Chapter 140: Chapter 85: Seeking to Find One's Origins
Chapter 140: Chapter 85: Seeking to Find One's Origins
Over the course of the next day, Hexia traversed the major streets and alleys on the surface of Jielou City, encountering many things that felt familiar yet strange. In the Interstellar Era, these things were considered outdated, but now they oddly felt novel.
At night, following the travel guide, she arrived at the western underground entrance of Jielou City.
Jielou City was divided into upper and lower sections—it could even be said that the surface part only accounted for one-quarter of the entire city, as the underground housed more buildings and population.
In narrow alleys where only four people could walk abreast, with the ground lit by bright yellow LED lights, the walls rusted on both sides, interspersed with small shops, local residents dined and shopped here after work. Exiting the alley, it was like being suspended in mid-air because below were intertwining roads bustling with traffic.
Unlike the quaint architectural style above ground, the underground structures had an industrial yet classical feel to them.
Neon lights were visible everywhere, along with slowly moving trapezoidal escalators, projected figures and signs, and the glittering night market towers outlined by the lights. These mingled with the night and the underground, and the flying eaves and corners of the buildings crisscrossed, seemingly chaotic but striking a well-balanced harmony, without interfering with each other.
In the evening, Hexia took a seat in a hot pot restaurant by the window. There were about a dozen patrons, and the owners were a middle-aged couple.
Aside from Hexia, the other diners were mostly locals, shouting for the owner to serve the food and then discussing recent current events.
Your next read awaits at M-V-L
"I wonder if there will be a Sword fight at this year's celebration; otherwise, it just feels like something's missing, not quite satisfying enough."
"There probably won't be. The current climate within the Federation isn't too fond of such slightly gory spectacles anymore; accidents are all too common in Sword fights."
"Ah, that's a pity. I guess it'll be the same as in previous years with the Sword dance performances. I'm so tired of them."
"That's true. The Sword dances feel light and powerless, lacking tension and impact. Only a small portion of the tourists find it novel."
"Actually, I've heard it wasn't like this in the past; it used to be a marvel, but sadly, it was later lost."
"Lost?"
"That's what the elders say. Anyway, Jielou City has lost too many things, so what's one or two more."
As they talked about other matters, bursts of horn sounds and various noises came from the street outside.
"The 'Godly Generals' are parading around the city." The locals immediately recognized the sounds and stopped eating, one after another running out to watch, even the hot pot restaurant owners turned off the stove and left.
What are the Godly Generals? The girl peered out of the window curiously, but there was an exceptionally large crowd outside.
She had to sit down again, taking a few more bites of the freshly cooked meat slices, and fed some to the large spider beside her. Since there were no other customers in the restaurant, nobody paid any attention.
After petting the large spider, Hexia glanced at the crowded street outside and decided to pick up the spider and place it on her head before stepping out.
The streets outside the hot pot restaurant were packed with both tourists and locals. Amidst the sounds of music, figures clad in bright yellow led the way, carrying tiger emblems to clear the path, followed by resplendent 'Godly Generals' with colorful faces and weapons in hand. They had four flags affixed to their back, stepping in sync, with their flag tassels clinking as they moved.
Standing on her toes, the girl eyed the parade on the street. The 'foot soldiers' leading the way all possessed Sequence 3 strength, while the brightly dressed 'Godly Generals' had at least Sequence 4, and a few leading ones even Sequence 5.
Their stepping and formation appeared simple, but their auras intertwined to form a unity, exuding an imposing presence without anger. Every hundred meters they advanced, they would stop to brandish their Swords and strike their halberds, causing armor and chains to collide and reverberate.
With this came a faint surge of energy, spiritually invigorating onlookers. Although the intensity was kept low, it was still thrilling.
Only with some unique secret technique or heritage could they maintain such a population in this age-old city.
As the procession passed by Hexia, one of the 'Godly Generals' suddenly turned and glared into the crowd at Hexia. His eyes widened, and the color of his painted face seemed to bleed out, shooting directly towards Hexia above her head.
Hiss hiss...
Hexia heard the spider atop her head cry out in pain. She quickly picked it up and held it in front of her chest to avoid the 'Godly General's' gaze.
Seeing Hexia protect the large spider, the 'Godly General' huffed but said nothing further, continuing forward. Only a few noticed this interlude, while most were oblivious, simply watching the procession move on down the street.
The crowd slowly dispersed, and Hexia, holding the spider back in its original form, stroked its head and checked carefully. It hadn't suffered any serious injury but seemed to be somewhat disoriented from the impact.
A person in yellow approached from the crowd and, seeing Hexia comforting the large spider, asked,
"Excuse me, is that spider your pet?"
"Yes, it is." Hexia replied with slight concern, holding the spider closely to show it was well-behaved, and presented the registration documents Botis had given her to the staff member.