Chapter 78 – Upon the World (III)

Chapter 78

Upon the World (III)

We left the village half an hour after we arrived on the dot. It seemed that Elder Qin was rather punctual, though it could have been a few minutes later or before as far as I would know since I was too preoccupied trying to figure out why Hua was angry about some Dao Seed.

Well, it was a fool’s errand, really; it’s not like I could ask him, and just making random guesses… well, that’d get me less than nowhere.

So, I focused back on the reality–which was us crossing the bridge and continuing to ride by the riverside south to slightly southeast.

The journey was, as you can imagine, rather uneventful altogether: ride for a few hours, take a break, ride for a few more, take a break…

Kids would occasionally ask Elder Qin some questions, and he’d patiently answer them all, and I would lean in to quietly listen. I’d learned a few bits: these plains didn’t actually have a name, and everyone just called them ‘Sun Plains’.

I’d also learn there are a lot of strange naming conventions–for instance, the river that we were following wasn’t even Sunlight River. Not even close, in fact–it was a Spirit Sword River, named after the sect since its source is somewhere in the sect’s mountains.

Our destination? The town called ‘Sunlight Town’? Built on the banks of the Sunlight River? Nowhere close to that. It was built on the banks of the Spirit Sword River.

However, it seemed that, over the years, two different names emerged for the river, and the outside world just started calling it ‘Sunlight River’, while calling the original Sunlight River by a slightly more complex name: Sunlight Source River. Which also wasn’t correct.

… why?

Couldn’t tell you even if I tried. No matter how much I tried to think of a reason, nothing rational came. It was all just far too confusing and convoluted, but then again, most things about this world were.

Thus we rode the banks of the Sunlight River, which was actually the Spirit Sword River, toward the Sunlight Town that was built on the banks of the latter but still called by the conventions of the former.

Yaay for local customs!

We made frequent yet perfectly arranged breaks at night, always happening to stumble upon a village that welcomed us. Beds were arranged for us, as were two meals, and off we would go at dawn.

As such, three-ish days passed relatively quickly, and we were making a wide bend and moving further downward against the somewhat hilly terrain.

The grass grew slightly thicker and taller, though flowerbeds were rarer and trees were practically unicorns. No, seriously, I haven’t seen a single freakin’ tree in over a day!

Why anyone would make a town or a village nowhere near a forest is beyond me… though, it was entirely possible there were forests or trees there when they first made it, and they just did what people do best: overconsume.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Alas, I’m not here to judge (too much)–I’m here for that vast, but safe, world experience.

We stopped as we came upon another set of rolling hills that faintly sheared around the slight dip where the town was located. Elder Qin fastened the horses to some strange, iron nails that he punted into the ground before he slowly led us forward to the edge, cloaked in the strands of Qi that seemed to hide us.

From the edge, we had the perfect view of the town–it was actually rather large, spanning about two whole miles just from side to side, not to mention that it ballooned out at the center around the river.

Unlike the villages, most buildings seemed constructed out of stone and wood, with quite a few high-rising pavilions jutting out between the slanted rooftops of the ordinary homes.