Chapter 354: Pure Yang Liquid, Returning to the Shu Kingdom

The Nine-Headed Nether Serpent was dead, and the white-clad youth had been defeated and captured. An interlude in the alliance between Wu and Shu had thus come to an end.

As one of the great contributors to this battle, Zhang Xingyu received the enthusiastic support of the Wu soldiers.

These soldiers surrounded Zhang Xingyu, insisting that he leave behind more bottles of "Yellow Dragon." In exchange, some offered money, some offered weapons, and some offered beauties. Alas, Zhang Xingyu had absolutely no interest in these things from the underworld. He was a living person and had no desire to use the possessions of the dead.

Seeing that he refused to budge, a Wu general named Gan Ning grew anxious.

"Brother, you've already reached the Nether realm anyway; sooner or later, you're going to die here. You might as well produce more Pure Yang items before you die, so you won't have to worry about food and clothing in the afterlife."

"I don't want to die! I haven't even gotten married yet; I don't want to die just like this," Zhang Xingyu thought to himself.

Seeing that Zhang Xingyu remained unmoved, Gan Ning suddenly steeled his heart and pulled a glowing stone from his bosom.

"I'll trade you this Soul Stone for one bottle. That should be enough, right?"

"Soul Stone?" Zhang Xingyu's eyes lit up.

The stone Gan Ning pulled out was indeed a Soul Stone.

Zhang Xingyu had seen this stuff before in the Kuafu Village of the Witch Tribe. Soul Stones contained God Yuan, which could replenish his God Yuan Value.

Back then, to deal with the Four Immortals of Yunshan, Granny Witch and several elders had taken the Soul Stones from their staffs for Zhang Xingyu to use.

"Fine, I'll trade with you." Zhang Xingyu pondered for a moment and agreed to the exchange with Gan Ning.

"General Gan, if you can tell me how you got this Soul Stone, I can add another bottle of Pure Yang Immortal Liquid," Zhang Xingyu tempted.

"Deal!" Gan Ning agreed readily, without a second thought.

"This Soul Stone of mine was obtained from a Nether Tiger King," Gan Ning explained.

"Obtained from a Nether Tiger King?" Zhang Xingyu looked at Gan Ning, full of confusion.

"Exactly. Soul Stones are the Yin Cores of the monsters in this realm. Everyone in the Nether realm knows this," Gan Ning laughed heartily.

He was very happy. He had traded information that everyone in the Nether realm knew for another bottle of the Pure Yang item. The Pure Yang Immortal Liquid produced by this person was simply the nemesis of Nether realm creatures. From now on, as long as he smeared a little bit of the Pure Yang item on his weapons, it would be like coating them with deadly poison. Hehe, in this upcoming battle against Cao, he would surely perform a great service.

Seeing that Gan Ning had obtained the Pure Yang Immortal Liquid, the other Wu generals were filled with envy.

Those who had Soul Stones on them began rummaging through their pockets, while those who didn't hurried back to the city to purchase them.

Soul Stones, while relatively rare, could still be bought in the shops within the city.

From afternoon to evening, from evening to dawn, from dawn to noon.

For ten consecutive days, Zhang Xingyu had been producing Pure Yang Immortal Liquid without a moment's rest.

However, Pure Yang Immortal Liquid wasn't something that just appeared out of thin air; to manufacture it, one had to first use magic power to create pure drinking water.

Ten days later, the Soul Stones in Jianye Cheng had been completely traded away.

The Wu generals who had been surrounding the place had all left, and the once bustling Jinling Embassy fell silent once more.

Zhuge Buliang let out a long sigh of relief; he could finally leave.

At this very moment, Zhuge Buliang was eager to return home. The alliance had been reached ten days ago. On the day it was reached, he had intended to set off immediately; he wanted to give his lord, Liu Bei, a big surprise. Alas, the Wu generals wouldn't let Zhang Xingyu leave, and Zhuge Buliang wasn't willing to leave Zhang Xingyu behind. Zhang Xingyu was the apple of his eye—not only was his culinary skill exquisite, but he was also poisonous from head to toe. Thus, he had no choice but to send Zhao Yun back first to report the good news, while he remained at the embassy, waiting in agony. For ten days, he had been on pins and needles, unable to taste his food or sleep at night.

