Moon-Grave City was much smaller than Green-Stone, thus the crowd both inside and outside should have been much less. Surprisingly a lot of people dressed in dark brown uniforms could be seen roaming about the streets.
Their piercing stares as they scrutinized every person crowding outside the gates, entering the city or walking on the streets, truly gave them away. Rihanna could sense this self-imposed aura of importance even before she could clearly see the gates.
'Something seems to be happening in Moon-Grave!'
'Hmmm....you are the most happening thing right now.'
'Umm...what do you....you mean they are here for me?!'
'Look at the crest embroidered on their uniform.....it's the same as the one on that Wen-fellow's clothes. They are disciples of Moon-Grave Sect. Probably here searching for you.'
Rihanna knew that there was a Teleportation Matrix between cities. But why did they think that she would come here after escaping?
As she was puzzling about this, a subtle purple light emerged from her body, circling round Rihanna, then seeped back into her tattoo and skin.
'Don't worry. They won't be able to recognize you. Be like all the other commoners while entering the gates. As long as you don't do anything to stand out, they won't be suspicious. Remember, according to the tattoo, your name is Ke Kuroba. Head towards the residential area on the north-eastern side after entering the city.'
Ke Kuroba....yes, she needed to remember that. Rihanna merged in with a group of commoners going towards the city, and keeping her head lowered, she walked forward.
The guards at the gate were thoroughly searching all the commoners. They also had some tiny crystal balls which they waved before the faces of each person passing through the gate. Most probably this was some kind of spiritual artifact which could uncover feature changes, but thankfully Rihanna passed through. She owed one more favor to the purple light!
Wen Haoli was standing near the gates, a deep scowl etched on his otherwise quite handsome face. Rihanna almost swaggered through her way inside the city. 'See, I am entering right before your nose, and there is nothing you can about it! Hmph!'
Moving on, she turned to the outer-circular road, and then towards the large residential houses in the north-eastern part of the city. The city was built on pretty much the same pattern as Green-Stone, so Rihanna had no trouble finding her way. She knew that this must be the area housing the Clan Mansions of the Five Leading Clans of Moon-Grave City. After the City Mayor, the Leading Clans held the most important positions in each city.
However, as she entered the residential area, she realized the wide roads were packed with a lot more people than in the other areas. She looked around, unsure where she was supposed to go.
'Follow the crowd. We need to go where the people are going. That is the house we need to enter – the one where the artifact is.'
Rihanna looked around as she tried to stay at the fringes of the moving crowd. Surprisingly, most of the people on this street were commoners, and they all seemed o be headed the same way. Looking around, she noticed a young boy and an even younger girl.
They both looked starved and the girl was crying silently. Her legs were shaking and she could barely keep up with the moving crowd. Rihanna judged them to be siblings as she saw the pain and frustration in the brother's eyes. He wanted to move forward, but also didn't want to leave his sister behind.
He looked around, then pulled his sister towards a stone bench placed before one of the houses. Generally the guards sat here, but right now it was empty, so he made his sister sit on this bench.
Rihanna looked around, trying to act normally, as she silently pulled out a few pieces of roasted meat strips and hid them in her sleeves. The clothes in this world were very similar to ancient Chinese and ancient Greek - long loose sleeves or sleeveless robes, short tunics, loose and comfortable trousers, thick cloth belts. She really missed the simple and convenient jeans and t-shirts, but surprisingly, these clothes were well fitted for the continuous changes in weather in this world!
Anyway, tucking some food and water into her sleeves, she made her way towards the young siblings. This was a common visual everywhere. Commoners could even die of starvation right before everyone's eyes, and no one would care. Well....the cultivator's really didn't care. And the other commoners had neither time nor food to show any care. Everyone was going through the same struggles. Rihanna sighed, then pursed her lips as she approached them.
Without saying a word, she simply shoved a few pieces of the meat into the girls hand. Then she took out a small bottle of water, also from her sleeve, and handed it over to the brother. The girl was too hungry and tired to care about etiquette, but the boy immediately put up his guard, trying to give back the water and meat.
