1611 Buffer Zone’s Shimmer Race!
Early morning came and a window was opened. The sunshine outside shining in was perfect, and the majestic Snow Mountain looked like a giant holding White City in its grasp.
Xia Geng turned around to see a woman wearing pink silken pajamas sleeping behind him on the bed, his eyes revealing a soft tenderness. This was the mother of his son. His chance encounter with her here in the Lower Realm was the greatest fortune of his life, giving him his family back once more.
Seven-year-old Xia Di was slowly getting used to family life, and though he was a bit shy when calling his mother, his relationship with Meimei gradually grew closer. The entire family would often head outdoors together, even spending time in their back garden to enjoy a candlelit dinner.
“Ah, you’re already awake. Is it because I was a bit fussy when I slept and woke you up?” Meimei asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes.
Xia Geng was seated by the bedside, gently stroking her hair. He was feeling more and more content the more he looked at his wife. She was already a mother, yet she would still kick the blankets off while she slept as if she was still a child, or even sleep talk. There would even be a trail of drool coming from the corner of her mouth. Staying with her and living a life together had filled his life with unexpected fun.
“No, I agreed to meet with everyone and go train. I’ll be back in approximately three days, but you don’t have to worry about the city. I’ll have Bright Pearl and Flaming Swallow remain, since the two of them hate training. They are of the dragon race, after all. Even a young lady of the dragons would be capable of standing on top of most living beings, so they will still be strong, even if they do nothing.”
“But it’s different for us. The reason the Skywings are strong, aside from our innate talent, is more due to the efforts we put our bodies through. Right now, most of the Clan are at the frontlines, and we as the support must not be slacking!” Xia Geng told her.
Meimei blinked. “And here I thought you guys were about to go off and find Xia Fan. News came in from Subduing Demon City that Xia Fan has gone missing, yet none of you are anxious at all, appearing all heartless and everything.”
Xia Geng chuckled, “What use do we have to find Xia Fan? He’s the son of Xia Fei, so he will definitely not die off as easily as that! Besides, Subduing Demon City wouldn’t dare let anything happen to Xia Fan, otherwise the Skywings would not let them off! They ought to be even more flustered than us, because if Xia Fan even loses a strand of hair, I’ll immediately go trample Subduing Demon City flat with my comrades.”
Meimei coughed and could hardly suppress her laughter, “Seeing my husband act so domineering, I can rest easy. Speaking of which, where are you all prepared to go this time?”
Xia Geng shrugged, “We’ll just randomly go around places, practice some medium-scale confrontation and work on coordination between us. All the tribes that could threaten White City have already been eradicated by us, and the days of having no enemies are as lonely as winter. Had I known this would happen, I should have left some enemies so we wouldn’t feel so bored.”
“What a bad person!” Meimei threw herself into Xia Geng’s arms and squeezed his muscular chest.
Enemies must die, especially if they were enemies that threatened your own woman. There was no reason to let any remain alive in this world!
The first task Xia Geng did upon arriving in White City was a thorough sweep of the region around, a purge to the point where every child in White City could freely wander the swamp area and families would not be worried even if they spent their nights outside. The Skywings had used their speed to purge the place. The big swamp no longer had any crocodiles in the waters, and not a single carnivorous animal could be found in the area within five thousand miles. Meimei believed that if Xia Geng was given more time, even the mosquitos and leeches would be eradicated from the place!
The Skywings would travel as a pack in that manner, and no life that opposed them would remain wherever they went.
Not only was White City stable and safe now, the other cities around also felt safe enough to not need to lock doors at night. This place that was originally near the borders, known as the most chaotic region along the border, had also turned into a paradise!
Meimei had said that White City lacked arable land and it was impossible to remain self-sufficient. As such, the Skywings had turned the forest into fertile fields overnight, planting rice fields and orchards.
Meimei had said that the cities around White City were surrounded by wilderness and there were no roads, making transportation difficult and hampering economic development. Thus, overnight some mountain ranges were leveled, and a road wide enough for twenty people to walk side by side was paved, connecting all the cities around!
…
Two days later…
“Success! We’ve finally done it! Your Scent ability is absolutely amazing. To think you could lead us to find the legendary Holy Spring City!” Nikai was beside herself with joy, pulling Xia Fan along by his arms.
Xia Fan nodded. The sensation of light shining on his back was really pleasant, even if it was not real sunlight, but actually many luminous crystals inlaid at the peak of the cavern. The light from the crystals did not have ultraviolet rays, so the people in this city were all very pale.
