Chapter 26: Bize Under the City
"A month! A whole month!" Youyou sighed, looking up to the sky. "Why didn't I think of letting him try that book... What an idiot! I'm too embarrassed to face anyone!"
White Snake rolled frantically on the table, her long, breastless, legless figure demonstrating the power of chest-beating and stamping her feet. Ji Qiufeng remained nonchalant, "Don't blame me. I didn't expect the book's appraisal to be so high. I was really lucky."
Jie An wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "After all, this is about your life, Mr. Ji, can you please not be so indifferent?"
"Making peace of mind is the most important thing," Ji Qiufeng said leisurely. He looked at the yellow crystal on the table and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Can you hear me? I can definitely survive another two months if I try harder. You two, don't be impulsive and stay safe. That's all."
A muffled female voice came from the topaz: "Dad..."
"I feel unmotivated after listening to it." Chu Hengkong commented.
Youyou rushed to the crystal and screamed, "Don't listen to his nonsense! We must find the gold even if it means destroying the swamp. Do you understand?!"
"Understood!" "Yes, sir."
Chu Hengkong put the yellow crystal used for communication back into his pocket and looked into the distance with his excited partner.
A damp breeze blew the white sails, and a dragon statue on the prow glided across the water. The "Dragon Boat" sailed along the city's waterways, stopping and starting, heading toward its terminal on the lower level. This boat, the most common means of transportation between the middle and lower classes, resembled a medieval three-masted sailing ship, but like all other city equipment, it was powered by a stream of water. Each boat had three decks and could accommodate up to 3,000 people simultaneously, making it a veritable behemoth.
As you can imagine, overloading is the common fate of this type of vehicle. Even if the original design layout is reasonable, the actual cabin is crowded and full. So the two of them slipped to the top of the cabin, where standing is strictly prohibited, and blatantly violated the rules to enjoy the wind blowing across the white sails.
"Ah!" Ji Huaisu waved his fists like a child on a spring outing. Chu Hengkong couldn't help but laugh: "Pay attention to your image, Captain Huaisu."
"Is it okay for me to be happy? You're also quite smirking." Ji Huaisu bared his teeth. "You clearly cared about me so much, so why did you put on such a blank expression before, acting like you were so heartless and ungrateful?"
"You mean last night?" Chu Hengkong hesitated, as he was about to talk about the past again. "It was a habit when I was in the underworld."
"...Does the underworld still have rules about suppressing facial expressions?"
"No, but we will control our emotions," Chu Hengkong said. "My boss said sadness is synonymous with giving up, and only after exhausting all other means can one be sad. So we will try every method we can think of, no matter how absurd, until the dust settles after the person dies, and then we will mourn silently at the grave."
Ji Huaisu glared at him, as if looking at an omnipotent super-machine. She clapped Chu Hengkong's shoulder firmly. "I admire your boss's iron will and strong demeanor... but if you keep going like this, I think you'll become a machine! You're a living person. You should cry when you need to and laugh when you need to. Please, next time, say 'I have an idea' normally, okay?"
Chu Heng said to himself, "Girl, you're really overthinking it. I'm emotionally competent and my thinking is normal, but if I keep sighing and groaning when something happens, wouldn't the team atmosphere completely collapse?" But he didn't bother to talk back, just gripping the railing tightly: "It's about to fall, be careful not to fall."
The waterway in sight was cascading, its mighty roar dimming even the sound of the wind. Ahead lay a vast hollow, the water cascading down from its edge, transforming into a thousand-foot waterfall cascading from the atrium to the lower levels. The dragon boat accelerated toward the waterfall, its momentum akin to a grand suicide attempt. The cabin was filled with the excited screams of children. Ji Huaisu, obediently clinging to the railing, his expression suddenly changing.
"Um..." the blonde girl stammered, "I remembered something."
"What's wrong?" Chu Hengkong suddenly felt something was wrong.
"The outside of the dragon boat doesn't seem to be waterproof..."
Chu Hengkong's eyes went dark: "Your idea is terrible!"
In an instant, the world turned upside down. The dragon boat crossed the boundary and plunged down the waterfall. The overwhelming wave swallowed up the view, and the roar was everywhere, like the roar of the waterfall. Chu Hengkong hurriedly pulled down his hood, prepared to be soaked, but the expected impact did not come. Only a faint golden light appeared before his eyes.
Ji Huaisu held up his spherical shield and was secretly observing his reaction. Chu Hengkong lifted his hood and said, "I can see you really like this joke."
"After all, you're such a steady person, rarely getting flustered!" Ji Huaisu chuckled. "How does it feel to walk on the waves?"
"Honestly, it's quite shocking," Chu Hengkong said. "Even riding the bus is so dramatic. Only this place can be so magnificent."
The boat gradually steadied, landing on the waterfall and gliding downward with a stability that defied common sense. As the mist cleared, a rich emerald green unfolded before them. That emerald green came from leaves, from grass, from the lake, from the swamps. The lush forest unfolded like a scroll, with deep green swamps of all sizes nestled within it, like the eyes of the earth.
At the center of the forest stood the giant tree that pierced Huilong City. Its gnarled roots floated above the lake, supporting the brown earth within the swamp. Low-rise houses, built along the tree's roots, spread out in all directions, forming a forest settlement. Dozens of these settlements, large and small, housed nearly half of Huilong City's population.
This is the lowest level of Huilong City, the Bi Ze area of plants and swamps.
·
"Fresh giant squid. 5 stream beads each!" "True swamp treasure map." "Miraculous elixir." "Mushrooms. Delicious mushrooms." ...
