Chen Shi's face turned bright red with embarrassment. He was about to stammer out a response when Prince Xiao coughed and reminded him, "Before you answer, be careful. This is Reckless City, and you might lose your tongue."
Chen Shi felt a chill in his heart and cautiously glanced at the woman in red, marking her as dangerous.
"If I had been a bit more reserved and said I didn't want to answer, I'd probably lose my tongue. You can't be insincere here!" he thought to himself.
Prince Xiao said, "Jin Hongying, why make things difficult for the young ones?"
The woman in red rolled her eyes at him, leaning on the tea table with her elbows and chest, and said with a smile, "Prince Xiao, you dared to steal from the Divine Mechanism Battalion. You've got some nerve. Hand it over, and I might let bygones be bygones."
Chen Shi blinked. Divine Mechanism Battalion?
He had heard of the Divine Mechanism Battalion. Someone from Rock Cliff Village had joined it after becoming a scholar. It was said to be prestigious, working directly for the emperor, with high pay and status. Joining it was considered a great honor.
Prince Xiao ignored the woman's beauty and said calmly, "I took it, so what? Do I have to give it back?"
Jin Hongying dipped her finger in tea and drew circles on the table, smiling lightly. "This meeting is to discuss how you will return it, isn't it? Otherwise, why meet at all? Prince Xiao, you have two choices: return it voluntarily, and the Divine Mechanism Battalion will let it go. Or, we'll kill you and take it back ourselves."
She looked up with a smile, "Last time, you got hurt. This time, it might be more than just an injury. We might send you on your way!"
"Prince Xiao got injured?" Chen Shi thought back to when he first met Prince Xiao, who was also recovering in a coffin at the mountain estate. But that place was supposed to be for nurturing corpses, not for the living. Why was he there?
Prince Xiao remained calm, "I'm healed."
Jin Hongying leaned back, her chest moving slightly, and said with a smile, "So, there's nothing to discuss?"
Prince Xiao nodded slightly.
Jin Hongying smiled and said, "I've heard of your extraordinary talents, but I've never seen them myself. Maybe tonight I will. If you survive, I'll let the matter of the stolen item go."
She stood up, glanced at Chen Shi, and said, "Little brother, don't follow him, or you'll die."
With that, she swayed her hips as she left.
Chen Shi looked away, and Prince Xiao asked, "Did you enjoy the view?"
Chen Shi was about to answer but quickly shut his mouth, thinking, "Prince Xiao is also dangerous. Almost made me lose my tongue!"
Prince Xiao drank his tea, watching Jin Hongying leave Reckless City. After a moment, he stood up and said, "Stay here. I'll be back. If I don't return, leave Reckless City before dawn. Don't linger."
Chen Shi quickly asked, "What if I don't leave?"
"You'll disappear with Reckless City."
Prince Xiao walked downstairs, his voice fading, "Those who disappeared with Reckless City never returned. Whether they're dead or alive, no one knows."
Chen Shi shivered.
Prince Xiao didn't take a carriage but walked out of the city, soon disappearing into the moonlight.
Chen Shi sipped his tea, eating some dried fruit, waiting quietly.
After a long time, he blinked and chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?" a voice beside him asked.
"I'm laughing at my strange night. I was seeking revenge on the road, fell ill, got chased by an evil spirit, and then met Prince Xiao," Chen Shi laughed. "Then I ended up in this weird city, met people from the Divine Mechanism Battalion, and now I'm in a ghost town, drinking tea and waiting for Prince Xiao to return from a battle. It's all so absurd!"
As he spoke, he suddenly realized that Prince Xiao wasn't there. So who was talking to him?
He quickly turned his head and saw that the four-armed shopkeeper was gone, replaced by a strange creature with a toad's head, much larger than a normal person's, with green and white stripes. It had a big mouth holding a pipe with three incense sticks, puffing smoke.
Its legs were thin, supporting its large body, holding a ridiculously large teapot.
It seemed to be the tea master of the teahouse, here to refill Chen Shi's tea.
"What are you looking at?" the voice asked again.
Chen Shi realized the voice wasn't coming from the toad but from the large teapot it was holding.
The teapot's lid opened and closed as it asked questions, with eyes underneath.
"Don't talk," the toad tea master whispered to Chen Shi. "It likes to ask questions. Don't answer. It's already caused several guests to lose their tongues today."
Chen Shi was alert, immediately shutting his mouth and not saying a word.
The large teapot asked him a few questions, but seeing he didn't answer, lost interest.
The toad tea master refilled Chen Shi's tea and took the large teapot to another table.
The teapot asked the guests there, "Got something on your mind?"
"No... ah—"
A scream rang out, and Chen Shi saw the guest's tongue being pulled out by some strange force, leaving them clutching their mouth, unable to speak.
"Were you sneaking a peek at that woman in red?" the teapot asked another guest.
"I wasn't... ah—"
Blood splattered in the air, another tongue flying out.
Chen Shi shivered, adding the teapot to his list of dangers.
"This Reckless City must be a spirit realm!" Chen Shi suddenly realized. Spirit realms have many forms: some turn people into porcelain, some make tomb guardians into gods, some have time distortions, and some, like Reckless City, don't allow lies.
