Chapter 120 The Jiang Family of Wei River with Dark Patterns.

Xia Zhu was stunned. This Miao girl, who had seemingly fallen from the sky, held her tightly, her face still showing signs of immaturity. Although Xia Zhu thought the girl was very beautiful, surrounded by silver ornaments like a delicate and mysterious jewel box, she couldn't believe she had ever seen her before, whether looking at her eyes, nose, or mouth, whether from the front or the side.

But why does she call her Mom?

Xia Zhu is only 19 years old this year. Although she considers herself very old-fashioned, and sometimes even old-fashioned, she would never have a child this old.

Even now, as she stands frozen in place, her mind racing through all the possibilities, the mere fact that she doubts what's happening before her eyes makes her feel utterly absurd.

Even more outrageous was that Ying Huo, who had resolutely decided to desert his post and disappear in broad daylight, suddenly appeared before her menacingly, pushing aside the bushes. Although there were still a few leaves clinging to his head, his stunningly beautiful face, which she hadn't seen in a long time, still made her heart flutter. It was like a crow seeing colorful buttons or small pieces of metal. In short, anything was good. Her mood cleared up, and she couldn't help but want to smirk.

But before her smile could fully bloom, it was abruptly cut short by his aggressive questioning.

Ying Huo crossed his arms over his chest, his sharp eyebrows almost pointing like needles at her.

"Xia Zhu, you'd better explain yourself. I've only been gone a few days, how come you already have a..." He looked Yun Jiu up and down, finding it unbelievable but still asking angrily, "Such a big child!?"

Xia Zhu also wanted to ask the heavens and the earth, she gave a dry laugh, hesitated for a moment, and then gently stroked Yun Jiu's head.

"Do you know me?" she asked.

Unexpectedly, Yun Jiu shook his head under her gaze, leaving her completely bewildered and unsure of what was going on.

"Then why do you call me Mom?"

Yun Jiu blinked. "Because you are."

Feng Feng, who was standing to the side, couldn't bear to watch any longer. She pulled Yun Jiu away from Xia Zhu, put her hands on Yun Jiu's shoulders, and said earnestly, "Do you know what your mother means? Whether it's giving birth to you or raising you, it has to be at least one of those things, right?"

Yun Jiu didn't speak, looking at Feng Feng with an innocent expression.

"But there must be a reason why you call her that! Tell me!"

Yun Jiu remained silent.

Feng Feng was a little anxious. She shook the girl who had suddenly appeared and seemed very strange. In her opinion, this matter must be related to Xia Zhu's background. They had been searching for so long and had only just begun to get a clue, but they did not expect to encounter an insider who was a particularly stubborn and even neurotic member of the Yun family.

"Xiao Feng." Feng Mian patted her shoulder, pulled her back to his side, then squatted down to face Yun Jiu and spoke softly, "We are all good friends with A Zhu, and this older sister and I..." He pointed to Feng Feng, "are from the Feng family of Dongshan, not bad people, they won't hurt Xiao Yuan or you." As he spoke, he gestured for Feng Feng to untie Xiao Yuan, who was still lying under the net.

As soon as the round, eyeless demon god was freed from the net, it bypassed Yun Jiu and the others and rushed straight to the bag of potato chips that hadn't been put away yet, burying its whole head inside and pushing and shoving its way in.

Feng Mian withdrew his gaze and presented Yun Jiu with his usual gentle and welcoming demeanor.

"So can you tell your brother why he calls this sister that?"

This time, Yun Jiu did not refuse to speak as before. Instead, she walked around Feng Mian to Xia Zhu, took her hand, and made her bend down slightly.

She reached out her other hand and slowly approached Xia Zhu's forehead.

The mountain breeze ceased to blow, the leaves stopped swaying, and the sunlight seemed to burst forth in an instant, plunging the surroundings into absolute silence, as if in the beginning of time, in the chaotic era of the creation of the world.

Xia Zhu could only see Yun Jiu's mouth slowly opening and closing, and after a long time, her innocent and clear voice came into her ears from afar.

She said, "Because we are the same."

As my fingertips touched Xia Zhu's skin, a strange aura rose from her body like the breath of the earth, and the air currents lifted the hair hanging in front of her forehead.

