Cloud Tower, the city of silk and lapis lazuli.
Hundreds of years ago, it rose from the sea due to the turbulence of the Great Source, and occupied the main sea transportation route between the East and the West, which can be said to have strangled the throat of the trade route.
Just existing is like a money tree. As long as the waterway is still running, the money will be inexhaustible.
Regarding the luxury and prosperity of Yunlou, Ye Qingxuan had long heard about it from many travel notes and from the mouths of businessmen and smugglers.
It is said that half of the huge city is built in the ocean. Commoners and lowly people without property and status can only live in the sea. Houses made of sampans and wooden boats live like barnacles on the city walls and rocks. .
On the ocean where land is scarce, every inch of land here is truly precious. Every inch of land is eager to be occupied, and the value of every foot of space must be used up.
In the end, the entire city turned into a three-dimensional maze.
Behind the thick city wall, the builders skillfully and thoughtfully covered the first floor with buildings, then stuffed the lowest workers and slaves into them, then laid down a layer of wooden boards, and then laid out another layer carefully. Enter the common people, then the property owners, officials, wealthy people, wealthy businessmen... and so on, one after another, until the top of the tall building illuminated by the sun is nine floors above.
In the poet's words, the city lord's mansion had all the luxury in the world. Every brick and tile was made by skilled craftsmen. Even the tiles on the roof ridge were decorated with lapis lazuli and beautiful jade.
The entire city is like a tall building built with skill. The City Lord's Mansion is the magnificent crystallization at the top of the tall building. Under the City Lord's Mansion, the city stays up all night in the darkness. The lights are not extinguished three hundred and sixty days a year, and people are running around. , climbing up and down along wooden ladders and rails, handling goods and wealth.
Gold, silver, and jade were continuously transported to the deepest part of the maze. Until now, no one knows how much wealth is buried under this city.
According to various rumors, some are beautiful, some are solemn, some are strange, or some are dark. Each Yunlou City has a mysterious attraction like a mirage, which makes people curious.
But Ye Qingxuan never thought that when he came to this city, it would be so depressed.
Nomadic Mountain sailed through the silent sea. Wherever it passed, all the decayed and rotten sea houses were lifeless. Through the fog, one or two faint shadows could occasionally be seen moving among the layers of buildings. In the house, when Ke Ke got closer, he couldn't see any trace.
It was as if she was avoiding him on purpose.
The fleets that used to come and go have all disappeared, and even until they reached the gate under Yunlou City, they didn't see anyone.
Although with the blockade of the Great Wall in the East, it is normal for there to be some depression after the shipping routes are cut off, but the depression to such a damn degree is beyond expectations.
"Your Highness, there is something wrong with this ghost place."
Yegor, who was at the helm, scratched his bald head: "It's so scary."
Ye Qingxuan was amused, "Leviathan's Sunless Sea didn't scare you. It's just a little more deserted now. It's not like this, right?"
"This is different."
Yegor organized his words, and after pondering for a long time, he replied: "The Sunless Sea was created by monsters. I am not afraid of monsters. If I can beat them, I will live. If I can't beat them, I will run. If I can't run, I will die. But it's different here... It’s man-made here.”
He said, "I'm still more afraid of humans than monsters."
Ye Qingxuan was stunned and couldn't help laughing.
Although Yegor's philosophy of survival is rough and crude, it always has shining points.
"Don't worry, no matter what happens, I can protect you." He patted Yegor on the shoulder, walked to the front of the bridge, and stared at the front of the Nomadic Mountain.
Now they have arrived under Yunlou City. In front of them is the main entrance of Yunlou City - a 10,000-ton sluice.
The main entrance of Yunlou City is divided into two floors, which are isolated by two sluices at both ends of the city gate. It is said that the water levels inside and outside the city are completely different, and the altitude difference is as high as a cliff.
Without the coordination of the entire set of hubs, it would be difficult for Ye Qingxuan to get in even if he broke through the outer door.
But now that the ships have arrived under the city wall, Yunlou City has not responded at all. According to Ye Qingxuan's perception, there is not even a single person in the space above the huge city wall that is wide enough for dozens of carriages to run parallel.
The space behind the city gate was so silent that it didn't look like a city.
Now, the entire Yun Tower is like a double-layered iron coffin, sealing the corpse and its odor without exposing it at all, but it makes people feel uneasy when they get close.
This city... seems to be dead.
In the midst of the confusion, the roar erupted.
With the violent vibration of the sluice, countless green rust spots and barnacles shook off from the iron wall. The sound of the raging water converged into the sharp sound of countless boulders colliding. White foam surged under the ocean, like the spitting of a dead octopus. Bodies in water.
Finally, the road leading to the interior of the city slowly opened.
Even now, no one has appeared in front of them.
Not even the signal light was on.
"this… "
Yegor looked at Ye Qingxuan hesitantly.
"I'll just go, you stay here." Ye Qingxuan reached out, took the windbreaker from the crew and put it on his body, and told the captain: "If anything happens, don't worry about me, just retreat to a safe area. If necessary , I authorize you to use Hephaestus."
Yegor hesitated to speak, guessing that no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it would be useless, so he just sighed and called two crew members.
"Please let them follow you." Yegor looked at Ye Qingxuan, "As a prince, if you go on a tour, you can't live without two attendants. Even if you let them carry a bag for you, that's fine."
