Chapter 12: This is Cheating, I Refuse to Accept It (New Book Released, Urgently Seeking Collections!)

In truth, the Earth God Zou Qing did not really want to pay any heed to the "Western Shu Barbarian General."

But the Daoist boy Qingsong was watching him, seemingly also waiting for his answer.

"This servant also acted out of a bit of selfish desire."

Thinking of the Daoist boy Qingsong's ruthless methods, Zou Qing dared not lie.

"Before the appearance of the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu, the Sha Barbarians did not respect the gods at all... they did not worship the righteous gods; they worshipped the monsters of the Liushahe."

He glanced at Guan Huchen, "For example, the Green Fish Monster that ate dozens of Western Shu armored cavalry last night."

Guan Huchen was suddenly enlightened, "That Sha Dragon really wasn't running around aimlessly; he was being chased too desperately and, in his despair, wanted to drag Zhu Tong and the others down with him."

Zou Qing continued: "A few years ago, after the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu gained a bit of prestige, she stopped the Sha Barbarian chieftains from continuing to sacrifice to the river monsters. She encouraged the Sha Barbarians to cultivate the divine shrines."

"She had that kind of prestige? The Sha Barbarians all call her 'Brain-Clamping Wind'," Guan Huchen said.

"If she relied only on prestige, the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu would have accomplished nothing. She is extremely intelligent and extremely cunning; with deceitful words, intimidation, and enticement, the entire sand dune was played in the palm of this little girl's hand."

"This servant once served as a Minister of Eastern Shu and entered the Imperial Capital of Xianyang; my knowledge and experience are not low."

"But this servant dares to say that even if placed in the city of Xianyang, the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu would count as one in ten thousand among the outstanding."

"Her deeds are too numerous; this servant will only state the final result now. The result is that the Sha Barbarians all call her 'Brain-Clamping Wind', yet the things she wanted to do, she basically accomplished."

Guan Huchen said: "You forcibly kept her to make her help you maintain the divine shrines? As an Earth God, you should have been able to send her dreams, or other barbarians; there was no need to personally step in and play the monster time and time again."

"The Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu is gifted with extraordinary talent, her soul is exceptionally tough and refined, and I lack sufficient divine power to enter her consciousness."

"The other barbarians are exceptionally stupid and lack sufficient spirituality; they cannot understand the divine oracles I wish to convey."

"In short, if the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu had been gone a few years ago, the divine shrines would have soon fallen into ruin, and the incense would have ceased first."

Zou Qing looked at the Daoist boy Qingsong, his tone extremely earnest, "But for the sake of Great Qin, this servant still drew a Shadow God Portrait for her and handed the information about her to Lord Lingguan."

The Daoist boy Qingsong did not show it on his face, but sneered in his heart: I, the Daoist, have already set my sights on the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu; do you dare to refuse? Moreover, the divine shrines have been established for several years, the Sha Barbarians have made worshipping the gods a habit, and the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu is no longer important to you... You think she is not important, but once you hand over the Shadow God Portrait and betray her, the backlash of the incense will arrive immediately; only then will you know the severity, and you will immediately want to betray Great Qin again to secretly hide her.

"Now the sky is bright; you are a Yin God and cannot remain visible to people for long," he said.

"This servant will go," the Earth God hurriedly cupped his hands and prepared to turn and shrink into the ground.

The Daoist boy Qingsong let out a cold snort, his gaze sharp.

Zou Qing's movements stiffened on the spot, and he said bitterly: "The Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu is right on the edge of the sand dunes. If you walk toward the east, you can see long and wide irrigation ditches; the upper layer of the ditches is He Ruoshui, and the lower layer stores rainwater."

"Counting from north to south, in the middle section of the forty-seventh ditch, she is hiding inside a clam shell within."

"Buzz, buzz~~"

Guan Huchen immediately activated his Thousand-Mile Eyes and looked toward the place the Earth God mentioned.

"My lord, I've found her!"

The person was found, but Guan Huchen was instead full of unwillingness and doubt, asking: "Yesterday, this subordinate noticed those ditches and also scanned them roughly; there were no clam shells or the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu."

Zou Qing lowered his head, looking very lifeless, and said softly: "If you try again at night, you should be able to see her."

"In the afternoon, she always hides in the Liushahe, going seven or eight zhang deep into the riverbed."

"When the sky grows late, she fears the monsters in the river, so she drags the clam shell and quietly swims back, swimming along the water ditch to the shore; seeing that you haven't left yet, she shrinks back to the bottom of the water ditch."