The local market, awash in the cries of vendors, opened just outside the terminal. Blue-feathered geese clucked among the stalls, occasionally tussling with the vendors' guard dogs. Their splashes of mud pelted the trouser legs of vendors and customers alike, drawing a wave of shouting and clamor. The air was hot, humid, filthy, and buzzing with insects. The air was thick with a filthy vitality, making the atrium surprisingly lively compared to the surrounding area.
"Your dress is inappropriate." Chu Hengkong said.
As soon as Ji Huaisu got off the boat, he wrapped himself tightly in a yellow raincoat, hiding his blond hair and pretty face in the shadow under the hood. Chu Hengkong wanted to take off his coat, but he didn't dare to think about how hot it would be to wear a raincoat in this place.
"There's a reason for this... Anyway, it's not convenient for me to show up in Bize District." Ji Huaisu lowered his voice. "I'm relying on you for this diplomatic negotiation. Do you understand the situation at the grassroots level?"
"First time here."
"Alright, Captain, let me teach you some common sense about the lower classes. First lesson: all the kids at the docks are thieves."
"Very timely." Chu Hengkong pinched a small hand that was reaching into his pocket.
The dirty hand belonged to a boy with horns on his head, who, after being caught, put on a shamefaced smile. Another little girl with horns slipped out of the crowd and, taking advantage of the distracted gaze, reached into Chu Hengkong's left pocket. She saw it was bulging, presumably filled with beads.
The little girl's hand was empty. She only saw the sleeve of the coat twitch, and her hand actually grabbed the toothless boy's arm. The two thieves glared at each other, and when they turned around, they saw that the man in the coat had already disappeared into the crowd.
"Their horns are very similar to those of rhinoceros beetles."
"This means they, like Mrs. Ansa, have Forest People ancestry. If you see features like horns, different skin colors, and scales, you can basically infer that they are immigrants from the Divine Tree City-State." Ji Huaisu raised his chin slightly. "Look over there, your colleagues."
Chu Hengkong followed her lead and spotted a unique stall among the fruit stalls. A man dressed as a warrior in purple light armor knelt on a white cloth, two large flags behind him, one on each side inscribed with "Kill Without Blood" and the other with "The Secret Art of the Heartbroken." Surrounding the warrior were several thugs carrying blunt knives and clubs. Seeing Chu Hengkong coming, they shouted, "What are you looking at, sir!" "Want to kill someone, sir?" "If you want to kill someone, come and get the Liuzhu, sir!"
Chu Hengkong returned a gentle smile, turned his head and said, "I need to correct your concept. We assassins are not such a... funny group."
"They are exiles from Shura Island. They speak strangely, but most of them are quite powerful." Ji Huaisu said, "Watch your step and don't step on the squids."
Chu Hengkong looked down and met a pair of tiny eyes lurking in the mud. A pink creature resembling a squid was hiding in the ground. It extended a grubby tentacle and entangled it, seeming to be quite interested in Chu Hengkong. But a large blue-feathered goose playing by the roadside also noticed the creature and dove in, swallowing the squid, dirt and all, in one gulp.
The tentacles sticking out of the goose's beak struggled desperately, and the big goose glanced at Chu Hengkong arrogantly - but after noticing Ji Huaisu standing beside it, this guy suddenly jumped up like a frightened bird, turned into a stream of water and rushed into the sewer beside the street.
Chu Hengkong thought of the most common main dish in the cafeteria: "This thing..."
"They're the squid and goose you eat every day," Ji Huaisu explained. "The water-avoiding goose likes to eat squid and various small items, but when it sees a woman, it turns into water and flees. Meanwhile, the fresh-faced squid prefers shiny gadgets and will be attracted to strong men."
Chu Hengkong's expression was ambiguous. He saw a water-avoiding goose "swimming" out of the fishmonger's fish tank. "...The squid emerged from the ground? The goose emerged from the water?"
"What else?" Ji Huaisu found it very interesting. "Do we really need to raise something like this?"
"My hometown, yes."
"Oh my god, that place of yours is really weird."
Ji Huaisu nimbly squeezed through the crowd, leading him through the alleys between the wooden houses. This market was vast, cluttered with too many things, and it was easy to get lost at the entrance when visiting Bize for the first time. On the way, Chu Hengkong saw yellow-clad people praying around a cherry blossom wooden sculpture, refugees from the netherworld; tall people with stern expressions, addressing each other by numbers, descendants of the ancient giants' territory; there were also medicine vendors with mushrooms growing on their bodies, fishermen with beast-like heads, and demon-possessed people selling octopus balls...
The sheer number of people, their diversity, made him momentarily dizzy. They clearly came from different worlds, yet spoke the same language. This swamp was like a turquoise crucible, races and cultures mingling in the damp air. He realized that once upon a time, Huilong City must have connected to many Dust Islands, otherwise it would never have attracted so many immigrants. But now that the city was closed off, the immigrants had become a homeless remnant...
Chu Hengkong felt oppressed by his imagination and couldn't help but loosen his collar. Ji Huaisu mistakenly thought he was too hot and whispered, "Hold on, we'll be there soon."
"Let me take off my coat."
Chu Hengkong thought that tentacles were nothing in this place, so he casually took off his coat. Ji Huaisu quickly grabbed his arm and said, "Don't!"
But she was a step too late. Chu Hengkong had half-taken off his coat, exposing the tentacle to the damp air. Surprised glances swung from all directions, gasps of astonishment echoing. The surrounding conversations ceased, and most of the market turned, all staring at the tentacle.
That fanatical and strange gaze made Chu Hengkong feel strangely familiar. The next moment, a fishmonger took the lead and raised his hands high. His voice was almost pious due to ecstasy: "Oh, the touch of greatness! The hand of God!!"
(End of this chapter)
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