613: Broken City

Broken City

"Hm, the same thing as the last few, a red token", she muttered.  0

Ming Yue went towards her Spatial Ring, grabbing a small bag and dropping in those tokens.

"That makes seven of them. It has been three weeks and you three have dealt with seven of them. I suppose using myself as a lure did the trick."

Closing the pouch, she returned it to her spatial ring before looking around quietly. 

"It did... for the small fry at least. You hiding your cultivation won't be enough to trick real experts", Xue Yue commented, almost snorting even. 

"She's right, when a real expert comes, it would be a much different story."

Even Elder Zhen said something about this and Ming Yue acknowledged both of them. 

"I know but at least she doesn't and I don't think that she's old enough or strong enough to know about all this. So let's make sure that nothing troublesome comes our way. In any case, this is a good way of gaining information after all." 

The young woman flicked her finger once more, bringing forth more wind that blew through the corpses, taking everything in their possession except for their clothes. Ming Yue would give them at least that much for their dignity. 

Doing a quick search, she did find a few letters that provided quite a bit of useful information.

"Hmm, so there's going to be an annual meeting in another month or two. Most if not everyone is to gather for a celebration of their freedom and power. That matches up with the reports I read before, now I just have to get there beforehand. Fortunately, we're nearly there, just a few more days before we reach Luan City."

Having read things over, the letters were placed within her spatial ring and the cultivator returned to watching her surroundings. 

The fire was still going, with smoke drifting up past the treetops, a clear sign that they were here, a marker for others. But of course, that was the whole purpose of it all. Ming Yue furrowed her brow before looking off in a random direction. 

Several wind needles formed without her even making a move. 

They shot off in an instant, flying into the darkness without returning and Ming Yue didn't bother checking to see who she had killed. 

"Hm, Luan City, it's quite some a while since I was last there. I wonder if Aunt Cui and Elder Fei are doing fine. Is Owner Su still doing well?" 

She wondered to herself. It had been years since then and she was no longer the same young girl as before. The thought of this gave her a strange feeling, a realization that things may be very different from what she remembered. 

As a new day dawned, the group of five continued on their way to Luan City, taking no more than a week to reach their destination. Stopping just a short distance away, Ming Yue turned around and looked at everyone before stopping in front of a very large cat beast. 

"Hm, alright, Liang Wei, I don't think it would be wise to let you in. You might be a bit too eye-catching for everyone", she said. 

Liang Wei gave a puzzled look, tilting its head before meowing. Suddenly, its body shrunk down until it was the size of a normal cat, the only difference being the two tails twirling behind it. There was a shocked face right then and there from everyone. 

"Wha- you could change the size of your body? Why didn't you do it earlier?" she asked. 

The Twin-Tailed Mao responded with an annoyed tone as if to say that it was much more troublesome than it seemed. Ming Yue merely just looked at the now small cat beast and sighed before turning around. 

"Alright then, let's go enter the city."

Together, the group approached the city, arriving at the gates where several men stood guard. They were a rather miserable little squad of five, their armor was weathered and they stood hunched over, leaning on their spears for support. 

Their expression was that of exhaustion, with droopy eyes, and a frown on their face. 

Seeing her arrive didn't even seem to faze them, the five guards merely looked at her until one of them sighed. Straightening themselves up, they lifted up their spear and trudged forward. 

"Halt... State your business for coming here." 

Ming Yue looked at the guard and then looked behind them.

"They're all mortal realm cultivators... only at the fourth stage", she evaluated. 

Her gaze then went back to the one that had stopped her, answering the guard's question. 

"I'm just visiting, I haven't been back in quite a while and I can vouch for my identity as well." 

Reaching into her spatial ring, she pulled out a jade token, the one she was given when joining the Pavilion. Although it hadn't been updated since then, she was still at the Black Tortoise rank from when she first began her cultivation. 

Still, it was enough to vouch for her identity. 

The guard looked at it before looking at her and at her group. Their eyes stopped at Hongyu, showing a rather conflicted look. 

"It is a real token and you may enter but I will advise against doing so. This city has become dangerous at night. And the guards of the city are just barely able to keep things in check. Look at us. We are injured and exhausted. You may believe yourself to be some great hero but evil has taken reign over the city. Death may await you so please think twice, I nor my comrades wish to see another dead child", the guard told her. 

Much to their surprise, Ming Yue smiled. 

"Do not worry, nothing will happen to her, in fact, nothing will happen ever again."

She then lowered her head and bowed in respect before bringing Hongyu and the three beasts into the city. In an instant, the young woman raised a brow as she looked around. There was a stark difference now and before. The streets weren't as busy and there were fewer stalls. Many of the stores and businesses seemed to have boarded up. Some just laid in ruin with no chance of being rebuilt.

There were fewer people and all of them had nothing but empty looks on their faces.  No one was smiling, not even the children. 

"This is Luan City? This is what happened after the war?" she thought to herself. 

Ming Yue continued to walk through the city before stopping by a boarded-up shop. 

"Owner Su's store... it's closed."

She stared at the desolate building before moving elsewhere. 

"Even Tie Di's shop... it's empty."

She touched the Star Pendant while looking at the old man's forge, now gathering dust on top of the scattered weapons and armor. 

What happened here?" she wondered. 

Although both of these places were closed, there was still one more place that she had yet to check. Holding Hongyu by her hand, the young woman moved on to another part of the city, stopping in front of the last place that she could check. 

"The brothel... is it still open?" 

Considering it was the daytime, the brothel was closed but by the looks of it, things were still in business. Things were still well-maintained and clean though there was a bit of repair needed on some parts. 

Bringing along everyone, Ming Yue quietly entered the building, flying up and into the courtyard where someone was busy doing the laundry. She suddenly yelped upon their landing, quickly looking around before grabbing a small bucket on the ground. 

"Don't come any closer! I'm warning you!" she cried out, raising the bucket above her head. 

"Wait, it's me." 

Ming Yue held her hand forward as if to defend herself from the bucket, trying to get the woman to stop. 

She still had the bucket in her hands but her eyes narrowed as she felt some familiarity with her. 

"Wait, are you... Ming Yue?!"

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