As the old saying went, pale skin could cover many defects. The people of Holy Spring City had ugly facial features; their noses were upturned and their teeth and skin were white, sharper, and narrower than humans, as if a set of wolf teeth had been transplanted into a human’s mouth.
Their cheeks were sunken, given them a cunning look. Their eyes had developed to be completely black, allowing them to see in environments that had little to no light. Then there was their ears, which were as round as a bear’s. They could even wriggle them nimbly, like they were some sort of directional radar device!
…
“What the heck. This is the ally of the Subduing Demon City? Why does it feel like they aren’t good people? Just look at the Scarlet Blaze Demon Lord Stanley. Even a Demon Lord could look so dignified, but these people look like vampires. If those long and narrow teeth of theirs bite into a neck, they could very well bite through our arteries! Who knows, maybe there are even blood sucking tubes inside those teeth!” Traveling Buddha muttered.
Xia Fan frowned. Calling the citizens of Holy Spring City ‘humans’ could actually be considered praising them. If there was anyone who looked like them in Subduing Demon City, they might very well be bullied by others as children, and have trouble finding a mate when they grew up. They would end up being scoffed and abandoned by others everywhere they went, and probably end up not even making any friends, right?
Though it was said that they should not judge people by their looks, how could humans ever escape the curse of superficiality?
Reality was just that cruel. If someone had a good heart but terrible looks, then they would only end up scaring little girls, and no one would care how kind their heart was at the end of the day. Ladies would never go out of their way to understand them, or witness their honorable side; they would just deem them to be a vicious person.
Superficial creatures like humans had always judged people by their appearances since ancient times. While they would say that a heart of gold was more important than looks, it was the kind-hearted boys who ended up being rejected by women. The reason for rejection would always be far-fetched, “I just think you’re a good person, but we’re not the right match.”
What do you mean by match? Wasn’t it just a lack of good looks?
That was when Cid Raleigh’s sigh echoed in Xia Fan’s mind.
‘You humans have painstakingly found the Holy Spring City, yet when you first saw how the people of the Shimmer Race looked, all of you instantly had your doubts.
‘In the natural world, there has never been another species like you humans that determines a person’s goodness by their looks. I have to really admire the wisdom of the creator for letting you humans become one of the most powerful races of the natural world, yet giving you so many flaws.
‘If it was not for your relationship forged in the fires of life and death, would you be able to trust such a shifty-looking fatso as a morally dependable person? Then there’s Nikai. So many youngsters out there were willing to die for her in Subduing Demon City, yet none of them can see just how weak a personality she has. The moment she deems someone an authority, she blindly obeys him or her. This entire journey, Nikai did not protest at all, because she sees you as the authority, and challenging you would be impolite.
‘Truly, she’s a completely brainwashed ditzy woman. The reason why she was so excited upon seeing Holy Spring City just now was because she has been full of doubt this entire time, but did not dare to share the suspicions she had in her heart. All she did was blindly follow your orders. We dragons dislike such a woman with no personality; the women we like all have to be independent!’
Xia Fan frowned. “Okay, this isn’t the time for you to teach us an introductory course on the dragons’ views on love, alright? Just what is the backstory regarding the Shimmer Race living in the Holy Spring City?”
Cid Raleigh answered, ‘Speaking of them, they also have a dragon bloodline in them, and can be considered a sapient race like the Yggdragons and humans. There are plenty of sapient lifeforms that are within that range of intelligence. I’ve never interacted with the Shimmers before, but I understand that their reputation is decent.
“It is just too bad. Ugliness is the original sin of the Shimmer race, and no one wishes to befriend them, which is why they live a pretty lonely existence.
“Subduing Demon City only wishes to use the Shimmers. If they truly treated them well, then why would they not invite Shimmers to live up above? There’s plenty of space on the mainland, and any random piece of land would be enough for the Shimmers to set up roots.
‘The Demon Slayer Legion only plans to use the Shimmers as tools, using them when necessary and tossing them aside when they have no more use. Out of sight, out of mind.’
“You seem to have some resentment toward the Demon Slayer Legion,” Xia Fan noticed.
‘That is only to be expected. Proud dragons like myself bear no regard for other races, aside from myself.’
“You’re a proud old Demonic Dragon,” Xia Fan waved him off dismissively. He could not be bothered to argue with Cid Raleigh. Just what kind of people these Shimmers were, Xia Fan had every intention of personally witnessing them.
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