I really have nothing left, only a few copper coins left on me..." Lan Tiao's somewhat helpless voice came from the house.
Sang Li felt more and more that the person in the room was a soft persimmon. Generally, such people were the easiest to bully, and it would be a shame if he didn't extort some money from them.
Sang Li knocked on the window with the handle of his knife and said, "Give me all the copper coins. If you don't have enough, I'll pay you with my clothes!"
Lan Tiao said, "The clothes are not worth much."
Is the person outside the door crazy because of poverty? He even wants clothes!
"This living city is all about spending money to avoid disaster. If you don't offer enough benefits, I will stay here with you forever. If you don't believe me, you can try it. As long as you dare to walk out of the room... hehe."
A cold laugh emanated from Sang Li's throat, the threat clearly in it.
"Then just wait outside." Lan Tiao was very angry, but he didn't want to cause trouble. The order in this city was too chaotic. Although he had made mental preparations before coming here, there were some things that you thought about in your mind and saw with your own eyes. Lan Tiao thought that if he could kill the bad guys, it would be equivalent to eliminating harm for the people, but when he came here, he found that the streets were basically full of "bad guys"...
For example, when Lan first arrived in the Abandoned City, he saw a notice posted on the city wall detailing several rules: [Rule One: All houses in the city are open to all practitioners free of charge. A purple copper coin hangs at the door. If you drop blood on the coin, the color of the coin will turn bright red, allowing you to live there. If the owner of the room dies, the coin will turn purple again. No one is allowed to enter the room with the red copper coin hanging on the door without permission.]
Because of this rule, a special profession has emerged in the Living City: the "House Hunter." These house hunters keep an eye out for wealthy individuals and newcomers. If a newcomer dies outside, the copper coin on the doorway will immediately turn purple. At this point, the house hunter doesn't need to drop their own blood; they simply need to quickly enter the room and take away the valuables. The rule only prohibits entry into rooms with red copper coins hanging on the doorway. As long as the copper coin on the doorway is purple, the room can be entered and exited freely, without the need for blood recognition.
[Rule 2: As long as you have the invitation of the room owner, you can enter the room. In the Living City, fighting is prohibited only in the City Lord's Mansion and major shops and restaurants. Killing is allowed in other places.]
This rule states the places where killing is prohibited, but these places do not include "rooms". It is related to the first rule, and this rule also has a subtext: if you invite others into your room, fighting and killing are allowed in the room.
[Rule Three: There are countless forbidden areas within the Living City. These aren't off-limits, but rather represent extremely dangerous areas that fall outside the City Lord's jurisdiction. Anyone able to retrieve treasures from these areas may bring them to the City Lord's Mansion to sell or purchase them. This transaction is subject to additional protection by the City Lord's Mansion. Traders can also apply for temporary residence in the "cultivation room" within the City Lord's Mansion by spending spirit stones. The cultivation room is absolutely safe, and there's no risk to their lives.]
[Rule 4: Any citizen living in the city must not attack the yamen runners wearing black night watch uniforms, otherwise they will be wanted and tried by the City Lord's Mansion.]
[Rule 5: The city has a God-ascending Arena. Anyone who accumulates 1,000 victories in the arena is eligible to join the City Lord's Mansion. Note: The 1,000 victories must be between opponents of the same level, or the same level against a higher level. Otherwise, the wins will not be counted.]
Simply put, if a cultivator in the Young Yuan Realm defeats a cultivator in the Infant Yuan Realm, it is not considered a victory. Only if he defeats a cultivator of the same level or higher realm in the arena will it be counted as a victory.
Any newcomer who has just arrived in the living city will feel that this city is very humane when seeing these rules, as the rules are clearly written outside the city.
But when they entered the city, they no longer thought so, because the city gate was guarded by yamen runners from the city lord's mansion. They were wearing yamen runner uniforms with a black background and intricate flowers embroidered with red thread. The stitches were fine and the red thread was dark in color.
Next to the yamen runners was a pile of books, which cost fifty spirit stones. The books contained a map of the living city, the names and distribution of the ten major forces in the city, the names and portraits of important figures, and the characteristics of each major force.
The book doesn't detail the abilities and personalities of these important characters, so it's quite thin. It's somewhat useful for newcomers, but not very useful. After entering the city, newcomers dressed extravagantly will be immediately targeted by various factions. Before they finish reading the book, they might be taken away by other factions, forced to join a different faction, or simply killed.
If a newcomer is dressed simply, although he will not be noticed, he will usually be reluctant to spend fifty spirit stones to buy a thin book.
However, nothing is absolute. There are also particularly wealthy practitioners who dress simply and unpretentiously. After buying books, they put them in their arms and live in a low-key room without attracting any attention.
Lan Tiao was relatively poor and didn't have spirit stones to buy books. He didn't know the ten major factions in Living City. When the person outside the door announced the name "Life-Disgusting Sect," he didn't know what it meant. Anyway, he bought a lot of steamed buns and saved enough to eat for a long time. However, being blocked all the time was not a solution. Perhaps he could sneak out of the room at night...
Lan Tiao made up his mind and sat cross-legged to start practicing. At night, he quietly opened the window a crack and was about to observe the outside environment, but he saw a pair of eyes observing him through the gap in the window!
The eyes were vicious and stared at Lan Tiao without blinking.
“!!!”
It’s the middle of the night, so scary!
Lan Tiao was so frightened that he closed the window with his hand. His face was pale and his heart was beating like a drum. He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
At this time, Sang Li's voice came from outside the house: "Boy, don't think I will relax at night. Our sect has specially refined the [Sleepless Pill]. After taking the pill, you can stay awake for a whole month. If you have the guts, don't go out for a month."
"Besides, even if you do escape, you're not necessarily safe. I'm from the Life-Disgusting Sect. I'll be guarding outside the house, and no one will dare to mess with me. But a newbie like you, with no sect or affiliation, dares to wander outside at night. Aren't you afraid of being caught and eaten?"
"Each person can only use one room by dripping blood. If you leave here, you will have no place to stay and it will be very dangerous..."
Lan Tiao thought, after she got out, she could find a room with a purple copper coin hanging at the door. Wouldn't it be possible to just move in without bleeding?
The only troublesome thing is that this Sang Li took some kind of sleep-inducing pill and didn't sleep for a month...
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