Finally, they were finished. Run, run quickly.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Buliang ignored his exhaustion and, sporting panda eyes, rushed toward Zhang Xingyu's room.

Inside the room, snoring sounded like thunder.

Zhang Xingyu was lying spread-eagled on a huge pile of Soul Stones, fast asleep.

As a Pure Yang Immortal Liquid manufacturing machine, after ten consecutive days of continuous operation, it was in dire need of a power-off maintenance.

As soon as Zhuge Buliang burst into the room, he saw that girl, Hali, gesture for him to be quiet.

Hali had been awake for many days, but her injuries were still very severe, and she could only lie on the bed to recover.

Zhuge Buliang nodded and then gestured to Hali.

"It's too dangerous here; we must leave immediately."

After finishing his gestures, Zhuge Buliang pinched a hand seal, and a carriage immediately appeared beside him.

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage was driven out of the gates of the Jinling Embassy.

Hali sat inside the carriage, with the fast-asleep youth sprawled across her snow-white thighs.

Beside the youth lay a white-clad boy, bound tightly.

Zhuge Buliang sat in the driver's seat. He had put away his beloved feather fan, his head wrapped in a white cloth, wearing a short shirt, and holding a pitch-black horse whip in his hand.

"Giddy up!"

The carriage sped through the streets and exited the city gates in less than a quarter of an hour.

When the carriage reached the port, a long, narrow boat pulled up alongside.

Standing at the bow was a burly man with a leopard's head and round eyes.

"Military Advisor, Guan Yu has been waiting here for several days, and finally, you have arrived!"

Zhuge Buliang nodded at Guan Yu: "Sorry for the wait, General Guan. Now is not the time for pleasantries; hurry and help me carry these people onto the boat."

Before long, everyone was on the boat. The boatman moved the oars, and the small boat slowly pulled away from the port.

Zhuge Buliang let out a long sigh of relief.

He looked back and saw dust rising at the city gate. A carriage was speeding toward them from the city.

On the carriage, Zhou Yu was shouting at him incessantly: "Brother Zhuge, Brother Zhuge, slow down, slow down."

"Go faster!"

Zhuge Buliang shouted to Guan Yu, turning his head.

In fact, he didn't need to shout; the boatmen had already increased the speed of their rowing.

The small boat slowly picked up speed.

By the time Zhou Yu reached the shore, the small boat had already reached the middle of the great river.

"Brother Buliang, why are you in such a hurry to leave!"

Zhou Yu jumped off the carriage and shouted loudly at Zhuge Buliang.

Zhuge Buliang turned around and waved the feather fan in his hand at Zhou Yu: "Brother, there is no banquet in the world that doesn't end. You and I have been together for over a month; this is already a blessing from the heavens. During these days, thanks to your care, Brother, I am deeply moved. Alas, the Cao army is approaching, and I have important matters to attend to. I haven't had time to say goodbye, and I hope you will forgive me, Brother!"

Zhou Yu waved his hands incessantly: "Brother, it is hard to meet and hard to part. Since you are returning, I hope you take care on your journey. When the day comes that we break the Cao Wei, we shall meet again."

"Fine. Brother. When the day comes that we break the Cao Wei, we shall meet again." Zhuge Buliang also waved goodbye to Zhou Yu.

By the time the small boat was far from the port and the figure on the shore could no longer be seen, Zhuge Buliang slowly turned around.

Guan Yu was about to step forward to ask for instructions, but he saw crystalline tears hanging from the corners of Zhuge Buliang's eyes.

Guan Yu felt a jolt in his heart and immediately walked away, knowing when to leave.

At this moment, from the end of the horizon, in the direction of Jianye Cheng, a high-pitched and resonant zither melody drifted from afar.

Amidst the zither music, a man sang loudly: "Wandering at the ends of the earth, my longing is endless. Since we have met, yet we part in such a hurry. Holding hands with a beauty, I break the withered red flowers with tears. I ask the east wind how much remains; even if spring is here, with whom can I share it? The Sui embankment in the third month, the water is melting. Turning my back on the returning geese, I go to Wu. Looking back at Pengcheng, the Qing Si and the Huai connect. Sending my thousand tears of longing, they cannot flow to the east of the Chu River." ===== CHAPTER 355 =====