Chapter 305 - 296: Unfazed by the Strange, Peaceful and Comfortable

Chapter 305: Chapter 296: Unfazed by the Strange, Peaceful and Comfortable

The children Ma Liu had frightened to tears scattered and ran. Hearing the commotion, someone rushed out from a nearby alley. Their face went pale upon seeing Fu Juemin and the other two men on horseback.

The person hastily picked up a wailing child and hurried back into the alley, threatening, "Keep crying! You keep crying and the masters from the Banner will hear you..."

The child immediately stopped crying, clapping a hand over their mouth in terror.

Fu Juemin watched this unfold. After a long moment, he spoke slowly, "The way they get children to stop crying in Yingjing City... it’s really quite different from what I’ve seen elsewhere."

"Listen to yourself,"

Ma Liu said, not catching the deeper meaning in Fu Juemin’s words. He just chuckled. "It’s hardly a secret.

You might not be used to it, being new here. After you’ve been here a while and seen more... you’ll get used to it."

Hearing Ma Liu’s casual tone, Fu Juemin said nothing. His face was calm, betraying no emotion.

Ma Liu continued to lead the way, chattering on endlessly as he introduced Fu Juemin to the local customs of Yingjing.

After a moment, Fu Juemin suddenly spoke up. "There’s something I’m truly curious about."

"Go on."

Ma Liu reined in his horse, twisting around to show he was all ears.

Fu Juemin’s gaze swept over the long street, at the commoners hurrying by. His tone was level. "If everyone in Yingjing City knows that the Nine Banners above them snatch people for Alchemy...

...why don’t they flee? Why do they willingly stay here to be used as ingredients?"

Hearing this, Ma Liu’s mouth split into a silent grin.

"Flee?"

Ma Liu pointed to the pedestrians on the street. "Half the people living here in the Four-Nine City are old Yingjing families, three generations or more.

Their ancestral roots are here. Where would they flee to?"

Ma Liu turned back and pointed toward the city gate they had entered. "And as for those who moved in later, the first thing they do is register their household.

If they want to leave after that, whether it’s to visit family, conduct business, study, or seek refuge with relatives... for any reason at all, they first have to report to the Government Office.

If you don’t have a valid reason, the Government Office won’t approve a Travel Permit. You can’t even get out the main gate..."

Ma Liu paused, then laughed again. "Besides, why would they want to flee?

There’s war everywhere these days. One day it’s this warlord, the next it’s that government, and each time they come, they strip you clean... If you’re unlucky, you’ll lose your head before you even know what happened.

Where in the world is there a more peaceful and comfortable place than our Yingjing City?

Sure, the Nobles of the Nine Banners snatch people for Alchemy."

Ma Liu clasped his fists in a mock salute toward the center of Yingjing City. "But the Nobles don’t just grab people at random.

As long as you’re a registered citizen of Yingjing, you only have to draw a ’lot’ twice a year, pay the ’human tax’ twice a year.

Unless your ancestors were truly wicked and your luck is just rotten, how could your family possibly be chosen every single time?

And even if you are chosen, the Nobles are benevolent. They’ll provide some money and grain as compensation.

The Nobles mostly use refugees for their Alchemy—but can you even call refugees people? They’re livestock."

Ma Liu gave Fu Juemin a meaningful look.

"Young Master, you’ve been in the city for a while now. Haven’t you noticed? The common folk here in our Yingjing City, they’re all plump and ruddy-cheeked. They live much better lives than the people outside, don’t you think?"

Fu Juemin watched him in silence.

But Ma Liu paid him no mind and continued, "Young Master, you don’t know how many trades in this city, from top to bottom, depend on this Human Pill business to survive.

If the masters in the Banners were to one day stop their Alchemy with Human Pills—then the human traffickers in the brokerages, the dealers in the Human Market, the masters who inspect the ’goods’, the cart drivers who transport them....

...not to mention the Civil Servants in the Government Offices, the Patrol Police maintaining the streets, the officiating Village Chiefs... even the street sweepers, the night soil collectors, the night-watchmen... so many people would have no food on their table, no way to support themselves."

Ma Liu couldn’t help but laugh, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "In the Human Market, a healthy man of thirty, no missing limbs, can sell for a full thirty silver coins when the market is good.

Young Master, I can tell you’re a man of the world. Let me ask you, in this day and age, where are ’people’ more valuable than the ’people’ of our Yingjing City?"

Listening to Ma Liu’s words, Fu Juemin stood in the middle of the long street, gazing at the oppressive gray sky in the distance and the silhouette of the grand Imperial City beneath it. A sense of profound and surreal absurdity washed over him.

