Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang arrived in White Tiger City with two weeks to spare. They had made decent time crossing the desert despite how much trouble they ran into.

Cities in the Qing Desert all shared common features that were different from anything Wu Jian had seen up to this point.

Deserts were characterized by their harsh environmental conditions. The temperature difference between night and day was high, the summer was hot and winter cold, there were extreme changes in relative humidity, an absence of vegetation, and even the monochrome landscape affected people.

All the buildings were made from a type of sunbaked mud brick the color of sandstone. The light color prevented the exterior from absorbing heat from the sun.

There were two types of buildings: structures that had been built into the ground and ones that were elevated above the ground. The more modest buildings built into the ground itself were houses belonging to the people who lived there. All the other buildings were for travelers or had been constructed for a specific purpose.

The tallest building in the area was the colosseum, which rose above all the other buildings surrounding it.

It was a massive structure of several stories and shaped like an oval. Columns thicker than Wu Jian was tall surrounded it. Unlike the houses, which were made from mud bricks, this was made from stone. The imposing design made it stand out all the more. It was the first thing Wu Jian saw when they neared the city.

Unlike the many villagers they passed through, this city was guarded by a pair of peak Asura Realm cultivators. They were inspecting cargo and demanding people pay a fee to enter.

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang stood in line. It moved slowly. Wu Jian wondered if there was anything he could do to pass the time, but aside from bickering with Huǒ Shuchang, nothing came to mind.

While the line seemed to move at an antagonizing pace, they eventually reached the guards.

“You two here alone?” one of them asked.

“That’s right,” Huǒ Shuchang said.

The guard eyed him, then Wu Jian. “You two don’t look like traders. Rogue cultivators?”

“Correct.”

“I’m guessing you’re here for the tournament?”

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang looked at each other. They had no idea what this man was talking.

“What tournament?” asked Wu Jian.

The guard raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you don’t know about it? It’s the White Tiger Sect Tournament. It’s hosted every time the White Tiger Sect Ruins open. You know how the ruins only remain open for a limited period of time, don’t you? Thanks to that time limit, people aren’t just allowed to enter as they please. If you’re not royalty or you don’t belong to a sect, you need to participate in the tournament to earn the right to enter. The top fifty contestants enter. And the better your ranking, the earlier you get to enter.”

Wu Jian was flabbergasted. No one had told him they would need to participate in a tournament to enter the White Tiger Sect Ruins! Oh. But now that he was thinking about it, they hadn’t informed any one of their reasons for coming here.

We should have done more research into this. We just assumed anyone could enter. That was a blunder. I hope it hasn’t ruined our chances of entering the ruins.

“I’m guessing we need to head to the colosseum if we want to sign up for the tournament?” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

“That’s right,” said the guard.

“Got it. Thanks for the info.”

Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang paid the entrance fee and walked into White Tiger City. It was a lot busier than the many villages they passed on the way. While there weren’t a lot of people outside, a glance through the flaps of several buildings revealed a large crowd of people relaxing indoors. The sound of their talking also reached Wu Jian’s ears.

“Let’s head to the Colosseum really quick,” Huǒ Shuchang said.

Wu Jian shook his head. “I think we should find lodgings first. The tournament is a few days away, so we should have plenty of time to sign up, but what if we wait to get lodgings and discover all the inns have been booked thanks to this tournament?”

“Oh. Um. Hmm. Yeah, that’s a good point,” Huǒ Shuchang said with a blush.

There were a lot of inns. In fact, Wu Jian thought there might be more inns than any other building. Most of them were of the elevated type, which was meant to keep sand out, and they often had several stories. There were a few very poshly decorated inns that had water flowing through them, which not only leant them an appealing design, but helped cool the interior. However, these inns were far more expensive because water was such a precious commodity in the desert.

A lot of the inns were already booked just like Wu Jian expected. They spent several hours traveling from one inn to another, only to be told they were all booked thanks to the tournament.

“What the heck?! Why are there so many people here?! Are there really that many rogue cultivators interested in exploring the White Tiger Sect Ruins?!” Huǒ Shuchang complained loudly. Several people traveling outside heard his shout and snorted.

Wu Jian shrugged. “We’re here, aren’t we? It should be obvious that a lot of cultivators want to enter. This is a rare opportunity that only happens once every few years.”

“I know. I’m just complaining. Can’t you just let me complain in peace?”

“No. Listening to you complain is annoying.”

“That’s harsh.”

Day soon turned to evening. Wu Jian and a downtrodden Huǒ Shuchang entered what felt like the last hospital in the city. There were quite a few people in the attached tavern already eating and drinking. The sounds of laughter and loud voices rang across the hall.

“I’m guessing you two are here for a room?” asked the receptionist. It was a young girl who couldn’t have been older than twelve or thirteen.

“That’s right. Please, tell me you have room,” Huǒ Shuchang begged.