If you lie, you'll face calamity and lose your tongue, hence the name Reckless City.
"Reckless means truth! Reckless City is a city of truth, allowing no lies."
Understanding this, Chen Shi felt relieved, his fear of Reckless City fading.
He lived by the mountains and understood the importance of following rules.
Whether it's a spirit realm or an evil spirit, as long as you follow the rules, you can stay safe.
Suddenly, lightning flashed and thunder roared outside the city. Chen Shi quickly looked and saw bolts of lightning shooting up from the ground, forming red arcs in the air, striking a mountain under the moonlight!
Flames erupted, lighting up the mountain like daylight!
Chen Shi quickly stood up, looking at the mountain outside the city. He saw bolt after bolt of lightning rising in a fan shape, shooting into the sky, striking the mountain peak. In just a moment, hundreds of bolts hit the mountain.
With the lightning, Chen Shi could see more clearly. There seemed to be a figure standing on the mountain, looking small but standing at the very top.
A thin, hair-like cold light spun rapidly around the figure, moving incredibly fast!
Even from this distance, its speed was too fast for the naked eye to catch!
"What is that?" Chen Shi was stunned, unable to see the light clearly.
The cold light was incredibly fine, yet it always arrived just before the lightning struck the mountain, piercing through it.
When the lightning was pierced, it exploded, with flames and sparks flying everywhere. After a moment, a deafening thunder would follow.
The lightning never actually hit the mountain!
What Chen Shi saw was just an illusion.
Chen Shi watched, his heart pounding. The lightning grew denser, and the cold light seemed to struggle, with more lightning hitting the mountain, exploding.
Each time, the ground shook!
More and more lightning broke through the cold light's defense, striking the mountain, making it glow red-hot.
In Reckless City, both people and ghosts watched in shock.
If that lightning hit Reckless City, the spirit realm would turn into a sea of fire in an instant, leaving nothing behind!
Everyone in the city craned their necks to watch, some even taking their heads off their shoulders to hold them up for a better view.
Chen Shi noticed someone in the crowd whose neck suddenly stretched like a bamboo pole, raising their head high to watch intently.
"Feel like cutting their neck with scissors?" the teapot asked others.
"No..."
"Snip!"
Chen Shi remained cautious, keeping his mouth shut, determined not to speak to anyone.
The thunderstorm lasted over an hour, and the mountain peak visibly lowered, likely from the rocks being blasted away and melted!
Suddenly, someone shouted, "It's almost dawn, hurry up—if we don't leave, it'll be too late!"
The crowd in the city began to move, rushing towards the exit.
Chen Shi quickly went downstairs, seeing people, ghosts, and creatures all squeezing together.
"Sir, your carriage is ready," the four-armed shopkeeper appeared from somewhere, reminding Chen Shi.
Chen Shi followed him to the backyard, where Prince Xiao's carriage was still there. This time, without Prince Xiao, the driver and the four horses weren't turned to stone.
Chen Shi got in the carriage, and the driver lightly flicked the whip. The four horses immediately pulled the carriage towards the city gate!
The horses ran faster and faster, with more people, ghosts, and creatures ahead. Just as they were about to trample many, the horses' hooves suddenly emitted clouds, and they ran on the clouds, pulling the carriage over the heads of everyone, heading straight for the city gate.
Chen Shi was amazed, watching the horses pull the carriage through the gate, speeding away, landing outside the city, the sound of hooves crisp as they drove into the pre-dawn night.
"The carriage is heading towards that mountain!"
Chen Shi was startled, seeing the driver whipping the horses, the carriage speeding up, the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Chen Shi was puzzled, seeing the carriage travel another couple of miles, passing several bodies and a large metal object.
It was a cannon, over ten feet long, weighing two to three thousand pounds.
"The legendary Divine Mechanism Battalion's Red Barbarian Cannon!" Chen Shi's eyes widened.
He had heard about this weapon from people in Rock Cliff Village, known for its overwhelming power, said to unleash thunder like a heavenly calamity with a single shot!
But the cannon's thick barrel was cut off, the cut extremely sharp, even the talisman engravings inside the barrel were sliced through!
Chen Shi caught a glimpse, seeing the barrel was red, likely soaked in cinnabar mixed with black dog blood, but he didn't know how the Divine Mechanism Battalion engraved talismans inside the barrel.
Next to the cannon was a cart of cannonballs, larger than a child's head, made of black iron with talismans engraved on them, painted with cinnabar and black dog blood to increase their power.
"The Great Five Thunder Talisman!"
Chen Shi recognized the talismans on the cannonballs with a glance, his heart skipping a beat.
The Great Five Thunder Talisman was a powerful thunder talisman, greatly increasing its power when combined with black gunpowder!
He suddenly realized that the lightning they saw last night wasn't a spell from the Divine Mechanism Battalion but cannon fire!
The scene must have been dozens or even hundreds of Red Barbarian Cannons firing simultaneously, with the Great Five Thunder Talisman enhancing them, bombarding Prince Xiao!