【Texture】(160, 161)

Author: Wandering Traveler,
October 20, 2016, first published on sis
, 17213 words,
Chapter 160 :
After a moment's thought, I expanded the coverage of the mental map. Several more flames
appeared in my map, but in two different directions.
A lone flame existed in the camp of the armed militants to the north, while a cluster suddenly appeared not far to the east. I counted
seven. I was initially surprised, then confirmed the identity of the flames appearing to the east. Judging from the number,
these seven flames that suddenly appeared to the east were most likely those of Song Kui and his group, who had somehow shielded me from Red Lotus's detection
. Judging from the way the flames were clustered together, they were still huddled together.
I just didn't understand why they would leave their previous hiding place at this time, and why they
were all rushing towards where Wang Lie and I were now.
But for me, their approach didn't require much consideration. The approaching
flames to the north and the increasingly clear roar of motorcycles from the same direction are what I urgently need to understand
. Having confirmed this, I turned to Wang Lie and said, "Someone's coming this way, but I
suspect they're friends. You stay here and guard Xia Jiang; I'll go see if I can provide backup."
"Friends?" Wang Lie was initially puzzled, but quickly understood who I meant.
He instructed, "Be careful. If you can't handle them, lure them over. I'm injured, but with my Liangyi abilities, I can easily ambush and take
down a few!"
I nodded, took a spare magazine and a signal flare from my backpack, and handed them to Wang Lie. "
There's water, food, and ammunition in the backpack, and Lao Han's notebook is in there too. If the backup goes smoothly, I'll bring them back
. If the situation is dangerous and it's not suitable to come back and meet up with you and Xia Jiang, I'll fire the signal flare to let you know. Once you see
them, don't worry about me; just take Xia Jiang and leave immediately."
Without waiting for Wang Lie's reaction, I grabbed my rifle, turned, and ran away from them.
"...Your biggest problem is that you're afraid to face reality, and you always choose to escape, self-hypnotize, and deceive yourself
... Now, it's time to calm down. Regardless of whether the truth is as you suspect, you can only face her!"
I silently chanted to myself as I ran towards the location of the flame on the map. At this moment, I was
unusually calm. To me, my actions were like carrying out a pre-arranged combat
mission in the past.
Two or three minutes later, I estimated that the flame was less than a hundred meters away from me. But in the darkness,
I didn't see any figures. However, in the distance, several motorcycle headlights flashed. I blinked
, stopped moving forward, knelt down, and carefully observed my surroundings while opening the map to pinpoint
the exact location of the flame. "...Found her, about 70 or 80 meters to the right...still
moving in my direction, but very slowly...I understand, she's crawling!"
Along with the roar of the motorcycle, gunshots rang out from about 500 or 600 meters away,
followed by screams and cries of pain, then insults and threats. However, it didn't last long.
Several fugitives were intercepted, taken prisoner again, and then gradually disappeared under the escort of the motorcyclists. The
area returned to silence.
A few minutes later, a dark figure slowly rose from the bushes. She crouched low, cautiously scanning her
surroundings. Only after confirming that no more "pursuers" were around did she begin her move. But after
only ten meters, I stood upright a few meters in front of her.
The moment I appeared, she trembled violently, but a moment later, she dropped what she was carrying and
threw herself into my arms…
I hesitated for a moment upon touching her body, but ultimately accepted her embrace without moving
.
“…It’s you, really you? Am I dreaming?”
Zhou Jingyi hugged me tightly, looking up at my face with an excited expression. I tried my best to maintain
my composure and nodded slightly in response.
“…I knew you’d be alright. I knew you’d come to save me!” Zhou Jingyi said, standing on tiptoe
and bringing her face close to mine, her lips pressed against mine. Faced with her passionate gesture, I passively
accepted her kiss, without any further reaction. Realizing this
, Zhou Jingyi stopped her intimate actions, her face filled with surprise.
