Chapter 113 Fleeing in Disarray or Suddenly Realizing the Truth: Red Cloud.

I heard the sound of wings flapping overhead; it seemed the crow had flown away.

To save power and to avoid attracting strange things with the light, Fengmian sat in the tent in the dark for a while. Miaomiao, having eaten and drunk her fill, lay down at his feet, her breathing a little heavy, like she was snoring.

A faint blue hue peeked through the tent roof, indicating that dawn was approaching. Xiao Feng and the others had been gone for almost two hours, and to be honest, he was a little worried.

Before, when he was waiting for them to emerge from their dreams at home, he could always reassure himself because he wasn't very involved. But this time, he couldn't.

Perhaps the tent wasn't far from them as the crow flies, but he had no choice but to stay there and couldn't go anywhere else.

After sitting there for a long time, Fengmian's body became a little stiff, and with the low temperature in the mountains, her hands and feet became a little cold. She decided to stand up and go for a walk outside the tent.

As soon as he stood up, a sudden buzzing sound came from the pile of rubble on his right.

The previously quiet environment was suddenly shattered, startling him like a thunderclap from a clear sky. The puppy, however, seemed to be sleeping soundly; despite the commotion, it only whimpered twice and didn't even lift its eyelids.

"Buzz—"

"Buzz—"

Two more sounds, and Fengmian hesitated before heading towards the source of the sound. He lifted the tent fabric covering it and finally found the culprit in the gap of the soft padding.

It's a mobile phone.

Since their team members were somewhat detached from society and had returned to a simpler life, and Ji Wuchou, who used her phone the most, had also left, Feng Mian couldn't immediately determine whose phone was left there.

Besides, it was still vibrating wildly. After hesitating for a few seconds, I finally managed to pull the phone out of the gap.

The caller ID on the screen displays only one character.

"Ji"

He guessed that the phone's owner was most likely Ji Yinxiu.

After ringing for a few more seconds, the screen finally went dark. Just when he thought the noise had stopped, the phone rang again.

It seemed to be something urgent, but the others hadn't returned yet, and Feng Mian was unsure whether she should answer the phone. Just as she hesitated, voices suddenly came from outside the tent.

As soon as Xia Zhu stepped out of the tunnel, she saw Feng Mian hurriedly lift the curtain and walk out.

"You're finally back..." he said, taking a closer look. The group looked like they had just come out of a slaughterhouse, with not a single clean spot on their bodies, and a stench wafted towards them.

He quickly found Feng Feng in the crowd, and after confirming that his sister was alive and kicking, he joked, "Is the battle that intense?"

"What's wrong, bro? Is there a snake in the tent too?" Feng Feng wanted nothing more than to stick to Feng Mian the moment he saw him, all in good spirits, sharing the stench.

“Snake? It’s not a snake.” Feng Mian put his hand on her shoulder in disgust, then turned his gaze to Ji Yinxiu. “You have a phone call.”

Ji Yinxiu was clearly stunned for a moment, as if she had long forgotten that she even had a cell phone, until she saw the character "Ji" flashing wildly on the screen and then she realized it.

"Thank you." He took the phone and pointed to the side. "I'm going to take this call."

Xia Zhu and the others returned to the tent, packed up the items that weren't broken, and waited for a while before Ji Yinxiu finished his call and came in.

His expression was somewhat strange, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong?" Feng Mian had no choice but to kindly ask him.

"Sorry everyone, I may have to leave the team first." He stood at the door, his figure almost transparent against the backlight, his knuckles tightening around his phone. "My family found out I've been away for too long, so I'm giving them my final ultimatum."

Xia Zhu suddenly realized that he had wanted to join the unnamed team because the Ji family had ordered that his crippled body could not participate in any operations to hunt down demon gods or enter dreams.

It seems they came to reprimand him because they discovered he had gone out and teamed up with others without permission.

However, the discovery took far too long, suggesting that the Ji family of Kongtong doesn't care much about the master of the Xuanyuan Sword.

