Rotten God Kingdom

After bringing Jiang Wang and his sister into the group, the middle-aged man ignored them. However, the other members of the group showed goodwill towards Jiang Wang and his sister.

The first to approach were two young men on a motorcycle.

The older one is named Xu Haodong. He has an average appearance, is rather thin, has a slightly lisp when he speaks, and you can see that he is missing a front tooth when he smiles.

He said he crashed it when he was learning to ride a motorcycle.

The younger one was named Wang Ye. He had a neat buzz cut and was fifteen or sixteen years old, the age when he was most energetic.

They approached Jiang Wang and asked him questions, such as where he came from and where he had been. When Wang Ye heard that Jiang Wang had encountered many monsters in the wilderness, he became very excited and kept asking questions.

Jiang Wang will ask them about the city.

"You travel every day without ever stopping?" Jiang Wang thought this rule was a bit outrageous.

Even the most seasoned traveler needs a break, right?

Many people enjoyed traveling before the catastrophe, but they only traveled when they had free time.

Moreover, most people reduce the frequency of travel after starting a family.

Travel is just a hobby, not a way of life.

"A true traveler only pauses when he needs a rest or when he sees a beautiful view." Xu Haodong is an honest man, and when he said this, there was an undisguised pride on his face.

In this city, this phrase is a bible for travelers.

The motorcycle engines were very noisy, so Jiang Wang had to speak loudly to communicate with them, and sometimes he couldn't even hear them clearly.

"Then how do you know when you need to rest? Everyone's limits are different." Jiang Wang carefully chose his words before continuing, "There are so many of you; some people are always energetic, and some people are always tired. How do you coordinate?"

Wang Ye said loudly from the side, "At night, when we encounter monster attacks, or when we are trading with other cities, we will stop to rest."

It means it won't stop at any other time.

Some people couldn't hold on any longer and had to fall behind.

The price of falling behind is that he may have to spend the rest of his life chasing after this city.

If there's a problem with the car, either fix it at night or stop to repair it, and then catch up with it after it's fixed.

This is acceptable for car owners, but for those without cars, once they fall behind, they'll only have their two legs left.

Wang Ye's words also answered one of Jiang Wang's doubts.

The necessities of life for so many people were most likely obtained through trade between cities.

The problem is...

Where do they get so many things to trade?

"Where do you get your necessities? Do you rely solely on trade between cities?"

"Yes." Wang Ye nodded, but did not elaborate on what the transaction would involve.

Wang Ye prefers to talk about his camera, which is his most treasured possession—an old SLR camera with a severely worn casing and scratches on the lens edge, but which he has maintained very well.

He valued this camera more than the automatic rifle he always carried.

In his words, when he encounters a beautiful scene that he will stop to admire, because taking pictures would distract him.

After he memorizes the scene before him, he will take pictures of it, and every time he looks at the photos, it's as if he's been there all over again.

A camera is a traveler's second life.

Wang Ye handed the camera to Jiang Wang, showing him the photos he had taken over the years.

To be honest, it's very tiring to look at photos while riding a motorcycle.

The roads, especially in the wilderness, are not easy to travel.

However, the people around me seem to be used to doing other things while driving. Basically, everyone eats and drinks in the car, and only stops temporarily when they need to go to the toilet or do other important things.

Jiang Wang had Jiang Xin carry the DSLR camera while he rode his bike and looked at it.

"Wow, brother, this is so beautiful!" Jiang Xin couldn't help but exclaim.

Wang Ye was so familiar with the contents of his camera that he knew which photo Jiang Xin had looked at just by hearing her praise.

"You mean that crystal forest? It really is a very beautiful place, with trees made entirely of crystal. When the sunlight shines on them, the whole forest becomes translucent, like living in a dream."

Jiang Wang looked at the photo; it was indeed an extremely beautiful place.

The translucent branches reflected the gentle sunlight, giving the entire grove a hazy, dreamlike beauty.

……

night.

The city of travelers is at its busiest at this time.

All the houses stopped, and the vehicles that were moving also stopped around them.

People planted torches around the area, illuminating the large area brightly.

People without vehicles also arrived at this time, and everyone pitched tents and had dinner in a relatively flat area.

Jiang Wang parked his motorcycle in a corner and looked at the noisy crowd around him.

He was worried that someone would steal the motorcycle, so he ate and slept next to it.

Wang Ye approached Jiang Wang with his camera and said, "Come on, let me take a picture of you and your sister."

"Well... isn't that necessary?" Jiang Wang was a little uncomfortable with this enthusiasm.

After all, they had only known each other for a day, and their relationship was not like that of Lü Ang, where they had fought side by side before.

"Take lots of pictures. What travelers cherish, besides the beautiful scenery along the way, is the people they meet. Your experiences are very rich. To be honest, I envy you."

During the day, Jiang Wang told Wang Ye about his experiences in the hunting city, mostly details of dealing with monsters.

Everyone has their own expertise. In terms of the scenery he has seen, Jiang Wang is not as good as Wang Ye, but in terms of other knowledge, Jiang Wang has a lot to say.

Unable to resist Wang Ye's enthusiasm, Jiang Wang pulled Jiang Xin to take a group photo.