Faced with her expression, I didn't know how to explain my cold attitude. Just then,
the sound of motorcycle engines came from afar again. I reached out and pulled her down to lie closer. Taking this opportunity to conceal
my true attitude and, at the same time, to divert her attention, I asked her, "
Are you the only one running this way?"
My action should have successfully masked my coldness, and Zhou Jingyi immediately focused her attention on
the approaching motorcyclists and my question.
"More than that. About ten people also came this way, but I was in the lead."
As Zhou Jingyi spoke, she turned to examine me again. She whispered in my ear,
"You're acting a little strange. Why are you so cold to me? You didn't even react when I kissed you..."
"In a place like this, at a time like this, do you think it's appropriate to be affectionate?"
My answer, to some extent, could be considered an explanation for my coldness towards her
. She paused for a moment, then pouted, not wanting to argue about it anymore.
After the motorcycle noise faded into the distance, I pulled her up and said, "It seems
you're the only one who escaped this way. Now come with me."
Hearing my command, Zhou Jingyi quickly bent down to pick up the items she had thrown on the ground.
I glanced at one and was quite surprised, because she was now carrying the guitar and
violin she had initially brought with her. The violin was fine, but I remembered carrying the guitar when we escaped into the valley; it was at the valley entrance...
During the escape, I threw the guitar on the ground for easier shooting. I never expected her to
retrieve it in that chaotic situation.
"Why are you still carrying these two instruments? Aren't they heavy?" Even with my usual coldness, I couldn't help but
scold her.
"These are our family's possessions, it's such a waste to lose them!" Zhou Jingyi pouted.
"Property, property... is it more important than life? When will you stop being so greedy?" Looking at her
feigned pain, I momentarily forgot my suspicions about her "identity" and habitually lectured her
.
"I don't care, the violin is yours, I can't lose it. The guitar was the first
gift you gave me, I'd rather die than throw it away..." Zhou Jingyi said firmly, unyielding.
After "living together" with Zhou Jingyi, I realized I had never given her any gifts since we met
. So I asked her what she wanted. Zhou Jingyi scoffed at my question, mocking me for
only thinking of giving her a "token of love" at a time like this. But despite the mockery, she still told me her wish for a guitar.
So I made a special trip to a music store and bought her this Ibaner classical guitar. But I didn't expect
her to justify her actions by saying that this guitar was the first gift I ever gave her.
I was speechless at her reasoning. I could only say resentfully, "...I
knew I shouldn't have bought it for you. Now it's just a burden!"
Seeing my helpless and exasperated look, Zhou Jingyi chuckled, handed me the guitar
, and after I reflexively took it, she hugged me and kissed me hard on the cheek before asking
, "Finally, we're together again. Where do we run off to next? You were the sniper who caused them so much trouble before,
weren't you? Don't tell me you still want to follow them around and shoot them like before!"
Hearing Zhou Jingyi's words, I suddenly remembered all my previous suspicions and speculations about her. But facing
her bright smile, my heart softened, and I suppressed the urge to confront her right now.
"Since I already understand her strangeness, I might as well go along with her, pretend I don't know anything, and let her
continue her performance in front of me. Let's see what other tricks she has up her sleeve..."
After making this decision, I shook my head, signaled her to follow, and led her eastward.
The dark clouds gradually dispersed, and the scattered starlight increased visibility. My observation
and surveillance range expanded accordingly. Consequently, if armed men appeared nearby, they could
spot Zhou Jingyi and me from a greater distance. Therefore, I moved with extra caution. Zhou Jingyi seemed extremely excited, perhaps
because she had finally reunited with me. She followed closely behind, constantly
recounting her experiences since we had been separated at the valley entrance.
"...I picked up the guitar and was going to follow you, but Guan Yueran pulled me back!
Then those motorcycles rushed out of the valley, and all those people were thinking about was escaping. Guan Yueran and Sun Ming couldn't stop them either .
