Leaving the desert
What does "transfer to the nearest location" mean? What does "binding to a host" mean? Han Jiang's mind was still in a daze. Helplessly, he looked up, and a screen popped up in front of him:
[Ding! New host successfully bound! Mission details updated successfully!]
[Hello, host. Your current role is a supporting character: Han Jiang. Your main task is to conquer the Demon Lord in this book. The reward for successful completion is: 1. Resurrect the original host; 2. Return to the real world.]
In other words, as long as Han Jiang completes the system's task, Wen Xu can be resurrected! The two of them can then return to their original world!
Han Jiang looked at Wen Xu in her arms, her voice slightly unsteady, but she calmed down and communicated with the system: "I haven't read this book. Can I take a look at the original work first?"
[The original text is unavailable. Given your unique situation, the system is reassessing your case. Assessment complete. The system will reduce the difficulty of your task and has cancelled the previous phased tasks. Your only task is to win over the Demon Lord in this book. His current favorability towards you is—]
With a "beep" sound, the screen flickered, and after a brief period of static, half of the screen turned into rainbow stripes, while a few words appeared intermittently on the other half.
[System...Repair...Time Required...]
"Sister Wen has been trying to win him over for so long, how am I supposed to win him over? How am I supposed to win over someone who already likes someone else?" Han Jiang asked, puzzled.
[Regarding the former host... it may not appear in historical missions... under consideration... mission updates... strategy guide...]
[Prompt... Obtain the crystal coffin as soon as possible to preserve the corpse... Revive the original host's body... The corpse is rotting... Resurrection is impossible]
The screen stopped flashing, one half of the screen displayed the word "Strategy Guide" and the second line read "Affection Level:", while the other half was completely blank.
In short, you should just focus on winning over Cang Jingmo, right?
"Where can we find a crystal coffin?" The screen disappeared.
With great difficulty, Han Jiang supported Wen Xu, but her leg was injured and she couldn't walk. She picked up Wen Xu's sword, tied Wen Xu to herself, and dragged the corpse out of the cave.
We're still in the desert; we need to go back first before we can think of another way!
She could wait no longer and stepped back into the yellow sand.
Half a year ago, Han Jiang arrived in this unfamiliar place, with no relatives or friends, no knowledge of the storyline, no system prompts, and even lost her memory after being struck by lightning. She had nothing and could not develop her own path for fear of affecting Wen Xu's mission.
The character is designed as cannon fodder, with a strange constitution, and can't do anything.
I didn't shed a single tear during the Cold Dew season.
Do you miss home? Yes.
Are you sad? Of course I am.
She watched the moon in the Cold Descent Villa, and missed home every night.
But she never cried. She wasn't used to shedding tears.
"Sister Wen... wait for me to finish my mission... let's go home together..." Han Jiang sobbed uncontrollably, talking to herself. Now she was truly all alone. Wen Xu would no longer arrange everything; she had to handle things on her own.
In a daze, Hanqi's voice blew in on the wind.
Three figures ran toward her from a distance.
Han Jiang shook Wen Xu and cried, "Sister Wen, someone's come to save us..."
Cang Jingmo took the warmth from Han Jiang's back and tried to check his pulse and breathing.
Han Jiang collapsed onto Han Qi, letting Cang Jingqi treat her wounds.
“We’ve already sent a signal back, and someone will find us here soon. Senior Sister, what happened?” Han Qi asked with concern.
Han Jiang was speechless, tears blurring her vision.
Cang Jingqi turned around and looked at Cang Jingmo questioningly, but Cang Jingmo shook his head.
“Take it back to the Four Continents Sect and see where to bury it,” Cang Jingmo said.
A wave of grievance welled up in Han Jiang's heart. How could he say that? Sister Wen had only risked her life to win him over! But how could she, in her belated realization, blame Cang Jingmo? As the male lead, the male lead in this book was supposed to care about no one but the female lead; he was just stating the facts.
