Chapter 1067 – Mo Lan’s Travel Diary 20

After leaving the Tatari tribe, the mobile castle passed through stretching mountain ranges and arrived at the City of Chaos on a morning thick with mist.

This enormous city without walls stood upon the largest plain in the Land of Chaos. Buildings sprawled in overlapping layers, and streets twisted like a labyrinth.

Tavern signs hung side by side, the hammering from blacksmith shops never ceased day or night, and the markets teemed with merchants from every race. Those who walked and dwelled within the city were adventurers from all across the Mainland.

There were no laws here. Strength was the only passport, making it a paradise for criminals and bandits alike.

Mo Lan still made no effort to conceal her appearance. She simply parked the castle on a relatively open hillside outside the city.

Sylvia was in high spirits about running the shop and earning Gem Coins. The location was right along the main road into the city, making it easy for passing travelers to spot the Witch General Store’s sign.

During the first few days, most adventurers who spotted the massive mobile castle instinctively kept their distance, afraid of displeasing the “important figure” inside and bringing death upon themselves.

In the City of Chaos, less curiosity meant a longer life.

Only a handful of adventurers ventured a few steps up the slope, made out the Witch General Store’s sign, and walked inside.

Fortunately, once the first adventurer left safely, business at the Witch General Store picked up considerably.

Every morning, Sylvia pushed open the shop door and received these travel-worn adventurers. She gradually learned how to deal with different races, and her days were busy yet fulfilling.

After closing each evening, Sylvia would lean on the counter with Clack, tallying the day’s earnings together, sorting Gem Coin Cards by denomination. Watching the pile of Gem Coins grow ever larger and the cards on her shelves multiply, she was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Yet the peace lasted less than a week.

The City of Chaos was nothing like the secluded Tatari tribe.

This was a vortex of information, a breeding ground for rumors.

Not to mention that spellcasters across the Continent of Valen might not all have communication bracelets, but every single one certainly had a Communication Card.

Ordinary people could barely survive in the City of Chaos. The adventurers passing through all carried communication bracelets capable of sending images and voice messages.

After Mo Lan was recognized by a passing adventurer at the shop, someone snapped a photo of the mobile castle and posted the news that “Card Sorceress Moira has appeared outside the City of Chaos” in group chats.

The news spread like wildfire.

At first, only a scattered few curious onlookers came outside the city to observe the mobile castle from afar, pointing at the Witch General Store’s sign.

Gradually, photos, videos, eyewitness accounts… all spread through the communication network, quickly reaching every corner of Valen.

Half a month later, the crowds on the hillside spiraled out of control.

Among them were advanced mages who had used Teleportation Cards to travel from thousands of miles away, just to catch a glimpse of the Card Sorceress in person. There were wealthy merchants who brought their entire families, hoping to purchase high-tier cards directly from Mo Lan. There were fanatical card-drawers who simply wanted to be closer to Mo Lan so they could pull a few good cards from the card pool. There were even representatives of the city’s various factions, delivering formal calling cards and gifts.

The hillside where the mobile castle stood had once been lush with vegetation and dotted with wildflowers.

In just one week, the endless stream of footsteps had trampled every blade of grass bare, exposing the hard, dry earth beneath.

From dawn to deep into the night, a winding queue stretched outside the shop. People brought tents and dried provisions, exchanging all manner of legends about Mo Lan while they waited in line.

At first, Sylvia was thrilled.

Business was beyond anything she could have imagined!

Every morning the moment she opened the doors, the cards on the shelves vanished at a visible pace.

She had to have Zhizhi restock from the Card Shop constantly, keep Sentai organizing the shelves without a moment’s rest, and assign Clack exclusively to counting the endless stream of Gem Coin Cards being handed over.

Revenue records were shattered every single day.

Sylvia even begged Mo Lan to extend their originally planned half-month stay in the City of Chaos again and again: “Just a few more days! Business is so good, it’d be such a waste to leave!” Mo Lan did not object.

She simply watched in silence, kept her daughter company, and waited.

Gradually, the excitement began to sour.

Sylvia realized she was trapped.

Her daily life had become a fixed loop: woken each morning by the clamor outside the castle, she would wolf down breakfast and rush behind the counter, then endure ten straight hours of nonstop receiving, introducing, trading, and collecting payment.

At noon she could only cram down a few bites of the sandwich her mother had prepared, barely finding time even to drink water.

Her throat grew hoarse from talking without pause. Her small hands ached from sorting Gem Coin Cards over and over.

What had once been the fun of “playing shopkeeper” had turned into mind-numbing, repetitive labor.

Worse still, the area outside the castle was perpetually packed.

When she tried to step out to the garden for a breath of fresh air during her afternoon break, the moment she showed her face she was pinned by countless stares, accompanied by excited shouts and raised bracelets snapping pictures.

She wanted to stroll into the city at dusk with her mother, the way they had when they first arrived, and try the smoked ribs at one of the barbecue restaurants — but that was utterly impossible now.

The path from the castle to the city gates had long since been packed so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

At night, the area outside the castle remained ablaze with light.

The people in line lit bonfires. Bards strummed lutes and sang improvised odes to the Card Sorceress. Peddlers hawked food and water. The din didn’t fade until well past midnight.

Sylvia could only hide inside the castle, pressing her face against the window, gazing at the distant, true lights of the City of Chaos — the taverns, markets, theaters, all the “adventures” she had planned to explore — now nothing more than unreachable scenery.

The smile on her face grew rarer by the day.

Sometimes, during lulls between customers, she would stare at the seemingly endless queue outside the door, her eyes vacant.

Sometimes, while counting the day’s Gem Coin Cards, those eyes that once sparkled held nothing but exhaustion.

Mo Lan saw all of this.

She knew exactly what her daughter was going through.

The erosion of one’s original purpose — of travel and of life itself — by the desire to earn money, and the suffocating feeling of being trapped in an invisible cage.

But she did not rush to intervene.

Some detours must be walked in person before one understands why they are detours.

Some choices must be made in the midst of confusion before they can truly become one’s own.

She simply brewed her daughter a cup of calming herbal tea each morning, and when the clamor outside the castle persisted into the night, she activated a soundproofing barrier to give her daughter a quiet night’s sleep.

She was waiting.

Waiting for Sylvia to realize on her own: some things are more precious than Gem Coins.

The turning point came on an ordinary evening.

The shop had just closed for the day. Zhizhi was going over the restocking list, Sentai’s vines were tidying the disheveled shelves, and Clack silently sorted the mountain of Gem Coin Cards by denomination.

Sylvia sat on the tall stool behind the counter, gazing at the scene before her. (End of Chapter)