Chapter 351: Divine Capital
The Divine Capital City was the largest city in the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom’s Jing state.
It was situated close to the Cloud Wilderness. Back when Yi Yun first came out of the Cloud Wilderness, his first stop was the Divine Capital.
When the airship floated above the Divine Capital’s airspace, Yi Yun stood by a window, looking down at the bustling city.
When he left the Cloud Wilderness he never expected that he would go to the Tai Ah Divine City, using the Divine Capital as a stopover. Now, one and a half year later, he was returning to the Divine Capital to use it as a stopover to return to the Cloud Wilderness.
This really was returning back to the starting point.
The only difference now was that Yi Yun’s strength was completely incomparable to last time.
However, it was a pity that Yi Yun was powerless against the vast beast horde that could destroy several Divine Kingdoms.
The airship landed on a platform in the Divine Capital City. Such a large airship was not often seen even in the bustling Divine Capital. People stopped to look as they found the sight of the huge airship fascinating.
The Divine Capital looked like it was still thriving. It was early in the morning, so Yi Yun could see the morning bird merchants shuttling through the streets. He saw store owners preparing to begin their businesses. He saw bearded, old men sitting under a tree to avoid the sun.
More and more citizens of the Divine Capital walked onto the streets. Some were walking leisurely while others were in a hurry. They all began their day’s life.
They still had not heard the news of the impending beast horde.
Not to mention the Divine Capital, even the Imperial City had not been informed of this.
Those that knew that there was a beast horde outbreak which the Divine City was incapable of resisting were limited to the royal family, the imperial capital’s family clans and several reclusive family clans.
This information could not be made public, or there would be utter chaos.
The Tai Ah Divine Kingdom had a trillion citizens, so it was impossible to evacuate them all. In desperation, they might even attack the army, mobbing the administrative offices and the teleportation arrays between the larger cities.
If that were to happen, not to mention that the citizens would not be able to escape, this would also cause the Divine Kingdom to become paralyzed.
Currently, the only thing the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom could do was to defend against the beast horde at all costs. If they could not defend against it, they could only send the Divine Kingdom’s future hope, the Divine City’s elites, into the Cloud Wilderness.
As for the Divine Kingdom’s citizens, they could only be left behind.
“Yi Yun, I am leaving…”
Luo Huo’er said to Yi Yun after the airship landed. She had received news from her family clan’s branch. She was to leave the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom.
“Take care.” Yi Yun nodded.
“Let us meet if we are fated.” Luo Huo’er looked at Yi Yun while contemplating if she should say something. In the end, she only said those words. Beside her was her maid servant Dong’er. Dong’er stared at Yi Yun with her pair of dark eyes.
“Elder brother Yi Yun, you must survive.”
Little Dong’er said.
“Yes, I will.” Yi Yun revealed a smile.
The present situation was really quite depressing for him.
With old friends departing, the country being on the brink of disaster, and the fates of his masters and seniors unknown…
…
After Luo Huo’er left, Yi Yun wandered the Divine Capital’s streets alone. He stepped on the solid green stone-paved streets. The morning dew was still on these green stone. Between the stones’ crevices, there were green moss that made it look like lush greenery.
These green stones had witnessed all sorts of people. They had witnessed prosperity and hardship, joys and sorrows. Every stone was like a thick history book that encompassed the long history of the Divine Capital City, ever since its creation.
However… this history might shortly cease to exist.
There would no longer be laughter and talking in these streets. The flowers and greenery would no longer exist.
Just thinking about it made Yi Yun sigh.
There were more and more pedestrians out on the streets. Yi Yun saw an old woman pushing a pancake cart as she sold pancakes. He saw a young girl tip-toeing to choose candy.
It was hard to believe that all of these honest people would turn into a pile of bones in just a few months…
They were pitiful. They still did not know that a disaster was looming. It was definitely a tragedy, a sorrow of the masses.
“I want to take a trip home. My home is here.”
Yi Yun said to a law-enforcer not far behind him.
“Oh?” The law-enforcer hesitated for a while. He never expected that the Divine Capital City would be Yi Yun’s home. There was military discipline in the military, and at this moment, they had received orders to be on standby. Waiting to stay behind and defend, or evacuate to the Cloud Wilderness.
If the army was dispersed, there might be incidents, or even leaked news.
Initially, the law-enforcer did not want to agree. However, Yi Yun’s status was special. After some thought he said, “Return as soon as possible. Remember, you are not to leak the news of the beast horde! This is a military order!
“I know.” Yi Yun nodded. Although he could not bear to see these common citizens die from ignorance, telling them would not help. The Divine City had not abandoned them. Many Sages and human lords were fighting for them, sacrificing themselves. Unfortunately, there were plenty of times when human power lacked the ability to defy Heaven!
“Lord law-enforcer…” Yi Yun hesitated for a while before saying, “If we are to evacuate to the Cloud Wilderness, can I bring a few people…?”
Yi Yun could not abandon Jiang Xiaorou. There was also Zhou Xiaoke. He could not bear to let such a cute young girl die in the belly of a desolate beast.
