Chapter 57

Xiangyang.

Truly, it is a large city on the border of the Song Dynasty, as expected.

Compared to the small towns Yue Yuan had seen along the way, Xiangyang was a world apart, almost comparable to a provincial capital and a county town in modern times.

Just Xiangyang alone was so vast and prosperous; one could only imagine what the capital of the Song Dynasty must be like.

Unfortunately...

The current prosperity would not last much longer.

The lame girl beside him showed no particular sentiment.

After收回ing his gaze from the towering city walls, Yue Yuan paid the gate tax and led Lu Wushuang into Xiangyang on their donkeys.

As soon as they stepped into Xiangyang, Yue Yuan felt as if he had entered a bustling metropolis.

If in the previous small towns, people were mostly heading home at this hour, with few people on the streets, Xiangyang was different. Even without the approaching Hero Assembly, countless martial artists carrying swords and knives roamed the streets. Even on a regular day, there were many commoners.

However, at the moment, the number of ordinary people seemed to have decreased significantly, with the majority being various martial artists. After all, in the eyes of the common people, those carrying weapons still had a certain intimidating presence. Whether they were from the righteous or the evil path, martial artists with weapons were intimidating to ordinary people.

"..."

收回ing his gaze from the pedestrians on the street, Yue Yuan knew in his heart that Xiangyang was now largely under the control of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. The government... the officials were also under their control.

No, to be precise, it was under Huang Rong's control.

With Guo Jing's rigid personality, managing government affairs was clearly something he was neither capable of nor willing to do.

Unfortunately, Guo Jing and Huang Rong's vision was too narrow and rigid, stubbornly adhering to one place. Although Xiangyang was the gateway to the south, their stubborn defense was not a good outcome.

And the final outcome proved this to be true.

When Xiangyang fell, it was also the time when Guo Jing and Huang Rong perished.

What a pity! And what a sigh!

But more so, it was tragic!

After entering Xiangyang, Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang dismounted their donkeys and began to look around.

Yue Yuan had never been to Xiangyang before. Even in the present world, he had only passed through Xiangyang without staying in the city. In the world of "The Return of the Condor Heroes," this was even more so. For Yue Yuan, Xiangyang was the first large city he had entered.

Although Lu Wushuang had traveled with her master, the Immortal Fire Lily Li Mochou, she had not been to Xiangyang much, only once as a child, and her memory of it was now vague.

Therefore, the two of them walked and observed the surroundings as they went.

For Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang, Xiangyang was a relatively novel city.

One novelty was the appearance of an ancient city, and the other was the gradual recall of the scene in their minds, but after looking for a while, they realized that many things had changed over the years, and with their vague memories, it was almost like a new city.

...

As the sky grew darker and the sun set, only the blood-red afterglow remained on the horizon.

Glancing at the sky, Yue Yuan said to Lu Wushuang, who was still looking at the roadside stalls, "Alright, it's getting late. Let's find an inn to stay in!"

"Okay!"

Murmuring in response, Lu Wushuang occasionally glanced back at the roadside stalls before finally looking up.

Hmm?

Following Lu Wushuang's extremely reluctant gaze, Yue Yuan realized that she had been looking at the candied haws. Seeing Lu Wushuang's somewhat reluctant expression, Yue Yuan shook his head with a smile, walked up to the vendor, bought four skewers of candied haws, and handed them to Lu Wushuang, thus soothing her reluctant mood.

"Mm, thank you!"

Holding four skewers of candied haws, Lu Wushuang beamed with joy.

Sigh!

Shaking his head, Yue Yuan felt a great deal of sympathy for the lame girl, Lu Wushuang. When she fell into his hands, she was almost a person plus a book of the Five Poisons' secret techniques and a curved saber. She didn't even have a single copper coin on her.

It was clear that, pursued by the Immortal Fire Lily Li Mochou and other sect disciples, the lame girl had a miserable life.

Along the way, Lu Wushuang had been mostly supported by Yue Yuan.

Previously, he didn't give Lu Wushuang money to prevent her from running away, but now that was no longer the case. Therefore, after buying her four skewers of candied haws, Yue Yuan also gave her several silver notes as pocket money.

"Buy whatever you like!"

To be honest, Yue Yuan really didn't like a girl looking at him with such a pitiful gaze, making him feel as if he had mistreated her.

Especially now, with the influence of Xiang Shuai, this effect was even stronger.

...

After a bit of searching, even with the many martial artists in Xiangyang, Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang still found an inn.

This was a relatively large inn, almost in the center of Xiangyang.

The inn's decoration looked quite luxurious, much more upscale than ordinary small inns.

When Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang arrived at the inn, they both looked up at the cloth sign fluttering in the wind next to the building.

On it were four very prominent large characters—Yue Lai Inn!

"Yue Lai Inn!"

Yue Yuan almost read the characters one by one. For Yue Yuan, who was familiar with martial arts novels, the Yue Lai Inn was very familiar, existing in many martial arts worlds. Now, Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang had encountered one.

"Hmm?"

"Brother Yue, what's wrong?"

Lu Wushuang, hearing the change in Yue Yuan's tone, asked in surprise, "What about the Yue Lai Inn? When I was in Lin'an with Li Mochou and my senior sister, we stayed at this inn too!"

What the heck!

Not only in this world, but in other worlds, this inn had branches!

The owner of this inn must be a genius!

However, to be able to open such a large inn in this martial arts world, their strength and influence must not be insignificant.

Could it be that the Yue Lai Inn is the greatest hidden force in this world?

Continuously complaining in his heart, Yue Yuan shook his head and said, "Nothing, just a bit surprised!"

Then, Yue Yuan and Lu Wushuang handed their donkeys to the attendant who came to greet them and walked into the inn one after the other.