Xie Lian said, “Although these are just rumors, the Half Moon Kingdom should indeed exist.”
Sanlang said, "Oh?"
Xie Lian thought, I couldn't possibly tell him that over two hundred years ago, before the emergence of any demonic Daoists in the Half Moon Kingdom, I'd once collected scrap there. Meanwhile, Nanfeng had already drawn a layered formation on the ground. He stood up and said, "Alright. When do we set out?"
So, Xie Lian quickly packed up his bag, came to the door, and said, "Let's do it now."
He placed his hand on the door and said, "May God bless you, there are no taboos!" He pushed it gently.
When I opened the door, the small hill and village outside were no longer there. Instead, there was an empty street.
Although the street was wide, it was deserted. Only one or two pedestrians could be seen after a long while. This wasn't because it was dark, but rather because the northwest was sparsely populated. Furthermore, given its proximity to the Gobi Desert, even during the day, there wouldn't be many pedestrians. Xie Lian walked out of the house, shutting the door behind him. He looked back. He hadn't left Puqi Monastery at all. Behind him was clearly a small inn. This single step had likely taken him a thousand miles. This was the magic of the Earth-Shrinking Technique.
A few passersby murmured and looked at them warily. Then, behind him, Sanlang said, "According to ancient texts, when the moon sets, if you keep walking in the direction of the North Star, you will see the Half Moon Kingdom. Brother, look." He pointed to the sky and said, "The Big Dipper."
Xie Lian looked up and said with a smile, "The Big Dipper is so bright."
Sanlang came up to him, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, glanced at him, raised his head, and smiled, "Yes. The night sky in the northwest seems, for some reason, clearer than that in the Central Plains."
Xie Lian agreed. They were discussing the night sky and the stars in a serious tone, while the two young priests in the back were completely baffled. Nan Feng asked, "Why is he here too?!"
Sanlang said innocently, "Oh, I think this Qimen Dunjia is very magical, so I came here to take a look."
Nan Feng angrily said, "Visiting? Do you think we're going there for fun?!"
Xie Lian rubbed his brow and said, "Forget it, I'll just follow him. He won't eat your rations, so what I brought should be enough. Sanlang, follow me closely and don't get lost."
Sanlang said obediently, "Okay."
"Is this a question of whose rations to eat?!"
"Hey, Nanfeng, it's late at night and everyone should go to bed. Let's get down to business and stop worrying about so many things. Let's go."
…
The four of them followed the guidance of the Big Dipper and headed north. After walking all night, the towns and greenery along the way gradually became scarce, while the road surface gradually became more sandy and gravelly. When the ground under their feet was no longer mud, they entered the Gobi Desert. Although the shrinking technique can cover a thousand miles with one step, the greater the distance covered, the greater the mana consumed, and the longer the time interval between the next activation of the technique. Nanfeng used it once and could not use it again for at least four hours. And since Nanfeng had already used up a wave of mana, for the sake of combat effectiveness, Xie Lian would not let Fuyao use it again. Just in case, at least one person had to have sufficient mana.
In the desert, the temperature difference between day and night is enormous. The nights are bone-chillingly cold, which is not uncommon, but during the day, it's a completely different experience. The sky here is extremely clear, with high clouds and few clouds, but the sunlight is also extremely strong. As the group walked, it felt more and more like they were sinking deeper into a giant steamer, with steam rising from the earth's core, as if they could steam a person alive in just a day's walking.
Xie Lian relied on the wind and the vegetation huddled at the foot of the rocks to determine his direction. Worried about being left behind, he looked back every few steps. Nanfeng and Fuyao were no ordinary people, needless to say, but Sanlang made him smile.
The sun blazed brightly in the sky. The young man took off his red robe and lazily used it to shield himself from the sun, his expression languid and a bit bored. His skin was fair, his hair jet black, and the red robe, covering his face, made his features even more striking. Xie Lian took off his bamboo hat, raised his hand and placed it on his head, saying, "I'll lend you this."
Sanlang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "No need," and handed the hat back to him. Xie Lian didn't bother to argue with him. Since he didn't need it, he didn't force it. "If you need it, come back to me," he said, adjusting his hat and continuing on his way.
After walking for a while, the group spotted a small gray building in the yellow sand ahead. As they got closer, they saw it looked like a long-abandoned inn. Xie Lian looked up at the sky, recognizing that it was already past noon and approaching the twilight hour, the hottest and most unbearable time of the day. They had already been walking all night, so it was time to rest. So, he led the other three inside. They found a square table inside the building, and they sat down around it. Xie Lian pulled a water bottle from his simple backpack and handed it to Sanlang, saying, "Do you want one?"
