Chapter 198: The Street of Brothels and Inns
After visiting a clothing shop, Yu Luo found brand-new cotton-padded jackets and long robes with clearly marked prices. Each piece of clothing displayed a price tag written on Xuan paper.
A simple cotton jacket cost twenty taels, a long padded robe ranged from forty to fifty taels, and more luxurious fabrics cost between one hundred to one thousand taels. Fur coats for winter could reach several thousand taels.
Yu Luo was so shocked that she couldn’t calm down for a long time. It felt like she hadn’t come to a desolate wasteland but rather a place dedicated to robbing people—everything here was high-end luxury goods!
Yet, those wandering swordsmen and martial artists actually had the money to buy them!
Thinking back to the seafood and meat they had just eaten, which cost 108 taels, it suddenly didn’t seem that outrageous.
After all, seafood had to be transported from a thousand miles away.
Next, they strolled into a pharmacy. To avoid getting kicked out, Yu Luo picked up a dagger and was about to cut her own hand. However, Zhang Hu was quick to react and snatched the dagger away.
“Let me do it.”
Without hesitation, he made a cut on the back of his own hand, not even blinking. Yu Luo couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.
“Doctor, please help me bandage this.”
Covering his bleeding wound, Zhang Hu strode into the clinic with Yu Luo and Tao Ming following behind.
Inside the small wooden clinic, an elderly man with graying beard sat casually flipping through a medical book, not even lifting his eyelids.
From the inner room, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy stumbled out, looking flustered as he glanced at the three of them.
“Who’s injured?”
Though he seemed hurried, his expression was cold and carried a hint of disdain.
“I am. I accidentally cut the back of my hand.”
Zhang Hu stepped forward, extending his injured hand.
“Follow me.”
When Yu Luo and Tao Ming were about to enter as well, the young man stopped them with a sharp gaze, his expression indifferent.
“Why are you following? Wait outside!”
Yu Luo and Tao Ming…
Ever since arriving in Feng City, getting yelled at had become the norm. Yu Luo had long lost her initial fiery temper and was being tamed into quiet obedience.
They both nodded quickly and even forced smiles before stepping back outside.
Before long, Zhang Hu came out with his wound bandaged.
“They used some wound medicine. That’s it. Costs twenty taels. Young master, you should pay. I don’t have that kind of money.”
Yu Luo had mentally prepared herself, but she still couldn’t believe that just applying some wound medicine in Feng City cost twenty taels.
In her previous life, at an ordinary clinic, something like this wouldn’t even cost ten yuan unless stitches were needed!
It seemed that her mother’s medical skills were truly worth a fortune in this desolate land!
After paying, Yu Luo took the opportunity to observe the clinic.
The entire place was run by just the elderly doctor and the young apprentice—there was no one else.
Upon stepping outside, she was met with blazing sunlight. It was actually quite warm in the sun, though dry and hot. Everywhere, she saw tea stalls and even small stands selling herbal tea.
The tea stalls provided seating with shade made from animal hides and woven grass.
The herbal tea vendors simply carried a wooden bucket with a lid, placing a few ceramic bowls filled with tea on top. What kind of tea it was, she couldn’t tell. They would set up along the roadside and start selling immediately.
In the countryside, such tea usually cost a single copper coin for three bowls. But here, it was ten copper coins for just one bowl.
While they were resting, several martial artists came by, tossed ten copper coins, picked up a bowl, gulped it down, and left.
The vendor would then take the used bowl, scoop another portion from the same bucket, and place it back on the lid, ready for the next customer.
Watching this, Yu Luo’s mouth twitched. If she were dying of thirst, she would drink it, but this way of making money seemed too easy!
In contrast, the tea stalls attracted all sorts of people, but she noticed something shocking—one pot of tea cost five taels of silver!
Her jaw nearly hit the ground again.
“Is making money in Feng City really this easy? There are quite a lot of people here—not as crowded as a major city, but there must be at least five or six thousand. Plus, there are those still outside the city who haven’t entered yet.”
“There were this many people last time I was here. But something feels off today. It’s already this late, yet people are still entering the city one after another. Young master, did you notice? The number of people queuing up to enter isn’t small.”
Unknowingly, the three of them had wandered back to the street facing the city gate. Looking up, the gate was still wide open, and outside, there was indeed a long line of people paying silver to enter.
“Yes, do they close the gates at night?”
“They do. Usually at the Xu hour (7-9 PM) and reopen at the Chen hour (7-9 AM). If someone needs to leave urgently, they can climb over the city walls.”
“They can do that? That’s much freer than the government-run cities.”
Yu Luo found it fascinating.
“This is a place where all sorts of people gather. There’s no official government, just power and money. The person controlling Feng City has many subordinates. Those working for him only need a token to enter and exit freely. Just from the entrance fees alone, Feng City collects thousands of taels daily.”
Hearing this, even Zhang Hu and Tao Ming couldn’t help but feel envious. And even Yu Luo, who didn’t know exactly how much wealth she had in the system, felt a bit jealous.
“With so many people coming into the city today, we should find an inn first and book a room. While we’re at it, we can ask why there are so many newcomers.”
“Understood. I know where the inns are.”
Since Zhang Hu had been here before, he led Yu Luo down a street filled entirely with inns and brothels.
“Young master, all the inns in Feng City are on this street. It might be a bit inconvenient for you.”
Yu Luo looked at the wide-open doors of the buildings, where beautiful women stood at the entrances, smiling seductively. Her lips twitched.
“The person running Feng City really knows how to do business—putting inns and brothels on the same street. If someone stays overnight…”
Realizing her own identity as a woman, she quickly swallowed the rest of her sentence.
“The inn near the city wall is the quietest. Why don’t we stay there?”
Zhang Hu pretended not to notice what Yu Luo had almost said and pointed at an inn just a few dozen meters from the city wall, his expression calm as ever.
Yu Luo nodded, and the three of them headed toward the inn.