"Stop it. None of them are going to care if you die right here on the streets. Even if you don't need it, look at your sister. Do you think she will last till you find work and get money? Just take what is being given, and try to live for today. If you are suspicious, then know that I don't need to kill you. At this rate, she will die soon anyway. And if you are feeling gratitude, then you can return the favor. Don't worry, I won't ask you to do something you can't do."
The boy still looked suspicious, but seeing his sister stuffing the meat strips down her throat in hunger, he gave her some water to soften the food and no longer tried to return back the food.
''What do you want me to do?"
"First answer some questions. Where are all the people going? And why are you all following?"
The boy looked at her in surprise.
"Oh....you must have come from outside! We are all going to the Chen Mansion. Their youngest daughter-in-law gave birth to a daughter yesterday. She has a level three spirit seed. So they will be hosting the celebrations for the registration of a new cultivator in the clan. They need a lot of manual laborers, so all commoners have been told to report the clan, where they will be selecting the best workers."
Rihanna found this very interesting – in this world there was no discrimination between girls and boys. Instead heavy discrimination existed between cultivators and commoners.
There were seven levels of a spirit seed. But almost no one was ever born with a level seven spirit seed. Level five and level six too were very rare. Thus a level three spirit seed was already pretty good. Though a good spirit seed did not always mean great achievements, still, a cultivator born with a good seed and willing to work hard would have a lot more opportunities in the future.
"Where are you from? They will not allow you in without any reference."
"I am from Dark Forest City."
"Huh?....That is very far away from here....how did you come here?"
"I was accompanying a group of cultivators, showing them the way to Moon-Grave. But we were attacked by some Devil Cultivators in the forest. They are cultivators and they ran away. I am just a commoner, and fell behind. I couldn't find them, but came across some corpses in the forest. I was too scared to continue searching for them, and ran all the way here."
The siblings looked at him in sympathy. Devil Cultivators indeed wreaked havoc during the Demonic Moon, and it was understandable that a commoner would be scared. Even the government did not penalize commoners for leaving their work and running away when facing Devil Cultivators.
The government and major and mid level sects were forever trying to bring down these Devil Cultivators, but these people were very shrewd, and never fought face to face, either resorting to assassinations and ambushes, or running away when things got out of hand.
"Why don't you come with us. The people in this city know both of us, and we have done a lot of work in Chen Mansion before. We can say you are a distant relative from Dark Forest City, and they will probably let you in as well."
Rihanna contemplated, and found this to be a good solution to her problems. The Voice was adamant that she had to enter the house, and she could use this extra support.
"Okay then. Let's go before all the posts get filled up!"
The girl was feeling pretty energetic after having tucked in a solid meal, and smiled enthusiastically, calling her 'Grandfather', as she pulled on her sleeves and rushed towards the Chen Mansion, her brother following behind. Looking at his sister's spirited steps, he felt overwhelmed by gratitude. His sister was his only living relation in this vast and cruel world. When no one had cared, this strange old man had stepped forward and helped without really asking much in return. He had to return back this kind favor.
The people were being selected based on their strength, speed, task handling, etc. Rihanna had never imagined such a laborious selection criteria just for selecting manual workers! And the way the participants gave their all made it feel more like a corporate level job interview! It would be really funny if it wasn't actually so sad!
Due to her upgraded physique, she was ten of times stronger than all the others, but she pulled back on her strength, surpassing most of the other candidates by a bare minimum. She couldn't expose anything strange about herself and make them suspicious about her. There were already too many people searching for her outside.
Truly, the siblings were well liked by the people at Chen Mansion, and even though they barely managed to pass, they were known for their perseverance and hard-work, and so they made through as well.
After they were divided into groups according to their jobs for the following days, each group was headed by a cultivator, and they were taken off to different parts of the clan territory to begin on their tasks for the day. Rihanna heaved a silent sigh. Mission: Enter the clan – complete!