"The land of Shi Pang... is a little special."
In the backyard, Yunluo introduced the situation of the Food Pang Land to everyone.
The metal fingers flexibly flipped through the documents and pictures preserved from different eras, making some unique sounds of metal joints turning.
"Oh, it's a 'Tiankai' area." The one who spoke was the Golden Lion Rachel.
He is a soldier who has been on sentry duty all the time. He was just transferred back to Kyoto this year. He has been through many battles and is familiar with the distinction between various contaminated areas.
The term "Tiankai District" is a jargon used by border sentinels.
Most experienced sentinels are familiar with the differences between contaminated areas of different eras.
The newly-born contaminated zone has a distorted and dangerous internal space. The deformed species active in it are of low intelligence, confused, unconscious, ferocious and manic. Killing humans is an instinct for them and they cannot communicate.
But for some unknown reason, as time goes by, the situation in some polluted areas will gradually become stable.
The monsters will gradually become stronger, wise and lucid, enlightened, able to communicate and interact.
They will even evolve a social system and way of survival of their own.
The world there is like a real different dimension, although it is still twisted and weird, and seems incompatible with the human world.
But there is indeed a society, rules, and residents living in it.
There are a few relatively mild-mannered deformed races that even allow humans to enter and exit, and peacefully exchange some rare resources in their respective areas.
There are very few such areas, and they are called "Tiankai Districts". Although this is a term not recognized by the Empire, they do exist.
In order to survive or for profit, many people would risk their lives, sneak into the Tiankai District with goods on their backs, and deal with those mutants.
Some people also made huge profits and earned a lot of money.
It’s just that the mutants are emotionally unstable, cruel and twisted, and their values are completely different from those of humans, so it’s very dangerous to interact with them.
But in this world where people can easily starve to death, there are still countless people willing to take risks for a bite of food.
"Does that mean if we communicate well with the mutants, they won't attack us?"
Nicole had never heard of this before, her eyes widened, and she gestured with her hand.
Not only her, but even many sentinels who do not often go to polluted areas do not know that there are such places and such things in the world.
The Empire used the harsh living environment and the horror of the polluted areas to rally the people and collect heavy taxes. Of course, it was impossible to spread the news that monsters could communicate and that some polluted areas could be entered and exited safely.
"Not only can you communicate, you can even see how they live. Just follow the rules in the polluted area." Yun Luo said.
"But it doesn't mean it's safe. Sometimes it's even more dangerous and cruel."
The cold mechanical finger picked out an old photo from the numerous documents and showed it to everyone present.
The photo was yellowed, with a few spots of dark brown blood on it.
The photo shows a dozen sentries being hanged in the wild. They were obviously still alive when the photo was taken. The content of the punishment made all the powerful warriors at the scene shudder and couldn't help but avoid looking.
At the very front of the photo, a deformed being wearing a pink Rococo-style dress stands in front of the camera.
She has a human face, a worm body, and bloody internal organs hanging on her serrated sickle arms. She is posing in front of the camera with an innocent smile on her face.
"This is a photo taken ten years ago. It shows the fate of a group of sentinels who entered the Land of the Gourd. They all died in the end. The leader of the group... was my teacher when I was a teenager."
The photo held in Yun Luo's mechanical fingers was dark and yellow, stained with blood of an unknown person, like a window looking into hell.
That dark, bloody and extremely cruel moment was frozen in the picture, making it hard to imagine that such horrific abuse and torture could exist in this world.
In the quiet and peaceful imperial capital, in the back garden of Lin Yuan's home where spring flowers sparkled, everyone fell silent as they stared at the photo in Yun Luo's hand.
Du Yuanyuan clapped her hands and changed the heavy topic. "The land of Shi Pang is a matriarchal clan, and it is very unfriendly to men. I think you gentlemen should not go this time."
She reached out and grabbed Lin Yuan's shoulders, "This time it's just Yuan Yuan and I."
"I'll go too." Nicole said unconvinced. Under her explosive hair, silver scales on her cheeks sparkled in the sun.
Du Gungun stretched out his long arm and put his other hand on Nicole's shoulder. He felt like he was hugging people on both sides and was extremely proud of himself.
A pair of furry black ears on its head trembled with joy, and the panda's iconic black eye circles appeared on its face.
Du Yuanyuan and Nicole had just had a fight during training, and the outcome was still undecided. Neither of them was convinced of the outcome, and the physical state of the materialized spiritual body had not yet been eliminated.
At this moment, they had forgotten their hatred and even blurred the gender boundaries, and the three girls huddled together happily.
Lin Yuan had a dazed look on his face, Du Yuanyuan and Nicole had mud and grass all over their heads and faces, and they laughed at the other boys.
"I have to go, even if I have to dress up as a woman." Rachel smiled fearlessly, "Captain Yun, don't force me this time."
The Golden Lion was tall and had golden proportions, but there were also many burly female sentinels, and Du Yuanyuan was about the same height as him.
Yun Luo blushed, which was rare. "I want to go. That's where my teacher is buried. Men can go in... but their status is lower. I can just bear with it."
