Chapter 16 I am a bowl of rice, what do I have to fear?
The old ancestor was determined to die.
The Emperor rarely heard Jiuyou mention the past. Looking at her alone, she seemed muddle-headed and arrogant. But how could being a high-ranking official of nine dynasties be so easy? In times of disaster and war, she was always the first to go into battle and the last to return.
However, none of these things left any trace on Duan Jiuyou. She was a person who only lived in the present moment. She was not very clever, not very cunning, and did not hold grudges deeply. This could be considered a kind of open-mindedness.
Even now, she is completely dissatisfied with her appearance.
“I did meet Guo Heng, but that doesn’t mean he’d turn me into a flatbread. We don’t look like siblings at all.”
Her dilemma was quite unconventional; she simply didn't want to be outdone by the imperial court.
"Can't you just change my appearance to match my original look?"
"You weren't particularly good-looking to begin with."
Di Jiang extended a hand to Duan Jiuyou, who naturally raised her arm and placed her wrist in Di Jiang's hand. Di Jiang then led her in a leap, and the two small figures quickly disappeared into the bustling Zhaozhao City.
Even after landing, Jiuyou was still indignant, and said with a stern face, "Don't you feel guilty saying that? They all say I'm good-looking."
Di Jiang stared straight ahead, a faint smile playing on his lips: "Who are they? Disciples of the Ao Sect, or that fussy old Daoist who can't let go of you even after tens of millions of years?"
“It’s not just him. There are countless people who like me. If you count them all, they’re probably all older than you.”
"With so many people around, not a single one was by your side, which shows they weren't very attentive."
Emperor Jiang's tone was nonchalant, and Duan Jiuyou belatedly realized that he seemed to be in a good mood today. Several auspicious clouds flew in the sky, with a halo around their edges. Duan Jiuyou felt that this scenery was very much like Emperor Jiang's current state of mind.
She asked Di Jiang, "What do you plan to call us after we enter the city?"
Although the people in Zhaozhao City were formed from a bunch of random things, they still had human thoughts. Since the two of them had changed their identities, they naturally had to give each identity a unique name.
Emperor Jiang pondered for a moment.
"Too valiant."
Few people know his name, and even those who have heard of him wouldn't immediately associate the identity of the Lord of the Wilderness Clan with a child.
"So I am... Xiao You?"
Old Master Duan pondered deeply.
She didn't have a nickname; her parents left too early, leaving her without even a close name. She named herself "Xiao You," which she quite liked, as if she had suddenly transformed from a venerable old deity into a free fish, surrounded by clear waters, green mountains, and a vast, boundless sky.
"What do you think?" she asked Di Jiang with a beaming smile.
—It's pretty average. Are you sure you thought about it?
Di Jiang inwardly grumbled, but said nothing. His eyes unconsciously narrowed, a hint of a smile playing on them.
He was in a really good mood today, for reasons he couldn't quite explain.
Perhaps it was because the Qinling River crossing was more vibrant than Shijing, or perhaps it was because the weather was clear and the breeze was gentle, or perhaps it was because I hadn't traveled in a long time, or perhaps it was because this "little person" named Xiaoyou had said: "He's not a bad person."
Di Jiang said to Duan Jiuyou, "Call me 'brother' and let me hear it."
The tone of this sentence was not teasing or mocking; it was simply a statement—you should call me brother.
Duan Jiuyou grinned after hearing this: "Don't be so wishful thinking!"
Is it beautiful?
Lord Wilderness, with his hands behind his back, strolled down the street behind his little "sister".
Duan Jiuyou's head wasn't attractive either, because he was transformed based on Xiao Cui's characteristics, and had always had sparse hair. A head of thin, yellowish hair covered a large head, making it look like a hard-boiled egg wrapped in black cloth at first glance.
Di Jiang looked at it for a while and then laughed, thinking to himself, "What's so good about it? It's obviously so ugly."
Zhaozhao City is a fairly friendly city with abundant spiritual energy. Even a fallen leaf can transform into a human if one has high enough comprehension.
Every day, new "characters" appear here. After entering the city, you register with the city guard. The city guard is an old man with a goatee. He looks a bit like a rat and seems quite shrewd, but he speaks and acts slowly and likes to draw out words.
"Object or animal?"
Behind the old man were two constables. Zhaozhao City had a strict division of responsibilities, with objects and animals living in different districts. These two constables were responsible for guiding people to different directions.
The "Tai Xiao siblings" mingled among a group of new city residents, answering questions methodically.
Lingtian Bai Ren is a weapon, and Duan Jiuyou and Di Jiang both said in unison that it was also a weapon.
"Be more specific, what is it—" The city guard didn't look up, holding a small wolf-hair brush on the Xuan paper, asking quite detailed questions.
Duan Jiuyou was unprepared. He glanced at the writing implements on the guard's desk, first pointing to the imperial capital and then to himself.
"Inkstone, white Xuan paper."
This choice carries a somewhat implied meaning. The inkstone is black, and the Xuan paper is white. Di Jiang knows that Duan Jiuyou is holding a grudge from earlier and is deliberately saying that he is black-hearted and ruthless, unlike her who is upright and awe-inspiring.
This was her little act of revenge, but unfortunately, the city guard failed to grasp its true meaning. He looked the brother and sister up and down, saying, "Your brother is clearly more learned and scholarly than you. You—"
Duan Jiuyou's features suddenly sharpened, his childlike face, which resembled a flatbread, now looked almost fierce.
