Blue Phoenix Chapter 6 – Village Turned City

Leaving the forest, Hui Yue maintained his silence. His vigilant blue eyes narrowed slightly as they observed everything which was happening around him, shining out in the dim light the moon cascaded down upon them.

The fields were empty. Tools were stacked up at the corner of each field. The farmers had left them there before they had retreated back into the city itself at dusk.

The city was shining with light that was visible from far away. No wall was surrounding this place; instead, there were many farmhouses on the outskirts of the city with animals resting inside the small barns.

The eerie silence would occasionally be interrupted by the sound of weak and domesticated demon beasts growling or howling into the air in response to the scent and sounds of the young people who were making their way along the dusty streets.

The houses all seemed to be built from high-quality wood, and they all were well looked after. None of them were worn down nor were they destroyed by attacks of demon beasts. By the look of the houses alone, one could tell that this city had a very safe environment when it came to magical beast attacks.

Walking on the streets, Hui Yue noticed that although light was streaming out the windows, no one was walking on the streets, leaving them completely deserted. Happy voices could be heard from within the houses, causing a frown to appear on Hui Yue’s face. Everyone seemed happy, yet no one left their homes. The white-haired young man grew increasingly alert.

A tense atmosphere was growing between them as the four friends slowly made their way past the farmhouses and towards the urban areas of the city, all aiming to find an inn.

Walking further into the town caused them to become even more vigilant in their observation of their surroundings. Even in the town, no one was walking on the streets. Only the light and laughter from within the houses streamed into the empty world where Hui Yue and his friends quickly passed by.

Making a swift decision, Hui Yue made a gesture with his hand, and all four turned around. None of them said a word. They were all as quiet as shadows while they retreated out of the city once more.

The sun was rising in the sky by the time the four once more made it back to the forest where they gathered behind the trees. They were hiding for the sake of not allowing any citizens to see them waiting.

As the sun rose in the sky, Hui Yue was seated quietly in the shadows of the forest. There he observed how the workers appeared under the rising sun which allowed for few rays of light to shine down upon them. The weather was exactly like a usual autumn day, and the workers seemed to plow the soil and plant the seeds with a routine that long since had been ingrained into them.

There was absolutely no sign of additional sunshine or amazing energy ripples which one would have expected from having Sun, one of the strongest laws, held captive.

From what he had been told, Sun should have been taken to this city. He had expected that this would result in the city being filled with sunshine, radiating boundless heat. Yet looking at the city and the fields, one would not be able to tell this place was any different from any other city during autumn.

Having waited a couple of hours, Hui Yue finally rose to his feet and stretched his stiff body before a splendid smile appeared upon his face.

“Let us see how they welcome visitors,” he said as he turned around and with steady and confident steps walked towards the fields and the citizens.

Walking out from the forest, not many of the farmers noticed them initially. However, with each step they took, more and more farmers would stop in their tracks as they stared at Hui Yue and the others, their mouths agape as though they had seen a ghost.

Seeing that the farmers had such a reaction but did nothing to stop them. Hui Yue just kept smiling his blinding smile and nodded or winked now and then to the pretty girls who were walking in the fields.

The calm and carefree expression which Hui Yue showed was impossible to be mirrored by any of the others. Seeing Hui Yue walk at the front with the three others behind, especially someone as exotic as Sha Yun, the farmers instantly took Hui Yue to be someone they should not mess with. Instead, the girls to whom he nodded got red cheeks and felt their hearts flutter as this esteemed person had shown them favor.

Great curiosity as to who this person was, and from where his entourage appeared caused many of the farmers to follow them. As they made their way to the city at a leisurely pace, Hui Yue attentively showed interest in everything around him.

From the very start, only a few farmers had seen them, yet by the time they made it to the farmhouses they had an entourage of over two hundred farmers following them. Yet even while so many were following behind him, Hui Yue still walked at a leisurely pace as though he was used to having this many followers.

Respect grew within the three friends as his demeanor changed completely into that of a young master. Even the aloof Wang Ju Long had to admit that she was slightly uncomfortable with showing her back to this many unknown farmers and some strains of displeasure were visible on her face. This, in turn, further fueled the theory of Hui Yue being a young master who was traveling with his magical beast and two retainers.

Although Hui Yue was moving slowly to assume the posture of a young master who feared nothing, he also walked slowly to observe everything around them in the daylight.

These farmers clearly belonged in the farmhouses. People from within the houses quickly gathered along with their families, whispering to one another, causing the many voices to group together into the loudest murmurs Hui Yue had ever heard before.

The farmers’ houses were of good quality, but even so, Hui Yue was able to tell that these were the lowest ranked within the city, information he made sure to note down.

Looking around, Hui Yue frowned as he quickly exited the areas where animals were held, and his speed once more slowed down as he entered a paved road with smaller, yet clearly better houses.