"That water ditch is two or three zhang deep; ordinary people would never be able to discover her."

"So she was lurking at the bottom of the Liushahe..." Guan Huchen frowned: "She isn't afraid of the He Ruoshui? Seven or eight zhang deep, ordinary people wouldn't be able to stay in a freshwater river channel for long, right?"

He had searched for an entire afternoon, and she had been curled up in the water, holding her breath at the bottom of the water until now; is this an ordinary person who doesn't understand the technique of internal breathing?

"The Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu is extremely eager for the extraordinary power of immortals; seeking immortals and visiting the Dao could not fulfill her wishes. The only thing around her with the most miraculous nature is the He Ruoshui in the Liushahe, so she tosses and turns in the river every day."

"You will understand if you ask the Sha Barbarians; when she was a toddler, she started practicing punches and sticks in the He Ruoshui, kicking, jumping, flipping, doing tiger jumps, pulling fists and feet, playing and shouting..."

"The Sha Barbarians thought she had 'Brain-Clamping Wind', but she said she was practicing the 'He Ruoshui True Art'."

"In fact, she doesn't even have the most basic breathing technique."

"Perhaps she is gifted with extraordinary talent; after soaking in the He Ruoshui for a long time, not only does she not get sick, but she has also practiced a set of excellent swimming skills."

"Never mind lurking in the river for half a day; she once went three days and three nights without eating or drinking, staying submerged at the bottom of the ditch."

Guan Huchen's expression changed, and he said decisively: "This is not a normal person! The Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu must have a major problem; she might be a half-demon, a hybrid born of a fish demon and a Sha Barbarian, at least possessing the bloodline of a water demon."

The Daoist boy Qingsong said indifferently: "When this Daoist was five, I could meditate at the bottom of a lake, using internal breathing to circulate true origin."

"Never mind three days and three nights; if I had fasted, I could stay out for a lifetime."

"But she doesn't understand Wu Gong, and the Liushahe is not a lake; the three thousand Weak Waters cannot be subdued without great miraculous powers," Guan Huchen said.

In an ordinary lake, he, Guan Huchen, could also hold his breath for three or five days, easily; as for the Liushahe... he hadn't tried it, and didn't dare to try.

The Daoist boy Qingsong pondered: "The Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu is very smart; perhaps she figured out internal breathing on her own... This is not important; the world has never lacked strange people and extraordinary scholars."

"Now that we have found the person, you go over immediately and bring her to the sand dunes."

"Understood!"

Guan Huchen cupped his hands toward the Daoist boy Qingsong, and the Red Smoke Steed carried him away in a flash.

The Daoist boy Qingsong smiled, used the Earth Escape technique, and with a flash of yellow light, he disappeared without a trace.

Seeing the two leave, the Earth God Zou Qing suddenly felt an urge so strong it was hard to suppress: to quickly move the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu away before Guan Huchen arrived.

"Is it the incense wish power affecting me, or the Dragon Qi... I didn't expect the Sand Dune Kingdom to have really cultivated Dragon Qi; regret~~ hatred! Great Qin is too overbearing, the Human Emperor is too ruthless, not giving the foreign races even a tiny chance."

"Not giving the Sand Dune Kingdom, nor me, a chance."

"Think of me, a Minister of Eastern Shu, enlightened at two, writing poetry at five, bitterly studying the classics for thirty years, learned and talented, even the Human Emperor summoned me to the Wenhui Hall to compile laws, but I worked myself to the bone for a lifetime, and only after much merit and hard work did I become a candidate for the City God of Ganzhou Prefecture in the Lu Kingdom, only to have the quota snatched away by a house slave of Princess Princess Jia Shang."

"I, a dignified City God of a Prefecture, Princess Princess Jia Shang only used a 'Heart Demon' Western Sand Earth God to dismiss me."

"Hateful, hateful~~"

"If I could have successfully taken the post of City God of a Prefecture back then, how would I be in today's predicament... uh, now that the Lu Kingdom has fallen, the City Gods of the Prefectures have probably all withered away, right? Sigh, the path of ghosts and gods is difficult, too difficult."

"It's over!"

Xiang Xiaoyu wailed in her heart.

When the slight vibration sound approached rapidly from afar, she woke up from her "meditation." The opponent came too fast; by the time she listened carefully, the vibration had turned into the distinct sound of horse hooves.

—There is a knight galloping toward her direction, and the speed is very fast.