An inexplicable agitation and a desire to kill surged from the depths of his heart. In the recesses of his Consciousness, the darkness expanded....

The feeling of ’Fallen into Demon’ he had experienced back in Shenghai seemed to be returning with a vengeance.

Just then, a glazed, halo-like light bloomed from the depths of Fu Juemin’s eyes. In his mind, a massive, azure "Pharmacist Buddha" Dharma Form erupted in a brilliant glow....

"Young Master... Young Master!"

Ma Liu called out softly, a look of confusion on his face.

Fu Juemin snapped out of his daze, his eyes clearing once more.

"Let’s go."

Fu Juemin tugged on the reins, his voice calm. "Keep showing me around. Keep talking."

"Aye."

Ma Liu replied with a beaming smile and continued to lead the way.

After they had gone some distance, Ma Liu pointed to a restaurant ahead with an impressive sign. "We’ve been walking for so long, you two must be tired. Why don’t we take a seat at the restaurant up ahead?

Their ’Blessed Meal’ is to die for. Every day, Nobles from the Banners come all the way from the inner city just to taste it..."

"What is a ’Blessed Meal’?"

Gu Shouyu, who had been following and listening the whole time, couldn’t help but ask.

Ma Liu chuckled and said in a mysterious tone, "Why, that would be..."

Before he could finish, several people suddenly ran out from the side of the street, heading straight for the three of them. From a distance, they shouted Ma Liu’s name.

Ma Liu quickly scurried over to them. A short while later, he returned with a look of regret.

"I’m afraid you two won’t be able to have the ’Blessed Meal’ today."

Ma Liu cupped his fists at Fu Juemin and said obsequiously, "Word has come from the master’s house. He wants you two to head over right away.

The Patriarch is already waiting. After today, I expect Young Master Fu will be a Tributor of the master’s house, a Noble of the Blue Banner... In the future, I’ll be counting on your guidance and favor, Young Master Fu."

"Of course."

Fu Juemin urged his horse forward and reached out to pat Ma Liu’s shoulder lightly. Ma Liu respectfully bent his body halfway down.

Then, Fu Juemin withdrew his hand, called to Gu Shouyu, and calmly left with the men the Mu Family had sent.

After Fu Juemin and the others had gone, Ma Liu straightened up, his face showing relief that his task was finally complete.

His gaze swept the street, and he casually found a teahouse, planning to go in and sit for a while.

Suddenly, for no reason, he felt an itch.

At first, he didn’t pay it any mind, but after a moment, it got itchier, and itchier...

Unable to control himself, Ma Liu began to scratch frantically all over his body.

Five minutes later, a scream of pure terror shattered the quiet of the street.

Pedestrians stopped in their tracks. Then, they watched as a robust man in his forties fell from his horse.

And then, scratch by scratch, he clawed himself to death right there in the street....

...

Fu Juemin passed the horse mounting stone, walked between the two stone lions at the entrance, and stepped through the Vermilion Gate.

This was the residence of the Blue Banner’s Mu Shulu Clan, formerly the manor of a Commandery Prince from a previous dynasty, and it was astonishingly large.

The courtyards were deep and secluded, far grander and more imposing than the Ink Garden he had stayed at in Shenghai, and it possessed a classical charm that only time could bestow.

There weren’t many servants in the residence, but each one was demure and obedient, dressed in the style of servants from the former dynasty.

While passing through a corridor, Fu Juemin heard the sound of gongs, drums, and opera singing from a nearby building—the residence even had its own troupe of actors.

The guide didn’t speak, simply leading the way.

Fu Juemin walked with a calm expression, while Gu Shouyu at his side looked around with great curiosity the entire way.

After walking for some time, they finally stopped before the door to a hall.

A servant politely led Gu Shouyu away, while Fu Juemin was brought into the hall.

Entering the magnificent hall, he saw a graceful man with a smooth forehead and a fair complexion sitting high upon a Zitan Taishi Chair.

Chen You stood nearby, his head bowed.

Seeing Fu Juemin enter, the man sat up a little straighter, set his teacup aside, and smiled.

"This old man is Mu Feng of the Mu Shulu Clan. May I ask for my young friend’s name?"

Fu Juemin’s gaze rested on the man for a moment, then shifted to the space behind and to his left, then moved past him to the wall... finally, it gently returned to the man himself.

"My surname is Fu."

Fu Juemin said softly, "Patriarch Mu can call me Fu Lingjun."