The city walls were still riddled with gaps everywhere, and there weren’t even any parapets or battlements on top, nor were there any facilities like watchtowers.

Because there were breaches all over the city walls, entering and leaving the city didn’t require using the city gate. Henry Clark and the twenty-some others had already changed their clothes earlier, and they didn’t enter through the gate. Before entering the city, they did encounter a few people, but both sides just sized each other up from a distance—no one deliberately paid attention to the other.

After entering the city, they didn’t see a single soul inside. All they could see were ruins everywhere—ruin after ruin had become the defining feature of the city. What was even more distinctive were the scattered bones and dried-up droppings everywhere.

Naturally, Henry Clark and his group didn’t venture deep into the city; they just wandered around the outskirts. After about two hours, the people they had expected finally appeared.

These were the relatively prominent figures in the city—in plain terms, they were either Jie or Di people. With more than twenty strangers suddenly appearing in the city, it would have been strange if they hadn’t reacted.

The appearance of these people wasn’t abrupt; first, someone came over to greet them, then found a spot, and after that, twenty or thirty Hu people gathered.

The Jie people were pure Caucasians with yellow hair, shaved heads, green eyes, and high noses. Most of them wore their hair loose, and their clothing varied widely.

The Di people were East Asian, but most of them wore their hair tied up and dressed more carefully—in short, they leaned more toward Han customs, with a high degree of so-called Sinicization.

This wasn’t Henry Clark’s first time dealing with Hu people; he knew they were testing the waters.

“From the northwest,” Henry Clark replied. He had a language translation system, so he could use any accent or dialect he wanted. Now, he spoke in a perfect Qiang accent: “We’re just passing through here, still heading north.”

To the north of Qingzhou was none other than Yizhou. He had already prepared his story: Later Zhao and Eastern Jin were fighting fiercely along the Yangtze, and he had a whole explanation ready about wanting to go to Eastern Jin. That way, he could explain why he was passing through Qingzhou to get to Yizhou instead of taking another route.

In these times, the Jie people were the dominant force in the Central Plains, so naturally, it was a Jie man who spoke. The burly Jie nodded and said, “If you want medicinal herbs, you either have to go to the southern people’s territory or to Liaodong.”

Henry Clark was posing as a Qiang, claiming to be here to purchase medicinal herbs.

The Qiang were quite active now, but generally in the northwest and the basins below the plateau (Tuyuhun), and they were also active in Shu.

Henry Clark wasn’t sure if the Qiang had established a state, so he just said he represented a large tribe. There was a reason for this—his group looked tough, with a clear military bearing. In these times, who would travel far without bringing a band of warriors?

It must be noted that only the Hu people dared to roam around these days. As for the Jin people, even if they could, they absolutely wouldn’t dare to travel openly with armed escorts—if they got killed, there’d be nowhere to seek justice.

The Later Zhao regime also had Qiang officials, but not as many as the Di. Although both were considered second-class citizens, there were still differences.

This city was just a small place, so the so-called prominent figures were nothing special. Henry Clark chatted away, and those Hu people who had never traveled more than a few dozen li could only listen.

Henry Clark only talked nonsense within limits, discussing local customs and such, never touching on anything too high-level.

Those Jie and Di people, hearing Henry Clark talk about so many places and their customs—some of which they’d only heard about secondhand—weren’t simple-minded, just limited in experience. Plus, Henry Clark’s appearance and behavior had not a trace of a Jin person, so they tentatively believed he was a traveler from afar.

The Jie were domineering—toward everyone. The leading Jie casually brought out some medicinal herbs, saying he wanted to sell them to Henry Clark, and even told him to name his own price.

Who was Henry Clark? Even at his worst, he was someone bombarded by modern information—how could he not know what this meant? Wasn’t it just a toll?

Fine, but he wouldn’t give too much. If they tried to extort more, he’d get tough, ready to fight if necessary.

That was actually the right approach. Only the descendants of Huaxia, who cared about etiquette and rules, liked to avoid trouble. The Hu people believed in mutual respect, and if you didn’t give face, you settled things with your fists.

After dealing with the local bigwigs, Henry Clark’s identity was accepted, and he could now wander around openly. He could see more, but the more he saw, the less cheerful he felt...

Chapter 4: Return, O Soul

A rundown county, a vast city with only a handful of people. Inside, Hu people could be seen squatting by the roadside everywhere, and it was common to see Hu people taking pleasure in bullying the Jin.

Jin people being bullied was the norm. As long as they could keep their lives, no matter how badly they were bullied, they endured it.

Henry Clark stopped in his tracks and saw a few Jie men dragging a young woman. A man who looked like her relative was clutching one of the Jie, begging bitterly. Only then did he realize that the woman being dragged was the man’s newlywed wife, and the Hu people had come to snatch her precisely because they knew this.

The young woman’s looks could only be described as very plain. After all, she was from a poor Jin family—no matter how she cared for herself or dressed up, how could she not look like a village woman?