Chapter 195: Entering Feng City, A Sense of Killing Intent
With Zhang Hu and Tao Ming’s detailed explanation, Yu Luo gained a much clearer understanding of this wilderness and even the continent’s overall layout.
Looking down at the Great Wall-like structure beneath her feet, her eyes gleamed.
“Miss, should we hide our raincoats and straw hats here on the wall? These things aren’t easy to make. Feng City is still about fifty miles away—we can retrieve them when we return.”
“Alright.”
The three of them removed their coverings and braved the downpour, heading toward Feng City once more.
The fifty-mile journey took them only half an hour.
Standing before Feng City’s gates, where yellow dust swirled in the air, Yu Luo observed the ragged, tattered travelers around her and felt immensely relieved that she had chosen to wear men’s clothing today, deliberately roughened and dirtied.
Tao Ming and Zhang Hu had done the same.
“Why does Feng City have gatekeepers?”
“Of course it does. If Young Master wants to enter, you’ll have to pay an entry fee.”
Tao Ming and Zhang Hu recalled their first time arriving in Feng City five years ago—barely a dozen copper coins between them, unable to afford the entry fee. They had spent days as vagrants outside the gates. The memory made them feel bitter.
Yu Luo led them toward the city gates, where a long queue had formed.
She observed swordsmen with blades on their backs and tattered straw hats, others in beast-hide garments leading exotic creatures she had never seen before.
Among the shabby travelers, there were also wealthier men, dressed in luxurious robes, accompanied by entourages of guards, waiting in line.
But when she saw the entry fee, her eyes almost popped out!
“Good heavens! One tael of silver to enter? That’s a hundred times more expensive than entering the capital of Lan Yue Dynasty!”
A man ahead of her turned his head at her exclamation, sneering with disdain.
“Heh, first time in Feng City? If you don’t have one tael, I suggest you step out of line before they beat you down when it’s your turn.”
Despite his mocking tone, Yu Luo detected a hint of warning in his words.
“Hurry up! What’s taking so long back there? Can’t you see there are many others waiting? Don’t waste everyone’s time!”
Before Yu Luo could respond, the man in front of her was next in line.
He had hesitated for only a moment, yet the gate guards had already begun berating him like a dog.
Startled, the man quickly produced a silver tael, handed it over, and hurried inside.
Yu Luo, not wanting trouble, immediately handed over three taels, allowing them to enter smoothly.
Once inside, she pulled Zhang Hu and Tao Ming aside, lowering her voice.
“Does Feng City have a ruler?”
“Not exactly. But someone powerful runs things here—he commands a force of Jianghu warriors and controls many businesses in Feng City.”
“He owns medical clinics, assassin organizations, intelligence networks, grain supplies, seeds, inns, and taverns—all under his control.”
Yu Luo’s jaw nearly dropped!
“That powerful?! If he finds out we own a city, and ours looks even better than this, will he try to take it from us?”
For the first time, Yu Luo felt genuinely afraid.
She couldn’t understand why the system had given her a city before she even had the strength to protect it.
“This is a possibility.”
Zhang Hu’s serious gaze made Yu Luo want to cry.
Recruiting an army? Where was she supposed to find people?
She had come all this way just to buy a few servants, hoping to fill the mansion with people—but now, she might have to defend an entire city from a Feng City warlord?
If this city’s ruler decided to take her land, wiping out her entire family would be as easy as squashing an ant.
For the first time, Yu Luo fully grasped how dangerous Feng City truly was.
“Miss, don’t worry. Our area is not well-known—most Lan Yue Dynasty people entering Feng City wouldn’t pass through our land.
“Besides, even if they came via Jiuzheng Mountains, they’d still be dozens of miles away from your city. One is in the southwest, Feng City is in the northeast—they’d never stumble upon it.”
Tao Ming’s reassurance helped Yu Luo relax slightly.
“Tao Ming is right. Miss, are you here to buy people? There’s a black market. Not many women, but plenty of men. Should we go there first?”
“Wait—you haven’t been to Feng City before, have you?”
Yu Luo snapped out of her panic, suddenly suspicious.
“Before I was exiled, I visited once. But in just two years, the entry fee has increased a hundredfold.”
Yu Luo: …
Now that she had answers, she turned to observe the city streets.
Calling it a “main street” was a stretch—it was just a three-meter-wide stone-paved road.
Flanking the narrow street were wooden houses, their lower halves built from stone, upper portions hastily assembled with wooden planks.
There were no multi-story buildings—everything was a single-level shack. The wood was unpolished, and many parts were riddled with termite damage.
Beggars lay scattered across the roadside, half-naked, their worn-out clothes barely covering them.
Others wandered aimlessly along the stone pavement.
Shops were marked with faded, tattered cloth banners, occasionally calling out for business.
Heavily armed swordsmen roamed about, masked figures with black veils covering their faces—even in broad daylight.
But not a single woman could be seen.
Yu Luo felt another wave of relief for her disguise.
Then, her stomach growled loudly.
“Let’s eat first—it’s lunchtime, and we’re already here. No rush.”
“Good idea. The black market is busiest at night. In the afternoon, we can explore a bit.”
Zhang Hu took the lead, navigating the streets with ease.
Perhaps due to his and Tao Ming’s swords, the beggars didn’t even try begging from them.
“Do those beggars even get food?”
Feng City’s first impression made Yu Luo feel like the entire place reeked of bloodlust.
Everywhere she looked, faces were cold, and she couldn’t understand how such a ruthless place still had beggars.
“Young Master, do they look like real beggars?
“If you can lie around in Feng City’s streets, do you really think you’re just a beggar?”
