Chapter 279: A Death Trap

This foreign place was like a medieval fortress. A huge white-stoned city was in its core, while squat houses and worn-down tents lined its perimeter. The sky was gloomy, and in this sparse, cloudy land, the streets were crowded with people selling craft, alcohol, or themselves.

Pallid, white faces were all over the city, their eyes betraying a sense of wretchedness. Everyone wore tattered clothing and were malnourished, with many giving off a very pungent smell. It was unknown when was the last time they had a shower.

The bald man led the tall and short pair toward the huge city. Xia Fei quietly followed behind them; there were presently plenty of eyes around, and his combat suit stood out like a sore thumb, so with some quick thinking, he quickly darted into an old and graying tent beside the road.

There was a kid roughly seven or eight years old inside this tent, seated on the ground, playing with a broken toy model of a hovercar. His complexion was grayish like an adult, while his frame was skinny and small. His fingernails were dirty, all caked with mud and sand.

The kid actually had no idea that Xia Fei had entered his tent, only staring at him dumbly, as if he did not care for his intrusion into his home.

“Stop looking. That kid is just like the adults you’ve seen—a user of Bliss Powder.” Phantom sighed.

“Bliss Powder?” Xia Fei wondered.

“It’s a kind of drug that will numb the brain of humans, causing them to hallucinate. Anyone using it will become extremely crazy, but after the effects wear off, they’ll be as dull as walking corpses,” Phantom explained.

Xia Fei did not make any comments. There was essentially nothing in the tent besides a few broken bowls. Even the place for sleeping was no more than a collection of straw.

Xia Fei retrieved the only raincoat from a clothes stand and put it on. Before he left, he took out tens of energy bars and chocolate from his spatial ring and put them beside the kid. He curiously nudged at the items that Xia Fei left, a sudden glimmer of light appearing in his eyes as if his interest was piqued.

“It’s no use; giving the kid anything to eat won’t go to his stomach. His parents will take them to exchange for more Bliss Powder when they find the stuff; people who use drugs are completely addicted. There’s no way to save them,” Phantom said.

“Perhaps so.” Xia Fei furrowed his brows. A child would not fully understand their action and would not use such drugs on their own, so he believed that it was this child’s parents who committed the sin.

“Giving their child drugs?” Xia Fei muttered to himself. “This place ought to be called Sin City.”

Breath Control could make Xia Fei unnoticeable, and with that raincoat filled with holes worn on his body, Xia Fei was able to make his way through the crowd without drawing anybody’s attention.

Xia Fei could not help but sigh as he made his way down the road. The locals who used the Bliss Powder came from all age and sizes. It was as if the drug had already become a part of life for the people here.

When he was about a mile away from the huge city, the muddy road turned into a beautiful stone boulevard, and the people here were dressed differently from the people outside and were at the very least cleaner.

The trio was quietly chatting even as they made their way through. There was too much noise around them, so Xia Fei was unable to make out what they were saying even when he pricked his ears. Out of caution, Xia Fei made sure to maintain the distance with the trio, using the terrain around as cover, even as he blended into the crowd.

A moat, roughly fifty meters wide, surrounded the city walls, with a single drawbridge across it. By the entrance to the city were several dozen fierce-looking guards, their unkind stares leered at everybody entering the city. The trio stepped onto the drawbridge as they prepared to enter the city; that short middle-aged man did not forget to throw a few glances behind.

Xia Fei, who was staying hidden while standing in front of a stall by the roadside, pretended to pick the fruits on display even as he thought of how he would get into the city. Xia Fei would not have much of a difficulty relying on his speed ability to dash through the gate entrance, except he had no idea if there was anyone among the guards who had a sort of perception-based ability. It was best not to cause too much trouble since he was on foreign soil, and the smartest solution was to blend in.

That was when a hovertruck came barreling from afar, madly honking loudly, not at all concerned with how packed the roads were. The vehicle was being recklessly driven the whole way as its driver acted completely domineering and arrogant.

The crowd instantly parted themselves very kno