Chapter 45: Bianliang, the Little Mute?

(PS: Three chapters today. Can this be considered the only burst of activity before the end of this month, or before the book goes on sale next month?)

The capital of the Northern Song, Eastern Capital Bianliang!

The spot where Su Xing and his two companions appeared was on a hillside, from which they could just make out a corner of the city—this, naturally, was Bianliang City.

"This area should be Ox Village. The Little Mute is buried by the peach grove down there. When spring comes next year, it will surely be very beautiful; the Little Mute would likely be very happy," Su Xing said, looking down.

Su Xing had already told the other two about his experiences in the Mud Buddha Yaksha dream world. Amadai, being thick-skinned and carefree, didn't think much of it and said boisterously, "When the peaches are ripe, we'll go and pack a bunch to take back to Gaia."

Xu Shilan kicked Amadai, then walked to Su Xing’s side and said gently, "The departed are gone. At least you survived, and you still remember her. If you pay your respects every year, I imagine she can rest in peace."

Su Xing nodded silently. Jiu Jiu, perched on his shoulder, flew straight off toward the peach grove at the bottom of the hill.

Su Xing shouted, "Don't fly too far! We’re heading to Bianliang City; be careful you don't lose us later."

Jiu Jiu chirped twice crisply and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Amadai rubbed his chin, thoughtful. "That bird... does it seem to have gotten fatter?"

Su Xing nodded affirmatively. He had noticed Jiu Jiu’s size had indeed increased slightly, though he didn't know if it was from absorbing the demon core or eating the wild boar demon meat.

Xu Shilan sighed again. She always felt these two were truly unreliable when not in combat. Under her urging, they finally descended the hillside and headed toward the main road.

The three of them and the bird walked along the main road, watching the pedestrians coming and going, the bustling traffic. As they neared the city ahead, the road actually became congested—the level of activity was far beyond that of the Peace Hotel dream world.

All three were wearing maintenance staff uniforms. While not space suits, they were tight-sleeved with shorts—definitely strange attire for ancient times—but they didn't stand out in this crowd. There were plenty of other strange outfits: theatrical costumes, tight martial arts gear, juggling tunics, even people dressed like sumo wrestlers, as well as monks, Daoist priests, and many foreigners with red, yellow, or brown hair.

"Is the Song Dynasty this advanced?"

Xu Shilan and Amadai were both stunned. Even though they weren't well-versed in history—after all, human civilization had effectively suffered a generational break during the Third War—they at least knew that before the Industrial Revolution, human civilization was supposed to be very backward and impoverished. They truly hadn't expected a scene like this.

Su Xing, conversely, was full of anticipation and appreciation. "In ancient times, China was indeed much more advanced than other regions and countries, especially the Song Dynasty. It’s famous in history for being a period of great cultural and economic prosperity, aside from territorial expansion."

Amadai picked his nose. "And what about territorial expansion?"

"Aside from territorial expansion."

"What about the military side?"

"Aside from territorial expansion."

"Then..."

Su Xing and Amadai laughed and joked as they neared the city gate. Xu Shilan, looking hesitant, asked softly, "With so many non-white people around, I assume this Song Dynasty isn't afraid of 'foreigners' like the Qing Dynasty was, right? How are we supposed to enter the city?"

Su Xing paused, suddenly realizing that ancient times had things like travel permits.

Although not like the identification documents of the civilized era, there were household registrations and travel permits. The control over population movement might be even stricter than in later times. The three of them were complete blanks; where would they get travel permits? In that case, they might not even be able to enter Bianliang City.

Yet, as they reached the gate, they saw a vast number of passersby entering and exiting freely. The dozen or so soldiers guarding the gate looked more like ceremonial guards or order-keepers; they didn't even ask a single question.

The three were amazed. Following the crowd into the city, they saw that every corner was packed with people. Many lanterns were being set up. It was about two or three in the afternoon. With the shouting, hawking, acrobats, paper-doll players, and sumo matches, the entire city of Bianliang was boiling with noise—it was truly a scene of ancient prosperity straight out of the *Along the River During the Qingming Festival*.

"No way, this is the Song Dynasty?" Su Xing couldn't quite believe it. He looked left and right, found a small roadside stall selling herbal tea, and cupped his hands to the old man selling it. "Old sir, what day is it today? It’s so lively."

The old man was happily watching lanterns being hung by a shop in the distance. Hearing this, he turned to look at Su Xing, sized him up, then looked at Amadai and Xu Shilan behind him, and laughed happily. "Young man, just returned from overseas? You don't even remember the Lantern Festival of your hometown?"

Su Xing understood immediately and smiled at the old man. "Indeed, I've been away from home too long. Thank you, old sir."

The old man stroked his beard, poured three cups of herbal tea, and handed them over. "The Emperor is wise and has honored the Sage Guo as the National Master. For two years, the weather has been favorable, and the Liao barbarians in the north have been soundly defeated—I hear they are about to be wiped out. This year's Lantern Festival is especially lively. The Emperor has issued a decree for a seven-day national celebration, with no curfew and no restrictions on the people. Otherwise, how could two barbarians behind you enter my Eastern Capital Holy City so easily?"

Su Xing was puzzled but didn't show it. He drank the tea in one gulp and thanked the old man with a bow.

