Damp Poison, Uttar Pradesh.
Most of the administrative regions in the world that were named based on their location had a relatively shocking amount of land. Uttar Pradesh was not just the size of half a country, but also had a population of two hundred million.
However, most of the two hundred million people were engaged in agricultural production. It was enough to feed their families. There was no hope for them to become rich.
Beep beep beep!
There were four-wheeled vehicles, three-wheeled vehicles, two-wheeled vehicles, intact vehicles, damaged vehicles, and even those without doors. All kinds of vehicles shuttled through the wet and poisonous streets, their ear-piercing horns sounding incessantly. If one lived on either side of the road, being able to sleep peacefully was definitely a skill.
Three Burial had thought that he would stand out in Damp Poison, but the situation was the opposite of what he had imagined.
He was wrapped tightly in tattered clothes. His half-exposed face was covered in black dust. Fortunately, he did not have any hair after the fire, or it would have hardened into disgusting strands after days of traveling.
However, there was no lack of people like him on the streets of Damp Poison, especially in the slums. Some were forced by life, some were mentally abnormal, and some were cultivators of unknown sects.
Compared to his peers, Three Burial was at most a little out of the mainstream among the crowd, so he did not attract too much attention.
"We can't continue running here." Sanzang sighed.
Traveling from Lucia to Damp Poison was much more troublesome than he had imagined. There were more and more people along the way. He had no choice but to slow down. He could not forcefully carve out a path like when he was in an uninhabited area.
Moreover, the path he had taken was very obvious. Three Burial had probably been discovered already. Who knew how many people would be terrified by this path that had suddenly appeared. This was truly a sin.
Seeing him stand there for a long time, a street vendor tried to strike up a conversation with him. "Would you like to drink sugarcane juice?"
As he spoke, the vendor shook the juicing machine in his hands.
He first placed the peeled sugarcane into the drum at the end of the machine. Then, he shook the mechanical arm to squeeze out the sugarcane juice. In the end, he used a disposable plastic cup to place it on the chopping board. This was the original flavor of Damp Poison sugarcane juice.
"No need. Thank you."
The vendor spoke curry-flavored English, while Three Burial spoke sushi.
If the Britons had to figure out which English they could understand, curry-flavored English would win.
The peddler was slightly stunned when he heard San Zang's English.
His accent didn't sound like that of a local, but judging from his attire, he should be a wandering ascetic from another place.
"It's free. Here you go."
The peddler smiled and handed over the cane juice on the chopping board. "I admire ascetics like you the most."
"This … Thank you, thank you." San Zang accepted the sugar cane juice in surprise. He brought his palms together and smiled sincerely.
Although most of the Shidu people believed in the Shidu religion, and Buddhists were almost extinct, the ritual of putting palms together was deeply rooted in the customs of the Shidu people. In other words, the ritual of putting palms together was probably the ritual of the ancestors of the Shidu people, and it was later integrated into Buddhism.
Three Burial felt extremely comfortable after drinking the sweet sugarcane juice.
Whether the roadside stalls were clean or not was not important in his eyes. Anyway, with his extraordinary non-human body, ordinary things could not make his stomach hurt at all.
Although most of the peddler believed in the Shidu religion, Three Burial still sincerely prayed for him and blessed him.
However, there was no time to lose. He had already arrived in the northern part of the Shidu. He was not far from the Waterswamp Kingdom, but any delay could lead to changes. If something irreversible happened because of some delay, it would all be for nothing.
After resting for a while, Three Burial vanished into the sea of people.
Many things had become simple once he arrived in the Shidu. It was not just his attire and indescribable temperament. Now that he had mastered English, it was even easier for him to communicate and identify landmarks when he was traveling. However, if he ran into villagers who spoke in Hindi, Three Burial would have to laugh bitterly.
He moved swiftly through the city in search of his target.
"Hoot hoot!" The sound of a train horn rang out nearby, and delight appeared on Three Burial's face.
This was what he was looking for!
There was a train moving slowly on the train tracks ahead. There were no fences or ravines around the tracks.
The track was laid on the vast land, cutting through the thistles and thorns from the plains to the mountains, connecting human communities economically and militarily. Although the speed of less than 100 kilometers per hour was nothing compared to other modern means of transportation, the 'advantage' of taking the train in the Swamp was that the brave did not have to buy a ticket.
The train that had just started moving was slow. It would only pick up speed after traveling for a while to reach 80 kilometers per hour.
A few nimble young men grabbed onto the protrusions outside the carriage like wild monkeys. Then, they climbed up effortlessly and reached the top of the carriage with a flip.
It was obvious that they were experienced people. It was impossible for them to reach such a level of fluidity without going through a lot of practice.
Some people took the train to avoid paying a ticket, while others found the train to be too cramped, which was why they chose the open-air carriages.
Three Zang looked at the train numbers and found a train that headed east. This train should be able to reach the Swampy Poison State that the tall figure in the underground world had mentioned. As for the specific city that he could not reach, he could just walk there.
"Amitabha. I've sinned. I've truly sinned."
This was the first time Three Burial had tried to avoid paying a ticket, but it was an emergency. He believed that the Buddha would not blame him for making a small mistake to save the world.
The train heading east gradually picked up speed. Some of the Shidu who did not manage to climb onto the train in time stopped as well. They gave up on the bold idea. If they tried to climb onto the train now, they would not be courting death.
However, Three Burial did not give up. He strode forward with his long legs, and his speed increased even faster than the train.
"Is that person chasing after the train?"
"He won't be able to catch up. Even if he does, he won't be able to catch the train at such a high speed."
"That guy runs really fast. Is he an athlete?"
The Shidu remembered the Olympic sprinting champions talking about their childhood in interviews. They would all say that they liked to race cars. Could the ascetic not far away be some kind of track and field athlete?
After remaining parallel to the train for a few seconds, one side of Three Burial's body leaped towards the train. He jumped as high as a high jumper.
And this was the result of him intentionally suppressing his strength, or else he would have reached the top of the carriage in the blink of an eye.
With the support of his powerful physique, he didn't need any profound techniques to perform stunningly powerful moves.
"So, so strong."
The young people on the roof of the carriage looked at Three Burial, who looked like he was flying over, and they gave him a thumbs-up in admiration.
The rumbling train continued forward. Three Burial chuckled bitterly. He could only ignore his conscience and do something like this for free.