Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

On the day we crossed the second mountain, it started to snow lightly.

Instead of the ice particles that arrived, they were real snowflakes, large flakes like goose feathers, slowly drifting down from the leaden-gray sky.

At the foot of the mountain, a river frozen into an ice belt meanders northward, and on the opposite bank, at the edge of the horizon, the outline of a city is faintly visible in the wind and snow.

"We've arrived..." Wang Dashan's voice trembled slightly.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Three hundred pairs of eyes are fixed on that city.

It took them thirty-one days to travel from the capital to the northern border, from autumn to winter, during which seven people died and twenty-three were injured before they finally reached their destination.

Cold Abyss City.

Xiao Chen rode on the snow-covered horse, snowflakes landing on his eyebrows and shoulders.

He gazed at the city for a very, very long time.

It was more dilapidated than I had imagined.

The city wall was made of rammed earth and was originally supposed to be two zhang high, but now many parts have collapsed. The highest part is less than one zhang and five zhang, and the lowest part is just a mound of earth half a person high.

The city gate consisted of two rotten wooden planks, half-open, creaking in the wind.

The moat had long since dried up, and the riverbed was filled with garbage, snow, and the skeletons of some unknown animal.

A few figures stood sparsely on the city wall, wrapped in tattered coats, clutching long spears, shivering in the wind and snow.

From a distance, they look like a few withered grasses.

"This...this is the Cold Abyss?" an old soldier murmured.

No one answered.

Everyone fell silent.

Before they came, they knew that Han Yuan was bitter.

But seeing it with my own eyes, I realized that the word "bitter" was simply not enough to describe the scene before me.

This is a...dead city.

No, it's worse than a dead city.

At least the dead city is quiet, at least it's clean.

Han Yuan, shivering in the wind and snow, resembled an old man clinging to life, exuding an aura of decay and despair.

"Your Highness..."

Uncle Fu's voice trembled with tears, "Do...do we really have to go in?"

Xiao Chen remained silent.

He dismounted and, stepping through knee-deep snow, walked slowly toward the city.

Treading on the snow, the horse's hooves crunched on the snow.

The veterans looked at each other and silently followed.

The closer you get to the city, the clearer the scene of ruin becomes.

Large sections of rammed earth on the city wall have peeled away, revealing the straw fibers underneath.

A large section of the roof of the city gate had collapsed, and it was barely held up by a few wooden sticks.

Through the city gate, you can see the city streets—narrow, dirty, covered in snow and mud, with low earthen houses on both sides, many without roofs.

There was no one on the street.

Or rather, there are no living people.

A figure huddled in the corner, motionless, covered with a thin layer of snow, its fate unknown.

Xiao Chen walked up to the figure, squatted down, and brushed the snow off his face.

He was an old man, his face was blue from the cold, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

He was only wearing a tattered hemp garment, and his exposed hands and feet were covered in chilblains.

Xiao Chen took off his sheepskin coat and covered the old man with it.

The old man stirred and slowly opened his eyes.

His cloudy eyes stared at Xiao Chen for a long time before he asked in a hoarse voice, "Who...who are you?"

"I am the newly arrived Prince Xiao Chen."

"The Prince?"

The old man paused, then suddenly laughed, a laugh like a broken bellows, "Prince... hahaha... another one coming to die..."

He was laughing when he coughed, spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

Xiao Chen helped him up: "How many people are still in the city?"

"people?"

The old man looked around blankly, "Where is anyone?... Those who could walk have all left, and those who can't... are just waiting to die..."

He pushed Xiao Chen away, stood up unsteadily, wrapped his sheepskin coat tightly around himself, and staggered towards the city.

As he walked, he hummed an off-key tune:

"The Cold Abyss, the Cold Abyss... Once you enter, you can never come out; once you enter, you can never leave..."

The voice was shrill and echoed through the empty street.

Xiao Chen stood up and watched the old man's figure disappear into an alley.

"Let's go into town," he said.

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone heard it.

