Chapter 2 – "The City That Sleeps in Dust"
"A river may hide gold beneath its waters,
but only the patient diver will claim it.
So too does the world hide its treasures…
behind mud and noise."
The morning sun broke through the clouds, painting the wet forest in gold. Wudi Tian walked with steady steps, Yue Lian following behind. She kept stealing glances at him — his calm, unhurried gait was unlike any man she had met.
When they reached the end of the forest, a city rose before them, surrounded by mossy walls. The gates stood open, and streams of merchants, farmers, and travelers passed in and out.
> Yue Lian: "This is Qingmu City. Not much to look at… but it's the largest in this region."
Wudi Tian: "Even ants build hills when they gather. The shape matters little — the strength lies in the unity."
She tilted her head, unsure whether he was mocking or admiring the place.
---
Inside the city, life buzzed. Hawkers shouted prices, beggars muttered prayers, and the smell of fried buns mixed with horse dung. Wudi's eyes swept over everything once — from the hidden dagger under a cloth merchant's stall to the quiet killer leaning on a shadowed wall.
"The eyes do not see what the mind rejects.
So I teach my eyes… to reject nothing."
They stopped at a tea house, the kind that wore its elegance like cheap perfume. Yue Lian ordered a pot, but Wudi only watched the street from the window.
Across the road, a group of young men in embroidered robes pushed through the crowd, flanked by guards. In their midst was a girl dressed in crimson silk, her hair adorned with a phoenix pin. Her beauty drew every gaze like the moon pulling the tide.
Yet her expression was cold, untouchable.
> Yue Lian: whispering "That's Yan Xue, the City Lord's daughter. They say her hand will be given to the one who brings the Moon Tear Lotus from the Ghost Marsh."
Wudi Tian: "Then she waits for a man who values flowers more than life."
---
As if sensing his gaze, Yan Xue's eyes flickered toward the tea house. For a brief moment, her icy composure cracked — surprise flashed, then curiosity. She turned away and vanished into the crowd.
> Yue Lian: "Do you know her?"
Wudi Tian: smiling faintly "Not yet."
---
They left the tea house and wandered the market. At a narrow alley, three thugs stepped out, blocking their path.
> Thug: "Nice robe, stranger. I think it'd fit me better."
Wudi Tian: "You think wrong."
> Thug: "Big words for—"
Before he could finish, Wudi moved. A single step — and he stood behind them. The thugs turned, confused, before collapsing, their legs useless.
> Wudi Tian: "I do not like taking lives without reason. Walk away while you still can."
The men crawled into the shadows, vanishing like rats. Yue Lian stared.
> Yue Lian: "You didn't even draw a weapon…"
Wudi Tian: "The strongest blade is the one you don't need to show."
---
By nightfall, they reached an inn. Yue Lian booked a room for herself, but Wudi chose the roof instead.
He lay beneath the stars, hands behind his head. Somewhere in the city, the crimson-robed Yan Xue was no doubt locked in a world of political games and unwanted suitors.
"Some women are like jade — cold to the touch,
but they warm in the right hands.
The trick is knowing whether the jade is worth the years it takes to polish."
---
Far above, in the Heaven Realm, an old voice whispered through the clouds.
> Elder of Fate: "He walks the mortal dust… and yet the dust does not cling to him."
Elder of Punishment: "Then perhaps we should send the wind to bury him."
But the stars that night seemed to listen to no one but him.
---
Wudi Tian closed his eyes, the Chaos within him purring like a sleeping beast.
> Wudi Tian (softly): "Let them plot. Let them scheme. I will gather beauty, power, and loyalty… until the day I walk back through Heaven's gate, and you bow without knowing why."
And somewhere in the city below, Yan Xue stared at the same sky, wondering why she could not forget the boy in black.