Chapter 670: Bin Tie City

The iron-clad wheels slowly rolled, leaving two deep tracks on the somewhat withered yellow grass.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Huowang gazed at the grassland before him, recalling his previous visit to this place.

Li Huowang didn't actually know much about Qingqiu, beyond the fact that most of its inhabitants were nomadic tribes and that the people were lean and dark-skinned. He knew little else.

Oh, and he also remembered two very distinct factions in Qingqiu: the Zhongyin Temple, which worshipped death, and the peculiar Lion Dance Palace.

"The grass in Qingqiu has really turned yellow," Li Huowang murmured, leaning slightly to the left and letting his fingers trail through the yellow blades. "Does this portend something?"

He then thought of the recent natural disaster, a calamity that caused the loss of taste and smell, which had disappeared after only three days.

This was not a cause for celebration; while this particular disaster had been insignificant, what if the next one proved truly severe?

Li Huowang desperately wanted to understand what was truly happening, but unless he went to Baiyujing, no one would know what was occurring in the heavens beyond.

Just then, his keen eyesight spotted a small black dot on the distant yellow horizon.

As the carriage drew closer, the small black dot gradually expanded, eventually revealing the outline of a city that continued to grow larger with their approach.

"This must be Qingqiu's Iron City," Li Huowang murmured to himself, gazing towards it.

He had done some research before arriving; this was the only city in all of Qingqiu and also its capital.

In a place like Qingqiu, where wood and stone were scarce, building a town was almost impossible. Yet, this Iron City was an exception, having sprung up seemingly out of nowhere in an empty, material-scarce land.

The Great Khan, Qingqiu's ruler, resided within it, and Qingqiu's Jiantian Division was also located here.

Since Hou Shu was engaged in conflict with the Dharma Sect, it was probably not feasible for him to rashly charge into Hou Shu and kill Dharma Sect members on sight.

Such an approach would be inefficient and risk alerting the enemy, potentially resulting in the deaths of only common folk while the Dharma Sect's key members remained unharmed.

Instead, it would be better to first contact Qingqiu's Jiantian Division to see if more intelligence could be gathered from them.

Furthermore, the Grand Preceptor had previously mentioned that the Jiantian Divisions of Daliang and Siqi should also be here.

As Li Huowang pondered these various thoughts, the distinct smell of sheep and horse dung gradually assailed his nose.

Perhaps because Qingqiu was suitable for animal husbandry, the entire periphery of Iron City was covered in cattle and horse dung. Piles lay scattered loosely across the sparse, grazed turf, containing not just animal waste, but a considerable amount of human waste as well.

When she saw the carriage wheel beneath them roll over a fresh pile of cow dung, leaving a considerable amount of green-brown matter stuck to it, Bai Lingmiao couldn't help but frown. "This place is truly filthy," she remarked. "It's as bad as Ancian Nunnery."

"Just bear with it," Li Huowang said, giving the reins a gentle shake. "You can tell at a glance there are no sewers here." The carriage sped up, heading into the city.

Weaving through various cattle, sheep, and horses, Li Huowang and his companions finally squeezed into the city. Compared to the outside, the city's interior was not much better.

All kinds of buildings were present—tents, wooden houses, stone houses—arranged haphazardly without any discernible plan.

Moreover, the cow and sheep dung, constantly trampled by human feet, had become a dense black carpet of excrement, covering the entire road like the stone bricks of Daliang City.

The streets were very crowded, people jostling against each other. If only humans were counted, there actually weren't that many, but almost everyone in the city who could move had at least one animal by their side, which is why it appeared exceptionally crowded.

As for how unpleasant the smell was, one could easily imagine it by observing the bare-bottomed children squatting on the street to defecate.

"Come on, let's go further in! The inner city should be better!"

The carriage procession slowly moved inward. Everyone's previously grim expressions gradually softened as time passed.

It wasn't that the environment had improved; it was just that their noses had somewhat adapted.

"Father, what is that?" Li Sui asked, pointing to a large, ornate white building constructed against the city wall in the distance.

That building was enormous, arguably the largest in all of Iron City, but it clearly didn't appear to be a royal structure.

From this, Li Huowang could deduce that in Qingqiu, the so-called Great Khan was likely not the highest-ranking individual; some people held a higher status than him.

"That should be a temple, right?" Li Huowang guessed, seeing the tall, pointed roof. Considering what could be called a temple in Qingqiu, he couldn't help but recall the Zhongyin Temple.

Li Huowang glanced around. Among the crowd, there were also some lamas wearing black sheepskin and rooster-comb monastic hats.

Without exception, these lamas were all elderly, seemingly withered old men whose movements were stiff. Dark brown age spots covered their entire bodies like psoriasis.

Noticing some bone pendants on their bodies, Li Huowang tightened his grip on the reins and gave a gentle shake, urging the horses to move faster.

Although it was a nation's capital and somewhat dirty, its defenses were not slack in the slightest.

Before Li Huowang and his companions could even get close to the imperial city, they were surrounded by light cavalry. These soldiers were armed with bows and swords, with hawks perched on their shoulders and mastiffs running alongside their horses' hooves.

Li Huowang didn't bother with idle talk to avoid language barriers. He directly tossed over his Jiantian Division waist token and called out, "Is Xuanpin here? Tell her I've arrived!"

Li Huowang was not taken to see Xuanpin. Instead, he was led underground through a tunnel.

Although Iron City looked terribly dirty on the outside, who would have thought that beneath that filth lay a clean inner city? For some reason, all Jiantian Divisions were located underground.

The mutton fat lamps hanging on the walls burned slowly, crackling. Li Huowang silently observed a strange woman before him.

Li Huowang couldn't discern her origins. He had encountered many strange people, but he had never before seen someone with a face covered in stark white powder, adorned with bizarre red patterns drawn on top.

What was even more peculiar was that this Qingqiu woman was dressed very revealingly. Aside from essential areas covered by cloth, other parts were exposed, adorned with complex, dense floral patterns drawn on her skin using various special designs.

Behind her stood a row of people wearing large conical hats. The hats were so large they almost completely covered the wearers' bodies, leaving only their legs visible.

These people stood silently, adding a strange aura to the dim environment.

"Why do you seek Daliang's Jiantian Division?" the woman coldly questioned Li Huowang.

"Send someone qualified. You are not qualified," Li Huowang said directly, not wanting to waste time.

However, her reply was unexpected. "I am Qingqiu's Jiantian Division. Am I qualified now?"