Chapter Seventy-Five: The City Park

She truly was like an angel, radiating warmth with her smile, showing no aversion to anyone, and even giving an extra steamed bun to the newcomer, Jiang Xiaotian.

No wonder everyone called her the Fairy Sister!

But Jiang Xiaotian had become highly observant these days, and he noticed not far away a black Mercedes parked, with several men in sunglasses inside, watching this place closely.

It wasn’t hard to guess these must be her people. She was probably a wealthy heiress; otherwise, how could she afford to do this kind of charity work?

According to those nearby, the Fairy Sister did good deeds not just in this area—many beggars in other places had benefited from her generosity.

Thus, in the beggar circles of Dragon City, mention her name and nearly everyone would know who you meant.

Jiang Xiaotian nodded in understanding after hearing all this.

Soon, everyone here had received their share of steamed buns, and the Fairy Sister took her leave.

The beggars returned to their usual gathering place, but instead of resting, they went out to scavenge for recyclables. After all, one steamed bun was not enough to live on.

Jiang Xiaotian didn’t really understand these things, so he had no choice but to follow along.

Yet, at this time, no one wanted an extra competitor for collecting plastic bottles, especially a newcomer, so he was shunned wherever he went, and finally he had to wander into the city.

This area was much more prosperous, but as people saw Jiang Xiaotian, a filthy beggar wandering the streets, their glances were filled with disdain. His appearance was a blight on the cityscape.

Jiang Xiaotian cared nothing for their opinions. He focused on familiarizing himself with the streets, curious to see if Dragon City was truly as formidable as rumored.

After wandering around, though he didn’t encounter any martial artists, he could sense that the spiritual energy here was indeed much richer—one could say the feng shui was excellent.

Martial artists might not be able to use spiritual energy directly, but they could sense it in their own way. So it was no wonder Dragon City was known as the city of martial artists.

For now, his action log showed no instructions, meaning the next operation hadn’t started yet.

Although Jiang Xiaotian wasn’t clear on Zhang Guodong’s full plan, everyone knew the old man’s preference for multi-pronged approaches, each team working independently. While always ready to provide support, the ideal would be for everyone to converge only at the very end.

As for further instructions or tasks, they would have to wait until everyone was in position.

Until then, patience was key; do your part and wait for the next step.

But Jiang Xiaotian was not one to remain idle. He wandered aimlessly, but the deeper he went into the city, the more he noticed something odd about the spiritual energy here.

Instead of floating freely in the air as usual, it seemed to be slowly drifting toward a particular place.

Curious, Jiang Xiaotian followed the flow, tracking it all the way to a city park.

It looked like an ordinary park, but Jiang Xiaotian was stunned. It was as if the park were a giant pump, drawing in spiritual energy from all around.

Inside, the concentration of spiritual energy was astonishing! He had thought the villa at Yurun Garden was already rich in spiritual energy, but compared to this, it was barely a tenth as dense!

His instincts urged him to investigate further, but before he could enter, a security guard stopped him, saying beggars were not allowed inside.

Jiang Xiaotian tried to persuade him, but the guard found him too dirty to let in, and some tourists nearby objected as well. With no other choice, he had to leave in frustration.

Still, this park was anything but ordinary—it was surely connected to martial artists and warranted further investigation.

He went back to ask some of his fellow beggars, but none knew anything. They weren’t so bold—some didn’t dare venture into the city at all, let alone the park.

“Kid, you’re new here, so it’s normal not to know your way around. Take my advice: don’t even think about that park,” came a creaky voice from behind him.

He turned to see an old man in rags lying on a straw mat, sunbathing with his legs crossed.

The man’s hair was white down to his beard, and, having not been combed in ages, looked grimy and blackened.

Jiang Xiaotian walked over and asked him why he said that.

The old man didn’t even look at him. He just waved him away and grumbled, “So many questions! If I tell you not to go, don’t go! If you want to die, go ahead, but don’t bother me while I’m counting stars!”

Jiang Xiaotian rolled his eyes. The sun was blazing—what stars could you possibly count?

He didn’t take it to heart and hung around until sundown, as the other beggars returned one after another.

It seemed none of them liked to stay out late; by the time night truly fell, nearly everyone was back.

With little to do at night, the beggars swapped stories and sometimes sang songs, appearing quite at ease.

When the city grew quiet and most were asleep, Jiang Xiaotian slipped away unnoticed.

By all rights, no one should have noticed his departure, but after he left, the filthy old man sighed and shook his head, as if in regret.

Jiang Xiaotian sprinted all the way to the city park entrance, his breath steady and his heart calm.

As expected, the gates were shut tight and the lights inside were off. Normally, such a park would be open twenty-four hours, but here it closed at night, and a moat had even been dug around it—very suspicious. But this also meant there would be almost no one inside at night.

This was perfect—investigating would be much easier without people around.

The iron gate was tall, but to Jiang Xiaotian, it was nothing. With an easy leap, he vaulted over.

Inside, with spiritual energy so thick it almost overflowed, he took a deep breath, feeling invigorated as if he were a fish returned to water!

If it weren’t for his mission, he would have loved to stay and cultivate here all night.

But it was precisely because of this abundance, the way the energy pooled here, and the fact that the park closed at night, that something was clearly amiss.

Jiang Xiaotian forced himself to focus and headed deeper into the park.

Having skirted death many times, he was far more cautious and meticulous than before.

If his guess was correct, something here must be attracting the spiritual energy, but unable to absorb it, causing it to accumulate to excess.

Inside, it was pitch black; without a flashlight, one could see nothing. But Jiang Xiaotian’s senses were now sharp enough that he was unaffected.

The park was large, and he had no leads. The spiritual energy, once inside, simply pooled and did not converge on a single point as he had imagined.

So he resorted to a methodical, grid-by-grid search.

But when he reached the edge of a lake, his heart skipped a beat.

He was not alone!

Jiang Xiaotian stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing, as a rustling sound came from the far side of the lake.