Sanlang nodded, took it, and drank a sip. Xie Lian then took it back and drank. He tilted his head back and swallowed a few gulps of clear water. His Adam's apple rolled up and down, and a wave of coolness flowed through his throat, which was very refreshing. Sanlang stood aside, his cheek supported by one hand, staring at the water. After a while, he suddenly said, "Anything else?"
Xie Lian wiped a little water from the corner of his lips, moistening them slightly. He nodded and held out the kettle again. San Lang was about to take it when a hand pushed Xie Lian's hand away.
Fuyao said, "Wait a minute."
Everyone looked at him, only to see Fuyao slowly take out another kettle from his sleeve, put it on the table, and pushed it over, saying, "I have one here too. Please."
Xie Lian knew what was going on at a glance.
With Fuyao's personality, how could she be willing to share the same kettle with others? Thinking back to what they said last night about wanting to test it out again, the kettle must contain not real water, but manifest water.
If an ordinary person drank this secret medicine, they would be completely fine. However, if a non-human drank it, they would be exposed to their true form under the effect of the medicine. Since they wanted to test whether this young man was "Jue", this pot of revealing water must be quite powerful.
I only heard Sanlang laugh and say, "My brother and I can just drink from one kettle."
Nanfeng and Fuyao both glanced at Xie Lian who was standing beside them. Xie Lian thought to himself, "Why are you looking at me?" Fuyao said coldly, "He's almost finished his water. Don't be polite."
Sanlang said, "Really? Then you two go first."
“…”
The two of them were silent. After a while, Fuyao said again: "You are the guest, please go first."
Although he still spoke in a refined and elegant manner, Xie Lian felt that his words were squeezed out from between gritted teeth. Sanlang also made a "please" gesture and said, "You are the ones who follow, so please go first. Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing."
Xie Lian listened to them feigning back and forth until they finally started fighting. Across the table, the three of them simultaneously exerted subtle force on a pitiful kettle, pushing it back and forth. He felt that the faintly trembling table beneath his hands might soon meet its end. He shook his head. After several rounds of silent fighting, Fu Yao finally lost control and sneered, "Since you won't drink this water, are you feeling guilty?"
Sanlang laughed and said, "You are so unfriendly and refuse to drink first. Doesn't that make you look guilty? Could it be that you have poisoned the water?"
Fuyao said, "You can ask the person next to you if the water is poisonous."
Sanlang then asked Xie Lian, "Brother, is this water poisonous?"
Fu Yao's question was truly cunning. The Manifestation Water wasn't poison; drinking it would be no different from drinking water. Xie Lian could only reply, "It's not poisonous. But..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Nanfeng and Fuyao both stared at him. Sanlang actually let go of his hand and said, "Okay."
He picked up the kettle, shook it in his hand, and said, "Since you said it's not poisonous, I'll drink it."
After saying that, he smiled and drank it all in one gulp.
Xie Lian was surprised by his decisiveness and was slightly taken aback. Nanfeng and Fuyao were also taken aback, then became fully alert. Unexpectedly, Sanlang finished the manifesting water, shook the pot, and said, "It doesn't taste very good." He then casually tossed the pot away. With a clang, the pot shattered to the ground.
Seeing that he had drunk the Manifestation Water and remained unaffected, Fuyao's face flashed with a moment of surprise and uncertainty. After a moment, he said calmly, "It's just water. They all taste the same. What's the difference?"
San Lang took the canteen from Xie Lian's elbow and said, "Of course it's different. This one tastes much better."
Seeing this, Xie Lian couldn't help but laugh. He truly didn't care about the outcome, not about status or purpose. So, to him, this brawl was meaningless, aside from being entertaining. He'd thought it would just die down, but with a clang, Nanfeng placed a sword on the table.
At first glance, his aura made one think he was going to kill someone on the spot. Xie Lian was speechless for a moment before asking, "What are you doing?"
Nan Feng said in a deep voice: "The place we are going to is dangerous. I will give this little brother a sharp sword for self-defense."
Xie Lian looked down. The sword's scabbard was pristine, as if it had been honed over the years. It was no ordinary item. His heart trembled. He lifted his head and turned to the side, thinking, "It's actually the 'Red Mirror'."
This sword's name is precisely "Red Mirror." It's a precious sword. While it can't subdue demons, no monster or demon can escape its magic mirror. If any inhuman being draws it, its blade slowly turns red, as if permeated with blood. The blood-red blade even reflects the true form of the person who drew it. No matter how fierce or ruthless you are, no one will be spared!
