Lincheng 17 (4)
“We don’t need Miss Mi to do anything, we just want to gain Miss Mi’s friendship.” Yana’s eyes were pure and innocent, not at all like a politician. But being able to learn about the history of the Flower Kingdom was an irresistible temptation for Mi. She nodded in agreement. What if Yana asked for something she couldn’t do? Mi thought for a moment that she could still slip away quietly.
“Let me arrange Miss Mi’s accommodations,” Yana said, leading Mi out. At the door, they bumped into Qiu, who was carrying tea. “Give me the tea, and go get Miss Mi’s luggage.” Mi opened her arms to Qiu as she turned to leave. The bag containing a set of clothes and a cloak was not worth taking.
“This is the city lord’s room,” Yana said, leading Mi up to the second floor and pointing to a row of rooms. “This is Qiu’s room, and this is my room, though I don’t live here most of the time.” Yana opened the fourth door to a spacious and tidy room with a double bed, a large desk, and two armchairs. Yana put down the tea, poured a cup for Mi, and poured one for herself. She took a sip before continuing, “The study is inside. The key is with the city lord; I’ll get it for you when he returns.”
“You—” Mi carefully chose her words, “Why are you treating me like this? Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person?”
“Maybe it’s because we’re both women,” Yana gave an answer that wasn’t quite right. She smiled and continued, “We hope to gain the friendship of adventurers. You know, we don’t have a very good relationship with the Adventurers’ Guild.”
"Are you from the City Lord's Mansion?"
“I suppose I’m also under the jurisdiction of the City Lord’s Mansion,” Yana put down her cup. “I’m the principal of the Lin City Girls’ School.”
"The principal of Lincheng No. 17 Girls' School?" Mi stood up in surprise. Having been in Lincheng for so long, the most surprising thing for Mi was Lincheng Girls' School. The woman in front of him was also the Minister of the Legal Department of No. 17 Lincheng!
“Yes, Lincheng Girls’ School belongs to Lincheng Prefecture, so I’m considered a member of the City Lord’s Mansion.” Yana introduced everything about Lincheng to Mi. “Lincheng is different from Weicheng. You’ll understand when you go to other places. Lincheng is different from all other cities. Lincheng is between prosperity and barbarity, holding the last line of defense for civilization and blocking the invasion of barbarism.”
Mi was confused by what Yana said. Thinking about everything she had seen today, Lincheng 17 was indeed the most civilized city she had seen in a long time.
Yana smiled and listened carefully before saying, "The city lord is back. Let's go over there."
Mi stood up and followed Yana out the door. The robust city lord was twice the size of Qiu. She pulled Qiu with one hand and pushed open the door with the other. The city lord's loud voice came from the corridor: "I'll show you something, Qiu."
Yana led Mi inside. The city lord's room was even larger, with a small cubicle. Upon entering, they saw a large desk placed by the window, with several armchairs beside it. To the left was a small door with a curtain hanging diagonally, revealing a corner of the bed frame.
"Lord, this is Mi." Yana called out as soon as she entered. Lord Zara, who was fiddling with something at the table, turned around and glanced at Mi. Suddenly, she scratched her head sheepishly, walked over, patted Mi, and said, "It's you. I lost you during the day. I was just about to go look for you."
Mi looked at the bear claws landing on him and the force that almost made him cough up his lungs, and smiled, saying, "The city lord has quite the strength."
"Haha," Lord Zara laughed and turned back to the table. "Good to see you. I'll show you something."
Yana and Qiu looked at Lord Zara with concern after hearing Mi's words. Yana gave a wink, and Qiu went out to give a few instructions. Soon, dinner was served, including fried pancakes, bread, roast meat, a vegetable salad, and a plate of sliced fruit.
"Come on, let's eat and watch." The city lord took a round table from the wall and placed it in the center of the room, putting the plates and dishes on it. Yana took a plate, forked a little bit from each, and handed it to Mi. Mi took it, forked a piece of fruit, and took a small bite. Suddenly, images began to appear on the wall to the right of the entrance. Mi stared at the wall in surprise. What was this? Before Mi could ask, the images on the wall began to move.
A sharp whistle, muffled footsteps, torches quickly lit, and the sound of banging against the wall—the dark mass faded from the screen, revealing a city similar to Acropolis 17, with a tall castle, a dense, dark crowd, and panicked screams all mingling together. The scene quickly shifted to outside the city, where a deep, dark blue moon shone, and on the ground were blurry, tall figures—the Sandmen. Mi gripped the plate tightly, staring intently at the wall.
This time, there were clearly more Sandi. Their swung stone hammers quickly smashed through the city gates, and Sandi poured in. Some Sandi remained standing outside the walls. Some of the Sandi who entered tripped over ropes. Mi stared at the indistinct ground, thinking of the heavy, damp ropes of the Citadel 17. Soon, Citadel soldiers armed with spears and broadswords surrounded them. These normally strong Citadel soldiers were like children compared to the Sandi. A Sandi effortlessly lifted a Citadel soldier with one hand and hurled him over the wall; Mi could almost feel the excruciating pain of bones being shattered. Some Sandi even tore Citadel soldiers in half with their bare hands, blood and flesh flying everywhere, intestines spilling out. One Sandi then stuffed half of the Citadel soldier into his mouth…
"Ugh—" Mi couldn't hold it in any longer, dropped the plate in her hand, and ran out. The empty corridor outside felt like a cage trapping Mi in the darkness. Screams and the chewing sounds of the Sandman came from the room behind her. Mi couldn't hold it in any longer and ran downstairs, hugging a tree in the yard and vomiting. Mi's stomach was convulsing, and she felt like she was going to throw up her heart, liver, and lungs. After a long while, Yana brought her a glass of water. Mi took the glass, rinsed her mouth, and remained silent for a long time.
