Chapter 563 Gul Festival

Yihailes City,

Li Si and Taiya stood outside the gate of this oasis town, looking at the town in this environment.

After learning that this town was shrouded in a legendary illusion, although Li Si wanted to complete the specific tasks in this area and get the final reward, he still carefully collected information about the city.

Li Si asked the mirror body clone to explore the city, but did not notice anything wrong.

From the performance of the clone in this town, Li Si felt that this town seemed to be no different from the oasis town he encountered on his previous journey.

There was nothing special, as if it was really an ordinary, ordinary town.

What was wrong?

Li Si was a little confused, but he was still ready to go into the city to take a look.

Anyway, this secret realm could not stop Li Si from leaving. If he found something wrong after entering the city, Li Si could take Taiya away at any time.

When they arrived at the city gate, the guard standing at the gate looked at Li Si and Taiya and said to Li Si:

"The city entrance tax is two gold coins."

"So expensive?"

Li Si frowned and said to the guard:

"We are bards from the city of Amandu and don't have much savings."

"And it's just to enter the city, why do you need two gold coins? Other oases are at most about ten copper coins, right?"

"This is the rule. You are not allowed to enter the city of Ihalles without paying the city entrance tax."

"This is too expensive. Can it be cheaper?"

"How about I play a song for you?"

Li Si looked painful, and seemed reluctant to pay the two gold coins for the city entrance tax. He was haggling with the city guards.

At this moment, there seemed to be a caravan on the other side who also wanted to enter the small town in front of them for supplies, but they were also shocked by such an expensive city entrance tax.

"There are so many people in our caravan. If the city tax is one gold coin per person, wouldn't it be more than a hundred gold coins for this alone?"

"Where else can you find this price?"

"We just want to go into the city to purchase supplies. Is this the price?"

The manager of the caravan looked at the serious-looking city guard in front of him in disbelief, and his words were full of surprise.

"If you are willing to pay, pay. If you are not willing, leave now."

"Am I begging you to enter the city?"

Another city guard stood in front of the manager of the caravan, unwilling to explain anything more, and said coldly.

"Really... you are crazy about money!"

"Doesn't the city lord here care?"

The manager of the caravan was a little angry, and his face was extremely ugly.

He felt that these city guards were deliberately making things difficult, trying to exploit money without cost, but there was nothing he could do.

The other party was the local snake here. Could he really fight against him?

Even if the city lord of this city, he might protect his men at the first time, right?

The manager wanted to take people away now, but he thought that there were not many supplies in the caravan. He was a little surprised to see this oasis that was not marked on the map, but now it seems that it is not much different from the robbers.

If it is just a water source, it can be obtained directly from the small lake outside the city, but food is not so good.

After thinking about it, the manager of the caravan had to let the other people in the caravan rest outside the city, and took a few people to pay the city entry tax before entering the city to purchase.

"Humph!"

The tall city guard in front of Li Si seemed a little impatient. He didn't say anything more to Li Si. He shook the fine steel spear in his hand and snorted coldly.

Li Si's words stagnated, so he had to take out two gold coins from his pocket and handed them to the city guard in front of him hesitantly.

The city guard looked at Li Si with some surprise, as if he didn't expect that the person who was so fussy just now was actually willing to pay such an expensive city entry tax.

However, since they came from the city of Amandu, the appearance and dress of these two people also looked quite good, maybe they were just a little stingy.

The city guard waved his hand and let Li Si and Taiya enter the city.

Li Si took Taiya into the small town, and the pain on his face disappeared instantly.

When he used the mirror body clone to enter the city just now, he used the stealth ability, so he didn't know about the city entry tax.

Li Si certainly didn't feel sorry for the two gold coins, but was a little curious about the abnormality of the city entry tax.

If it was just an oasis encountered during the journey, Li Si would not care so much, after all, with his financial resources, he could pay it as many times as he wanted.

But Li Si was sure that there was a big problem with the cooperative town in front of him.