Young people always have a special fondness for precious swords and precious horses. Sanlang said, "Oh?" and seemed quite interested. "Let me see."
He gripped the sword with one hand and the hilt with the other, slowly pulling it out. Nanfeng and Fuyao's eyes were fixed on his movements. The sword was three inches out of its sheath, its edge gleaming like snow. After a moment, Sanlang chuckled and said, "Brother, are you two servants kidding me?"
Xie Lian coughed lightly, turned around, and said, "Sanlang, I told you, I'm not a servant." After saying this, he turned around again. Nanfeng said coldly, "Who's kidding you?"
San Lang laughed and said, "How can I defend myself with a broken sword?"
After he finished speaking, he put the sword back and threw it on the table. Hearing this, Nanfeng's eyebrows trembled, and he suddenly grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled it out. With a "clang" sound, he had a sharp and cold... broken sword in his hand.
Hong Jing's sword blade was broken at less than three inches!
Nanfeng's face changed slightly, and he turned the scabbard over again. There was a loud "ding-dang-dang" sound, and the remaining sword blade in the scabbard was broken into several sharp little pieces.
It is true that the red mirror can identify all demons and monsters. I have never heard of anything that can escape its eyes. However, I have also never heard of anything that can cut it into several pieces through the scabbard!
Nanfeng and Fuyao both pointed at Sanlang and said, "You..."
Sanlang laughed twice, leaned back, put his black boots on the table, picked up a piece of red mirror and tossed it around in his hands, saying, "I don't think you would deliberately give me a broken sword to defend yourself. Maybe you accidentally broke it on the way? Don't worry, I can defend myself without a sword. You can keep the sword for yourselves."
Xie Lian, on the other hand, couldn't even look at the sword. Actually, this remarkable sword, the "Red Mirror," had originally been a collection of Jun Wu. During Xie Lian's first ascension, he'd visited the Divine Martial Hall and seen it there. Jun Wu thought the sword, while not particularly practical, was interesting, so he gave it to him. Later, after being demoted and struggling for a while, he had Feng Xin pawn the remarkable sword.
Yes, it’s pawned!
The money they got from pawning the items was enough for the master and the servant to have a few good meals, and then nothing happened. Xie Lian had pawned too many things at that time, so he simply forgot about them all, so as not to have his heart bleed every time he thought about them. It seems that Feng Xin ascended to heaven later, and when he thought about this incident, he couldn't bear to think about the legendary sword Hong Jing being lost in the mortal world, so he went back to the mortal world to retrieve the sword, sharpened it, and placed it in the Nanyang Palace, but it was taken down by Nanfeng again. In short, Xie Lian felt a dull pain when he saw the sword head, and he could only look away. He felt that the three men were fighting again, shook his head, and carefully observed the weather outside, thinking: "Looking at this momentum, I'm afraid it will be windy and sandy soon. If I continue walking today, I wonder if I can find a place to shelter from the wind on the road?"
At this moment, two figures suddenly flashed past on the golden sand outside the house.
Xie Lian sat up suddenly.
The two figures, one black and one white, walked in no particular hurry, perhaps even leisurely, yet their steps seemed to tread on wind and clouds, their pace exceedingly fast. The black-clad figure was slender, while the white-clad figure was a nun, carrying a longsword and a whisk. The black-clad figure didn't even turn back, but the white-clad nun glanced back and smiled as they passed the small building. This smile, like their figures, was fleeting, yet it inexplicably evoked a sense of strangeness.
Xie Lian had been staring outside, and that's when he happened to catch that moment. The other three people in the small building probably only saw their backs, and for the time being, they couldn't care less about anything else. Nan Feng stood up suddenly and asked, "Who is that?"
Xie Lian also stood up and said, "I don't know. But he's definitely not an ordinary person." After a moment's hesitation, he said, "You guys stop playing around. I think the wind's going to get strong. Let's hurry on and get as far as we can."
Fortunately, although this group of people were in chaos from time to time, they were still determined to do what they had to do. They stopped arguing and packed up the red mirror fragments before leaving the small building. The four of them walked against the wind for a while, which took about two hours, but the distance they had walked was far less than what they had walked in the previous two hours. The wind and sand were much stronger than before. The strong wind wrapped in sand hit people head-on, making the exposed parts of their heads, faces and arms ache slightly. The more they walked, the more difficult it felt. There was a whistling sound in their ears, and the yellow sand covered the sky, making it difficult to see. Xie Lian held down his hat and said, "This wind and sand is so strange!"
