Chapter 16: Supporting the Family — Let Me Show You What I Can Do
The tree roots twisted and spiraled endlessly forward like an infinite slide.
Lin Zhao felt as if he had fallen into a particle accelerator, repeatedly intensified and propelled at a speed so fierce it threatened to tear his soul apart. He was certain that if a wall or anything else appeared before him now, crashing into it would be spectacular.
Dizzy and nauseous, he regretted having eaten so many mulberries just moments ago; now he truly felt like vomiting.
After enduring the dizziness for what felt like countless hours, he was finally propelled into the sky at the exit but was too weak to control his body. All he wanted was to fall straight into the ground and die.
Yet Ji Yaoguang, who followed closely behind, arrived before him. At the moment of emergence, he effortlessly flipped over, caught the youth, spun gracefully in the air, and landed steadily.
“Are you alright?” Ji Yaoguang asked gently, holding the boy close.
Lin Zhao, lying in his arms, gave him a silent eye roll. “Thanks to you, I don’t think I’m dead yet.”
Ji Yaoguang smiled faintly and gestured for him to turn his head. “Look, we’ve arrived.”
Lin Zhao turned his head with difficulty, eyes widening at the sight before him.
He saw the Great Wall.
Like a mountain range, slightly curved, towering into the clouds, rising from the earth, stretching endlessly into the distant wilderness.
The dark teal walls bore scratches several meters deep, massive craters, and thick stains of darkened blood—each telling tales of battles endured.
But what shocked Lin Zhao most was that the wall was alive.
Its outer surface gently pulsed, like the steady breathing of an infant, and those deep scars and craters slowly healed in rhythm, covered by layers of dark teal patterns that solidified into cloud-like azure motifs.
He glanced back at the path they had taken—empty as a wasteland, with rolling hills and ruins stretching endlessly, devoid of any sign of life.
Ji Yaoguang stood quietly beneath the towering wall, gazing up at its grandeur. A serene aura surrounded him, as if he were the true master of this place.
“What are you waiting for?” Lin Zhao patted his shoulder. “How do we get in? Should the people inside beat drums and welcome you?”
Ji Yaoguang paused, his tone slightly awkward. “No, it’s just that I’m a little unaccustomed—reminiscing about the past.”
Moreover, in the past, when he came here, the people inside wouldn’t just beat drums; crowds would flood the streets. Some unscrupulous folks would even sell the spots nearest to him for money.
“Oh, right,” Lin Zhao suddenly remembered. “Bairen said you’re the Son of God, the Eastern Azure Emperor. Some fanfare is expected. Come on, summon your legion to clear the path; let me see some real spectacle.”
Ji Yaoguang’s expression remained unchanged, though his ears tinged red. He waved off the remark repeatedly. “Stop saying that. It’s all in the past.”
What once sounded like a perfectly normal title now spilled awkwardly from his lips, almost bursting through his skin.
“All right, Your Majesty, the Azure Emperor. How do we get in?” Lin Zhao smiled.
Ji Yaoguang glanced at the wall. “Follow me.”
He grabbed Lin Zhao’s hand and briskly walked to the corner of the wall, knocking sharply twenty or so times as if sending some secret code.
After a moment, a small, dark hole appeared in the wall, just big enough for a hand to slip through.
Ji Yaoguang rummaged through the raven-feathered long skirt he wore, growing increasingly silent as he searched. The hole contracted impatiently several times, but each time he knocked on the wall, it reluctantly held open.
Finally, after a long while, he found a small, sky-blue shell, sighed deeply, and tossed it into the hole.
Like triggering a mechanism, the small dark opening suddenly widened into a passage just large enough for a crouching person to slip through.
“What is this? A doggy door?” Lin Zhao was stunned. “No city gate on the wall?”
“This is the Ba Great Wall, usually guarded by the Ba Snake totem of the Di Kingdom,” Ji Yaoguang explained, pulling Lin Zhao’s hand as they crouched and squeezed through the opening. “There’s no main gate. All entrances are controlled by the Ba Snake within the wall. Many sorcerers occasionally venture into the wilderness to gather scraps. As long as they surrender part of their haul, the wall opens a small hole for them.”
“So it’s like paying city taxes. You should ask them to make the hole bigger; it’s inconvenient to bend over and crawl through.” Lin Zhao shifted a few steps, uncomfortable.
Ji Yaoguang replied calmly, “No money left…”
“Your Majesty, the Eastern Azure Emperor…”
“Really no money!” Ji Yaoguang lamented, “When I came here, thinking I couldn’t return, I gave all my savings to the Di Kingdom ruler to care for the people and fend off the demon ruins. That shell I just threw in was a keepsake he gave me!”
Lin Zhao couldn’t help but laugh. “Then, Your Majesty, can you ask the Di Kingdom ruler for some coins?”
