Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 295 [The Ghost Clan's Southern City]

My sleep schedule is completely reversed, I overslept, this chapter is from yesterday~
I'll update earlier today.

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Chapter 289 [The Ghost Clan's Southern City]

After finishing his meal, Chen Yan dismissed Niu Bufan and left the room alone with his hands behind his back.

After leaving Sifanglou, we walked along the road.

The area north of the city is quite prosperous, and although the streets are not very wide, they are still clean.

Following the slope upwards, crossing two hills in the city, a city wall under construction came into view in the distance.

The city wall was not connected to the outer city wall, and was slightly lower. It was made of square red stones piled up. The craftsmen around it were as busy as ants, and there were also cultivators on the side, using magic to move huge amounts of earth.

Dust could be seen rising from afar. Although a magic array sprinkled water vapor to intercept and suppress the dust, it still spread over a certain area.

Chen Yan noticed that the closer they got to the area where the city wall was being built, the fewer people were on the streets, and even the shops and houses on both sides of the road were closed.

When they reached the street, they saw a group of soldiers from the northern garrison had set up a checkpoint, preventing anyone from going any further.

The soldiers blocked the road and checked the official documents; if there were no documents, they wouldn't let anyone pass.

Clearly, after that, it would no longer be the force of the northern part of the city.

Chen Yan walked to the side, arms crossed, as if watching a spectacle. He noticed a table next to the group of soldiers, with a leader-like figure sitting behind it, quietly drinking tea and placing his helmet aside.

His gaze had barely lingered on Chen Yan twice when the team leader, sensing something, turned to look at him. Their eyes met briefly; Chen Yan's smile remained unchanged, his expression calm. The team leader, however, seeing Chen Yan dressed in a cultivator's robe and exuding composure, knew he was no ordinary person. After a slight hesitation, he nodded in greeting.

Chen Yan simply walked over, stood in front of the leader, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, and smiled: "General..."

"I dare not accept such a title. I am merely a squad leader in my jurisdiction, and I would never dare to be called a general." The squad leader, who seemed to be a clever man, smiled slightly and asked, "May I ask what brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

"I am a disciple of the Hehuan Sect," Chen Yan said with a smile.

The captain was taken aback, stood up from his chair and bowed to Chen Yan: "So you are a disciple of the Holy Sect."

"You're too kind." Chen Yan waved his hand and smiled, "I'm new to the City of No Return, and I don't know why there's a checkpoint here?"

The team leader frowned and said in a deep voice, "In the past, this was the junction of the south and north areas of the city. Now, the ghost clan and the demon clan have fought each other in the city and even built city walls to divide this city of no return into different territories for governance. However, the two sides are constantly arguing about the border and fighting back and forth."

I'm here on orders from the garrison to set up a checkpoint and protect our territory in the north of the city, preventing those troublemakers from barging in.

Chen Yan nodded: "Then... if I want to go over, they won't let me?"

The team leader shook his head: "Of course, that's possible, but you need to have each family's token and register before you can cross the border."

Let me make it clear first: if you want to go over there, please show your token. After we register you, we don't really care.

"However, once you go there, your life and safety are your own responsibility. If anything happens, our North City Administrative Office will not bear any responsibility."

After a pause, the leader seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "If you have nothing else to do, it's best not to go. If you want to buy any goods, you can find them at Sifanglou in the north of the city. There's really no need to wade into these troubled waters."

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a loud bang in the distance.

Then a sound like thunder was heard, followed by a deafening roar!
Then people started shouting and making a ruckus.

"They've attacked! They've attacked!!"

Looking around, at the site where the city wall was being built, a giant arm that was transporting earth had collapsed with a crash, and the magic array next to it that was maintaining the water spray had also been shattered into pieces in an explosion!
Amidst the swirling dust, one could see the half-finished city wall. From the other side, countless figures leaped atop the wall and then flipped over.

There were at least one or two hundred people, their figures leaping and bounding down from the city wall, and they charged towards the craftsmen who were repairing the city wall.

Those men, wielding sharp blades, descended like tigers from the mountain. The craftsmen on the ground immediately threw down their tools or the soil and stones they were carrying, let out a shout, and scattered in all directions.

Fortunately, those people didn't really massacre the craftsmen; they just scared them away and then went to destroy the equipment at the construction site.

Soon, several flames shot into the sky, and several giant arms were pushed down and then exploded by several golden lights.