The law-enforcer slightly frowned, “Are you bringing a warrior or a mortal?”
He had roughly guessed that Yi Yun likely wanted to bring along his family members.
“Mortals.”
“Alright…” The law-enforcer was not surprised. As a person with a commoner background, Yi Yun’s family was naturally made up of mortals.
“You can bring some, but… it will be limited to a very small number. You should know that it will be very troublesome to evacuate to the Cloud Wilderness while bringing along mortals.”
“Yes… Thank you.”
Yi Yun thanked him as he rushed towards the Soft Clouds Mountain Manor.
Yi Yun was extremely anxious about being able to meet Jiang Xiaorou shortly.
Jiang Xiaorou, was the first family member he had ever since he came to this alternate world. In the Cloud Wilderness, when Yi Yun was still lacking in strength, he and Jiang Xiaorou had spent those tough days together, with only each other as kins.
The Soft Clouds Mountain Manor was about 50km away from the Divine Capital, so Yi Yun arrived there in 15 minutes.
When he saw the big manor, it appeared to be even more glamorous than when he left.
The red lacquer door, with the shiny bronze ingots and the two large stone lions in front of it made the place look substantial.
“Stop, who is there?”
Two servants who were guarding the door did not recognize Yi Yun at all. They tried to stop Yi Yun, but Yi Yun did not even bother to answer them. With a flash, he entered the mountain manor.
The two servants were still standing at the entrance with their mouths agape. The person in front of them had instantly disappeared. They looked at each other, wondering if they had seen wrongly.
The inside of the manor was lined with red bricks and green tiles. Several hundred-year-old trees blocked the Sun, and between all the pavilions were rockery and greenery. It was a very beautiful landscape.
Yi Yun was in no mood to see this. He knew where Jiang Xiaorou stayed and focusing his hearing so that, within a hundred meter radius, he could hear even a worm burrowing in the ground.
Soon, he locked onto Jiang Xiaorou’s position. With a flash of his figure, Yi Yun arrived in a exquisite garden.
In this small courtyard, Yi Yun saw a girl in green holding a watering can as she watered the flowers.
Yi Yun immediately recognized this young girl in green as it was his elder sister, Jiang Xiaorou.
After not having seen her once in the last one and a half year, Jiang Xiaorou, who had now eaten exquisite and nourishing food in the Soft Clouds Mountain Manor, now looked even more graceful. She no longer looked like her undeveloped self from back then. Her skin had become even smoother and delicate, like creamy jade. Her figure was slim but curvy. She gave off a spring-like feeling.
“Sis Xiaorou!”
Yi Yun loudly shouted. At this moment, his heart was filled with emotion. He had thought that after he went to the Tai Ah Divine City, he would become a dragon amongst men and then have a glorious homecoming. He thought he could give his sister a title of first grade princess, or some title of Lady, allowing her to live the life of a noble young mistress in the future. If he had a chance, he would get her some magical elixirs, allowing her to reach a certain martial arts realm and gain eternal youth.
However, he never expected that, although he had been outstanding in the Tai Ah Divine City, he could not have a glorious homecoming. He returned to the Divine Capital as a refugee.
Indeed, the phrase “the god of destiny makes fools of the people” was true.
“Yun… Yun’er?” Jiang Xiaorou looked in disbelief at the sudden appearance of this youth that was taller than her by a half a head.
Although Yi Yun had grown taller and his body had become more muscular, they had spent everyday together since they were young. No matter how much Yi Yun changed, Jiang Xiaorou could recognize him immediately.
However, she could not believe that Yi Yun would so suddenly return home. She had not received any prior news to this.
“It really is Yun’er!”
Jiang Xiaorou was so overjoyed that she dropped her watering can and scurried forward to stand in front of Yi Yun.
“You have grown tall.”
Jiang Xiaorou touched Yi Yun’s face while her eyes became moist. When Yi Yun left, he was shorter than Jiang Xiaorou, but now, other than looking slightly boyish, he completely looked like an adult.
To Jiang Xiaorou, she did not care if Yi Yun obtained many achievements or reaching whatever cultivation realm. As long as he returned home safe and sound, allowing her to see more of him, she would be satisfied.
“Sis Xiaorou, I have something to tell you.” Yi Yun said hurriedly.
“What is it. What is the rush?” Jiang Xiaorou was a very sensitive woman. She was overjoyed upon seeing Yi Yun’s sudden return. However, with some thought, how could Yi Yun suddenly traverse millions of miles back home before finishing his training in the Divine City? There was no prior news to this which made it somewhat unusual.
And from Yi Yun’s expression, it seemed as if something had happened. Jiang Xiaorou’s expression turned solemn.
“We will talk in the house.” Yi Yun pulled Jiang Xiaorou’s hand. Yi Yun could not bring everyone from the Soft Clouds Mountain Manor. He could only bring a few along…
Author’s Note: Transitional plots aren’t easy to write, so this chapter was released a bit late.