Echoes

The sandy road was deep and silent, silently awaiting its master's return. The wind vanished here, and even the scorching sunlight of the Western Regions seemed to have its intensity filtered away, leaving only a hazy, dim yellow.

Hiding behind Yun Shu, Jin Zhu was both startled and frightened: "Fox Fairy...it...it's so strange...it seems like...something inside is calling to me?"

The fox spirit spread its divine sense without reservation, carefully probing where this path led. The barrier that blocked the wind was ancient, and the runes it deciphered were obscure and difficult to understand, but they were not purely malevolent; rather, they seemed to be a kind of identity verification.

Whom is it waiting for? And whom has it recognized?

Looking down, the little girl's head was more dazzling than the desert sun, and her eyes were more radiant than an oasis.

"Don't be afraid." Yun Shu gently held Jin Zhu's cold little hand. "Since it has called you and extended an invitation, let's go and see who is waiting."

With a slight twitch of his fingertips, a gentle demonic power enveloped the two, forming a protective barrier. The golden bell on the fox spirit's wrist moved without wind, and though it uttered no sound, it brought a sense of peace and tranquility, temporarily dispelling any fear. He led the golden bead, calmly stepping onto the mysterious sand path.

Strangely enough, the sand, which had been slowly flowing and sinking, became surprisingly firm the moment the two stepped on it, and stopped devouring everything around them. Light and shadow intertwined, reshaping the withered trees and poplars, making them resemble countless lurking ghostly claws, or restless, writhing creatures. Amidst the sound of the sand rubbing together, a deep, mournful wail echoed from the depths of the earth, reminding Yun Shu of the daily pilgrimages she had performed at the Fox Fairy Temple.

At first, Jinzhu still dared not let go of the fox spirit. But as the two went deeper and saw the broken stone pillars and sand walls with mottled textures that had sunk into the sand pit along with the poplar trees, she suddenly found herself in front of Yunshu, and even raised her hand to stroke the blurred patterns on it, her eyes filled with longing.

“My mother…it seems she taught me to draw them…”

Through her muttering, Yun Shu became even more certain that this girl, who had been "abandoned" in the Emperor's Palace and had grown up with stumbles and hardships, must have a background that was closely related to the crown prince of the Quicksand Kingdom in that "ghost story".

The sandy road seems to have no end, and the poplars and sand on both sides are indistinguishable between old and new. Walking on it makes you feel like you are trapped in a moment of struggle, unable to break free.

Over time, it will drive people crazy.

Fortunately, the fox spirit's mind is clear and he is never bound by inanimate objects. The golden bell on his wrist is no ordinary object either—the Nine Realms Heart Bell vibrates silently, yet it can help the mortals around him to stabilize their minds, dispel confusion and bewilderment, and prevent them from being disturbed by external appearances.

After an unknown amount of time, the seemingly endless road suddenly ended, and the view opened up before them.

They had not yet left the desert. Before them lay towering ruins surrounded by ring-shaped sand dunes. The crumbling buildings were half-buried beneath the yellow sand, yet the outlines of palaces and temples could still be vaguely discerned from the statues and serpent-like pillars. The severely weathered statues stood silently, most headless and limbless, only long torsos and feathered backs remaining—likely a result of some form of "divine incarnation" worship. Feathered serpent patterns were visible everywhere on the temple ruins, all matching the totems depicted on the gold beads.

“Fox Fairy…” Jinzhu frowned her delicate brows and said softly, “It’s so quiet here… but it doesn’t feel like the night in the palace, nor like the afternoon in Yunhua Mountain…”

Murong Jin's palace is solemn and majestic at night, while Yunhua Mountain is tranquil and serene in the afternoon. But the stillness here... is more like the eerie, deathly silence that appears after an irreversible catastrophe has struck, swallowing all life and everything that flows—wind, water, quicksand—and leaving behind.

"They're all inanimate objects, no need to worry." Yun Shu untied the golden bell and handed it to her. "Use this bell to keep you company, and you won't be afraid. Would you like to go inside and take a look?"

The little girl tied the golden bell around her waist and nodded firmly.