I was practically pushed and shoved into the forest by the fleeing people. You have no idea how chaotic it was. If
you hadn't fired your gun from the other side and lured the motorcycles away, their group would probably have scattered by then."
"They didn't scatter then, but they scattered not long after, didn't they?" I used the map to determine Song Kui and the others'
location, calculated the distance between us, and spoke to her in a low voice.
"Huh, how did you know that?"
"Nothing, I later met some people from the Baihui Group in the forest, and they told me that your
group broke up and scattered not long after entering the forest." I composed myself, making my tone sound normal.
"I see. So you know what happened to us after that?" Zhou Jingyi looked surprised
.
"I know the general situation. But
I'm very curious about how your group was caught and captured by those armed men. You arrived in this area a whole day earlier than them, with so much time
and so many places to hide and escape, how could they possibly capture you?" I asked
this question not just to be polite, but because I genuinely wanted to understand what had happened. Although Zhou
Jingyi seemed unreliable to me at the moment, she had no reason to lie to me about this, since her
capture by the armed men was a fact.
"...Sigh, just thinking about being captured makes me furious. Sun Cong told us that to escape from here,
we had to go into that valley called something like Buried Corpse Valley, where we could find other ways to leave.
This was supposedly mentioned in the research materials left behind by Sun Chengzhang before his disappearance. But when we got to the entrance of the valley, we
found that the entire entrance was shrouded in thick fog. Some people in the group volunteered to go in and scout, but
they all wandered around inside and eventually came back out of the fog. Guan Yueran brought a compass and led the way..." The second team
entered, only to emerge again. The valley was quite similar to Xia Yucheng's; the compass was useless.
As a result, our entire team was stuck there, completely at a loss. Sun Ming suggested that since we couldn't enter the valley, we should leave the area
and find another place to hide. But Sun Cong disagreed, saying we were already at the valley entrance; how could we give up so easily?
The two brothers argued about this for a long time. Before they could reach a conclusion, we heard a strange cry
…”
Zhou Jingyi said, and the muscles on my face twitched slightly.
"...I fainted on the spot after hearing that sound! I was woken up by someone shouting. When I woke up,
I found out that our whole team had been knocked unconscious by that shout. And we were unconscious for several
hours. When everyone woke up and was discussing what to do next, those gunmen
surrounded us. Then we had no choice but to scatter and run for our lives. I originally thought I had escaped because I
was too tired from running, so I found a place to take a nap and rest, but I didn't expect to be discovered by their team before nightfall
and eventually caught. It wasn't until the thunder just now that I found a chance to escape again."
I remained silent, recalling the information I had overheard, confirming the truthfulness of Zhou Jingyi's account, and finally silently...
I nodded. My attitude immediately provoked her displeasure. She reached out from behind and grabbed my
ear, turning my face towards her.
"Yan Ping, what kind of attitude is this? I've been talking to you for so long, and you just nod and that's it?" Zhou Jingyi's
eyes were wide open, her anger evident on her face.
Zhou Jingyi's outburst came too suddenly, and for a moment I felt a conditioned reflex of fear
, unable to face her aggressive posture, my gaze habitually avoiding hers... This was my
inevitable reaction after angering her during our brief period of living together.
"I'm your fiancée... I've suffered so much, and after telling you, you didn't even comfort me!
What's wrong with you? I noticed something was off about you from the moment we met. Tell me honestly,
what happened to you these past few days while we were separated? Could it be that you... you managed to hook up with other women in a place like this? Is that why
you ignored me after seeing me again?"
Zhou Jingyi seemed to be going berserk, completely forgetting where she was. Her voice grew louder and louder, until
she was practically roaring at me. Her outburst made me anxious! Talking quietly before wasn't so bad, but with
her yelling, who knows how far her voice could carry.
