If we attribute all the weirdness of the barrier city to "nightmare", then things will be simple and clear.
Xie Shiyi tilted his head to look at the rain outside. He was recuperating, with frosty aura surrounding him, giving him a strange sense of disconnection from the foggy environment.
Xie Shiyi said: "The Qin family came here many years ago. The demon species I encountered at the beginning was smuggled from Zijinzhou."
Yan Qing nodded: "If we want to investigate clearly, we must enter the City Lord's Mansion. But the City Lord's Mansion is closed, and all matters in the City of Wards are handled by Su Qu, which is very difficult." Yan Qing muttered: "If we had known this, we should have pretended to be two women stranded in a foreign land. With your and my looks, wouldn't it be easy to get in?"
Xie Shiyi: “…”
Xie Shiyi cut the ice and shattered the jade and said, "I don't want it."
Yan Qing laughed for a long time before saying, "Why are you shy? I was dressed as a bride in Heishuize. Oh, right, a bride, it must be easier to be forced into the city lord's mansion if I dress up as a bride." The more Yan Qing thought about it, the more she sighed, "It's a pity that we are already here. The barrier city is easy to enter but difficult to exit. If I suddenly appear on the street as a girl, it will definitely arouse suspicion. Is there any other way to get close to the city lord?"
All matters, big or small, in the Barrier City are now handed over to Su Qu to handle. Few people can enter the City Lord's Mansion. The wall encloses one-fifth of the land in the Barrier City, separating the two worlds.
Yan Qing tapped his fingers on the table, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said meaningfully: "I know, I can sneak into the clan mansion."
Xie Shiyi glanced at him.
Yan Qing: "When I was queuing at the Clan House, I saw that except for the guards, everyone inside was a woman. The women in the Barrier City who have lost their ability to bear children are now in charge of delivering babies at the Clan House. The Clan House is directly connected to the City Lord's Mansion. If I sneak in, I might even be able to see the so-called holy water!"
After hearing what he said, Xie Shiyi nodded and said coldly: "You have dressed up as a bride, a beggar, and a lunatic. Now you plan to help people give birth?"
Yan Qing obviously thought the plan was feasible, and smiled with squinting eyes: "You talk as if you have never dressed up as a beggar. You may not believe it, but the first thing I did after my rebirth was to deliver babies."
Although the one who was delivered was a stupid thing called Buzhi.
"Oh." Xie Shiyi looked at him for a while and said coldly: "Yan Qing, you were really wasted your talent in Shifang City."
Yan Qing pretended not to hear his objection and sarcasm, and happily stretched out her hand and said, "Let's not talk about this. You have been checking my pulse before, and now I will help you."
Xie Shiyi's wounds could only be healed by himself, but seeing Yan Qing's enthusiastic look, he still lowered his eyes and stretched out his hand. His wrist was suspended on the chessboard, and his snow-white clothes brushed over the criss-crossing black and white chess pieces. As soon as Yan Qing's fingers touched his wrist bone, he was immediately frozen by the radiating green spiritual power. It was really cold, as if he was touching a piece of ice.
Yan Qing had never taken anyone's pulse before, and he fumbled around Xie Shiyi's wrist for a long time without any method. Xie Shiyi got impatient, so he grabbed his hand with his other hand, pressed it on a certain meridian, and said, "You can find my Dantian by injecting spiritual power from here."
Yan Qing was stunned for a moment, and then he spoke directly after hearing this: "Dantian? Isn't your most serious problem the Glazed Heart? Is there any way to see the current condition of your heart?"
Xie Shiyi said with a half-smile, "Yes."
Yan Qing: "Where? I'll try. Is that a bother?"
Xie Shiyi said coldly: "It's not a big deal, just use your soul thread to cut open your heart."
Yan Qing: “…”
Xie Shiyi said, "Last time you helped me get rid of the nightmare and caused me to be blind for three days. Now you are treating me and planning to cut open my stomach. Are you really going to go to the clan mansion to deliver babies?"
The quack doctor Yan Qing was silent for a moment, then he smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely be doing odd jobs outside when I go in."
Even if those women were born as nightmares or evil creatures, even if the people in the entire barrier city were now in a state of "madness" and it was unclear whether they were human or ghosts, Yan Qing did not intend to let these people become sacrifices and experimental subjects.
He and Xie Shiyi had been arranged to stay in the guest room of the Su Mansion for some time. As Mrs. Su's due date was getting closer, the entire Su Mansion became busy.
Su Qu stayed in the City Lord's Mansion for half a month.
The sunny day came again in the barrier city, and Yan Qing stood in the long alley outside the clan residence again. After trying countless methods and failing to get in, Yan Qing could only think of a quick solution.
"Brother, my wife is pregnant and needs a medicine to keep the baby safe."
The guard almost recognized him: "You are a foreigner, how come you already have a wife after only being here for a few days?"
Yan Qing asked, "You see I'm so handsome, is it strange to have a wife?"
