Chapter 172: Chapter 169: The Two Sides of the World
Song Ciwan stood on an unnoticed street corner, watching as the doors of the houses ahead opened one after another.
Joyful smiles adorned everyone’s faces. They greeted the morning sun, exchanged congratulations, and whenever they met someone, they would clasp their hands in a salute and say, "A most auspicious New Year!"
CRACKLE, POP went the firecrackers.
All sorts of celebratory noises echoed through the neighborhood, and children shouted with glee, "Oh, New Year’s is here, time for candy! The candy is so sweet, so very sweet!"
"New Year’s is here, we wear new clothes! Grandpas and fathers don’t get angry, grandmas and aunties are all smiles!"
"Oh, time for red envelopes!"
"I want two handfuls of melon seeds, and two handfuls of fruit! A pocketful for the left, a pocketful for the right! Let’s go, time to set off firecrackers!"
...
The children burst from their homes. Some followed alongside the adults, their ruddy-cheeked smiles on display as they went from house to house to offer New Year’s greetings. Others broke free from adult supervision, gathering with their little friends to gleefully play their own games.
A few, with money in their pockets, clutched their red envelopes and flocked to the street peddler’s stall, CHIRPING and CHATTERING with laughter as they enjoyed the fun of shopping.
The peddler’s face was also beaming with delight. Although he couldn’t be with his family to celebrate the first day of the New Year, having such good business to kick off the year was certainly a reason to be happy, wasn’t it?
Every scene of prosperity in the Mortal World seemed to be veiled in a layer of golden gauze under the sunlight, shimmering beautifully.
It formed a stark contrast with the bizarre and surreal sights of the night, making it hard to tell for a moment what was real and what was fake.
Or perhaps, all of it was real. The world simply has two extremes, and the Mortal World has two faces.
’If given the choice, who wouldn’t want to stand in the sunlight and watch these peaceful years and this prosperous land?’
Song Ciwan turned her head back. The buildings of Bright Moon Square had already vanished in the distance, no longer visible from where she stood.
All the strange events of last night now seemed like a phantom dream.
She sighed softly. Her Qimen Taoist Skill, A Grain of Sand in the Sea, activated on its own, reducing her presence to a minimum.
Song Ciwan began to walk aimlessly, weaving through the streets and alleys of the ward and continuing toward the city center, in the direction of Wangjiang Mountain.
As she walked, she placed her left hand over the wound on her right arm.
A large patch of flesh had been torn away where the runaway starlight had grazed it.
Song Ciwan cast the Ganlin Spell, continuously cleansing the wound in an attempt to heal it.
It was worth mentioning that the Level of Song Ciwan’s Ganlin Spell was now quite high. Under normal circumstances, while it couldn’t go so far as raising the dead or regrowing flesh on bone, healing a minor injury with some missing flesh should have been no problem for the Ganlin Spell at all.
But something was wrong. As the Ganlin fell from her fingertips, a strange power lingered around the wound on her right arm where the flesh was missing. This power prevented the Ganlin from fully penetrating the injury.
Even the small portion that did manage to seep in could barely have any positive effect on the missing flesh.
’What’s going on?’
It didn’t take much thought for Song Ciwan to figure it out. It must be because of the peculiar attribute of that starlight, which could continuously tear and destroy flesh as it regenerated, interfering with the wound’s healing.
’No wonder they call it the Big Dipper Death Injection. This is the power of death!’
Song Ciwan wasn’t particularly worried. While continuously casting the Ganlin Spell, she focused her mind, carefully studying the deathly characteristics of this power.
While walking, she suddenly heard a high-pitched, frantic girl’s voice from a house ahead: "I don’t want to! Father, Mother, I don’t want my feet bound! Let me go, please let me go!"
The words "foot-binding" struck Song Ciwan’s ears, sending a jolt through her. She immediately directed her Spiritual Sense through several courtyard walls toward the source of the girl’s voice.
Song Ciwan truly hadn’t expected to find people practicing foot-binding among the common folk—
She thought this because, in her dozen or so years of experience, foot-binding was almost never seen among the general populace.
It wasn’t a popular custom among ordinary people. Where it was truly prevalent was in the brothels and entertainment quarters.
Only those ill-fated women, tricked by destiny and reduced to playthings for the wealthy, would be forced to have their feet broken and bound at a young age to cater to certain special fetishes.
They were thus turned into something less than Human, becoming mere vessels for the "three-inch golden lotuses."
’But among common people... this shouldn’t be happening!’
’Has the disaster with Princess Chunshui not served as a warning?’
’No, the disaster with Princess Chunshui happened far away in Bright Moon Square. Pinglan City is massive. For ordinary citizens, news from several wards away doesn’t travel that easily.’
This wasn’t the "Earth Village," with its highly developed information networks, but the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty, a place of vast class disparities!
Song Ciwan stepped through the wall and into the family’s courtyard.
This household had several courtyards; all in all, it could be considered a wealthy family.
Song Ciwan also saw quite a few guards and servants with martial arts skills patrolling the courtyards. The ones with lower Cultivation were in the Refining Tendons Stage, while those who looked like captains were mostly at the Bone Refining Stage.
There were even a few Martial Artists at the Internal Cultivation Stage. Judging by the richness of their Qi Blood, they might even be approaching the Innate realm!
This was no ordinary family. A household that could afford guards of this level must have a foundation at least comparable to the Xu Family back in Su Yang City.
Song Ciwan frowned slightly, growing even more confused as to why a family like this would make their daughter bind her feet!
Just then, a small, chubby little girl suddenly burst out from a dense thicket of flowers and trees ahead.
The little girl looked to be four or five years old at most, with a tiny frame, a face as lovely as carved jade, and her hair in two topknots, from which festive golden bells dangled on each side.
As the little girl ran with all her might, the bells on her two hair buns made a JINGLE, JANGLE sound.
She cried out, "Grandmother, save me! Grandmother, save me! Lady Li doesn’t want her feet bound, WAHHH... Grandmother, Mother is so scary, I don’t want my feet bound..."
Behind her, three to five maids and old women were chasing anxiously. One of the old women coaxed as she ran, "Young Mistress, having bound feet is beautiful! Let’s not run, how could the Master and Madam possibly harm you?"
A maid anxiously tried to persuade her, "Young Mistress, it has to be done sooner or later. The Madam said that your betrothed, Young Master Zhang, is particularly fond of beauties with small feet. If you don’t bind them now, what will you do when you’re older?"
Another old woman’s voice was half-coaxing, half-threatening: "Young Mistress, if we bind them obediently now, you won’t have to suffer as much. But if you keep refusing, then we’ll have to bring out the porcelain shards and jade pebbles. Young Mistress, there’s really no need for that. Wouldn’t it be better to just get it over with in one go?"
...
Their coaxing voices came one after another as servants closed in from all directions.
Although the little girl named Lady Li was technically the master of this house, she was far too young. How could she possibly escape a pursuit from all sides?
Finally, at a certain moment, Lady Li was cornered by an exquisite four-cornered pavilion and seized in someone’s arms.
