Take advantage of now
“Bang, bang, bang…”
“Rustle… rustle…”
The water ghosts crashed into the invisible barrier, and their shriveled hands scratched the barrier again and again. Amid the sounds of "bang bang bang" and "rustling", the tired people fell asleep unknowingly - no longer able to muster the slightest vigilance or alertness.
The sky gradually turned white, becoming gray and dull.
On the azure sea, a dilapidated gray-black ship dragged white ripples on the water, moving slowly forward, and finally broke through the fog and stopped at the shore.
At this time, it was just dawn.
On the ghost ship, everyone sitting inside a barrier suddenly woke up, straightened up, looked at the ethereal fairyland in the distance, looked excited, jumped up from the deck in an instant, and ran off the ship.
"Immortal Mountain! It really is an Immortal Mountain!!"
"I've arrived at the fairy mountain! I've arrived at the fairy mountain! I've arrived at the fairy mountain—!!"
The noise echoed in her ears. Jiang Jingyuan, who was leaning against the boat's side, struggled to slowly open her eyes. Her eyes were confused for a moment, then she blinked, slowly stood up with her hands on the boat's side, and looked forward.
Beside her, Hua Simiao rubbed her forehead with her hand and stood up with a listless look on her face. Suddenly, she turned around and looked around, saying in surprise, "Where are those things? Why are they all gone? There's not even a trace left. Could this also be an illusion?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jingyuan realized that the water ghosts and winged people were no longer on the ship, and not even a trace of pus or feathers was left on the deck.
But if she said that the previous experience was just an illusion, she didn't think it was possible.
Since all those things were gone, Jiang Jingyuan simply stopped worrying about it and turned to Hua Simiao and said, "Let's go."
"Yeah, okay!" Hua Simiao looked at the fairy mountain looming in the misty clouds in the distance, her eyes lit up, she perked up, and nodded in response.
The gray-black dilapidated wooden stairs extended into the gray-white mist, and "da...da..." two ethereal figures, one white and one blue, slowly walked down the stairs.
The mist like gauze brushed across his face, bringing a cool feeling, but Jiang Jingyuan did not stop walking.
The clouds and mist dispersed, and a burst of intense white light suddenly stung her eyes. Jiang Jingyuan closed her eyes abruptly, as if something tripped her feet at the same time, and she fell forward.
Just as she hurriedly came to her senses and tried to steady herself, it seemed as if two hands, one on the left and one on the right, supported her shoulders.
"?!" Jiang Jingyuan was confused for a moment, and then a strong... weird... indescribable strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart.
This sudden unfamiliar feeling made her forget to stand still or be on guard for a moment. Jiang Jingyuan couldn't help but feel anxious and panicky - what kind of feeling was this? Where did this feeling come from?
"Are you okay?"
A chill suddenly covered her tightly closed eyes, and a familiar voice sounded above her head.
Familiar... It turned out to be a familiar feeling... Jiang Jingyuan's heart suddenly lightened, and as she suddenly realized it, a faint, gentle and soothing feeling arose in her heart.
On the one hand, it soothed her tired heart, but on the other hand, it made her feel anxious because she couldn't catch it.
When is it? When is it?
Is it the vague past in her remaining memories?
The strange feeling in Jiang Jingyuan's heart had not spread for long when a "bang" sound behind her instantly interrupted her trance and all her grief.
"My eyes, ah my eyes, wuwuwu..." Hua Simiao fell on the wooden ladder, closed her eyes and opened her mouth, crying.
Jiang Jingyuan's mind suddenly calmed down, she stood firm in silence, and slowly opened her eyes. Through the white gauze, she saw two light-colored figures standing in front of her.
One was dressed in ethereal white, the other was dressed in white and green, gentle and elegant. They were Qin Jiuyan and Qin Gejue.
Jiang Jingyuan raised his hand and touched the cool white gauze covering his eyes. He turned his head to look behind him and opened his mouth, only to see Hua Si Miao crying in front of a large cloud of mist. She quickly covered her eyes with a layer of white gauze, then stood up and walked down the stairs while howling.
Jiang Jingyuan: "..."
Jiang Jingyuan closed his mouth and turned back to look at the two smiling people in front of him.
After a moment of silence, she suddenly thought: "I didn't see them on the ghost ship, so how did they get to the fairy mountain?"
After a pause, she suppressed her confusion and stopped thinking about it. She just looked at the two people in front of her and asked, "Where are we going now?"
"Um?"
Before the two people in front could answer, Hua Si Miao in the back suddenly rushed up as if she had just discovered something, stood behind Jiang Jingyuan and looked at Qin Gejue and Qin Jiuyan in front.
She stopped crying, and her eyes were full of curiosity mixed with a little bit of strangeness and confusion.
Jiang Jingyuan turned his head and said to her, "I have other things to do, so I'll leave first."
"Oh, oh, okay..." Hua Simiao looked disappointed, but didn't say anything, just responded.
After a pause, Hua Simiao seemed to suddenly remember something. Her eyes lit up under the veil and she said happily, "The ghost ship will stay for three days this time. See you in three days!"
"Okay." Jiang Jingyuan nodded calmly.
…………
The mist-shrouded fairy mountain is covered with an endless expanse of white. Birds fly over the flowers, plants and trees, all of which are bright and dazzling white under the bright white sunlight.
