Chapter 94 Happy New Year, may we meet again under the moon and flowers...

I can't remember when it was.

They followed the direction indicated by the compass and headed west until they entered the vast desert.

It seemed that the sun and moon were the only changes, and the wind and sand buried all interest. The camels walked slowly, and the boys, their faces covered, walked numbly in the yellow sand.

Moonlit night.

They found a suitable sheltered spot on a sand dune, and the camels formed a circle around it. Wen Chuan and Qin Tianshu cleared out the space in the middle, intending to light a campfire for warmth and illumination.

Zhang Xuan sorted through the supplies, taking out food and water and distributing them little by little. He also took out wool blankets and other items to keep everyone warm.

Fortunately, Wen Chuan knew some spatial magic beforehand, so they all brought bags or small pouches to hide their personal belongings. They had no shortage of supplies, but the sandstorms were really tough. Traveling every day left them feeling completely exhausted.

The campfire burned softly. Qingyu, wrapped in a blanket, leaned against Wenchuan's shoulder, her voice weak, "How many days have we been traveling?"

Zhang Xuan chewed hard on a piece of flatbread, then sighed deeply, sounding utterly dejected. "I can't remember. Five or six days? Ten days?"

"It's almost Chinese New Year, isn't it?"

Qin Tianshu sighed softly, and suddenly tore off a piece of flatbread and chewed on it. He complained that it was too dry and tasteless, so he took out some dried fruit from his bag to mix it up.

Lin Fanxiang chuckled, "It seems so. It looks like we'll be spending the Lunar New Year in the desert this year."

"fine,"

Qingyu chuckled twice, "You've come all this way to celebrate the New Year with the gods."

"Don't try to cheer me up. We've been walking for so many days... and haven't seen a single trace of them."

Zhang Xuan lay on his sleeping blanket, the young man leaning helplessly towards the sky, the stars twinkling in his eyes through the sand and dust.

"Dear Ancient Desert God, please show yourself! If that's not possible, send out your divine deer to show us the way! Ah!"

Qin Tianshu happened to be sitting next to him. The scholar smiled, pursed his lips, and patted his shoulder, "Alright, pack up and get some rest."

"tomorrow."

Wen Chuan suddenly spoke up, "Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year."

He remembered the date. Although the endless sandstorms distracted him along the way, if he remembered correctly, tomorrow was the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was also the last day of the sixteenth year of Tianchen.

"Really,"

Qingyu suddenly laughed, looking at the wind, sand and stars, and said, "This is wonderful, I never thought we would actually be spending the New Year here."

Lin Fanxiang pursed her lips. Although it wasn't perfect, spending the New Year in the desert was still a rare experience in life.

Zhang Xuan lay down early and chatted with Qin Tianshu, lamenting that Cai Cai wasn't there—

The scholar said, "The vegetables will wilt after only two days here. Let's save our energy and not make things difficult for the chicken."

Wen Chuan: "It's very sensitive to heat, and it just barks when it comes."

Zhang Xuan: "...Hmph."

The brothers are so stubborn; they clearly miss Cai Cai.

"Go to sleep! We'll keep going tomorrow!"

"Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Chinese New Year!"

Qingyu stretched and sighed, then smiled and wished everyone a Happy New Year. She tidied up the blanket and mattress, then lay down peacefully to look at the endless starry sky.

God, we've really come to celebrate the New Year with you.

Happy New Year.

With those thoughts in mind, she drifted off to sleep.

...

When Xiaohua woke up, she was still a little dazed.

She yawned, rubbed her sleepy eyes, then shook her head and opened them—

Amidst the swirling yellow sand, she was all alone in the vast desert.

"ah!"

Little Flower yelled, "Hey! What the hell is this place?!"

She shook off the sand and stood up, looking around warily. After a few moments, she exclaimed, "Wow! I've grown up!"

What happened? She clearly fought with the little tiger in the morning, got a beating from the mountain tiger in the afternoon, listened to Sister Lotus tell the story of the New Year in the evening, got sleepy, ran to Grandpa Locust Tree before closing her eyes, wished him a Happy New Year, and then fell asleep—

Xiaohua counted on her fingers, thinking about what happened before she fell asleep. She thought and thought, and realized there was no problem.

