C343 – Snowfield City
Posted on March 18, 2019 by AzureOrchid92
Shao Xuan was on guard against Shi Shu. Such a person who could quietly provoke a war was too dangerous.
From Shi Shu’s words, Shao Xuan felt that the “decline” of the tribes should be linked to the slave owners. He would try to find the secrets of some slave owners, not just Rock Tomb City.
Of the three major cities, in addition to Rock Tomb, there were two others.
He had heard that Snowfield City has been at war with Fire Hill City. He just did not know how Shi Shu would lead the disaster. In any case, now, Snowfield City has become messier. Since Shi Shu knew that it has already started at Snowfield City, naturally, he would not let it go calmer.
Snowfield City. When you hear the name, you’d know that you were in the same area as the desert in Beast City, with more snow and ice in a year.
When Shao Xuan came to the border of the area under the jurisdiction of Snowfield City, it was snowing. There were also some red purple flowers openly blooming in the snow. Presumably, these plants were unique to this city.
Compared to the desolate Beast City, there were many plants on this side of the area.
After rushing past a team of two hundred people, he should reach the battlefield. Everyone had on a serious or sad face, with the successive wars costing them a lot of damage. Now, the king was going crazy, desperate for help to appear. For it was the king’s orders, no one dared to refute it. Their king said to continue the war, they have to continue to fight.
Even for these people of the three cities, even if they had been peaceful for a long time, when a war suddenly came, no one could afford it if there were large-scale battles.
When Shao Xuan came over, he saw a lot of corpses. Some have been buried in the sand, some only about a few days had been there that only a part was buried. Many of the bodies that were thrown there were eaten by scavengers with only the bones left, which looked rather desolate.
Shao Xuan ran along the road to collect some Snowfield City slaves’ clothing. Low-grade slaves’ and his clothing was not much different.
After a few days of lurking around, Shao Xuan took the opportunity to blend in at the tail of a patrol team while it was dark.
The slave, who was walking in front of Shao Xuan, was already sleepy, unaware that there was someone behind him. He only yawned and followed the man in front of him.
The leader of the team did not pay much attention, only focusing on guarding the surroundings. He did not notice an extra person in the team.
Seeing the gate of Snowfield City coming near, Shao Xuan pulled the cloth hat over his head. In fact, it was a long strip of cloth wrapped around his head. This was a hat that was worn by low-leveled slaves more often. On the surface, Shao Xuan deliberately made himself look dirty, showing fatigue to look like the other slaves.
The guard in front of the city glanced at the line, not aware of the wrong. He looked at the end of the line with Shao Xuan still yawning, his face tired. This guard was glad that, at least he was guarding in their own doors in front of the city and did not have to run around like these outside patrol. Every day, they lack of sleep and has no spirit at all.
It was late. After the patrol returned, they were all busy going back to rest. No one had the mind to talk to anyone else.
The system here was not perfect. There were many loopholes, which was convenient to Shao Xuan.
As the team entered the city, Shao Xuan looked for a chance to sneak into a sand house.
The people in the patrol walking in front of Shao Xuan seemed to notice something. However, looking behind them, they didn’t see anything unusual. They thought they were probably too tired and confused, so they didn’t care much.
The sand house where Shao Xuan was in has no door. The people living in it has been in the war as cannon fodder and never returned. Shao Xuan temporarily settled there, hidden and waiting for an opportunity.
At night, no one came in and the night gradually deepened. There were fewer people moving outside. There were no lights, with the moonlight not as bright as a full moon’s, making the inside of the house dark, casting black shadows inside.
The continuing war made the people in the city tired. Except for the night patrol, the others went back to their houses and began to fall asleep.
Compared with the earlier Snowfield City, it was now a lot desolate.
Shao Xuan went out of the sand house, avoiding those patrolling the city, then sneaked into the center of Snowfield City.
The palace in Snowfield City was similar to the one in Luoye City. It was very high-profile, but was much larger in size.
The guards near the palace were more vigilant. Shao Xuan could not sneak in for a while and had to look for another opportunity. Therefore, Shao Xuan first found a good hiding place, then waited for that moment.
This hiding place was much more spacious than the sand houses in the previous area. The materials they were built with were mostly stone. The closer the sand houses were to the palace, the larger they were built.
The room was used as wine storage. Shao Xuan saw a lot of wine barrels there.
However, these cellars do not sell wines, but was used as a storage for rewards. When slaves do meritorious deeds, they were rewarded with wine and the slaves come here to receive their reward.
There were three men in the house who were in charge of the wine house. By this time, they were already asleep. Shao Xuan chose a place to put his stuff, then hid inside.
After looking at the furnishings and patterns inside the house, Shao Xuan guessed that there should be five people in charge. Two people were drawn out to join the other teams, leaving just three people in the house.
Not only were they in charge of the wine house, but also in other similar places. Some of them were pulled into the patrol or gate guards. Worse for them would be if they were transferred to the ranks for the war. The war consumed more manpower and could only be filled with the slaves of the city. They were the laborers which were not skilled in business. Besides, even if they work in the city, they also suffer from abuse. How could they complain? The consequence of this slack was that there were more loopholes that give people like Shao Xuan the opportunity to take advantage of it.
Those wines, which appeared to have not been used for several days, showed that those who came to collect the rewards did not show up for days on end. Thinking of the previous news he heard of the Snowfield City war, Shao Xuan also understood that with a succession of defeats, where would the reward go? Even if there was a real meritorious deed, the overall defeat made the slave owners in a bad mood to receive a reward.
Being on the road, hiding and alert, Shao Xuan was also tired. It was rare now to find a temporary foothold in the area. He intended to have a good rest, to supplement the severe wear and tear of his travel. Of course, even if he fell asleep, he has to have the necessary vigilance, hence, he couldn’t sleep soundly.
He came to Snowfield City with the purpose of finding the “history” of the city. Luoye City has a special place to store their historical notes according to Su Gu. In these snowy plains, as one of the three major cities, they should also have a similar place. Shao Xuan hoped to find more information from the history of the Snowfield City to answer the doubts in his heart. If he could see those “history”, maybe he’d be able to explain Shi Shu’s words.
Slave owners value those historical records, but the degree of emphasis was much lighter than that of the tribesmen. Even when they recorded events, they could change it to demean others and praise themselves.
During the time Shao Xuan was resting, in the high palace of the city, the Snowfield King smashed the table again. The delicate glass and cutlery were scattered and the freshly made wooden table was blown to shreds.
“Rock Tomb is deceitful!” The Snowfield King’s face was gloomy and the sinews were highlighted. He had just received a letter from the Rock Tomb King, saying that he should stop the war and not let it continue.
“This king has been at war with the people of the Fire Hill City before! They never stopped it, but now, they were telling me to turn in?” The Snowfield King was furious. “No, maybe among the people who stole my treasure, Rock Tomb City was also included!”
After thinking so far, the Snowfield King was breathing hard as he thought of his succession of defeats, shivering with anger. At first, he was angry with the tribesmen, trying to kill the tribesmen in the desert, but the news was that the tribesmen had long since slipped away. He then took back all his manpower to fight against the others. The tribesmen, those timid minions, would be dealt with later.
The Snowfield King did not know that a timid minion in his eyes was snooping on their “history”.