63 First Exploration of the Forbidden Land
The night wind swept past the high walls, ruffling Hua Lang's hair. Xie Hanjing's fingertips were still clasped around her waist, the warmth of his palm seeping through the thin fabric.
She came to her senses and suddenly realized that it was meaningless to continue speculating like this - after all their time together, Xie Hanjing was not an ungrateful person. Instead of overthinking it, she might as well ask him directly.
"Xie Hanjing, are you talking about the Sky Fox?"
Xie Han was stunned by the sudden change of topic. Was she unwilling to leave? He suppressed his doubts and nodded, "Yes."
Hua Lang looked at his expression and felt something was amiss. He pressed the issue, "Come to think of it, your demonic form is quite similar to that of a celestial fox. Back when the celestial fox clan was annihilated in Zhongzhou, weren't you curious about that?"
Xie Hanjing finally understood what she wanted to say. He raised his eyes and said, "My elders have mentioned my life experience. Master, do you want me to avenge the Sky Fox?"
Hua Lang was more concerned about the first half of the sentence. She asked in confusion, "My elders mentioned this...what does this mean?"
Xie Han shook his head in shock. "I can't remember much from before my teenage years. Master, why are you asking this? Does he know something?"
Hua Lang suddenly realized - no wonder he had no reaction when he saw Wu Tingque, it turned out that he didn't recognize his enemy at all!
But this is a plot that is not in the original novel. How could such a big omission appear in this fiery novel with detailed information?
She was so shocked her mind went blank, and she stammered, "I, I was just guessing. But you, aren't you curious about that lost memory?"
Xie Han lowered his eyes in shock. "The elders said I've caused too much trouble. From now on, I must never mention 'Sky Fox' again, lest it bring trouble to the other branches."
Could it be that the revenge plot of the entire book was fundamentally flawed, leading to the ending of the original book? Hua Lang was filled with doubts, but 001 was not there, and there was no one to discuss it with.
The ghostly lights in the distance were still jumping, almost burning into the daylight. I wonder whose bones were buried underneath.
If Xie Hanjing wanted revenge now, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot against the entire Zhongzhou. Hua Lang suddenly understood the thoughts of those former Sky Fox members - since he had forgotten everything, it would be better to live in this muddle than to die.
"I understand." Hua Lang made up his mind, "Of course we have to go, but we have some things to do in the next few days, so we have to wait for a while."
Xie Hanjing recognized her answer to his original question, and his mind instantly returned to the matter of escaping. He put his arms around her and buried his head in her shoulder. "Master, what else do you want to do? I'll help you."
Hua Lang gently stroked his long hair. "No need. If you can get out of the palace, use this time to explore the surrounding routes. Di Palace is suspended in the air and far from the city walls. It would be difficult to escape without planning a route in advance."
"Okay." When Xie Hanjing looked up, Hua Lang tilted his head and could see his eyes hidden in the shadows.
At this point, she suddenly remembered something, took out the seed, and asked, "What are you going to give it to me for?"
Xie Han said in surprise: "Since I let Master escape, with this, you will have more strength to resist if you encounter pursuers."
Hua Lang suddenly remembered that he didn't know he was a mortal yet. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to keep it a secret. This matter involved the system, so it was not appropriate to make it public.
Xie Hanjing was still whispering something. Hua Lang looked at the scattered moonlight on his face, raised his head and leaned towards him gently.
The two men leaned their shoulders against each other, quietly gazing at the flickering ghost lights in the distant mountains in the moonlight.
*
"I heard you insisted on seeing me?"
The next day, Rong Cheng Yunxuan was already standing in Hualang Courtyard. Looking at another dusty stone bench, he took a few steps back.
Hua Lang nodded and said straight to the point, "It's been so long, and the Wu family still hasn't given us any news about Yan Rong?"
Given Wu Tingque's personality, he would never be so slow in doing things.