Finally, from the side building the city wall, more than a dozen cultivators rushed out of a cluster of low houses, brandishing their magical artifacts and wielding sharp blades as they charged forward and engaged the group in battle.

With few defenders, several fell quickly after a fierce battle. Some even unleashed their magical artifacts, and two flying swords were seen shuttling back and forth in mid-air, taking the lives of one or two destroyers from time to time.

However, the attackers were clearly well-organized and had planned their attack carefully. Just as the cultivator who was directing the flying swords made his move, several attackers took advantage of the chaos to sneak up from the shadows. Once they got close, they suddenly launched their attack simultaneously, pounced from several directions.

The guardian cultivator wielding the flying sword was caught off guard. Although he also summoned a new magic weapon and sent out a spare flying sword, quickly killing two attackers, he was also tackled to the ground by more attackers. In an instant, his neck was slit, and with blood spurting out, his body convulsed and he died.

The flying sword in mid-air immediately fell to the ground, its precious light completely gone, and was picked up by the other attackers who ran away.

In this battle, the number of those who resisted and guarded was small, only a dozen or so people. Most of them were killed in just a few exchanges, but the remaining people fought to the death and were about to be wiped out.

But finally, after hearing whistles from all around, more guardian cultivators rushed out from both sides, probably coming from afar to provide reinforcements.

After the reinforcements arrived, they quickly clashed with the attackers. After a fierce battle, they saw that one of the reinforcing cultivators was quite powerful. He used a technique to create more than a dozen rings that emitted a precious light and flew in the air.

After the ring dispersed, it rushed towards different attackers and saboteurs with astonishing power. Anyone touched by the ring was either killed or injured!

As soon as the magical artifact was unleashed, within a few breaths, seven or eight people from the side that had launched the sneak attack fell down.

Some tried to repeat their old trick and ambush the cultivator who used the magic weapon, but the cultivator was already on guard. Two golden rings flew over quickly and circled around him. Anyone who tried to sneak up on him was immediately hit by the golden rings and sent flying.

His body fell a long way, and when he landed, it was already twisted and unrecognizable!
Finally, after the attackers shouted, the rest of them were alerted and quickly retreated, fleeing through the gap in the low city wall. These people were agile and ran like the wind as they climbed the city wall.

Most of them quickly fled, with only two or three being stopped by reinforcements and subsequently killed in a pincer attack.

Seeing that the reinforcing cultivators were trying to cross the city wall to pursue them, the cultivator using the golden ring magic artifact, probably a leader, shouted to stop them.

The battle lasted only a few minutes, but the ground was littered with corpses and wounded; at a rough glance, there were more than thirty people.

Chen Yan noticed that the party that launched the sneak attack and caused the destruction was the demon race—because after the corpses died, they were on the ground, and after the demonic power dissipated, they turned back into their original forms.

Looking at the corpses left on the ground, they all turned into dogs, wolves, foxes, and the like.

On the other hand, those who guarded one side were members of the demon race, and because they were ambushed, there were actually more corpses left behind.

Moreover, the demon race launched a surprise attack, so they achieved more results.

Although they did not intentionally slaughter the craftsmen, they inevitably resorted to violence while driving them away, and some of the corpses on the ground were left behind by the craftsmen.

After the fight ended, they started shouting angrily, but then quickly cleaned up the scene.

The monks scattered to gather the scattered craftsmen, drive them back, move the corpses, and clean up the mess...

Chen Yan watched from afar and heard the team leader beside him sigh, "What a mess this once peaceful city of no return has become!"

Chen Yan turned to look at the team leader, only to find that the team leader had put on his helmet at some point. Even the soldiers at the checkpoint were standing in formation with their knives in their hands, facing that direction, clearly on high alert.

Only after the fighting was over and the attacking demons had retreated did the leader and his soldiers seem to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fellow Daoist, do you still wish to go there?" The leader's tone was somewhat complicated: "My suggestion is that if it is not necessary, it is best not to go."

Chen Yan didn't answer, but instead asked, "How often does this kind of thing happen?"

The team leader said with a wry smile, "How can there not be? These days, we've been fighting several times a day. The border between the two sides is very long, and the sections where the city walls are being built are intersecting. You kill me, and I fight you."

"Every day they'll haul away several truckloads of corpses."

Chen Yan glanced at the knife gripped tightly in the soldier's hand and frowned, saying, "Let them fight their own battle. Will they still come here?"

