Immortal Connections - Chapter 52 preview

Chapter 52 - Wu Ying

Rather than fly to the local city and leave Ze Mu behind, the pair journeyed to the city via mundane means, in this case, on the back of a local cart that was taking the next delivery of plums over. Long before they arrived, Wu Ying had learnt much of the settlement from the winds, even as he kept his own aura heavily retracted.

To begin with, in contrast to the majority of mortal cities, there was no city wall. Entry to the city was not guarded or watched, no requirement for sigils or tokens or permission seals to travel between village and city and province. No lord oversaw the movement of immortals, even the Jade Palace’s massive bureaucracy not requiring such mundane notices.

Oh, it was not to say -as Ze Mu related – that they did not conduct surveys and keep track of their people. Every five years at the minimum, sometimes more often at the local magistrates whim, administrators would trot out across the land, taking down information on households, marking the birth and death and movement of others.

Yet, no one blocked the traversal of the land. There was no need, for these native immortals were – for the most part – quite content in their own land and place. 

“Unlike you Ascendants,” Ze Mu pointed out, blithely. “Always seeking to grow, to improve. It’s why they say the Jade Palace Bureaucracy has a large number of you people. At least, at the lowest level.”

“They say?”

Ze Mu gestured at the wide rolling fields, the workers bent over stalks of rice and clambering around plum trees, the few other farmers on wagons taking produce to the market on the imperial rode. “You don’t see anyone of import coming down here to speak with us, do you?” 

The farmer, listening to the pair, laughed at the joke. “Those silk robes wouldn’t know what to do with a good end of a scythe.” A tilt of his head to Wu Ying. “No offence to you.”

“None taken.” After all, he had never felt entirely comfortable with the more noble members of the sect, even decades after his ascendance. There was always, a little voice in his head, noting the differences in viewpoints, in clothing and bearing and, yes, skin.

Still, the lack of walls also spoke of another, rather more important aspect. It spoke of the peace that could be found in the heavens, the lack of care and need for protection. Not just against roving demonic beasts but against competing lords and armies. There was no need for such protection, not when the Jade Emperor oversaw all and ruled all. Peace dominated the land, and other than perhaps the stonemasons of this land, the people were better off for it.

Or so it should be.

The city came into view, first as small smudges in the distance that resolved into tiny houses and buildings, growing in size and detail with each turning of wheel. Figures began to appear soon after, a myriad kaleidoscope of humanity, children and adults. Working, laughing, lounging, on the surface, happy and content.

Though sight might be clouded, blocked by walls and shadows, by the fall of light and the curve of land, Wu Ying had never relied entirely on his vision. Not since his training with his master, not since the Thousand Miseries and Hundred Blessings cultivation technique had been broken into him.

Sight might be hidden, but the smells, the scents of unwashed bodies, of rotting refuse and unpicked bodies, of beggars burning half-spoiled food and sweating out drugs from their body wafted over, brought to him by mortal winds that understood such despair and desperation all too well.

The Heavens might be pure, but they had shadows.

It was another cattie of disappointment, another tael added to the counter of disillusionment that had grown within Wu Ying about the Heavens. Even as a mortal, he had unerstood that the Heavens were not perfect, that there were errors, choices made by the Jade Emperor and his kind that he disagreed with. 

Still, one heard the term Heaven and expected matters to be somewhat more... pristine. More ordered and resolved than the mortal world. One expected better - and this city, this heavenly realm was far, far better. Even the unwashed bodies, the begars, all of them looked healthier. Looked more put together and he sensed no one dying from simple starvation.

It was just not... well, it was not ideal.

"Is there a problem, Ascendant?" the farmer asked, curiously and deferentially. Though Wu Ying had taken no action, both the items they had brought ot trade and Ze Mu's defference had been noted by the farmer. After so many years as an Elder himself, Wu Ying no longer felt the same degree of discomfort as he once had, though - like the part that was always the farmer - he found it fascinating.

"Why do you say that?"

"You are frowning." Ze Mu answered, then added at the look Wu Ying gave. "A little."

"Ah. I was just sensing the city." Then, knowing that he would not have a chance to continue this conversation without prying ears around, Wu Ying asked the question that had formed. That only the could provide context to. "Are all the other cities like this?"

"Of course not. This is our second largest city, the second most magnificent one in this realm. The capital will always hold the best in this realm and, is of course, located beside the gate to the next realm. After all, everyone who wishes to trade further with the realms above must be within reach of the realm gate. However, with so many of your kind making their way here, even if it is once in a while, this city itself has blossomed," the farmer said, a touch of pride in his voice. "I would say we are also more cosmpolitan than the capital, for we accept more of your kind."

"Unless they get killed before they arrive..." A droll reply to the man, even as Wu Ying glanced to the side at Ze Mu who flushed and ducked his head.

"Hah! Only fools choose to attack Ascendants. What is the point? They are often stronger than us and more violent. The world below is filled with great turmoil and suffering, and often, they bring that mindset to our realms." A shake of his head, as the farmer glanced at Wu Ying, recalling who he spoked to. "No offence meant."

"None taken."

"Still, I would advise you to take a few years, rest and relax in the city. Learn our ways, learn the pace that we expect to exist. You Ascendents are always in a hurry when there is no reason for that, not when immortality is here."

Wu Ying grunted, looking around him at the sprawling city, the easy way that many moved. A part of him wondered why there was no over-population problems, why the immortals were not stacked upon one another like rates in a cage or shrimp in a bucket. How large, really, was each heavenly realm that such expanse might take what must be hundreds of thousands of immortals?

Or perhaps, there were greater dangers in existence as an immortal than what Wu Ying had known. That there were more deaths, even amongst immortals, than he believed.

Perhaps, it just a mixture of both.

Dire thoughts, as finally, the wagon rolled into the outskirts of the city, as population numbers grew and buildings resolved. Simple buildings, made of amazing materials. No cramped quarters for these city residents, each of them likely have hundreds if not thousands of square feet of space, personal courtyards and sprawling rooms to rest within. 

Luxurious by the standards of the Middle Kingdom, though naught by the grandeur of the Jade Palace.