Severing Time & Space

The Ornery Alchemist, Part I

Even though he had heard that Dahua City was larger than Zahn City, it was hard for Wu Jian to picture what that meant until he actually saw it, but he was stunned when he did.

The city was huge.

He looked out the window of the carriage and stared in awe at the buildings that were several stories high. Zahn City's largest building was the Auction House, but all of the buildings here were at least the same size as the Auction House, and quite a few were even larger.

They passed a pagoda just then. He tilted his head to stare up at it. The towering construct with at least seven levels rose into the sky like a goliath. Arrayed around it were several smaller buildings, but that was a relative term since each building was larger than the largest buildings in Zahn City.

It was also very lively. The wide street was paved with brick and so many people tread upon it. A sea of heads filled his vision with a cornucopia of color.

While everything looked chaotic, there seemed to be a measure of order to the chaos. People on foot traveled along the outer parts of the street. Meanwhile, carriages traveled up and down the center. One thing Wu Jian had noticed was that while this road was big, it only allowed carriages to travel one way.

"It's to avoid accidents," Zhou Lihua said as if she had read his mind.

"With so many people present, I imagine they want to avoid creating roads with two lanes. There's always a chance they'll crash into each other," Wu Meiying added.

Unlike Wu Jian, she did not seem as enthralled by the city. He wondered why. This was also her first time visiting a city larger than Zahn City.

"That sometimes happens in the Imperial Capital," Hou Jingshu confessed. "I have never seen it personally happen, but Father once mentioned he kept getting complaints about it on one of our streets. Turns out the street wasn't wide enough to accommodate two carriages. He had to use taxpayer spirit coins to widen the road."

"Your father sounds like an awfully important man," Zhou Lihua said with a speculative gleam in her eyes.

"Y-yes, well... he is rather important. Ah ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha... ha..."

Hou Jingshu nervously laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from Zhou Lihua, who wore a mischievous smile. Fortunately, the woman didn't say anything else.

They continued traveling down the road. Their procession attracted a bit of attention. It seemed even here, a carriage being protected by a group of horse riding cultivators was unusual. Several people pointed and a few began whispering to each other, though Wu Jian could not hear what was being said, what with being inside of a carriage.

I bet they're just wondering which important personage is traveling inside. I wonder what they would say if they knew their princess was inside.

The thought amused him.

"This is our stop," Zhou Lihua said as the carriage slowed to a stop.

Zhou Lan opened the door, stepped outside, and held out her hand to help Zhou Lihua down. Everyone else just got out on their own.

As he stepped outside, Wu Jian looked at the building before them in shock... and maybe disappointment. With all the grandeur he had seen during the small ride through Dahua City, he had been expecting them to show up at a mansion, but what he found instead was a small hovel that wouldn't have looked out of place in Zahn City.

"This is where you wanted to go?" asked Hou Jingshu, nose wrinkling.

Zhou Lihua gave her an indulgent smile. "I know it doesn't look like much, but I recommend you not judge the person who lives here by the appearance of their house. You'll greatly regret it."