Chapter 31: Wanxiang Tower

If a horde of Demon Beasts were truly leading an army of Wild Beasts to attack the city, these elderly people and children outside the walls would become the first targets of the assault.

Seeing this scene, Meng Yifan felt even more repulsed by the Luolong County government; these people were all subjects under the County Magistrate's rule, so why did he not send people to provide disaster relief—did he really intend to let them all starve to death?

Meng Yifan could not manage so much; his abilities were limited, and he only wanted to take care of his own kin first. He accompanied his words with a smile and said, "Big Brother, I will be out before dark."

He did not mention that he intended to buy a house in the city to live in; having lived two lifetimes, he still understood the principle that one should not flaunt one's wealth.

Meng Yifan had Demon Cores and Demon Beast materials on him that were all very valuable, enough to buy a house, but there was no need to tell this greedy yamen runner everything, lest it invite unnecessary trouble.

"Ungrateful, hurry up and get in; if you want to enter the city again in the future, it will still be ten coppers per person." The short, fat yamen runner waved his hand, and Meng Yifan hurriedly carried two Elm Cannons into the city.

Outside the city, everything was desolate, with Demon Beasts running rampant; the villagers lived in dire straits, while inside the city walls, the streets were lined with shops—some selling rouge and powder, some selling porcelain and glassware, and others selling weapons like knives, spears, swords, and halberds; there were even shops selling Bird Guns, which secretly shocked Meng Yifan, as he had not expected the commerce within Luolong City to be so prosperous.

Meng Yifan walked along the main street, surrounded by a weaving crowd of pedestrians, shoulder to shoulder, bustling with activity.

On both sides of the road, there were also many small vendors hawking their wares along the street.

"Candied haws, fragrant and sweet candied haws, only two coppers a skewer."

"Steamed cakes! Freshly baked steamed cakes, five coppers each."

"Sesame cakes, Wang Daniang's sesame cakes, crispy and crunchy sesame cakes, if they don't taste good, you don't have to pay."

Outside some large houses hung with red lanterns, there were women dressed in flashy, gaudy clothes who, upon seeing men pass by, would cast flirtatious glances and say in delicate, coy voices, "Master, come in and relax; our girls here know best how to serve people, guaranteed to serve you comfortably."

Some men in luxurious clothing walked by with chuckles, and soon beauties were throwing themselves into their arms; the sound of the beauties' silver-bell-like laughter drifted from the houses.

Meng Yifan shook his head; thinking of the tragic scene of the village massacre in Shuanghe Village, thinking of those elderly people outside the city with numb expressions lying on the ground waiting to starve to death, and then looking at the flourishing, prosperous scene inside the county city, his heart felt a complex mix of emotions, and he felt quite unsettled.

The city inside and the city outside were simply two different worlds; were the villages outside the city not under the jurisdiction of Luolong County? The high-and-mighty County Magistrate did not even send people out of the city to subdue the demons, nor did he send people to provide relief to the disaster victims, knowing only how to hide in the city and enjoy himself—truly deserving of death.

Meng Yifan sighed; his words carried little weight, and he could not manage so much. He arrived at the Welcoming Guest Inn and sat in a corner outside to wait for Meng Dayong and the others to rendezvous.

After an hour passed, Meng Dayong and the others each paid the ten-copper entry fee, and because they were carrying a large amount of supplies, they were charged three taels in taxes by the yamen runners guarding the gate; it was only after paying a total of four taels of silver that they successfully entered the city, and Meng Yifan and Meng Dayong soon reunited.

After entering the city, the villagers of Sanlitun and Xiaowangzhuang separated from the people of Qinghe Village; Meng Dayong had already done his utmost by bringing them into the city, and he could not support these people for nothing.

The villagers of Sanlitun and Xiaowangzhuang had no complaints about this; instead, they thanked the Meng father and son again for their life-saving grace, saying that they would repay them in the future.

Meng Dayong and Meng Yifan did not take it to heart; these villagers had limited strength, and the strongest among them was only a First Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist. It would be good enough if they could survive in Luolong City; they had no strength to repay the favor.

Some of the Qinghe Village villagers had relatives in the city and went to seek refuge with them; in the end, thirty-two people remained, among whom fifteen were young and strong, and seventeen were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

They had nowhere else to turn; when everyone entered the city, they had already seen the shantytown outside the city and knew that if they did not have a place to live, they would have to leave the city before dark or join the Labor Camp to repair city defenses and do hard labor.

The young and strong barely had a way to survive, but these seventeen elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people were useless; they were all worried that the Meng father and son would abandon them.

"Rest assured, we are all fellow villagers; since I promised that as long as our father and son have a bite to eat, you will have a bite to eat, I will not ignore you," Meng Dayong said.

"You all set up stalls nearby first and sell the Wild Beast furs we brought; Yifan, come with me," Meng Dayong said.

Many of the villagers were Mountain Hunters and were no strangers to selling Wild Beast furs; the elderly were responsible for manning the stalls, the half-grown children were responsible for hawking, the young and strong hung furs on their bodies to sell along the street, and some of the young and strong held weapons to protect everyone's safety, lest the local thugs and ruffians in the city come to stir up trouble.

The Meng father and son, meanwhile, set off toward a five-story pavilion in the city.

Most of the buildings in Luolong City were two-story houses; this five-story pavilion, standing here, was like a crane in a flock of chickens, very conspicuous. Meng Yifan saw that a gilded plaque was hung on the gate of the pavilion, with the three large characters "Wanxiang Tower" written in a bold, sweeping calligraphy.

Wanxiang Tower was a very famous chamber of commerce in the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty; there were as many Wanxiang Towers as there were cities in the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty. It was said that the backer of Wanxiang Tower was the Directorate of Celestials, where Immortal Masters gathered, and it could be considered an peripheral organization of the Directorate of Celestials; their main task was to purchase rare treasures and Demon Beast materials for the Immortal Masters of the Directorate of Celestials.

Meng Yifan and Meng Dayong were both dressed as Mountain Hunters, each carrying a large bundle; compared to these luxuriously dressed city people, they looked very down-and-out, clearly country bumpkins who had fled from the countryside.

Just as Meng Yifan approached the gate of Wanxiang Tower, he was suddenly startled; on both sides of the gate stood a burly man wearing black tight-fitting clothes. What surprised Meng Yifan was that the True Qi fluctuations on these two gatekeepers were very strong; they were actually both Second Grade Middle Stage Martial Artists.

Using Second Grade Middle Stage Martial Artists to guard the gate—how strong must this Wanxiang Tower be? It was worthy of being an organization that purchased materials for Immortal Masters.

The black-clad men also discovered that Meng Yifan was a Second Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist, but the two did not care.

A Second Grade Lower Stage Martial Artist might be considered an expert elsewhere, but within Wanxiang Tower, if one dared to cause trouble, they would certainly be made to walk in upright and be carried out horizontally.

The Meng father and son walked into the first-floor lobby; it was actually similar to a bookstore, with many bookshelves placed around, on which some books were displayed.

Meng Yifan casually picked up a book and found that the cover was inscribed with "Rock Foundation Art"; this was actually a martial arts cultivation technique. Meng Yifan wanted to flip through the contents inside but found that this book was sealed with a thin, plastic-like film; to see the cultivation technique inside, one had to pay to purchase it.

Below the "Rock Foundation Art" was a small label, on which was written "Yellow Grade Middle Tier Technique," with a selling price of three hundred taels of silver.