Chapter 49

"Two pieces of bad news." Qin Fei asked, "Which one do you want to hear first?"

Lu Yayin, who had been drawing talismans on the small table in the car for the past few days, looked up when she heard this, with a look of silence on her face: "Is there any difference?"

"Yes." Qin Fei nodded calmly, "One bad news, and one even worse news."

Others: “…”

Gu Hongying said weakly: "How about... tell me the bad news first?"

"Bad news—the gate to the Plant Tribe may have safety hazards and is currently under repair."

There is a barrier between the inner and outer worlds. If you want to travel between the two worlds, you need to rely on a boundary gate. There are two types of boundary gates. One is naturally formed. As long as it is not damaged too much and there is no drastic fluctuation in the nearby spiritual energy, it can be used all the time. The other is artificially dug. Once this artificially dug boundary gate has a safety problem, even if it is just suspected, it needs to be fully inspected.

The former is rare and does not require much manpower or material resources, while the latter is common but has high maintenance costs. In addition, the spiritual activity level of each part of the barrier is different. If you want to open a gate in a place with active spiritual energy, the maintenance frequency of the gate will be higher.

The bad news was already pretty bad. Gu Hongying took a deep breath and spoke for the others in the car: "What about the even worse news?"

"The worse news is—" Qin Fei sighed helplessly, "The last time the gate to the Plant Clan was inspected was ten years ago."

This kind of boundary gate that does not require maintenance for ten years is the most trouble-free type of boundary gate. It is also jokingly called the "rock gate" by the people in the inner world. This kind of rock gate rarely has problems, but once a problem occurs, the time required for maintenance will often be longer than that of an ordinary boundary gate.

"I should have felt that I had bad luck." Lu Yayin finished drawing the last stroke of the talisman in her hand, and then glanced at the three people and the fox in the car, "But I've gotten used to it."

Gu Hongying, Yu Tu, Yin Li, and Lu Susu: “……?”

Thank you, I understand.

The result of Qin Fei's communication with the gatekeeper was that although the boundary gate was only suspected to have a problem, it would take at least two or three days to repair it. So they had to spend these few days in the town near the boundary gate.

"It's good to take a few days off, actually," Meng Ziqiu said. "We've been working day and night these past few days, and we're all exhausted."

After watching the sunrise by the river, the armored vehicle of Group 7 had hardly stopped. Except for going to the service area to solve physiological problems and refuel the vehicle, the three people from Group 7 and Lu Susu had been taking turns driving. No matter whether they were driving or riding, the journey was a bit too long, what a waste.

As soon as Meng Ziqiu said this, the eyes of the people in the back of the car lit up, and Susu couldn't help but wag her big fluffy tail.

"But everyone should not let down their guard while the gate is under repair. No matter who wants to go out for a walk, at least one of me, A Fei, or Ya Yinzhong should accompany them."

Gu Hongying and Yu Tu, who have just received their acceptance letters, are the weakest rookies in the inner world. Although Yin Li is able to protect herself, the person behind the scenes who is targeting her is much stronger than her. No matter how capable Lu Susu was before, her killing power was greatly weakened after she transformed into her original form.

In short, if the three of them and the fox go out without someone who can protect them, they will be easily defeated if they meet someone with some ability.

"As long as we can go out and play, it's not a problem!" Lu Susu's true form is a beautiful fox, and her eyes are particularly beautiful when she smiles. "Meng Zu, you are so nice, Qin Ge and Ya Yin are so nice too!"

"It's not without reason that the legend says that King Zhou likes foxes!" Lu Yayin sighed. Unable to resist the furry temptation, she touched Lu Susu's little head. Lu Susu used the tip of his tail to wrap around her wrist, and he really looked like a fox.

Yu Tu looked at Lu Susu acting coquettishly, and suddenly thought of a question: "Is it okay for her to go down like this?"

Luo Susu used to stay in the car. If she needed to take care of her physiological problems, Yin Li would carry a big bag and let her hide inside and then take her to the bathroom. If they were walking on the street this time, they couldn't lock Luo Susu in the bag, right? What's the difference between that and not taking her out?

