Chapter 805
Chapter 805
One day, Shen Lang tried to leave the tower, and no one stopped him. So, Shen Lang left the tower and entered the city of Bijing. Dressed in a luxurious silk robe, he walked the streets, and all the nobles in the city kept their distance from him. However, the wealthy merchants and commoners were unfailingly polite to him, and the slaves, upon seeing the design on his robe, all knelt on the ground in an orderly fashion. Shen Lang had wondered why the Rousseau family hadn't dispatched warriors to protect him, but now he saw there was no need. The family crest on his silk robe was the ultimate shield.
The Rousseau family had ruled this city for hundreds of years, and loyalty to them was ingrained in the very bones of its people. But loyalty aside, every attempt Shen Lang made to converse with people ended in failure. In this city, there was an absolute linguistic hierarchy. The upper class spoke Seyrun (i.e., Latin—author's note), while the middle and lower classes spoke Vedic. What was Vedic? The majority of the people in this region had brown skin and were all called the Veda people. Thus, the language they spoke came to be called Vedic. The Veda people were the original inhabitants of this land; the white people were merely conquerors.
Long ago, when the Seyrun Dynasty swept across the entire Western world, its territory at its peak exceeded ten million square kilometers. This Bipa Planet was also a place conquered by the Seyrun Dynasty. When the First Seyrun Empire fell, the Rousseau family was the governor of Bipa Planet, and the other planets all declared independence and formed their own nations. The Rousseau family was no exception, officially establishing the Duchy of Rousseau at that time. Later, when the Second Seyrun Empire rose, the Rousseau family once again pledged allegiance to the Seyrun Empire, becoming part of the empire's planets again. However, less than a hundred years later, the Second Seyrun Empire fell once more. Bipa Planet once again became the Duchy of Bipa, and so it has remained to this day.
Hundreds of years had passed since then, and the native Veda people had all forgotten that they were once the masters of this land. The Vedic language had become an inferior tongue, and the white people of this city would never mention the fact that the Veda were once its masters. Of course, there was an even lower-class language. It was the language spoken among slaves, called the Dog Tongue. This Dog Tongue was not a true language but one invented by the slave owners to better control their slaves. Every letter and word was filled with baseness, and moreover, phrases in the Dog Tongue were extremely short, never exceeding ten characters. The slave owners believed that if the phrases were too long, the slaves would become smarter after learning them. Just as commands given to animals were very short, they thought the language of slaves should be the same.
The problem Shen Lang now faced was that he didn't know the native Vedic language, let alone the slaves' Dog Tongue. He could only speak Latin based on the computer's instructions. However, everyone who spoke Seyrun knew Shen Lang's status, and as if under a gag order, they wouldn't exchange a single word with him. They would even hastily leave whenever he approached. So, despite having married Grand Duchess Dybas, Shen Lang remained completely isolated in Bijing.
Shen Lang went to the library to look for various materials. He specifically searched for information about the Witch Empire but found nothing. Bijing had a very large library with tens of thousands of books, but every book related to the Witch Empire had already been destroyed. Even if an ordinary book contained the slightest mention of the Witch Empire, that part was cut out. Shen Lang could feel Grand Duchess Dybas's hostility toward the Witch Empire on a visceral level.
* * *
Shen Lang finally learned what the people of this city, especially the warriors of the Rousseau family, thought of Easterners. That day, they hadn't noticed his arrival and were whispering among themselves.
"All Easterners are deceitful and wicked. They should all go to hell. I heard most Eastern women are whores, and the men all love to get it in the rear!"
When one warrior said this, many others agreed. Just hearing that was enough to know the immense malice they held toward Easterners. But when Shen Lang appeared, they immediately shut their mouths, said nothing, and didn't even glance his way.
*Truly deceitful people!*
Wandering through Bijing these past few days, Shen Lang had noticed something. The upper class in Bijing consisted entirely of white people, the middle and lower classes were all Veda people, and the slaves were half black and half natives captured from various regions. They were actually the same race as the Veda people, just from more remote areas. Moreover, the white people in this city didn't just look down on people from the Eastern world; they held an absolute animosity toward them. This further convinced Shen Lang that the Witch Empire, which they held such enmity for, was related to Qiu Yao'er.
After returning to the tower, Shen Lang thought he would never see Grand Duchess Dybas again. But unexpectedly, seven days after their marriage, she suddenly appeared in his room and spent another night with him. Before sleeping with him, she still recited a strange phrase and wrote strange characters on his body with her fingernails. An hour later, she disappeared again.
* * *
Another five days passed. Grand Duchess Dybas appeared again and slept with Shen Lang. She had intended to leave right after, but Shen Lang held her back, and they slept together again, with him employing various techniques. In the middle of it, Shen Lang tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. In this world or on Earth, there were always very strange women. They would sleep with you but not kiss you, as if that act could preserve their final shred of integrity.
