Chương 21: Mortal Concerns

With Ningjing's main body stored safely for now, we set off into the city. We would have to check out how and where to store her later in other berths. We were towing the line of our exile. I didn't want to have to do this again, but for now… we didn't really have another option. Chao Baozi turned out to be on the other side of the city, and as our first destination, it would be a bit of a walk.

The area directly around the aerial dock was calm and quiet, but it was near a main thoroughfare and actually getting to our destination along the main streets wasn't something that Bailu or Seiyu had even considered.

"We normally fly, Captain." Bailu said.

"We can carry you, easy!"

"There are other routes as well, Captain. Most cultivators do not engage with… that." Seiyu said, staring with mild distaste at the path before us. A path that was absolutely jam-packed with people. The main road, the main plaza, and the Stone District—which was also, according to Bailu and Seiyu, known as the Commoner's district.

"I want to take the lay of the land." I replied. And see just how much this city was like Crimson Crucible. A bit of nostalgia on my part.

"If you two want to go on ahead, that's fine, but I want to see it. The real city." While this may have been the land of cultivators… it was a world of mortals. Without them the city wouldn't be even a fraction of its size, and they made up the vast, vast majority of the population, and of the business. My Storm Wings weighed my statement, eyeing the crowd. They could have just pushed through the throng, but clearly neither of them wanted to.' Ningjing will call if trouble!'

the little ship declared from her place in the front of my shirt. She could talk to us if we were close enough to her main body. That seemed to calm their misgivings.

"We'll go check on some things, then. Have a good time, Captain!" Bailu decided.

"See you at Chao Baozi then, Captain." Seiyu agreed, and both of them rose into the air. I smiled at that, and something in my chest unclenched. They weren't committed to hovering over my shoulder all the time. I really did have the freedom I wanted. With a smile, I stepped into the deep end. One half of me was instantly lost as the seething mass of humanity suddenly invaded my senses, boosted as they were through cultivation.

The half of me from the other place, from the Before, was a country lad through and through. He had never liked cities. Too big, too noisy, too smelly, just too many people. They were places to visit out of necessity, and the occasional shopping trip. He had grown up on farms and in small towns, comfortable in nature, and the press of bodies made every alarm bell he had ping off. The other half though?

That was from Crimson Crucible City—one of the few places in this world that could boast a greater population density than the capital, especially down where Rou had lived. I waltzed through the crowd, not bumping or jostling a single person, and moving with the flow. My eyes flicked to and fro, taking in everything relevant, and I was quite happy to note that things didn't change much between big cities.

Ningjing's little plant form was stuffed down the front of my shirt and making whistling noises, while Big D was hopping from shoulder to shoulder, gawping at everything. I marched unhindered, only sparing a glance for a pickpocket who had enough sense to instantly veer away, preventing any altercation. The city smelled, it was true, but like every city I had been to so far, the smell was far, far less than it should be. Better sanitation practices and literal magic assisted with that.

Carts had a clear lane, and they trundled past people. There were hawkers on the sides of the streets, and in alleyways, and the great river of people was always on the move, flowing like water through the streets. The noise pounded us from every direction, people shouting to attract attention, others playing music, and still others discussing the best prices.

My eyes also found what Rou had been specifically looking for, small carvings low down in the stone, banners that were at first glance inconspicuous, and I added those to the mental map that I was building. Both halves of me worked together well, one set for the country, one for the city. Two parts of a greater whole, or some poetic shit like that. And honestly, I didn't really know where one half ended and the other began these days…. Not that it really mattered. I was me, and was fairly certain of that fact.

I shook my head and refocused on the city. The well cared for bricks beneath my feet, the clean store fronts, and the energy of the place, like a coursing river, or more accurately, a steadily burning hearth.

"Spices from Pristine Lotus Vale!" One man shouted, his hands waving to barrels of multi-coloured powders and odd looking seed pods.

"The finest silk from Mirage Mist Forest!" A woman boasted, holding up shimmering, gossamer fabrics.

"Take a look at this ore! Straight from Forge Bellow Volcano!" A rough looking man boomed, his table covered in ingots of metal. I mentally reviewed a map of the world, and could only raise an eyebrow. Not even particularly rich looking peddlers, and they were dealing in goods from thousands of miles away. …. this place was nuts. It was Rome a thousand times over. And while what looked to be "Imperial" style dominated, there were a hundred thousand little things that differentiated people.

