35 Do not look at anything indecent

Outside the tavern, the strong wind carried sand and gravel that hit the wooden windows rapidly. The waves of violent impact were like galloping horses. The window hinges made a slight loosening sound, which was quickly drowned out by the roar of the angry wind and sand.

Inside the tavern, the candles in the three tall lamps crackled, but there was no light at all.

Looking carefully in the dim light, I discovered that the tavern was actually filled with people sitting quietly. All of them sat quietly at the table with their heads down, not moving at all. The scene was extremely spooky and eerie.

“Crack—”

The door opened a crack, and two figures quickly rushed into the tavern wrapped in wind and sand. When they turned around and closed the door, the silent tavern was already bustling with activity.

It was like the flickering of a candle flame, or the subtle movement of a stranger entering the door—

The room instantly "came alive". Under the increasingly bright candlelight, there was a buzzing sound as loud and dense as the sound of insects, which changed into a rapid whisper in a moment. When the candlelight illuminated the entire interior of the tavern, the tavern was already filled with endless conversations, interspersed with the sounds of clinking bowls and waiters pouring wine, as if it was a very normal tavern.

The people who were sitting stiffly at the table just now were now shaking their limbs, pretending to drink and chat, but they looked very stiff.

The man and woman who had strayed in seemed completely unaware of what had happened inside the house. After confirming that the door was closed and carefully propped up with a wooden pole nearby, Hua Lang wiped the sand off his face.

Xie Hanjing, who was standing beside her, was still supporting her. His face was also covered in dust and sand, and only the eye sockets under his long eyelashes were still white. He looked extremely disheveled.

As for how the two of them became like this, it's really a miserable fate.

After Hua Lang and Xie Han were shocked into entering the water formation, they were not teleported to the end of the formation.

I don’t know if it was because of the male protagonist’s halo, but he was supposed to appear in the Sand City of Luo Yin’s Secret Realm three days later, but by accident, he passed by the water formation at that moment and sucked the two of them into the formation.

Thus, Hua Lang, whose cultivation level disappeared inexplicably, and Xie Hanjing, who inhaled the devil's aura, were caught off guard and faced the hidden ghost in the Sand City.

After swallowing countless mouthfuls of sand, the two of them finally stumbled and escaped the pursuit of the ghost.

"Ahem...it's all my fault for underestimating the enemy, which led to Master falling into danger. Please punish me, Master."

Xie Hanjing suddenly drew the wooden sword from his waist and handed it to Hua Lang with both hands.

Hua Lang was startled by his actions.

Although she did not expect to enter the Sand City before catching up with the male protagonist, the location of the Sand City was not decided by Xie Hanjing.

"This is not your fault, why should I punish you?" Hua Lang wanted to push his sword back, but was afraid that he would hurt himself, so he could only say half-truthfully.

"Since I've accepted you as my disciple, how can I, the master, just stand by and watch when my disciple is in trouble? Entering the water formation was my own decision, so you don't have to blame yourself. Besides, my cultivation is suppressed now, and this Sand City is unpredictable. The rest of the journey depends on you."

Xie Hanjing remained silent for a long time. His demon core trembled slightly. After hesitating for a while, he retracted his sword and said softly, "Disciple understands."

Hua Lang watched him put away his sword.

Xie Hanjing was also covered in dust. The tavern was dim, and his eyes became particularly clear, like the deep sea sprinkled with skylight, silently luring every passing fisherman.

Beautiful, but there is always the risk of drowning.

Just by looking at it, I feel an inexplicable sense of crisis.

The atmosphere was so quiet that even the air in the tavern seemed to freeze. As the candlelight dimmed, countless pairs of covetous eyes in the darkness stared at the two of them.

"Why did it suddenly turn dark?"

Hua Lang got goose bumps all over her body. She just came back to her senses from Xie Hanjing and immediately noticed the changes in the room.