Otherwise, this secret realm would not be called [a small town stagnant in time].

In this small town called Yihailes, did the time in it stop, or was it because of other abnormalities?

Such an expensive city entry tax is really hard to accept for normal desert travelers.

Even for caravans that specialize in traveling between desert oases, this price is hard to accept.

However, the city guards just now were only silver-level professionals, and the entire town did not have any special defense arrangements.

Otherwise, Li Si's mirror clone would not have been able to sneak in so easily before, without noticing any defense or warning measures.

So, is the "expensive" city entry tax intended to actively dissuade those irrelevant people?

Li Si had some guesses in his mind, but he was not too worried, but rather a little excited.

Don't be afraid of abnormalities, just be afraid of not finding the problem.

Next, as long as we follow the clues, we will definitely find the problem of this city.

Li Si took Taiya to walk along the streets of the small town, carefully looking at the small town called Yihailes.

The name of the regional specific task he received was [Yihailes's persistence]. It was introduced that because of Yihailes's persistence, this small town would always stagnate in time.

Although other reasons cannot be ruled out, this Yihailes should be the name of a person, and it is also the reason for the formation of this secret realm.

So the first thing to do is to find this person named Yihailes.

The name of the small town is Yihailes, and it is very likely that the mayor of this small town is Yihailes.

This is Li Si's guess, but there should not be too many problems.

Even so, Li Si did not rashly go directly to the city lord's mansion to find the target.

If it was really that simple, this regional specific task would not be a legendary level.

At least from the information observed by Li Si, the secret of the small town in front of him seems to be hidden deep, and it still looks quite normal on the surface.

Let's observe more!

Li Si made a decision in his heart. After all, there must be legendary power involved in this small town, so it is better to be cautious.

Then, Li Si and Taiya walked around the small town.

The houses in this small town are generally built low and solid, as if they were humbly crawling on the ground, reducing the resistance and invasion of the wind.

The windows are designed to be small and delicate, like chess pieces inlaid on the heavy walls. This design not only effectively blocks the invasion of wind and sand, but also makes the indoor light soft and warm. Whenever the sun sets or the dawn shines, beams of light pass through the narrow window and sprinkle on the quaint ground, creating an atmosphere of quiet time.

As the mountain rises slowly, these low buildings spread upward layer by layer, one by one, until the mountainside, which is quite harmonious with the surrounding oasis and small lakes. Looking from a distance, the whole town is like a carefully laid out oil painting, simple and rhythmic, and every place is an indispensable stroke in the painting.

There were not many people walking in the town, and Li Si felt that he could easily distinguish between outsiders and locals.

Li Si carefully looked at the people living in this town. They usually wore white clothes. Unlike other oases, this kind of clothes looked simpler, covering only most of the body, with arms and calves exposed.

You should know that the reason why people in desert areas like to wear robes to cover their bodies is that compared with the heat, the direct exposure of the scorching sun is more unbearable, and ordinary people will even get sunburned if they are not careful.

In addition, people living in this city are generally thin, pale, and seem to be malnourished.

But there is nothing unusual about their expressions, and they even show some joy and happiness.

Although there are not many pedestrians, the stalls on both sides of the market are also filled with many commodities and goods, most of which are grains and fruits produced in the oasis, as well as some handicrafts.

Just like a normal oasis town.

After all, most oasis towns produce similar products, and smaller oases don't have any special goods. Instead, food and fruits are the most popular things for travelers.

Li Si bought some grapes from a stall nearby, spending fifteen copper coins.

Picking up a grape and putting it in his mouth, feeling the sweet juice bursting in his mouth, Li Si nodded slightly.

Yeah.

The food is not unusual, and it's no problem for travelers to replenish their supplies here.

Feeding grapes to Taiya one by one, Li Si thought for a while, and said to the vendor next to him:

"Excuse me, I just came here, I want to ask where is the best hotel here?"

"Hotel?"