The palace was severely damaged and its interior had long since collapsed, making it impossible for anyone to enter. Therefore, the two of them stepped over the severed limbs and heads scattered on the ground and slowly entered the temple.

Perhaps it was the enclosed environment of the temple that allowed those distorted murals and reliefs to survive. However, there are not many valuable images on them; they are all depicted with feathered serpents coiled and intertwined, and only occasionally can you see a few black-robed figures in the corners, arms outstretched in a gesture of worship, presumably praising the great achievements of a "god" or "crown prince".

After walking for about half an hour, something different finally appeared on the relief.

It was a woman seated on a black throne. No attendants accompanied her, but two four-winged feathered serpents stood beside her. Proportionally, the serpents were as thick as the pillars outside the palace. The emperor's golden hair was dazzling, and even after the passage of time, glimpses of her former glory could still be seen. Furthermore, two clear, transparent emeralds were deliberately inlaid around her eyes, contrasting beautifully with her golden hair, creating a scene reminiscent of a desert oasis, truly breathtaking. At the king's feet, her indistinct faces mingled with the cheers of her subjects, perhaps celebrating some important festival.

Jinzhu was momentarily mesmerized, but Yunshu's fox ears twitched, precisely catching the faint, almost illusory sound of flowing water emanating from deeper within.

Water? Yun Shu narrowed her eyes slightly. Why would a temple that can worship the Ming Snake and the Quicksand have a water source inside?

"Fox Fairy? What's wrong?" Jinzhu's call interrupted his thoughts.

"I only heard some noise... Jinzhu isn't looking at her anymore?"

"I'm not looking anymore." The little girl shook her head and continued to tug at the fox spirit's sleeve. "She looks almost the same as me. I can look in the mirror when we get back."

Indeed. Whether it's hair color or eyes, Jinzhu is exactly the same as the person in the relief, and even more vivid and eye-catching.

Having made some judgment, Yun Shu led her forward, the sound of water becoming clearer—though this clarity was only perceptible to the fox spirit with her keen senses. Until the moment before pushing open the door, Jin Zhu had not heard any sound other than footsteps.

Therefore, the person behind the door did not notice anyone approaching.

On one side of the spring, on an abandoned stone platform, sat a living person.

The man, travel-worn and clad in robes embroidered with crimson lotuses of karmic fire, was carefully tending to a wound on his arm. Sensing someone at the door, he abruptly looked up, weapon in hand, his hawk-like eyes fixed on the two newly appeared figures with wary intent.

They were members of the Red Lotus Sect. After recognizing the other party, Yun Shu did not act rashly. Instead, she stood quietly in place, protecting the golden pearl behind her, and patiently waited for the other party to calm down.

Once he realized that the visitor was not an evil spirit, and especially after seeing that Yun Shu's noble bearing was still evident despite her deliberate disguise, he visibly relaxed.

Yun Shu raised her hand to support him, and a gentle breeze from her sleeve steadily steadied his figure: "Are you a friend of the Red Lotus Sect?"

Seeing that Yun Shu had seen through his identity so easily, and that he was both powerful and gentle, he readily admitted, "Cang Lang, the Fire Patrolman of the Red Lotus Sect. I don't know who you are... uh!"

Before he could finish speaking, he groaned in pain as the movement aggravated his wound.

It was a minor injury, just a slight infection from sand, nothing difficult to treat. Thinking this, Yun Shu flicked a soft, clear light from her fingertips, clearing away the sand and grit from inside and outside the wound before it disappeared into Cang Lang's body. The wound, which was covered in black mist and blood, healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, replenishing the life force lost due to the special nature of the place.

"Such pure demonic power...it seems even closer to the essence of immortality?" Looking at Yun Shu again, Cang Lang's eyes held a hint of awe and gratitude. "Could it be...that you are the fox immortal from Yunhua Immortal Mountain?"

"Since we met here by chance, there's no need for formalities." Yun Shu nodded slightly, tacitly agreeing. "Why... are you trapped here? And are you injured?"