"The wick must have fallen into the oil. Let me go and take a look."

Xie Hanjing walked towards the lampstand.

He swept away the dust on the lamp holder and flicked it gently. The candle wax on the lamp holder crackled and the hall became bright again. Everything returned to "normal". People were toasting each other, laughing and cursing.

But the eyes, covered with dust on the gray face, could no longer hide in the candlelight.

Hua Lang was still standing in front of the door unconscious, using the light to clean the sand and pebbles in the gaps between his clothes. He turned his head defenselessly and was met with a gray and stiff face.

The skin on this face was extremely taut, as if it would be torn apart at any second and something would crawl out; the pupils were as if wrapped in cocoons, pale and dull; the entire face, including the philtrum, was covered with dust.

A normal person would be scared to death after seeing this scene.

But Hua Lang acted as if he hadn't seen anything. He patted his shoulder and then said to Xie Han calmly, "This tavern is quite lively. All the tables are full."

Xie Hanjing put the sharp lantern into his sleeve and said, "Well, Yingcheng is ruled by King Luo Yun, and it is a rare prosperous place in the mortal world. I will go to the back to see if there is still room."

King Luo Yun?

This is actually Yan Rong’s hometown!

The Sand City has no owner and no boundaries. It is like a pool of flowing water. When it flows to a place in the form of "nothingness", it will record every street and alley, every person and every lamp it has visited, and then repeatedly carve patterns with wind and sand to reproduce the various aspects of the world.

However, there is no concept of spring, autumn, dawn or dusk in the Sand City. The scenery and people Hua Lang sees now are most likely a reproduction of the situation several years ago.

If the timing is right, Hua Lang might be able to see Yan Rong when she was young.

Thinking of this, Hua Lang became interested. As soon as the sandstorm stopped, she secretly went to Luo Yun Palace for a stroll.

The two searched for a long time before they found two empty seats at a table by the window in the corner.

There were two sand people sitting at the east and north seats of the table. When they saw Hua Lang and Xie Hanjing approaching, they acted like ordinary drinkers, swinging their limbs in an uncoordinated manner while drinking "wine". However, their gray pupils, like those of other drinkers, moved slowly, staring at the two people from beginning to end.

Although these sand people look weird, they can only roll their eyes and cannot attack them.

Hua Lang had been chased by the ghost for most of the day. Not to mention sitting with it, even if there was a sand man lying on the bed, she could turn over and continue sleeping without any care.

After Xie Hanjing brushed off the dust for her, Hua Lang sat down on the bench, while Xie Hanjing sat on another stool next to Hua Lang's hand.

Brushing away the dust in the air, Hua Lang saw the two sandmen next to him holding hands as if no one was around, then getting closer and closer, and even lifting up the stool.

Hua Lang watched this scene with great interest, and she secretly wondered when the two people would fall.

When she was about to lose her balance, the corner of the stool suddenly fell steadily to the ground. The male sandman pulled the female sandman onto his legs, and their lips were almost touching, but the man's eyes were still fixed on Hua Lang, while the woman's was staring at Xie Hanjing.

Hua Lang: “…”

This strange ntr feeling instantly interrupted the ambiguous atmosphere.

Do not look at anything indecent.

Hua Lang narrowed his eyes and turned his head, only to see Xie Han staring at the two sand people in shock, as if he didn't think there was anything wrong at all.

The male protagonist was led astray by this unconcerned young couple!

Hua Lang's alarm bells rang loudly. She feigned a few coughs to draw Xie Hanjing's attention back, then changed the subject, "Ahem, um... By the way, how do you know this is Yingcheng? Have you been here before?"

Xie Han blinked in shock, as if he finally realized the awkwardness of the scene just now. His gaze wandered slightly, and after glancing at Hua Lang, he stared at the gray bowl on the table with obvious guilt.