Nicole found that Lin Yuan was a little absent-minded. Although she had a blank expression on her face as usual, as a guide, Nicole keenly noticed that something was on her mind, as she seemed to be always looking at the personal terminal on her wrist inadvertently.
"What's wrong, Yuanyuan?" Nicole stayed after the training, "Do you have any other sentinels you want to invite to go with you?"
"Yes, there is one person." Lin Yuan answered honestly, "I want to invite him to go with me, but I'm not very good at typing, and I'm afraid I might express the wrong meaning."
Both girls were sweating a lot. They were wearing short-sleeved tight training clothes that exposed their arms, and they walked hand in hand along the courtyard wall where roses were blooming.
"What's the problem? Isn't there a banquet tonight? Why don't you just ask him in person?" Nicole said, "He's also coming to the Queen's banquet."
There is a grand dinner tonight hosted in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, and most of the sentinels and guides of some status in the empire will be present.
Yes, if I want to ask Xiaoyu if she wants to go, can’t I just ask her directly when I meet her today
It's such a simple thing.
What are you thinking about
Lin Yuan didn't understand why he felt embarrassed to see Ni Ji.
The tentacles following Lin Yuan were playing with Nicole's silver snake by entwining their bodies.
After hearing the conversation between Lin Yuan and Nicole, they all looked up and started talking at once.
[You just can't type? It might be worse if you speak.]
[I told you to let me write for you, but you still refuse to do so]
[You should have listened to me. Don’t say anything. Just take action.]
[The only thing that is worth mentioning is the ability to do things]
[Please return our fish. We haven’t caught any fish in a few days.]
[Poor little fish]
[Zha Zha Garden]
[*&$%！]
The target of the tentacles' spiritual transmission was Lin Yuan himself. However, because they were in contact with Nicole's spiritual body, Nicole "heard" some of the noise.
"What fish?" Nicole put her arm around Lin Yuan's arm. "Come on, Xiao Yuan, tell me what you did behind my back."
Lin Yuan looked away, kicked the stones on the roadside with the toes of his shoes, and avoided Nicole's question.
After a while, he put his hand close to Nicole's ear and whispered a few words in her ear.
Nicole had known Lin Yuan for a long time and was very familiar with his personality. She knew that this guy was emotionally closed and as straight as a rock, always speaking his mind without hesitation.
This was the first time she saw Lin Yuan show such a subtle expression.
Under the wall of an empty courtyard covered with rose branches, two girls whispered their secrets to each other.
The whispers spread in the flower-filled courtyard, unwilling to be heard by others.
Before the dinner started, Roy, the head of the Special Research Department, excitedly brought Lin Yuan an evening gown, saying it was a gift from Her Majesty the Queen.
The dress is made of high-quality silk and gorgeous brocade, embroidered with flowers, revealing layers of lace, and the hem of the dress is embellished with countless sparkling diamonds, which is luxurious and beautiful to the extreme.
"You are so beautiful, just like a princess." Roy was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. "You are so lucky. The Queen's supreme love for you is enviable. If your mother were still alive, I don't know how happy she would be."
During the day, she had just read a lot of information about the contaminated area.
In those photos and videos, many soldiers, civilians and even some children and the elderly died tragically in the dangerous and cruel polluted areas just to get a little bit of meager daily necessities.
They have to go. In this barren world, they cannot survive without risking their lives.
In a blink of an eye, I found myself in front of the mirror, wearing silk, satin, and jewels, ready to spend a night at a banquet offering endless food and wine.
Inside the tower, people indulge in joy day and night and live in luxury.
Outside the bone-like stone wall, there was no food to eat and the dead bodies were everywhere.
Lin Yuan looked at the girl in the gorgeous gown in the mirror and felt a strong sense of separation.
The person in the mirror has a slender waist, porcelain-white skin, a pointed little face, and a cold look without any distinct expression.
Suddenly I felt that if I put on a white veil to cover my face and put on red lipstick, I would look like a replica of the Queen, the powerful being at the top of the White Tower.
Just younger and smaller than her.
The royal banquet is the most lively event in the empire and is always held in the spring when flowers are in full bloom.
At this time of year, fresh lambs, beef, seafood and mountain delicacies would flow in from all over the country to Kyoto. The fresh ingredients were skillfully cooked, seasoned with precious spices and served in endless quantities to the extravagant banquet halls.
The lighting was very artistic, and all the latest high-end products brought back from the polluted area were offered to the banquet.
A three-dimensional virtual singer danced in the wine pool. A singing kingfisher was placed beside the path for all the guests to sing for this grand banquet.
Fine wine was made into small fountains for everyone to drink as if it were free, and gems and flowers embellished the prosperity of the empire.
The banquet hall is set inside the White Tower and has no windows, so no one needs to see the dark night outside.
All you need to know is that this is soft red fragrant land, a city that never sleeps, a place where everyone can feel safe and intoxicated.
Lin Yuan's arrival attracted a lot of people's attention.
