Chapter 18: He Dong Xian (Part II)

With no one else traveling on the road, Wang Wu's pace naturally sped up considerably.

His speed was already fast; in fact, if it weren't for wanting to learn more about the human world here yesterday, he could actually have reached He Dong Xian before dark.

After Ma Wang Village, Wang Wu passed three more villages along the way, using a little silver he carried to buy some food to eat on the road in those villages.

He is a monster, and his appetite is far greater than that of ordinary humans, basically on par with that of exceptional humans.

That big bowl of mutton noodles this morning was already a warrior's portion, but for a monster like Wang Wu, it was still not enough.

The closer he got to He Dong Xian, the more people there were on the road. After walking several dozen li in a straight line, he then saw several forked paths.

Naturally, all these forked paths came from the right‑hand plain, and it was impossible to emerge from within Wang Gu Lin.

Each forked path was a broad road paved with the same gray‑white giant stones beneath one's feet, with villages dotted along the sides where vast wheat fields and huge pastures could be seen.

The plain outside Wang Gu Lin is vast, and it seems to be fertile land for thousands of li; basically, outside every village one can see extensive farmland, and the pastures are full of various livestock visible everywhere.

Despite being adjacent to the eerie Wang Gu Lin, the land here truly looks fertile. After all, to have such an endless plain is already quite rare.

"Yo, what a handsome young hero. What brings you to my He Dong Xian?"

A person walked along the road, left hand holding a water‑filled sack, right hand holding a large flatbread, eating and drinking while walking, when suddenly a voice came from beside his ear.

Wang Wu turned his head and looked at the other person:

"I came to He Dong Xian to buy supplies for winter." He spoke frankly.

This is Wang Wu's purpose for coming here: to buy a large stock of winter provisions, pack them full, and then get some items that the neighboring monsters would be interested in to take back.

For example, rouge and powder used by human women, as well as clothing and the like.

The man who accosted Wang Wu was a rider on a tall, big horse, stout of build with a flowing beard and tiger eyes. He wore a sturdy military uniform, and like Wang Wu he also had a half‑sleeve chainmail and a short lamellar armor.

"Haha, then after entering the city, why not come take a look at our Lei Family Trading House?"

After hearing Wang Wu's words, the man chuckled twice, shook the large spear in his hand, and recommended himself to Wang Wu:

"The goods of my Lei Family are famous in He Dong Xian for being good quality and cheap. The money you would spend buying a thousand catties of grain from the Wang Clan, at our Lei Family we can give you fifteen hundred catties! And we absolutely never substitute inferior goods!"

"Moreover, if you buy a lot, we can even deliver it to your door for free!"

"Besides grain, we also have the Monster‑detecting Stone, Demon‑repelling Stone, and various high‑grade stone powders…"

Although this man was big‑built and bold‑spirited, dressed like a warrior, giving the impression of a martial artist, once he opened his mouth he could instantly turn into a silver‑tongued, enthusiastic merchant.

"Haha, we'll talk about it later."

After listening for a while, Wang Wu laughed and said, then clasped his hands toward him.

"Haha, sorry, sorry." The man then realized he had perhaps spoken too much, also clasped his hands toward Wang Wu, smiled, and apologetically said:

"Sorry for the trouble, sorry for the trouble. Here's what I'll do: as compensation, when you go to the Lei Family Trading House to buy things, just give my name Lei Yuan and you'll get a 10% discount!"

"Haha, okay, okay." Wang Wu politely nodded, and then the two parted ways.

Although their destination was the same, they soon pulled apart.

Wang Wu's speed was much greater than that of the Lei‑surnamed man's convoy; after just a few minutes he formally arrived at the main gate of He Dong Xian.

The city walls of He Dong Xian are very high, higher than the ancient walls of many big cities he had visited in his hometown, probably reaching thirty meters.

Beneath the massive city walls stands an equally huge vermilion city gate. Its width is over ten meters, and its height is likely close to ten meters.

At this moment, a long queue had already formed at the city gate for entry, and it had just reached where Wang Wu stood.

He simply stood directly behind the person in front, and thus began to wait.

Many people were waiting to enter the city; most were traveling in groups, ranging from those like him with little luggage to those with full horse and carriage preparations.

The entry queue was concentrated on the left side of the gate; although the right side also had a passage for entry, only a few carriages passed through there.

Those carriages, when entering the city, did not need to undergo any inspection; indeed, the city guards even had to bow to those carriages.

At a glance one knows this is the exclusive passage for the city's dignitaries.

"Yo, brother, are you also coming alone to He Dong Xian?"

Just as Wang Wu was curiously observing the environment at the He Dong Xian city gate, the person in front of him suddenly turned around and said to him:

How to put it, that was a face deliberately made ugly.

Nevertheless, one could still tell that this was a handsome man, of the same caliber as him, neither superior nor inferior.

Moreover, even without looking at that face, when the person turned around and Wang Wu noticed him, he immediately knew the fellow's identity.