"Never mind, let's go and see."

"Sigh, is this what I'll be like when I grow up?"

"These are my hands, my face, my stomach, and my arms!"

"Haha, if only there were water, I could see my own reflection."

"Hey, what's this flowery wood? Is it mine?"

"Oh dear, where am I? It's so hot."

She walked for a long time without seeing anyone. After thinking about it, she figured it was probably some prankster from some villain who could create illusions. But to be honest, her adult appearance was really novel.

She walked step by step, touching every part of her body, from her skin to her skirt, then to the flower-shaped wooden carving hanging at her waist, touching herself until she was completely exhausted.

Why!

Little Flower stood with her hands on her hips and shouted at the swirling yellow sand.

"Which powerful demon set up this illusion!"

"I'm just a little demon! It's not worth it!"

"Really! If you want to take my life, you can come and take it! Why do this!"

"Hey! Who is it?! Can't a demon come out and speak?"

"A person would be fine too! I've never seen a person before!"

"Ah! What's going on! Where am I?! Ugh, this sand..."

"Even though I'm over five years old! I'm only six...seven...eight years old! I'm still young! Don't bully a child like that!"

"Who is it...?"

Little Peanut felt utterly dejected, her entire demon form listless. She couldn't use her spiritual power for some reason, and she had grown larger. In the vast desert, she even had the illusion of dreaming.

But the soles of my feet are burning hot, so hot that the flowers are almost ripe. It's not a dream.

"Bullying little demons, kidnapping children, shameless, wicked thing, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

"That darn sand, it's so hot it's killing me, ah!"

"I, Xiao Hua, am wise and sagacious, born in Qishan. I never expected this, never expected this."

"They were captured by treacherous people and ended up in this desert, somewhere unknown. How pitiful and lamentable!"

"well……"

"It's clearly Chinese New Year, what's going on..."

Xiao Hua lowered her head and walked forward listlessly, kicking the sand as she went. She cursed as she walked. Well, she had no spiritual power, and the sand was blinding her. She was doomed here.

"Who are you?"

A strange yet familiar male voice rang out. Xiao Hua looked up and saw a rather handsome human sword cultivator coldly staring at her.

Xiaohua: "...Who are you?"

She's quite pretty, but she speaks so coldly and seems to have a bad intention. I need to be careful of her.

Wen Guyueheng found it strange. He clearly remembered that he had just jumped off the snowy cliff of Tianshan Mountain, the scabbard was in the South China Sea, and the immortal sword was in the far north city—

But when he opened his eyes, he found himself in the Western Liang Desert, with a celestial sword and its sheath at his waist.

He walked for a long time, but could see nothing but sand and wind, and couldn't even use his spiritual power. Just now, a noisy chanting sound rang out, and following the sound, he saw a girl in red with her head down.

She's quite pretty, but she talks in a cocky way and seems arrogant and unrestrained, which he doesn't like.

...

"Your name is Wen, Gu Yue... whatever your name is..."

Xiao Hua blinked in confusion, finding the human swordsman's name too difficult to pronounce. "Is this how human names are supposed to be?"

Wen Guyueheng took a deep breath. "My surname is Wen Gu, and my given name is Yueheng. It's 'heng', not 'heng'."

"oh."

Wen Guyueheng: "..."

"You don't know Wen Gu?"

"Why should I know? My name is Hua, you can just call me Little Hua. I came here after I took a nap. What about you?"

Xiaohua crossed her arms, looked up at him lazily, and said, "Don't tell me you're the one who brought me here."

Wen Guyue glanced at her, the young man gripping the sword hilt, his voice indifferent, "It wasn't me."

Xiaohua looked him up and down a few times. "Oh, I see. We're like kindred spirits."

Wen Guyueheng: "...are like-minded people." They sympathize with each other because they share the same plight.

"Oh, it doesn't matter."

She twirled the flower-shaped wooden carving in her hand, walking alongside Wen Guyueheng. They were initially silent, but after a moment's thought, Xiaohua asked him again.

"Excuse me, how old are you?"

Wen Guyueheng gave her a strange look. "Why are you asking this?"

"Just ask, it won't hurt you. I'm guessing you... are thirty this year?"

"..."

"Could he be forty? Are humans really that good at maintaining their health?"

