Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 433, 432 Empty City
The carriage departed from Qianyu City, embarking once again on its journey north.

Shunzi seemed to have fulfilled some wish, and her whole body visibly relaxed again.

In fact, he had noticed the extra thing in Feng Xiuhu's hand long ago, but he only had the mind to ask about it now.

"Brother, where did you get this stick? I don't remember you buying it."

Feng Xiuhu tapped him on the head with his cane: "What kind of stick? This is called a cane."

Shunzi touched the top of his head: "I know, I've seen a lot of foreigners use it—you're not lame or old, what's the point of having this thing?"

Feng Xiuhu said irritably, "How the hell should I know... Who would have thought he could stack bottle caps into a stick this long?"

"what?"

Shunzi didn't understand.

Feng Xiuhu waved his hand: "It's nothing."

He didn't want to talk about this topic anymore, and Fang Youliu outside the carriage curtain was also eavesdropping—Fang Youliu couldn't see anything wrong with the cane, but its appearance was too abrupt, so he couldn't help but pay attention to it.

Feng Xiuhu lifted the curtain and asked Fang Youliu, "How long does it take to get from Qianyu City to Zizai City?"

Fang Youliu replied, "Three days."

Fang Youliu's words were absolutely true; he said three days, and that meant exactly three days, not an hour more, not an hour less.

During the journey, Shunzi asked about the local customs and culture of Zizai City out of curiosity, and Fang Youliu repeated the story he had told Feng Xiuhu to Shunzi.

Like Feng Xiuhu, Shunzi felt a strong sense of anticipation—a place like a paradise, which must have a completely different style from bustling cities like Qianyu City and Fan City.

But on the last day, when the carriage entered the fork in the road leading to Zizai City, Feng Xiuhu noticed something strange.

……

Compared to the main road before, the roadside suddenly became desolate, and there were no traces of footsteps or tire tracks on the road.

Does this road usually go by?

Feng Xiuhu frowned and asked.

Fang Youliu also found it strange: "Even if there are few people from the city, people from the city should still have time to go out. Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case."

Shunzi chimed in, "It seems like we haven't seen anyone on the road since we entered the fork in the road."

Feng Xiuhu thought for a moment and asked Fang Youliu, "Could it be as you said, that the people here have lived in seclusion for generations, and avoiding the world has become a habit, so they rarely interact with the outside world?"

Fang Youliu shook his head and said, "That was in the past. How could it be like that now? Besides, there are temples, churches, and government offices in the city. Apart from the differences in local customs, it is essentially no different from an ordinary town."

After a moment's consideration, he offered a relatively reasonable guess: "Generally speaking, roads like this, where no one dares to walk, are either inhabited by wild beasts or plagued by bandits."

Shunzi perked up upon hearing this: "Another highway robbery?"

He instinctively placed his hand on the gun, grinned, and said, "Perfect for me to practice."

Shunzi waited with anticipation, but when he arrived at the city gate, the bandits never appeared.

As Fang Youliu had said before, Zizai City was located in a valley, and a passageway was later carved out to connect it with the outside world.

The only city gate of Zizai City is located inside the passageway.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the passageway. Fang Youliu didn't go any further. He whispered to the two people inside the carriage, "Something feels off..."

Lifting the carriage curtain, Feng Xiuhu and Shunzi peered into the passageway—it was pitch black inside, and they couldn't see anything at all.

Although it was broad daylight, the passageway was still dimly lit, and torches and oil lamps were needed to provide light. Logically, this should be the job of the government office; they couldn't expect everyone entering the city to carry their own lamps.

But there was absolutely no light in the passageway.

Feng Xiuhu also felt it was unreasonable: "You didn't come to the wrong place, did you?" Fang Youliu shook his head: "I followed the map, I can't be wrong."

Shunzi said, "Whether it's right or wrong, we'll know once we go in and see. Maybe we'll see people once we're inside the city gate."

Feng Xiuhu said irritably, "Nonsense, if we don't see anyone after entering the city, then we're not entering the city, but a graveyard."

If he had a choice, Feng Xiuhu would love to go back to before he said those words and slap himself in the face.

It was a thoughtless remark, but it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

……

The carriage slowly entered the passageway.

Fang Youliu wanted to make torches using local materials, but Feng Xiuhu refused, finding it too troublesome.

He sat on the carriage shaft, his fingertips lightly stroking his cane. The power of shadow was silently activated, granting Feng Xiuhu the ability to see in the dark.

With Feng Xiuhu's guidance, the carriage finally arrived at the city gate after traveling for some distance.

The city gates were wide open, and the light from the exit of the passageway could be seen not far away.

The problem is that even the city gates are unguarded.

There were no residents and no police officers.

Fang Youliu felt a chill run down his spine: "My God... I have a bad feeling about this. Where have all the people from the city gone?"

As the carriage drove out of the passageway, the scenery inside the valley finally came into view for the three of them.

The idyllic countryside with its crisscrossing paths and lush fruit trees that I had imagined did not appear; instead, there was an endless expanse of decay.

The abandoned fields are overgrown with weeds, and the withered trees are nothing but jagged branches.

Further away, dense, low-rise buildings could be seen, but there was still no sign of people—the entire city of Zizai exuded a deathly atmosphere from the inside out.

Feng Xiuhu chuckled softly, "Fang Youliu, this seems to be different from what you said."

In this environment, Fang Youliu unconsciously lowered his voice: "Constant has never come in person either. The contents of his notes are all from what he heard from others... Maybe he was deceived?"

Feng Xiuhu shook his head: "Can a city without people still be considered a city? If that were true, this place would have been removed from the list long ago, so I don't believe there's really no one here."

After saying this, Feng Xiuhu walked straight ahead.

Although Zizai City has the suffix "city" in its name, in terms of size, it can only be considered a small town at most. The reason it is called a "city" is probably because the emperor of the Yong Dynasty was pleased and gave it a higher status.

The three of them walked slowly into the city streets, but they didn't see a single person along the way.

Feng Xiuhu even climbed over the walls of the houses along the street to check, but found no one inside—strangely, the furnishings inside clearly indicated that someone used the houses frequently.

But where have they all gone?
The three of them looked at each other.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, they suddenly heard a long, deep horn sound overhead.

Woohoo——

The three of them looked up at the source of the sound and found that it was coming from a tall tower in the distance, which was also the tallest building in the city.

Feng Xiuhu squinted his eyes: "Let's go take a look."

Before the other two could even respond, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded around them.

Immediately afterwards, a dense crowd of people emerged from the houses on both sides of the street, and the street, which had been deathly silent just a second ago, suddenly became lively.

(End of this chapter)