Chapter 113: Starry Sky and Waning Moon

When the low wall of Luge's yard was knocked loose of a few stones again, he had almost finished breakfast.

He brought out a small round table from the living room and set it beneath that ugly, crooked tree, enjoying egg rolls made from ground beast eggs while eating a rack of ribs boiled in special spicy sour sauce, the flavors overlapping into a unique gustatory delight. The numbered cavern districts of every ground cave domain grow large quantities of crops that require sunlight to grow and survive, sustaining humanity's myriad culinary pleasures. Legend has it those crops were brought down from the surface world in the distant past, and through mutation and elimination formed the present situation.

Of course, Luge believed those crops and seeds and such certainly also bore the shadow of wizards, after all the establishment of underground cities had wizard participation.

This particular nature of the major underground cities also caused certain things to exist only on human territory, unseen in the wilderness — no seeds, no suitable environment, and no careful tending. Of course, humans are not the only ones enjoying these crops; for instance, dark elves, those pointed-ear city-states buy large quantities of spices from humans every year, and various uniquely flavored fine wines are also favorites of the pointed-ears.

Luge ate the last bite of meat roll, watching the two brawny men trading blows, and couldn't help but sigh at the extraordinary physical prowess of the supernaturals beside him. If they were two ordinary people, they wouldn't even need to be injured — just taking turns swinging hammers would leave them too exhausted to stand.

Swish! Blood blossomed!

The one-armed Cui Fanke blocked with his metal bracer, but a slight mishap left a bloody gash on his shoulder.

"Hahaha, Cui Fanke, you're done! A fighter is no match for a knight in the end." The man laughed loudly, gripping his sword hilt with both hands, his two arms trembling as they drew a residual shadow, cleaving down five consecutive strikes.

Cui Fanke's one-armed metal bracer showered sparks under the continuous chops.

Creak!

The room door nearby was pushed open.

Luge turned his head and smiled at the new neighbor. He saw the female wizard apprentice with a wooden expression, looking at the two combatants at the critical moment, raise a hand and point — the two who had struggled for so long collapsed simultaneously on the ground in an instant.

Having done all this, the female wizard apprentice glanced at Luge who was laughing heartily, then turned and returned to her own house.

After laughing, Luge strolled to the street side, squatting before the two with a smile on his face.

He grabbed one man's arm and shook it; it was limp and soft, as if stewed in spicy sour sauce until mushy.

"How does it feel?" Luge asked.

The two had not lost consciousness, merely collapsed there; at this moment both were looking at him.

Cui Fanke seemed to have long known of this strangely-featured new neighbor's existence, so he was fairly friendly, opening his mouth to say: "Feel tired, not that I have strength I can't use, but completely no strength at all, more tired than when I was chased by a herd of ground beasts... rushing without sleep or rest..."

Luge nodded at his words, gesturing for him to continue, to describe more sensations. Then he looked at the other man, who put on an air of not bothering to acknowledge him.

Luge smiled.

Tired? Just tired?

He asked a few more questions.

Then a thought stirred in his heart; smiling, he also pointed a finger, holding a try-it-out attitude, and cast a Bull Strength spell onto Cui Fanke.

"You can try, see if you've recovered now." Luge said.

The other man beside them stared straight at Luge, seemingly surprised by his spellcaster identity, but also seeming to think of something, only letting out a light snort.

The moment the spell landed on him, Cui Fanke moved — first clenching his fist, hearing Luge's words he attempted to stand; his appearance clearly showed he hadn't fully recovered, yet he was already able to sway and rise under the astonished gaze of the bystander.

"Thank you, powerful spellcaster." Cui Fanke said politely.

"Thank you, Mister Sharp Tooth."

The little one also ran over, trying hard to hug his father's thick thigh.

Luge smiled and ruffled the little one's head.

In the little one's father's eyes, he saw the ring trace he had always heard of — the mark left around the pupils by those who drank awakening potions to adapt to underground city life; this indicated Mister Cui Fanke originated from the Yuanwo. The little one's eyes had no such mark, already a standard underground city person living under sunlight.

"You... can you let me stand up too?" the other man said with a grin, trying; he had also tried using his sword as a cane, but found he couldn't even hold the sword steady.

"Of course," Luge teased, "the yard wall still needs you two to repair it."

The two smiled embarrassedly.

Luge cast another Bull Strength, letting the man on the ground stand up.

Watching the two stagger off to rebuild the courtyard's low wall, he pondered the spell's effect in his heart; that situation looked like it merely amplified the two men's already exhausted state. If it's that kind of spell effect, even without his intervention, resting a while should let them recover.

He stepped back to the recliner, glanced at the three repairing the wall, and continued reading the spellbook on writing technique.

Yes, three people — the little one was also busy helping his father.

Daisy brought over a plate of fruit and set it beside Luge, then took two more to give to the little one.

Luge smiled watching all this.

Life seemed to have become orderly.

But Luge knew in his heart, all this was temporary, false; he was still that person waiting for an opportunity to go to the wizard domain.

Two days passed quickly.

While Daisy, like many in the city, prepared things for the Star Festival, a piece of news spread rapidly through the whole city.

Twin Moon City would dispatch a massive envoy to visit Starry Sky City; it was said the Twin Moon Marquis's most outstanding daughter was among them, and some said the envoy was led by this marquis's daughter.

Although underground cities do not subordinate to each other, the strength gap between Twin Moon City and Starry Sky City is still quite large; Starry Sky City has jurisdiction over ninety-eight numbered cavern districts — that is, ninety-eight towns of varying sizes — and further out lies a circle of uncounted Yuanwo areas; the ground cave domain ruled by Twin Moon City has over two hundred similar towns in total. The scale of a ground cave domain depends not only on how the ruler manages it; it has an upper limit — the size of the light stone overhead.

The Star Festival finally arrived.

The entire underground city welcomed three days of night, but fortunately overhead still glittered countless stars.

The happiest were naturally the children.

Children raised in the underground city seemed to find this continuous darkness without distinction of day and night very novel; one by one they ran out their doors to play in the streets.

When the festival began, people sang songs and lit bonfires in streets and alleys.

Luge moved the old recliner under the tree, reading his spellbook while soaking in the festival's strange atmosphere. Nearby neighbors gathered together, going into Cui Fanke's courtyard; the gate stood wide open, beside a large pile of bonfires everyone brought out their prepared food, and began chatting and laughing while sharing fine wine.

A small figure lay prone by the courtyard gate.

"Mister Sharp Tooth, are you coming? My mom made lots of meat pies." he said.

(Chapter End)