Most importantly, while my attitude was indeed cold, she managed to force it into that aspect, which
infuriated me. I immediately covered her mouth to prevent her from continuing her outburst, but to my surprise,
this action only provoked her ferocity. After I covered her mouth, she first made angry,
muffled noises, then recklessly pushed me to the ground, pounced on me, and
rained down her fists...
I never imagined things would escalate to this point. In a panic, I tried to fight back, but my arms
were unfortunately pinned down by the automatic rifle that was now wedged against my chest. I could only endure the beating
while struggling to slowly pull my hands free from under the rifle. You see, Zhou Jingyi
probably used every ounce of strength she had when she tackled me; even when I was completely unprepared, I couldn't even
budge her.
When I finally managed to free my hands from the rifle's grip, I suddenly realized that Zhou
Jingyi's blows had lessened. As she continued hitting me, tears welled up in her eyes, dripping onto me
as she stopped hitting me. She slumped softly against me, burying her head in my chest, her body
trembling as she sobbed.
"You bastard…you heartless thing…do you know how I've endured these past few days?
Running away with them, getting caught…and being bullied…"
"I endured all of this! Because I believed…as long as I persevered…I would
definitely be able to reunite with you! And you would definitely be able to lead me out of this hellhole…and then we
could go home and live our little life together." "
...But why are you treating me like this? What did I do to upset you? Why are you
ignoring me like this? Why are you trying to act cool…why are you doing this to me now? Do you know
how happy I was when I saw you just now? Ugh, ugh, ugh…"
Zhou Jingyi's words at that moment were like daggers to my heart!
I was stunned for a moment... I could only gently hug her, pat her back, and softly comfort her
while defending myself.
"Stop it... Jingyi, I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that we're in danger right now, where do we have the time
and energy to be all lovey-dovey like we are outside..."
Hearing my finally gentle words, Zhou Jingyi slowly lifted her head from my embrace,
sniffling, her eyes red as she looked at me and said, "Is that so? Are you telling the truth?"
"...Just for that reason, I swear! Heaven and earth bear witness, if I lie to you, I'm your grandson!" At this moment, I
only wanted to say some conciliatory words to soothe her suddenly agitated emotions, because if I let her continue to make a scene
, who knows if she would really attract those armed men. You know, those people should
still be working on capturing the previous escapees, so I blurted out the oath for this reason
.
Hearing my words, Zhou Jingyi was stunned for a moment, then stared intently into my eyes and stopped her fussing.
After a moment, the woman revealed a disdainful expression, muttering, "Tch, what kind of oath is that? Have
n't you called her 'Grandma' and 'Auntie' enough when you're
being intimate with her in bed?" She said this, but finally managed to get off me. It seemed she reluctantly accepted my form of apology.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
However, as I rolled over and prepared to continue my pre-planned actions, it suddenly dawned on me
… This woman might have sensed something from my coldness towards her, so she seized this
opportunity to attack me first! By creating some kind of high-pressure situation for me both physically and psychologically
, she could gain
a certain advantage in the argument, even if I obtained concrete evidence of her deception and manipulation. The so-called "the wicked accuse first" refers to this kind of shameless behavior...
After realizing this, the muscles on my face trembled uncontrollably. Just then,
a deafening roar, like an earthquake, suddenly came from the northwest. Accompanying the loud noise, the entire
ground began to shake.
"What's happening? What's going on? Is it an earthquake?"
Zhou Jingyi screamed, grabbing my left arm tightly. I was also shocked by this sudden turn of events,
but after a moment, the chilling feeling I had experienced in the cave returned. Especially
after I confirmed that the sound was coming from the direction of the cave...
The shaking continued for a while, then seemed to subside, but soon after, Zhou Jingyi and I vaguely
heard another muffled sound, followed by another, then a third... The sounds seemed quite
slow, like the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, with very even intervals between them, reminding me of science fiction movies.
The sound effects of the enormous creatures slowly walking in the shadows.