"I once lived in Yingcheng for a while," he added slowly, "...I felt familiar with this tavern when I entered the city just now. This tavern is quite famous in Yingcheng, so I shouldn't be mistaken."

Hua Lang nodded in understanding, feeling that the atmosphere was a little subtle. The two sand people were still hugging each other in ecstasy, so she looked up and pretended to look at the window.

The windows were tightly sealed, the window paper bulged slightly, light shone through the gaps, and occasionally some sand would get in.

This sandstorm has been going on for most of the day, and I don’t know when it will stop.

Suddenly, it got dark.

Hua Lang blinked and moved closer to the dark window paper in disbelief.

When did the Sand City even manage to imitate the alternation of day and night?

The black color quickly moved away, and just as the window paper showed some light, another black object flew by, blocking out the light from the window.

It’s not that it’s dark, it’s a ghost!

When they were outside the city, they had clearly shaken off the ghost, so why was it following them again now?

Hua Lang and Xie Han looked at each other in shock. They stood up and were about to run to the door when they heard the door creaking continuously. The ghost was already at the door!

This ghost is like the guardian of the Sand City. It will devour and assimilate all foreign objects in the city and must not be caught by them!

Hua Lang looked around. The table was in the corner of the tavern, and there was a door behind it, which looked like a storage room.

She hurried forward and tried to pull the door open, but the fist-sized lock underneath didn't budge at all. Brute force was not enough to open the door!

Time was running out, so Hua Lang pulled Xie Hanjing over and said simply, "Give me spiritual energy."

Xie Hanjing also reacted quickly, and the spiritual energy instantly flowed like a stream from the palms of their hands, rushing towards Hua Lang.

Hua Lang used his spiritual energy and pinched his fingers to make a gesture, and the door lock instantly disappeared into a pool of sand!

The wooden poles at the gate were already creaking as they could no longer support themselves.

Hua Lang suddenly pushed the door open and pulled Xie Hanjing to hide in the storage room.

After the oncoming wind blew a mouthful of sand into her mouth, Hua Lang realized that the house actually led to the outside!

A ghost happened to pass by. It seemed to hear the noise here. Just as it was about to turn around to look, Hua Lang slammed the door shut again.

What to do? There is no place to hide in the tavern!

Hua Lang's palm felt empty. It was Xie Hanjing who let go of his hand. He suddenly turned around and walked towards the young couple.

Hua Lang looked at him in astonishment as he circulated his spiritual energy. After replicating the spell Hua Lang had just used, he raised his sword and chopped the couple who were still affectionate with each other into sand.

……ah?

It's just a show of affection, it shouldn't be a crime like that, right?

Before Hua Lang could react, the door was completely broken open by the sudden and violent whistling of the wind. Dim yellow sand was blown up and almost extinguished the candle on the lampstand.

The room was dark for a brief moment.

In this dark moment, a hand quickly pulled Hua Lang over.

When the lights came on again, they both sat back at the table, but now they were sitting in the seats of the couple from before.

The ghost followed the direction of the drinkers' eyes and headed straight for the two of them.

It looked like a giant black light bulb, with a huge black head on top of its thin body, and two huge eyes staring at the two of them suspiciously.

Hua Lang's forehead was covered with sweat, and she didn't dare to breathe.

In the corner of his eye, he could see a dark object approaching - it was the Yin ghost, and it was slowly approaching Hua Lang's neck.

“!”

Hua Lang's hand on the table was suddenly held tightly!

She looked at Xie Hanjing, who remained calm. Seeing this, Hua Lang also calmed down.

Xie Hanjing's other hand reached behind Hua Lang inconspicuously. He turned sideways and used his wrist to separate Yigui and Hua Lang.

When the ghost was about to attack, he suddenly let go of the hand that was holding Hua Lang, went around her thigh, and picked up Hua Lang.

Just like the couple just now, Hua Lang was held in his arms.

Under the ghost's suspicious gaze, the two faces moved closer and closer...