“The Citadel 18 has been breached by the Sands. The city lost over three hundred people, and more than one hundred were taken prisoner. Currently, the Citadel 18 is under the supervision of the city defense team, awaiting the appointment of a new city lord. You—” Yana paused for a moment, “If you want to go, I will take you to the Adventurers’ Guild right now.”
“No,” Mi heard his own hoarse voice, “I can’t, and I can’t, manage a city—I’m sorry.” Mi stared at the blue moon in the sky. No wonder the moon here was blue, full of sorrowful colors. Mi felt the moonlight chill to the bone.
Lord Zara stood at the second-floor window looking down at Mi. There weren't many lights on in the Lord's mansion. In the dark courtyard, there were two lonely figures: Mi leaning against a tree, and Yana standing under a street lamp.
“Qiu,” City Lord Zara turned to look at Qiu, who was sitting to the side eating and drinking without any restraint, “have we gone too far?”
“I told you she was naive,” Qiu put down her fork, picked up her glass and drank the water in it before saying, “All she saw at Acropolis 17 was an exercise, and she just stood there for half a day.”
“She entered through Border Post 17,” Lord Zara thought for a moment. “Liz is the kind of person who takes every last penny from a passing goose; he wouldn’t let an adventurer leave so easily.”
Qiu put down her knife and walked to the window, looking down at Mi and Yana below: "Arlo wasn't telling the truth. She killed the Shari." Qiu recalled the scene from earlier; she wasn't surprised at all when the Shari appeared.
That night, Mi didn't speak to anyone. She lay quietly in bed, enveloped in a soft down comforter. The warm, comfortable mattress couldn't lull her to sleep. Images of the Acropolis 18 kept flashing before her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek and into the witch's headband, leaving a world on it. Mi didn't know when she fell asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she found a stack of books on the table. She picked one up and started reading.
The Land of Flowers wasn't originally called the Land of Flowers. It was just a place filled with plants, rivers, and lakes. It was inhabited entirely by long-lived species, who were like immortals with infinite time, each one without emotion or desire, living on the wind and drinking the dew.
Each long-lived species has its own characteristics; some are solitary, while others live in groups. The sand people of the wasteland don't venture into the territory of the long-lived species because the area where the acropolis was originally located is either a lake or thorny bushes, with towering trees forming continuous protective forests. Rabbits dart swiftly through the forests, and fish swim in the lakes; the sand people are not adept at catching any of these. The sand people can't swim, and they're even less skilled at running. They only visit the Flower Kingdom when there's absolutely no food, and even then, they can't catch the long-lived species.
Adjacent to the Kalanchoe species was a gentle group of fishermen, excellent swimmers who lived on the water year-round. Now the forests are gone, the lakes have been filled in, and the fishermen have disappeared. The Sandi people, the Kalanchoe species, and the fishermen are the original inhabitants of this land.
Five hundred years ago, a group of ordinary people arrived in the Flower Kingdom by boat. These people looked just like the native inhabitants of the Flower Kingdom. The simple and ignorant long-lived species welcomed them, gave them food, and helped them build a settlement. Outsiders named this beautiful place "Flower Kingdom".
The outsiders were very clever and quickly won the favor of the long-lived species. They would marry, one man and one woman, and have beautiful and adorable children. The long-lived species were attracted to the outsiders, and many fell in love and married them. Soon, the first generation of offspring of long-lived species and outsiders appeared. These offspring, except for lacking the longevity seed, were otherwise just like the long-lived species, almost forever remaining young and beautiful.
As the outsiders aged, the entire Flower Kingdom began to coexist, and more and more children were born. These children were intelligent and beautiful, and soon they found partners and had even more children.
Outsiders had always believed this was a unique characteristic of the indigenous people, until a long-lived individual, driven by love, appeared. To save his wife, who was dying in childbirth, he gave her his longevity seed. His wife survived and gave birth to a healthy and lively girl with the longevity seed. From then on, the secret of the longevity species could no longer be hidden. Every long-lived individual possesses a longevity seed, which can prolong life. As long as one has a breath left, consuming the longevity seed can restore health and grant them a normal life again.
By this time, outsiders and long-lived beings had long since coexisted. The outsiders, now old and frail, coveted the long-lived seeds. The first generation of newborns had grown into adults, and the new generation resented the unfair treatment they received from the long-lived seeds. They questioned their long-lived fathers, asking why they hadn't been given the seeds. Especially since the long-lived beings were still alive and well, while the new generation was aging, immense jealousy and resentment accumulated over the years. Ordinary people began hunting the long-lived beings—a near-one-sided massacre. Most long-lived beings were defenseless, and to escape the slaughter, they had to surrender their seeds. But once they surrendered, they were no different from ordinary people; some even became slaves of the outsiders. The proud long-lived beings began to escape, and with their exodus, the environment of the Flower Kingdom underwent a dramatic change. Vast areas of plants began to die, forests disappeared one after another, lakes began to dry up, sandstorms became fierce, and the fishermen living between the Sand People and the Long-lived People disappeared without a trace. The Flower Kingdom began to confront the Sand People directly.
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