Wen Xu did indeed die; it was her own choice.
No, Wen Xu is not dead yet, she will definitely revive Sister Wen!
Han Jiang gripped Han Qi's hand tightly, steadying her emotions, and said, "Your Highness, I want to know where there is a crystal coffin?"
She reverted to using a respectful form of address for Cang Jingqi. Since she wanted to win over Cang Jingmo, she needed to change her approach to interacting with Cang Jingqi. Perhaps he was a good person to use, but Cang Jingqi wasn't so easy to manipulate.
"Maple leaves reflect the frost-covered tower." Although Cang Jingqi didn't know what Han Jiang wanted the crystal coffin for, he still answered truthfully, "Crystal coffins are used to preserve spirits. The imperial court prohibits their use to prevent people from maliciously using corpses to research evil arts."
Why is there a Maple Leaf Fire Reflecting Frost Pavilion?
"The crystal coffin can only be bought on the black market, and behind the black market is the Maple Fire Reflecting Frost Pavilion. This is why the imperial court cannot eradicate the black market; the Maple Fire Reflecting Frost Pavilion is too powerful."
Cang Jingmo interjected, "What do you want to do? The crystal coffin is not something you can get your hands on. Even if you do, the Four Continents Sect will not let you off easily."
"Can the Second Prince get his hands on it?" Han Jiang's strategy began at this moment. "Judging from what the Second Prince said, it seems that the Second Prince has a way."
Cang Jingqi snorted coldly: "Don't ask so many questions."
The aloof, cool, and domineering male lead, Han Jiang thought to herself, can't Mary Sue novels write something different? Before, she had no contact with Cang Jingmo, so no matter how arrogant and difficult he was to get along with, it had nothing to do with her. Now she realized just how difficult Cang Jingmo was to win over!
As soon as Cang Jingqi came out of the stairs, he gave the signal. The three of them fought the beast until dawn. After the beast disappeared, they immediately split up to search for Han Jiang and Wen Xu.
Hanqi said that Cangjingqi sensed the cold spiritual energy here, which is why he was able to find it so quickly.
It wasn't fast at all. There was a male protagonist, a female protagonist, and a seemingly powerful supporting character in front of them, all of whom were too busy fighting wild beasts. Wen Xu, all alone, managed to hold out at the cave entrance until dawn with just a sword worn down from chiseling through the wall.
Han Jiang dislikes hypocrisy, but when Wen Xu confessed everything in the face of life and death, Han Jiang had already forgiven her.
Every time Wen Xu asked Han Jiang for help, Han Jiang could sense the manipulation behind it, but she didn't like to say it out loud; it was too troublesome, and she preferred to avoid getting involved.
So they turned a blind eye and let it slide.
Han Jiang always believed that it was a favor if someone was willing to help her, and it was their right not to. So when Wen Xu initially said he was willing to take her home, she was grateful.
She often wondered, what if Wenxu changed his mind in the end? But what could she do? She couldn't change it.
Faced with a choice between self-interest and helping others, most people would probably choose self-interest. That's what Han Jiang thought when she heard Wen Xu's candid words.
Rather than saving someone you don't know in real life, it's better to return to the real world with a wish.
People become incredibly sincere when faced with death.
Wen Xu never expected Han Jiang to come back to save her. She never thought she deserved to be saved by someone else, so she laid her heart bare and admitted all her mistakes.
Han Jiang thought that after going to university, he had finally learned to be selfish and mind his own business, mastered some kind of skill for "getting by" in society, shed his naivety, and become an adult.
But she still couldn't let go.
I can't let go of my past self.
She, like Wen Xu, had gone through those difficult days, and she knew all too well the pain and torment of that time.
To be honest, during the last period of my senior year of high school, Han Jiang felt like killing everyone and then destroying the universe.
Don't say that the light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains. Where was the boat then? There was only water that was about to drown and ten thousand mountains.
