[8] City walk

The afternoon sun cast rays of bright golden sunlight down on the city of Hu-Shang.

"For your safety my prince, allow me to stay guard at your side!" Wu-Hou-Men bowed.

General Wu was in his sixties, he had a great white beard, boisterous belly with a silver scaled armour on top.

"I appreciate your protection, but I would rather prefer some privacy. Now if you excuse us." Wang-Yi said, as he walked forth on top of the city wall, with Ye-Li at his side.

The prince looked around one last time and made sure general Wu didn't follow. Once they were out of earshot, the prince spoke up:

"So tell me, what is the shape and length of the wall?"

"The city wall surrounds 2 sides of the city in a scythe shape, with the east and south side being completely defenceless while having access to the riverside. The total length of the wall is 9km."

"I see." The prince stroked his chin. "How many districts does the city have?"

"The city formally has 4 districts, but in practice 5. The governor palace and the aristocrat neighbourhood occupy the northeast of the city. The business district occupies the east area. The docking area occupies the south east side. The middle class district occupies the rest of the walled city. The last informal district is the slums, which surrounds the walled city."

"What's the population of the walled city?"

"250,000, my prince."

"What's the population of the slums?"

"There are no accurate statistics at the moment. The best estimate we have is 250,000."

"I see…" The prince lowered his head and rubbed his chin.

"What is it my prince? Do you have any questions?"

"What is the main factor of this wealth inequality?"

"One major contributing factor is sky high real estate prices. It takes the average worker 40 years to buy a house, and that's if they don't eat or drink."

"What makes living inside or outside the wall so different?"

"That, my prince." Ye-Li pointed to a green forest across from the river, despite there being sunlight, the forest still gave off a ghastly feel.

"What's that?"

"The locals call it monster woods. From what I heard, because of a curse from the old days, the whole forest is filled with monsters. And every once a year at least, the monsters would emerge from the forest and attack the people in the slums. While the ones in the city, are protected by the wall."

"That is no curse…" The prince's narrowed his eye on the forest.

"What do you mean my prince?"

"I read it in a book before. Back in the old days, there was a powerful weapon known as the nuclear bomb. It could make a 2nd sun blossom on earth. After the explosion, it leaves behind an area of nuclear radiation. This nuclear radiation can mutate any living creature within its range, creating what you call monsters."

"How did you know all this my prince?"

"The royal archives."

"Is-isn't this type of information confidential?" Ye-Li's voice gave away a hint of panic.

"It's confidential as long it stays here." The prince pressed a single finger to his lips in a faint smile.

"I don't know what to say…" Ye-Li seemed to be at genuine loss of words for a moment. "Thank you for trusting me so much, my prince!"

Ye-Li bowed half way, before the prince caught her by the shoulders.

Ye-Li looked up and found a smiling prince, a brief moment later the prince helped her straightened her back.

"I am counting on you as well. After all, there are still a lot of works waiting for us to be done." The prince looked her in the eye.

"Yes, my prince." Ye-Li smiled back.