Chapter 1 The Stillness

A Ming’s words calmed Zheng Fan’s heart.

After all, he was someone who had suffered the torment of a “terminal illness,” and had been obsessed with twisted horror creations for many years. To say he was mentally deranged would be a misjudgment, but it was likely that a few of his wires were crossed.

The strange world and unfamiliar situation became somewhat inconsequential because of that sentence: "You didn't abandon us, so we won't abandon you."

Zheng Fan sat at a table in the corner of the front hall,

listening to Xue San's storytelling on the stage, each joke and slightly raunchy gag from the modern world eliciting bursts of laughter from the guests below;

"Snap!"

After stamping a quarantine certificate, he immediately moved on to the next one.

In addition,

A Ming’s brew was also very delicious.

To hell with worries, to hell with troubles, to hell with anxieties, to hell with reality, to hell with the past…

Zheng Fan,

was drunk.

………………

When he woke up, it was already dawn.

Zheng Fan sat up in bed, and Yun Yatou, hearing the movement, opened the door and walked in, carrying a basin of water and a toothbrush.

Of course, there was no toothpaste, and the toothbrush was very rough, but not being forced to use a willow twig was already a great improvement. He brushed his teeth with green salt, washed his face, and then went to the front hall again.

The inn was closed in the morning, so apart from a few hired cleaners, most people were lazing around.

Breakfast was wonton noodles, which tasted good.

After eating, Zheng Fan walked to the entrance of the inn.

Don't laugh, he'd been awake for a day, and this was the first time Zheng Fan had stepped out of the inn, although it was just a small step over the threshold. The unease that had been suppressed with alcohol last night was now once again stirred up by the faint trepidation brought about by the unknown.

There were many people on the street, and because it was a border city, the population was mixed. Zheng Fan even saw several people dressed similarly to himself, but they were probably followers of the Church of the Flame Worship.

"Ding!"

Beside him, at the fortune-telling stall at the entrance of the inn, Blind Bei struck a bell and lowered his head slightly, whispering:

"Good morning, Master."

"Good morning."

Zheng Fan leaned against Blind Bei and sat down on the steps.

Blind Bei didn't offer Zheng Fan his chair, but continued to sit comfortably.

Warm and gentle sunlight shone on him, and his face showed an expression of enjoyment.

It was hard to imagine that a killing fiend could have such a peaceful and ordinary side.

Zheng Fan pursed his lips; he felt like having a cigarette right now.

"There's water pipe tobacco," Blind Bei suddenly said.

"Can you see through my heart?"

"No, I just thought that Master should want a cigarette right now."

"Never mind the water pipe tobacco, I'm not used to it."

"I'll talk to Fourth Mother later and have her try to find someone to make roll-your-own cigarettes."

"Can you buy tobacco here?"

Blind Bei paused for a moment, seeming to understand what Zheng Fan was thinking, and began to explain:

"The city we are in now is called Tiger Head City. It borders the desert and doesn't have a large population, only about twenty or thirty thousand people. But because it's a junction with the barbarian forces, many merchant caravans pass through here. Most of the guests at our inn aren't locals, but mostly caravan people."

Hearing this, Zheng Fan nodded.

A Ming had said before that because he hadn't woken up, they weren't interested in exploring this strange world, nor was it necessary.

The only one who had a slight understanding of this world was Blind Bei, who always sat at the entrance of the inn.

"Which country does this city belong to?" Zheng Fan continued to ask.

Blind Bei tapped his fingers lightly on his table and said:

"Tiger Head City belongs to the territory of the Yan Kingdom."

"Yan Kingdom?"

"However, it probably isn't a historical dynasty from ancient China, because to the south of the Yan Kingdom, there's a country called the Qian Kingdom, as well as some other countries, but they don't have many caravans here. This place is still mainly dominated by caravans from the Yan and Qian Kingdoms.