When this thought arose, Guan Huchen had already raised his right hand and shouted in a low voice, "Immortal-Binding Rope!"

A very awesome name, but in reality, it was still that "Snake Flame Whip."

A thin fire snake flew out from his sleeve, like a real spirit snake, circled in mid-air, and plunged into the "He Ruoshui Ditch."

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~~" A large amount of steam rose, the bright red whip quickly dimmed, and after the flames and red light on the surface disappeared, it revealed a milky white snake whip.

The whip was made of leather, with scales the size of a small fingernail on the surface, looking like a real white snake.

The "Immortal-Binding Rope" was still the Snake Flame Whip, but its function had indeed changed.

Previously it was a fire whip for whipping enemies; now it truly became an "Immortal-Binding Rope": like a spirit snake, it swam to the bottom of the He Ruoshui Ditch, accurately found the clam shell the size of a dining table, and "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" wrapped around the clam shell dozens of times, binding it tightly, while the tail end remained in Guan Huchen's hand.

"Rise!" Guan Huchen shook his right hand gently.

"Boom!" A large splash of water exploded, and the clam shell flew out.

He didn't talk nonsense, didn't greet the person inside, directly carried the clam shell, turned the horse's head, and galloped toward the sand dunes.

"Riding a horse... not a monster from the Liushahe, but that group of black-armored knights," Xiang Xiaoyu remained calm.

"I was hiding at the bottom of the water, hiding in a clam shell; how did they find me? Charging directly here, the target is so clear, so accurate..."

She couldn't figure it out, but guessed it must have something to do with the power of miracles.

Simply put, they used some kind of "cheat" like immortal arts or miraculous powers.

She struggled so hard to survive, but she couldn't resist the enemy being a cheater!

"Since you've cultivated such great miraculous powers, why bother with a little Sha Barbarian like me?"

She didn't understand.

"I hope it's just some armored knight with great miraculous powers who accidentally scanned the clam shell at the bottom of the ditch with his 'divine sense', rather than specifically targeting me."

"However, when the clam shell is opened in a moment, what should I say? Should I be sincere, or bluff, or perhaps..."

She was still calculating in her heart when the clam shell was thrown heavily onto the ground.

"Daoist, the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu has been brought."

Xiang Xiaoyu was horrified: Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu... it seems to be her; were they really specifically looking for her?

Why?

Was the case of killing the "Great Power of Gang Qi" yesterday exposed?

But is a mere cavalry squad leader worth the "Daoist"... why is it a Daoist?

"Clatter, clatter~~~"

The "Immortal-Binding Rope" retracted into Guan Huchen's sleeve, the clam shell was pried open with force, and the clear water inside poured out.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling; Xiang Xiaoyu blinked a few times, and then saw a pink, baby-like face.

"Daoist... brother, you, you look really pretty."

In just an instant, Xiang Xiaoyu reacted; the "Daoist" was the little boy in front of her wearing a Daoist robe.

Even though the other party was only twelve or thirteen years old, even though that round, baby-fat face was truly harmless, seeing him made her heart crawl.

Also in an instant, Xiang Xiaoyu entered "Drama Queen Mode."

—Calling him "brother" and praising him as "pretty," please don't have too much malice toward me!

Xiang Xiaoyu really didn't want to take the final step: spitting out the poison needle hidden under her tongue to sneak-attack the person in front of her; and by the way, using another poison needle on herself, a throat-sealing blood-letting, being careful in the next life, running to the land of China to be reborn in a good family, and never being a barbarian again.

"Hehe, you are Xiang Xiaoyu? Little Daoist Qingsong, I salute you."

Qingsong smiled innocently, and even cupped his hands toward the person in the clam shell, the address not being the "Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu" he had been chanting, but the more intimate "Xiang Xiaoyu."

"Daoist Qingsong, hello!"

Not acting immediately was always good; Xiang Xiaoyu relaxed slightly, but her vigilance toward the baby-faced Daoist was pulled to the maximum—what exactly does he want to do? Why capture her, and how did he find her?

But the Daoist boy Qingsong didn't even look at her a second time, turned around, and walked toward the armored knights.

"General Guan, I leave this to you."

"Leave it to me?" Guan Huchen was dazed for a moment, hurriedly chased after him, and asked suspiciously: "How does the Daoist intend to deal with the Sha Barbarian Xiang Xiaoyu? This subordinate is dull and doesn't quite understand." ===== CHAPTER 13 =====