Although they could not see it with their own eyes, those present were silent and could only watch as the golden and ancient patterns slowly climbed from Xia Zhu's neck to her eyelids, like a winding snake gradually emerging from its hidden place, eventually forming a strange vein.

It was the same mark as Yunjiu's face.

But when she withdrew her hand, Xia Zhu's face immediately returned to normal, showing no abnormality.

Feng Feng clenched his fists, stepped forward, turned Yun Jiu's body around, and questioned her again about why this had happened.

But the latter reverted to its absent-minded state and refused to open its mouth again.

Xia Zhu slowly straightened up. Her mind felt as if it were shrouded in a bubble woven from smoke. Feng Feng's voice, though not far away, was weakened layer by layer, as if it came from behind clouds.

Compared to all the external things, what is more clearly discernible is one's own heartbeat.

She subconsciously looked at Ying Huo beside her, but the confusion on his face made it even harder for her to grasp her senses. A long, long time passed until birdsong broke through the barrier again, accompanied by the rustling of leaves brushing past her head, and nature regained its vitality from its stagnation.

"I think I have to go there," she heard her own voice.

Feng Mian, who was standing to the side, glanced at her with a faint smile on his lips.

"It's time to go," he said softly.

*

The Jiang family of Wei River.

Mount Li, Qingwu Peak.

Now that things have come to this point, Xia Zhu decided to stop running away.

So, together with Ying Huo, who left and returned without a sound, and Yun Jiu, the girl who fell from the sky, and her "family" Xiao Yuan, the six people and two beasts returned the way they came and rushed to the top of the mountain. Then they took the Wind Chasing Road to Mount Li.

This area is now part of the territory of the Di Jun Jiang family.

The Wei River, a place I first heard about from Feng Ye.

During this time, Ji Yinxiu contacted his friends in the Jiang family. With their help, everyone was able to successfully descend the mountain to the Wei River and enter the real Jiang family.

Regardless of the outcome, Xia Zhu felt she should try her luck.

Let's see if this so-called opportunity will come our way.

This Miao girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere clearly had many secrets, so the group decided to use a combination of coaxing, deception, and kidnapping to keep Yun Jiu and her Chaos Beast family, the demon god, firmly tied to their belts and take them wherever they went.

Yunjiu is more like a runaway child. Apart from her outfit and her potato chip-obsessed companion Xiaoyuan, she doesn't have any modern communication devices.

So Feng Feng claimed that he kept her by his side to protect her.

"This world is dangerous. If you keep parading around with this round little monster, you'll get caught and sent to a human laboratory for research!" That's how Feng Feng threatened Yun Jiu, no, that's how she threatened her.

The child did seem quite naive, as if it was his first time using the Wind Chaser Path. He clung tightly to Xia Zhu's waist the whole way, howling and screaming in the strong wind, reacting even more intensely than Miao Miao, who was riding the Wind Chaser Path for the first time.

The group landed safely on the top of Mount Li, and it was already evening.

They spent the whole day going up and down the mountain, which was quite an excessive amount of exercise. Regardless of whether it was clean or not, they all sat on the edge of the cliff. Feng Feng and Yun Jiu simply lay down on the ground.

One was exhausted, and the other must have been somewhat shaken.

They were to wait here for the friend Ji Yinxiu had mentioned to guide them.

Feng Feng patted Ji Yinxiu on the shoulder with a wave of his hand.

"I didn't expect you to have other friends besides us."

Ji Yinxiu lowered her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Actually, we can't really be considered friends. We've only met a few times, and we were teammates in the arena of the Nine Heavens Tournament before."

Xia Zhu felt that Ji Yinxiu only appeared mature and aloof; in reality, he was as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, and becoming his friend would be extremely easy. As long as one's character wasn't too problematic, and one simply took the initiative to talk to him, he would genuinely consider you his friend.

They were even willing to rebel against their families for the sake of these few people they had only known for a short time.

Perhaps this person who "cannot be considered a friend" is just even more taciturn than him.

Xia Zhu's guess was quite accurate, but she really didn't expect that they had met this friend of the Jiang family before.

Not only have I met them, but I've also been their enemy in the arena.

Purple electric whip, Jiang Xiaqing.

She looked thinner than when she first met Jiutian, and even as she emerged from the shadows, she couldn't shake off the ashen look on her face.

