break
Shiqiaoyan receives abundant rainfall year-round, with lush vegetation and a humid climate, which adds a touch of melancholy to the sweltering summer days.
Ren Xiangxiang followed Lei Wan without daring to breathe, her intuition telling her that the other party seemed to be in a bad mood. They headed towards the Yueshan tribe, completely disregarding whether she could keep up, and she seemed completely distracted.
The little grass child was quite comfortable. Because of his small body and short legs, he didn't have to walk in the bamboo basket. Every now and then, he would stick his head out to reach the fruit on the tree. After taking a bite, the sourness made his face contort, and he never picked fruit randomly again.
"Xiangxiang..."
Ren Xiangxiang gestured for him to be quiet.
They didn't take the main road, but a rugged and difficult path. Lei Wan seemed quite familiar with it. Sure enough, as the wind grew increasingly stuffy, Ren Xiangxiang vaguely saw what appeared to be a stone tablet at the intersection.
"Yue Shan..."
These two tribes are indeed very close to each other!
Ren Xiangxiang sighed inwardly. Just as she got close, a person suddenly appeared from behind the stone tablet. Her vision blurred as Lei Wan flicked out a chain from her sleeve. A silver light flashed and a cold glint appeared. The other person took a half step back and drew his knife half an inch from its sheath.
With a clang.
Lei Wan retracted the sleeve chain and appeared in front of her. The young man, who had reacted quickly just now, clutched his chest and coughed. His thin face was pale with illness, and his wide robes made him look even more frail, as if he would be blown away by the wind.
He smiled and nodded at Ren Xiangxiang, who was not far away, then looked helplessly at Lei Wan, "Why did you come?"
"What do you mean?" Lei Wan asked succinctly, seemingly suppressing a fire.
The young man in front of him remained calm, paused for a moment, and replied, "It means exactly what you see."
"You!" Lei Wan gritted her teeth.
Ren Xiangxiang instinctively stepped back, afraid of being caught in the crossfire. What were these two saying, as if they were exchanging riddles? She couldn't understand a word they were saying.
"Since you're here, that's perfect. I have something to return to you, probably the last one!" A faint smile appeared on the young man's pale face, and his withered hand removed his sword. "This is Shen Yun, which has been with me for most of my life."
Lei Wan's pupils seemed to be scalded, and she jerked away. Only after the other party placed Shen Yun in her hands did she lose control and demand, "Husang! Say it again, what do you mean?"
"Because it's no longer needed." Que Sang's tone was indifferent, as if he had suddenly become a different person. "Chen Yun was a gift from you back then. I shouldn't have used it to cripple your hand. Now it's back to its rightful owner."
Lei Wan was so angry that her eyes were bloodshot, as if she wanted to skin the other person alive, but she held back. She drew her Shenyun sword and quickly drew a line between the two of them. Gritting her teeth, she sneered, "Fine! We're even now."
After saying that, he didn't look at the other person again, turned around and disappeared without a trace.
Ren Xiangxiang was covered in cold sweat, her heart pounding in her throat. Only after Lei Wan left did the oppressive pressure dissipate, and she was finally able to catch her breath.
"Little Xiangxiang, did your master send you to deliver medicine to me?" Que Sang smiled gently.
Ren Xiangxiang snapped out of her daze, nodded blankly, and handed over the medicine.
My master said that the injury was caused by Lei Wan, and that he hadn't been able to go into seclusion to heal for so many years because of her. But what did he mean just now? Was he trying to sever ties? Draw a line? Break up?
Because his internal injuries had not healed, Hun Sang had become so thin that he was unrecognizable. According to his master, if he continued like this, he would probably not live long. He wondered who this was punishing.
She followed quietly all the way, vaguely feeling that the woods seemed too quiet; she couldn't even hear the noisy cicadas chirping all the way, let alone the birdsong.
Is the wet cliff really this quiet?
As the sun set, its afterglow bathed the woods, but a chill crept into Ren Xiangxiang's heart.
"Chief of the Siege Clan, why, why are you all alone?" Ren Xiangxiang racked her brains to find a topic to talk about.
He paused, then replied casually, "I just replaced the patrolmen; I reckon Awan will be here soon."
"Then you..." Ren Xiangxiang wanted to ask more, but then felt it was too abrupt, so she quickly stopped.
"The concept of fate is inherently elusive," Husang replied calmly, having unknowingly arrived at Yue Shan's residence.
The Yue Shan people are short in stature and, although not as agile as the other four tribes, they have the strongest endurance and defense. In addition, they are naturally resistant to poison, which is why the snakes in Gongyi's group never get the better of them.
The short Yue Shan people came and went, and when they saw the pheasant, they would just nod slightly without much interaction. They mostly lived in caves or stone houses near water sources.
Seeing that it was getting late, Hun Sang settled her in a stone house. Ren Xiangxiang always felt that something was wrong, and just now she suddenly remembered.
"...Have you ever seen a rat's head flower?" Ren Xiangxiang blurted out. Lei Wanjie had come in a huff earlier to ask about this, but she was driven away by Qu Sang's few words. Now that she thought about it, it seemed like he did it on purpose.
Hunsang looked at Ren Xiangxiang, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "Are you talking about the white flowers at Yanshi Ridge? I've seen them; they should be related to Yang Palace. Because there's a demon-slaying array outside Yanshi Ridge, our people have no way of investigating."
“But it has already spread from Yanshi Ridge!” Ren Xiangxiang blurted out.
Husang nodded, "Because they are not demons." After saying that, he waved his hand, interrupting Ren Xiangxiang, "You should leave tomorrow and go to Yang Palace to find out the truth."
“But…” Ren Xiangxiang opened her mouth, only to find that the door was already closed.
