Chapter 170 (1/2)
Chapter 170: Traveling Across the Road Ruled by Might
Translator: GravityTales Editor: GravityTales
The economic development of Cangbei City was ordinary. Although it should be at the same urban classification level with Star City, the development and construction of its urban area and districts were far inferior than Star City. Even though the woman driver took Tang Xiu to the city’s best five-star hotel, but after he entered the hotel, he felt that the hotel was not even up to the four-star standard.
Certainly, the price here was also a lot cheaper.
Both sides of Cangbei City were encircled by hills as well as water. Obviously, this caused its geographical location in the mainland to be slightly remote. In the early morning of the next day, Tang Xiu had a breakfast in the hotel’s dining hall after he took a bath, after which, he met the woman driver’s taxi who came to pick him up.
“How long do we need to travel to Qingshan Town from here?” Tang Xiu asked.
“Nearly two and a half hours. Although the distance isn’t that far, the road is quite rough. The government has been shouting all day, saying that a road from here to there will be built. It’s been a couple of years already, I think. And yet, they haven’t done anything. If the road is smooth, such a distance of a hundred to two hundred kilometers should be easy to reach within a little more than an hour’s driving.” The woman driver said with a smile.
Tang Xiu nodded slightly. After he thought for a moment, he suddenly asked, “I heard that there’s a Sky Cavern there, is it real?”
For a moment, the woman driver was surprised. Then, she seemed to immediately awaken as she scrutinized Tang Xiu’s eyes afterward. With a beaming smile, she then said with a smile, “Little Brother, I presume you’re going to Qingshan Town in order to visit the Sky Cavern, aren’t you? You’ve got to listen to Big Sis, don’t throw yourself into danger there! This Sky Cavern is located in the remote area of the mountains and ancient forest. The mountain pathway is very steep, with vipers and beasts preying around as well as filled with miasma and swamps. A lot of people had ventured into the mountains, and they never came out! And every year, the next visitors find the bones of the dead, a lot.”
Tang Xiu curiously said, “This Primeforest Mountain Range is a kind of large mountain range in the country, then why the local government hasn’t thought to develop it into a scenic site? Nowadays, in every part of our country, if one place has only a bit of scenic site, the authority wantonly builds tourist attractions there. In the hope to attract a large number of home and foreign tourists to help improving the economic development of the region. Why wouldn’t Cangbei City exploit this capital they have?”
The woman driver replied with a forced smile, “Well, I tell you three words that would be the most appropriate to describe the authority in Cangbei City.”
“Huh? Which three words?” Tang Xiu asked.
“DO NOT ACT!”
The woman driver bluntly said.
Tang Xiu couldn’t help but laugh. The woman driver said it in a simple manner, but the meaning brought along with her expression was very vivid and made him lament. In regard to this point, he recalled the remark Yuan Chuling had told him, for which he could clearly remember it vividly until now:
_“In regards to government officials, they’re not worried having voracious corrupt acts. Just like all the crows in the world, they’re all sort of blackened as this is what is required to be promoted in their organization. If one wanted to stay clean and not become corrupted themselves, whoever they are, they would find themselves in difficult predicament. Some of these corrupt officials are but only executing the orders of their bosses, while some others are doing it out of their own interests. Of these two types of bureaucrats, the latter is the most loathsome.”_
Tang Xiu didn’t want to continue chatting about the issues with the local government, so he smiled and shook his head as he shifted his vision to the outside of the window. The taxi drove very fast, and it only took half an hour to leave Cangbei City downtown into the country road. Without spending much effort, they already arrived at the end of the fairly wide road, as the rough graveled road was seen in front.
“Ugh, every time I take this road, it gives me a headache.”
The woman driver clearly wasn’t the solitary type. Not long after their conversation ended, she started talking again.
Tang Xiu, on the other hand, didn’t want to chat anymore. As he sat in the back row and looked at the woman driver driving, he said, “I want to rest for a while. Wake me up when we have arrived at Qingshan Town.”
“Ah, you’re going to sleep? You didn’t have a good rest last night?” The woman driver was surprised and asked.
“Mmm!” Tang Xiu hummed, confirming it.
The woman driver said with a laugh, “Ah, right. It was already past 10 PM when you arrived in Cangbei City last night. Checking into the hotel, having a bath and then hitting the bunk, you were only able to sleep till 12 AM. And you had to get up early in the morning as well, so it would be strange if you don’t feel sleepy. Anyways, take your rest until this Big Sis shouts to wake you up, Little Brother!”
“Thanks a bunch!”
Tang Xiu replied and then slowly shut his eyes.
He did sleep very late last night. It wasn’t at 12 AM but around 2 or 3 AM. After all, no matter how busy he was everyday, he was determined to allocate some time to cultivate. Although the increase of Star Force inside his body wasn’t too much, he could still accumulate it, albeit quite slowly. One day, as the conditions were ripe, he would naturally be successful and breakthrough to the Skin Strengthening Late Stage.
Time passed by…
The sudden sound of brakes made Tang Xiu abruptly awake from his deep sleep.
“Ugh, what happened?”
Tang Xiu’s body was thrown to the front. If it weren’t for his fast reaction, he would’ve had his head bump into the back of the front seat. After opening his eyes, he frowned and immediately asked.
The woman driver’s complexion had turned white as a restless expression could be seen from her eyes. With an astringent expression, she turned her head and replied, “We’re in bad luck! I didn’t expect that we’d encounter road robbers in this broad daylight.”
Tang Xiu looked at the outside through the window. He immediately saw that three vans were surrounding the taxi after it stopped. There were also four or five big stones blocking the road about seven or eight meters in front of the taxi.