Ji Yaoguang said, “He ceremoniously sent me into exile. I’m still considered banished in the Witch Kingdom and can’t see him.”
“You were ‘ceremoniously sent’ out by the Di Kingdom ruler and gave him your savings?” Lin Zhao teased. “What kind of relationship do you two have?”
“Comrades,” Ji Yaoguang whispered. “The Di Kingdom ruler rebuilt the Witch Land from ruins and has guarded it for over six hundred years. The Witch Kingdom’s millions rely on him for western defense. Over the years, the Di Kingdom endured three Han Sea upheavals and the Great Wall fell twice, causing heavy losses in lives and wealth. Reconstruction and compensation require funds, so when I left, I gave it all to him.”
Lin Zhao found it hard to joke about such a figure and changed the subject. “What is the Fang Kingdom, and how does it relate to the Witch Kingdom?”
Ji Yaoguang explained, “The Fang Kingdoms are vassals of the Witch Kingdom. Witches live long lives, but official posts are limited, so the Witch Kingdom supports ambitious ones to reclaim wastelands and establish new states called Fang Kingdoms. Since the Great Catastrophe, twenty-four Fang Kingdoms have arisen around the Witch Kingdom, protecting it and providing rare resources, while the Witch Kingdom aids them in defending and expanding their lands. The Di Fang Kingdom was originally a supply base for warriors beyond the Han Sea, later growing into a full kingdom.”
Curious, Lin Zhao looked around as they finished crawling through the long ‘dog door,’ but his expression instantly froze.
He had seen the grand civilization of the Witch Kingdom’s ruined cities in the Han Sea and had high hopes for these Fang Kingdoms. But now… it looked like a beehive.
In the distance, stone buildings formed tiny hexagonal rooms, no bigger than coffins. Their walls were studded with many rings, and people climbed these hundred-meter-high honeycomb towers without any safety equipment, triggering Lin Zhao’s fear of heights.
Nearby stood many simple structures of varying sizes and heights. They were in a plaza bustling with people dressed in distinctive clothes—silk robes, hemp garments, wooden leaves, and even some seemingly adorned with clouds and mist.
The races were even more diverse—human-headed snakes, winged people, fox people with beast ears—without any surveillance cameras nearby, Lin Zhao felt as if he had stumbled into a large cosplay gathering.
“Aren’t these living conditions… too small?” Lin Zhao was at a loss for words, even his excitement at seeing living people diminished by half.
“Are they?” Ji Yaoguang explained. “This is the observation area. Those returning from the demon ruins Han Sea must rest here for two days to ensure corrosion can be alleviated and controlled before entering the inner city.”
Understanding this, Lin Zhao calmed down. Not far off, a line formed, and one by one, doors opened at the wall’s base. People came and went through these modest entrances, which looked very frugal. Most wore various types of armor and carried bows, swords, and knives. Some sorcerers with staffs stood quietly in the small plaza—some hurried, others bored out of their minds.
As Lin Zhao observed closely, suddenly a door by the wall burst open. A warrior clad in animal pelts rushed out, carrying a mangled third of a person, roaring, “Is there a grand sorcerer? Hurry, save him!”
The “person” in his arms was covered in blood, ribs torn away from below, with gruesome parts dangling in the wind. The man was still alive, lips barely moving, lungs exposed—this bloody scene made Lin Zhao’s dizziness worse, and he quickly covered his mouth, nearly vomiting.
At that moment, a circle of sorcerers holding staffs standing around the plaza exchanged glances and each quoted a price: “One thousand gold shells!”
“Eight hundred gold.”
“Seven hundred.”
“Newcomer, just promoted to sorcerer doctor, five hundred.”
“Newcomer dares to charge five hundred?”
“If he dares to treat me, I dare to charge.”
The sorcerers chatted calmly among themselves. “Our reputations matter; no wild bargaining.”
“Please, our team was attacked by corpse ghosts; only the two of us remain. Our money bags were left in the wilderness. Please save him first; I’ll raise the money right away…” The man sobbed.
“Turn right ahead to the Sorcerer Clinic. Treatment there is free lately, but you have to sell yourself for ten years to repay the debt.”
“Yeah, we agreed with the clinic not to go below the price floor.”
“Exactly. If we make exceptions today, we’ll be kicked out tomorrow.”
“Making money isn’t easy; you should compromise.”
“Alas, the Di Kingdom ruler is kind; the chief steward is cruel!”
Amid the sorcerers’ chatter and refusals, the man cried uncontrollably, clutching his brother as he ran toward a nearby white palace.
Feeling pity for the brothers, Lin Zhao suddenly noticed Ji Yaoguang had silently produced a peach wood staff carved with a skull and stood silently in the plaza.
“What are you doing?” Lin Zhao asked.
“Obviously, making money,” Ji Yaoguang twirled the staff with a smile. “Getting you a big room.”
With that, he waved his hand and casually thrust the staff into the bluestone floor.