Chapter 516: Regional Capital

When Xue Wei looked out the screen that displayed the outside of the carriage, he could not help but feel that there was a vast difference between where in the Ghost Realm one traveled.

He had been spending so much time in the wilderness, just stopping every now and then at the villages, so crowded areas were rare. Even though many people gathered in the villages, one could not call it crowded, but now that they had entered the regional capital, Xue Wei understood that the Ghost Realm was genuinely bursting with ghosts.

The regional capital was surrounded by a large and domineering wall. One had to enter through one of its four gates to gain access to the city.

Many ghosts came wandering from the smaller villages, or from the wilderness, to settle in the city. Others came to sell their wares, and yet some came to purchase items that were hard to gain elsewhere.

Everyone who came to the regional capital had their own purpose for being here.

Xue Wei, and the caravan he was part of, had also arrived outside the city gates. A long and straight queue was in front of him, and while Xue Wei wondered if the other gates were less busy, the middle-aged ghost shook his head.

"This gate is without a doubt the least busy one," he began explaining. "We came from the north, and the north is where the poorest areas are. Here, not many travel around, and there are no other regions north of this one."

Xue Wei understood the implied words. Since there was no other region north of here, then that meant that the only people who could enter through the north gate came from this region, and that they were much fewer than in many other gates.

Knowing this, Xue Wei could not help but raise an eyebrow in surprise.

This regional capital had to be humongous to house so many ghosts. While he was aware that ghosts would go missing every day, one also had to remember that there were no ghost families. While there might be couples, none of them had children, nor did they have pets.

It was impossible to trust one another, so roommates were also relatively rare. Xue Wei was not sure what to expect from the city. When he had been in the villages, the architecture was very similar to the living world, but was it the same in the cities? He did not know, and due to the towering wall, which blocked every view of what was on the other side, Xue Wei would get no answers for now.

The caravan had come to a stop. It slowly advanced as the line diminished, and when it was their turn, the guards ordered all of them to exit the carriages.

It was clear that this was the typical procedure, and all of them exited the carriages before they went to the guard.

The guard was flicking his hands, and a small shining rune appeared on the tips of his fingers before they embedded themselves into the ghosts' foreheads, and slowly vanished from sight.

These runes were the rules of the regional city. It made it so that when you entered the city, you could not kill others, and were only capable of attacking in self-defense.

If someone tried to break this rule, their spiritual energy would dissipate, and they would be erased from the Ghost Realm.

Everyone took this rule seriously.

However, when it was Xue Wei's turn to get one of these runes shot into his mind, he felt that it was utterly useless on him. He was not a ghost, and thus it could not bind him.

Although he had no interest in the idea of causing havoc, and creating a massacre in the regional capital, he was now capable of doing so, should he wish for it.

Lan was not even given a rune; everyone who looked at him was of the impression that he was a robot that had been created by a bored inventor.

Beasts did not exist in this world, but robots did. Some of them resembled adorable animals, and others were for the purpose of helping with chores.

Lan was quickly categorized as a robot which existed for the sake of keeping Xue Wei company, and not getting lonely, as a friend he could talk with.

After all ghosts in the caravan had gotten one of the runes embedded in their spiritual energy, they could re-enter their carriages and continue through the gates.

Xue Wei was observing the screen with curiosity, and his eyes widened in shock upon seeing the city that was stretching out in front of him.

The architecture was completely different from what he was used to. There were big and tall houses everywhere. These houses were clearly not made for one person each, but each of the buildings contained many small residences where the ghosts could have their privacy, but the owner of the city could still stack a lot of ghosts in minimal space.

Because of this peculiar housing system, Xue Wei noticed that the roads were somewhat large, but many ghosts and carriages were also present on the roads.

Some ghosts were moving swiftly, while others were walking at a pace similar to that of a snail.

When looking at their facial expressions, Xue Wei noticed that some looked happy, some had expressions of anticipation, and others were listless. Every expression that one could think of was present in the dense crowd of ghosts.

When Xue Wei looked at the two other ghosts, he realized that this was the most common scene in the Ghost Ream's regional capitals.

This was truly a place where fish and dragons swam together.