He had encountered a fellow clansman.

This one was also a monster.

But the other seemed not to have recognized his identity, or if he had, he was pretending not to know.

"Yeah, I came alone." Wang Wu nodded.

"Nice looks, brother." The man twisted his mouth, his expression twitching to reveal an ugly smile, then immediately turned away, walked forward a bit, and increased the distance from Wang Wu.

Wang Wu watched his appearance, said nothing, just stood there without moving forward, merely shifting the Demon‑exterminating Stone from his waist to his lower back.

The entry line moved quickly; after about ten or more minutes, Wang Wu could already see the city guards ahead.

At this moment, there were still six people ahead of Wang Wu: four obviously together, each carrying two large boxes; one wearing what might be a Daoist robe, with a sword on his back and a jade crown on his head; and the other was the monster fellow ahead of him.

"You few, go over there and touch that stone. After the goods are brought in, check them on the left side."

The city guard, looking at the four who had approached together and were nodding and bowing, pointed to the four milky‑yellow stones placed on the nearby table and ordered:

"Yes, yes! Sir Soldier!"

The four hurried over and placed their hands on the stones. Another soldier came up to them, observing their facial expressions while watching their hands on the stones.

After a dozen or so seconds, that soldier waved his hand and said, "Go ahead."

The four again nodded and bowed, then lifted their carrying poles once more and headed into the city gate.

Next came the man with the longsword on his back. At this point Wang Wu could see his appearance: a man with two small mustaches on his upper lip and a tuft on his chin that is clearly a regularly groomed goat beard.

Before the soldier could speak, the man directly pulled a booklet from his clothing and handed it over. The soldier took the booklet, glanced at it, and immediately broke into a smile:

"Sir Dao, please proceed this way!"

"Next."

After sending off the Daoist, the soldier's face returned to utter expressionlessness, and he addressed Wang Wu's fellow countryman.

The fellow countryman walked over, also nodding and bowing, and then, before the other party could say anything, he took the initiative to walk over and place his hand on the stone.

Nothing changed, and his face showed no expression either. After the soldier responsible for watching the stone observed for a moment, he raised his hand, about to let the other party pass.

"Wait."

But just then, a voice interrupted him. The voice came from above. The soldier and Wang Wu both looked up, and then they saw a person floating in midair, wearing something that likewise might or might not be a Daoist robe, but looked very similar.

Very young, with an excellent bearing and decent looks, but he could not compare to that fellow countryman from the demon race earlier.

The man landed on the ground, glanced at the fellow countryman who still had his hand resting on the stone, and then glanced at Wang Wu. After that, with a flick of his wide sleeve, an enormous glass mirror appeared at his side.

"Go over and take a look in front of the mirror," the man said.

Wang Wu could see that his fellow countryman, upon hearing these words, clearly froze for a moment.

"What is it?"

And precisely because of that momentary freeze, the young man's expression immediately darkened.

"O... okay." Wang Wu saw his fellow countryman's body tremble almost imperceptibly, and the young man seemed to notice this as well, but there was no change in his expression.

After that, the fellow countryman walked to the front of the mirror and stood still. Because Wang Wu had his back to him, he could not see the expression on his face at this moment.

As for that mirror... it seemed somewhat special.

It could not reflect the area behind it; it could only reflect the man in front of it and display the image within. As for Wang Wu and the others behind it, none of them could be reflected in the mirror.

And now, when the man came before the mirror, Wang Wu also saw the other party's appearance as reflected by the mirror.

A human body with a beast's head — honestly, it wasn't ugly, but this was clearly enough to prove that he was not human.

A wolf demon, a red-furred wolf demon.

"Hmph, a mere little demon, and you still want to sneak into my He Dong Xian?"

The young cultivator looked at the wolf demon in the mirror and sneered, speaking.

"Damn it!!!"

And at the moment he saw himself in the mirror, the expression on the wolf demon's face instantly changed as well, then he violently erupted, his entire body radiating sky-reaching demonic Qi, and slashed a claw toward the man before him.

In an instant, black smoke filled the air before the city gate, and a figure darted out from the smoke, fleeing toward the distance.

"Hmph, you want to escape?"

But from within that smoke, that male voice rang out once more.

Accompanying these words, a flash of cold light burst forth from the black smoke, shooting rapidly toward the figure that had already darted an unknown distance away.

The cold light, though launched later, arrived first, and then Wang Wu saw a crimson fountain surge up on the Guan Dao in the distance.

After that, the figure still continued to dart forward for several hundred meters before crashing heavily onto the ground.

At the same time, the black smoke dissipated, and the cold light whistled as it flew back, arriving in the young cultivator's hand — it turned out to be a five-foot jade sword.

Immediately after, Wang Wu felt that a pair of sharp eyes had locked onto him.

"You." The cultivator looked at Wang Wu.

"Come take a look before this mirror?"

(End of this chapter)