The villain also has spring 2

Chapter 2193 2.191 Hundred Demon Warriors

"Just how many layers of this hellhole are there?" Empress Wang, the Demon Queen of Huanglongtian, felt that the further she ran from the city walls, the further away she got.

"In the shattered spacetime, players are known as 'Outer Gods.' They possess countless high-dimensional abilities." Captain Yuko, the courtesan of Gobancho, comforted her companion, "We've only encountered one of them."

"Just think of it as a 'preloading' process before entering a new map," Wu Chen said with a smile.

As the folded space unfolds and the resulting shockwaves rise, time and space suddenly freeze and then instantly return to normal.

It was as if there was a sudden pause.

The distorted light and shadows coalesced in my eyes, re-forming the ancient castle I had seen earlier. Looking out, row houses, machiya, tatami rooms, shrines, samurai residences, the imperial palace, mansions, and castle tower stood silently before me, awaiting the arrival of the newlyweds.

All the buildings looked drafty and dilapidated.

"It seems we also entered the fray midway." Queen Wang, the Demon Queen of Huanglongtian, had a sudden inspiration: "The battle here was also interrupted halfway through by a purple-red crystal cone falling from the sky."

“No.” Shinano female ninja Sanada Yubi gently shook her head: “The dilapidation is just the surface; you can only see the true situation by going inside.”

"A dual world of appearance and reality." Captain Yuko, the courtesan of Gobancho, succinctly put it: "Each house is a small dual world."

Wu Chen's fleeting True Sight Eye directly revealed the truth about this dilapidated city from the Edo period (the historical period of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan, which lasted for about 265 years and was characterized by the shogunate system, the social hierarchy of samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants, and the policy of national isolation, which was the last stage of Japanese feudal society): "Similar to the Broken City, all the buildings here are implants from another time and space."

“Implants from different times and spaces.” Empress Wang, the Demon Queen of Huanglongtian, immediately realized: “Does Master mean that the entire city is pieced together from buildings from different times and spaces?”

“That’s right.” Wu Chen marked each of the unusually powerful spiritual entities he had glimpsed: “Everyone be careful, this place is severely infected. I suspect that these ‘foreign objects’ are most likely the result of the disordered transmission of the Purple Coral Tree.”

The "foreign object" that Wu Chen mentioned is short for "implant from another time and space".

"Could it be that the Purple Coral Tree teleported a city?" Dana Barrett, the chief of Dream Paris, had gained a new understanding of the powerful abilities of this last Thunder Tree.

“This isn’t difficult for her,” Wu Chen said, getting to the heart of the matter: “The problem is the ‘anchor point.’ What triggered the Purple Coral Spirit to teleport into a city? Finding and sealing the anchor point is key to this wave-breaking operation.”

"Yes, Master," the members of Team Breaker 2 replied in unison.

As the squad drew closer, the once flat castle towering on the horizon gradually rose into a magnificent castle with varying heights. The row houses, machiya, tatami rooms, shrines, samurai residences, palaces, mansions, and castle towers that had been arranged in a straight line also transformed into a well-organized castle town. The name derives from "town beneath a castle." In medieval Japan (approximately 12th-16th centuries), settlements surrounding the residences of daimyo were called "Hori no Naka," "Nekoya," or "Yamashita." During the Sengoku period (16th century), daimyo implemented a policy of separating soldiers from farmers, forcing samurai to live in areas surrounding castles, forming the political and economic center of their domains. Thus, from the Edo period onwards, these areas were collectively known as "castle towns." Their layout radiated outwards from the daimyo's castle, serving both military defense and administrative functions. They attracted samurai, merchants, and artisans, forming regional centers of power, often arranged in concentric circles and divided by a grid of streets.

Because it was an "extraterrestrial object" transported randomly, the castle town in front of us was simply a haphazardly cobbled-together "pretend building." Many buildings that shouldn't have been there appeared.

For example, there is the "Gassho-zukuri" style, which features steep thatched roofs (60° angle) to facilitate the sliding of snow. These rural mountain dwellings are constructed by binding wood with ropes, with no nails, making them highly earthquake-resistant. The multi-story houses have living quarters on the first floor, where people live and use a stove for heating, silkworm rearing and silk production on the second floor, and storage on the third floor. Every 30 or 40 years, the entire village must work together to replace the thatched roofs, a process known as "Knotting".

Furthermore, the clandestine casinos, where gamblers often engage in "tetsuho" (a game of guessing dice), should not be openly built in the castle town. Even more outrageous is that the public bathhouses where the townspeople usually bathe have been replaced by an Iwafuro (a hot spring with a rock cave).

