Chapter 5: Human Affairs, Immortal Affairs (2)

The horsemen outstripped them in just the blink of an eye. A few seconds later, even their backs had disappeared into the distance, leaving Zhang Sheng with no avenue for outburst. The scholar’s mood was utterly ruined after this incident as a matter of course, so he clamped up and focused on traveling.

A few days later, the duo finally reached the administrative center of the commandery, the city of Luyuan. As a Yong Province native, Wei Yuan was familiar with the local geography and history as a matter of course. Luyuan had been founded five centuries before. As of now, it held approximately 100,000 registered households and somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 unregistered households. In total, the city population numbered around 500,000 people, so one could say that it was a big city.

Upon reaching the city, Wei Yuan immediately noticed that its walls were low—less than two zhang tall to be exact—and made from dressed stones mixed with loess[1]. Their surface was riddled with cracks and spalling that exposed the underlying masonry. The parapets and gate towers bore signs of long neglect as well.

...