The Legendary Master’s Wife - Chap 207
Chapter 207: Transport circle
Two days later, their carriage finally reached the outside of Naye City.
Naye City was located on a high slope, famous for its beautiful scenery. Up above the high slope was the transport circle; it was said that every night, the sky here would be covered in twinkling stars, sparkling and glowing all over the dark night with a variety of colors, extremely beautiful, as if it covered all Naye City.
Rumors were that many lovers and couples would come to Naye City every year just for this. And if your love was witnessed beneath those stars, then it would be blessed for all eternity. Regardless of whether this rumor was true, this stunning scenery was real.
By the time You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao reached Naye City, the sun had cast down its fiery red rays upon the clouds. Half of its body had sunk down to the horizon line, as the sun rays fell onto the Naye City’s gate, making it a bright red.
Although the sun was about to go down, the flow of people going in and out the city was still strong and continuous.
After they got off the carriage, Ling Xiao shooed away the Raging Inferno Horse and then took You XiaoMo into the city.
Even though Naye City was established on a high slope, all that around it were famous spots.
Up on the north side of the city was the endless Great Desert. The Great Desert was a vast and very dangerous area, because this was the home of many low-level beasts, one could meet a pack at any time. One couldn’t take precautions against it, since they were always hidden under the sand.
To the south were large plains, also filled with low level demon beasts, but because their strength was not that great, and they were less likely to stay in a group, this area was not as dangerous. If a dozen of people gathered, then they could safely pass through the plains.
The west area was a sea, with lots of marine type low level demon beasts. Finally, a mountainous terrain with a very rugged topography was to the east side. The area was divided by a big mountain range, making this the largest canyon of the Long Tian continent. The canyon was very wide, and above it was white mist floating all year round; some said that this fog could affect practitioners very heavily, so no one had ever dared to fly above the canyon.
That was why lot of people chose to leave via a transport circle and not by flying on their own.
You XiaoMo gave the gate guard ten gold coins before entering the city.
After he had gotten behind the gate, You XiaoMo was a little unhappy, he made a *humph* sound and said, “Naye City really knows how to steal money, ah! Five gold coins per person as an entering fee, even worse than HunJi City’s three gold coins.”
Listening to his complaints, Ling Xiao laughed, “Naye City is, after all, the city that has the biggest transport circle. If the city gave up on taking such an opportunity to make a big gold pocket, that would be too dumb.”
You XiaoMo shrugged his shoulders; fine, if he were the city lord, he would probably do the same, since there were countless practitioners wanting to leave the South through this transport circle. Why was it that he felt like this relationship was between an abuser and the abused?
“Next, where should we go?” You XiaoMo turned towards Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao touched his chin, “Let’s go to where the transport system is placed first to determine the time to leave, then we will plan something later.”
You XiaoMo gave it a quick thought, then nodded.
Suddenly an old man appeared; he had been concerned about them for a while now, and his face was full of wrinkles as he showed a nice smile, “Hey son, it seems that you want to go the transportation zone?”
You XiaoMo looked at him in surprise; the one who spoke to them was an old man wearing clothes made from linen, he looked rather clean and his age seemed older, yet his step was quite agile. You XiaoMo asked, “How do you know?”
The little old man saw he didn’t get annoyed and immediately said, “I have lived in Naye City for almost fifty years, and I see your two faces are unfamiliar. Outsiders either come here for the starry sky or for the transport circle, since you two are not a couple, then it’s certainly for the latter.”
Hearing that ‘couple’ word, You XiaoMo secretly looked at Ling Xiao; it reminded him, their relationship could be considered as that of lovers in some ways – after all, what needed to be done had been done.
Ling Xiao was aware of his glance, he turned his head and winked at him, which made You XiaoMo startle and quickly take back his line of sight. Ling Xiao smiled and asked, “Do you know about the transport circle?”
The old man felt happy and he patted his chest confidently, saying, “Of course, this little old man can guarantee. In Naye City, except the watchmen at the transportation zone, no one is more knowledgeable about the transport circle situation than me; if you to want to know something, just ask, I will answer what I know.”
A transport circle’s job was to transport, that was all, there was really nothing more to know about it.
But the transport circles in Naye City were different, if someone didn’t understand the situation, they could be tricked easily by the transport circle’s watchmen.
Because all the transport circles in Naye City were based on the distance to charge the fee, if people did not learn the data of the circle used, then the watchmen would trick them into using a longer distance route.