The procession silently entered the city gate.

The scene inside the city was worse than what was seen from the outside.

Nine out of ten houses along the street are empty.

Some of the door panels were crooked, and the inside was dark, like an open mouth.

Some roofs collapsed, and snowflakes drifted directly inside.

Occasionally, a few figures could be seen huddled in corners or doorways, their eyes blank, showing no reaction to the suddenly appearing group.

The snow on the streets was left unswept, mixed with garbage and excrement, and frozen into a hard ice shell.

It crunched underfoot, and a stench emanated from beneath your feet.

"Is this fucking a city?"

One veteran couldn't help but curse aloud, "This is worse than a mass grave!"

No one responded.

Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

They had considered the hardships of Hanyuan, but they hadn't imagined it would be this bad.

Wang Dashan walked to Xiao Chen's side and whispered, "Your Highness, is this place... really habitable?"

Xiao Chen didn't answer. He walked to a relatively intact mud house and pushed open the door.

The room was empty except for a kang (a heated brick bed) covered with some dry straw.

In the corner, there was a pile of broken household items, all covered in a thick layer of dust.

The stove was cold, and the pot was frozen.

"How long has it been since anyone lived here?" Uncle Fu asked in a trembling voice.

"At least one winter," Xiao Chen said.

He looked at a few more, and the situations were all similar.

The entire city seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, leaving only an empty shell.

When we reached the city center, we finally saw a decent building – the city lord's mansion.

Although it's called a mansion, it's really just a slightly larger courtyard.

A section of the blue brick wall had collapsed, and the paint on the gate had peeled off completely, revealing rotten wood.

A crooked plaque hung above the door, the characters blurred, but the words "Prefectural Governor's Office" could be barely made out.

Xiao Chen pushed open the door and went in.

The courtyard was covered with a thick layer of snow, with only a narrow path worn into the ground leading to the main hall.

The door to the main hall was ajar, and voices could be heard coming from inside.

"...This month's wages haven't been paid yet, and Master Liu asked me to come and inquire about it."

"It's really...it's really not possible. Look at this weather, you can't even catch a mouse, where would we get the money..."

"If you don't have money, you can use grain as payment. Ten catties of grain will be worth one qian of silver."

"We have no grain left! There's only half a bag of bran left at home, and the children are crying from hunger..."

"I don't care. Master Liu said it has to be handed over today, or else..."

The sound stopped abruptly.

Because the person speaking saw Xiao Chen standing at the door.

Three people were sitting in the main hall.

The man in the main seat was a thin, middle-aged man wearing a worn-out official robe. He was huddled in the chair, looking sickly.

Two burly men stood beside him, dressed in short-sleeved clothes, with knives at their waists and faces full of menacing features.

The one who spoke was one of the burly men.

He saw Xiao Chen, paused for a moment, then frowned: "Who are you? Can't you see I'm on business?"

Xiao Chen ignored him and walked straight to the main seat, looking at the gaunt man: "Are you City Lord Liu Hong?"

The man looked up, staring blankly at Xiao Chen: "You are...?"

"Prince Jingbei, Xiao Chen."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Then, the gaunt man suddenly stood up, his legs went weak, and he slumped back down: "Your Highness? You...you've come? This humble official...this humble official didn't receive any documents..."

"The documents are on their way; I'll go ahead."

Xiao Chen said calmly, "City Lord Liu, what are you doing?"

Liu Hong's face turned pale, his lips trembled, and he couldn't speak.

The burly man beside him chuckled, "Oh, so it's Your Highness, the Prince. My apologies. I'm just a servant of Scarface Liu, here to collect this month's wages. What, even the Prince needs to interfere?"

His tone was flippant, and his eyes were full of disdain.

Scarface Liu.

Xiao Chen recalled Han Lie's words—the actual controller of Hanyuan City had hundreds of desperados under his command, and even the city lord dared not provoke him.

"Regular allowance?"

Xiao Chen asked, "What kind of allowance?"

