Chapter 160 - Something Strange in Sageridge (2)

Ran Qingmo saw the look in Xu Yuan’s eyes. After a brief hesitation, she asked softly, “Was I wrong?”

Xu Yuan looked at the mud beneath the refugee camp, where bloodstains and melted snow had mixed into a filthy slurry, then let out a sigh. “Wrong, but not entirely.”

“Hm?” Ran Qingmo’s eyes filled with confusion.

Xu Yuan looked at her, at this woman who seemed untouched by dust and grime, and after several breaths of silence, he said quietly, “Ran Qingmo, what do you think a sect is?”

“A home,” Ran Qingmo answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“No, I mean to the Great Flame Empire.”

“An aid in jointly governing the realm.”

Hearing that, Xu Yuan suddenly felt like laughing. Ran Qingmo’s answer was the kind of official language written in the court-compiled histories of the Great Flame Empire.

“What are you laughing at?” The iceberg of a woman seemed a little displeased.

Xu Yuan coughed lightly and shook his head. “Maybe that was true in the beginning. But not anymore.”

“Why?” Ran Qingmo asked.

The wind stirred the veil of her hat, faintly revealing the fair skin beneath.

As they walked, Xu Yuan said softly, “Because the court is almost unable to suppress the sects anymore. In other words, the court and the sects have essentially ended up on opposing sides. To the court, sects are no longer helpers. They are parasites.”

Beneath the veil, Ran Qingmo pressed her red lips together.

Xu Yuan pointed toward the stretch of shanties. “Ran Qingmo, your master wasn’t wrong. The court really does forbid sects from expanding outward. But what your master was likely referring to is that sects are not allowed to leave their territory and establish new Daoist grounds.”

“Why?” Ran Qingmo asked.

“Why what?” Xu Yuan replied.

“Why doesn’t the court allow sects to set up branch stations?”

Ran Qingmo asked very seriously, “Master said that if sect disciples have to depart from Celeste Mountain every time they go out to slay demons, the round trip is too long and wastes too much time. We would have to establish Daoist grounds in other places to quickly eliminate those demonic beasts causing trouble. If we had Daoist grounds there, our sect disciples could be stationed there permanently, and whenever something happened, the common people could come directly to us.”

Xu Yuan looked at Ran Qingmo and rubbed his brow, his voice helpless. “It would make things easier, yes. But that precedent can’t be allowed. Right now, sects already don’t have to pay taxes. Once that precedent is set, any place where your sect establishes a Daoist ground will be very difficult for the court to take back. Ten years... no, ten years is too short. After a hundred years, the Great Flame Empire realm might very well be devoured piece by piece until it becomes a realm ruled by sects. So, the court would rather leave those people to live or die on their own than let your sects take over.”

Hearing this, Ran Qingmo’s beautiful eyes seemed to understand and not understand at the same time. “Is there no way to solve it?”

Xu Yuan smiled when he heard that, his tone leisurely. “Actually, solving the problem of these homeless people would be quite simple. As long as either the sects or the court gave ground, it would work. If the sects were willing to pay taxes, or if the court were willing to let you establish Daoist grounds, either path would allow these homeless people to settle down and live in peace. After all, the Great Flame Empire’s national strength really is quite impressive right now.”

At this point, he shook his head, the smile at the corner of his lips turning strange and mocking. “But that’s impossible. The Emperor will never give up power, and the sects will never back down. That is also why my father is opting to destroy your Celeste Sword Sect.”

As his words fell, silence followed. Ran Qingmo’s beautiful eyes dimmed slightly. “It seems... there really is no room to turn back.”

She had realized the enormous gulf of communication between the sects and the court, a divide as vast as a heavenly chasm.

Xu Yuan raised his hand and patted her arm.

Ran Qingmo lifted her eyes and looked at him through the veil.

He curved his eyes into a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to create that room for you.”

She bit her lip and nodded softly. “Mhm...”

The two of them said nothing more, continuing forward in silence.