Xuanyuan Hill.

A certain image flashed through her mind, and Xia Zhu unconsciously looked at Ji Yinxiu by the door. The latter quickly received her gaze, tilted her head slightly, as if thinking about something, and the corners of her mouth turned up almost imperceptibly.

"Or, would anyone be interested in visiting Xuanyuan Hill?" He looked at Xia Zhu's brightening eyes. "Although I am just a cripple, inviting friends to my home for a few days shouldn't be a problem. We can negotiate a bit, and maybe we can continue our journey."

"Okay, okay! I'll go, I'll go!" Feng Feng nodded frantically. "Then I need to find a few more good craftsmen from Xuanyuan Hill to make me a few automatic sprinklers. My cousin Aruo has been urging me to do this for her several times, and I still need to solve this problem for her!"

"The craftsmen of Xuanyuan Hill are all skilled at making fine weapons. Who would bother making you a sprinkler? Besides, do you have enough money and a sufficient number of divine strategies?" Feng Mian bluntly poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

“What’s wrong with a sprinkler! How can a sprinkler be inferior to any sophisticated weapon? Without a sprinkler, where would a good harvest come from! If you ask me, a sprinkler is just as useful as the Xuanyuan Sword!” She said excitedly, standing on a mat to the side.

“That’s right.” Ying Ya immediately echoed, his most loyal supporter.

"Okay, okay, fine."

"Then it's decided!"

As they talked, they walked out of the tent. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the first rays of dawn poured down from the cave entrance like wisps of gauze.

"By the way, Ah Zhu, I haven't asked you what happened in the cave yet. How did you end up in such a sorry state?" Feng Mian asked curiously, noticing that Xia Zhu was the only one who was injured.

"Oh dear, oh dear, don't talk about it here. Let me tell you the story slowly when we go upstairs, okay?" Feng Feng said, swinging the vine in her hand and throwing it out of the cave with a light flick. The vine automatically wrapped around the surrounding trees, and she twisted a few more vines, letting them hang down to one side.

Xia Zhu reached out and tugged at it; it was very secure.

"Let's go, friends, the rat man has seen the light of day again."

*

After this ordeal, the group didn't dare to set up tents outside to rest. They squeezed back into the car, quickly changed their clothes, wiped off the bloodstains, and planned to rest and catch up on some sleep before it was fully light.

Xia Zhu's arm injury had completely healed, but she still had the bandage on.

Feng Feng vividly recounted their experience inside the cave to Feng Mian, from the mummies to the murals, to the battle between the long snake and Ji Yinxiu, and finally, the strange symbol.

"You mean, that snake has a mark on it that we saw exactly the same one in Isuzu before?" Feng Mian asked as he turned on his computer.

“Yes, I’ve been wanting to ask this before. In Yu Chan’s memory, was the person sitting opposite Si You the legendary Chi You? So, was the person who promised to take them away from Puyang to the east also that person? And what about that strange afterimage at the end?” Feng Feng suddenly brought these questions to the forefront. Xia Zhu glanced at Ying Huo, who was leaning against the car window with his eyes closed, without making a sound.

He looked like he was asleep, his brows slightly furrowed, his long hair covering his eyes. The temperature inside the car rose, and it was easy to feel drowsy as tired nerves relaxed. However, no one smelled pleasant; the stench of blood still lingered faintly in the air, making everyone feel uncomfortable.

“I don’t think that afterimage necessarily has anything to do with Chi You,” Ji Yinxiu suddenly said. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the shadow he had only glimpsed in Isuzu. “However, if the masked man is Chi You, then this long snake might really be related to him.”

"You guessed right."

Feng Mian turned around from the front row, placed his laptop on the armrest, and faced the people in the back row.

He swiped the mouse and clicked on a post in an unknown official forum. Xia Zhu noticed that the poster's name was a bunch of gibberish and even the profile picture was blank.

