Chapter 422

Seeing that they had no unusual movements, the Shi Gate caravan put down their weapons and sat back down.

He Lingchuan looked at the people and campfires opposite and tilted his head to ask Fu Shanyue: "Did they chase you to the wilderness?"

He actually saw a familiar face, but the other party didn't seem to recognize him.

Yes, the guy who violently searched the private room at the Jinquan Elegant Baths last night was opposite. However, He Lingchuan remembered that there were two people and one monster at the time, but now there was only one person and one monster, and one person was missing.

Thinking that they actually fought with the local snake last night, it wasn't strange that one person was missing. Not necessarily dead, but they could have been detained.

"Shouldn't be." Fu Shanyue wrapped himself tightly, revealing only a pair of eyes, still lurking in the shadows behind He Lingchuan, not fearing the other party would discover him, "Going north to the Chiyan Nation, one must pass through these mountains. They were probably also driven in by the storm; hehe, this is called 'enemies are bound to meet'."

His attire was perfectly normal among travelers, and the Chiyan people opposite were also very relaxed, as if they really hadn't discovered him.

"What do you intend to do?"

Fu Shanyue leaned forward, whispering almost in He Lingchuan's ear: "That fierce tiger is Uncle Da."

There were only two monsters opposite; besides the owl that He Lingchuan had seen last night, there was a fierce tiger. He Lingchuan didn't expect Fu Shanyue to call a tiger "Uncle."

This fierce tiger was slightly smaller than the usual kind, but its physique looked more balanced, its fur color was a bit deeper, and it had a big face with a white forehead and bulging cheek hair. Just now, it stepped out from the darkness step by step, the momentum of a big boss patrolling the street fully pulled, causing the oxen and horses of the Shi Gate caravan to be restless; several pack horses were startled and reared, about to flee into the mountains.

The grooms tried their best to soothe them, and with the fierce tiger squatting by the fire motionless, without other actions, the horses barely stood still, but they kept pawing the ground and snorting, their emotions still agitated and uneasy.

He Lingchuan noticed that when the fierce tiger squatted down, even the flames choked.

He remembered the pair of fierce tigers that ambushed him by the Three Hearts Lake; although their physique was larger than Uncle Da's, the pressure they gave people was far less than Uncle Da's.

The close guard who had been by the Chiyan monarch's side for over a hundred years was not an easy master. When He Lingchuan helped Fu Shanyue treat his wounds last night, he saw a cone-shaped blood hole on his arm, piercing through from front to back. Now, comparing it to the long fangs revealed when the fierce tiger yawned, He Lingchuan felt he had found the murder weapon.

Uncle Da's tiger fangs seemed to be a bit longer than an ordinary tiger's.

Fu Shanyue used a talisman to cover up his scent, plus the pouring rain, otherwise the bloody smell on him would probably not have been hidden from the fierce tiger's sense of smell.

The two of them spoke in very low voices, covered by the pouring rain; although the fierce tiger didn't look over, its ears turned toward here, and its tail moved.

Fu Shanyue immediately stopped talking.

He Lingchuan intentionally or unintentionally examined the carriage opposite. A skinny man jumped off the carriage, holding a golden basin, intending to go to the campfire to get hot water, but as soon as he reached out, the guard on the side was in a bad mood and kicked him: "Lowly slave, don't you know to wash the basin first?"

"Yes, yes, okay." The man wasn't annoyed, climbing up while fawning, holding the basin and running toward the stream not far away, not caring about the pouring rain outside.

The guard by the campfire looked at his back and spat on the ground: "Pig!"

The sound of the basin hitting the ground was heard by the members of the Shi Gate caravan, but everyone just glanced in that direction.

This servant was undoubtedly a lowly slave on the Twilight Plains; he washed the golden basin carefully three times before bringing it back to catch hot water. The other guards were all sitting carelessly, only he curled into a ball, his movements careful. This time he learned his lesson, and before climbing onto the carriage, he picked off the mud clumps and grass stalks on his clothes to avoid dirtying the carriage.

Therefore, the passenger in the carriage was quite noble.

Just looking at the guards, including Uncle Da, surrounding it in the center like stars around the moon, was there any need to say who was inside?

He Lingchuan laughed and asked Fu Shanyue: "Why is the treatment of you two so different?"

Looking at the other side surrounded by guards; then looking at Fu Shanyue, wounded and down-and-out, hiding his name and curling up in a small nation's caravan.

Having a father who loves you and not having one, the difference is heaven and earth.

Fu Shanyue rolled his eyes, having nothing to say, but was secretly shocked:

Dead people don't need hot water, so why is Fu Shanji still alive?

Clearly stabbed by the wood-transformation poison... Fu Shanyue had confidence in his methods and had also tested this poison. The poison of the Divine Child was almost unsolvable; with Fu Shanji's cultivation, he shouldn't have lived past ten hours.

Coincidentally, Peach also brought him a cup of hot water, which was refused by Fu Shanyue. He Lingchuan observed the little girl; the stitch marks on her lips had healed.

From the outside alone, no one would associate her with a Witch Child.

He Lingchuan suddenly said: "Is Peach sick?"

The little girl's lips were pale, but a flush rose on her cheeks, fine sweat oozed from her forehead, and a look of pain appeared on her face.