"It was delivered a while ago." Rong Chengyunxuan said casually, "Why are you asking this?"
Hua Lang twitched his lips. It turned out that he had been blocking the way all along. "Yan Rong is my disciple, and the person he wants to kill is also me. Since there is news, I naturally want to see it."
Rong Chengyunxuan pondered for a moment, and when Hua Lang thought he was going to make another excuse, he straightforwardly ordered, "Go and get the letter that the Wu family sent a week ago."
He looked at Hua Lang who was sitting at the stone table, "Just for this?"
Hua Lang nodded, and seeing his eyes glance under the table, he asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Rong Chengyunxuan glanced at the fallen bamboo leaves under the table, his face darkening. As he looked away, he couldn't help but warn, "Father will be out of confinement in a few days. If you have any little thoughts, you'd better keep them to yourself. Don't think he can't see them."
At this time, the letter had been delivered. Hua Lang answered him casually and couldn't wait to open the letter.
The letter was enormous, and I had expected it to contain a lot of content, but it only contained a few words: "Yan Rong disappeared at the Broken Bridge, and it was not the Luo family's fault."
That's it? Hua Lang tossed his head back and forth in disbelief, but there were no other clues.
"Have you finished reading it? It's just a small amount, what's there to think about?" Rong Chengyunxuan urged.
Hua Lang was about to close it unwillingly, but suddenly stopped - the engraved ring on the scroll... seemed to be printed crookedly. Wu Tingque was a meticulous person, so how could he make a mistake in such a thing?
She was moved and secretly looked at the mark, and saw an orchid leaf pointing at the word "Northwest".
After Rong Cheng Yunxuan left, Hua Lang immediately took out her engraved ring and pointed the orchid leaf to the northwest. When she looked up in the direction of the orchid, she raised her eyebrows - that was the direction of the forbidden area.
The secret that Wu Tingque is looking for is in the forbidden area, but how can she, a mortal, get in?
Hua Lang held his chin in his hand, worried. If he wanted to sow discord between the two families, he had to start with what Wu Tingque wanted. No matter what he wanted, it had to be turned into a serious conflict of interest, so that Rong Cheng Yunxuan would have no time to care about her.
Xie Hanjing has already explored the three areas of Shanchuanyun and found no secrets. Does he really have to go to the forbidden area?
After waiting for a few more days, Xie Hanjing had confirmed the route. That night, Hua Lang lit a fire in the courtyard.
The sparks spread along the ancient trees and were soon discovered. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two ran towards the forbidden area. In the darkness of the night, the will-o'-the-wisp led the way for them.
The high wall finally came to an end, and there was darkness in front. Hua Lang reached out to touch it, and her whole hand slowly sank into the black mist - this barrier did not reject her at all.
There was a lot of noise behind them. Hua Lang hurriedly pulled Xie Hanjing in and ran deep into the forbidden area. No matter what was inside, she planned to destroy it by using Wu Tingque's identity.
"W-What's going on?"
But when she really stepped into the depths of the forbidden area, the scene before her still stunned her - this was neither a mysterious cave nor a treasure trove, but a worm cave!
Thousands of insects crawled all over the ground, piled up layer upon layer, and the strong evil aura almost suffocated people.
These little bugs shouldn't have such a strong demonic aura, unless... someone is deliberately breeding them.
Hua Lang's heart was filled with alarm. He tried to retreat with Xie Hanjing, but was repelled by the suddenly strengthened barrier. Rong Cheng Yunxuan must have noticed their escape and strengthened the outer barrier. If they went back now, they would only be caught!
Only the barrier of the forbidden area has not been reinforced yet, there is still time to walk in!
Xie Hanjing also reacted and chose the road with fewer worms, "Master, go this way!"
Hua Lang wanted to set fire, but she was afraid of alarming the insect swarm and causing more trouble. When she was hesitating, she suddenly heard a noise and Xie Hanjing grabbed her wrist and said,
"Master, set fire! Someone is chasing us!"