"I don't know which official posted this, but it says that these troublesome demons and gods actually come from the same organization." The screen scrolled down and finally stopped on an image with the same red mark on it.

"This organization is called Crimson Cloud."

Xia Zhu moved closer and discovered that the person who posted the message had specifically stated that the Crimson Cloud Organization had existed for at least ten thousand years, dating back to ancient times, and that its founder was none other than the mysterious tribal leader who had already disappeared from history.

—Chi You.

"Who is this person? And how did he know?" Feng Feng asked.

“There is no identity information in the account, but he said that his ancestors had the blood of Chi You. Maybe the elders in his family have mentioned it?” Feng Mian pointed to the comments below. “Other unknown officials also said that they found the mark of the red cloud on the demon god. It seems that it is very likely. Even the prophecy may be related to this organization.”

"Red Cloud?" Feng Feng gently rubbed Miao Miao's ears, and the little dog squinted its eyes comfortably. "Next time I go home, I can ask Mom. But why is this organization suddenly popping up and doing this?"

“The Long Serpent seems to have mentioned it.” Ying Ya, who had been mostly silent, suddenly spoke up. Seeing Feng Feng staring at him, he lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly and said in a muffled voice, “The world in its earliest form.”

"Oh right!" Feng Feng slapped his thigh, and Miao Miao almost jumped up in fright. "So what she said was true? What does this mysterious 'original world' mean?"

"So now, whether it's a prophecy of natural disasters or a calamity caused by demons and gods, it's all related to this organization called Crimson Cloud. Their goal seems to be to obtain some kind of justice and equality. This kind of justice and equality existed in this world from the beginning, but it disappeared for some reason later?" Xia Zhu whispered her thoughts, simply connecting the information in their hands.

To be more precise, she believed that the "fairness and equality" mentioned by the long serpent was more like a loss of resources. Perhaps these resources were once abundant in the world, but later, for some reason, they favored one side. Therefore, the demon gods, led by the Crimson Cloud Organization, who had no powerful backing, were most likely the group that lost these resources.

However, judging from the tone of the snake, she did not seem to have witnessed that so-called "equal and just" era.

So, what exactly is this resource?

Xia Zhu's eyelid suddenly twitched.

Naturally handsome.

Resources may be the very nature that makes them so eager to acquire them.

That was the only thing she could think of.

She shared her thoughts with everyone, and after listening to her analysis, everyone seemed to be immersed in the imagination of a world "filled with natural phenomena".

Soon, the car was filled with Feng Feng's calm and slow breathing. No one spoke anymore, except for the occasional sound of clothes rubbing against each other.

After all this commotion, everyone desperately needs some sleep.

Sunlight streamed through the windshield inch by inch.

I don't know how much time has passed.

"Click—"

A very subtle sound came from the air, and the temperature on Xia Zhu's left shoulder suddenly dropped, as if a warm covering had been peeled away. Xia Zhu's eyelashes trembled.

Today was another sunny day, but the beautiful weather felt like a provocation to him. Life, sunshine, birdsong, green trees—everything stung his eyes and tormented his ears.

It seems the world is always so chaotic, and he is forced to leave the crowd and return alone to some dark and gloomy nest, pretending to be a recluse and deliberately choosing to be all alone.

It's really just a stinky bat, all dusty and hiding from the sun.

Even if he were to be a bat, Ying Huo felt that he was the biggest failure.

But it doesn't matter anymore, I'm used to it. He's always on the run, running from one place to another. For someone who's fleeing in panic, why should he care about how his back view looks so that he doesn't look pathetic or run away in a panic?

However, this was the only time that someone discovered his shameful act of fleeing in panic.

When Xia Zhu saw that the person in front of her had suddenly stopped, she didn't think about avoiding them but continued to walk forward.

"Isn't it said that even after a thousand miles of farewell, we must eventually part ways? Are you planning to see this through to the end?" Ying Huo turned around and looked at Xia Zhu, who had a cold expression and his hands in his pockets. "If you go any further and can't find your way back, don't blame me."