He Lingchuan pressed her forehead: "She has a fever."

He didn't know when she caught a cold, but she was long accustomed to pain, saying nothing, gritting her teeth and enduring it.

Fu Shanyue looked at her twice, then suddenly leaned close to her and sniffed twice.

This action was like a dog; Peach twisted uncomfortably.

"Lowly people don't get sick that easily." Fu Shanyue said lightly, "She has inhaled too much baleful Qi."

Poor people have tough lives. Actually, his words should be reversed; lowly people who get sick easily would have long since become white bones, and those who can remain are all tough.

"Baleful Qi?" He Lingchuan was slightly surprised, then suddenly realized. Lingxu City had found people to come here to perform requiem rites to dispel baleful Qi at least a dozen times, but judging from the current situation of the entire Twilight Plains, the effect was not good.

After all, that world-shocking massacre back then happened in every corner of the Twilight Plains. Just like weeds, they were pulled and grew again.

Fu Shanyue had the instinct to absorb baleful Qi; coming to the Twilight Plains felt like a fish in water. But coming to the Thousand Star City ruins, which had the highest concentration and could be called one of the sources of baleful Qi, the baleful Qi didn't run to him, as if the little girl on the side was more attractive.

"So Peach really is a Witch Child."

"Hmm, she should learn the method of controlling baleful Qi." Fu Shanyue was thoughtful, "Otherwise, she will probably be killed by the earthly baleful Qi here. Even if she doesn't die, absorbing too much baleful Qi will make her a true omen of misfortune."

Peach asked timidly: "Will I harm others?"

"That's because they deserve to die, what does it have to do with you?" Fu Shanyue patted her head, "At most, you'll become an Earthly Baleful Child; if you stay in one place for too long, people around you will easily get sick, and the crops in the fields will wither—just like this Twilight Plains."

Peach's logic was very clear: "Sick people die easily. Then isn't it my fault if they die?"

"I said it already, they deserve to die." Fu Shanyue said happily, "Who told them to be so frail?"

As soon as he looked up, he saw He Lingchuan's examining gaze: "What?"

"You two are quite alike." He Lingchuan stroked his chin, "Both can absorb baleful Qi."

Come to think of it, wasn't the original Ba formed by a resentful corpse encountering earthly baleful Qi?

Fu Shanyue scoffed: "Then you and I both eat rice, why don't I see you and me being alike?"

It was as if God had pressed a button; the wanton wind and rain suddenly lessened; after another cup of tea's time, the haze was gone, and the night sky actually cleared to reveal the moon, which was exceptionally bright; the moonlight was like mercury, even casting a hazy halo on the surface, and travelers could see their surroundings without a campfire.

Only the scent of mud and grass remained, reminding them that there had been a storm here.

The weather in the mountains is truly unreasonable.

The little Witch Child Peach suddenly pointed forward: "It changed!"

The water vapor on the ground mixed with the moonlight, suddenly lifting its head from the ground and beginning to change shape.

Not just in the direction she pointed, but the ruins where everyone was located were all the same.

People who came here for the first time drew their weapons with a clang, as if facing a great enemy. Second Master Shi waved his hand: "Calm down, this is just an illusion that appears occasionally, completely harmless!"

The water vapor began to grow on the base of the Thousand Star City ruins, soon forming the appearance of city walls, high platforms, and buildings.

Huge buildings also "grew" on the stone houses where everyone was located, as if it were a palace. He Lingchuan raised his hand and brushed against the palace wall, passing through as expected, with no tactile sensation, only a bit of coolness.

Under the moonlight, everything was recovering rapidly.

In just two quarters of an hour, the phantom of a complete ancient city rose from the ground; not only was it magnificent and complete, but every person running in the city, although also a phantom, had exceptionally clear facial contours.

Restored to scale.

The Thousand Star City of the past stood across time and space in this way, appearing before the world once again.

He Lingchuan saw clearly that the Shi Gate caravan was actually located in the armory, right behind the city gate.

And inside and outside the city, the sound of killing shook the sky; giant elephants clad in sturdy armor carried battering rams to fiercely strike the city gate, one after another.

These giant elephants were two zhang (over six meters) tall, with sharp, curved tusks over one zhang long; their mountain-like physique was equipped with mighty armor, and the arrows shot from above the city were useless.

The battering ram was a dragon head holding fire, and every strike shattered a layer of red light on the surface of the city gate.

That was a barrier made of Yuan power, which was about to be shattered.

In front of the city gate, the enemy tide was surging, densely packed with all kinds of monsters, whatever strange shapes there were, roaring to shake the sky.

Although they knew it was an illusion, the living people standing here still felt their scalps tingle.

The position of the Chiyan people opposite happened to be among the demon army, and Uncle Da crouched among the demon phantoms, not out of place at all.

Scaling ladders were set up on the city walls one after another, and the defenders on the wall were suffering heavy casualties, their defense becoming weaker and weaker.

Since these were all illusions and there was no danger, the living people of the caravan simply formed groups of two or three to explore the ancient city that had disappeared in history.

Fu Shanyue pointed at Second Master Shi and signaled to the Witch Child: "Follow him closely." Then he said to He Lingchuan, "Shall we go for a walk?"

(End of chapter)