Beyond the desert are the barbarian tribes, who worship a royal court, but in reality, they are self-governing. Master can think of them as the nomadic peoples of ancient China. Their civilization and products are relatively backward, so they need to trade here to obtain essential supplies."

"So, we are currently located on the border?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"Then, is this world an ordinary world?"

"Ordinary world?"

Clearly, Bei couldn't understand Zheng Fan's words for the moment.

"I mean, are the people here ordinary, or does magic, battle qi, or cultivation exist."

In Zheng Fan's view, if this was an ordinary world, then even if the seven demon kings under his command couldn't recover their true strength, at least they shouldn't have any problems living their lives.

Blind Bei thoughtfully nodded and said, "It's an ordinary world. In the past half year, everyone I've met has been ordinary."

"That's good."

If everyone was starting from the same starting line, at least he could get a sense of security and satisfaction.

However,

at that moment,

the sound of hurried hooves suddenly came from the other end of the street; a team of knights was riding over.

Although Tiger Head City was small, being able to ride horses in the city obviously meant having great support.

As the team of knights got a little closer, Zheng Fan saw that they were wearing the same style of armor and had small black flags stuck on their backs. They should be a cavalry unit, government cavalry, or rather, cavalry of the Yan Kingdom.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

The cavalrymen in the front were responsible for clearing the way, waving whips in their hands. The street was in chaos for a while, and two passersby bumped into Blind Bei's stall while trying to dodge.

Fortunately, Zheng Fan grabbed Blind Bei in time to prevent him from being knocked down along with his stall.

At this moment, a group of armored soldiers appeared at the other end of the street, the ones in front holding spears, and the ones behind holding crossbows.

The knights had to forcibly stop the warhorses beneath them, but their faces were still full of anger.

"Riding in the city is a serious crime!"

A general among the armored soldiers shouted loudly.

Tiger Head City was small, but because it was a border town, the garrison soldiers here were still good in terms of equipment and morale.

"Impudent! The Envoy of Pacification is here, with urgent military information to be announced to the garrison commander of Tiger Head City. Who dares to stop us!"

The armored soldiers blocking the road were stunned for a moment. Even the general leading the team was caught off guard, but the group of soldiers didn't back down.

The general braced himself and shouted:

"Do you have proof!"

However, his tone was much weaker than before.

The knights suddenly scattered from the middle of the formation, and a large, fat man wearing a blue official robe and hat urged his mount to the front.

The man was pot-bellied and clearly the commander of the knights. Although fat, he exuded a real official presence.

And when the man came out of the cavalry formation,

Zheng Fan's mouth immediately opened slightly in surprise.

It wasn't that he was intimidated by the official's presence. In fact, although modern people were like ancient people in that they eagerly licked up to officials, they wouldn't cry and wail like ancient commoners, calling for a wise and just leader.

What really surprised Zheng Fan was the mount beneath the fat official.

At first, he thought it was a horse, a taller and stronger horse than the mounts of the other knights. But when he "rode" out alone, Zheng Fan saw clearly.

This wasn't a horse. The head was similar to a horse, but the mouth was larger, the face was longer, and it was uglier. But on the top of the horse's head, there was a slightly protruding horn.

At the same time, the body of the mount, which he had previously thought was reflecting light from the armor, was actually covered in scales!

The fat official pointed to his mount,

and shouted directly at the armored soldiers blocking the way:

"Proof? This, is this Envoy's proof! Is that enough!"

The general on the side of the armored soldiers immediately knelt and saluted:

"Greetings, Envoy of Pacification!"

At the same time, he immediately scolded his subordinates behind him to step aside and make way.

Zheng Fan stretched out his left index finger and poked Blind Bei on the shoulder.

"Look."

Look,

say it again,

Is this an ordinary world?

"What?" Blind Bei asked, puzzled.

"Look for yourself," Zheng Fan said.

"I'm blind."

"............" Zheng Fan.