Entering this area, they now came as far as they had the night before, yet everything was the complete opposite of what it had been, causing Hui Yue to chuckle slightly. The chuckle was, however, quickly changed to a frown as he looked around but could not locate an inn.

Walking further the houses were replaced with mansions. Eventually, Hui Yue and the entourage were in the middle of town, looking at an astonishing pagoda. There was no expression of amazement on Hui Yue’s face. Instead, a look of annoyance could be seen, as though he had not even noticed the beautiful pagoda.

Bringing up all his courage, a young man stepped forward and cleared his throat. Hui Yue intentionally ignored it a few times before he finally turned around and looked at the youth with a noble but gentle expression in his face.

“Can I help you?” Hui Yue’s voice broke through the air like a sharp sword through a body, cutting right into the bone, deadly yet so beautiful and alluring, such that everyone would gladly listen just to hear it once more.

Swallowing a few times the youngster opened his mouth and stuttered, “Mi... milord, is there anything I can do for you?”

Looking at the young man, Hui Yue noticed how he cowered in front of what he thought to be a young master, and the white-haired young man almost pitied him. Yet in his world, the ones who mattered to him were his friends and himself. He had already learned that within this world, mercy was a luxury he could not afford.

“I am looking for an inn,” Hui Yue said, his voice floating over every peasant who had followed him so far, yet the square no longer only contained farmers. It included every kind of citizen within the small city, but as soon as they heard the word inn, a collective gasp sounded out followed by loud murmurs.

Hui Yue frowned as he saw that, and the man he had spoken with earlier was looking at Hui Yue with veneration equal to that of a dog to its master. From within the crowd sentences such as “he is from a city with inns” and “he is used to resting in an inn” could be heard.

Deep inside, Hui Yue could not help but be fairly shocked when he saw such a strong reaction to something as small as an inn, but outside he showed nothing in his facial expression. Instead, he looked around impatiently as multiple citizens had gained the courage to appear in front of him.

“Perhaps your lordship would consider staying at my humble abode?” a man asked very politely, yet before Hui Yue had the time to answer another person pushed his way in front and asked the same question.

Within a few moments, a fight had broken out. This caused even the guards of the city to force their way into the middle of the horde, to try to break the fight up, yet little did it help. Hui Yue looked at the Disciple ranked guards and sighed.

“Take care of it,” Hui Yue said, his voice seemingly arrogant and ordering. But as soon as they heard the order, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, and Sha Yun all moved forward ready to do just that.

It was not that Hui Yue usually spoke to his friends in such an arrogant way, but the fact was all three had fallen into the roles which the audience had assumed for them.

The surrounding audience quickly retreated as they saw the three walking towards the fighting people.

Sha Yun let out a low hiss in displeasure as she had to work. With a sweep of her tail, three men were instantly blown out of the bundle of fighting men. One of the three was thrown so far back that he landed on top of two other citizens who were watching the fight. All three of them crashed to the ground, blood sprayed everywhere and the white from broken bones was visible in the cluster of flesh and clothes the poor spectators had turned into.

The two others were not as lucky, but the audience was relieved. As soon as they landed against the pagoda, blood splurted from their mouths and both slumped down, collapsing on the ground with no signs of life.

It was a selfish relief which flooded through the audience. Although some of the citizens died, they died on their own, not dragging innocent bystanders with them to their death.

The smell of blood caused the fight to halt and shock was plastered on their faces as they saw the unfortunate people who had been picked up by Sha Yun. Even more shocked were they when they saw the menacing expression on her beautiful face. It was obvious that she was strongly opposing the fighting they had seen.

The guards were standing still, fear freezing their limbs as they contemplated what they should do with the young master who had appeared with such a strong force. They all knew that if they were to go against him, they were not his match.

It was not until now that Hui Yue noticed that all the citizens were around the Student rank while the guards were Practitioners. In the entire area around the pagoda no one seemed to have even unlocked the middle dantian.

Everyone were completely quiet and shocked. Yet from the distance, Hui Yue noticed a ruckus as someone tried to make their way to the center. His attention was on them from the very start and an interesting gleam appeared in his eyes, the smile never once leaving his lips.

The ones who were coming were all Practitioner ranked experts. Hui Yue guessed that within this city, that was considered a rather high cultivation base, yet this group was nothing more than an appetizer for Deng Wu’s soul shadows.

Breaking through the horde of humans, a group of twenty men made it to the square where Hui Yue was currently standing leisurely while his friends were by his side, ready to attack the arrivals should Hui Yue wish for it.

The twenty new arrivals were clearly all of a different rank than the guards which had appeared so far. Their uniforms were all in a bright red color with golden trim and their faces were very arrogant. However as soon as they laid eyes upon Hui Yue, shock was evident in their expressions and the man in front took a few steps forward.

“Young lord,” his voice still had slight arrogance within, yet he showed all signs of courtesy as he bowed to Hui Yue. “The City Lord would like to welcome you to our humble city.”