23 Identity
Behind the mask, his eyes trembled in disbelief. He couldn't believe these men had made it back alive. He'd made every possible preparation, hadn't underestimated these hired youths, yet his men were still so easily slaughtered? The Ghost-Faced Man began to retreat. He truly desired the item, but risking his own life wasn't worth it. A silver light spread towards the Ghost-Faced Man, wrapping around him mid-air and tightening around him. The other end of the light clamped around Bai Yuge's neck, preventing him from escaping. "You're just hired hands, why risk your lives like this?" the Ghost-Faced Man frantically declared, seemingly considering spitting out his Nascent Soul and escaping. Bai Yuge soared into the air, slashing with her sword. The moonlight shone brightly, illuminating the Ghost-Faced Man's head with a cold gleam. A palm-sized infant emerged from his abdomen and fled in panic. Jiang Chen, seizing the opportunity, hurled a blue flame at him, instantly burning it into gas and dissipating. The fireball in the sky had already shattered the formation, and the frost had long since vanished. Xu Mobai landed beside Jiang Chen and asked, "What happened?" "The heat released by the sun's core required a constant magical formation to counteract it. They were stuck together, unable to stop, and probably burned to death." Jiang Chen ignored the question and winked at Xu Mobai. He understood and vanished in a flash, returning moments later to place several storage rings in Jiang Chen's hands. After the owner's death, breaking open the storage rings while preserving the contents was a difficult task, but thankfully Jiang Chen was quite skilled. After some effort, Jiang Chen opened all the rings and took a quick look inside. Satisfied, she and Xu Mobai split the loot 50-50. Bai Yuge wouldn't bother touching corpses, and Feng Jingluo wouldn't care for these little trinkets either, making them a perfect bargain for the two of them. Jiang Chen smirked to herself; she had the spirit stones she needed to buy her alchemy. "Thank you for your protection," Xue Rong said, helping Xue Qingtang sit in the front room of the carriage. Xu Mobai raised his hand to interrupt her. "Rather than that, explain yourself to us!" "After all, our mission is to escort a caravan, not hunt a bunch of Nascent Soul cultivators." Xu Mobai's expression was displeased. Knowing the enemy was lurking, hiring people to die wasn't a good move. Xue Rong, realizing they'd misunderstood, tried to explain, but Xue Qingtang stopped her. "Let me tell you." "Miss." "It's okay." She patted Xue Rong's arm. "I'm Xue Qingtang, Queen of the Snow Plains. I was forced to leave the north to come to Qinzhou City. I have important business, so I'm sorry I can't tell you." "We've been hiding our tracks all the way and luckily reached Qinzhou City. On our return, we plan to disguise ourselves..."
His eyes trembled behind the mask. He couldn't believe these people had come back alive. He had made every possible preparation and hadn't underestimated these hired young men, yet his people were still killed so easily?
The Ghost-Faced Man wanted to back out. He really wanted that thing, but it was not worth it to risk his life for it.
A silver light spread towards the ghost-faced man, wrapped around him and tightened him in mid-air, and the other end was grasped by the white jade singer, preventing him from escaping.
"You guys are just hired by her, why are you working so hard for her?" The ghost-faced man was anxious, and it seemed that he was planning to spit out his Nascent Soul and escape.
Bai Yuge soared into the air and slashed with a sword. The moonlight was so bright that the cold light cut off the ghost-faced man's head. A palm-sized baby emerged from his abdomen and fled away in panic.
Jiang Chen seized the opportunity and threw the blue flame over, which instantly burned into gas and dissipated.
The fireball in the sky had burned through the magic circle, and the frost had long since disappeared.
Xu Mobai landed beside Jiang Chen and asked, "What's going on?"
"The heat released by the solar core must be resisted by the continuous operation of the magic circle. In the end, they were stuck together and couldn't stop. They were probably roasted to death." Jiang Chen didn't care about this problem and winked at Xu Mobai.
He understood what he meant, and disappeared in a flash. After a while, he came back and placed several storage rings in Jiang Chen's palm.
After the owner died, it was a very difficult task to break the storage ring while ensuring that the things inside were not damaged. Fortunately, Jiang Chen was very skilled at it.
After some effort, Jiang Chen opened all the storage rings and took a quick look inside. She was quite satisfied, so she and Xu Mobai divided the loot 50-50.
Bai Yuge was too disdainful to touch the corpse, and Feng Jingluo wouldn't care about these little things, so it was a good deal for the two of them.
Jiang Chen smiled foolishly to herself. She had the spirit stones needed to buy the pills again.
