Free Web NovelChapter 20: The Ancient City Of Xianyang
What the hell is this?!
There were plenty of people waiting for the ferry, and the scents ranged from old men reeking of tobacco, women carrying the scent of powder, the sour stink of sweat, the fishy tang from the river, and the musty rot of the dock’s old wood. All of it surged straight into his nose.
The mix was overwhelming. Li Yan nearly staggered from the olfactory assault. But he also understood something. His spiritual sense had evolved once again. Ever since that life-and-death battle with the Cold Altar Soldier, it was already the third explosive improvement in a short span of time.
Beyond the ordinary scents, he could also detect many unusual ones. A cold, sticky odor lingered several hundred zhang away from the ferry. Something yin and sinister had once passed through there. Even as the river waves washed over it, the scent refused to dissipate.
On a large Canal Gang ship out on the river, someone stood at the bow burning incense, tying red cloth, scattering paper offerings, and pouring out animal blood. A fierce, heated aura swirled around the front of the vessel. But most terrifying of all was the distant city of Xianyang itself.
It was like a colossal beast crouched upon the plains, exuding an ancient and desolate presence. Layers of incense energy rose and intermingled within the city. Any single one of those scents was dozens of times stronger than the incense of the Earth God shrine back in the Li Clan’s Fort.
So this is what the real world looks like?
Li Yan was shaken. Since awakening his spiritual sense a year ago, he had never left Li Clan’s Fort. He had not even visited Lantian County, let alone Chang’an. Now that he had arrived in Xianyang, the difference was immediately apparent.
No wonder Widow Wang and her group had hidden themselves in his remote village. If they had gone to a place like Chang’an, they would have been exposed instantly.
The next moment, Li Yan’s vision suddenly went dark. A wave of dizziness hit him, and the heightened sense of smell vanished just as abruptly. He grabbed onto a nearby willow tree, taking a while to steady himself. His face darkened as he cursed inwardly.
Clearly, this divine ability did not come without a cost. Widow Wang hadn’t mentioned anything like this. Perhaps she never expected his ability to surge so violently, again and again. Worse still, it seemed his ability was beginning to slip out of control.
Anything out of control was dangerous. He needed to fix it as soon as possible.
“The ferry’s here!” The boatman’s shout broke his train of thought.
Fortunately, his sense of smell had shut itself off. Though his head still spun and cold sweat trickled down his back, Li Yan made his way toward the ferry. The boat wasn’t large, about two zhang long, with no canopy overhead.
After paying the fare, he casually found a place to sit. A cool breeze swept across the river, carrying with it the chatter of nearby passengers:
“Auntie Wang, shouldn’t you be harvesting? What are you doing heading into the city?”
“We hired wheat cutters from Longxi County this year. I’m going into town to offer incense, pray that it doesn’t rain these next few days, then I’ll head back.”
“Your family’s got plenty of labor, don’t you?”
“Don’t even mention it. My second and third sons ran off to Jinmen. They say the factories there pay well. They won’t even be coming back for the New Year. I figured we don’t have much land anyway. The eldest can stay, but the younger two should find their own path.” freёwebnoѵel.com
This kind of talk was reminiscent of the conversations Li Yan had heard back in the village. The Great Xuan Dynasty had stood for a hundred years and was now at its peak. But beneath that prosperity, undercurrents had already begun to stir. Large-scale land consolidation was spreading, and displaced refugees were becoming more common. A decade ago, unrest had already broken out in several places.
At the same time, however, the imperial court had opened maritime trade. Major port cities had sprung up with large workshops, absorbing many of those refugees. Even the court itself was said to be unstable, divided into factions constantly attacking one another.
None of those matters interested Li Yan. All he wanted was to resolve his own situation. After crossing the Wei River, his mind felt noticeably clearer. His sense of smell gradually returned, though much weaker. It was now about the same as before he dealt with Third Blindy.
He didn’t dwell on it, lowering his straw hat and entering the city. As the ancient capital of pre-Qin times, Xianyang had once been described in records as: palaces and pavilions stretching over three hundred li, blotting out the sky.
Though war had ravaged it and reconstruction had reduced its size, it was still bustling with life. The moment he entered, noise and activity surged toward him.
Unlike Chang’an’s orderly grid of one hundred eight wards, Xianyang’s layout was irregular. As Li Yan entered through the south gate near the ferry, he immediately found himself among crisscrossing commercial streets. Shops lined both sides of the street, with fluttering banners and shouting vendors. Mule carts and pedestrians crowded together in chaotic prosperity.
And of course, there were beggars everywhere. Perhaps because of the blade at his waist, no one approached him. But unfamiliar merchants were immediately swarmed by ragged children the moment they entered.
Clad in tattered clothes, some even maimed, they surrounded their targets, pleading endlessly.
“Master, show mercy, may you earn a thousand gold this year!”