The other party's expression immediately turned serious, and he forced a bow, saying, "I dare not conceal this from you, Immortal Master. A month ago, our headquarters received messages from multiple branch altars, stating that the water sources in the Western Regions—especially the desert—were abnormally depleted, and there were signs of evil activity... In addition, the Yunhua Mountain group had previously sent a message inquiring about the person who stole the egg. The sect leader felt that the matter was of great importance and ordered us to investigate the cause..."

At this point, he gave a self-deprecating, bitter laugh: "When I was ordered to investigate a certain oasis, I noticed an unusually strong aura of decay in the water. The members of the cult who accompanied me had varying levels of cultivation, so I sent them back to the sect to report to the leader, while I ventured in alone. Everything was going smoothly until I was ambushed by something... That thing was formless and invisible, and seemed to be able to blend into the sandstorm, making it extremely difficult to deal with. I was unfortunately injured by it and had to retreat here to heal... Strangely enough, only near the golden-haired empress depicted in the relief, those evil spirits dared not approach..."

The blonde empress… Yun Shu remained silent, unconsciously glancing behind her. Cang Lang, equally puzzled, followed suit, just as Jin Zhu boldly peeked out. When their eyes met, both were startled.

"This, this is..." His gaze fell on Jinzhu's brilliant golden hair, and then he saw her eyes as green as jade. Canglang was momentarily dazed, unable to tell whether the empress in the relief was walking out of the stone wall, or whether the relief was sculpted based on the girl in front of him.

This made Jinzhu appear calm. She only took half a step back, then, realizing she was alright, breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the strange man, the surrounding ruins were far more captivating to her.

Jinzhu looked around and was captivated by the gurgling spring water. She released Yunshu and walked involuntarily into the pool, towards a feathered serpent statue that was only half-body and headless. She reached out her small hand and gently touched the cold scales.

“Here…” Her gaze was hazy, as if she were not touching an inanimate object, but seeing feathered serpents swimming in the spring millions of years ago, “I think… I dreamt of them… in my mother’s stories, they… were the king’s guards…”

"Jinzhu!" Yun Shu tried to stop her, but it was too late.

The instant her fingertips touched a certain part of the feathered serpent—

"Buzz—"

The entire temple trembled, and the enormous serpent head statue that had fallen beneath the spring suddenly emitted a ghostly blue light in its eyes. At the same time, runes lit up on the stone platform beneath Canglang, forming a fragmented array together with the other ancient patterns in the room.

The sobs beneath the yellow sand grew increasingly clear, no longer requiring Yun Shu to listen intently; even Cang Lang and the others could glimpse them.

That was not the sound of natural wind or shifting sands, but countless tiny, overlapping, and intertwined whispers, full of pain and supplication! Perhaps they were speaking the language of an ancient kingdom of shifting sands, broken and fragmented, yet desperately trying to tell someone something.

Yun Shu quickly pulled the golden pearl back, her body radiating a bright, clear light. Cang Lang also stood up in alarm, his expression wary and alert.

However, the anticipated attack did not occur.

The dim light and whispers intertwined, eventually merging into a phantom above the spring.

The phantom was roughly humanoid, dressed in elaborate clothing and wearing a feathered serpent crown, but its face was smooth and blank. It made no sound, and even the groans from the ground subsided. It simply raised its two arms very slowly toward the golden pearl, in the same jubilant and worshipful gesture shown in the earlier murals. After maintaining this posture for about half a quarter of an hour, the phantom slowly bowed down, placing one hand on its face as if wiping away tears, while the other hand pointed in a direction behind the stone wall—according to the information gleaned by the fox ears, that was the source of the spring flowing from here.

Half an hour later, the phantom seemed to have exhausted all its strength and suddenly collapsed and dissipated. The eerie light went out, the whispers faded away, and the temple returned to silence, with only the gurgling of the spring remaining.

It all felt like a dream.

But Jinzhu's face turned pale as she stared blankly at the spot where the phantom had disappeared, and two lines of tears slid down her cheeks without warning.

"Fox Fairy... I... I think I can understand..." She trembled with fear, tightly hugging Yun Shu's clothes, sobbing uncontrollably.

"He...they said: 'Princess...have mercy...save...me...'"