He spoke with a slight upward inflection at the end, and Xia Zhu couldn't understand why this person could still laugh.

All his secrets were almost transparent to him; he was just one step away from breaking through that barrier and calling out his name.

"Are you leaving?" But Xia Zhu ignored everything else and asked this seemingly meaningless question. She just felt that the two of them had agreed beforehand that they would go together, no matter where they went.

Unfortunately, Xia Zhu is an extremely trustworthy person.

“It’s obvious.” This time, his pale yet beautiful face turned into a blatant smile at Xia Zhu. “Otherwise, you could also use the word ‘run.’ If I hadn’t been sleeping in the open for several days and hadn’t run away, I might have actually started running.”

She ignored his overly deliberate lie and asked, "Why?"

Ying Huo stared at her face for a long while, then subconsciously looked at her injured arm, and suddenly lowered his tone, "What else could it be?"

To Xia Zhu, those words sounded inexplicably aggrieved, and she couldn't help but sneer. She couldn't understand what was so aggrieved about someone who didn't say anything, so she decided not to beat around the bush.

"Is Red Cloud your organization?"

Ying Huo was taken aback, a flash of panic crossing his gray eyes, but as if to prove something, he suddenly shouted, "I didn't do it!"

"I don't know what happened... I never expected it to turn out like this..."

"So, I'm planning to go back and take a look..." His voice grew softer and softer, and his face grew paler and paler. The sunlight shining on his skin gave off a strange shimmer. Xia Zhu initially thought it was the blue veins under his transparent skin, but later realized that it wasn't.

"Going back, do you mean going back to the Ying family?" she asked.

“Where else could it be? At least I still have a place there.” He looked at Xia Zhu’s expression, then added, “This has nothing to do with me.”

She didn't speak, and her expression remained unchanged.

Ying Huo frowned and subconsciously took a step forward.

"You don't believe me?" He seemed to take it for granted that she should believe him.

Xia Zhu shifted her gaze from the side of his face to those eyes.

“I really want to believe you,” she said, “but how can I believe you? You haven’t said anything from the beginning.”

Including that vague and ethereal name, including Chi Yun, and perhaps many more.

Ying Huo stopped speaking and stopped looking at her. His hair was much longer than when she first met him, covering his eyebrows and swaying gently above his eyes like a willow in the wind. Xia Zhu couldn't help but think of that glance across time, when his hair should have reached his waist.

So she took a step closer and said his name in a serious tone, forcing him to look at her with some panic.

"Since you've lived this long, and since you were fortunate enough to participate in that past, Ying Huo, do you know what the 'original state of the world' was like?"

A mountain breeze carrying the scent of sunshine flowed between the two.

She had never seen Ying Huo show such an expression before.

I don't know how to describe it accurately, but he looked full of disgust yet also helpless.

He said something that Xia Zhu couldn't understand no matter how hard she tried.

He said, "I can't tell you."

He said, "It's something I can't interfere with."

He also said, "Xia Zhu, stop worrying about these things. They have nothing to do with you."

It doesn't matter?

Xia Zhu felt a surge of inexplicable anger rising in her chest, and her expression crumbled like never before. She smirked at Ying Huo, her tone even bordering on vicious, "It has nothing to do with me, is it because I'm not the Youjiao you're looking for?"

After saying that, she didn't look at his expression again, decisively turned around and left. Her walk almost turned into a run, the grass under her feet rustling, and the sunlight overhead flashing and changing. Ying Huo didn't even have time to explain anything.

She became the one who fled in panic.

Xia Zhu froze on the spot when she could no longer see Ying Huo's figure after turning around, not understanding why she was so angry.

She knows perfectly well who she is, doesn't she?

Xia Zhu stared at her toes, feeling the warm sunlight shining on the back of her head, and the fresh and familiar fragrance of the grass wafted up.

Impulsiveness is indeed the most dangerous thing; she seemed to have forgotten to ask him if he would come back.