"The orders from both sides are naturally to forbid the people below from attacking the northern area of ​​the city, but... you know, when people are in a bloodthirsty frenzy, some guys get carried away and don't care about anything else."

You never know when something might happen. Before, there were those who, in the heat of the moment, fled towards us in a panic, and were pursued. They're coming this way…

However, his brothers stopped him.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan remained silent for a moment, then clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the team leader before turning and leaving.

Seeing Chen Yan turn around and head back to the northern district, the team leader seemed to breathe a sigh of relief—if a disciple of the Holy Sect wanted to cross the border, even if he stayed to register, if something happened there, the governing body would not be held responsible—but these Holy Sects were high and mighty, who knew?

Being able to go back means avoiding trouble for myself.

·
Chen Yan turned back to the North District and wandered around. After walking a few streets, he approached the border between the North District and the Ghost Clan in the south of the city. This area was only the border between the Ghost Clan and the North District, but it did not border the Demon Clan's territory in the north of the city, and it looked much more peaceful.

Although there were soldiers from the local government stationed at the crossroads, the atmosphere was noticeably less tense. The soldiers were also quite relaxed, with nonchalant expressions.

The checks on pedestrians were not very thorough; often, the soldier would simply flash his token, glance at it, and wave him through.

However, Chen Yan noticed a wooden sign standing by the roadside with a notice from the North City Government. The notice stated that the situation in the south and north of the city was currently chaotic, and advised everyone not to go there. If they did cross the border, they would be responsible for their own lives and leave it to fate.

Chen Yan walked to a deserted alley. When he came out, he had transformed into a completely different person, a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance who would be easily lost in a crowd.

Upon reaching the checkpoint, Chen Yan casually produced a token—not his own, but one he had seen hanging on someone else's pennant while wandering around and had taken from them.

The writing on it was blurry, and it contained a symbol I didn't recognize. The material was also badly worn.

Chen Yan simply raised his token and waved it; the checkpoint soldiers glanced at it and readily let him pass.

Chen Yan noticed that many of the soldiers here would cast long glances at the backs of people passing through, their eyes carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

It's like the look you give someone when they're doing something stupid.

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Passing through means the southern part of the city.

This is the territory of the Ghost Clan, but the buildings on the streets are almost identical to those in the north of the city—originally, the City of No Return was one entity, but it was only after the Ghost and Demon Clan fought that the area was forcibly divided.

However, there were quite a few more people on the road dressed as demons.

The Ghost Clan is a fusion of the original mountain tribes of southern Xinjiang, and they have preserved many of the traditions of the southern mountain people in terms of culture.

They wore tight-fitting clothes with narrow sleeves, and both men's and women's trousers and skirts were also fitted in.

It is likely that the mountain people used to live in the mountains, and their loose-fitting robes and wide sleeves were inconvenient for walking and doing things in the mountains, so they developed this style of clothing.

The colors are mainly cyan and gray, with very few brightly colored outfits.

—Not all of them are ghosts; many of them originally lived in the mortal city.

After the areas were divided, it was impossible to drive away all the residents in the original areas. Many ordinary people did not want to leave their homes, so they stayed and lived in the same place.

These people were dressed more like the mainstream human attire of the northern part of the realm.

Chen Yan walked along the road, looking at the shop signs and flags.

The southern part of the city looked much more desolate, probably because most of the shops and businesses had closed down and moved to the northern part.

With fewer shops, some people dressed as demons set up stalls on both sides of the road, creating a different atmosphere altogether.

Chen Yan walked down a street and, after a quick look, found that the stalls were selling products from the mountains.

It mainly consists of medicinal herbs, with some minerals as well, but most of them are unprocessed; the raw materials are simply displayed.

As Chen Yan looked around, he saw some iron ore of good quality. Although it hadn't been polished, the material was good, so he bought two pieces.

The price is more than 30% cheaper than in stores.

He didn't have much money in his pocket, so after buying two items, he didn't spend any more.

Occasionally, you can see members of the Ghost Clan carrying loads or pushing carts, selling food from street to street.

Out of curiosity, Chen Yan also bought two items to try.

One of the stories is that the Ghost Clan mountain people used a type of sweet grass root used for making sugar in the mountains—after making the sugar, the residue left from the sweet grass root was steamed, stir-fried, and finally dried.

