Fox Demon Washing Pool
The next day.
At daybreak, Yunqi Que was awakened by Xia Chan and prepared to set off. Even before she opened her eyes, Yun Jinglu's face appeared in her mind. She forced herself to wake up and quickly got out of bed.
She was prepared to be torn to pieces by the horse today, but Yun Jinglu carried her into the soft-compartment carriage that had been prepared early in the morning.
"Brother didn't sleep well last night and is very sleepy. Can I take you horseback riding another day?"
Yun Jinglu's face was flushed and he looked very energetic, not at all like he hadn't slept well last night.
"Alu, are you really that sleepy after not getting enough sleep? Or are you trying to help me find a way out of my stubbornness yesterday? Just like, you came to accompany me last night because I was scared. But you clearly saw through my thoughts, so why are you still trying to make excuses for me?"
"If I can make you happy because your wishes are fulfilled, then I will be happy too."
Yun Jinglu held her in his arms and let her sit on his lap.
Suddenly being so close to him, unlike yesterday when he held her in his arms and their eyes met, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed and her eyes avoided.
"Didn't you say you wanted your brother to hold you? Why do you seem embarrassed? I can hold you the whole time while riding a horse, and I can hold you the whole time while riding in a carriage."
"That's different...I wasn't sitting on your lap while riding."
Yun Jinglu pretended to put her on a soft stool aside, but Yun Qique subconsciously hugged his neck and snuggled into his arms, betraying her true thoughts.
"Hold me for a while longer, and then I'll come down."
Yunqi Que pressed her cheek against his warm neck and spoke hesitantly.
"Alu, you treat me differently now, better and more indulgent. The way you look at me is also different. Why? Is it because you promised to be my husband?"
"That's partly why, but more importantly, I feel that everyone will always meet someone better, and Qi Que is no exception. There are many people in the world who are better than me, but if I treat you well before you meet someone more attractive, perhaps you will think more about me and continue to look at me and choose me."
"I think there is no better person in the world than A Lu."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Qique saw a very familiar scene through the half-open window next to him.
Desert landscapes are all similar, the biggest difference is the different shapes of the piles of rocks.
So, when she saw the pile of rocks not far away that looked exactly like the ones in her dream, she was a little stunned.
"Qi Que, what are you looking at?"
"Alu, that place is exactly the same as the one I dreamt about the night before I set out. In the gap between the rocks, there lay a man who looked like a homeless person."
Yun Jinglu took out a white jade whistle and blew it out the window. He blew three times, each one louder and longer than the last.
Soon, a soaring eagle swooped down from the sky and flew low parallel to the carriage window.
Yun Jinglu blew a series of notes on its whistle, and it immediately flew to the pile of rocks that Yun Qi Que had pointed to. After circling the rocks, it landed above them, let out a long cry, and then descended.
"There really is a man. It's not common for dreams to come true. There are witches in the Western Regions who rely on dreams to obtain prophecies. Perhaps this is also an opportunity or prophecy given to you by God. Why not get off the car and take a look to see if it is exactly the same as your dream."
Yun Jinglu blew the whistle and the carriage slowly stopped. He waved to the scarred man in the caravan, and two camels were led to her.
After she was carried onto the camel's back and given some simple instructions, she learned how to control the camel to walk towards the pile of rocks accurately and steadily.
The camel rocked gently, and the jewels on her body jingled against each other, making pleasant sounds.
Looking down at the reins in her hands and the gorgeous clothes, everything matched her dream.
Including the man who was half-lying on the pile of rocks.
A man who is handsome but dressed like a homeless man.
The only difference from the dream was the presence of Yun Jinglu.
She ordered someone to bring a bag of dried naan and a pot of fine wine, and handed them to him personally, repeating the first words she had said to him in her dream: "My lord, are you starving? Eat it, it's not poisonous."
Sure enough, he swallowed and waved his hands as if in a dream.
Yun Qique continued to test her according to what happened in the dream, but after he called her "female Bodhisattva", she did not say the words "I will pledge my body to you".
This was really too bizarre. After secretly asking Yun Jinglu for her opinion, she changed her reward of "giving herself to him" to becoming his slave.
The moment these words were spoken, the homeless man's face seemed to show a look of confusion and suspicion, but he quickly restrained himself and agreed to her.
He said his name was Zhuochi.
"I will leave the sea and wash my unicorn in the cool and clear pool."
After a long journey of many days, everyone in the caravan had a good impression of Zhuo Chi. After all, he was hardworking, quiet and diligent. He washed clean and had a handsome appearance. The only thing was that he was too thin, probably because he had been wandering for too long and had not had enough food for a long time.
The only one who dislikes him is Yun Jinglu.
When they first met, Yun Jinglu used the eagle to transmit messages and investigated Zhuo Chi's life experience.
This young man, like Yunqi Que, seemed to have appeared out of thin air. No useful information could be found, and even Zhang's suspected household registration could not be found.
This uncertainty causes one's vigilance to be magnified infinitely.
