Lao Huihui lowered his voice, instinctively glancing around before speaking, as if the very air might be listening to him.
"I still don't even know what kind of force you people represent," he said slowly, his brows tightly knit. "How could I possibly agree to join just like that? Are you agents of the imperial court? Another bandit faction hiding in the mountains? Or perhaps some prince secretly plotting rebellion?"
The scout stared at him for a moment, then let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"Huh? What kind of wild nonsense are you imagining now?"
He raised his hand and deliberately tugged at the emblem embroidered on his chest. The symbol shimmered faintly in the light, unmistakable in its design.
"We are people of Dao Xuan Tianzun," the scout said with a straight face. "United under Dao Xuan Tianzun's protection, acting according to his will, bringing salvation to the people of the world."
Lao Huihui fell silent.
His expression froze, as if his thoughts had slammed straight into a wall.
"…."
Bloody hell.
Wasn't this just a cult?
After everything he had seen and heard, after all the buildup and mystery, the answer turned out to be a cult?
For a moment, Lao Huihui genuinely did not know whether to laugh or curse.
The scout, however, seemed to completely misunderstand the look on his face. He waved his hand dismissively, his tone casual and even slightly amused.
"Judging by that expression, you're definitely getting the wrong idea. Staying here on Tianzhu Mountain, you can't really see Dao Xuan Tianzun's true benevolence. How about this. Tomorrow morning, you go take a look at Xi'an for yourself."
"Xi'an?" Lao Huihui repeated reflexively.
"It's not far," the scout continued. "Only about three hundred li in a straight line. If you take a vehicle, you'll be there in about half a day."
Lao Huihui frowned deeply. "By vehicle?"
The scout nodded as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Every evening, a long-distance solar car comes from Xi'an. It stops overnight at the station here, then sets off again at sunrise the next morning. You can take that car straight to Xi'an and see everything with your own eyes."
Lao Huihui stared at him, disbelief creeping into his voice. "Something like that actually exists?"
"You'll know tomorrow morning," the scout said with a grin. "Oh, and one more thing. You'd better disguise yourself a bit. With your face and your current attire, you'd stand out too much. Xi'an isn't entirely populated by our own people yet."
The next morning, Lao Huihui woke before dawn.
He carefully changed his clothes, disguising himself as an ordinary Han Chinese man, and quietly made his way to the entrance of Luojia Village. As soon as he arrived, he froze on the spot.
Sure enough, a strangely shaped vehicle was already waiting there.
Its form was unlike any carriage he had seen before, neither pulled by horses nor pushed by men. It sat there silently, yet carried an indescribable sense of restrained power.
A few passengers were already seated inside. There were not many of them, not even half the carriage was filled. Lao Huihui chose the most inconspicuous seat at the very back and sat down without drawing attention.
From the front of the carriage, casual conversation drifted over.
"Brother Zhang, where are you headed today?"
"I'm going to Shanyang County Town," a man replied cheerfully. "Need to buy a few things for my wife. What about you?"
"I'm heading to Lantian County. Got a relative there I haven't seen in years."
"Hahaha, no wonder."
Listening quietly, Lao Huihui gradually realized that this vehicle would pass through quite a few places along the way, not just a single destination.
Before long, the sun rose above the horizon.
With a faint hum, the long-distance solar car began its journey.
It traveled from Tianzhu Mountain to Shanyang County Town first. Several passengers got off there, but even more boarded, filling some of the empty seats. The vehicle continued onward, steady and unhurried. Along the route, people constantly got on and off, as if this strange machine were an inseparable part of daily life.
By the time it finally reached the outskirts of Xi'an, half a day had already passed.
It was afternoon.
Lao Huihui stepped down from the vehicle and lifted his head. In that instant, all other thoughts were forcibly driven out of his mind.
Inside the city stood a colossal golden statue of Dao Xuan Tianzun.
It was enormous beyond imagination, at least twice as tall as the highest buildings in the city. Even the towering city walls could not obscure its presence. Bathed in sunlight, the golden colossus gleamed brilliantly, its gaze seemingly cast over the entire city of Xi'an.
"Incredible…" Lao Huihui muttered under his breath. "The local authorities actually allowed something like this to be built inside the city."
As he entered Xi'an, his attention was quickly drawn to the bustling market district outside the South Gate. Vendors lined the streets, selling all kinds of strange and exotic goods he had never seen before. Carriages and pedestrians flowed endlessly through the streets, lively and orderly at the same time.
