57 Silk Road 17
"That's right, Augustus, your sacred uncrowned king." Helan Dao said lightly.
After listening to Helan Dao's introduction, Zhu Heng got up and went outside.
He stretched out his hand and found that the city above his head was so low that it was almost within reach, with branches of flowers hanging from it, but no one dared to approach.
The six members of the Western team followed behind. The leading priest chattered for a while. Helan Dao explained to Zhu Heng, "He said that the residents of the Sky City will attack them to prevent them from climbing up and occupying their territory. Therefore, the food and flowers dropped from above are often soaked in poison. It is said that if they touch it, they will die..."
Zhu Heng reached out and picked a poisonous flower.
Everyone: “…”
"Is that so?" Zhu Heng turned around holding the flower branch, and everyone took a big step back.
Zhu Heng rushed towards Helan Dao again and asked him, "Do you think this flower looks familiar?"
Before Helandao could say anything, the surgeon suddenly came over boldly and gestured towards Zhu Heng, as if she wanted to say something to him.
Zhu Heng turned and looked at Helan Dao.
He originally wanted Helandao to help with translation, but in the eyes of the surgeon, it obviously took a different meaning.
The surgeon showed a hint of surprise, her eyes darting back and forth between the two oriental men. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and with an expression of "I understand," she turned to Helan and said, "Sir, may I examine your lover? He seems to be asking for your permission. Don't worry, I'm just curious why this flower has no effect on your lover."
Zhu Heng asked Helan, "What did she say?" It sounded like a question.
Helan Dao's expression changed several times. He said to Zhu Heng, "She's asking how we got here from the East. Perhaps they can find a way to the East from where we came from."
"Where are we from? Tell them we come from the sky," said Zhu Heng.
He paused for a moment, then looked up at the city above him. From the sky?
He Landao turned around and said to the surgeon without blushing or beating his heart, "I'm sorry, my wife isn't used to being touched by strangers. His body structure is different from yours, so it may not be very useful as a reference."
The surgeon walked away somewhat disappointed.
Helan Dao returned to Zhu Heng, looked at the poisonous flower in his hand, and said, "Mandragora."
"What?"
"I said this flower." Helan Dao emphasized, "It looks like a mandala."
"Datura?" Zhu Heng's eyes gradually brightened. "Yes, you are right. For us, the datura flower is a species introduced from the Western Regions; but in this Mediterranean region, it is a flower from the East, so..."
He looked up and pointed at the city above his head: "That is the road to the East."
Zhu Heng plundered some items unique to the Western Regions in the city-state of Alexandria, such as wine in pottery jars, glasses, a Mediterranean pearl, carved silver tableware, two peacock tail feathers, a small jar of essential oil and coral from the Red Sea.
"Sir, what are you doing?" the British writer couldn't help asking.
"Collecting 'stepping stones'." Zhu Heng said. His eyes fell on the absinthe in the British writer's hand. He took it directly and pretended to throw it towards the city above his head, "Just like this..."
With a crisp clang, the medieval knight drew his sharp sword and held it across Zhu Heng's shoulder.
Almost at the same time, Helan Dao stretched out two fingers and clamped the knight's sword. His light brown eyes flickered slightly, with a warning in his eyes.
He Landao said: "We have come from afar, this is not the way to treat guests."
The knight remained motionless. "It's not the guest's place to take over. This is the west coast of the continent. All dungeon quests are designed specifically for us. We should have the final say on how to proceed."
"My words are a bit blunt, but the truth is there." He Landao released his hand and suddenly asked, "Who is the most powerful player in your European region?"
"Your Excellency Augustus," said the knight.
"That's right, Augustus, your sacred uncrowned king." Helan Dao said lightly, "If he were here, he would definitely not stop me like you did."
The knight was startled, and unconsciously retracted the sword in his hand to half an arm's length. Even his tone became polite: "Do you know His Excellency Augustus?"
Helandao chuckled softly, then walked towards the knight. He leaned forward, leaned close to the knight's ear, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "He and I grew up together."
Helan Dao said this and secretly gestured to Zhu Heng.
Although Zhu Heng didn't know what Helan Dao said to the knight, it seemed that the matter was settled, because when he threw the glass of absinthe again, the knight did not continue to stop him.
Zhu Heng gestured to the writer: "Try to see if you can get up there."
After listening to Helan Dao's translation, the writer turned to look at Zhu Heng, his legs trembling a little: "How do we get up?"
Zhu Heng threw the rest of his belongings up, then grabbed a vine of Datura and climbed up with seemingly effortless movements. Within minutes, he had reached the sky city, his feet firmly planted on the ground, and he was unharmed.
He held out his hand: "Come up."
The writer was still a little hesitant and didn't dare to go ahead.
"Believe me, nothing will happen." Zhu Heng winked at him.