This was the Dark Ages!

Life in Edo was extremely simple; most of the house was only used for sleeping. Only middle-class and above families owned simple stoves (which made raw food popular). Wells and toilets were communal. Merchants were accustomed to discussing business naked in public bathhouses without fear of assassination. Many Edo residents relied on street vendors for food, mainly eating nigiri sushi, tempura, and soba noodles. Women preferred mochi and red bean soup. Teahouses and izakayas were everywhere, while high-class restaurants sold a bowl of ochazuke (rice with tea) at exorbitant prices that were unaffordable for ordinary people.

As for the popular practice of visiting prostitutes, the prices are drastically higher.

For example, a high-class prostitute (Tayu) required a payment of 35 mon (a simplified form of "ryo," equivalent to one-thousandth of a kan, 1 mon = 3.75 grams) on the first meeting. This perfectly reflected the well-known Edo proverb, "A day in Yangzhou, and a thousand mon are lost." A mid-level prostitute (Kakushi) cost about 25 mon, while the lowest-level prostitute (Hanjoro) cost at least 20 mon, with some charging by the minute. In reality, there were many more hidden expenses. Even for the most beautiful high-class prostitutes, the service included "Yangya (pre-banquet)," "Hanshou (supervisor)," food and drink, tips, and many other expenses, far exceeding the listed price. No wonder one needed "ten thousand mon" to dare to "ride a crane to Yangzhou."

To facilitate management and prevent prostitutes from escaping and harassment by clients, Edo established independent, official red-light districts called "Yoshiwara Yuko," which adopted a unified management model. Specifically, the brothels were surrounded by walls with only one main gate for entry and exit. A "tsugeto" (a guard stationed there for surveillance and security) was set up on the right side of the gate, while a "banso" (a staff stationed there to manage the internal affairs of the brothel) was set up on the left side.

According to statistics, there were originally 125 brothels in Yoshiwara, with a total of 75 "Tayu", 31 "Kaku-no-ro" (girls' quarters), and 881 "Han-no-ro" (girls' quarters).

However, due to the unique gender imbalance in Edo, the Yoshiwara brothel flourished after its opening. At its peak, it covered an area of ​​2 tsubo (approximately 8 square meters), equivalent to the size of eight Tokyo Domes. There were 3 to 4 courtesans serving customers, and it is said that the number of customers reached around 2 per day, making it the largest geisha district in Japan at the time.

Moreover, only the most elite "Taofu" are called "Hua Kui" (flower queen), followed by "Tenjin" (goddess), and then "Ge Nu Lang" (lady of the rank) and "Duan Nu Lang" (lady of the demeanor).

It is easy to imagine that Yuko, the courtesan of Gobancho, was an absolute beauty, one in a million.

As prostitution became increasingly popular, various forms of paid companionship emerged. For example, it became common for restaurants to have "shofu" (hostesses) or for lightly made-up geisha to greet guests. The forms were diverse, such as "boat manju," where erotic acts were performed while boating on the river. These places where prostitution was prevalent were collectively called "oka-cho" (rooms with open-air brothels) in contrast to the supposedly regulated Yoshiwara pleasure quarters. However, the business of oka-cho quickly spread from a small spark to the entire Edo city. In areas frequented by wealthy merchants, a new model emerged where geisha teams from various "okiya" (high-class brothels) served at banquets. This marked the beginning of geisha being invited to company flower viewing parties and celebratory banquets. At this time, geisha differed from the traditional heavily made-up ones; they wore light makeup, and their clothing and headdresses were kept simple. They wore haori (kimono outer garments) and accompanied guests with shamisen music and dance. Therefore, for a period, geisha were affectionately called "haori." Generally speaking, geisha do not remove their haori when attending banquets, which symbolizes that they sell their art but not their bodies; however, if they remove their haori during the banquet, it means that they are willing to sell their bodies (I've learned so much strange knowledge again).

The brothels, which should have been built within the pleasure quarters, were brazenly moved to the castle town, which is clearly even more unreasonable.

With the help of his female companion's "eyes," he visited the imposing Gassho-zukuri (traditional Japanese house), the rock bath, the iron fire field, and the pleasure house in turn. Wu Chen suddenly realized: "It's less like a Japanese version of 'Mortal Engines' and more like 'Onimusha'."

Corresponding to the location of the exceptionally powerful spiritual entity he had just marked, Wu Chen added: "Hundred Ghost Warrior."