This was completely different from the decaying ancient capital he remembered.
The people here looked happier, more confident, and more at ease than the labor reform prisoners he had seen on Tianzhu Mountain. Their faces carried an ease that could not be faked.
He had not gone far when a massive golden iron vehicle emerged from a side street ahead of him.
Its front was adorned with a soaring five-clawed golden dragon, crafted with such vivid detail that it seemed ready to take flight. Yet despite its imposing appearance, the vehicle moved slowly and carefully, clearly yielding to pedestrians along the street.
This alone stunned Lao Huihui.
In his memories, the carriages and horses of the wealthy had always rampaged through the streets without restraint, trampling whoever stood in their way.
Nearby, two passersby laughed as they watched.
"Oh, the Prince of Qin's heir's Kulinan has arrived," one of them said. "That vehicle really is magnificent. I wish I could own one in my lifetime."
"Stop dreaming," the other replied. "That thing costs a fortune. Even the Prince's heir had to sell off everything he owned to build it. How could common folk like us ever afford it?"
Unable to contain his curiosity, Lao Huihui stepped forward and asked, "Brothers, is that really the Prince of Qin's vehicle?"
The two men nodded.
"That's Zhu Cunji, the Prince of Qin's heir," one of them said. "See that profligate middle-aged man grinning foolishly inside? That's him."
Lao Huihui hesitated, then voiced the doubt that had been gnawing at him.
"Aren't imperial relatives and powerful families usually wicked?" he asked. "Rampaging through the streets, killing people without consequence? Why is this golden iron vehicle from the Prince of Qin's estate moving so slowly, even yielding to people? And that profligate middle-aged man doesn't seem that bad. He just looks a bit foolish."
The two pedestrians burst into laughter.
"What kind of place do you think this is?" one of them said. "This is Dao Xuan Tianzun's Liberated Zone. Who would dare rampage recklessly here? Forget the Prince's heir. Even if the old emperor himself came, if he drove recklessly and killed a pedestrian, he'd still be charged with traffic endangerment and sent to labor reform."
Lao Huihui's pupils shrank violently.
"!!!"
This was completely beyond reason.
The two pedestrians continued, unfazed by his reaction.
"Of course, if someone deliberately throws themselves in front of a vehicle to extort money, that's another matter. In any case, Dao Xuan Tianzun is a very reasonable deity. He always sides with whoever is in the right."
Lao Huihui raised his hand and pointed toward the golden colossus towering in the distance.
"That," he asked cautiously, "is Dao Xuan Tianzun?"
"Yes," the two replied without hesitation.
"He's a celestial immortal, right?" Lao Huihui asked carefully. "Would he really concern himself with mortal affairs?"
What he truly wanted to ask was whether this Dao Xuan Tianzun was fake. But he was not foolish enough to say such a thing aloud in a city filled with believers.
The two men laughed again.
"Other deities might not bother with mortal affairs," one of them said. "But Dao Xuan Tianzun is different. He frequently performs divine miracles. Stay here long enough and you'll definitely get a chance to witness his divine manifestations."
Lao Huihui's heart skipped a beat.
At that very moment, the Kulinan rolled to a stop directly behind him.
A head popped out from inside the vehicle. It belonged to none other than the profligate middle-aged man himself, Zhu Cunji. Squinting at Lao Huihui, he frowned and muttered, "Your face looks familiar. Where have I seen you before? Ah, right. Gaojia News… Gaojia News… War correspondent Zhou Daya's report. You're from Henan… Henan Qun…"
Before he could finish the sentence, Lao Huihui's mind went completely blank.
He did not understand what Gaojia News was, but the moment the word "Henan" came out, he could already guess what would follow.
Terror surged through him like ice water.
Without thinking, he sprang forward, leaping onto the hood of the Kulinan and reaching out to grab Zhu Cunji by the throat.
But Zhu Cunji was no ordinary citizen.
Almost at the same instant, the Prince of Qin's personal guards appeared, as if they had materialized from thin air.
Two guards, one from each side, leapt into the air simultaneously. With two sharp thuds, they seized Lao Huihui's shoulders and yanked him backward.
His strike failed. Instead, he was dragged off the hood and flung away from the vehicle.
An ordinary person would have crashed hard onto the ground. Lao Huihui did not.
His body twisted in mid-air, completing a full rotation before his feet slammed onto the ground. He landed solidly, steady and upright.
The Prince's personal guards stared at him in shock.
"Assassin!" they shouted. "A master. He's a master!"