Gatekeeper: “…” The only things that are strictly controlled in the barrier city are childbirth and leaving the city. There are not many restrictions on things like taking medicine, especially pregnancy-maintaining medicine, which are basically given to anyone who asks for it.
The guard let Yan Qing in, but there was a sentry every ten steps inside, and there were spies everywhere, which basically eliminated the possibility of him causing trouble. After Yan Qing entered the pharmacy, he first smelled a strong herbal smell. He knew all kinds of spiritual herbs and flowers in the upper and lower worlds, and he could guess that something was wrong just by feeling.
"Give him a dose of pregnancy-preserving medicine." The guard said coldly. Standing in front of the pharmacy was a round-faced young man, handsome and elegant, upright, but his fox eyes looked a little out of place.
He was holding a pen in one hand and a book in the other, and was writing the names of herbs on the book.
"Okay, but the medicine has to wait a while."
The guard nodded.
After the young man finished writing, he looked up and saw Yan Qing and was stunned: "Oh, an outsider."
Yan Qing smiled: "Yeah."
The young man said enthusiastically: "Come, come, follow me. The powder of Shuming flower is hard to grind. Can you come over and help me?"
Yan Qing did not refuse, he followed the young man to the backyard and walked on the corridor.
Yan Qing asked bluntly: "What's your name?"
The young man laughed: "Huh? How come you asked me the question in advance?" But he was still optimistic and free and easy: "My name is Jin Ming."
Yan Qing: "Jin Ming? What a good name. My name is Yan Qing."
Jin Ming's eyes were full of envy: "It's been a long time since there have been new people in Zhancheng. You are amazing. You hooked up with a Zhancheng girl so quickly."
Yan Qing smiled implicitly: "Good luck, good luck."
Jin Ming said sourly, "You are indeed lucky. If you didn't have that girl, you wouldn't have lived here long. But you must be careful when you marry a girl from Zhancheng. Don't mess with her."
Yan Qing was stunned: "Ah, why?"
Jin Ming said: "In Zhancheng, only women have precious lives. As for men, even if you are killed by your wife, no one will give you justice. But if your wife dies, you must be buried with her. In the whole Zhancheng, women have only one crime, and that is to kill the fetus in their belly without permission."
Yan Qing took a breath of cold air.
Jin Ming sighed: "I have been in the barrier city for ten years, why don't I have such good luck as you."
Yan Qing was stunned: "Are you an outsider too?"
Jin Mingdao: "Yes. My family has been studying medicine for generations, and I know some herbs, so I can survive here."
Yan Qing was puzzled: "If a man doesn't have any special skills and can't marry a girl from the city, where would he go?"
Jin Ming waved his hand and said, "It will disappear. Anyway, I have seen so many unfamiliar faces, and none of them stayed for more than three months."
The Zongqin Mansion occupies a large area. Yan Qing went to the back mountain and saw bunches of herbs hanging on the grass.
It was a sunny day in Zhancheng, and they finally got the chance. All of a sudden, the whole hillside was covered with herbs. The herbal medicine shops were one after another. Jin Ming said, "This side is for pregnancy protection, and this side is for recuperation. As for this side, hehehe, it's what you will need."
Yan Qing understood what he meant by his obscene smile, and said in a cryptic way: "This can't be the raw material for the aphrodisiac pill."
Jin Ming clapped his hands: "Smart!"
Yan Qing curled the corner of his mouth, he walked over and saw a large patch of red flowers, bent down to look at the red flowers that were shaped like pea pods, and lightly crushed them with his fingers to get some flower juice.
Jin Ming said: "In addition to this, there are rosemary flowers here, which can be made into incense and candles to light on your wedding night."
Yan Qing sighed: "This barrier city is really not a proper city..."
Jin Ming showed two dimples in the sun: "You should think positively. Although this city is not decent, it is safe here." He raised his head, stroked the rows of dried bellflowers with his fingers, and said softly: "At least there are no demons here, and there are no beasts like those on the Immortal Terrace who confuse right and wrong."
After saying this, he looked at Yan Qing seriously.
"Brother Yan, would you like to chat?"
Yan Qing stared at him without blinking, then slowly smiled: "Let's chat!"
Yan Qing followed him into a wooden house with the medicine pounding tools. Jin Ming sat on a wooden chair on the other side. He sneered and said sarcastically, "Sure enough, those who have no choice but to go to the Barrier City are all forced by the Immortal Terrace to have no way to retreat."
Yan Qing said calmly, "Zhangcheng has a bad reputation. If there is really no other place to go, who would be willing to take the risk here?"
Jin Ming smiled bitterly and said, "A hundred years ago, the Chu State never had a prison/confinement room. All the demons were directly executed by the Immortal Platform in the Imperial Capital. Suddenly, in the past hundred years, this thing appeared - a prison/confinement room, a prison/confinement room! The 'prison/confinement room' is a shelter in my opinion!"