There were ladies in colourful, towering silver headdresses and flowing silk robes loudly boasting about the quality and merits of their metalwork next to a group of people who had fully covered their bodies in what looked like thick leather with not even their faces showing. They peered out into the world through goggles. A couple of short people, barely four feet tall ran a third stall, peering out over the crowds from where they sat on the roof of their stall.

Then at least I recognised—they were from Titan Tree Domain, like Senior Sister Qiao Ju, one of the women who worked on Minyan's personal skyship… and I only knew that because the woman wouldn't stop boasting about her home province. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. There were hair and eye colours that ranged from western to anime—pinks, blondes, purples, blues and greens turned into a riot of colour. Accents came from every corner…

but there was only one language actually spoken, just like up at the Isle.

'New things! So many new things!' Ningjing cheered in my mind, her little avatar waving her stubby, sick-like arms about. I chuckled at the enthusiasm. I ended up giving in and making some quick purchases—a skewer of grilled grasshoppers that had Big D drooling, a little silver pendant in the shape of a falcon that Ningjing had declared pretty, a bottle of alcohol from Veiled Moon Moor, which was way off on the eastern edge of the continent…

and some jerky that had what looked to be the image of a hadrosaur drawn beside it—I was going to be eating dinosaur later with Bailu and Seiyu. This… was actually pretty familiar to me.

Crimson Crucible City was a massive trading hub after all, connecting the south and the west to the Heartlands of the Empire by way of the only passage through the middle of the continent; The Great Lift worked tirelessly, bringing ships up and down the massive waterfalls near the city and sending them on their way, turning what would have been a hard stop in the Other Place to a mild inconvenience with Qi and quite frankly baffling engineering.

Lifting a bunch of wooden sailing ships four li to the top of a waterfall that was itself at least twenty Li across was insane. Some of Rou's best memories were sitting on his father's shoulders, looking out over the waterfall while his mom pointed to various ships and told him where they were from. But while it was familiar, there were still enough differences. I wanted to spend hours here, just wandering and window shopping… but that would be unfair to Bailu and Seiyu. I could come and gawk all I wanted later.

I had wanted to take the lay of the land, so the lay of the land I would take. My eyes focused in on a bunch of aunties and uncles playing Mahjong. I put on my best smile, and approached, letting the city part fully take over.

"May I join the next round?" I asked politely. The men and women looked up at me, their eyes judging for a moment. They looked intrigued at the rooster on my shoulder, but didn't comment on it.

"My, you're a tall one!" The apparent leader said, an older woman with grey in her hair that still looked surprisingly youthful. She scrutinized me for a few more moments.

"Your accent says Crucible, but your clothes are all Soaring Heaven's Archepelago." …. all that at a glance. Lady was sharp.

"Yes Ma'am. I was Cerulean Water Ward until recently, until I had the good fortune to catch a ship. It's my first time in the city, so I need to pay my respects." I said, and pulled out what was considered the standard ante for mahjong in the Crucible. At that the slightly judging mood turned downright friendly. The old woman nodded.

"Well then, take a seat young man!" She told me, waving me to sit.

"At last, someone from some place nearly civilized! I tell you, young man, dealing with these provincials is trying at times!" One of the men said, half joking as he reached over and poured me some tea. Man, the people in the city really were as arrogant as people said they were eh? Calling the second largest city in the world that.

"Sir, I take offence!" I said with my best aghast voice, pressing my hand against my chest.

"Nearly civilized? We're at least barely civilized!" The table, and several others around us, erupted with laughter.

"Now, now dear, that kind of language won't do, it's not their fault they were not born in the Cradle of the Phoenix; have some pity on them!" What was obviously his wife chided… while she started sketching out what looked like a map. There was more laughter, and the man clapped his hands together and bowed.

"You're right! Forgive me! It was unbecoming of me to say that!" he wailed. So the game began. It was actually pretty fun, and I got what I needed in two pretty quick games in return for some stories and rumours I had heard before we had left the Archipelago. And though they were kind of arrogant… my teacup was never empty, and I ended the game with the exact same amount of money I started with, the old timers masterfully arranging things so I came in third, recouping my buy in.

I left in a great mood, a spring in my step, and headed toward Chao Baozi. ============================ My path took me through the Imperial City Gardens, which was basically this city's central park. Titanic, ancient trees dotted the landscape, along with a riot of colors from beautifully tended flowers. It was open to the public, and there were certainly enough people here. They were sitting on benches, or taking strolls taking in the wonderful, well maintained gardens.