Of course, another reason why Yun Jinglu disliked him was that since this guy was taken in as a slave by Yun Qique for special reasons, he followed her all the time. Even without instructions, he still sat next to the person who was guarding Yun Qique every night, and kept watch together until late at night before going back to sleep.
Yun Jinglu's intuition told him that this guy must have some "evil intentions" towards Yun Qique.
That night.
Halfway through the journey, they arrived at a flat desert. Yun Jinglu looked at the terrain with a worried look on his face.
In addition, Yunqi Que had suffered from a slight heatstroke during the day, so he ordered them to rest on the spot for the night.
However, what no one expected was that late at night, the sand where Yunqi Que's sleeping tent was suddenly sunken, and the yellow sand swallowed up both the person and the sleeping tent.
Seeing this, Zhuo Chi hesitated for a moment and then jumped into the sunken yellow sand before the sleeping tent was completely swallowed up.
All this happened too suddenly.
The panicked people in the caravan and Yun Jinglu were too late to rescue them and could only watch Yun Qique and Zhuochi disappear.
The sand returned to flatness and the desert returned to tranquility, as if the strange thing that had just happened had never happened.
However, Yunqi Que and Zhuochi, who were swallowed by the yellow sand, fainted amid the earth-shaking roar.
When they opened their eyes again, they were already in a pitch-black cave, staring at each other.
"Master, don't be afraid, I will protect you. Are you hurt? Are you feeling unwell?"
Zhuo Chi ignored the pain from the bumps on his body, staggered to his feet, walked to her side, and wanted to reach out to support her weak body. He paused, then quickly withdrew his hand, and sat down with her at a distance of one person.
"Zhuo Chi, what happened? I'm fine, how about you?"
After listening to Zhuo Chi's account of what had happened before, Yunqi Que began to feel frightened.
"You say, we haven't encountered a monster, have we?"
"A gentleman does not speak of strange things. Stories about demons and evil spirits are mostly man-made stories. There shouldn't be any demons in this world, right? So, master, don't be afraid. Perhaps we've just encountered some powerful bandits."
"Hmm...it better be just the sand bandits."
Zhuo Chi, who always had a timid look and dared not look directly at Yunqi Que, now seemed like a different person. His eyes were firm and resolute, and his tone was full of the confidence and affirmation of a strong man.
"Whatever it is, I'll get you out of here. I promise."
His change made Yun Qique feel suspicious.
"Zhuo Chi, do you believe that dreams can come true?"
"I believe it."
"Why?"
"Because before I met you, I had dreamed about our meeting. However, what you said after we met was a little different from what you said to me in the dream."
The two compared their dreams and found that their dreams were exactly the same.
Another pair, both of them had no memory of themselves before appearing in the desert.
Suddenly, a small bump appeared on the ground of the sand cave, and then slowly turned into a sand sculpture of a fat fox.
The "sand sculpture fox" shook its body, and the excess fine sand was shaken off. An extremely cute ochre-colored fox squatted down and wagged its tail at them.
Yunqi Que hid behind Zhuochi and whispered to him in a trembling voice, "Is this shit-yellow fox a monster? Zhuochi, we have to be careful."
"Who are you calling shit-yellow? Do you know how to speak? How can a young girl speak so harshly?"
"The fox... is speaking!"
The fox quickly jumped to her side and stretched out its claws to cover her screaming mouth, "Shh! Don't scream."
Zhuo Chi was not afraid. He calmly grabbed the sand fox's neck and lifted it away.
"How dare you, rude mortal, offend this prince like this! Without me, none of you will escape my father's sand array alive."
The fox crossed his arms proudly, puffed out his chest and held his head high. "This prince is from the most special clan of fox demons, the Sand Fox. How about you, a mere mortal, come and pay your respects to me?"
"Xu Tu, Prince of the Sand Fox Tribe, what do you want to do? In other words, what do you want to trade with us?"
"You recognize me? It seems that this prince has not arrested the wrong person."
Xu Tu put away his childish and carefree behavior and became serious and solemn.
"I need you to help me capture my fiancée who ran away from marriage. I'll pawn her alive, not dead. As a trade, I'll let you leave this desert safely."
"I'm at a disadvantage. You know, my market price is very high."
"What do you want?"
Zhuo Chi picked up Xu Tu, who was still in the form of a sand fox, and whispered a few words into his ear. The sand fox looked at Yun Qi Que with complicated eyes, then nodded to Zhuo Chi.
After the sand fox Xu Tu disappeared into the sand again, Yunqi Que silently moved away from the washing pool.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"No."
Zhuo Chi leaned closer to Yun Qi Que and gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Then look into my eyes."
"Don't touch me."
Yunqi Que pushed his hand away angrily.
"You don't like me touching you? Or do you not like me being related to a demon?"
“I don’t like any of them.”
"Don't like either of them? Yun Jinglu is also related to the demon, so why does Ah Que like him but not me? Is it because I didn't adopt you before him?"
"none of your business!"
"Of course it's my business, Aque. In the dream, you and I agreed that I will be yours for the rest of my life. You are not allowed to abandon me, and you cannot abandon me."
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