Chapter 46 Entering the City
He flew all the way back to where he first entered, and Gu Yun finally stopped, standing on the ground, looking at this reactivated illusion array. His hands danced in a flurry of gestures, and a stream of spiritual energy shot out from his hand into the air, creating ripples that gave rise to a gate over ten feet wide. Gu Yun led the two women through this gate and walked out.
The two girls were visiting the outside forest for the first time, temporarily forgetting their sadness and curiously scanning everything in front of them. At this moment, Gu Yun's voice sounded in their ears: "Beautiful?" The two girls looked at Gu Yun and nodded.
"I'll show you something even more beautiful, let's go now. This place is protected by the illusion array, others can't get in. We can come back again sometime."
The two women looked back one last time before following Gu Yun to sit on the broad back of Bai Shi. This time, Bai Shi did not condense a chair, and the two women sat on Gu Yun's lap with his arms around them. Once they were settled, Bai Shi began to move forward. This time, Gu Yun decided to head to Liangping Prefecture first and stay for a while before continuing on their journey. On one hand, he had promised Weng Yuan and the others that he would go there to purchase the spiritual medicine they had collected. On the other hand, it was also about the Liu He Men, a sect that had almost gotten him killed. Gu Yun was someone who would repay kindness with even greater kindness, but if you provoked him, he would not let you have a good day either.
Bai Shi was strolling leisurely in the forest, while Gu Yun continued to comfort the two women on his back. Along the way, they encountered several groups of cultivators gathering herbs, but they only glanced at them before hastily leaving. Gu Yun's appearance, carrying two beautiful women in this forest, was typical of a spoiled rich kid on an outing. They didn't dare linger or even look at the two beauties in Gu Yun's arms, fearing to provoke him. After walking for half a day, Gu Yun and his companions finally arrived at the city gate of Liangping County. The people waiting to enter the city at the gate instinctively made way for the five-meter-long, three-meter-tall giant white bear. They were all cultivators who had not yet reached the Golden Dan period, and they had never seen such a massive demon beast before. Moreover, looking at Gu Yun's demeanor, he clearly had the image of a spoiled rich kid. For people like him, they would avoid him if possible, or else they would end up suffering losses themselves. If Gu Yun knew how others perceived him at this moment, who knows what thoughts he would have.
As he walked to the city gate, Gu Yun was stopped by the soldiers guarding the entrance. "Sir, please take back your horse and don't block others from entering the city." They were also quite knowledgeable people, so when speaking to someone like Gu Yun who looked like a young master, they naturally spoke very politely. If only they knew that this young master in their eyes was actually just a country bumpkin who had just come out of the mountains and didn't understand etiquette, who knows how they would react.
Gǔ Yún listened to his words, and with the two women in tow, jumped down from Bái Shí's back. Bái Shí also transformed into its original form of about one foot in length. Gǔ Yún raised his head, only to see the soldier who had blocked their path staring at the two women beside him with a look of utter shock. Gǔ Yún furrowed his brow and cleared his throat twice. The soldier finally came back to his senses, sneaking a glance at Gǔ Yún, and seeing that he wasn't angry, let out a sigh of relief. He knew that these second-generation nobles weren't people to be trifled with - they could kill someone on the spot without warning, and if ordinary city guards like themselves were killed, there wouldn't even be anywhere to seek justice.
"Hurry up and tell the young master that he can enter the city now." Even with Gu Yun's cultivation, he didn't bother to investigate further, otherwise, it would have been exposed. Because on Gu Yun's body, no spiritual power fluctuations could be felt, but he was intimidated by Gu Yun's imposing aura when he appeared, so he let him enter Langping County easily. Gu Yun also did not expect that entering the city would be so easy, originally he still wanted to reveal his identity as a medical cultivator to enter the city, because in the entire empire, no matter what realm of medical cultivators, they could all enter the city without paying fees.
Gǔ yún led the two women towards the city, and along the way, almost everyone who saw them would be stunned for a while, only coming back to their senses after they had passed by. It was also at this time that Gǔ yún realized just how great an attraction the two women held for others.
Three people walked on the streets in the city, where the streets were very wide, about three zhangs (a unit of length), with a row of small stalls on both sides. Some were placed directly on the ground, some were covered with a piece of cloth, and the better ones were placed on a table. Gu Yun roughly looked around and saw that most of the people running the stalls were those who had paid to enter the city. The items they sold were also varied, including beautiful ornaments, strange stones, medicinal herbs, and even magical artifacts. Around them, there were some people selecting goods, with prices that seemed quite cheap to Gu Yun, generally around one low-grade spirit stone.