She turned around and saw a figure swaying at the barrier. Without thinking any more, she pulled out the prepared fire bottle and threw it into the distance.
“Crack!”
The kerosene poured out, instantly turning into a sea of fire. The insects were burned with crackling sounds and made deafening screams. Seeing this, the pursuers at the barrier did not know what they were worried about and did not move forward again.
Hua Lang breathed a sigh of relief and continued to run towards Rong Cheng's family's barrier with Xie Hanjing. The frightened insects fled in all directions, and some even crawled onto them.
The spiritual energy pushed away one wave after another, making it almost impossible for them to move!
If only that bead was still there... Just as Hua Lang was thinking about it, he suddenly felt a heat in his chest, and the insects actually retreated!
It was a familiar scene... She touched her chest, where the seeds of Sand City were clearly placed. Hua Lang vaguely felt that something was wrong.
"They're dispersing!" Xie Hanjing reacted quickly and immediately pulled her out. Hua Lang didn't care about anything else and focused on escaping.
As they were about to reach the barrier, Hua Lang turned around and wanted to look at the pursuers, but her sight was attracted by a flame several people high rising from the depths of the fire.
In the depths of the fire that emitted a burning smell, a dark shadow stood up. Judging from its body shape, it looked like a human, but was strangely tall, with long and thick limbs, like a wild beast.
The flames leaped up along with its movements, but it seemed unaffected by the fire. It slowly turned its body, and when it looked towards Hua Lang, it suddenly stopped!
Hua Lang was almost horrified!
"Hurry, hurry up!"
Hua Lang didn't care what kind of monster it was. She saw the figure in the firelight move, and immediately ran towards the barrier without any delay!
Dense swarms of insects swarmed towards the monster, and she saw from afar that its body was growing larger in the firelight.
“Crack—”
The barrier was broken and the two finally escaped.
After figuring out the direction, they ran towards the city wall. Hua Lang looked back frequently until the flames behind him completely disappeared, and then he dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
"What happened just now? Also, why is there such a strong demonic aura in Zhongzhou?"
"Demonic energy?" Xie Han was puzzled. "Master, are you talking about the forbidden area? Could it be that other demons have broken in?"
Isn't it coming from the bugs? Hua Lang was about to retort, but suddenly froze. She had never smelled any demonic aura in Luoshui Manor or the insect swarms filling the city. Could it be that these demonic auras...were not supposed to be detected?
So how did she discover it? Could it be because of... Rong Chengyunwen's "On the Way of Life"?
There must be a secret here!
The city wall was right in front of her, and Hua Lang thought to herself: Even if there is a secret, it has nothing to do with her now!
"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's get out!"
Xie Han nodded in surprise and was about to step out of the city wall when she suddenly asked, "What's that smell?"
Hua Lang also smelled it - a burnt smell mixed with a fishy stench, as if someone had thrown internal organs into a fire and roasted them until the juices burst out. It was an extremely unspeakable odor.
She suddenly opened her eyes wide. It was the monster in the fire!
It keeps following them!
[Zizi——]
Just as they were about to break through the city wall, the long-lost electronic sound sounded again. Hua Lang had no time to pay attention to 001. A fishy wind swept over, and she fell to the side in embarrassment. When she turned around, she saw a monster with a pitch-black body and pitted skin squatting behind her.
Looking at Xie Hanjing again, he was struggling with a weapon.
Could this be Yan Rong? Is he nearby?
The monster stood up, and black charred pieces kept falling from its body. Amidst the fine charring sounds, a wisp of gentle spiritual energy overflowed from the gaps, revealing the fair skin underneath. Hua Lang was shocked then to realize that this monster was actually a human!
The man's voice came and went, yet it was enough to drown out the electronic noise in his head. He staggered towards Hua Lang as if his limbs had just been tamed. As if brainwashing him, he chanted, "Don't run... Don't run..."
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