It is better to have more people than less people, not to mention that no matter how bad the situation is, they can still be used to block the knife and buy some time.
Ye Qingxuan looked at the two knights who were starting to get dressed. He did not refuse and quickly jumped onto the sampan on the gangway. Facing the gloomy city, the sampan slowly sank into the depths of the city gate.
On the bridge, Yegor smoked a cigarette roughly, looking at the cold edges of the city, his expression couldn't help but twitch:
"This damn place... is so damn evil."
…
…
In fact, Ye Qingxuan did not sail in the darkness for long.
When his sampan docked at the pier, he saw the figure waiting there, a girl with slender limbs, white hair, and familiar eyebrows...
Bai Xi
Ye Qingxuan was stunned for a moment, and almost blurted out the name, but soon he discovered that the girl's face did not have the same unruly and playful expression as before, and did not even have any expression, just like a puppet.
Just indifference.
"Are you... Yunlou Chaoyue?"
Ye Qingxuan thought of the rumored twin sister of Bai Xi, but he did not expect that the first meeting would be under such strange circumstances.
In the silence, the girl bowed slightly to him.
"plz follow me."
After saying that, he turned around and led the way.
That posture was as if he had known he would come for a long time. There was no surprise or confusion, no confusion or fear. The eyes were empty and clear, without any emotional ups and downs.
Like a puppet doll.
While walking forward in silence, Ye Qingxuan followed her footsteps, walking through the complicated and dark corridors and steps, from bottom to top.
There were no bright lights in the legend, only a paper lantern in the girl's hand brought a faint light, making the entire dead city even more gloomy.
Markets, neighborhoods, medical clinics, storefronts...everywhere they passed, everything was silent, decadent, covered in dust, and no one had been active for an unknown period of time.
There is a lingering rotten smell in the air, and bugs and mice can be seen faintly crawling behind the broken wooden boards, bringing the only sound to the darkness.
There is definitely something wrong with this city!
In the end, Ye Qingxuan couldn't help but ask, "Where are the people here?"
Yunlou Chaoyue was walking in front and stopped when she heard his words, almost knocking Ye Qingxuan down. Looking back at him, a trace of confusion appeared on that beautiful lifeless face.
It seemed like he didn't know how to explain it to him.
Soon, she replied softly: "Everyone is leaving here."
"Leave?" Ye Qingxuan was confused: "Why?"
"have no idea."
This time Yunlou Chaoyue answered quickly, almost without thinking, "Father said they were scared."
"What are you afraid of..."
Before Ye Qingxuan finished asking, his eyes had already seen the answer.
corpse.
Many corpses…
After passing through the corridors and steps, Ye Qingxuan finally climbed to the top of the city and saw the legendary, magnificent and magical White Tower.
But above the white building, there was a dense mass of corpses hanging.
Those corpses had been dead for who knows how long, and the shriveled shells were swaying slightly in the wind. After being exposed to the sun for such a long time, the rotten smell had long since disappeared, but there was still no glimmer of light in the dark eye holes.
Just looking straight down at them.
The knight subconsciously put his hand on his sword, feeling horrified.
After Ye Qingxuan was silent for a long time, he sneered softly: "Your father's welcome ceremony... was really unique."
Yunlou Chaoyue stopped at the door and looked back at the knights behind him, "They, stay here."
"good."
Ye Qingxuan waved his hand, signaling his entourage to wait for him at the door, and then stepped into the bustling pavilion behind the door, "I want to see what kind of medicine Yunlou Qingshu sells."
…
As soon as I stepped through the door, I heard the sound of the piano.
The cool and elegant sound of the piano echoed throughout the city. It was not noisy, but it set off the silence and made people feel relaxed.
Among the green pines and green bamboos in the courtyard, there are curved water surrounding it, and the sound of water flowing creates a strange charm in a small area, which is exquisite and gorgeous.
It's like leaving the city in an instant and coming to the mountains and fields, feeling at ease.
But the further we go, the more we feel the strong embellishment on top of this "naturalness".
He felt that the ground beneath his feet was subtly rotating, facing the sun. The entire city lord's palace seemed to be built on a hinge, causing the huge building to rotate slightly all the time to ensure that it faced the direction of the sun.
Each rotation is one day and night.
As Ye Qingxuan moves forward, the courtyard is also subtly undulating. Whether it is the bamboo forest, meandering water, green pines or white walls, they are just part of this huge machine.
Countless pavilions followed his footsteps and appeared from the end of the bifurcated road. After he reversed his direction, they slowly sank into the ground. Under the patchwork of countless buildings and decorations, the entire city lord's palace seems to have thousands of different appearances, hundreds of different postures and styles.
Even the faint sound of the piano is played by a device like a music box. Behind the clever rhythm are countless rotating gears and hubs.
Ye Qingxuan finally understood why there were contradictions in so many travel notes, because the city itself was amorphous, with countless modules rising and falling, giving it countless appearances.
In the hands of its master, it is the most expensive and sophisticated toy in the world.
Even though there were no traces of people along the way, Ye Qingxuan could still feel the beauty permeating every inch of space.
Until he finally climbed to the top of the tall building, at the highest point in the city, he finally saw Yunlou Qingshu... Bai Xi's father, the man who once made him unable to contain his murderous intention.
However, the current Yunlou Qingshu looked nothing like what he expected.
It's like... a different person.