In the middle of the night, Ren Xiangxiang tossed and turned in bed, waking up Caowa, who then energetically rummaged through the house.
“It’s clearly because you slept too much during the day,” Ren Xiangxiang retorted.
Caowa refused to admit it and continued, "Xiangxiang isn't asleep, so how could she not fall asleep?"
“I always felt something was wrong.” Ren Xiangxiang couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “And I even tried to ask him about Mo You, but he didn’t give me the chance at all.”
"How do you know he's definitely here?" Caowa snorted at Moyou as if he were very resistant.
Ren Xiangxiang thought carefully and analyzed, "Aunt Yan wouldn't lie to me, and Sister Lei Wan wouldn't stoop to lying to me. Following this direction, he must be at the Wet Cliff, but I don't know exactly where."
"What would happen if that sickly fellow found out about him?" Caowa also began to think about it.
Ren Xiangxiang glanced at him. Based on his personality, she deduced that if Hu Sang had discovered Mo You, he would have told her after investigating the whole story. But he didn't say anything. Could it be that he hadn't discovered it? Where could Mo You have gone?
Ren Xiangxiang became increasingly agitated. The moonlight outside the window was astonishingly bright. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "I'm going out for a walk. Don't let Caowa run around!"
"Huh? Xiangxiang! Where are you going so late at night? You've left me all alone again!" Without saying a word, Caowa rushed over and hugged Ren Xiangxiang's leg. "No, no, I want to stay with you. You never leave me alone, I don't want to..."
“It’s more dangerous outside than inside.” Ren Xiangxiang shook her head at Caowa with a solemn expression. She had a feeling that there was something wrong with the Yueshan clan.
The damp, steep cliffs were deserted at night. Logically, there should have been patrolling guards nearby. She had already prepared her response, but she hadn't encountered a single person since she left home.
The door was tightly shut, and all was silent. The cold moon hung high, adding to the eeriness of the place.
"...The moon is round, the dreams are sweet, Father gets up early to go to the fields..."
Ren Xiangxiang was stunned for a moment, when she heard singing coming from not far away. The voice was soft and gentle, as if it had melted into the wind.
"...Mother sews and mends flowered clothes, older brother and sister chase butterflies, butterflies..."
Ren Xiangxiang followed the sound and saw a woman in red sitting on a stone stool under a low tree, gazing at the moonlight and singing softly. As if she heard someone coming, she stopped singing her "Butterfly".
This song doesn't sound like something from the demon race; it sounds more like a nursery rhyme that children in the villages around the Immortal Town casually sing.
Could it be someone from Yang Palace? Ren Xiangxiang became suspicious. Seeing the woman looking at her, she unconsciously walked over.
"I'm sorry to bother you." Ren Xiangxiang said apologetically. She sensed no demonic aura emanating from the woman. Could she really be a person? From Koujia Town?
The woman smiled gently, her voice equally melodious, "I'm the one who should feel bad; I disturbed your rest."
She knew I lived here? Ren Xiangxiang was surprised, but Hu Sang hadn't mentioned that there were any people from Yang Palace here.
"You are... Oh right, my name is Ren Xiangxiang." Ren Xiangxiang smiled back, sat down next to her confidently, and asked, "May I ask your name, Miss?"
"Wonderful dance." The woman seemed to be in a good mood, her gaze softening as she looked at Ren Xiangxiang. She asked, "Was my singing bad? It's been so long since I sang. I used to love it, especially when I went out to play with my older brother and sister, and when I brought food to Dad in the fields... Everyone praised my singing..."
Something about that sounded a little strange. Ren Xiangxiang was suspicious, but still went along with her, replying, "No! Sister sang very well, it just sounded a little sad..."
"Sadness...?" Miao Wu smiled silently, but her pupils were filled with an unyielding sorrow. "So... you could tell... Well, they've all been dead for so, so long..."
Ren Xiangxiang's heart skipped a beat. She knew she shouldn't keep asking, but she couldn't help but wonder. The woman wasn't much older than her. If such a tragedy had happened in Yang Palace, where the whole family had perished, how could her master not know, even if others didn't?
"Sister..." Ren Xiangxiang suppressed her doubts for the time being and comforted her, "Please accept my condolences."
Miao Wu chuckled and waved her hand dismissively, "Why would I be comforted by a little girl like you? It's been so long, I've already moved on. Life and death are predestined, this is probably my fate, my tribulation!"
Ren Xiangxiang opened her mouth, but finally sighed.
"Does my sister live in the Yang Palace?" Ren Xiangxiang changed the subject.
The woman, lost in sorrow, suddenly snapped out of her reverie and asked with a smile, "Sort of. How about it? Are you going to the Yang Palace?"
"Then...then..." Ren Xiangxiang met Miao Wu's gaze, and a fleeting chill flashed deep within those dark pupils. She looked up abruptly and suddenly noticed the little white flower in Miao Wu's hair. As if sensing her gaze, the little white flower opened wide, and the mouse head inside was squeaking at her.
"Rat-head Flower!" Ren Xiangxiang exclaimed in horror, jumping back quickly. "Who are you?"
With a graceful wave of her long sleeves, Miao Wu rose slowly, her smile still gentle as water. "Miss Xiangxiang, we hit it off immediately. I don't want to hurt you. Let's leave Qiling Mountain tomorrow!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Ren Xiangxiang suddenly saw the ghost that had appeared behind Miaowu without her noticing. Her vision blurred and she fainted.
"Lady Gu, perhaps Ren Xiangxiang is after that demon from a few days ago," Hu Sang whispered.
"That fox demon?" Miao Wu's face was as cold as ice. "Isn't he already dead?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