Most of them too had bao in their hand, and the smell was absolutely divine, even this far out.. And very familiar to me. I had smelled this before for sure! Soon enough, I could see the restaurant. It was almost an entire pavilion in itself, and had an entrance gate but conspicuously no walls. I entered under the gate, and looked upon the restaurant. It was five stories tall, and built of dark wood. The sounds of cooking echoed forth, along with the gentle murmur of conversation, and the clinking of cups.

It practically oozed an aura of warmth and invitation. But before I got further, something else caught my eye. It looked like a shrine to a goddess. And I supposed in some ways, it was, with how covered in offerings the altar was, and even now there were people standing before it, their hands clasped in prayer in their heads bowed. They prayed to a statue, a statue that made me pause in my tracks, and just stare. It was the statue of a woman. She had no pedestal, simply standing upon the flagstones of the city.

She was short. Her hair was done up in two buns on either side of her head, with braids trailing from them. Her cheeks were round and her body was ever so slightly pudgy. And yet the warmth in her eyes was captured perfectly. The soft smile on her face was one of kindness and empathy. She held under one arm a steam basket, and in the other, she offered a bao to all who looked upon her. I smiled at the statue. She sure must have been something, to have so many people paying their respects to her.

Turned back to the restaurant, and entered. It was busy, but it wasn't packed at this time of day—I felt with my Qi where Bailu and Seiyu were, and moseyed on up with a spring in my step.

"Captain!" Both of them cheered when I entered. They had both just gotten seated.

"Hey you two. You have a good time?" I asked. Bailu slumped.

"No! We remembered that we can't use our usual suppliers if we're exiled, so we were looking around for good places! It's haaaard!" she whined at me.

"... we have never actually had to do this without the name of our sect leading the way, but we shall rise to the challenge, Senchou." Seiyu told me, a small fire blazing in her eyes.

"How about yourself? Did you find what you were looking for?" Bailu asked eagerly, pushing up to look eagerly at me. I grinned, and pulled out the map.

"Your Captain has it covered. Everything we need to know. Good places to eat, suppliers, the news, and got the layout of the important gangs, and which alleyways are dangerous to go down." I was quite proud of myself for that little info gathering mission! Which is why I was so surprised when Bailu burst out laughing." Dangerous alleys?" Seiyu just sounded baffled.

"Important? Gangs?" Bailu managed to get out, holding her stomach."That's a good one, Captain!" I felt my face heat up at the laughter. Seiyu stared at me in confusion, before her eyes widened, and she rammed an elbow into Bailu's side. Bailu's laughter cut off and she glared back at Seiyu, before realising the expression on her face. Seiyu looked into my eyes." Aruji. You told your servants of the trials of your youth, and the gangs that troubled you. Do they still trouble you?" she asked. I blushed.

"I mean they probably shouldn't I was just so used to…" I trailed off. How long had I spend looking over my shoulder for them? Bailu's mouth opened in a silent oh, her eyes softening. I looked away.

"You are correct, Sen—Rou." I paused at her use of my name, turning back toward her. There was no judgement in her eyes.

"They were the troubles of your youth. The troubles of an orphan of Crimson Crucible City. They are not the troubles Tianzhe Rou, Captain of Ningjing. They are not the troubles of the Master of the Storm Wings." Her words were a simple declaration of absolute fact.

"You're above them, Captain. But if you even just find them annoying…" Bailu trailed off, and looked at my map. Her bubbly expression was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was something cold as ice—that reminded me that for all the Storm Wings were goofy around me, they were also cultivators, with all that entailed. The implication was clear. If I said something, every single gangster in the city would be dead within the day. It would be a complete and utter massacre. Part of me wanted to just tell them to do it.

A part of me that remembered the terror and pain the gangs could inflict. But that… would probably get a lot of innocent people killed in the crossfire. As cathartic as "butcher them all" might be, it was more trouble than it was worth. …. and starting your journey off by massacring thousands of people wasn't exactly good luck. I let out a sigh.

"No. Its fine. You're both right. Some days I'm still not used to… this, I guess." I muttered.

"Our Captain is a fast learner, so you'll figure it out quick!" Bailu said, some of her normal cheerfulness returning.

"And, and, if you want to truly be a cultivator, your storm wings do have the best thing~!" Seiyu reached into her cleavage and pulled out a roll of paper, unrolling it and showing it off to me.

"Tournament!" was there in big, bold letters. I sighed, and rolled my eyes.

"Alright, alright, I'll go sign up for a tournament." My Storm wings cheered. Lunch soon came… and the bao were delicious. ================ ================