The young guide had a youthful face and was too lazy to even put on a symbolic red lipstick. She walked through the crowd with her long skirt lifted up, but it seemed as if she was dragging the bright moonlight across the world.
"See? That skirt was given by His Majesty himself."
“It’s such an honor.”
"Guide Lin is such an outstanding person, so beautiful that it makes people intoxicated. I heard that His Majesty will summon her once every few days."
"She hasn't got a match yet, has she?"
"I don't know what kind of sentinel would be a good match for a guide as beautiful and gentle as her."
"I heard that she has royal blood and a rich family fortune."
"Then the prince is also a good match."
"Who says it's not?"
Lin Yuan was a little confused. She was still the same person, neither her appearance nor her personality had changed much. She was even more eccentric and unruly.
But for some reason, the public opinion about her has completely changed.
It was as if she had been accused and despised for no reason.
Now she is inexplicably labeled with many qualities that she does not possess, such as gentleness and beauty, intelligence and generosity, and charm.
Along the way, countless eyes and thoughts were focused on her, and many friends greeted her warmly.
Although she is not aware of it, Lin Yuan is undoubtedly extremely beautiful.
Before leaving Kyoto, she was wearing a black dress as white as smoke, a beauty that was simple, lonely, and detached from the world.
Now she was ordered to put on the white dress again. The dress was as beautiful as the moon and the song, but the person wearing the dress no longer had any trace of the loneliness she once had.
It was a tall figure that had been stained with blood on the battlefield, witnessed countless lives and deaths, and walked through hail of bullets, revealing natural confidence, agility, and strength as it walked.
No matter how soft the gauze dress is, it can no longer cover the soul of a warrior who can stand alone between heaven and earth.
Many people were looking at her quietly, wanting to come up and talk to her.
Those noble sentinels who boasted of their status, holding their wine glasses, wanted to approach and chat with him, but somehow, they always shrank back inexplicably before they could get close.
It seemed that under the beautiful skirt, what was hidden was not a slender figure, but countless powerful dark objects surging in the shadows on the ground.
It makes people feel frightened, timid and dazed. When they come to their senses, the dreamy figure like moonlight has disappeared.
"Didn't you say you had to talk to Guide Lin today? You spent so much time putting on makeup. Why are you walking back like an idiot again?"
"Uh, yeah, that's right. I was going to look for her, but I don't know how I ended up coming back."
"Strange, where is Guide Lin? I can't find her. She was here just now."
"Has anyone seen Lin Yuan? Damn it, how come she disappeared in a trance? I dressed up all night, thinking of leaving a good impression on her today."
Lin Yuan quietly let the tentacles drive away another person who wanted to disturb her for no reason.
Find a quiet corner, sit down and drink secretly.
There are lotus flowers in the man-made courtyard, and wisteria branches hanging down in the shade of the trees by the water.
Lin Yuan sat in the shadow of the flowers and drank by himself.
Those guys with ulterior motives walked back and forth in front of her, but none of them could see her.
She has been very good at this since she was a child. Even in the most lively occasion, as long as she wants, she can make everyone ignore her unintentionally and not disturb her.
Only very few people who are strongly committed to her can find her.
She saw Ni Ji in the crowd.
Xiaoyu was wearing a military uniform today, which made her broad shoulders and narrow waist look more prominent, and her legs were straight.
Just like me just now, there were a lot of people around him.
Lin Yuan pricked up his ears and listened. Those people were talking and congratulating Xiaoyu for his outstanding achievements in entering and exiting the polluted area several times.
Congratulations on his promotion to adjutant of the Royal Guard, an important position close to the top brass of the White Tower, so he was surrounded by people who were trying to get close to him.
Lin Yuan sat under the shade of the purple flowers, licking the sweet wine happily and secretly glanced at the sentry surrounded by the crowd.
I haven't seen him for many days. He seemed to have dressed up carefully today. His hair was combed neatly and he might have put on some makeup.
She has delicate features, a sharp temperament, and is both beautiful and cool.
I don't know who he was meeting.
Those inky eyes didn't even turn towards this corner, as if they didn't notice me.
Such a banquet is extremely boring and has no fun at all.
The only interesting thing is that there is plenty of alcohol, and you can drink to your heart's content quietly when no one is paying attention.
The hustle and bustle is nearby, the smell of fish is also nearby, sitting quietly in a corner where no one pays attention, with the shadows of trees and flowers covering my face. Even the taste of wine seems to have become sweeter.
A hand reached out through the hanging wisteria bouquet and took the wine glass from Lin Yuan's hand.
"You drank so much again."
A strange voice sounded in my ears.
Lin Yuan turned his head and saw a shadow under the shade of the tree, the figure that had completely faded in his memory.
"Yuanyuan, can we talk?" Jiang Yangshuo, standing in the shadow of the tree, looked at Lin Yuan.
He seemed to have drunk a lot of wine, the corners of his eyes were red, his hair was a little messy, and a faint golden light could be seen in his dark pupils.
(End of this chapter)