And...Luo Susu is indeed a very beautiful fox, with soft fiery red fur, light brown eyes with a hint of gold, and a human-like heart. No matter what actions she makes, she has an inexplicable agility. There are also many Internet celebrities who raise foxes, but those foxes are not as pretty as Luo Susu, nor do they have the temperament between her eyebrows.

There are many people who keep pets, but not many who keep foxes. He is really not sure whether someone will take photos and post them online after Susu is taken out openly.

"It is indeed a problem." Lu Yayin pinched Susu's big tail, "Susu, let me draw a shape-shifting charm for you. What kind do you want?"

Three hours later, town streets.

[Lily, I want that one! I want that one!] Yin Li heard the cheerful voice of Susu Su in her head, [Buy it quickly~ You are the best~]

In her arms lay a ragdoll cat with sea-blue pupils. The ragdoll, which had competition-level looks, was looking at her pitifully with its round blue eyes.

"We've only been to four stores, and this is already the eighth thing you want." Yin Li rejected him ruthlessly in her mind, "My hands are still holding you, and I can't hold something like this."

The pretty ragdoll cat showed a bit of grievance on her face, and she made a sweet and soft "meow~" in a long tone.

Along with this sweet meow, the voice in Yin Li's mind echoed again: "But those little pendants are really beautiful. The store owner said they are for best friends. I want one for you and me. You've been in Kunlun for so many years. I haven't seen you for a long time. Please swipe the card for me and buy them, Lili, please~"

Yin Li, who couldn't resist Susu's coquettishness, finally paid for the pendant she wanted. The beautiful doll rubbed her chin stickyly and meowed happily.

"I thought that shapeshifting only temporarily changes one's appearance, not the species." Lu Yayin looked at this scene, puzzled, "How can a fox like her be so petty?"

"Although she looks like a cat, she's still a fox inside. I bought her everything she wanted." Gu Hongying hooked her arm around Yu Tu's neck and whispered, "Look at the bags in Yin Li's hands. I can tell with a simple count that they all belong to Lu Susu."

Gu Hongying suddenly heard the sinister voice of Lu Susu in his mind: [Speak softly when you say bad things about others!]

For their travel safety, Lu Yayin drew a heart-shaped musical note to form a team. Within ten hours, everyone could communicate in a range of no more than one thousand meters in diameter, and they could have many-to-many communication in their minds or one-to-one communication.

Gu Hongying forgot to express his complaints, and they were heard by Lu Susu, who had a keen hearing.

Gu Hongying pretended that the voice in his mind had not appeared at all, and changed the subject: "Tu Tu, why did you buy so many small things?"

"I was chatting with Elder Di Xiu before, and saw a lot of cute plant tribe cubs." Yu Tu said, "I want to bring a gift to each of them."

The number of cubs of the Grass Tribe in the past hundred years has been no more than two hands, so his small treasury can still afford it.

"Choosing gifts? I'm good at this!" Gu Hongying gave him advice enthusiastically, "This town is a famous tourist town nearby. The handicrafts are very unique. You can buy according to their personalities. I remember you have a sister named Gardenia who likes to dance, right? How about buying her this dancing wooden figurine?

The dancing wooden figurine that Gu Hongying mentioned had very smooth edges and was wearing a small outfit with metal sequins. It also had a pair of large sunglasses on its wooden head without facial features. When the spring was wound, it would dance using all four limbs. While the sunglasses flew up and down, it would also release disposable hand-thrown streamers - the kind that needed to be manually put back after release.

Yu Tu also liked this wooden figurine very much and was ready to buy it. The shopkeeper asked for 300 yuan each, but Gu Hongying's powerful bargaining skills turned it into 503 yuan. Gu Hongying happily took two of them - this kind of cute and strange little thing is liked by his parents.

The day passed without any disturbance as everyone strolled around. In the afternoon, Gu Hongying brought back a message that there would be a Nuo ceremony in the town tonight.