The old man walked with the two women, occasionally buying things that caught his eye. Of course, most of what he bought were medicinal herbs. The two women were different; they had never seen such a lively scene before and their eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful trinkets on display. Without hesitation, Gu Yun handed over the money and took them away. After all, his money was ill-gotten gains from others, so he didn't mind spending it one bit. It was the people around him who felt a pang in their hearts, because for cultivators like themselves, these trinkets were completely useless. Even those second-generation rich kids wouldn't use such ordinary trinkets to try and impress girls; they would only use magical artifacts or precious items of that sort. But Gu Yun didn't care - as long as the two women liked something, he'd buy it for them.
After wandering around for half a day, Gu Yun finally brought the two girls to a wine house called Piao Xiang Lou. It was a three-story building with an ancient and simple style, with flying eaves carved with various auspicious beasts on top. A long plaque hung from the corridor of the second floor, with the three golden characters "Piao Xiang Lou" written on it. Gu Yun led the two girls into the large hall inside, which was about two zhang wide and three zhang long, with over a dozen red wooden square tables arranged inside. At this moment, most of the tables were filled with people, who were chatting and laughing, making the entire hall very lively. As soon as Gu Yun and the two girls appeared, the previously lively hall suddenly became silent, to the point where even the sound of heartbeats could be heard clearly. Everyone's eyes involuntarily stared at the two girls standing beside Gu Yun, with gazes so intense that they could melt the girls. The two girls had never seen such a grand scene before and were frightened, tightly grabbing onto Gu Yun's hand and constantly shrinking behind him. Chen Xue'er even asked in confusion: "Gu big brother, what's going on with these people? Why are they staring at my sister and me without blinking?" That timid expression and the voice like a yellow oriole leaving its nest immediately made everyone in the hall swallow their saliva again. Gu Yun furrowed his brow, cleared his throat twice, and the people in the hall finally came back to their senses, hurriedly lowering their heads to pretend to eat, but still staring at the two girls without blinking.
At this time, the running hall who had also fallen into a daze just now ran to Gyun's face and asked: "Sir, please come in, what do you want to eat? Our Fragrant Pavilion is absolutely the best in the entire empire."
Gu Yun's gaze swept over the people in the hall and said, "Is there a quieter place?"
"Yes, yes, yes, please follow me." After finishing speaking, he led Gu Yun upstairs to the second floor. Here were small rooms one by one. Gu Yun was led into a room with windows that could see the street below. As soon as he sat down, a waitress immediately brought tea and the waiter who had just run out brought out a menu and placed it in front of Gu Yun, saying: "Sir, what would you like to eat? Our Piao Xiang Lou has all kinds of delicacies, rare fruits, sweet dew, jade juice, everything is available."
The old saying goes that when you open the menu, you can't help but take a deep breath of cold air. This place really has everything, but at what price? Even someone like Gu Yun, who doesn't consider spirit stones to be money, thinks it's a bit unbelievable. A single piece of jade lotus root costs 50 low-grade spirit stones, and that's just the cheapest option. The phoenix claws, dragon plates, and other dishes with strange names cost at least one mid-grade spirit stone, and some even cost up to 10 mid-grade spirit stones.
One low-grade spirit stone is enough for Gu Yun and his friends to cultivate for a month, which means that the cheapest dish here would be enough for a Yuan Ying period cultivator to cultivate for five years. However, what Gu Yun doesn't know is that once a cultivator reaches the Refining Qi period, they basically don't need to eat anymore. Most of the people who come here to eat are just doing it for pleasure, and they're all wealthy individuals who wouldn't bat an eye at spending several mid-grade spirit stones. So, it's normal that the dishes here are expensive; if they were any cheaper, these people might not even bother coming.
Here is the translation:
Gǔ Yún ordered a few dishes made with flowers as ingredients, fearing that the two girls wouldn't be used to eating outside food. Afterwards, he also ordered a roasted chicken and handed the menu back to the waiter standing by. After the waiter left, Gǔ Yún took out the transmission jade slip given to him by Wēng Yuán and sent a message, telling him his current location. Then, he chatted with the two girls while waiting for the food to arrive. Before long, the dishes he ordered were served. It had to be said that although the food here was expensive, it was colorful, fragrant, and delicious, with a truly great taste. The two girls also ate something so delicious for the first time, and Chén Xuě ér exclaimed that she would go back and make something this delicious for Gǔ Yún to eat, which moved him slightly. He kept putting food into the girls' bowls, and they did the same.
A meal was finished in such a lively atmosphere, Gu Yun followed the waiter to the shopkeeper in the hall and handed over three middle-grade spirit stones. A meal cost Gu Yun three middle-grade spirit stones, which made him feel a little painful. With two women, Gu Yun left here under the gaze of everyone in the entire hall. As soon as they left, a burst of discussion immediately erupted in the hall.