Behind them were silhouettes of mobile homes and a flickering campfire, the firelight reflecting on their faces and making Jiang Xin's eyebrows and eyes appear very curved.

"I'll give you a copy when I develop this photo." Wang Ye carefully put away his camera.

Jiang Wang agreed.

"By the way, there's a welcome ceremony for the newlyweds tonight. Would you like to come and watch?" Wang Ye asked.

Welcome ceremony?

This city seems to have a lot of humanistic care.

They're actually willing to waste their time doing something so meaningless.

However, Jiang Wang thought again that it would be biased to view this city and these travelers from the perspective of an ordinary person.

After all, they are a group of people who value travel more than life itself. Perhaps, for them, death is not necessarily more terrifying than blindness.

If you're blind, you won't be able to see those beautiful sights.

"I'm quite interested. Could you share some details about the welcoming ceremony? After all, I'm not a traveler, so I'll probably just be an observer."

"That's true." Wang Ye nodded in agreement with Jiang Wang's statement. After all, the welcoming ceremony was to be held in the city center, and Jiang Wang and his sister would most likely not be able to enter and could only stand at a distance to watch.

"Most of the welcoming ceremony was meaningless. The singing and dancing were not good either. In my opinion, those women's dances were not as interesting as a strangely shaped mountain peak." Wang Ye's face was full of disdain, as if he were a man with a firm will to not be interested in women.

"The real significance lies in the identification process." Wang Ye paused deliberately at this point, as if waiting for Jiang Wang to ask a question.

Jiang Wang perfectly played the role of the straight man: "What's involved in the verification process? It seems like it's a certificate for this city to accept outsiders."

Wang Ye glanced at Jiang Wang with some surprise: "Your thinking is very quick; you guessed it right away."

For a visitor to truly integrate into the city, they need to go through a special process: "Do you see the tallest building in the city?"

Jiang Wang looked in the direction Wang Ye was pointing.

Surrounded by houses and vehicles in the very center is a distinctive building, nine stories high, which stands out from the others. It is also very well decorated, covered in shimmering gold leaf, which shines brightly in the firelight.

Its overall style is also out of place with other houses.

It looks more like a church than a residential building.

"No one lives in the sanctuary. During the day, the guide drives the buildings forward within the sanctuary, and the sanctuary also controls the city's direction and speed." Wang Ye then added a cryptic question, "Guess what's kept in the sanctuary?"

Jiang Wang pondered for a moment.

There is a book about diseases in the city of sickness.

Could there be a traveler's book in this city as well?

Jiang Wang tentatively asked, "Is there a book inside? A record of the experiences of all of you travelers?"

Wang Ye exclaimed in surprise: "Brother, you didn't learn fortune telling, did you? How could you guess so accurately?"

However, your guess is incomplete. The most important thing in the sanctuary is indeed this book, but it doesn't contain any text. To be precise, it's a photo album. If we take good photos, we can put them in the book.

The photo album will evaluate the quality of the photos; if the quality is high enough and the scenery is beautiful enough, we will receive a reward from the sanctuary.

"Nine floors, so many rooms, and only one photo album?"

That's a bit too extravagant.

Such a large building could be converted into residential housing for more than a dozen families.

"How can you put any kind of photo in it? That photo album is only this thick." Wang Ye gestured with his hand, indicating that it was about twenty centimeters thick.

"The rewards from the Sanctuary are very generous, at least for us. Some people have gained super vision, some have gained the ability to make houses move, some can walk incredibly fast after receiving the rewards, and some can even turn soil into food." Wang Ye said this with undisguised envy on his face.

Isn't that a superpower?

Moreover, compared to the abilities of the Sick City, the abilities of the Traveler's City are all quite practical.

Especially suitable for travelers.

Which traveler wouldn't want a house that can walk on its own?

Sleep well tonight, and you'll see new and beautiful scenery when you open your eyes tomorrow.

The noise in the distance grew increasingly louder.

Wang Ye waved and gestured, "Come over here, come over here, the welcoming ceremony is about to begin."

Without hesitation, Jiang Wang pulled Jiang Xin toward the city center.

In the center of the city, a clearing was set aside, and hundreds of residents formed a circle around the church. They lit a bonfire at the church's main entrance, and the flickering flames cast a warm orange-red glow on the faces of those around them.

Jiang Wang climbed onto a dead tree in the wilderness, where he could barely see the scene in the center.

He saw many scantily clad little girls dancing, and children with candy in their mouths and innocent smiles on their faces.

He also saw Wang Jin surrounded by a crowd, looking somewhat nervous.

"Aren't you going to go see?" Jiang Wang turned to look at Wang Ye, who was leaning against the tree trunk.

"I'm not going. I've seen it so many times already. It's not interesting unless you experience it yourself." Wang Ye crossed his arms and said, "You probably can't see it very clearly, so let me explain. When a newcomer receives approval from the photo album, they usually gain a special ability based on their past experiences. Moreover, the experiences of the first half of your life will replay in your mind like a revolving lantern, as if you are experiencing it all over again."

Jiang Wang saw a strangely dressed man take a book out of the sanctuary.

The book opened automatically without any wind.

In Jiang Wang's mind, the memories stored in his mind suddenly unfolded like a still frame, scene by scene.