The girl smiled. “You’re in luck. We have one room available. It had been booked, but the person it belonged to never showed up. Our hotel has a policy where, if someone doesn’t show up within a day of their assigned booking, they forfeit the right to stay. Anyway, it costs two hundred silvers a night. That does include food and drink, though you will be charged extra for alcohol. How many nights are you staying?”

Wu Jian grimaced at the cost, which was akin to daylight robbery, but he understood why the price was so high. The tournament was taking place right now and people were desperate for hotel rooms. Unless you wanted to sleep under the stars, you had no choice but to pay the atrociously overpriced inn fees.

“How long is the tournament?” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

“It normally lasts seven days. Shall I put you down for that?”

“Go ahead.”

“Okay. Seven days will be fourteen hundred silver coins, or fourteen gold coins.”

“Here’s one spirit coin and four gold coins.”

“That works! All right. I’ve got you both down. Our staff is currently cleaning that room, so why don’t you two head into the tavern and get something to eat? This pass will let the waiters know you’re a guest staying at our inn.”

The girl gave Huǒ Shuchang a triangle-shaped wooden token painted gold. The image of a tiger was embedded into the token.

“We’ll do that. Thank you,” said Huǒ Shuchang.

“Enjoy your dinner,” the girl said with a smile.

They made their way into the tavern, which was very different from taverns in the Shang Kingdom and Ming Dynasty. Everyone was sitting on the floor in front of low-rising tables. Each table had its own rug and several pillows for people to sit on. Waiters and waitresses deftly moved around the tables, carrying trays full of food and drink.

There were no open tables, but that apparently wasn’t a problem. Anyone could sit anywhere there was space. Wu Jian and Huǒ Shuchang sat beside a couple of gruff-looking men who were already quite sloshed. They were much burlier than either of them, with muscles tanned from too much time out in the sun and scars running across their bare arms and chests. Several of them had thick beards to shield their faces from the sun. Only a young man who looked around Huǒ Shuchang’s age was clean-shaven.

“You two brats also here for the--hic--for the… tournament?” asked one of the men. He was quite drunk. The scent of alcohol hung heavily on his breath.

“We are,” Huǒ Shuchang said, puffing out his chest. “We plan on taking the top spot in the tournament.”

“Hah! Good luck with that! There’s a lot of stiff competition for the tournament. I hear members of the Crimson Sands are also participating!”

“Who are the Crimson Sands?” asked Wu Jian.

The man eyed him for a moment, then scoffed. “Right. You two are foreigners, so you probably don’t know who I’m talking about. The Crimson Sands is a mercenary unit that travels the Qing Desert. They’re all Emerites, but unlike most of their kind, who are just a bunch of petty criminals, these guys are pros. They’re not a sect, so they have to take part in the tournament like everyone else. They’re newest recruit is supposed to be some hotshot at the peak of the Asura Realm.”

“Do you know anything about this hotshot?” asked Wu Jian.

“Nothing, other than that she’s a girl,” said the man with a shrug.

“You’re being awfully forthcoming with all this information, friend,” said Huǒ Shuchang.

“Not like telling you brats is gonna change anything, is it?”

Huǒ Shuchang nodded. “True. We’re still going to win either way.”

“Heh. I like your confidence, but it will take more than confidence to be victorious here.”

Someone came by and served them the meal of the day. Unlike restaurants in other nations, eateries in the Qing Desert did not let people choose from a wide variety. Food was made from whatever they had on hand at the time. This was also due to the scarcity of food.

The meal bread and stew. The bread was flatter than what he was used to, and the texture was a bit rougher, but it had a very hardy flavor that went well with the stew. He found that spooning the stew onto the bread and eating it that way enhanced the flavor profile of both dishes. The stew was a creamy dish. Wu Jian could taste garlic and lemon, as well as several other herbs he didn’t know the name of, in every bite.

Their room, which they were given after their meal, was smaller than he would have liked. It only had one bed, meaning he and Huǒ Shuchang would have to share. At least, the bed was big enough for the both of them.

Huǒ Shuchang fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, but Wu Jian remained awake. These beds were just too rough for him to fall asleep instantly. He didn’t know how Huǒ Shuchang did it.

Sparse moonlight trickled into the room as Hou Jingshu’s necklace dangled from his fingers. It glimmered softly as he stared at it, thinking of the girl it belonged to.

After I finish here, I should head back to the Shang Kingdom and see how she’s doing. Mei said I couldn’t let anyone who knows me realize I’m alive, but that doesn’t mean I can’t check in on Hou Jingshu to see how she’s doing. I hope she hasn’t forgotten me.

Wu Jian wondered if it was selfish of him to hope Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua hadn’t moved on from him. Hou Jingshu was a princess, so it would be natural if she was already engaged to someone else, but he prayed that was not the case. Selfish though it might have been, he wanted to remain the person she would one day marry.

With a sigh, Wu Jian slipped the necklace back around his neck, hid it underneath his shirt, and closed his eyes to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.