146 A Shabby Temple (1/2)
Xue Wei had previously been in the capital of the Heping Kingdom, so he was familiar with the size and scale of such a famous city - it was in no way a small amount of land.
But Hei Gou and Jiang Fengmian had only been to smaller cities, so when they saw the towering wall that surrounded the town, they could not help but gape in astonishment.
Hei Gou and Xue Wei had avoided the major cities like the plague for a long time now, but that was because they had been chased. They were now in much better condition, and they knew that there was a very little chance of anyone recognizing them in this kingdom.
Jiang Fengmian was stunned by the sheer size. She too had only seen smaller villages and towns throughout their journey, and although the last town they rested in was by no means small, it was dwarfed by the bustling city in front of them.
The walls were not made from wood but from stones that had been stacked on top of one another until they were so tall that one could not see past it. There was a massive gate in front of them. This gate was so tall that even if ten Hei Gou's stood on each other's shoulders, they would still be unable to reach the top.
Guards were both patrolling on top of the walls and clustered together at the entrances to the city.
The caravans and merchants had to pay a fee to enter the city for their business, so there was a long line of people who were trying to enter.
Whereas the merchants had to pay, the commoners could freely enter as they pleased, but they still had to wait for their turn in the line.
Xue Wei had seen something similar in the capital of the Kingdom of Heping.
”Let us hope that the temple is not located within the inner city,” he said with a sigh. Although they had some coins, it was likely to cost a whole silver per person to enter the inner city, which would financially stretch them.
They patiently waited in line while discussing what they had seen so far and were looking forward to seeing. Hei Gou and Jiang Fengmian were eagerly debating how marvelous they thought the city to be, and how it was so different from where they came from.
The surrounding travelers could not help but smirk slightly while thinking of them as country bumpkins, but a closer look made them notice the age and strength of the two youngsters accompanying the powerless woman.
Although Jiang Fengmian did not know how to cultivate and was relatively weak, neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou were weak, both of them being Sky Warriors.
Their age also seemed to be young, so young that one would expect them to still be in the army, but here they were, free as a bird wandering the capital.
Many were curious, but no one thought that they were deserters. Deserters would never wander into the capital this brazenly, so they were likely to be on leave.
Another thing that drew attention to their group was Jiang Fengmian. She was a beauty, but more than that, there was not a shred of spiritual energy coming from her. A youngster that had not cultivated was truly shocking. Even women were taught how to cultivate, but this woman had no Qi within her body.
The trio moved forward in the dense crowds of citizens. They aimed to find out where the temple was located, but none of them knew where to look.
Was it in the outer city where they were located, or was it in the inner city where they had to pay an entry fee?
After walking for some time, they reached a marketplace where many carriages were parked, selling their wares from their stalls.
”Excuse me,” Xue Wei stopped a child that was running around and passed him five copper coins. Although most adults would frown at this low amount of money, a child would be excited as they could spend the money on sweets.
”Can you tell me the way to the temple?” Xue Wei continued. The child clutched the coins in his hands and nodded his head like a chicken eating grains.
”It is in the Westward District of the Outer City,” the child said hurriedly, afraid that the adults would take the coins back if he were not fast enough.
”Right now, you are in the Southern District, so you head west, and you'll find an area where the temple is located! But be careful, the temple is located in a rather rough neighborhood!”
Having said this, the child sped away with his copper coins, not saying anything else. Xue Wei could not help but chuckle. To a child in the capital, five copper coins should not be a lot, but it seemed that it was a fortune to this child.
”A rough neighborhood?” Jiang Fengmian was frowning. ”I thought the temple would be flourishing and helping all the poor and unfortunate souls. Why would it be located in a rough area?”
”It is exactly because of that that it is a rough neighborhood,” Xue Wei explained. ”The temple is helping the poor and the homeless, giving them food and shelter, causing more and more poor and homeless to converge to that area.”
”Since many of the outcasts appear in one area, it will become rather lawless as they will do anything to get their hands on some money to survive yet another day.”
Jiang Fengmian finally seemed to understand that her benevolent intentions also included treading on a path of danger.
She would have to help those in need, but not everyone in need was going to accept their lot in life and would instead fight to change their destiny.
She might get caught in between; she might even get killed. Still, Xue Wei could see that her eyes pooled with determination and her hands clenched into fists despite her initial shock.
Seeing this, Xue Wei nodded his head. They continued towards the western district of the city.