The annual Nuo festival in this town is called the small sacrifice, and the Nuo festival every ten years is called the big sacrifice. They were lucky enough to catch the town's ten-year big sacrifice.

Gu Hongying was originally very interested in this, and especially after learning about the existence of the inner world, he became even more interested in these mysterious existences: Do you want to go there? "

Qin Fei's face was a little moved, but more of it was his worry about them: "Too many people will attract more attention."

Gu Hongying also knew that their safety was of paramount importance, and that it was indeed not as safe at night as during the day: "Can Sister Yayin play another set of Heart Notes?"

"Forget it. It's not very safe to have the Heart Note. What if I accidentally go beyond the distance or the danger is right beside me?" Gu Hongying denied it as he spoke. There was a bit of regret on his face, but he knew the importance of urgency. "I just think it only happens once every ten years. If I miss it, I don't know when the next time will be. It feels a bit of a pity."

"You can't go to the scene, but you can wait here on the balcony." Meng Ziqiu suddenly said, "The Nuo Festival held every ten years in this town is quite special. In addition to singing and dancing in a fixed place, they also walk around the main road of the town."

As they were going to stay here for two or three days, Meng Ziqiu naturally investigated the surrounding situation early on, including the Nuo festival that the town had been preparing for a long time.

"Great!" Gu Hongying cheered, "Even though we can't go to the event, it's nice to watch the parade!"

There were still several hours before the parade started, so Gu Hongying took everyone to buy a lot of food and drinks - halite, salsa, barbecued vegetables, spicy hot pot, fruit juice, cola, yogurt, and coconut milk. It was a rich selection, in an effort to make up for the regret of not being able to go to the event through food.

It was already past nine in the evening when the parade started after the Nuo ritual ended, but the town was no less lively than during the day, as many people came for the Nuo ritual.

Meng Ziqiu looked sharp: "Here it comes."

Gu Hongying, who was holding a halved lotus root in his mouth, poked his head out when he heard his voice. On his right, Lu Susu, who was pretending to be a ragdoll cat, was still fighting with a chicken wing. Yin Li was eating duck clavicle and gasped because of the spiciness. Yu Tu was holding a skewer of grilled rice cakes and subconsciously looked over when he heard the voice————

A group of people were walking downstairs from far away, some were slender, some were burly, but they were all wearing gorgeous clothes. Some were covered in scary bright masks; some had painted faces and wore exotic ornaments; some held axes, some held swords... The masks on their faces were made of wood, some were made of animal skin, mysterious and solemn, yet wild and terrifying.

The original meaning of Nuo is to drive away ghosts and epidemics.

The leaders of this team are both witches and shamans. It is not convenient to perform either the original play or the small play during the parade, so this team chose singing and dancing music.

Accompanied by percussion instruments, rough and simple sounds rang out, the Nuo performers began to dance, and the words that were difficult to understand became more mysterious in the night.

About one or two meters away from the roadside, many tourists gathered together, excitedly holding up their mobile phones to take pictures. They could hear their playful and emotional sounds even from the balcony on the third floor.

"It's so lively..." said Lu Yayin.

The team kept moving forward and the tourists followed them. Yu Tu was not particularly interested and was ready to look away after taking a glance. However, he could not help but stare at the last Nuo performer in the team for a while longer—colorful silk threads and headbands were woven into his hair, and he had a goat skull-like decoration on his head and a rough and crude mask on his face.

Yu Tu didn't know him.

But perhaps he stared for too long, and the Nuo performer noticed it. He turned around, and through the wooden mask covered with oil paint, Yu Tu vaguely saw a pair of eyes—the corners of the eyes and the pupils were a gorgeous red, like burning fireworks.

It's beautiful, but also dangerous.

The owner of the eyes has his eyes slightly curved, probably smiling.

The wind blew across the silver bells tied to the colorful threads above his head. The thumb-sized strings of bells swayed and made continuous, rhythmic tinkles.

It's so far away, but it seems to be right next to my ear.