"No!"

Wen Guyueheng pursed his lips and finally said, "Over twenty."

"oh,"

"So old," Xiaohua thought. As she walked, she turned back and asked him, "How old do you think I am?"

Wen Guyueheng tilted his head and looked down at her. This little demon was too strange. The place was strange, the demon was strange, and the questions she asked were strange.

Xiaohua: "...Don't look at me like that, or I'll treat you as an enemy."

The girl pursed her lips, looked up at him, her beautiful eyes unusually calm, and her tone was no longer as innocent as before, but rather exuded a sense of tranquility.

“This place is very strange. I believe you, and you should believe me too.”

Wen Guyueheng looked at her for a few seconds, then the young man turned his head and said softly, "Sixteen or seventeen years old, I guess."

She was very beautiful, with eyes that seemed to speak volumes, and she looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Sixteen or seventeen years old..."

Xiao Hua murmured something to herself. She looked up into the distance, where endless yellow sand stretched to the horizon, and in the vastness, it seemed that only she and Wen Guyueheng were there.

"Where exactly is this?"

She was rather disheartened. She had never left Qishan in her entire life, so how did she end up in this vast desert in the blink of an eye?

Wen Guyueheng: "It should be the desert of Xiliang Prefecture."

Xiao Hua: "West? My house is in the west too!"

Wen Guyueheng looked at her, "You don't know about Kyushu?"

"I know, there's... to the north, there's... the sea to the south, there's ghosts in Qingzhou to the east... um, right, there's Liangzhou to the west, and there's a desert."

Xiaohua nodded seriously, trying to cover up the fact that she hadn't been paying attention in Lotus Sister's class.

Wen Guyueheng unconsciously smiled, glancing gently at the somewhat bewildered girl. The young man, his hand tapping the hilt of the immortal sword, suddenly felt a surge of curiosity.

"You are a demon from Yizhou, a demon from Qishan?"

He asked, and Xiaohua nodded. Hearing the name of her hometown again, she answered with a sense of relief, "Yes!"

Wen Guyueheng nodded, then heard Xiaohua ask, "And what about you?"

He lowered his eyes for a moment and said calmly, "A person from the far north of Youzhou."

"oh."

Xiao Hua said something, and as she and Wen Guyueheng walked along, she seemed to remember something again, the far north of Youzhou, Wen Gu...

"You, you are... from Snow City?"

She looked at Wen Guyueheng with a puzzled expression, and Wen Guyueheng frowned, "Jianxue?"

"That's right, the northernmost city of Youzhou is none other than Jianxue City."

"That's right, there was some kind of sword immortal who ascended to heaven and caused a huge snowfall, which is why the city of the far north was renamed."

"I know everything, but you don't?"

Seeing the girl's questioning gaze, Wen Guyueheng had an unlikely and incredibly bizarre thought in his mind, "How long ago was that sword immortal you were talking about?"

"Let me think... it seems like it's been thousands of years, it's all just legend."

millennium?

Thousands of years?

Wen Guyueheng looked at Xiaohua, his brows furrowed in thought for a moment, then he looked up, his blue-gray eyes were light and gentle, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

A beautiful but eccentric person.

Xiao Hua shook her head slightly and sighed silently. She looked at the endless yellow sand in the distance and felt that she was doomed today.

Xiaohua: "My head hurts, my head hurts."

Wen Guyueheng: "Then, shall we stop and rest for a while?"

Xiaohua sighed and was about to nod when she saw a sudden tremor in the distance!

A fierce wind howled, and sandstorms swept in, creating a terrifying roar.

Xiao Hua raised her hand and tilted her head, trying to stand firm and avoid the raging sandstorm, but the sandstorm was too strong, seemingly trying to overturn everything in the world—

"you……"

"pay close attention!"

Xiao Hua looked up as Wen Gu Yueheng gripped her hand tightly. Amidst the spreading sandstorm, she looked up with surprise and confusion in her eyes. Wen Gu Yueheng, however, paid no attention to anything else. The young man pulled her forcefully, and almost instantly a gale howled.

In the darkness and sand, they held each other tightly, closed their eyes, and couldn't utter a single word until the wind and sand buried them.

They fell into a deep, unconscious state.