Chapter 83

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

Melodies drifted from beside the ear, zither and se harmonizing, the floating tunes lingering and beautiful.

Shen Yao leaned against a soft pillow woven from various colors of Yingling Grass, playfully teasing Fu Hengyan who sat with eyes closed, resting his spirit.

Aiya ya

Shen Yao simply adored Fu Hengyan's proper, serious demeanor, wishing she could just grow directly onto him.

Perhaps people just have this inexplicable bad nature, liking to stain beautiful things with a corrupt atmosphere, calling it a good match in name only.

"Cheng Qi, Cheng Qi~"

Shen Yao couldn't help but let her voice turn cloying, as if she had eaten the finest Spirit Honey nectar.

A lovely rouge hue climbed Fu Hengyan's earlobes; his long, curved lashes blinked one after another, like butterflies fluttering their wings everywhere, inspiring endless tenderness.

Shen Yao couldn't help but let out a light laugh, her whole body trembling along with it.

Fu Hengyan:...

Fu Hengyan opened his eyes, looking helplessly at Shen Yao laughing without any decorum, "Be careful not to fall."

"Not afraid, with Cheng Qi here, nothing will happen," Shen Yao said with a grin, then turned and picked up a plate of fruit, bringing it before Fu Hengyan, "Cheng Qi, have a taste, the flavor's not bad."

Fu Hengyan lowered his head and dropped his gaze, reaching out to pinch a crystal fruit shaped like a green date and bringing it to Shen Yao's lips.

Shen Yao obediently took it in her mouth and swallowed, then rubbed her cheek against Fu Hengyan's warm fingers.

"Stop fooling around, still want to eat?"

The words were spoken like that, but Fu Hengyan's hand movements didn't stop.

One fruit after another was brought to Shen Yao's lips, and Shen Yao didn't refuse.

Before long, a plate of fruit had basically all gone into Shen Yao's belly.

She shook her head, refusing Fu Hengyan's hand-feeding; Shen Yao stood up, walked to his side, sat down, and stuffed herself into Fu Hengyan's embrace.

"What's wrong?"

Fu Hengyan lowered his head to ask, his expression carrying very obvious worry.

Shen Yao closed her eyes to rest her spirit, only saying she felt a bit weary, and simply leaned against Fu Hengyan's shoulder to rest directly.

Upon hearing this, Fu Hengyan didn't say anything, but he secretly dispelled most of the power within his body, so Shen Yao would be more comfortable leaning against him.

Shen Yao just leaned against Fu Hengyan and slept a while; when she opened her eyes, she met Fu Hengyan's clear, handsome profile with its distinct angles.

Reaching out to hook her arms around Fu Hengyan's neck, Shen Yao couldn't help but act coquettish.

Getting up and moving around a bit inside the space, Shen Yao pushed open the window to one side; the view showed layered clouds stacking up, mountain ranges forming a screen.

Taking out the purchased Luoxing Commandery Map from her storage bag, Shen Yao pointed at the map, discovering the distance to Yue Luo City was shortening bit by bit.

At the current speed of advance, roughly one more evening and they would arrive.

"Ahead is a stretch of Poisonous Mist Forest; flying magic artifacts cannot cross it, we must enter on foot."

Fu Hengyan walked to Shen Yao's side, speaking softly about the situation around Yue Luo City.

This city, the reason it was named Yue Luo, is because the poison of that Poisonous Mist Forest outside the city is somewhat deadly.

People can take Detoxification Pills, but spirit plants and spiritual objects cannot avoid it.

Legend says the moon had a spirit, and it fell here, hence the name Yue Luo.

Even the entire Luoxing Commandery is connected to stars; even a large part of the raw materials for Fu Hengyan's natal flying sword, Star Shattering, originate from this place.

Fu Hengyan lowered his head to glance at his natal flying sword; the sword body was densely covered with morning light, emitting a faint humming sound.

The sky gradually darkened; on the empty official road, a man and a woman suddenly appeared.

Both were at Foundation Establishment cultivation; the man wore a black long robe with a ceremonial cap binding his hair high, a long sword carried on his back; the woman wore a green wide-sleeved flowing fairy long skirt, hair in a coiled bun, hanging down before her chest and behind her back, her gaze flowing, lively and delighted.

The two were precisely Shen Yao and Fu Hengyan, who had just come down from the flying magic artifact.

Shrinking the artifact with a technique and placing it in her storage bracelet, Shen Yao simply stretched her legs, hooking her arms around Fu Hengyan's arm.

Fu Hengyan smiled, taking out a beautiful green umbrella-shaped artifact from his storage bag and handing it to Shen Yao.

Shen Yao tilted her head; Fu Hengyan explained softly, "Poisonous mist erodes the body; using this can provide simple shielding, while also filtering out the poisonous mist qi."

Shen Yao gave an "oh" of understanding, her gaze turning to the green umbrella with some realization.

An artifact similar to an air purifier; cultivators really have enough whimsical ideas.

Not bad, not bad.

Reaching out to take it and quickly opening it above her head, Shen Yao looked up left and right, feeling this green umbrella had no shortcomings aside from its color and decoration being overly plain.