The texture is similar to seaweed, but with a subtle sweetness that gets sweeter the more you chew.

Chen Yan quite liked this stuff, so he simply bought two large bags and put them away—it wasn't expensive, only one jade coin per bag.

Chen Yan originally wanted to find a teahouse or restaurant to inquire about the ghost clan, but after walking two streets, he realized that he had preconceived notions.

The ghost people don't have the habit of sitting in teahouses and restaurants to drink tea and eat!

Come to think of it... they come from mountain villages, where would there be teahouses and restaurants in the mountains?

After walking two streets, I saw people dressed as demons. They often liked to gather in open spaces on the street, preferably under a big tree, where they would squat or sit in groups.

Some sat there drinking water from wooden tubes, while others chewed tobacco or smoked pipes.

Some people were eating; they would take out a piece of food wrapped in leaves, open it, and sit on the ground to eat.

Chen Yan also wanted to go closer to see if he could hear anything.

Then he made another mistake himself.

The ghosts didn't mind strangers sitting down to rest.

The problem is... Chen Yan can't understand what they're saying!

To Chen Yan, the words of the Ghost Clan sounded like bird language; he couldn't understand a single word.

After wandering around for more than an hour, it was already afternoon, and Chen Yan had come up empty-handed.

As he walked, he pondered to himself, deciding that perhaps he should first return to the Sifanglou in the North City and then find another way to inquire about information...

Suddenly, Chen Yan had a thought and instantly adjusted his posture. He appeared relaxed, but his arms and waist were already ready to exert force.

He sensed someone approaching him.

A hand slapped me from behind, just like that.

Chen Yan suddenly turned around, a movement that startled the person who was about to pat him.

Chen Yan was taken aback, looking at the guy in front of him dressed in gorgeous clothes, who was obviously out of place among the ghost clan people who were mostly dressed in tight-fitting clothes in blue and gray on the street.

Especially since the other party's sleeves were fluttering, and the fabric of the clothes still had a touch of otherworldly elegance, clean and without a speck of dust on them—Chen Yan knew that this person was wearing some kind of magic artifact to ward off dust.

To Chen Yan's surprise, this person was none other than Yun Zhao from the Black Feather Skylark Clan!

"Fellow Daoist, you are too vigilant. Your sudden turn startled me!"

Yun Zhao spoke with a familiar tone, smiling as he said to Chen Yan, "Why didn't you come to Nancheng to play with me? That's not very friendly!"

Thoughts flashed through Chen Yan's mind at lightning speed!
This Yun Zhao can actually recognize me! He can see through my shapeshifting technique?!

·
Chen Yan's gaze passed over Yun Zhao, and sure enough, he saw the guy called Lao Liang behind him—the Black Feather Sky Sparrow Clan's protector.

Thoughts raced through Chen Yan's mind, but he appeared relaxed, smiling and saying, "Brother Yun Zhao, what a coincidence to meet you here..."

As he spoke, he shook his head and said, "You're quite skilled; my trick didn't fool your eyes."

Yun Zhao laughed heartily: "Brother, your magic is very powerful. I didn't see through you with my eyes, I smelled it with my nose."

Chen Yan was taken aback again.

Yun Zhao laughed heartily: "Yesterday we drank tea in the car on the way. The tea you drank was a special mystery tea of ​​my Black Feather Lark Clan. The tea has a unique fragrance. After you drink it, the fragrance will not dissipate for three days and will emanate slightly from your pores."

This tea is a fine product, a specialty of my Black Feather tribe. My Black Feather tribe also dwells on the southern slopes of Yinshan Mountain, surrounded by towering mountains. After drinking this tea, its fragrance lingers for three days; even insects and snakes dare not approach when walking in the mountains.”

As he spoke, Yun Zhao patted Chen Yan's shoulder casually: "The smell is very faint, and it is difficult for outsiders to detect. I was able to identify the smell because I had drunk too much in the tribe."

Chen Yan smiled outwardly, but secretly remembered it and reminded himself.

You can't rely on Transfiguration too much!
Sleight of hand can only fool the eyes; we still need to be careful about smells in the future.

As he was laughing, Yun Zhao grabbed Chen Yan's sleeve: "We just happened to run into you. Come on, come on, I'll take you to an interesting place!"

Seeing this guy's winking and gesturing, a thought suddenly flashed through Chen Yan's mind...

Is this rich kid planning to take me to a brothel?!

(End of this chapter)