After a long pause, no one answered. Xie Lian wondered if they had fallen behind. Turning back, he saw the three men still following, seemingly oblivious to his words. The wind and sand were so strong that even the sound of their voices was blown away as soon as they spoke. Nanfeng and Fuyao, of course, didn't need his attention; they braved the raging sand and walked steadily, their faces thick with murderous intent. Meanwhile, Sanlang was following him five steps behind, walking at a leisurely pace.
Amidst the yellow sand, the young man had a calm expression. He walked with his hands behind his back, his red clothes and black hair flying sideways, as if he could not feel the invasion of any wind and sand at all. He was completely unmoved and did not even blink. Xie Lian's face was already painful from being hit by the sand. Seeing that he was so indifferent, he was really worried and said to him, "Be careful of sand getting into your eyes and clothes." Thinking again, he could not hear clearly what he said, so Xie Lian walked over and helped him to tighten the collar of his clothes and wrap him tightly to prevent the wind and sand from getting in. Sanlang was startled again. At this time, the other two also caught up. The four of them were close to each other and could finally hear each other's voices. Xie Lian said, "Everyone, be careful. This wind and sand came suddenly. It's not right. I'm afraid it's a gust of evil wind."
Fuyao said, "It's just that the wind and sand are a little strong, what else can it be?"
Xie Lian shook his head and said, “The sandstorm is not a big deal. What I’m worried about is something else being caught in the sand.”
At that moment, a sudden gust of wind blew Xie Lian's bamboo hat off his head. Once it flew, it would have completely disappeared into the vast yellow sand. However, Sanlang reacted with remarkable agility. With a single move, he intercepted the flying bamboo hat and handed it back to him. Xie Lian thanked him and, while tying the hat, said, "We'd better find some shelter first."
Fuyao disagreed: "If this sandstorm is truly mysterious, it's intended to stop us from moving forward. The more this is the case, the more we should move forward."
Upon hearing this, before Xie Lian could say anything, San Lang burst out laughing. Fu Yao raised her head and said coldly, "What are you laughing at?"
Sanlang folded his hands and chuckled, "Does deliberately going against others give you a sense of satisfaction that you're unique?"
Xie Lian had always felt that, despite this young man's constant smile, it was often hard to tell whether he was genuinely smiling or merely feigning flattery and mocking others. But this time, anyone could see that his smile lacked any kindness. Fuyao's gaze suddenly turned cold, and Xie Lian raised his hand, saying, "Stop it for now. Talk later. If the wind gets really strong, it can be quite terrifying."
Fuyao asked, "Can you even blow people up into the sky?"
Xie Lian said, “Well, what you said is very possible…”
Before he finished speaking, the people in front of him suddenly disappeared.
In fact, it was not them who disappeared, but him - the wind and sand actually wrapped him up and rolled him into the sky.
tornado!
Xie Lian was spinning in mid-air. He waved his hand and said, “Ruo Xie! Grab something solid and reliable!!!”
Ruo Xie flew out, and the next moment, Xie Lian felt the end of the white silk sink, as if it had caught something, pulling at him. Xie Lian finally managed to stabilize himself in mid-air, but looking down, he saw that the strong wind had carried him at least ten feet above the ground. If Ruo Xie hadn't grasped something on the ground, he would have soared even higher. Now he was like a kite, held by a single thread, his heart tethered to the ground. Amidst the swirling yellow sand, he clutched at Ruo Xie, straining to see what she was holding onto. As he watched, he finally made out a red shape. The other end of Ruo Xie's silk seemed to be wrapped around the wrist of a young man in red.
He asked Ruo Xie to grab something solid and reliable, and Ruo Xie actually grabbed San Lang!
Xie Lian was at a loss for words. Just as he was about to tell Ruo Xie to quickly grab another one, he felt the white silk around his wrist suddenly loosen. He secretly cried out inwardly, "Oh no!" This sudden feeling wasn't about Ruo Xie's other end being released. It was about something even more terrifying happening.
The author has something to say:
Before the book is put on the shelves, it is an international custom to advertise: Thank you all for your support of "The Pure Prince and the Enchanting Concubine". As the author said before, this book also tried some content and tones that have not been tried before, there were some before V, and there may be more after V. It may not be good, and readers who like the first two books may not be used to it, but the author still wants to try it. If readers feel that it is still within their acceptable range and the article is worth reading, thank you, and we will continue to work on it happily. If you don’t like it, thank you for your previous support, and see you again if we are lucky. Maybe we will have a chance to work on it someday in the future. Of course, I personally still hope that we can do it this time, after all, everyone’s vests have not been removed. The above. In short, I wish you all a happy reading. Yeah. (Come on, drag it away and lock it in the black room
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