"Thank you for your protection." Xue Rong helped Xue Qingtang sit in the front room of the carriage and thanked them.
Xu Mobai raised his hand to interrupt her, "Rather than this, you should explain it to us!"
"After all, our mission is to escort the caravan, not to hunt down a group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators." Xu Mobai looked unhappy. Knowing that there were enemies lurking, he still hired some people to die. This was not a proper move.
Xue Rong realized that they had misunderstood her and wanted to explain, but Xue Qingtang raised his hand to stop her.
"Let me tell you."
"girl."
"It's okay." She patted Xue Rong's arm. "I am the Queen of the Snow Plain, Xue Qingtang. I was forced to leave the north and come to Qinzhou City. I have important matters to attend to. I'm sorry I can't tell you."
"We hid our tracks all the way and luckily arrived at Qinzhou City. When we return, we plan to disguise ourselves as a merchant caravan. We can also buy some things to take back with us. In order to avoid attracting attention, we have hired some people to accompany us."
"Unexpectedly, I still attracted attention and caused trouble for you all." Xue Qingtang's face showed a trace of pain, and he said reluctantly, "I apologize to you all here. If you are still willing to escort us back to the Snow Country, I will prepare a generous gift. If not, I will also pay you."
"Compared to this, you look like you're about to die." Jiang Chen said it very bluntly. She could already tell from Xue Qingtang's breath how weak his body was. How could a cultivator exhaust himself to this extent?
"Young lady..." Xue Rong held Xue Qingtang's hand, trembling with fear from the cold. She couldn't help but look at Jiang Chen, "My dear friend, I just heard that you are an alchemist. Could you please take a look at it for me? Whatever you want, the Snow Country is willing to provide it."
Xue Qingtang held Xue Rong's hand in his own, and the scene before his eyes began to spin. "You know it's useless!"
After saying that, she fell into Xuerong's arms and fainted.
"Girl!" Xue Rong held Xue Qingtang's back and desperately transported his spiritual power to her to fill the gap in her body.
Jiang Chen frowned, scratched her temples and shrugged at Feng Jingluo. She was not being kind. The reward was right in front of her, and she couldn't just let it slip away.
She walked over, felt Xue Qingtang's pulse, and asked in surprise, "What's inside her body?"
It would be bad enough if she just kept absorbing spiritual energy, but she was also absorbing vital energy. If she continued like this, she would be drained dry.
Xue Rong avoided Jiang Chen's gaze, her face struggling, and finally she sighed and collapsed. "It's our national treasure, and I can't explain it in a few words. Do you have any ideas?"
She looked at Jiang Chen with hope in her eyes.
"Take the thing out." This thing no longer absorbs spiritual energy, and she will naturally recover.
Xue Rong gritted her teeth, "No, the national treasure will shatter immediately if I take it out." She looked at Xue Qingtang in her arms and closed her eyes in pain, "Besides, only the queen can control the national treasure."
She was just an alchemist, and she might be able to save people, but Xue Qingtang's situation was obviously not within the scope of treatment.
No matter how many pills you feed it, they will be sucked away by that thing.
Jiang Chen turned around and looked at Feng Jingluo, "I'm out of ideas. Please come and see if you can seal the thing inside her."
Feng Jingluo walked over and placed his finger on Xue Qingtang's wrist, and immediately felt a strong suction coming from her body.
Blinking his eyes, a strong wind blew away his clothes, forcing Jiang Chen to step back. A constant flow of spiritual energy poured into Xue Qingtang's body, and even a shrinking cyclone appeared above her body.
Feng Jingluo withdrew his hand, "Okay."
As long as that thing is filled up, it will no longer absorb Xue Qingtang's spiritual power in a short period of time.
"Rude." Jiang Chen pouted and blew the hair that was scattered in front of his eyes, and asked, "Why not seal it?"
Feng Jingluo tilted his head, "It's too fragile. Forcing the seal will shatter inside her."
The meridians in her body were disrupted by that thing. If it was not taken out quickly, even if she continued to replenish spiritual energy for it to absorb, she would not be able to hold on for long.
"Ning'an City is ahead. Let's hurry over there and rest, then we can talk about this matter later." After saying that, Feng Jingluo turned around and jumped onto the spirit beast, reaching out to Yun Ruchen. The latter came to his senses and walked over, and was pulled in front of him and held in his arms.
She squeezed the beast's belly and urged it along the road.
Jiang Chen and others also rode on their spirit beasts to chase after them. Xue Rong carried Xue Qingtang into the carriage and asked the people accompanying her to drive the spirit beast for her.
