Chapter 105: The Capital of Xiong City (Part 2)

  What covers the top of the giant peak is not trees, but layer upon layer of houses. At the foot of the mountain, a precipice encircles it, with a height of thirty or forty zhang. On the top of the precipice stands a city wall, with high parapets and numerous watchtowers. Far away, flags can be seen fluttering in the wind.

  Below the cliff is a wide moat, and warships are sailing in the river. As the boat sails closer, a palace with red walls and green tiles can be vaguely seen on the top of the mountain.

  Along the riverbank near the majestic mountain city, countless large and small boats were moored, among which several giant dragon ships stood out like cranes among chickens.

  The Wang An finally docked. Xiao Ziyang followed the crowd down the ship, and he was amazed to find that this huge port was paved with bluestone everywhere; countless warehouses stood on the port, and one could not see the end at a glance.

  Xiao Ziyang hailed a horse-drawn carriage and headed into town.

  After the carriage left the harbor area, a five-zhang-wide stone road appeared in front of us. On both sides of this road, countless roads of the same kind extended from all over the harbor.

  The road is filled with horse-drawn carriages carrying goods and passengers, flowing endlessly like a river.

  The horse carriage drove for about half a time, and entered a wide road of over 100 meters. According to the driver, there are no less than thirty such roads around Jin'an City, and more than ten in the port area alone, with each road corresponding to a city gate.

  The horse carriage had been traveling on the main road for nearly half a day before it finally approached Jin'an City.

  From a distance, it doesn't seem like much, but as you get closer, the mountain cliffs that stretch for over a hundred miles and rise more than thirty zhang high, as well as the city walls on top of the cliffs that are over ten zhang high, truly leave one in awe.

  The moat under the mountain cliff is over 300 zhang wide, bottomless and flowing slowly, it's actually running water. Warships are shuttling back and forth on the moat.

  The approach to the city wall near the moat is a gentle slope built with giant stones, connecting to a massive stone arch bridge spanning over 300 zhang above the moat, leading all the way to the foot of the city wall. The bridge is 100 zhang wide and its grandeur is unmatched.

  A section of the city wall facing the stone bridge, recessed inward for more than two miles, forms a square at the bridgehead. The city walls on three sides of the square are exceptionally high and majestic, twice as high as other sections.

  At the end of the square, there is a row of ten city gates, each gate is five zhang wide, and between each gate, there is a wall of five or six zhang wide, extending over thirty zhang, making this section of the wall zigzag.

  The city walls on both sides of the square are recessed ten zhang every ten zhang, also forming a serrated edge.

  This is literally an armed-to-the-teeth fortress.

  After checking the guide, I entered the city gate and in front of me was a wide road over 30 meters wide, slowly rising upwards. On both sides of the road were countless shops and houses.

  Xiao Ziyang reported a place name, and the horse carriage went along the main road, with an intersection every two miles. The horizontal street is not as wide as the main road, but it is also more than 10 zhang (a unit of length) wide. According to the coachman, each horizontal street will circle around the mountain waist for a week.

  The horse carriage had been traveling for more than half a time, covering a distance of over thirty miles, when another city wall appeared before him.

  This city wall looks more solid and majestic than the outer wall, divided into two layers, the outer wall is 10 zhang high, the inner wall is 20 zhang high, and the distance between the two walls is 100 zhang.

  Inside and outside walls, every ten zhang there is a five-zhang-wide wall surface protruding three zhang outward.

  In front of the outer wall, there is a stretch of open land over 300 zhang wide, with no buildings whatsoever. It can be imagined that in the event of war, this stretch of open land will become the enemy's killing field.

  Once inside this city wall is the inner city, which is different from the outer city. The streets are wider and cleaner, and the high-rise buildings on both sides of the main road gradually increased.

  Those who can live in the inner city are some people with a certain status, either officials or wealthy merchants.

  As the carriage gradually approached the top of the mountain, the driver became more and more careful, even when urging the horse on, he intentionally lowered his voice.

  Gradually, a massive palace complex that enveloped the entire mountain top appeared in Xiao Ziyang's line of sight.

  Xiao Ziyang told the carriage driver to go to a place called Yu Ma Street, which was very famous. Not only was it well-known throughout the capital city, but even some remote mountain villages knew that Xi Lian City had a street called Yu Ma Street.

  The first time someone comes to Gulangyu, they will definitely feel very strange. It's not because the street is extremely wide, almost three times that of other streets, nor is it because the buildings on one side of the street are at least ten zhang high.

  The strangest thing about Gulou Street is that there are only shops on the side of the street near the foot of the mountain, while the side near the top of the mountain has high walls and occasionally low back doors.

  The reason is simple, Yuma Street is the closest street to the Imperial City in Jinan City. On the mountain top side of this street, there are the mansions of the top aristocratic families in Western Liang State. These mansions have their gates open on the side facing the Imperial City, guarding the high and mighty imperial palace.

  Naturally, on this side of Gumatai Street, there can only be the back doors of these mansions.

  The auxiliary imperial palace is the most spacious of these mansions. It is located outside the main gate of the imperial palace, directly connected to the eastern side of the 30-40 meter wide imperial road that leads down the mountain.

  Xiao Ziyang strolled leisurely along this peculiar Imperial Horse Street, a faint smile playing on his lips as he seemed to be taking great interest in the tall, magnificent buildings alongside the street, their lights shining brightly. However, if someone could see clearly into his eyes, they would discover that they were filled with gloom, a stark contrast to the expression on his face.

  Just now in the horse carriage, Xiao Ziyang used his clairvoyance to observe Jin'an City. As soon as he looked at it, a chill suddenly arose in his heart.

  In his spiritual eyes, there were dozens of places within Jin'an City where the light of magical power was flashing, which meant that there were cultivators present in these dozens of locations.

  This is only what Xiao Ziyang can see, to know that Jin An is a mountain city, at least 70% of the place is beyond his line of sight. Calculating this way, there are probably no less than a hundred places in Jin An City where cultivators exist!

  Among these places with spiritual aura, there are three particularly bright ones where a large number of cultivators will gather.

  Among these three rays of spiritual light, the brightest one is located right in the middle of the Western Capital Imperial Palace.

  In Xiao Ziyang's spiritual eyes, above the imperial palace, the five-colored divine light almost illuminated half of the sky with a colorful splendor.

  According to Xiao Ziyang's original plan, he would naturally use his invisible escape method to sneak into the Fuguo Gongfu and quietly behead this old treacherous dog.

  Now it seems that Xiao Ziyang's idea is no different from a fool's dream.

  Yue Lou is one of the few golden dens in Jin'ancheng. It is located at the intersection of the main gate of the imperial palace and the royal horse street, with a height of nine floors, each floor being five zhang high. Its height of nearly fifteen zhang makes it a true giant.

  On the fifth floor of the Moon-Embracing Pavilion, by a window seat, sat a plump and pale merchant.

  In front of him were several exquisite small dishes, a sky-blue porcelain wine jug, and in his hand he held a delicate white jade cup, with amber-colored fine wine floating inside.

  This merchant was actually Xiao Ziyang in disguise. Realizing that Jin Ancheng was a place where dragons and tigers were hidden, he couldn't help but be careful.