For example, they wouldn’t tell that the transport circle could go straight to the desired destination, they would tell people to take the one that reaches another place, then from that place they’d have to transfer to another circle to transport to their end goal.
This way they could charge a higher cost, and thus a new type of job was derived, and that was what this old man did.
They would watch out at the gate and observe who was a first timer, whether here for the transportation zone or not, then they would introduce and guide you for a certain fee.
Although he was not completely clear on the Naye City situation, Ling Xiao looked at the old man’s positive attitude. He could roughly guess what would happen. Immediately, he said, “Then tell us something, how many circles are there in the transportation zone?”
The little old man said, “There are currently ten circles open in the transportation zone right now, three of them for the South territory. Except for some specific places, those can lead you anywhere. The others lead to the western border of Jixian Valley, if you want to reach other destinations in the West, you need to first transport to Jixian, then you can transfer at a line there… and the last destination is the Black Swamp of the North.”
Ling Xiao asked, “How is the situation of the Black Swamp transport?”
Seeing him specifically mention this one, the old man knew this was their destination, so he quickly answered, “Son, you have asked the right man. This transport circle was opened five days ago, and because there aren’t enough people, it hadn’t departed yet. It needs three more people, if by today’s sunset they still don’t have enough, then the rest of the passengers are going to have to split the fee and pay for the missing three so that that can close the circle. If you two want to go there, you better register now.”
“Then we should hurry up, the sun looks like it about to set soon.” You XiaoMo alerted him.
Ling Xiao nodded, “Then let’s go.”
Before going, You XiaoMo took out from his magic bag two gold coins and gave them to the old man.
After those two left, the little old man was petrified as he held the two gold coins with a surprised and happy face. This was the first time he met someone who gave him this much. Before, at best, he could get a dozen of silver coins, and occasionally there would be some generous people. But still they would only give him one gold coin. With these two gold coins, his family could live on them alone for more than a month.
The people standing nearby couldn’t but envy him; as they had been slower than this old man, their expressions were full of regret.
The transportation zone was not very far from the city gate, they quickly arrived at the place.
The zone was crowded with people, many were waiting on the side, they were mostly practitioners. There were also some mages. Some people were busy discussing, some people were waiting anxiously for someone.
A lot of people came, very few people left. Everywhere was packed with people and their constant whispering.
At this moment, an uproar suddenly started among the crowd.
By the time You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao arrived, someone was sent flying, and with a *bang* the person fell right before their feet. If they hadn’t taken a slower step, they might have been caught in that fall.
They hadn’t reacted to what happened yet, and the one who had kicked that guy came out from the crowd.
It was a big bearded man, with a tiger back and mature body. His aura sent out a tough and aggressive feeling, that man was a three-star Celestial level practitioner, and the level of the young man who was kicked was much lower – he was only at the four-star Moon level, no wonder he was thrown out like a little chicken.
(t/n: tiger back and mature body = tiger back is very muscular and strong => the man is buff)
The young man got up from the ground with an angry face, he furiously fixated on that bulky guy; even though his power was much lower, he didn’t seem to be afraid at all.
And then, from between the people a group came out. Their clothes were the same as that young man’s.
One of the white bearded old men of that group immediately went to the young man’s side, worriedly asking, “Are you alright?”
The young man fiercely said, “Uncle Lin, I want him to die.” He had never been this disgraced since birth.
More and more onlookers gathered, You XiaoMo raised his ear to hear everyone’s whispers, so that he could promptly guess the story.
Originally these people wanted to use the same circle to leave this place, but because there weren’t enough people, all the passengers had to share the missing cost, but because of an uneven distribution, they quarreled.
There were a total of fifteen people, a group of six, a group of three and a group of two, and four other individuals.
Since this young man’s group was the largest in total, they didn’t want to pay the split fee because it would take them six times more than others. So, they suggested splitting the cost evenly between all the people. Of course, there were some who agreed with his proposal, but that bulky man and some other practitioners felt that they covered the loss more, so they disagreed, which led to a breakout. Even though the man’s party had more people, that bulky guy’s strength was higher, that’s why he had the upper hand.
Just when they started to fight, a middle-aged man came over.
That middle aged man gloomily shouted, “If you continue to be noisy, then this transport circle doesn’t need to be opened.”
The young man’s group and the bulky man’s expressions changed.