The group followed the cold air and the faint smell of blood as they headed towards Ning'an City.
Ning'an City is also a prosperous city and is the only way to the north. There are also many monks entrenched here.
Even at night, the city is brightly lit and bustling with people. You can feel the bustling atmosphere without even stepping into the city.
After entering from the city gate, the caravan rushed to the monks' residential area without stopping. The accompanying people went to book a place to stay, while Xue Rong carefully carried Xue Qingtang off the carriage and escorted him into the house.
There is a difference between men and women. Yun Ruchen and the other two stayed in the house next door, while Feng Jingluo and the others stayed in the caravan for the time being.
"My friend, my king hasn't woken up yet, but..." Xue Rong didn't dare to ask any further questions. Her heart was always hanging, and she couldn't find peace for a moment.
"It's just that he's suffering from a severe loss. He'll wake up soon." Feng Jingluo replied, then continued, "Before that, you'd better tell me the whole story."
Xue Rong leaned over and tucked the quilt in for Xue Qingtang. She walked out of the room with the two of them, closed the door, and let out a long sigh. "I have no right to tell you about this matter. I can only wait for my queen to wake up and let her tell me."
"However, I can tell you what I know." She lost herself in memories, her eyes filled with sorrow. "My king grew up under my care. She is an outstanding monarch with a kind heart. Although the Snow Plains is a small country, under my care, the people live and work in peace and contentment in this corner of the north."
"This is not only due to the efforts of our king, but also the blessing of the national treasure." Xue Rong buried her face in her hands. After calming down, she avoided the topic. "There are many countries in the north, and there are many conflicts among them. Because the Snow Plains is a small country, relying only on spiritual plants, spiritual medicines, and spiritual beasts for survival, it is not worth attacking. Therefore, it has always lived in peace with the big countries in the gap."
"But there are still those with greed who are eyeing the national treasure. If it weren't for..." her tone was filled with disgust, "the national treasure was damaged, those people would have no chance to try to harm our king. We have been so cautious all the way to Qinzhou City, but we didn't expect them to notice us and even chase us all the way from the north."
"I'm sorry for causing trouble for you guys. I'd like to apologize to you all. Thank you for saving my king." Xue Rong bowed deeply.
Jiang Chen straightened his back, glanced at Feng Jingluo, and said to Xue Rong, "Since we have accepted the mission, we will not give up halfway. We also don't have any thoughts about your national treasure of the Snow Country. I would like to remind you that the reason why she swallowed that thing into her body is easy to guess."
Jiang Chen leaned close to Xue Rong's raised eyes and said seriously, "If she can't give up the national treasure, she will definitely die."
Xue Rong's body swayed, and she backed away, almost falling to the ground. She opened her eyes wide in shock. Even though she was mentally prepared, she still felt dizzy when she heard it.
"What? A national treasure is more important than your queen?" Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows, stood up straight with a smile, and stared at Xue Rong with his arms folded.
"No! Of course my king is more important, but the national treasure..."
"Xue Rong!" A voice from inside the house interrupted her words, dragging footsteps sounded, the door was opened, and Xue Qingtang weakly held onto the door frame.
"Girl!" Xue Rong ran over in surprise and held Xue Qingtang's arm.
She stared at Feng Jingluo's calm eyes and smiled slightly, "Thank you!" She could feel that most of the powerful spiritual power in her body came from the woman in front of her.
If she could be as powerful as she is, she could protect the country without the need for national treasures.
"This is my Snow Country's business, and I shouldn't be bothering you with it."
Obtaining Feng Jingluo's spiritual power temporarily saved Xue Qingtang from the pain of having her spiritual power constantly devoured, but it could not repair her damaged body.
Her face was too pale, her lips too dull.
"You're right. It really has nothing to do with us." Jiang Chen smiled and pointed at Xue Qingtang. "But you have to think carefully about whether it's worth exchanging yourself for that thing."
Through the perception he had at that moment when he took the pulse, Jiang Chen was sure that even if he took the man's life, he would not be able to repair that thing. At most, he could only delay the time of its demise.
Even her eyelashes were as white as snow. Although she was weak at the moment, there was no sense of weakness on her body. Only her eyes were as sharp and firm as a sword.
"worth!"
The millions of people in a country are more important than a king.
Jiang Chen screamed in a strange voice and slapped his forehead, "I really don't understand!"
It is better for people to live selfishly, but it is precisely because of the existence of such women that the world has become more beautiful.
She threw a medicine bottle over and turned away mumbling.
Lost money, lost money! This is the first time I’ve ever made such a loss-making deal!
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