Lu Fan glanced at the Thirty-Six Heavenly Diagrams in his sea of consciousness and suddenly noticed that the Tai Ming Yu Tian Guo, which was suspended in his sea of consciousness, was significantly brighter than the other heavenly realms.
Lu Fan paid it no mind. After checking the distance, he saw that Tai Huang Zeng Tian Guo was the closest to Tai Ming Yu Tian Guo. Thus, the three of them turned back, preparing to head to Tai Huang Zeng Tian Guo. As they exited the city gates, they discovered that the gate guard was still kneeling by the entrance, drawing quite a crowd.
The gate guard knelt there with a miserable expression. Suddenly, he saw Lu Fan emerge from the city gates with two beautiful young girls.
"Young Master! Young Master, please wait! Please... please spare me, I'll return the gold coins to you!" the gate guard pleaded desperately, rushing towards Lu Fan and the others.
"Hmph! You still want to get away with it? It's already being lenient of us not to beat you up!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei puffed out her little nose and snorted, placing her hands on her hips and swaggering past the onlookers.
"Wow! This little girl looks like a golden boy and jade girl, truly adorable!"
"This child is so well-behaved, I wonder which parents cultivated such good fortune to have such a wonderful child!"
"Yes! Yes! This little girl is too beautiful! If only I could have a daughter like this!"
Envious voices immediately arose from the side. Zhan Tai Ruo Mei felt even more pleased, her small chest puffed out even higher, her walk becoming a little clumsy.
"Stop preening! We're leaving!" Lu Fan grabbed the hands of the two young girls and instantly ascended into the sky.
"Master! They're praising me! Why didn't you let me show off a bit longer! Hahaha!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei giggled.
"Tch! Excessive vanity is not a good thing!" Lu Fan rolled his eyes, feigning disapproval. My master is so handsome, yet no one praises me like that. Why should they praise you! Hmph!
At the city gates of Tai Huang Zeng Tian Guo, a troop of silver-armored soldiers was escorting a group of prisoners into the city. The prisoners were pushing carts of stones, looking quite strained. However, in front of the silver-armored soldiers, they dared not slack off in the slightest, for the soldiers held whips in their hands. Anyone who dared to be even a little lazy would be mercilessly lashed.
"Master! What mistake did these people commit to have to do such heavy labor!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei asked with some surprise. Growing up, she had never seen prisoners before, let alone prisoners doing hard labor.
"They must have done bad things, and bad deeds require a price to be paid!" Lu Fan patted Zhan Tai Ruo Mei's little head and said.
"Why not just kill all the people who do bad things!?" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei asked Lu Fan.
"Some people naturally need to be given a chance to reform! But without suffering a bit, some people will not know repentance. Therefore, they must be made to do hard labor!" Lu Fan explained again.
The three followed the crowd into the city gates and, as expected, had to pay six gold coins again.
Upon entering the city, the three suddenly felt that the streets of Tai Huang Zeng Tian Guo seemed different from those of Tai Ming Yu Tian Guo. There were hardly any street vendors, and the pedestrians on the streets were very few. All that could be seen were patrols of soldiers.
"Officer! Officer! I didn't do anything! Why are you arresting me?"
Suddenly, a patrol of soldiers ahead dragged a middle-aged man out of a shop. The middle-aged man cried out that he was wronged. However, it seemed he could not break free from the grasp of the armored patrolmen.
"Hmph! You've been loitering in this shop for so long without buying anything. This is a serious crime of wasting time, so you will be subjected to ten days of labor reform! This will teach you how precious time is and that it cannot be wasted carelessly," a silver-armored patrolman said dismissively, glancing at the middle-aged man.
"I'm innocent! I just hadn't decided what to buy, so I looked around more! How can this be considered a crime?" the middle-aged man cried miserably.
"Stop talking nonsense. It's not like you can't come back. Once our Third Prince's palace is built, this law will be repealed, and you won't have to worry anymore," the silver-armored patrolman said, patting the middle-aged man's shoulder with a playful expression.
"What the... heck! There's such a law?" Lu Fan, Jing Jing, and Ruo Mei were all dumbfounded. If you want labor, just say so! Why invent such a high-sounding law. Damn! This is truly lawless!
"Oh... Officer! Officer! I was sleeping soundly at home, why are you arresting me?" Suddenly, from a nearby courtyard, several officers dragged out another middle-aged man. The man shouted, clutching his neck.
"You fellow, sleeping at home in broad daylight, hmph! You're completely wasting precious time! You're fined ten days of hard labor to teach you how valuable time is. See if you dare to sleep in during the day next time," the patrolmen yelled, pointing at the middle-aged man.
"What the heck! Even sleeping is not allowed!" Lu Fan and the other two were utterly bewildered. Sleeping is not allowed?
"Hey! What are you three doing?" While the three were standing there in a daze, a patrol suddenly spotted them and immediately shouted.
"We..." Lu Fan was stunned. He didn't seem to have done anything.
"Hmph! Loitering around aimlessly, wasting precious time! Guards, arrest him and sentence him to ten days of hard labor," the leading patrolman shouted to the men beside him. With a whoosh, two men came over and tied Lu Fan up.
"Hey, hey... My master is weak and frail, unable to do hard labor!" Li Jing Jing and Zhan Tai Ruo Mei shouted from the side.
"Hmph! Weak and frail? That's until they taste the whip. After two lashes, I guarantee he can carry a mountain! Hahaha!" the leading patrolman roared with laughter.
"You... If you take my master away, what will happen to us? We'll be homeless!" Jing Jing said tearfully from the side.
"Hmph! What business is it of ours where you go! We only want laborers, not women!" the patrolman said, leading his men away.
"Hey... Big brothers! Do you provide food? We might not be able to do much work, but we eat little! Just let us follow you!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei and Li Jing Jing's eyes darted around, and they suddenly chased after them, shouting.