"No, it's not an earthquake! It feels like something big is moving..." I suppressed my
fear and spoke in a relatively calm voice. Just as I finished speaking, I suddenly realized
someone was rapidly approaching me from behind and to the side. I immediately turned around, raising my rifle with one hand and pointing it at
the source of the sound.
The attacker was already only three or four meters away... Then I saw
a flash of cold light!
"Damn... it's too late at this distance..." Just as I was filled with despair and resigned myself to death,
accompanied by Zhou Jingyi's scream again, the cold light actually stopped abruptly just past my neck.
"Yan... Yan Ping?"
The attacker noticed my size and appearance and stopped in time. Then, Xiao Suyan's distinctive
clothing came into view.
"What are you doing standing here like a telephone pole? I thought you were one of those stragglers
!" Xiao Suyan said, sheathing his sword and patting my shoulder. It took me a moment to react
. I took a deep breath to calm myself and asked, surprised, "Old Xiao, what are you doing here?"
"What else could it be? The group is coming this way, and I'm going ahead to scout!" Xiao
Suyan didn't seem surprised to see me. After glancing at Zhou Jingyi beside me, he immediately explained his
reason for being there.
"The rest of the team, led by Huang Yandong, should be here soon!" Xiao Suyan
seemed somewhat relieved after confirming that there were no other people nearby besides Zhou Jingyi and me. He then turned his gaze to
the direction of the deep, loud sound in the distance and asked me, "Do you know what that sound was? It sounded
like the footsteps of some kind of giant animal."
"I'm not sure what it was either. Maybe it really was something huge moving. By the way,
what's been going on with you guys these past two days? Where did you hide? Why did you suddenly come this way?" Although I
had already guessed that their team was heading towards this area, I still wanted to find out
the specifics of their journey over the past day. I put aside my current entanglement with Zhou Jingyi. The slow
, rhythmic sound suggested it was quite far from where we were...
Hearing my question, Xiao Suyan turned and stared at me for a long time as if I were a monster before finally speaking:
"What do you mean by asking that? Didn't you tell Setsuna to come find us and then tell us to head
towards the entrance of the Buried Corpse Valley to meet up with you?"
"What did you say? Setsuna? Is it Kasuga? You mean I told Kasuga to come find you and then tell you to come
here to meet me?" I asked Xiao Suyan, speechless.
"Isn't that right? Wasn't she with you? Yesterday, because those guys arrived in large numbers,
Huang Yandong and I, considering the safety of the others, didn't come out to meet you.
After leading those guys in the wrong direction, we led the team to a secluded ravine to the south to hide. Earlier last night, Shana found
the valley where we were hiding and told us that the three of you were safe and sound. Then she told us that if there was
a thunderstorm, we should set off towards the entrance of the Buried Corpse Valley, and you would wait for us at the
entrance to meet up with us and discuss whether or not to enter the valley. She said that all of this was your plan and arrangement
! It's still quite a distance from the entrance of the Buried Corpse Valley, so I didn't expect you to be waiting for us here
..." Xiao Suyan said, observing my expression. When he realized that I looked blank, his
face gradually showed a look of horror.
"...Could it be that you didn't know anything about this? We were tricked by that guy, Setsuna?"
I replied, trembling. "You were definitely tricked! I didn't even know where you were hiding!
How could I have sent Haruhi to find you and then notify you to come and meet me?"
"What exactly happened? Wasn't she your partner in this mission, along with you and Huang Yandong? Could
she have betrayed you? How could that be? Her three sisters are still with us,
protecting the rest of the team with Huang Yandong!" Xiao Suyan's expression froze, just like mine.
"Haruhi didn't betray us; she was just being held hostage!" I knew that Haruhi's actions were instigated by
her mother, and under her mother's control, she had no room or possibility to refuse. Therefore,
I cleared her name of the stigma of "betrayal."
