Toll Guards

Three days went by and Xinyue had formed a rough sketch of the city. It takes about an hour of walking to go from one side to another. Most of the things like police, fire, hospital departments, city lord residence, etc. are located close to the center where activity and large business organizations are located. The city is surrounded by thick, reinforced concrete walls that are around 100 meters high and around 30 feet in thickness. There are six watch towers atop them, watching for any possible threats.

However, Xinyue had ran out of food and milk on the third day, putting her in a difficult situation. She went into thought for several minutes, before coming up with an idea. Her dim eyes lit up.

I got survival skills and have experienced the wilderness, so I'll head to the outside and hunt. There's an Adventurer's Guild that should accept materials. I'll sell them for money and see if I can register for missions. Once I've gotten strong enough and accumulated money, maybe I can find a profession for teaching math. Otherwise I'll just be cannon fodder. A path had somewhat formed in her mind, which gave her a goal.

A determined smile faintly formed at the corner of her lips. But she also facepalmed. Why did I not think of searching those thugs for money?! In truth, she had released all her stress and was too absorbed in the free feeling of not having stress, so the thought of searching their bodies didn't come to mind until she thought of trying to earn money.

However, a hand suddenly reached towards her. She sneered and was going to see what the guy was going to do. But what happened next threw her off guard. The hand didn't grab her. Instead, it pushed hard. Xinyue stumbled before falling back first into a muddy puddle.

"Move out of the way, stupid homeless!" yelled a random guy with a hoarse voice, wearing a trenchcoat. The person sneered and laughed as he walked away.

She slowly crawled from the mud, hair and body covered in mud. The blanket still covered her body, but was now brown and wet. Her eyes turned ice cold as she glared at the man. Xinyue had expected the man to grab her with lustful intentions, but didn't expect to be humiliated like this. Her ability activated and the man tripped falling into a puddle as well.

"Agh! Dammit!" he furiously yelled, wondering how he fell. His clothes muddy now as well. The nearby pedestrians chuckled at his misfortune.

Xinyue sneered and walked away. Although she wanted to do more, it was best not to attract attention.

When it reached nighttime, her blanket had dried, but was now crusty including her hair. The mud had become a layer on her skin, making her look even more poor.

She went inside a random store by an unknown street before sneaking through the backdoor to escape the observer. Then she went through several alleys before heading back onto the streets. Xinyue checked the surroundings and didn't have that annoying feeling of being followed anymore. She sighed in relief before making her way to the city walls.

The buildings and structures became smaller and turned mostly to homes that were somewhat debilitated. Then it turned into vast lands of farming. The amount of people decreased drastically and their quality of clothing also did.

Xinyun approached the towering walls made of something resembling concrete. A toll gate came up where carriages slowly passed through. The ones coming in had to stop and pay the two standing guards money before entering while the ones leaving didn't have to.

She walked up to the toll gates that were imbedded into the towering wall. The two guards noticed and one glanced warily with his hand on his baton. But upon seeing her come into the light, they sighed in relief and lowered their guard.

"Kid, what are you doing over here? Are you lost?" asked the guard as he squatted down with a friendly smile. He did not seem to be a bad person and she could see it in his eyes.

"I wish to leave this place and go hunting," she replied with a smile. However, in their eyes, the smile combined with her muddy face only made it more pitiful.

"Kid, return back. The outside world isn't a nice place," said the other guard indifferently with a snort.

"So you're saying that I can't leave?" she asked, her smile growing wider.

"I'm saying it for your own good! You're quite intelligent for your age, so you should know what's best," said the other guard with a frown, displeased by her attitude.

"Now-now. No need to cause conflict. Why do you wanna go hunting?" asked the nice guard.

"So I can make money and become a teacher," she said with a bright smile. The guard's heart couldn't help but feel sympathy. Such a young kid shouldn't be experiencing these types of hardships.

"Here, take some of this," replied the guard, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some meager coins.

"There's no need. I don't wanna owe someone," she said shaking her head. However, she couldn't help but to have a favorable impression of the guard who was friendly and wanted to give money.

"Kid, go back. Don't even think of passing us," said the other guard whose expression turned slightly cold.

"You think you can stop me?" she replied with a sneer, clearly mocking him.

"You!" the guards expression turned to anger. He had been on shift for hours now, tiring himself by talking and standing. Yet a mere homeless person was mocking him for not letting her through. His anger couldn't help but rise st this.

"You what? What can you do if this lady wants to go through?" she asked, tilting her head while sneering more.

"Pfft!" The nice guard couldn't help but stifle his laugh quietly, finding it amusing.

"You dare go against a guard?! Mere homeless person?!" he yelled, grabbing his baton in fury, seeing the other guard laugh. He released his aura in the hope of frightening the kid.

"Hey! What's the holdup?!" yelled a carriage driver trying to enter.

"This mere homeless person is about to lick your ass," she replied with a mocking tone.

A pressure was released from her body, encasing the surroundings. The guard's aura was immediately suppressed as gravity seeming increased. The carriage driver immediately shut up in fear feeling the pressure. The horses neighed in fear while passing carriages creaked. Both guard's expressions immediately changed