Chapter 232 -The Other Side of Half City
It would be a big mistake if one thinks that the outer city represented the whole city. This city also had beast-drawn carriages, but…
Fang Qi looked at the fierce brawny demon beast in front of him. It looked like a huge black dog, and it snorted and opened its mouth, almost swallowing Fang Qi in whole!
“Hey! Friends! Where are you going?” A guy wearing a short-sleeved shirt sat on the top of the carriage and asked with a chuckle.
Fang Qi and Zou Mo stepped onto the carriage. “Please take us to the city center and tell us if there’s a downtown area in the city.”
“First time in Half City?” The guy laughed and said, “You got the right person to answer all your questions!”
“The people outside of the city might have some misunderstandings about this city,” The guy said, “In my opinion, I think this place is much better than the big forces such as countries and empires! It’s quite safe here!”
“Are you serious?” Fang Qi was at a loss for words after what he had gone through a moment ago.
“Hehehe… sometimes, there are some incidents.” The man grinned. “But it is safe most of the time.”
“There are several busy areas in this city, and the slave market in the northern district is one of the busiest ones! Another place is the Liancheng Street in the western district; you can find everything including elixirs, spiritual artifacts, techniques, and relics dug out from the ruins!” The carriage driver said, “The area in the northern district close to the eastern district is also good.”
“However, the most awesome place is the center! It’s said that it’s a place where the real big figures live! In that place, the True Lake Realm cultivators are just ordinary ones!”
“It’s said?” Fang Qi looked at him in surprise. “You’ve never been there before?”
“How can I?” The carriage driver said with a laugh, “The ordinary people must pay 1,000 crystals to enter the inner city without the company of the people living in there! I can’t afford that!”
“1,000?!” Zou Mo clicked his tongue and said, “It’s plain robbery!”
“That’s the case for us,” the carriage driver explained with a grin, “But the inner city of Half City is the true core of the city. It’s said that you can buy anything if you have enough money, including kings, the heads of grandmasters, or even secret techniques that have been lost for thousands of years.”
“Oh!” Zou Mo pointed at the plants on the roadside and asked fearfully, “Are the plants in this city all like this?”
“Plants?’ The carriage driver glanced at the plants by the road and laughed with sudden understanding.
“You mean these things? Don’t worry about them as long as you don’t touch them. They usually prey on small animals and don’t attack people. This is a part of the security measures of the northern district, and you won’t see them in other parts of the city!”
“Ugh? They don’t hurt people?!” Astonished, Zou Mo looked at the horrifying plant which had just eaten a bird.
“Of course!” The carriage driver said, “The Blood Cage Trees in Half City usually don’t hurt people.”
Then, he stopped the carriage on the curb passionately and walked over to touch the twigs and tender leaves of a tree, saying, “Look! They don’t hurt people!”
In the next moment, the tender vines coiled toward him swiftly!
He was instantly wrapped up like a sticky rice dumpling!
“F*ck! Release me! Damn it! Let me go!” He struggled violently.
“Woo!
“Ahh!”
He tried to tear at the vines and twigs desperately.
Fang Qi: “…”
Zou Mo: “…”
The black-dog-like demon beast couldn’t bear it anymore; it turned and broke the vines and twigs with its paw, and the carriage driver finally got out.
“Hu… Hu… I almost forgot that these things will suck your blood when they are hungry… but you usually won’t be killed by them.”
Fang Qi: “…”
Zou Mo: “…”
This guy’s name was Wang Xian, and he resumed driving the carriage with a pale face, as if his essence had been sucked out of him. “Damn it! It almost got me!!”
“Thank you! Or I would’ve lost lots of blood today!” Wang Xian patted the head of the demon beast.
He drove Fang Qi and Zou Mo around the area close to the inner city, and Fang Qi finally got off the carriage in one piece.
It was a street corner, and the white and smooth stone walls were said to be built with the snowflake rocks unique in Half City. The thick snow-white walls looked quite harmonious with the two glass windows.
This place wasn’t too remote, but it also didn’t have a lot of traffic. Fang Qi stopped here because he saw that one of the shops here posted an advertisement for selling the shop.
The reason that Fang Qi didn’t go into the inner city was that the customers who lived in the outer city would have to pay 1,000 crystals to the guards of the inner city before they could go to his shop.
Fang Qi wouldn’t do such a stupid thing.
The shop owner was a white-haired old man wearing a silk coat with round straight collars; he looked quite sharp.
“Sir, you want to sell this place?” Fang Qi asked casually.
The old man glanced at him disinterestedly. “Can you afford it?”
Fang Qi laughed, “I wouldn’t ask if I couldn’t afford it. How about 30,000 crystals?”
“30,000 crystals?!” Zou Mo was startled!
Now, this old man lifted his head and took another look at Fang Qi. “30,000 crystals? You are rich, Young Man. It’s not safe to carry so much money on you.”
“How about 10,000 more? I have some connections with the local forces, and I’ll tell them to take care of you,” the old man said with a chuckle.
Fang Qi shrugged. “What kind of care is worth 10,000 crystals? I only want the shop.”
“It’s not safe here in the city!” the old man said mildly.
Fang Qi frowned. “Senior, you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Well! Suit yourself! The young guys these days are ungrateful.” The old man took out a contract. “I’ll sell it for 28,000 crystals. Pay the money and sign the contract, and the shop is yours.”
Fang Qi took the contract and asked casually, “Senior, this shop is decorated nicely. Why do you want to sell it?”
“I’m old and don’t have the energy to manage the shop. I want to sell it and enjoy the rest of my life.” The old man glanced at Fang Qi and took the crystals, finding that there were 28,000 crystals, no more no less.
Looking at the young man who took out about 30,000 crystals without a blink, the old man was a bit surprised, but he didn’t ask any questions. “I’ll get some people here to pick up a few things and leave the rest to you.”
“Ugh… I don’t need you to leave me anything.” Fang Qi glanced around the shop and found that it was a spiritual artifact shop.
“Okay! Okay!” The old man looked at the strange young man. “This shop is yours.”
Then, he walked out of the shop with light steps.
“Senior Mo, you are getting off work so early today? Don’t you need to keep an eye on the shop?” A melodious female voice sounded, and Fang Qi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl in her twenties; she was wearing a red dress.
“I sold the shop, so I don’t need to watch anything anymore.” Senior Mo walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back.
The woman looked surprised.
“Is this senior your friend?” Fang Qi asked curiously.
“Are you new here? Senior Mo looks cold but is actually very nice.”
Nice? Fang Qi looked confused, Nice? This place?
These two things didn’t seem compatible.
“You come from out of the city, so you must have heard of the name Mo Tianxing.”
Zou Mo was alarmed. “The big evil cultivator who killed and sacrificed more than 1,000 cultivators to summon a devil 200 years ago?”
“What do you mean by ‘big evil cultivator’?” The woman in red gave him a hard stare. “Since Senior’s history is no secret in Half City, I’ll tell you about it.”
“200 years ago, the Feng Family of the Morning Star Sea Realm collected more than 1,000 male and female cultivators and planned to summon a big devil with them. Senior Mo found out the secret and destroyed the secret place of the Feng Family, but the latter used their big influence to invert the truth with the help of the other forces, pushing Senior Mo into a corner! He had no choice but to hide in Half City.”
“From the looks of you, I don’t think you are forced into Half City after committing some hideous crimes outside.” She sized them up and added, “Don’t think that everyone outside of Half City is good!”
Fang Qi: “…”