Heilong-kou (Black Dragon-Mouth/Pass)
Heilong-cheng (Black Dragon-City)
Censorate (Supervisory Court)
Yuling City (Jade City)
Jingui Town (Golden Turtle Town)
Xuanwu City (Black tortoise City)
...
This gate had originally been marked with a small sign that read "No Entry for Outsiders." Now that it was open, however, not a single foreign demon dared to cross its threshold.
To them, that sign was no different from a forbidden zone. Trespassing into such a place would be courting death.
That didn't stop their curiosity, though.
Some merchants lingered at the gate, catching a returning local demon and pulling him aside.
"What's in there?"
Gou Fugui saw the stranger and immediately went on alert. "Why are you skulking around here?"
The merchant quickly pulled something from his belongings. "Wait, don't hit me, brother! The logistics center said the vegetable vendor is outside this gate, and we're supposed to come out here to meet him. We've already placed orders there."
He finally fished out a stamped token. It bore Black Dragon City's unique seal.
Gou Fugui relaxed. "Ah, alright then. I'll take you. There's not much behind the gate anyway."
If orders were being taken, that meant this gate was going to be opened to outsiders eventually. Still, Gou Fugui couldn't help feeling uneasy—many of the city's secrets would soon be exposed.
He didn't quite understand why they were allowing access. Once the outsiders passed through, they'd realize that scorched earth cultivation was possible here.
But he trusted the Queen's judgment.
Thankfully, the Demon King had long since laid an enchantment over the demon crystal mine. Outsiders wouldn't be able to detect it at all.
The merchant, hearing that it was "nothing," figured it was probably just some farmland outside the city—and given Black Dragon City's sudden abundance of food, that wasn't so far-fetched.
And then he stepped through the gate... and felt completely duped by Gou Fugui.
This wasn't the outskirts of the city—this was another city entirely!
The roads were paved just like the ones inside Black Dragon City. And the route toward Black Dragon Pass was identical too.
What did that mean? It meant the road had already been extended to Black Dragon Pass. For all he knew, Black Dragon Pass had become a mirror image of the city!
Still in a daze, the merchant was led to the warehouse.
"Chief Yu, this merchant has an order from the logistics center—five hundred pounds of vegetables and fruit."
Chief Yu squinted at the order, confirmed it, and nodded.
"Your goods will be sent out around this time tomorrow. If you want to ride with the truck, it'll cost extra."
The merchant was surprised. He could hitch a ride? Of course, he wanted to!
He hurriedly asked, "I've got four companions—can they ride along too?"
Chief Yu looked honest as ever. "As long as you've got enough Black Dragon Coins, of course they can."
In the end, the merchant handed over three Black Dragon Coins and secured their spots on the truck.
He stumbled away, still in disbelief. How were these Black Dragon demons even more shrewd than them?
Back at their lodging, once the others heard they could hitch a ride, everyone agreed the three coins were worth it.
Black Dragon Coins were valuable now—three of them could buy you a sheet of glass.
The next afternoon, the merchant and his companions arrived right on time.
Just like Chief Yu had said, they rode alongside crates of vegetables and fruit in the back of the cargo truck.
The truck bed was lined with some kind of soft material—comfy to lean on, smooth to sit on, and more relaxing than roughing it on foot under sun and wind.
More and more caravans were opting for this now. Cargo trucks were officially more popular than passenger cars.
Passenger cars could carry people—big deal. Cargo trucks could haul goods, run just as fast, and were more useful.
Yin Jixue had been studying the bottom panel of the airfreight box. If it weren't so advanced, she might have mistaken it for a tablet computer.
According to the system, however, the airfreight box was a product that fit the current era.
She had no idea what to make of it. Maybe the demon race had once been cyberpunk? After all, they'd had flying machines thousands of years ago. An airfreight box wasn't all that outrageous in comparison.
She explained the touchscreen functions: "These features mean the following. I'll walk you through them once—you'll be in charge of training the others."
It was pretty much like using a remote. There were only a few icons.
The first was logistics tracking, including delivery history.
The second was recipient verification.
The third allowed the recipient to send items back using the box, with a few sub-options.
The last was the payment function—either cash on delivery or prepaid.
The Shadow Demons, true to their reputation for speed, sorted goods with astonishing efficiency. Standard fruits and vegetables were selected within moments. Anything bruised, misshapen, or cracked was set aside to feed the wild boars and rabbit-goat beasts.
The wild boars had lost all their feral instincts by now. They were getting lazier and fatter by the day. Yin Jixue was already planning a citywide food festival—maybe roast a couple of pigs for the occasion.
While she was teaching the Shadow Demons how to use the airfreight box, she received a return delivery request from the Empress of the Qingluan Tribe. The Empress had even paid both the delivery fee and the return shipping.
So Yin Jixue used it as a live demo for the training session.
Soon after, the airfreight box returned from the Qingluan Tribe, having completed its pickup.
Qingyuan received his delivery and also got a reply letter from his mother.
When the delivery box was opened, a cascade of pearls and gemstones tumbled out with a satisfying clatter.
These were top-tier magical treasures.
"Whoa, jackpot! Mother's never been this generous before—it must be because she liked what I sent her!"
Grinning, Qingyuan opened the letter—only for his smile to freeze.
The gems and pearls? They were a gift for the Queen of the Black Dragons. None of them were for him.
His mother also praised the shampoo and soap as excellent, but hadn't picked up on the hidden message in his letter:
"Mother, food, hungry."
Qingyuan was heartbroken. Still, he delivered the goods to Yin Jixue.
The letter also mentioned that the Winged Tiger Tribe had discovered the little prince's disappearance—but it turned out he hadn't been kidnapped. He had secretly hitched a ride with a merchant caravan and ended up in Black Dragon City.
Qingyuan's ears turned red.
The little tiger had done exactly what he had!
The letter also said that soon, both his mother and the Empress would be coming to Black Dragon City.
Qingyuan's face immediately fell.
Yin Jixue leaned her head on one hand. "You're saying the Empress is coming?"
Qingyuan muttered, "Yeah, and my mother too. She's going to nag me the whole time."
"Big sis, are there any other fun places in the Black Dragon Tribe? Just curious…"
He wasn't trying to escape his mom.
Yin Jixue saw right through him:
"There's Black Dragon Pass. It's under construction. Fresh vegetables are delivered there every day, and the food's the same as here. They're building a massive amusement park—about halfway done now."
"Transportation is easy too. The round trip takes less than a day. You can go anytime and be back the same day."
Qingyuan's eyes lit up. "An amusement park? Is that, like, a place for fun?"
Yin Jixue was already thinking she'd let him go check the place out.
The project was being handled by two professors, and she had no idea what kind of park they were planning to build. Better to have Qingyuan go take a look.
"Yeah," she said. "Perfect for young demons like you. It's a playground for kids—that's why it's called an amusement park."