Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 429-428 The Special Features of the City of Freedom
Fang Youliu shrugged: "There's no need to talk about what happened after Yongdai—it's the current Daxuan."

Feng Xiuhu listened attentively and asked curiously, "Why is Zizai City called this?"

Fang Youliu told him: "As the name suggests, it is because the people living there are carefree and at ease. They are isolated from the world and have lived a pastoral life for generations. Even after they were discovered and the valley road was opened up, their way of life has not changed much. As for what it is like now, I don't know, but that does not stop me from wanting to go and see."

Fang Youliu then changed the subject: "However, I guess there won't be much change."

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback: "Why are you so sure?"

Fang Youliu said, "Because the temple doesn't care about that place."

"Const recorded the rumors he had heard in his journal—that Zizai City had a special environment and was not suitable for cultivators, so the temple did not even want to set up a shrine there, and in the end, the hard job of guarding Zizai City was dumped on Jingzhe Temple."

"The Jingzhe Temple enshrines Jingzhe Lang, who is the most recently appointed deity by Xi Jun—of course, this so-called 'most recently appointed' deity is actually several decades old."

Feng Xiuhu finally understood: "Well, workplace bullying, is that it? What kind of skill is it to bully interns?"

Fang Youliu ignored his nonsense and continued, "So nowadays, there are only two forces in Zizai City—Jingzhe Temple and the Night Church."

He knew what Feng Xiuhu wanted to ask and explained first: "The Church of the Night came later—if we leave Qianyu City and continue north, we will enter the parish of the Church of the Night."

"With only a temple and a prayer hall, you can easily tell how much they dislike this place."

Feng Xiuhu was actually more curious about another question—what exactly would cause a cultivator to be unable to cultivate?

Unfortunately, Fang Youliu didn't know the answer either; everything could only be learned gradually once they arrived at the destination.

Feng Xiuhu chatted with great enthusiasm, which is only natural—people who have lived in big cities for a long time will inevitably yearn for the countryside and natural scenery.

He could almost see himself lying on the edge of the field, basking in the sun, feeling quite content.

……

That night.

In his sleep, Feng Xiuhu vaguely heard the sound of erosion.

"Feng Xiuhu, let's talk."

Feng Xiuhu opened one eye and saw Shi squatting beside his bed.

Suddenly awakened, Feng Xiuhu impatiently rolled over, turning his back to Shi.

Shi paced around to the other side, and with a swipe of its paw, pulled Feng Xiuhu's blanket off.

Feng Xiuhu was furious. He sat up abruptly, glaring at Shi: "What are you talking about? Don't let this get you angry."

Shi said in a low voice, "I have my reasons. You haven't experienced what happened to me, and I don't expect you to understand my feelings."

Feng Xiuhu wasn't angry about that; there were some things he understood later.

Feng Xiuhu sneered, "You deliberately scared me away that day. You didn't want me to ask any more questions—so are you trying to hide it from me, or from Yin Xiao?"

After a moment of silence, Shi said, "That depends on what you want to ask."

That's too ambiguous; it means he'll give selective answers.

Feng Xiuhu glanced sideways at Shi: "For example, why did you and Xi Jun break up? You yourself admitted that to refine a godhood, the authority of both of you is indispensable. It is precisely because of the ability to create godhood that Xi Jun can become the absolute center of the Eastern Gods—I really can't think of a closer relationship than this, and I really can't understand what reason could have caused you to break up." Shi remained silent for a longer time this time, slowly shaking his head: "...I don't know. She wanted to kill me, not me to kill her. How would I know what she was thinking? Just consider her crazy."

What's the difference between this and not saying anything at all?
Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but chuckle: "Fine, I have no more questions—tell me what you want to talk about."

Shi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then his tone became serious: "Let's talk about the City of Freedom."

Feng Xiuhu's attention was drawn in—clearly, he had overheard Fang Youliu's conversation during the day, which was why he was drawn out.

They're having a cold war, and Shi won't come out on his own initiative for no reason, so there must be something worth paying attention to in Zizai City.

The Eclipse's tail swept lightly across the ground as it spoke in a cautionary tone: "The area around Zizai City is very special. In the words of those scholars, it should be called magnetic polar disorder—which is why it was only discovered hundreds of years later."

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback: "What do you mean by 'in the words of those scholars'? Is there some other way to put it?"

Eclipse nodded: "That's right, the truth is that the mortal world and the spirit world overlapped there."

Feng Xiuhu tried to understand: "You mean, Zizai City belongs to both the mortal world and the spirit world?"

Shi thought for a moment and corrected, "I meant overlapping, not that Zizai City exists in both the mortal world and the spirit world at the same time, like two pieces of paper with one corner overlapping each other, but they still belong to their respective pieces of paper, they just happen to be pressed together - well, that's about right."

Shi didn't know how to explain it clearly, so he simply continued: "It is this abnormal phenomenon that makes it impossible for cultivators to cultivate. When cultivators mobilize their magic power, the operation of the magic power becomes disordered and uncontrollable. It is easy to hurt oneself if one rashly cultivates or casts spells, but this is not the most serious one."

“What’s more serious is that a cultivator’s spirit will be influenced by the spirit world without them even realizing it. For example, it’s like you’re walking down the street and you turn around and find that your physical body is still in the same place, but your spirit has somehow come out on its own. Do you know what that means?”

Feng Xiuhu was startled upon hearing this: "Does that mean I have to walk backwards in order to spot it in time?"

Shi Qi bared his teeth at Feng Xiuhu: "Fool, this means you might end up walking right to the River Styx—or even before you reach it, your spirit will dissipate in the spirit world!"

Feng Xiuhu suddenly realized: "That scared me to death! I was wondering what would happen if I fell while walking backwards."

Shi took several deep breaths to catch his breath, then lay helplessly on the ground: "There's another problem for us."

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if, without your knowledge, it was me who had my spirit leave my body?"

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback—this was indeed a big problem.

He looked at Shi: "What do you suggest we do?"

Shi did not show any tension. Since he raised this question, it meant that there was probably a solution.

"It's not difficult."

Shi said in a low voice, "I'll just hide in the Dream Forest and not go out."

He looked up at Feng Xiuhu: "But that also means that if you encounter trouble, I won't be able to help you in time, and you'll have to rely on yourself."

Feng Xiuhu frowned: "But didn't you say it's difficult to mobilize magic power in Zizai City?"

Erosion licked its paws: "That's right."

"Therefore, I intend to hand over the authority to you."

He said "pay," not "borrow."

(End of this chapter)