"What nonsense!" He Landao watched from the side, unable to bear it any longer and no longer having the patience to continue translating. He simply kicked the writer in the butt, sending him stumbling forward.
Zhu Heng seized the opportunity, grabbed the writer's hand and pulled him up.
Everyone looked at them in surprise. It turned out to be so easy to get up there?
When everyone arrived at the upper city and took a closer look, they realized that what had been looming over their heads was the Kushan Empire located east of Persia - it connected the Mediterranean with India and China, and all goods and commodities were transited and traded here.
Zhu Heng paid special attention and discovered that the trade market only offered goods from the Mediterranean and India, such as pepper, spices, gems, ivory, and even large, bright red peaches from Samarkand. However, there was no trace of silk, tea, or porcelain, which should have come from the easternmost part of the continent.
"Look there!" The high school student suddenly pointed to the sky above his head and exclaimed.
When everyone looked up, they saw another city suspended in the air.
"What is this?"
"That's the Sassanid Empire up there," said a merchant selling Samarkand peaches. "As they rise, the Kushan Empire weakens. Would you like some peaches? My peaches are very popular in the East. They call them golden peaches, from Samarkand!"
Everyone waved their hands, indicating they were not in the mood to eat. However, Zhu Heng dumped out all his stuff and exchanged it all for these Samarkand golden peaches.
Zhu Heng took the peaches and gave one to each of them: "Throw this up. Things that Oriental people like are perfect for us to enter the market."
The peach merchant happily counted the treasures that Zhu Heng had exchanged for him, while glancing at the actions of the crowd, and reminded them intentionally or unintentionally: "Are you from Rome? Be careful, Sassanid and Rome don't get along." After that, he continued to count his treasures with great interest and no longer paid attention to the crowd.
The peach merchant's words were like a thorn in everyone's heart. They followed Zhu Heng's guidance and successfully climbed to the third level of the Sassanid Empire.
The scene on the third floor was somewhat unexpected. There was no confrontation as imagined, and no one came to stop them. There was not even a normal person on the road - they all fell on the roadside, starving to the point of being skin and bones. There was no food in the bags they carried, and they only had shiny Sassanid silver coins, but they could not buy anything to save their lives.
"It's malaria." The priest looked at them with pity and gave his Samarkand golden peach to one of the Sogdian merchants who looked to be dying.
The Sogdian merchant looked grateful, but was speechless. He randomly grabbed a handful of Sassanid silver coins and stuffed them into the priest's hands.
"Thank you." The priest said, "Can these silver coins allow us to continue to the next level?" He looked at the new city layer that appeared above his head and asked Zhu Heng for his opinion.
Unexpectedly, the Sogdian suddenly became emotional after hearing this. He took out a letter from his arms tremblingly, handed it to the pastor, and pointed at the letter to signal them to open it.
"Let me see." Helandao took the letter from the pastor. "This is a Dunhuang document, sent by his relatives from Dunhuang... Do you have relatives in the East?" Helandao looked at the Sogdian merchant.
The man nodded.
"What's in the letter?" Zhu Heng asked.
Helan Dao said, "The letter says that the Eastern Continent is suffering from famine, the Emperor has fled Luoyang, and the Xiongnu have plundered the Central Plains. I advise you not to come to the East and die. There's no money to be made here anymore."
After Helan Dao finished reading, he returned the letter to the Sogdian merchant and left the peaches with him.
Everyone exchanged glances, left their Samarkand golden peaches behind, took their bags of Sassanid silver coins, and headed eastward to "die".
Sogdian merchant: “…” Lying on the grass?
-
The fourth world is located south of the Caucasus Mountains. As soon as everyone arrived, the wind from the grassland blew all over their faces.
A protective wall stretched before them. It was a barrier made of a large number of bricks. Below the wall was a canal trench four or five meters deep. Guard soldiers were stationed away from the city wall.
Judging from the description, it looks a bit like the Great Wall, but this is a defensive fortification built jointly by the Persians and Romans.
"They temporarily made peace, in order to jointly resist the Xiongnu invasion." The writer searched his brain for relevant knowledge points and explained to the crowd, "The Xiongnu were driven out of their eastern territories, but this was also related to climate change at the time. The land where the Xiongnu originally lived was no longer suitable for them, so they moved to the north of the Black Sea, competing for resources with the residents on the other side of the Eurasian continent."
"It's terrible! It looks like they were just driven down by the Orientals who lived on the upper floor, and then they were driven out by the Persians and Romans on this floor." The writer said, "Let's go quickly. It feels very dangerous here."
"But..." the princess from Europe suddenly reminded, "We have nothing to take up there."
Obviously, no one had thought about this question and they were all stumped by the princess's question.
At this time, only Zhu Heng calmly brought out a can of wine: "I have more here."
He beckoned everyone over: "Everyone take a sip."
【Author’s words】
I don't really know much about this history, so please be kind if there are any mistakes...
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