"Protection fees."

The burly man spoke with righteous indignation, "Hanyuan is not a safe place; there are many bandits and horse thieves. Master Liu is protecting everyone's safety, so it's not unreasonable for him to collect a small fee, is it?"

"Protecting peace?"

Xiao Chen laughed. "What I saw was a city full of starving corpses, with nine out of ten houses empty?"

The burly man's face darkened: "What do you mean by that, Prince? Hanyuan's poverty is a natural disaster; what does it have to do with Lord Liu?"

"Really?" Xiao Chen turned around and looked towards the door.

The veterans had already followed them into the courtyard.

Three hundred men, though old, weak, sick, or disabled, were all from military backgrounds, and their mere presence exuded an imposing aura.

The two burly men's expressions changed.

"My men have seen no fewer than ten people freeze to death or starve to death on the streets along the way."

Xiao Chen's voice turned cold. "Is this the peace you've been protecting?"

"You..." The burly man wanted to retort, but when he looked at the veterans outside the door and then at Xiao Chen's eyes, he swallowed his words.

"Go back and tell Scarface Liu," Xiao Chen said, enunciating each word clearly, "that from today onwards, I'm in charge of Hanyuan City. His allowance ends here."

The burly man's face turned ashen: "Your Highness, you're new here and may not know the rules. This place, Hanyuan..."

"Rules?" Xiao Chen interrupted him. "My words are the rules."

He stepped forward, staring into the burly man's eyes: "Either you get out of here now, or I'll make you leave sideways. Choose."

Cold sweat broke out on the burly man's forehead.

He gritted his teeth, said "You wait," and slunk away with his companion.

Only Xiao Chen and Liu Hong remained in the room.

Liu Hong slumped in his chair, his face deathly pale and his whole body trembling: "Your Highness...you...you've gotten yourself into big trouble...Scarface Liu...he has hundreds of men under his command, all ruthless killers...you...you have so few men, they're no match for him..."

"So you just let him exploit the people?"

Xiao Chen looked at him. "You are the lord of a city, an official appointed by the imperial court, and you just stand there watching?"

"What...what can I do?"

Liu Hong, his face contorted with despair, said, "Hanyuan is a place far removed from the emperor's reach; the court has long since abandoned it. Scarface Liu's men are all armed with knives and guns. What... what can I possibly use to fight him?"

Xiao Chen fell silent.

He looked at the cowardly city lord, at the dilapidated government office, and at the lifeless city outside the gate.

Suddenly I feel very tired.

It took 31 days and 2,300 li (approximately 1,500 kilometers) to get here from the capital.

Assassinations, snowstorms, and deaths were all along the way.

After finally arriving, we were faced with a city like this.

This is a group of people.

But soon, that feeling of fatigue disappeared.

Instead, there was a cold, almost cruel determination.

"Liu Hong," he said.

"Your humble servant is here."

You now have two choices.

Xiao Chen's voice was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority: "First, continue to be your puppet city lord. I will kill you and replace you with someone else."

Second, listen to me, tell me everything you know about Han Yuan and everything about Scarface Liu.

Liu Hong opened his mouth as if to say something, but looking into Xiao Chen's eyes, he swallowed his words back.

That look was so cold, as cold as the winter in this frigid abyss.

"I...I choose the second one." He lowered his head.

"Very good." Xiao Chen walked to the head seat and sat down—the chair creaked as if it might fall apart at any moment.

"Now, tell me."

He stared at Liu Hong. "How many people are still alive in Hanyuan City? How many able-bodied men are there? How much food? How many weapons? How many men does Scarface Liu have? Where is his stronghold? What controls this city?"

Problems came one after another, like hailstones raining down.

Liu Hong wiped his sweat and stammered his reply.

Xiao Chen listened and took notes.

The snow outside the window was falling heavier and heavier.

This city, the city he had gone through so much trouble to reach, was now finally revealing its cruel and true nature.

But Xiao Chen's war has only just begun.