The refugee camps on both sides kept stretching on and on, and it was only when they could see a city wall in the distance that the wooden structures lining the official road gradually began to thin out.

ᯓ➤

Sageridge was the border city where Xu Xinyao had set up that illusion array.

As they drew closer along the official road, Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo could see that the walls of the territory looked somewhat dilapidated. The walls, more than ten meters tall, were pitted and uneven, and when Xu Yuan sensed the formations on them with his soul intent, their light flickered in and out.

That woman they had met on the road earlier, Zhou Xiaohe, had not lied to him.

If Xu Xinyao ignored Sageridge, then in another few years, this place would probably become a stretch of ruins.

Because it was close to the Myriad Ascents Mountain Range, many wandering martial artists, mercenaries, and warrior apprentices who hunted demonic beasts treated this county town as a place to rest and resupply. And it was precisely because of these demonic beast hunters that many merchant caravans came here to purchase all kinds of materials from demonic beast corpses.

Later, however, the number of merchant caravans dwindled sharply, because demonic beast tides would often attack the city.

Now, perhaps because the illusion array provided some guarantee of safety, the merchant caravans had returned, and Sageridge had gradually regained the prosperity of a border trade town.

It was bustling with life. Unlike the other counties and commanderies of the Great Flame Empire that Xu Yuan had visited, Sageridge, being a border city, clearly had a much fiercer local character.

Eight out of ten pedestrians on the road were carrying weapons.

There were warrior apprentices, cultivators, and even sect disciples who had come here to temper themselves through experience.

People came and went through the city, a mixed crowd of every sort.

Ran Qingmo’s attire did not stand out much. On the contrary, Xu Yuan’s rich embroidered robes made him look rather conspicuous.

After all, many female sect disciples in this city chose to cover their faces to avoid unnecessary trouble, while very few young noblemen came all the way out to a border region like this for leisure. Most people here wore practical martial attire.

Walking through the bustling crowd, Ran Qingmo looked around. “Xu Yuan, what are we doing now?”

Xu Yuan answered as if it were only natural. “Buying some things...”

He suddenly stopped and fixed his gaze on a living shrine in the distance.

A flash of blood red light passed through his eyes.

Inside that shrine, he saw the statue of a woman as gentle as flowing water.

Finding his reaction strange, Ran Qingmo followed his gaze and asked with some curiosity,

“What is it?”

The blood red light in Xu Yuan’s eyes faded. He shook his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “Nothing. I just didn’t expect Sageridge to have actually built a living shrine for my little sister.”

Ran Qingmo understood when she heard that and asked softly, “Do you want to go take a look?”

Xu Yuan shook his head. “No need. She built this illusion array and protected this region’s peace. That’s already pretty good.”

With that, he turned and left.

The two of them circled through the city and eventually stopped before an impressive little building with its courtyard gates tightly shut.

Xu Yuan looked up at the characters reading Mountain Sea Merchant Guild, his expression turning strange as he muttered, “I remember Sageridge is Myriad Manifestations Sect’s territory. So why did their merchant guild and restaurant close down a month ago? That doesn’t make sense...”

When buying supplies, the chambers of commerce run by major sects were usually far more complete than those run by smaller sects.

There was no Calm Sky Merchant Association in Sageridge, so Xu Yuan could only settle for the next best option. Yet now, even that was gone.

Ran Qingmo followed beside Xu Yuan and asked softly, “Is that strange?”

Xu Yuan glanced at her, then smiled and nodded. “Of course it’s strange. “Sects don’t pay taxes, but they’re also not allowed to touch local taxes. So if they want to make money, they usually do it by controlling local trade. The Myriad Manifestations Sect spent a huge sum to set up the illusion array outside the city.

“Now that Sageridge has finally prospered again, the profit from the demonic beast trade should be enormous. With proper management, even earning over a hundred thousand taels of silver a year would be considered low. Under normal circumstances, Myriad Manifestations Sect should never give this up...”

As he spoke, Xu Yuan faintly sensed that something was wrong.