Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 598 I am a Rabbit-Eared Clan 16

The traces of two months of trekking are deeply etched on the soil and rocks. Behind us, the vast forest known as "Shadow Forest" has become a distant, dark mark on the horizon.

Ahead, the once blurred horizon has solidified into a cold, massive, and oppressive entity—Dragon City.

Unlike the vibrant life of the forest, the first impression of Dragon City is one of heaviness and order.

Huge, uncarved, primitive rocks form the towering city walls.

The stones, with their jagged edges, are roughly stacked and interlocked, exuding a primal sense of power.

The city walls were extremely high, with watchtowers built of black hardwood and giant bones standing atop them, resembling an enormous stone beast lying on the plain, exuding a breathtaking majesty.

A doorway so large that even a giant body like You could walk through it with its head held high, like the gaping maw of a giant beast.

The heavy city gate, made of thick metal and keel, is always open, and the ditch in front of it has been worn smooth by countless cart tracks and footprints.

This is the only gap leading inside, and it also bears the gaze and exploitation of all those who come and go.

The shadow of the city wall extends a long way out of the city.

This land, trampled and hardened, covered with tire tracks, animal dung, and scattered bones, is the "gateway" to Longcheng.

A complex odor filled the air: stone dust, the sweat and stench of livestock, dried leather, ashes from burning firewood... and a faint, lingering smell of decay and sweat emanating from deep within the city.

As they approached the city gate, the scene became noisy and oppressive. All sorts of people gathered, lined up, and underwent inspection in front of the gate.

Guarding the city gates are tall dragon-beastmen. Their appearance is most similar to that of humans, but they are covered with fine dragon scales (of various colors, mostly dull gray, brown, and black).

Its vertical pupils were cold and indifferent, and its powerful tail trailed behind it.

The armor was pieced together from crude metal plates or the bones of giant beasts, exuding a distinct sense of savagery and power. Each guard carried a heavy stone axe or bone club at his waist.

"Entry fee!" The dragon-beastman guard's voice was hoarse and deep, carrying an unquestionable authority.

They demanded more than just gold and silver coins (which are not common in the wilderness and forests); they demanded hard currency: large chunks of dried meat (especially energy-rich animal meat), heavy blocks of salt (pure white ones being the best), bundles of fur (especially rare animal hides), and even some ores or gems containing trace amounts of energy.

In this chaotic area around the city gates, the hierarchical system of Dragon City was already laid bare before everyone.

Those armored dragon-beastmen, whether patrolling or demanding fees, carried an innate arrogance.

They are the masters of the city, the pinnacle of the pyramid.

Even some seemingly ordinary dragon-beastmen civilians (with finer or duller scales and simpler clothing) walk with an unconscious arrogance.

Werewolves, fox-men, snake-men, ape-men, and other medium-sized orcs make up the majority of the population.

They were artisans, small merchants, mercenaries, or, more respectably, farmers and hunters.

They looked hurried, some pulling wooden carts loaded with goods, others carrying heavy packages on their backs.

When facing the dragon beastmen, they all revealed caution, even fear.

Through Yun Chu's keen observation, she noticed that many of these medium-sized beastmen wore leather bands engraved with dragon head symbols on their wrists or ankles—marks of slaves.

Their "middle" status is only relative to the lowest level.

The most eye-catching were the lowly orc slaves:

The rat-beastman had a hunched, small body, dragging wood or stones several times its own weight, its long, thin tail drooping limply.

The rabbit-beastmen (mostly females) were strung together with hemp ropes, carrying food or buckets of water, their red eyes filled with numb terror.

Their clothes were the most tattered, and they moved the fastest (forced by the overseer's whip), yet they received only the least food and the most brutal treatment.

Dust and sweat clung to their unkempt fur, their eyes vacant and lifeless.

Those overseers who wielded whips, drove away, insulted, and even kicked these lowly slaves at will were often middle-class beastmen bearing the mark of slavery—a cruel chain of rule.

Just yesterday, when they were only a day's journey from Dragon City, You found a sufficiently secluded crevice in the rocks in the wilderness. The darkness provided the best cover.

“Yun Chu,” a deep voice echoed in the darkness, “the power of space must not be exposed here in the slightest.” His icy blue eyes gleamed with an extremely serious light in the darkness.

Without needing to say more, Yun Chu immediately understood his concerns.

The atmosphere of this Dragon City, even when viewed from a distance, reveals its rigid hierarchy and predatory nature.

Possessing an independent spatial ability makes one a coveted treasure anywhere, let alone in this orc city where power reigns supreme.

A faint, almost invisible ripple of space quietly spread within the crack in the stone.

Several large animal hides that have been carefully tanned and folded.

Several pieces of ore with a cold, gleaming sheen.

Large bundles of dried meat wrapped in broad leaves to prevent the aroma from escaping.

Several precious salt blocks, carefully sealed in saltwood shells to keep them dry.

Several processed, glowing poison frog glands (sealed), and several huge razor-sharp boar tusks.

These heavy supplies were neatly arranged and stacked on the broad, solid back of the mountain, as black as a mountain range.

Some simple nets woven from tough vines were cleverly secured to You's shoulders, neck, and sides.

The enormous body of the demon steadfastly bore these heavy burdens without uttering a single complaint.

At this moment, he looked like a powerful orc warrior who had traveled a long way to sell or exchange goods in Dragon City.

Yun Chu, on the other hand, was like a small follower attached to this powerful warrior, dressed in coarse cloth clothes stained with forest sap and mud.

After paying the full amount of dried meat and salt (which earned a slight nod from the guards – a brief exchange in a low, breathy voice), heavy footsteps finally led them through the shadow of the massive, cold stone gate.

The sunlight overhead was cut off by the towering city walls. Inside the city gate, the sounds of mixed footsteps, the cries of livestock, rude shouts, and faint, suppressed wails echoed from somewhere.

Behind them, the light of day faded into the distance and the vast plains stretched out before them, while ahead lay a maze of narrow, crisscrossing streets and towering stone houses shrouded in immense shadow.

The complex odor in the air, a mixture of power, order, sweat, dust, and deep decay, became even stronger, wafting towards us and almost suffocating us.

You's steps did not falter for a moment, her icy blue vertical pupils warily scanning every face and every corner around her in the dim light. Each step she took on the rough stone-paved street stirred up fine dust.

His massive black body cast a deep shadow on the narrow, crowded street, completely enveloping Yun Chu beside him, as if creating an invisible barrier for her.