Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 2658  Visiting The Back Commons

Lin Mu didnʼt exactly have the best memories of sewers or places filled with noxious air.

The last time he had been in a place like this was the ruins where he had first encountered Gu Yao head-on. He had taken advantage of the flammable fumes and ignited them to explode the entire area to escape. As such, he didnʼt feel good being here, even if there was no apparent danger.

Even if the entire sewer exploded, he would come out unscathed due to his defenses—not to mention his Spatial Skills, which had been honed to a new level.

”Where do you want to go?” Meng Bai asked.

”Youʼre the local here, right? Take me to a place that is not too busy,” Lin Mu replied.

Hearing that, Meng Bai nodded. ”I know just the place,” he said before climbing back up through the manhole.

Lin Mu simply floated up, which confirmed to Meng Bai that he was indeed an immortal. After all, Spirit cultivators couldnʼt fly freely in an Immortal world.

Once they were back on the street, Meng Bai took him through winding alleyways before reaching another narrow street. It was barely wide enough for a horse to walk through, yet there were quite a lot of shops and eateries here.

But looking at them was enough to tell that these were not exactly high-quality establishments. The people on the street, as well as those inside the buildings, were all wearing low-quality clothes, and their qi fluctuations were weak, placing them at the Spirit realm.

Lin Mu spread his senses around, getting an idea of the area. He had never been here before, and it had not been marked on the VIP cardʼs map, which surprised him since it was quite detailed.

”What place is this? It wasnʼt on the city map,” Lin Mu asked.

”Haha, of course, it wouldnʼt be. This is called the Back Commons. While it is officially part of the Market District, it is more well known as the Slums,” Meng Bai replied.

”So the Ram Orchard City has slums too…” Lin Mu mused, realizing he hadnʼt seen a hint of it in the other areas, which were filled with trees and foliage seamlessly blending into the cityʼs architecture.

And yet, this area seemed no different from the common city slums of a mortal world.

Unlike the rest of the city, where nature seemed to harmonize with urban development, the Back Commons lacked the lush greenery and intricate designs that made Ram Orchard City so unique. The streets were narrow and winding, the ground uneven with cracks and patches of dirt forming where the stone pavement had eroded over time. The scent of stale food, damp wood, and unwashed bodies lingered in the air, a stark contrast to the fresh, perfumed breeze of the market district.

The buildings were older, many with peeling paint and crumbling brickwork that hinted at decades of neglect. Wooden shutters hung loosely from rusted hinges, while the occasional makeshift patchwork of cloth and wood replaced broken windows. Overhead, a tangled mess of ropes, drying laundry, and overgrown vines created a chaotic web that barely allowed sunlight to filter through, casting strange, shifting shadows over the alleyways.

The slums bustled with activity despite their appearance. Merchants hawked their wares from small carts, their goods displayed on faded cloths or in rickety wooden crates. The shops, if they could be called that, were little more than open fronts carved into the buildings, some nothing more than a counter and a few shelves stacked with second-hand or inferior goods. The people here moved with the weariness of laborers, their faces hardened by survival rather than privilege. Children darted through the crowds, their ragged clothes barely clinging to their thin frames as they wove between adults with practiced agility.

And yet, despite its bleakness, there was an odd sense of resilience.

The smell of freshly baked bread from a small bakery struggled against the ever-present stench of the alley. A woman sat on her doorstep, repairing a torn robe with expert precision. A group of old men played a slow, methodical game of stones, their expressions relaxed despite the hardships surrounding them.

Lin Mu observed all of this, noting how different it was from the rest of the city.

”There are almost no signs of the usual atmosphere of Ram Orchard City here,” he murmured.

Other than a few treetops visible through the narrow gap between buildings and some vines creeping down the cracked walls, the harmony of nature and architecture that defined the city was absent.

”The buildings look like they havenʼt seen a paintbrush in a century,” Lin Mu added, noting the patchwork repairs holding many structures together.

”The street is still clean, though,” he observed. Despite the dilapidated state of the buildings, there was little in the way of litter. Instead, the ground bore only the muddy tracks of constant movement.

”There are several such streets, all located behind the main market district,” Meng Bai explained. ”While it may look like a slum, this is actually the backbone of the Market District. The shops on the main street rely on these alleys to move goods, and the commoners do all the heavy lifting.”

”So, this is a working-class area?” Lin Mu surmised.

”Exactly,” Meng Bai nodded. ”This is where some of the people live, though most commoners still reside in the outer districts. The cost to live here is surprisingly high, despite how it looks.”

”So you donʼt live here?” Lin Mu inquired.

Meng Bai chuckled. ”Well, I do… I just donʼt pay.”

Lin Mu raised a brow in curiosity, prompting Meng Bai to gesture toward the rooftops.

”Nobody cares if I sleep up there. Either on the roofs or the flat awnings above the balconies,” Meng Bai explained.

”Is that safe?” Lin Mu asked, unconvinced.

”Safer than sleeping on the street or in some rundown hovel,” Meng Bai replied. ”Less chance of people jumping me or stealing my things. They canʼt do that if they canʼt reach me.” He added with a small laugh.