The seagull cried loudly, and the sound of the waves hitting the beach gradually became fainter and farther away, and before we knew it, it disappeared behind us.
"Aren't you going to the barrier?" Jiang Jingyuan asked, looking at the backs of the two people walking in front.
"Hmm?" Qin Jiuyan turned to look at her as they walked, and said with a smile, "No need. Take advantage of this time to rest. The plum blossom sleeve arrows will eventually bring you into the barrier at the moment you least expect it."
"Let's do it here." Qin Gejue suddenly stopped and said in a gentle voice.
The three of them stopped.
Amidst the rustling sounds, white vines grew wildly in the forest, and in an instant they were woven into all-white tables and chairs, and the three of them sat down steadily.
White mist rose from the hot tea. Qin Jiuyan pushed a cup of tea in front of Jiang Jingyuan, smiling and saying, "Drink more now."
"?!!" Jiang Jingyuan turned his head silently and looked at Qin Gejue on the other side.
Qin Gejue wore the same smile as Qin Jiuyan, nodded at her, and said softly in a gentle voice: "Do whatever you want now."
Jiang Jingyuan: "...?"
Jiang Jingyuan silently suppressed the urge to run away, reached out and picked up the teacup in silence, leaned back in the chair, took a sip of tea, put the cup down, and closed his eyes.
…………
When his mind regained consciousness, Jiang Jingyuan opened his eyes in a hazy state, and saw a pitch-black darkness in front of him.
"It's getting dark..." Jiang Jingyuan blinked slowly. Just as he was about to change his posture to relieve the pain in his limbs, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why is she kneeling?
Jiang Jingyuan supported herself on the overgrown ground with one hand and slowly raised the other hand. Suddenly, the back of her hand lightly brushed against a rough object with fine bumps and grooves. She paused, turned her raised hand, touched the object with her fingertips, rubbed it carefully and identified it for a while, then she breathed a sigh of relief. It was a tree.
Her thoughts completely returned, and she recalled something in the darkness. Then she thought to herself, "Have I entered the barrier?"
The girl used the five fingers of her right hand to push against the tree trunk, and slowly stood up. She looked around, but with her eyesight, she could only see large areas of subtle changes in light and dark in the inky darkness, but she couldn't see the details clearly.
She looked at the scene in front of her, lost in thought for a moment, and suddenly thought: "Can't see clearly? Where is my white veil?"
The air was filled with chill, and only then did she realize that the slightest chill in her eyes was gone. Just as she raised her hand to touch her face, Jiang Jingyuan suddenly stopped, her entire body frozen in place, motionless.
In the darkness, the girl's eyelashes blinked rapidly and anxiously.
In her mind, she was thinking rapidly. Why did the touch on her right hand... feel a little strange? It seemed to be different from the texture of the bark she had just touched...
After a pause, she looked calm again, withdrew her hand as if she hadn't noticed anything, and walked forward.
"As long as he doesn't jump in front of me, as long as I don't see him..." Jiang Jingyuan kept repeating to himself with a calm and indifferent expression, "Nothing will happen."
"Crack..."
However, the next moment, Jiang Jingyuan's heart trembled again. She listened to the sound of breaking branches coming from under her feet, thought for a moment, and then chose to ignore the strange touch under her feet and continued to walk into the darkness ahead.
"Crack..."
Jiang Jingyuan paused for a moment and continued forward with an expressionless face.
"Crack..."
"Crack..."
Jiang Jingyuan didn't even stop, he just stepped over the thing on the ground and walked forward.
"Snap!" A shriveled hand suddenly grabbed the white boot.
Jiang Jingyuan's feet tugged, but he couldn't shake them off, and he was finally forced to stop. "What's coming will eventually come..." Jiang Jingyuan sighed inwardly, his face tense as he pulled out a lantern from his storage bracelet.
The orange light flickered and lit up faintly in the darkness, illuminating the large group of people lying in disorder at the girl's feet. A shriveled hand covered with corpse spots stretched out from the darkness, and the five fingers of the hand were now hanging loosely on her small boots.
Jiang Jingyuan raised his foot and swung it, and the five fingers broke together. The dry and withered hand fell powerlessly on the figure with a "snap". The strength he had just clenched seemed to be some kind of last breath.
The handheld lantern was slowly raised upwards, and the dim orange light shone on the thick tree trunk in front of him. The bark was lifted to reveal a gray human face.
His bloodshot eyes were so swollen that his eyelids couldn't cover them. The figure was climbing upside down on the tree trunk like a python, with his head raised, staring at her straight, his eyes full of resentment and hatred almost popping out of their sockets.
The orange-red flames flickered for a while before finally completely illuminating the face.
“!!!”
Jiang Jingyuan's pupils suddenly shrank, his white clothes swayed, and he subconsciously staggered back repeatedly. His drooping right hand instantly clenched the plum blossom sleeve arrow that emitted a cold air.
There was a soft "click" sound, and a faint cold fragrance drifted into Jiang Jingyuan's nose. Suddenly, his back hit something unexpectedly, and his whole body froze in an instant.
She tightened her grip on the plum blossom sleeve arrow a little, and as the orange light flickered, she slowly turned around and looked at the person behind her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
