Chapter 191: The Grand Magic City – Xiangcheng (1)

After walking for twenty minutes down a wide corridor, they finally officially entered Xiangcheng.

The architecture of Xiangcheng was magnificent and luxurious. Every building soared high, with their exteriors inlaid with sparkling crystals. Lifelike artificial vines and sunflowers spiraled up the walls, the sunflowers’ centers precisely set on the magical crystal stones, radiating a dazzling glow under the light.

The ground was entirely paved with smooth marble, engraved with magical runes. Stepping on it, one could feel a refreshing, invigorating energy flowing through, making people feel comfortable and relaxed.

As Muxue stepped onto the floor, she was suddenly chilled and shivered. “This feels like suddenly stepping into a fridge in the middle of summer—after a night in there, wouldn’t you catch a cold?”

She looked at Sai, realizing this was beyond her knowledge. It had been a long time since she had entered any city.

At that moment, a group of eleven- or twelve-year-old girls in slightly faded dresses approached. One of them said politely to Muxue, “Honorable witch, greetings. Is this your first time in Xiangcheng? All the streets here are engraved with runes, and the runes are enchanted. When it gets cold at night, the ground becomes very warm, as if the whole city is bathed in light. Even if you don’t light a fire at home, you won’t be chilled by the cold. You can sleep soundly at night, and even in the coldest winters, you can go out and play without worrying about the cold.”

Although the nighttime chill wasn’t as terrifying as when Xueyou was around, it still existed, just much weaker.

Muxue crouched down and looked at the little girl. “Little sister, are you a guide?”

“Yes, I’m very affordable—just one crystal coin and I can show you around. I know Xiangcheng very well, so wherever you want to go, I can take you.”

Muxue turned to look at Sangchu and Lu Minli, waiting for them to decide.

Sangchu had already noticed when they entered that Xiangcheng didn’t have any signposts, and it was huge. Since he needed to go to Rose City, he had to pass through Xiangcheng. The city walls enclosed almost all the land in the area, with only one large gate as the entrance and exit.

“Let’s hire her. I saw there are places to rent carriages up ahead. I want to take a look. This place is too big to walk everywhere.”

Walking would take forever.

The girl, Beixin, was delighted to have gotten the job. She smiled sweetly and said, “Honored guests, instead of renting a carriage from just anywhere, why not go to Aunt Jing’s shop up ahead? Her carriages are comfortable and affordable.”

Sangchu nodded. “Alright, let’s go. Lead the way.”

Muxue watched the little girl skip ahead and couldn’t help but grab Sangchu’s hand. “Sang, what if she tries to scam us? Shouldn’t we compare a few shops first?”

Sangchu patted her hand and smiled. “If you hire someone, trust them. Besides, we’re strangers here—if she’s not good, we just won’t use her next time. And if she tries anything funny, we don’t have to be polite. Just a little show of force will scare most people off.”

Lu Minli added, “Don’t worry. Even if she’s working with someone, we’re not afraid. Let’s go find a magic shop first, so Sangchu can buy a white card. There aren’t many witches in the second city.”

Sangchu said, “Relax. I have a trump card up my sleeve. We don’t look for trouble, but we’re not afraid of it either. Just pay what’s fair.”

Muxue nodded. “Okay.”

Since Sangchu said there was nothing to worry about, she felt at ease. In her heart, Sangchu was not someone who spoke lightly. If he said he had a trump card, then it must be something big—big enough to protect everyone.

Carriage Rental

After another twenty minutes or so, following Beixin, they arrived at a street lined with carriage rental shops of all sizes.

“Honored guests, do you want to rent a carriage? Try my family’s! Ours are beautiful, fast, spacious, and comfortable—perfect for sightseeing.”

“Customers, the carriages at that shop are all old models, not suitable anymore. Try ours instead—they’re all the latest bird-drawn carriages.”

As soon as Sangchu and his group entered the street, they were surrounded by shop assistants from the carriage shops. Beixin, worried that Sangchu would be pulled away, hurriedly pushed him toward Aunt Jing’s shop. “Aunt Jing’s is up ahead. I’ll take you there—let’s go quickly!”

Just then, a sharp, loud voice rang out. A woman holding a whip strode out, her voice booming, “Hey! These are my customers!”

At her appearance, the other shop assistants scattered. Only then did Sangchu see Aunt Jing—she was nearly 1.8 meters tall, muscular, holding a whip, looking like she was ready for a fight.

Seeing her, Beixin quickly waved. “Auntie, auntie, put your whip away!”

Aunt Jing glanced over and hurriedly put the whip back into her card, then stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked over with a big smile. “Sorry about that, everyone. I was just working on the awning, so I had my whip out. Come on in and take a look at the carriages!”

Sangchu said, “Boss, I need five carriages.”

Aunt Jing was stunned—most people only rented one, but he wanted so many. “Sir, one carriage is already very spacious...”

Muxue immediately understood Aunt Jing’s concern. If it were another shop owner, they might have tried to push them to rent fewer.

She took Sangchu’s arm and said, “I know, but we want to split up and explore, so we need several carriages. Do you have any recommendations?”

Aunt Jing replied, “Of course! Come inside and take a look.”

The shop looked simple, with no carriages on display outside.

Inside, stacks of low-level cards sat on the counter, each with a picture of a carriage. “If you see one you like, you can summon it outside and let it run a bit. If you like it, sign the contract. If not, you can choose another.”

“Alright, let me take a look first,” Sangchu said, then turned to Sang Jingwen. “Jingwen, you pick one too. If you see one you like, have them show it to us.”

Yipin grinned, rubbing her hands together. “Then I’ll pick carefully!”

Xirui stood to the side and asked coldly, “Boss, how do we return the carriages? I need to go to the next city—I can’t come back here just to return them!”"