“Madam, bestow kindness upon us, may your children and grandchildren prosper!”
Li Yan glanced at them once and walked away. In the jianghu, the Beggar Sect was divided into the Eastern and Western branches. The Eastern branch practiced soft begging, relying on performances, singing, storytelling, rituals, and they wandered from place to place.
The Western branch, however, was made up of settled beggars. They occupied specific cities under a leader, collecting a cut from daily earnings. Traveling beggars entering a city had to first pay respects to the local group, or risk ending up dead before nightfall.
The Western branch even had false beggars, families who had inherited control over beggar dens for generations. By day, they wore rags; by night, they dressed in fine clothes and indulged in pleasure houses.
Some were even worse, engaging in child trafficking and mutilation schemes, working closely with slave brokers. They specialized in aggressive begging. Though pitiful in appearance, they were ruthless. Ordinary people couldn’t afford to provoke them.
Sure enough, when one merchant refused to pay, the beggars’ expressions changed instantly. They began banging broken bowls, chanting curses in rhythmic rhymes.
“No coin, no mercy, save it to buy your coffin!”
“If you won’t give, I won’t beg! Let’s see how long you last!”
The merchant grew furious and chased them off, unaware that his money pouch had already been stolen. There were also wandering Eastern branch beggars strolling around.
As Li Yan passed through a street, he saw a blind old beggar telling stories. He had clouded eyes, a weathered voice, and his speech was steeped in an ancient rhythm. “Fame and fortune rise and fall with each dawn, wealth and glory fade like mist. The mortal world surges like a tide, how many attain immortality?”
“Enlightenment!”
“Excuse me, is Daoist Wang Daoxuan here?” Li Yan asked the shopkeeper outside a small shop. freēwebnovel.com
Near the City God Temple in Xianyang, aside from breakfast stalls, most shops dealt in funeral goods. There were paper effigies, incense, coffins, and burial garments. There were also plenty of fortune telling establishments.
The one he approached was an incense shop, stocked with everything from simple sticks to arm-thick incense, from plain candles to ornate dragon-and-phoenix ones, along with paper money and offerings. The scent of incense was so strong it made his head ache, so he didn’t linger, instead following the address Sha Lifei had given him.
According to Sha Lifei, Wang Daoxuan ran a shop of his own. He dabbled in divination, geomancy, weddings, funerals, and even exorcisms. He took on all kinds of work.
However, the shop had already changed hands. Left with no choice, Li Yan asked around.
“Wang Daoxuan?” The incense shop owner, a cross-eyed fat man, looked puzzled at first, then suddenly realized. “Oh, you mean Old Mute Wang!”
He grinned as he continued, “That guy’s buried in debt and he sold his shop to me. Now he just works out of his house.”
Old Mute Wang?!
Li Yan’s expression stiffened, irritation rising in his chest. Sha Lifei really was unreliable. He had already suspected that Wang Daoxuan might not be very capable, but at least he was supposed to be part of the mystic path. But from the way this shopkeeper spoke, the man was even worse than expected.
He was so damn broke he had to sell his shop! Wang Daoxuan was probably just like Sha Lifei, someone who gave himself his title. With his unstable spiritual sense, Li Yan’s irritation flared even stronger.
The shopkeeper stepped forward, bowing with a smile. “Looking for divination? Or arranging funeral rites? I know all the shops on this street. I can even get you a better price!”
“Thank you. Maybe later.” Li Yan sighed.
His tone was polite, but Li Yan had no intention of trusting him. He had seen too many shopkeepers like this. They would undercut even their own trade, let alone shy away from exploiting customers. Besides, with a single sniff, he could tell everything in this shop was ordinary. Even the altar idols lacked incense presence. This man was clearly someone who wasn’t part of the mystic path.
Sure enough, the shopkeeper’s attitude immediately turned cold at Li Yan’s disinterest.
Li Yan’s thoughts shifted, and he let a trace of anger show. He cupped his fists and said, “I’ve got a score to settle with Old Mute Wang. Kindly point me the way.”
The shopkeeper glanced sideways at the blade on his waist, a hint of schadenfreude in his eyes. He pointed. “See that alley? Go in about a hundred zhang, then turn right. That’s the place.”
The alley led into an old residential street. Ancient houses, each with its own courtyard, but small and tucked away, lined the street. They were clearly the homes of ordinary people. Some of the walls were built from reclaimed Qin-era bricks, and the worn stone slabs underfoot added to the sense of antiquity.
Li Yan quickly found the place he was looking for, a home where a weathered wooden plaque hung above the gate. Made of plain jujube wood with a simple coat of lacquer, it wasn’t even as fine as a restaurant sign. However, the characters: “Seeking the Dao Hall” were bold and archaic, carrying a certain quiet dignity.
Li Yan’s anger eased slightly, then he sniffed. The courtyard seemed to hold several unusual scents.