Jin Ming punched the table, his facial features twisted, he gritted his teeth and said, "That beast, he raped and killed my sister, cooked and ate my parents, and after his demon identity was exposed, he was imprisoned by the government and told to wait for the trial on the Immortal Platform - but when he came out, his mouth was full of oil and he even gained weight."
"What is the final judgment? The Immortal Platform said that he is not a demon, and said that my family is slandering right and wrong! They imprisoned my own sister and expelled me from the city." Jin Ming clenched his fists tightly, his eyes were bloodshot, and finally he slowly opened his eyes and said, "I must make that family pay with blood."
This was not the first time Yan Qing heard about the demon species, so he remained silent.
Jin Ming tore off his mask completely, and said coldly: "I have been watching you for a long time."
Yan Qing: “Ah?”
Jin Mingdao said: "I have been watching you since you entered the City of Barriers. I know that you are the one who gave Madam Su the longevity lock. Madam Su is the biggest variable in the City of Barriers over the years, and also my only chance. Su Qu dotes on her a lot. If I want to enter the City Lord's Mansion as a guest, I must rely on her power."
Yan Qing raised an eyebrow and said, "What do you want to use her power for?"
Jin Ming said word by word: "I will tell the gods in heaven about the injustice of my family!"
Yan Qing: “…” Yan Qing almost lost his grip on the stone for pounding the medicine. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. He said in disbelief: “A god from the upper heaven.”
Jin Ming's eyes were red as he said, "Yes, the immortals in the human world have colluded with the government. Now only the immortals in the upper heaven can clear the grievances for me and my sister."
Yan Qing frowned and thought, that depends on which immortal in the upper heaven you met.
Jin Ming said: "At the end of March every year, every household is locked in their homes. At 15:30 on the 11th, the city gates and the city lord's mansion are opened to welcome a group of immortals. The whole city knows about this, so everyone calls themselves the city of gods and is very proud of themselves."
Yan Qing was silent for a moment, then said, "What do you want me to do?"
Jin Ming smiled bitterly and took out a medicine bottle from his sleeve: "I want you to put this thing into Madam Su's food. I don't want to harm her. This is a poison passed down from my Jin family, and only I can cure it. I just want to be Madam Su's 'lifesaver'."
Before Yan Qing could say anything, Jin Ming raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, but he said firmly: "You must help me, if you want to live! March
The end is coming soon, and I don't have much time, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you so soon without knowing your background at all."
"..." Yan Qing suddenly felt that this person was a little mentally abnormal.
He reached out his hand, grasped the bottle, and whispered, "I can help you, but you have to help me too."
Jinming: "What do you want me to do?"
Yan Qing said, "I want you to find a way to let me see for myself how the people in the clan mansion deliver babies."
He sneaked into the clan mansion for this purpose only. Jin Ming had worked in the clan mansion for ten years and was quite capable. He really let Yan Qing see this scene. However, it was not a real person, but a scarecrow, a place for training newcomers in the clan mansion.
Jin Ming said: "The babies born in the Barrier City are often extremely gifted and will be taken to the upper heaven as soon as they are born. Therefore, it is very difficult for women in the Barrier City to give birth to a live baby. Most of the time, the fetus dies after two or three months of pregnancy. For the health of the mother, the 'baby' needs to be delivered."
Jin Ming said: "The women in Zhancheng are miserable, and the men are miserable too..." He was silent for a moment, then said: "That kind of aphrodisiac is more like a poison. Few men live past the age of thirty-five."
Jin Ming's thoughts had long been assimilated, so he didn't find it strange. He just said indifferently: "Maybe this is the price of giving birth to the next genius."
With a loud bang, the gloomy sky was covered with dark clouds again, and then blue rain covered the entire city, washing away all the groans, cries, and blood.
Yan Qing stretched out his hand to catch the rain.
Seeing this now, he completely understood the scheme that the Qin family had set up here for a hundred years.
Where does this rain come from
He had thought of many reasons before, why he chose the Barrier City, and now he had a vague guess. The Barrier City was located at the top of the earth. Although the passage between the upper heaven and the human world was in Liuxianzhou, the upper part of the Barrier City should correspond to the Upper Heaven Zijinzhou - both of them were close to the Cangwang Sea.
Ten thousand years ago, the Demon God was seriously injured by the Demon-Slaying Array in front of the Xiaoyu Palace in Nanzezhou, but the place where the Demon God truly disappeared was the Cangwang Sea.
The evil thoughts of the gods that float in the air, bring disaster to the Nine Heavens for ten thousand years, and cannot be seen or touched, actually originate in the Cangwang Sea.
If the rain that falls from the sky in the City of Disasters comes from the Cangwang Sea, then everything can be explained.
The Qin family used the soaking of Cangwang Seawater for a hundred years to cultivate the best vessel for gathering evil thoughts... the woman from the Barrier City.
In fact, there is no need for a living fetus. Every dead fetus also has a nightmare, which is neatly placed in a clean bottle.