"Kidnapping? Are you kidding me? This ability of instantaneous movement is so elusive, how could someone be kidnapped? What the hell is going on?
What happened after you three went to deal with the drone? What's going on?" Xiao Suyan
stared at me, his brows furrowed...
At the bottom of the hill, Wang Lie sat cross-legged, shirtless, his expression calm. Zhou Jingyi, expressionless, used
cotton swabs and needle and thread to treat the wound on his back that he couldn't treat himself. Fan Zhou, Yong Hui, and Lan Jian
sat dejectedly to one side, saying nothing.
Xiao Suyan stood with his arms crossed beside a rock not far away, his gaze fixed on the northern night sky,
listening intently to the approaching, slow, terrifying sound. Huang Yandong, with his head tilted,
sat around me and Wang Lie with Ma Guofu, Song Kui, and others, smoking and explaining.
"...Judging from the gunshots just now, Daye Rinpoche's group seems to be moving southeast. If we
turn back to the ravine where we were hiding, we're very likely to run into them. If we go north,
we'll encounter what they encountered earlier, and judging from the sound, it seems to be slowly approaching our current
location. Although we don't know what it is, the fact that it
drove several hundred of Daye Rinpoche's men away from their camp suggests it's beyond our capabilities! So,
it seems there's only one direction left: south, into the Burial Valley!"
"But the key issue now is that there's a mesmerizing mist at the entrance to the Burial Valley! Sun Cong and his men tried to enter, and
Daye Rinpoche's group also tried before, but they all retreated outside the entrance. Do you think we can succeed ?"
"Should we go in? Heading north to encounter that unknown thing is indeed too dangerous, so I think returning to
the ravine where you were hiding is the wise thing to do. Although we might run into Daye Rinpoche and her group, with our
current numbers and strength, we might be able to force our way through them." I firmly opposed
Huang Yandong's suggestion at this moment.
"We have more than thirty people in total now. If we encounter Daye, Rinpoche and her group might indeed be able to force
their way through, but casualties are probably inevitable. And even if we get through, they
will most likely keep chasing us. It's difficult to mislead them like last time and then shake them off."
Huang Yandong seemed to have anticipated my objection and immediately pointed out the difficulties in my plan. He continued
, "And for us, the most important thing now is to find a way to escape from here. Daye Rinpoche and
his men have destroyed the only known exit we have. During the day, Lao Xiao and I
left our hiding place in the ravine, trying to find a path to the south of this area, but we couldn't find it at all.
When we came back, we encountered a three-man group of those people. Lao Xiao and I set a trap, hypnotized them, and
asked them about the current situation at the entrance. You also ambushed two groups separately before and asked the same questions." "The problem is,
we've all received the same information: the entire entrance is blocked! Unless we have large-scale engineering machinery or
more explosives, it's impossible to break through and escape! The only way to find another escape route is
to enter the Burial Valley and try to find the secret passage leading to the depths of Kunlun Wonderland. Only inside the Wonderland might
we find another escape route..."
Chapter 161.
Huang Yandong, on the surface, is a tall and burly man, but he is meticulous and
has analyzed our current situation and all possibilities very clearly. I understand from the bottom of my heart that his suggestion to enter the Burial Valley
is actually the only safe option we can try. After a long sigh, I stated my final
objection!
"...But all of this was designed and arranged by that tattooed banshee! If we enter the Burial Valley,
won't we fall completely into her plan?"
In the brief period before, after leading Huang Yandong and his group to meet up with Wang Lie, I briefly recounted
the series of experiences I had with Chunri and Guanxue after destroying the drone, explaining my
speculation and reasons that my mother was secretly manipulating and guiding these events! I deliberately omitted the specific details of our three healing, and the fact that the tattooed
banshee was my mother.