"That must be the Golden Coconut Hotel in the east of the city. Go in that direction and cross two streets."

The stall owner said to Li Si with a smile.

As if he hadn't seen a stranger for a long time, the stall owner said to Li Si enthusiastically:

"Guest, you have finally come to Yihailes. The day after tomorrow is the Gul Festival. Do you want to stay a few more days to experience it?"

"Gul Festival?"

"What is that?"

Hearing this, Li Si asked the stall owner with some curiosity.

"That is a festival celebration unique to our Yihailes. It is held at this time every year."

"The mayor will also appear at that time and lead everyone to hold a bonfire party in the square. He will also share various delicacies and fine wines with everyone and lead everyone to pray to the gods to celebrate the passing of the year."

"Originally, there were many guests who came from afar to participate in the Gul Festival, but recently there are fewer."

The stall owner seemed to have some regrets.

"Excuse me, which god do you pray to at the party?"

Li Si narrowed his eyes and asked the stall owner in front of him.

"It's the god Gul! This is a great existence that has been protecting our city."

"Thanks to him, we can live so peacefully and no longer be displaced."

Li Si looked at the stall owner and asked a few more questions. After seeing that there was no valuable information, he nodded slightly and said:

"I know, if there is a chance, I will participate."

After that, Li Si took Taiya to the direction pointed by the stall owner.

Gul Festival?

Could the secret of this city be related to this so-called celebration?

Li Si felt something was wrong, but he couldn't get any valuable information from the stall owner.

Praying to the gods, could it be some evil god?

Li Si was a little skeptical, after all, the source of many tasks in the previous life game pointed to a certain evil god.

But Li Si didn't remember which evil god was named Gul?

Most importantly, from the stall owner's description of the Gul Festival, Li Si felt that there was nothing special about the so-called celebration and bonfire party.

Why would someone come from afar just to participate in this festival?

Displaced?

Could it be that the people living in this small town had been wandering in the desert before, and then settled here?

But from the looks of the buildings in this small town, it doesn't seem to have existed for a long time.

It doesn't look like it was built recently.

Although it seems that a lot of things have been learned, it is more like unravelling the cover of the thick fog.

The city lord will come out at the bonfire party, and many things may be clear at that time.

From the stall owner's description, Li Si felt a sense of confusion and disharmony, a little depressed and uncomfortable.

On the way to the hotel, Li Si asked several people about the time to buy things, but the answers he got were all similar.

It seemed that the city was excited and happy because of the arrival of the festival, so the pedestrians felt excited and happy before.

Soon, Li Si and Taiya came to the Golden Coconut Hotel pointed out by the stall owner.

This hotel looks much larger than the surrounding houses. It has three floors. It seems that it has been newly built not long ago and looks much brighter.

Stepping into it, Li Si took a few glances at the interior environment.

The interior design of the hotel abandoned complicated decorations and outlined a sense of comfort with simple lines and elegant colors.

Under the high ceiling, several rows of wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged. Although they were not gorgeous, they were polished to a bright shine, revealing a timeless charm. All the decorations were carefully cleaned spotlessly. Even the most picky travelers would be satisfied with this cleanliness.

The first floor is cleverly divided into two areas, one half of which maintains the function of hotel reception and rest, while the other half has been transformed into a pub full of life.

In the pub area, warm lights fall on every table, creating a warm and attractive atmosphere. The air is filled with the tempting aroma of food, from freshly baked bread to slow-cooked meat.

Intertwined with it is the aroma of beer that cannot be ignored. It quietly wanders in the air, teasing the taste buds of every passerby. Many people have gathered in the pub. They are sitting or standing, holding wine glasses, with satisfied and relaxed smiles on their faces.

The sound of conversation and laughter interweaves to form a symphony of life, and the whole space suddenly feels alive.

As if noticing the entry of Li Si and Taiya, a lively and pleasant voice sounded.

"Two guests, is there anything you need?"

Along with this voice, a bright and moving blonde girl appeared.