Chapter 138 - Arrival At Lantern City

Five days after their farewell dinner at the Feng residence, Ao Wen, Feng Xi, Tang Jin, and Zhang Bai approached the road marker at the top of a hill that marked the formal boundary of Darkwood Valley and the territory overseen by the Lord Mayor of Lantern City. 

Despite several days of travel, each of the young cultivators maintained a crisp, clean appearance that made it obvious to passing mortals that these youths had left the mundane world far behind. Feng Xi in particular stood out like a radiant beauty in a flowing green dress that complimented her generous curves and highlighted her long legs and trim waist with elegant white accents. 

Ao Wen on the other hand had traded in her black and midnight blue outfits for a more severe red-on-black ensemble, matched to the two-handed heavy saber she'd named Serpent Slayer after using it to kill Long Ma. With her hair worn in a high ponytail in the style of Jun clan warriors, Ao Wen more resembled a refined young master with a dangerous hobby than she did a scholar or young lady. The common folk of both villages they'd passed through on their way here had even addressed her as 'Young Master', something that Ao Wen hadn't bothered to correct. 

Tang Jin followed closely behind Ao Wen, providing a near-perfect contrast to the petite woman's appearance. Where she was short, Tang Jin stood a full head taller, losing to Zhang Bai's impressive height by only a few centimeters. Where Ao Wen draped herself in meticulously arranged black and red, Tang Jin wore his gold-trimmed orange robes loosely, as though he'd only just dressed or wanted to ensure any passing lady had an opportunity to glimpse his well-muscled chest. Even his hair hung loose around his youthful face, further enhancing his image of a barely tamed mountain lion. 

Outsiders might believe that Zhang Bai, the tall dark-haired young lord at the head of the group was its actual leader. They could be forgiven for taking in his slightly greater age, the air of maturity, and his familiarity with the sights around him as natural markers of leadership. They might even go so far as to compare his elegant green robes with their intricate tortuous shell patterns to have some connection to Feng Xi and her similar green ensemble. In truth, however, Zhang Bai led the way not because he was a young lord of Turning Leaf town or because the group had invested him with some authority. He led the way because he'd visited Lantern City many times over the past ten years and knew the road quite well.

"See that?" Zhang Bai called to the group, pointing to an iron cage beside the marker stone and the half-eaten corpse within it. "That's the punishment for breaking the Lord Mayor's laws in Lantern City."

"That seems," Ao Wen started, thinking of the punishments she'd seen the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple hand out in her life as Cong Daiyu. "I almost said 'excessive,' but I suppose that depends on the severity of the crime. I wouldn't have minded such a fate for Long Ma. What kind of crime results in this punishment?"

"Any crime can result in this punishment if it is a mortal's third offense or a cultivator's fourth offense," Zhang Bai explained, shocking the group. "High crimes like murder get a person here faster but even pretty thieves can be staked out as food for the Vulture King and his subjects."

"Vulture King?" Tang Jin asked with genuine curiosity. "Is that a bird similar to the Rage Queen we fought in the Thundercloud Forest?" The massive and powerfully superior Blood Rage Cougar had left a strong impression on Tang Jin when he nearly died from a single strike of the fierce cougar's tail and the remnant energy that all but consumed him. If there was something similar here… his eyes flashed with a predatory gleam of anticipation while his hands flexed, conjuring claws of golden red energy. 

"No, nothing like the Rage Queen," Zhang Bai said with a shake of his head. "Next to the Vulture King, the Rage Queen is a mewling house kitten. It speaks, holds court, and negotiated a truce with Lord Mayor Wan two decades ago that holds to this day. It's believed to possess power on par with Martial Heroes or Saints," Zhang Bai added, wanting to dispel any notion that the group should set themselves in opposition to the Ancient Spirit Beast. 

"Can this Vulture King take the form of a person?" Ao Wen asked. Legends said that Spirit Folk like her and the others and Spirit Beasts like the Blood Rage Cougars were descended from common Ancestral Spirits who could shift their forms between Beast and Person. If this Spirit Beast had regained the ability to take the form of a person then it should be legendary not only on the peninsula but throughout the continent as well! 

"It's not so exaggerated as that," Zhang Bai reassured the group. "Still, that it's a Spirit Beast that can communicate and form pacts with people is already impressive. As part of the pact, lawbreakers in Lantern City are staked out as sacrifices to the Vulture King and his subjects. I'm told that it originally demanded a fresh mortal sacrifice every new moon and a cultivator sacrificed once a year, but the Lord Mayor refused to sacrifice innocents. Instead, people who commit crimes repeatedly in Lantern City are staked out as offerings."

"That feels like it would be easy to abuse," Feng Xi said with a frown. "If the Vulture King demands more sacrifices, couldn't the Lord Mayor manufacture charges to declare a person guilty?"

"Not easily," Zhang Bai said with a shake of his head. "Lord Mayor Wan doesn't enjoy as much power in Lantern City as my father does in Turning Leaf Town. She might be an Awakened Mystic but that only puts her on equal footing with the local representatives of the Loose Cultivator's Association, the Alchemy Consortium, and a number of other powers in the city," he explained. "Breaking the law in Lantern City is an easy way to die, but the law itself can be surprisingly flexible and permissive. Until you get used to the city, it's best to stay close to the inn and avoid anything that might cause offense. I have friends here so we won't have to live entirely like outsiders but you should still be careful," he warned. 

"Careful," Tang Jin repeated, looking at the cage by the side of the road and repressing a shudder. "Right, I'll be careful."