Pinching a technique to make the green umbrella transform into a suitable size, Shen Yao held the umbrella with one hand, and walked side by side with Fu Hengyan toward the long official road ahead.

Ding ling ling—ding ling ling——

Hoofbeats sounded from behind; Shen Yao turned her head to look, and saw someone rushing over from the distance.

"At this time, returning to Yue Luo City?" Raising her head to glance at the already darkening sky, Shen Yao estimated the relevant time in her heart, feeling they would most likely need to spend the night outside.

"Rain is coming"

Fu Hengyan pinched a technique; pale golden lotus petals emerged above his fingers.

The lotus petals fell from his hand, shattered in midair, scattering into specks of golden light.

"We have to spend the night outside?"

Shen Yao felt there were plenty of tools in her storage ring, no need to suffer this kind of hardship.

Fu Hengyan spoke in a gentle voice, "The poisonous mist will spread rapidly at night; staying inside the magic artifact would be more dangerous."

The relevant magic artifacts cannot block the spread of the poisonous mist; some even promote its intrusion.

Fu Hengyan and his group were heading to Zhongzhou, with the first stop being Yue Luo City in Luoxing Commandery; some arrangements would certainly have been made in advance, but that did not mean they could one hundred percent handle the famous Poisonous Mist Forest outside Yue Luo City.

After all, it is a place that ranks by name even in Dongzhou; the number of people who come daily to experience its scenery is countless.

Fu Hengyan told Shen Yao the points needing attention, then pointed out that there were quite a few abandoned temple buildings of various kinds around this Poisonous Mist Forest; for their overnight stay, they could freely choose a place to lodge.

While the two spoke in low voices, the sound of horse hooves behind them grew closer and closer.

Shen Yao felt gusts of wind blow past her side; looking up again, she saw only the stirred-up dust and the retreating backs of a crowd riding tall horses.

The Light Dust Technique activated on their bodies was smoothly triggered, keeping their clothing clean.

Shen Yao silently withdrew her gaze and sent a voice transmission to Fu Hengyan: that group just now carried a thick murderous aura.

Fu Hengyan's expression turned solemn, "Those people just went through a fierce slaughter; the bloody smell on them is very faint," but it could still be smelled.

In his early years, due to sect missions, Fu Hengyan would always have dealings with certain desperate outlaws.

The scent on those people, Fu Hengyan would never forget at any time.

"Yao'er, our lodging tonight might be rather lively."

"Lively?"

Shen Yao raised an eyebrow, her spirits lifting instantly; anyway, with Fu Hengyan there, her safety was greatly guaranteed.

As for getting to watch the excitement, that was even better; Shen Yao's mind surged with the various travelogues and autobiographies she had read in her leisure time.

The scene before her: wild ridges, (imminent) torrential rain, abandoned buildings...

Tsk tsk, put together they make a very necessary accident scene.

After all, for written content to attract readers to keep reading, it needs all sorts of tropes and foreshadowing.

"Cheng Qi, let's go quickly."

Shen Yao smiled brightly and pulled Fu Hengyan forward to hurry on their way; at the same time, she had picked tonight's lodging spot, an abandoned, dilapidated temple.

"It is said that in the early years, a Buddha statue enshrined in the temple was extremely efficacious.

As long as the person coming to offer incense worshipped with a sincere heart, they could achieve what they wished for in their heart.

It's a pity that later the Buddha statue cracked, the temple's popularity plummeted, and now the temple has relocated to another city; with no one to maintain it here, it naturally became vacant."

Shen Yao knew quite a few rumors like this; after all, they carry some mysterious, supernatural color.

Moreover, this is the Cultivation World; rumors are true and false, confusing people's hearts.

Shen Yao unconsciously paid a bit more attention, causing the topic to open up, and she simply couldn't stop talking.

Fu Hengyan good-naturedly played along with Shen Yao's nonsense; in reality, what Shen Yao spoke of was basically all false words released by certain local forces.

Take that efficacious Buddha statue in the temple — it was merely a demon cultivator putting on an act, bewildering people's minds, confounding right and wrong.

With the demon cultivator who harmed the world thoroughly perishing, the temple's vitality was greatly damaged; after the incense offerings continuously declined, they could only choose to move away and start anew.

Now that temple serves as the temporary lodging most commonly chosen by passersby because there is a force from Yue Luo City backing it behind the scenes, providing basic defense and cleanliness guarantees for travelers; otherwise, with so many dilapidated buildings along the road, why wouldn't one stay anywhere else?

The content Shen Yao spoke the most about concerned the region around the Poisonous Mist Forest.

During this time, the rain predicted by Fu Hengyan's finger-calculation arrived on schedule.

Shen Yao held the umbrella as a boundary, shielding both of them completely inside.

Amidst the misty smoke and rain, the two figures grew farther and farther, gradually disappearing from sight.

Boom— Boom——

Amidst flashing lightning and roaring thunder, a crowd wearing straw capes and veil hats rushed in from outside the gate into an abandoned temple.

On the temple, the signboard bearing the three characters "Chengling Temple" flickered in and out of view.