"Your eyebrows are well-shaped, and you look energetic and spirited."
Presumably to avoid upsetting her, the city guard reluctantly offered a couple of compliments, and after dividing the area, asked for her name.
Duan Jiuyou's handwriting was mediocre. With a sullen face, she pushed her "brother" forward. Her "brother" had no temper at all. He politely tucked his sleeves, took the wolf-hair brush from the city guard, and wrote the four characters "Tai Xiao" and "Xiao You" in the register.
The city guard tilted his head back to watch him write, praising his calligraphy several times!
Xiao You was so angry that she gritted her teeth. When her brother returned to her side, she whispered in his ear with gritted teeth.
"My handwriting is just as good!"
Di Jiang chuckled and responded with a soft "Mm".
Historical records state that the writing of the divine official Jiuyou was as rough as a bamboo rake, like spring worms and autumn snakes, extremely difficult to read.
Her past has long been meticulously recorded by historians.
There weren't many people registering to enter the city today. In about half an incense stick's time, the city guard had compiled all the names. Duan Jiuyou and Di Jiang followed the road officials into the main city, and then from a fork in the road, they entered a long street called Qing Le.
The constable led them to a house and skillfully unlocked a large lock. He said to the two men, “This house is for you to live in. It’s a family-run house, one room per person. And these thirty coins are also a gift for you. You need to find a way to make a living during this time and then pay the rent for the next two months to the city magistrate.”
Although Du Heng himself "gains without working" and often finds magical treasures for free, he has clear orders for the people in the city.
He wanted them to be like human beings, and that human beings should be self-sufficient. If he provided and created everything for them, then the objects that became human beings would still be just "toys" without the ability to think.
He hoped that Zhaozhao City would be alive, vibrant, and full of life.
As it turns out, Zhaozhao City has indeed achieved this. Take Qingle Street as an example: there are stalls, academies, pharmacies, and taverns. Everything in the bustling world can be found here.
But to say that everything here is normal is definitely not the case, especially in Qingyue District, where there is a kind of playful atmosphere like children playing house.
The people here are poor cooks; from taverns to street vendors, nothing tastes good. The objects have no sense of taste; they think anything cooked is food, and anything drinkable quenches their thirst. Their thinking is a level below that of sentient animals. Teachers misread characters, and doctors prescribe medicine haphazardly. Duan Jiuyou personally witnessed a doctor grab a handful of soil, mix it with water to make a decoction, and give it to a patient. Whether it was due to his mental state or a mental illness, the patient genuinely claimed to be cured after drinking it and thanked the doctor profusely.
Duan Jiuyou squatted on the street for a while, observing the "various aspects of life," and then pulled Di Jiang to sit down at a very popular wonton stall.
She learned this method from Da Suizi Feifei: if you want to find out information, you have to go to crowded places. Even if the person being asked doesn't know the answer, there will be enthusiastic people around to help fill in the gaps.
"Hey, these two kids look unfamiliar. Are they new to the city today?"
The wonton stall owner was a middle-aged man around forty years old. He had a rough and honest voice and was very hospitable. Duan Jiuyou ordered a bowl of their signature wontons and said yes with a smile. But when he took a bite of the wonton, he almost spat it out on the spot.
These wontons are filled with red bean paste, the soup is savory, the beans weren't fully steamed, and there were a few crunchy bits mixed in with the bean paste, making them a bit tough to chew.
In an effort to build rapport with the stall owner, Duan Jiuyou stretched her neck and swallowed hard, then began to chat with the stall owner about various things. She started by talking about how she and her "brother" first entered Zhaozhao City, and after a lot of groundwork, she said to the stall owner seemingly unintentionally, "I heard that here, as long as a person becomes an adult, the price of magical artifacts is higher than that of ordinary objects. It seems like they can give you sixty coins."
This matter is no secret in Zhaozhao City, but for ordinary people, it has always been a topic that they can't help but talk about whenever it is mentioned.
"It's not just sixty coins, they can also live in a courtyard house."
The stall owner slung the rag he used to wipe the tables over his shoulder and pointed southeast to Duan Jiuyou, saying, "Over there, see that square mansion? You can stay there as soon as you come. These things are precious, unlike us who are tough and resilient. They are most vulnerable when they first grow up; a gust of wind can blow them over. To take care of them, the city lord not only provides them with better accommodations than we do, but also assigns them maids and servants. The mansion has charcoal in winter and ice in summer, and they are kept in good health for half a year before being allowed to work."
The stall owner finished speaking with a hateful tone, "If it's so hard to live, what's the point of being human! Wouldn't it be better to stay obediently in the hands of the immortals and be a 'dead thing' for the rest of your life?"
"Hey! You're saying those reckless things again. If that person hears you again, who knows what kind of beating you'll get!"
The stall owner's wife was so frightened that she waved her hand and slapped him hard.
The stall owner was very tough, raising his round, chubby face like a white wall and saying, "I'm a bowl of rice, what am I afraid of? Even if I'm broken, spilled on the ground, or go bad, I'm still tougher than them!"
"You're so strong, but last time you almost got boiled into a pot of rice porridge, didn't you?"
"So what if it's rice porridge? It's still alive. It can't kill me either, can it? There are laws in heaven and rules in Zhaozhao City. Just because it's an object used by a god doesn't mean it can beat people up at will."
The stall owner became agitated and nearly overturned the table with a sudden movement.
Duan Jiuyou looked at the soup splattered on the table and steered the stall owner back to the main topic, "You just said that the thing that hit you was a magical artifact?"
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