So she forgave Wen Xu.
She calls him "Sister Wen," but who knows who's older? I'll definitely ask her age when Wen Xu wakes up.
When Wen Xu wakes up, she will ask for Wen Xu's contact information and then invite her to visit her university.
When Wen Xu wakes up, she wants to hear his apology in person.
Elder Chicheng and the governor of Manzhou arrived together by boat.
The specially designed sandboats can travel across the desert, but unfortunately they are too manpower-intensive. Seventeen or eighteen people sit in the cabin and rely on spiritual power to propel the sandboats forward.
Chi Cheng found Wen Xu's death hard to accept. He was a person who cared about his disciples. He was already heartbroken when the disciples of Yinzhou were injured, and now one of them had died.
He had no time to ask why Han Jiang had appeared there; his heart was filled with grief.
Wen Xu's body was carefully kept in the ship's cabin by Chi Cheng, who planned to take it back to the Four Provinces Sect.
Hanjiang sat on the plank, looking back at the yellow sand, his expression dazed.
“It’s so windy and sandy outside, let’s go back to the cabin.” Cang Jingqi sat down next to her, and seeing that Han Jiang did not respond, he said, “Han Xiaoman, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have let you come to the desert.”
"It's not your fault." Han Jiang initially wanted to blame Cang Jingqi, but if Cang Jingqi hadn't brought her to the desert, it would have been even more impossible for Wen Xu and Cang Jingmo to have come to the desert unharmed.
The protagonist's halo is very powerful, but Wen Xu is not the protagonist.
Perhaps only a team of four, as depicted in the original book, could ensure the survival of all members.
However, according to the original plot, the male and female leads should be confirming their relationship by now.
The male and female protagonists fell in love in Yinzhou, became engaged in Manzhou, and confirmed their relationship in Jingzhou.
This was something Han Jiang knew, which is why Wen Xu desperately tried to stop it in Yinzhou and Manzhou.
Good news: The male and female leads aren't very close yet; bad news: The male lead and Han Jiang aren't very close either.
"Your Highness, can you get me a crystal coffin?" She couldn't rely on the cold-faced Cang Jingmo; she could barely be considered acquainted with him now.
"You want to preserve Wenxu's body? She's already dead..."
“No, Sister Wen is not dead.” Han Jiang’s tone was certain. “Weren’t you curious why I’m so close to Wen Xu? Let me tell you, it’s because neither of us are from this world. I assure you, Wen Xu is not dead, and she will come back. I need the crystal coffin.”
Cang Jingqi agreed, "Alright. Go back to the Four Continents Sect to recuperate, and I'll go find it for you."
"I want to go too." Han Jiang would no longer run away. It was indeed easier and more convenient to leave things to others, but now she had to face it herself.
"Your injury..."
"Never mind that, I need to get the crystal coffin as soon as possible. I will ask Elder Chicheng not to bury Sister Wen, and I will also trouble Your Highness to write to my master and ask him for help. After we return to Yinzhou from Manzhou, we will not go back to the Four States Sect, but go directly to Fenghuo Yingshuang Tower."
"Han Xiaoman, why are you... suddenly so motivated? Didn't you always hide away before?"
"I don't have Sister Wen anymore, I'm all alone in this world..." Han Jiang couldn't hold back and choked up.
She doesn't cry often, and she can remain strong no matter what happens. She didn't cry even when her mother was hospitalized.
Cang Jingqi didn't know how to comfort him for a moment, and the only thing he could say was: "Okay, I'll go with you."
"Your Highness, Your Majesty."
Han Jiang's few words were rather distant, leaving Cang Jingqi feeling a little uneasy.
"Han Xiaoman, we are friends, there's no need to say that."
"Yes, friend." Han Jiang exhaled and cheered up. Sister Wen is not dead yet. The system will revive her. Now is not the time to be discouraged. "The sandstorm outside is too strong. Let's go inside, friend."
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