The three continued along the street. Xu Shilan said as they walked, "It seems to be a golden age. That’s good. It’s easier to do business in a golden age. We’ll buy two buildings in this Bianliang City. Amadai and I will set up a shelter. We’ll use the gold for this dream world next month. With the capital, you two little brothers can watch how this big sister stirs up the winds and clouds." Xu Shilan spoke with great confidence. Su Xing and Amadai could see she had clearly been prominent and capable in the past, so they didn't doubt her. Amadai just said unconvincingly, "Little brothers? Hehe, I'll pull it out and scare you to death!"

"Pull it out! Right now! If you don't, I won't think much of you!" Xu Shilan didn't back down and shouted immediately.

This left Amadai unable to back down, and he could only stammer.

Just then, Jiu Jiu on Su Xing’s shoulder chirped and prepared to fly off to watch the fun. Su Xing reached out and grabbed Jiu Jiu. Jiu Jiu immediately began pecking his palm, its chirps sounding aggrieved.

Su Xing said, "There are so many people here; how will you find us later? And what if someone uses a slingshot or something else to shoot you?"

Jiu Jiu chirped loudly, pointing its head toward the sky. Su Xing looked up and saw a flock of birds flying and landing, and some ancient-style maids on high buildings scattering fruit, clearly teasing the birds.

Seeing this, Su Xing hesitated for a moment before letting go, but immediately said, "You must be careful. Don't go where there are too many people, don't go near children, and stay away from anyone holding slingshots or crossbows, understand?"

Jiu Jiu chirped twice, nuzzled Su Xing’s face affectionately, and then spread its wings to fly high into the sky.

Once Jiu Jiu was out of sight, Su Xing looked at Amadai and Xu Shilan. "No, my history isn't very good—aside from some information I looked up to argue with others, I’m not familiar with it—but I know that after the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song, the Jingkang era followed. The Humiliation of Jingkang... I just don't know how many years of Xuanhe it is until the Jingkang era. Could it be like the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, a 'Kaiyuan Golden Age' that was suddenly cut short at its peak?"

"And Sage Guo... who is that? It couldn't be Guo Jing, could it!?"

!

Su Xing tried hard to recall his limited historical knowledge. He only knew that once the Humiliation of Jingkang arrived, the Northern Song was declared destroyed, and then Zhao Gou fled to the south, leading to the Southern Song. Could this 0.7 baseline reality world deviate so much from real history? Had the Song Dynasty of this world become like the Xianxia Qin Dynasty, invincible across the world?

Xu Shilan countered, "Either your history is wrong, or the 0.7 baseline reality deviation is too large. Because we’ve seen everything on our way here—what we’ve seen and heard is a prosperous golden age. Other things can deceive, but the spirit of the people cannot, right? And according to that old man, they’ve won battles in the north. Economic and cultural prosperity, plus a recent victory—a victory that wiped out a country—at least twenty years of peace should be guaranteed, right?"

Su Xing remained hesitant, but based on Xu Shilan’s analysis, this was indeed the most reasonable explanation. He nodded, looked at the sea of people around him, and watched the lantern scenes being set up, feeling moved. "Then let's find a way to get household registrations or something. We'll say we returned from overseas—that works. Then we'll see how to spend money, how to use government connections, and find a way to whitewash our identities and buy two buildings in this Bianliang City."

Joy is contagious. As the three walked through the festive atmosphere, the gloom in their hearts gradually dissipated. Each looked at the ancient cultural scenery while searching for a pawnshop-like place to exchange gold for silver or copper coins.

Just then, a bright green shadow flew back quickly, landed on Su Xing’s shoulder, and began chirping urgently and fiercely.

Su Xing was stunned, then his expression turned cold. He whispered, "Is someone trying to hurt you? Point them out. Where?"

Jiu Jiu shook its head in a human-like way, still chirping urgently, and pecked at Su Xing’s collar.

Su Xing looked left and right, then looked closely at Jiu Jiu, finding her unharmed. Hearing the urgent sound, he asked, "Slow down, slow down, don't be anxious. What exactly is it?"

Jiu Jiu paused, then let out one chirp, followed by two connected chirps, repeating this three times.

"Little Mute?" Su Xing asked blankly. "Jiu Jiu, are you saying you saw the Little Mute?"

Amadai and Xu Shilan immediately retorted, "No, how did you get the words 'Little Mute' out of that!?"

Yet Jiu Jiu nodded immediately, nodded three times in a row, then flew toward the sky, flew halfway, landed, looked at Su Xing, chirped, and flew up again.

Su Xing immediately said to Amadai and the other, "Wait for me here!"

Then he directly channeled his National Martial Arts blood-qi, operating his Human Immortal Martial Dao blood-qi, and pushed forward rapidly through the crowd, immediately drawing curses from pedestrians.

Su Xing didn't care, just kept charging forward. After running for a while, the crowd thinned. Looking ahead, he saw a temple with a vast footprint. Jiu Jiu continued to fly into the temple, and a high wall loomed before Su Xing.

There was no time to worry about anything else. Su Xing rushed forward, tapped his feet several times on the high wall, and his whole body soared over five meters high, jumping onto the wall. At this moment, Jiu Jiu was circling in the air in one direction. Su Xing looked over and saw a young girl of about thirteen or fourteen in palace attire, bending down to enter a sedan chair, with guards and maids in front and behind.

As Su Xing jumped onto the wall, the girl in palace attire happened to turn her head and look over, seeing Su Xing standing on the wall dozens of meters away. She was slightly stunned, then immediately hurried into the sedan chair.

"Little Mute!"

Su Xing only had a fleeting glance, but he saw the girl’s eyes.

They were the Little Mute’s eyes!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 46 =====