Princess looked at the paparazzi and asked.

Why isn't this photographer following the protagonist? Isn't this magic film not finished yet?

"The young lady? She said her mission was completed and she was preparing to go educate her unruly junior sister, and by the way, go collect her lunch box."

Wenwen replied with a strange expression.

Dorothy strolled on the streets of Wan Guo. Looking at the bits and pieces of this city that could be said to have been built by her own hands, she felt quite a sense of accomplishment.

This was a new city, and everything was waiting to be done, so everyone was quite busy. Most of the pedestrians on the road were in a hurry, moving as if they were flying.

This scene always reminded her of some big cities with a fast pace of life in her previous life; the people there were about the same.

It's just that unlike the anxious, involutionary, restless, and oppressive atmosphere in her memory, although the people here were equally tired, their mental outlook was completely different. Most people had smiles on their faces, and their eyes were full of light—that was a yearning for a beautiful future.

The home-loving witch liked this atmosphere. Every time she saw such a scene, her mood, which had become somewhat gloomy due to the crazy killing of the past few months, seemed to be purified.

Hmm, everything was worth it.

"Hmph! Ha!"

The neat shouting coming from not far away attracted her attention.

Following the sound, she saw a familiar figure—it was Yagyu Jubei.

The swordmaster—no, now she was the Great Swordmaster—was teaching a group of people swordsmanship.

This Great Swordmaster had been teaching swordsmanship here for many days, turning no one away. If someone was willing to learn, she was willing to teach. Now she already had countless disciples, and every day a group of people would come to her to learn swordsmanship.

Among them were adult witches, and even more were underage witches.

Right now, Yagyu Jubei was explaining her sword techniques to a group of little witches, and Dorothy also found the little witch who was demonstrating the sword techniques beside her familiar. That seemed to be the child named Sanada Kana, right?

Ho, she really is a little genius. It's only been a few months, and this child's swordsmanship has already entered the hall and reached the room; she has even found her own sword will and is about to condense a sword soul.

Incredible, truly incredible.

Seeming to notice her gaze, Yagyu Jubei also turned her head to look at her, but just nodded, which counted as a greeting.

The Great Swordmaster then focused her attention back on the children in front of her.

"Why does everyone want to learn swordsmanship?"

She asked with a smile.

"To be cool."

"To be strong."

"To protect my family."

"To defeat the bad guys."

The little witches answered enthusiastically, with all sorts of answers.

"To protect the eternity of Wan Guo City."

One little witch said this decisively.

Dorothy was stunned. Although the little witch had her back to her, she still recognized this little one.

This was the little one who had given her a bucket of fish before.

It seems her name is Butterfly Ying, right?

That Wan Guo City could be like this now was thanks to her sister. Although she was a village doctor, she was unexpectedly quite capable.

The home-loving witch stood on the side, quietly watching the little witches learning swordsmanship with "yi-ya" sounds. After watching for a good while, she walked toward the outside of the city with satisfaction.

This magic film had indeed reached the time to end.

She had already planted the seeds of hope, and her mission had finally ended. The future path had to be walked by the people of Wan Guo themselves.

Just like the crops in the field, which taste especially sweet when you grow them yourself, others couldn't help much with what happened later.

"It's time to wrap up. School is almost at the end of the term, and I've skipped more than half the semester's classes; I have to go back to take the exams."

Thinking this, she walked toward the direction of Heian-kyo.

Tsk, it's a pity she had just said her junior sister was obedient and sensible, and then she turned around and gave her a big surprise.

Disobedient children need their butts spanked.

The home-loving witch's hands are itching.