Crash

The tightly shut gate was pushed open heavily, not only startling awake the people sitting inside with eyes closed in meditation, but also making the surrounding air grow increasingly heavy.

The temple's main hall was now divided into four areas; near the center, with a headless Buddha statue behind them, sat a group of burly, tiger-backed, bear-waisted men, placing beside them long blades as tall as a person; one look and they were not to be trifled with.

The right side, occupying most of the area, was the cleanest all around, and there were bodyguards standing guard and patrolling, servants and maids attending; clearly people of status.

The left side near the entrance held a scholar and two thin, weak bookboys. The three huddled together, relying on each other for warmth.

In the inner corner of the left side sat a man and a woman; judging by the patterns on their clothes and their attire, they were either wealthy or noble.

The man sat with eyes closed nurturing his spirit; the woman leaned on the man's shoulder, her hair hanging down lightly, her face and features unseen.

Zhang Laosan's occupational habit flared up; he couldn't help wanting to steal a few more glances at the woman, but unexpectedly the next second he was caught by the man, a jolt scaring him so he dared not turn his head to look around again.

"Third Brother, hurry over and squeeze in with the little brother; the night is deep and the rain heavy, we want to return and report completion as soon as possible, so we can only wait until tomorrow morning."

The eldest brother of the team, also their leader Sun Tao, called out cheerfully, directly easing the heavy atmosphere in the space.

Zhang Laosan steadied his wildly pounding heart, hurriedly laughed, moved his legs and feet, and cooperatively walked over toward the scholar's side.

It's truly strange; everyone is at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, how is that person even more terrifying than Eldest Brother Sun?

Huff

That faint glance just now — just a little more, and he would have been unable to hold back and would have knelt down directly.

He is, after all, a yamen runner with Dragon Qi blessing; he shouldn't be like this.

Pondering in his heart, Zhang Laosan didn't speak much, adjusted his mood, and hurriedly struck up idle chat with the scholar before him.

Eldest Brother Sun's meaning was obvious: the four groups of people in the hall had arrived earlier than them.

Unfamiliar with the place and people, they could only temporarily get close to the scholar who looked the most gentle and harmless.

To avoid accidentally offending someone or other and pointlessly forming a grudge.

They are yamen runners, true, but besides low-level cultivators and common civilians, there are various sects in the Court; they cannot be casually provoked.

Shen Yao felt a bit dizzy and muddled; hearing someone enter, she wanted to open her eyes to observe, but Fu Hengyan reached out to stop her and sent a voice transmission: "They are yamen runners from Yue Luo City, highest cultivation Foundation Establishment Late Stage; behave and rest, there will probably be a bit of trouble at night."

Shen Yao simply reached out and hugged Fu Hengyan's waist tightly, "Can Cheng Qi handle it?"

Counting the constables who just entered, there are five forces in the temple's main hall.

The most ferocious are those desperadoes in the center of the main hall, all with cultivation at Foundation Establishment Initial Stage and Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

On the right side should be a prominent clan from Yue Luo City; outside the carriage is written a large "Chu" character, and the guards and maidservants beside them, though only Qi Refining cultivation, have Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivators hidden in the dark providing close protection.

The scholar leaning by the door on the left and the two bookboys combination is the most problematic and contradictory; on the surface the scholar is the master, but the scholar only has Qi Refining Perfection, while the two bookboys, one is Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and one is Golden Core Initial Stage.

And the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage used the Concealment Art, while the Golden Core Initial Stage has no Spirit Vein Fluctuation whatsoever.

If not for Fu Hengyan transmitting sound to Shen Yao, Shen Yao would not have discovered this problem.

This group of court constables who entered last are the cleanest in identity among everyone.

Who knows, after tonight passes, how many of these people sheltering from rain in the temple will survive.

Shen Yao thought in her heart, her hands increasing force even more, and in a daze she actually fell asleep again.

Fu Hengyan lowered his head, couldn't help but let out a light laugh, stretched out his hand to form a Spirit Power Shield enveloping the surroundings, and took out an Open-front Cloak to drape over Shen Yao's side.

On the other side, Zhang Laosan who was secretly sizing up Fu Hengyan couldn't help but tug at his own hair.

"Third Brother, hurry over and eat the flatbread, today's weather is really cold."

Qian Laoer called out to Zhang Laosan, himself couldn't help but lower his head and curse a sentence.

If not for the higher-ups being anxious, they wouldn't have had to rush back through the night.

Who doesn't know the Poisonous Mist Forest around Yue Luo City is extremely dangerous, one careless moment and you'll meet a smashed-to-pieces end.

"Hmph, never mind cold or hot, wait until tomorrow we return and smoothly report completion of mission, we'll be able to rest for several days and recover our spirits.

This trip out was truly nine deaths one life, fortunately the Imperial Court valued it, and there were Tianjian Sect disciples helping with socializing and delaying, otherwise us few, how could we have the luck to return."

Someone rubbing their fingers spoke up to respond, everyone had been suppressed for quite some days.

Now that we've returned to our own territory, naturally we dare to speak freely about everything.

You one sentence me one sentence, the slightly spacious main hall instantly became lively.