Feng Feng whispered in Xia Zhu's ear and jokingly asked her if the Jiang family wasn't feeding her? She only obediently covered her mouth after Feng Mian tapped her on the head from behind.

Jiang Xiaqing had dark circles under her eyes, and she nodded slightly to Ji Yinxiu before slowly shifting her gaze to Xia Zhu.

“I knew you would come.” Her gaze was unfocused for a moment before slowly refocusing, as if she had thought of something, and a very faint smile appeared on her lips. “I just didn’t know it would take so long.”

Xia Zhu understood. During the competition with Jiang Xiaqing, she and that girl from the Yan Emperor's family must have seen something, and even knew that Xia Zhu herself was completely unaware of her own physiognomy.

When people in the world have unresolved desires and cannot obtain satisfaction or answers, they will turn to Heaven for guidance.

For these people, the readily available way is the Five-Colored Bird that can foresee the future and understand the past.

Although no one in the Divine Blood World has ever heard of seeing the Divine Bird, everyone feels that their own desires are the strongest, their confusion is the most painful, and that opportunity will surely come to them.

Therefore, from ancient times to the present, countless travelers have come and gone from the Jiang family in the Wei River area. Some brought priceless treasures, while others risked their lives, all in order to see the divine bird and find answers to their questions.

Jiang Xiaqing seemed to understand what she was thinking, and took a step forward, stopping three meters away.

"Let me make this clear before we go down the mountain: since the time of Emperor Jun, even among the Jiang family, no one has ever been able to step into the Three-Headed Bird's territory."

So, are you still going down the mountain?

Like everyone else before her, Xia Zhu felt that she would be the one chosen by the grace of fate.

So she nodded firmly.

But perhaps unlike those people, even if the final result is not as she wishes and she finds that she is no different from them, Xia Zhu will not be discouraged or give up.

If this method doesn't work, let's try another one.

Eliminating one error is, in any case, a step closer to the correct one.

They followed Jiang Xiaqing down the mountain along the bluestone path. The further they walked, the darker it became, and glowing spherical electric clusters gradually appeared on both sides of the road for illumination.

Feng Mian walked behind and quietly explained to Xia Zhu that Qingwu Peak, which was convenient for the Jiang family to pass through, was invisible to humans. As everyone knows, Mount Li only has three peaks, with beacon towers on the east and west ridges.

“Just like my house, you can’t see inside from the outside,” Feng Feng interjected.

Jiang Xiaqing didn't say another word along the way, leading everyone to a wooden gate.

A lone wooden gate stood at the end of the path in the night, surrounded by thick fog. Only pale white lamps floated up and down on both sides of the road, occasionally illuminating some night birds flying by at high speed, which looked quite eerie.

She stopped, turned around, and said to the group.

"We'll be at the Jiang family's residence once we pass through the wooden gate. Please wait a moment."

Then she walked alone to the wooden gate. It wasn't until she stopped again that Xia Zhu noticed another wriggling figure under a slightly reddish lamp in the corner on the right side of the wooden gate.

From her perspective, all she could see was Jiang Xiaqing's pale nape; as for what exactly was facing her, Xia Zhu couldn't say.

All I knew was that it was a blurry, hunched shadow that inexplicably exuded a putrid aura.

Xia Zhu saw Jiang Xiaqing lift her left wrist, revealing the jade bead that represented her identity. Only then did the dark shadow stop writhing, and the reddish lamp above its head went dark. Then, several silent flashes of lightning quickly swept across the center of the wooden pavilion, instantly illuminating the dark forest.

Jiang Xiaqing raised her hand to signal that everyone could come over.

Yun Jiu, who had been silently following Xia Zhu, quietly moved closer and squeezed his hand into her palm.

She glanced down at Yun Jiu, then opened her fingers again and gripped her tightly.

As Xia Zhu descended the steps, just before passing through the wooden gate, she inexplicably glanced to her right, only to be caught off guard by a pair of pale, lifeless eyes with grayish pupils that had shrunk to the size of tiny dots.

The creature's head remained motionless, facing forward, but its eyes, viewed from an eerie angle, were directed at the people below the wooden gate. Through the mist, a strange smile was faintly visible on its gleaming white teeth.

Xia Zhu calmly withdrew her gaze.

It seemed to be a bloated, already dead creature...

Human-bear.