Chapter 219: Solemnly Admiring the Square Form

"It's almost twelve; someone should be coming to take over the watch." Zhong Miao Zhimen stood up, straightened his Daoist robe, walked to the doorway, and peered outside.

"Then I'm going back to sleep too," Chen Shu said.

"Don't! It's so boring at night, why don't we stay and play cards!" Zhang Suannai said.

"You stay and play."

"What kind of Cultivator sleeps!?"

"Don't think I don't know you sleep in the Dormitory every day."

"I don't intend to beg!"

Zhang Suannai stood up and followed Chen Shu as he walked out.

"Donor Chen."

Dharma Master Tongzhi, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed in contemplation, opened his eyes again. He stopped the prayer beads in his hand and looked at Chen Shu: "If it were you, what would you do?"

"I..."

Chen Shu stood at the doorway and looked back to meet his gaze: "My life philosophy is to live comfortably and with peace of mind, so I rarely do things that would truly make me feel regret or shame. But I am also reluctant to part with this colorful world and the people I love, so I would probably be the same as Zhang Suannai..."

"Good!"

Dharma Master Tongzhi closed his eyes again.

Chen Shu walked out of the room and headed upstairs.

Behind him were the footsteps of Zhang Suannai, very light, keeping a distance of two or three steps from him. He could hear her muttering softly to herself:

"Follow others to learn, turn into a sparrow, sparrow flies, turn into a turtle..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but stop and look back to ask:

"What are you chanting?"

"Chanting a nursery rhyme!"

"Who are you saying is learning from you?"

"I'm not talking about you!"

"Then who are you talking about?"

"Whoever learns from me, that's who I'm talking about!"

"..."

Chen Shu was speechless.

Zhang Suannai ignored him and continued muttering to herself: "Turtle crawls, turns into a tortoise..."

Chen Shu:...

Fortunately, he lived on the second floor.

After walking up the remaining few steps, he turned his head and gave Zhang Suannai a light glance. Seeing that Zhang Suannai had already passed the second floor and was continuing to walk upstairs, he asked with concern: "Brother Suannai, is your little birdie still there today?"

"?"

Zhang Suannai was stunned for a moment, but the person in front of her was very cunning. Before she could recover, he slipped back into his room and closed the door.

"Damn!"

Zhang Suannai's face turned pale and then green, her teeth grinding with a creak.

But looking at the tightly shut door and the quiet second-floor corridor, she had no choice. She turned her head and continued walking upstairs, chanting as she went. She kept chanting, changing Chen Shu from a tortoise to a dung-beetle rake, and even improvised a section, though limited by her cultural level and vocabulary, it didn't rhyme.

"Back?"

Professor Shi wasn't asleep yet and was deep in thought over A Book.

"Yeah."

Chen Shu went over and took a look; it was a collection of short stories recounting the early supernatural legends of Great Xia, including many true or false, strange things that happened while Great Xia was in the west of Zhongzhou and during its migration to the central region. But by the time the creator compiled it, the Xia Dynasty had already been destroyed for over a thousand years.

Professor Shi was likely trying to further understand the situation of early Great Xia through this book.

There was no help for it; the historical materials remaining from early Great Xia were extremely scarce, and because of the nationwide migration, the ruins from that time were not within the current borders of Dayi. Historians often had to stare at the very few books of later generations of uncertain authenticity, reading them over and over, and then combine them with the abilities of those in the Daoist sects to constantly guess and confirm.

Chen Shu had also read this book.

Calculating carefully—

Duqin was in the easternmost part of the Western Continent, and Leche was in the easternmost part of Duqin, already at the border of the Western Continent and Dongzhou. Perhaps during the time of Great Xia, this place might have been under the actual control of the Xia Dynasty, and might even have been Xia Dynasty territory.

Chen Shu washed up a little and lay down on the bed.

It was late at night, and the internet had gotten a little better. He took out his Mobile Phone and with great difficulty sent a few messages to Qingqing before falling asleep.

The next morning.

The breakfast made by the soldiers was Tomato Egg Noodles, but they added a lot of canned braised pork, the kind with broth, which was actually quite delicious. They also cooked a bowl of vegetarian noodles for Dharma Master Tongzhi, catering to the habits of a disciple of the Buddhist Sect, which could be said to be very thoughtful.

The streets of Leche after breakfast were still shrouded in white fog.

Dharma Master Tongzhi had left.

At this time, the confusion on his face had faded a lot. When he thanked everyone, there was even a smile on the corners of his mouth. He then walked into the misty morning fog, and his figure soon became blurred.

Zhong Miao Zhimen watched the direction he left in, his brows tightly furrowed: "I have an ominous premonition..."

After a slight pause, he added: "But I don't know if I should stop him..."

"I can understand," Chen Shu said.

"Last night, when Brother Tongzhi asked what you would do, you were in this same conflicted state of mind, right?" Zhong Miao Zhimen turned to look at him, "You didn't want to lie, but you felt that telling the truth wasn't good either."

"I heard you have some understanding of the Secret Sect?"

"I have a slight understanding."

"Then why don't you guess his ending."

"I can't guess it, and even if I did, I couldn't stop it."

"That's it then..."

"I understand."

