The winter sun rose over Yanjing like a crisp golden disc, burning away the morning frost.
Outside the main entrance of Taichu Sanctuary City, the crowd stretched farther than the eye could see. Hundreds of thousands of people stood four abreast, their warm breath rising into the clear blue sky.
Instead of security guards with batons and barbed-wire barricades, twenty gleaming bronze arches stood across the wide marble plaza.
They were the Taichu Pure-Heart Morality Gates.
Each arch was eight meters tall, carved with intricate cloud motifs and fitted with vertical arrays of emerald spirit-jade sensors. Above each arch hung a wide, high-resolution holographic screen facing the crowd.
Beside Gate Number One stood Su Wan in a tailored charcoal business suit and a black cashmere overcoat.
Next to her stood Qin Haoran, wearing his new navy-blue Taichu PR Director blazer, a golden company badge pinned to his lapel. Above Qin Haoran’s head, an emerald-green halo glowed with steady, dignified pride:
[Qin Haoran: Goodness 80.6 / 100]