* * *
Shen Lang gradually came to understand that this Grand Duchess Dybas was an exceptionally outstanding noblewoman. Not only was she highly skilled in martial arts, but she was also proficient in the art of war, and had a deep knowledge of literature, medicine, and poetry. In any case, she possessed all the qualities an outstanding noblewoman should have. Of course, Shen Lang didn't like such women at all. The type who was so exceptional she didn't seem real. Moreover, women of her kind didn't display their artistic talents to please others or to receive praise, but rather to cultivate their own sentiments.
One time, Shen Lang inadvertently entered a room where Grand Duchess Dybas was playing an instrument. At that time in the Western world, the piano had not yet appeared, and even the harpsichord had not yet been developed. There was only the organ, which was massive. Although its timbre couldn't match a piano's, it was still quite good. Grand Duchess Dybas was so skilled with the organ that she could be called a brilliant artist. But as soon as Shen Lang entered, she stopped playing, gave him a slight smile, and immediately stood up and left the room. It was a distancing filled with aristocratic etiquette.
Why did Grand Duchess Dybas never play when there was an audience? Because she believed that she didn't play music to please others. Besides, in Bijing, she held the highest, most noble position, so she had no need to please anyone. In other words, no one was worthy of hearing her play, and that, of course, included Shen Lang. If another grand duke had entered the room, or another prince of the Seyrun Dynasty, Grand Duchess Dybas would have gladly continued to play.
Shen Lang once again felt the deep-seated arrogance of the Western nobility, their disdain for others, a disdain that was deceitful yet full of etiquette. But he didn't mind. He sat down at the organ and, with the help of his computer, began to play. The piece was still his most beloved, *Exodus*. The piece hadn't been composed long ago; it was merely a film score. After being arranged by Wojciech Kilar and performed by Maksim, it couldn't be called a masterpiece, but it became a classic piece that was both elegant and popular. It was filled with a grand, tragic, and epic sentiment that stirred the soul. Shen Lang wasn't particularly fond of the nation of Israel, but he loved this piece.
Hearing Shen Lang's performance, Grand Duchess Dybas paused her steps and listened intently. She was now displaying the conduct of an outstanding noble—appreciating art with pleasure—and her level of appreciation was extremely high. A look of surprise appeared in her beautiful eyes. She was surprised that an Eastern man like Shen Lang could play such Western-style music.
Although they were cut off from the Eastern world, the two civilizations had still influenced each other to some extent. As an ancient noble family of the Seyrun Dynasty, the Rousseau family had some understanding of the Eastern world. In Grand Duchess Dybas's view, the music of the Eastern world was not like this. Their music pursued artistic sentiment and realism; it wasn't as radical or shocking as Western music. Of course, she acknowledged that the music of the Eastern world was also excellent, but as a member of the Seyrun Dynasty, she had to maintain a sense of her own civilization's superiority in any situation. When Shen Lang finished playing, Grand Duchess Dybas left.
* * *
That night. Grand Duchess Dybas appeared in Shen Lang's room once again, and they had another ritualistic night together. But when she tried to leave, Shen Lang held her back again, and they slept together in his way. But when Shen Lang tried to kiss her, she pushed him away again.
Their relationship was very strange. Although they were husband and wife, they treated each other more like strangers. Especially whenever Shen Lang displayed some talent, Grand Duchess Dybas would become even colder. The white people's attitude toward Shen Lang had spread throughout Bijing, and he remained isolated within it. Although Shen Lang learned Vedic through his computer and could finally speak it, he might as well have been mute. Because no one would talk to him, he had no opportunity to converse with others.
On another note, the handsome men from the Eastern world, Kun An and Jin Gao, became the new eunuchs of this tower. Those two also kept their distance from Shen Lang. Despite being his countrymen, they didn't say a word to him. They even cut their long hair and applied eyeshadow to look more like Westerners, as if to bid farewell to their Eastern identities.
* * *
Did Shen Lang feel lonely? A little. When he was on the deserted island, he was alone for months, so of course, he was lonely. At that time, he had desperately wanted to get to any city, anywhere with people. He had even set a grand ambition for himself. To make a name for himself within three months and take control of the city within a year. Now, he realized he had been thinking too much. In just a few days, he had become the husband of this city's ruler, seemingly rising to a position second to one and above all others. But he had come to realize that no matter what schemes or intellect he used, he could never become the master of this city. Because he was an Easterner, a yellow-skinned man.
No matter how intelligent or outstanding he was, it was all useless. The longer he stayed in this city, the more acutely Shen Lang felt that everyone was isolating and ostracizing him. As time passed, this isolation and ostracism even turned into hostility. For months, no one spoke a word to him. Though surrounded by people, he couldn't obtain any information. Because whenever he approached, everyone stopped talking. But Shen Lang wasn't pained by this situation. He was, after all, a wise man, so whenever he encountered such a situation, he would just say one word to himself.
*"Idiots."*
However, through this, Shen Lang deeply understood that as an Easterner, it was impossible for him to even establish himself in this city, let alone seize power. How can one race integrate into another? By willingly submitting to them? Then the dominant side might feel that your race is not a threat. But between two powerful races, there is no path to integration, only the path of conquest.