"What kind of riddle are you two speaking in?" Zhang Suannai frowned as she looked at them, "Is it Duqin?"

"Nothing..."

Chen Shu waved his hand; it was time to get in the vehicle.

The Square Body was scheduled to open this afternoon, faster than imagined.

After packing up, the convoy left the city. Because the highway had been destroyed and the bridges blown up, they had to take dirt roads. The road conditions were poor, and they had to take a detour, so the straight-line distance of less than sixty kilometers to Leche City would take half a day to travel.

As expected, the signal was lost as soon as they left the city.

Chen Shu had no choice but to put on his headphones, listen to music in silence, and watch the scenery outside the window.

By the roadside, one could see traces of explosion craters, Sword Qi gullies, and Spell scorch marks from time to time. Occasionally, there were destroyed military vehicles and abandoned civilian cars, and sometimes one could see armed vehicles or other unidentified transport vehicles traveling along this small road as well.

In the afternoon.

The convoy drove into a mining area.

This place had already been jointly blockaded by Yiguo and Lan Country, with only personnel from the Yiguo and Lan sides, the Duqin Government, and anti-government armed forces present.

"Get out of the vehicle."

The driver received the message, turned his head, and shouted.

Chen Shu followed the experts as they got out of the vehicle, sizing up the surrounding environment.

The ground was gray-brown sandy soil, very dry and loose underfoot, and covered with small gravel. The land had slight undulating waves but was generally flat. The afternoon mist had long since faded, and the sky was a perfect semi-circular blue dome; one's line of sight could reach very far.

Chen Shu felt as if his heart had opened up quite a bit.

It was desolate here; apart from clusters of saxaul trees, almost no other plants could be seen.

The only traces belonging to humans were this pressed-out road and the square stepped mine pit on the ground ahead. At the bottom of the mine pit, a gray-black stone wall about two hundred meters long, engraved with a divine bird and sun pattern, was revealed.

In addition, various vehicles were parked here. The camp was divided into four sections, and armed personnel wearing different clothes stood guard with guns; one could see people of different races.

Especially the History Expert Group from Lan Country.

Chen Shu saw Night People, Barbarians, Spirit People, and white and black Wise Humans. There was no shortage of mixed-race individuals, but there were no Heavenly Humans or Demon Race.

Pure-blooded Night People had excellent body proportions—a kind of healthy, wild beauty—with pale skin and usually green pupils, though occasionally other colors. Barbarians were at least two point five meters tall, and Spirit People had skin with a translucent texture; both were very easy to distinguish.

Unless necessary, the Demon Race rarely went to human countries, let alone joined them, so it was normal not to see them.

Heavenly Humans currently only existed in Yiguo.

The history expert groups from both sides stood in place waiting, while designated personnel went to negotiate.

Interestingly, among the Lan Country expert group, there were two experts Chen Shu had heard of; they were relatively famous professors in the global history academic circle. They also knew Professor Liu and Professor Shi from Yiguo, and it seemed they had even exchanged ideas before; as soon as the few of them met, they stood together and started chatting.

They were using Chinese.

Chen Shu listened quietly from the side while carefully sizing up the surrounding environment.

It was clear that a conflict had broken out here; there were more traces of fighting on the ground, and there were even remnants of shrapnel and bloodstains.

Not long after, the negotiations between the two sides were completed.

The next step was for both sides to send people to open the Square Body together. This would take some time, and it would likely be tomorrow morning before they could enter.

The Yiguo guard team had already found a suitable location to start setting up camp. Chen Shu had wanted to go help, but he was refused, so he had no choice but to wander around aimlessly nearby, occasionally greeting the Yiguo "Mercenary" and occasionally running over to hover in front of the Lan Country "Mercenary."

He even saw an acquaintance again—

It was a Buddhist Sect monk with an extremely fierce appearance.

When the Yuanzhou Fangti was opened last year, the military, the Daoist sects, and the Buddhist Sect each had a High-Tier present to ensure safety, and he was among them.

Chen Shu smiled at him.

The monk returned a smile as well.

This monk had a fierce face, but his smile was unusually gentle.

Immediately after, Chen Shu went to walk around the perimeter of the mine pit to watch the professional team below crack the Square Body gate and set up an isolation Formation. Gradually, the sun sank into the western horizon, and the moon over the Gobitai came out early, hanging in the sky.

The camps of the expert groups from both sides were in the center of the armed camp, living in better tents and having better living standards guaranteed.

In the evening, the Yiguo camp ate food from a large pot.

Among the Mercenary, there were specialized logistics vehicles and cooks. They stir-fried a tomato and egg dish, a potato beef stew, and a Twice-cooked Pork. The taste was alright, much better than what those combat personnel in the guard team made.

After eating, Chen Shu went for a walk and enjoyed the moon. He looked left and right but did not see that Imperial Family Ninth Stage; he did not know where they had gone. The person with the highest cultivation level currently seen in the camp seemed to be that monk.

That was good.

The night on the Gobitai became even more silent and cold. The moonlight reflected the contours of the land, and there was still light at the bottom of the mine pit; the cracking personnel would likely work through the night.

Chen Shu had returned to his tent and lay on the bed. He gripped the Crystal on his chest and closed his eyes.