"I have no objection to your speculation and analysis! But the current situation is that, even knowing it's a trap,
we can only continue according to this banshee's script!" Huang Yandong looked helpless, and
after speaking, he turned to Wang Lie, who had been silent until now, only listening intently. "Brother Lie,
you've been the leader of our group for the past few years! You've always been the one making the final decisions. I've
said what I thought, and Yan Ping's points are valid. That thing from the north is getting closer and closer; staying here will only lead to our inevitable clash
. Now that you've come here with the Spirit Maiden, what do you think we should do?"
Hearing Huang Yandong's words, I turned my gaze to Wang Lie. Wang Lie looked focused, seemingly deep in thought
…
As he pondered, a slow, enigmatic smile crept onto his lips.
Seeing this expression, my heart skipped a beat!
"…If I had to decide, I'd support Old Huang's suggestion! Head south, into the Burial Valley!"
Wang Lie finally stated his decision.
Huang Yandong pursed his lips, clearly having anticipated Wang Lie's decision. I reluctantly reminded
Wang Lie, "What about the thick fog at the valley entrance? Do you think we can get through smoothly? If we have to turn back out of the valley
and waste time, we might run into that thing coming from the front as soon as we exit. Then, even
if we want to move eastward, it won't be in time."
Wang Lie tilted his head and smiled at me, then pointed to Xia
Jiang, who was still kneeling like a puppet, and said, "The reason the previous people couldn't get into the valley through the fog is simple: because she wasn't there!"
When everyone's attention turned to Xia Jiang, Wang Lie struggled to his feet and said, " "Kunlun
, three flowers gather in the void, a fairy descends to earth!" I've heard this saying since I was a child. I used to think it was just a
meaningless prophecy. But after seeing this girl's transformation, I finally understand that there really
are gods in this world, although these gods seem quite different from the legendary immortals. You guys also said before that
the secret passage in the Burial Valley might have been opened by a god. In that case, as long as Xia is here
, are we afraid we won't be able to enter the Burial Valley?"
Hearing Wang Lie say this, Xiao Suyan, who had been standing on the edge, watching the unknown dangers in the north, raised an objection.
"The thick fog at the valley entrance isn't so simple, is it? Many people have entered the Burial Valley in the past, but I've never heard of
such a dense fog at the valley entrance. This fog obviously appeared not long ago, so
how do you explain that?"
Wang Lie turned to Xiao Suyan and smiled, "That's easy to explain! Before the fairy entered the mortal world,
the secret passage in the valley was closed. The Burial Valley was naturally open to mortals. But now that the fairy has entered the mortal world, the secret passage has opened, and
the Burial Valley has thus become the fairy's exclusive passage for a short period of time. The fog must be to prevent
unrelated people from sneaking into the depths of Kunlun Immortal Realm. Do you think my explanation is appropriate?"
Xiao Suyan thought for a moment and nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with Wang Lie's explanation.
Seeing that Xiao Suyan no longer objected to entering the valley, I got up, intending to insist on my suggestion again.
Unexpectedly, Wang Lie put on his coat and walked over to me. He first instructed the others, "Everyone,
pack your things and get ready to leave." Then he patted my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "I have
something to say to you privately. Let's go to the side." Then he pulled me to a secluded spot away from the others.
"...I still object to entering the Burial Valley. This is all that banshee's conspiracy. If we go in..."
"Nine times out of ten, they're courting death!" Upon arriving at the destination, I didn't wait for Wang Lie to speak and immediately stated my position.
"I know you're against it, but what other choice do we have now? That woman meticulously planned this
series of traps, and she's also the natal demon master of Fanzhou and the other four. If we don't follow her intentions
, she'll definitely find other ways to achieve her goals. Rather than increasing
the risk at the last minute, it's better to simply go along with her!"
Hearing Wang Lie say this, I realized that he must have already seen through some of my mother's schemes.
He just chose a different approach!
"Phew, so that's how you see it! I understand... By the way, I suspect that not only Fanzhou and the others
are under her influence and control, but Zhou Jingyi is probably also..."
Wang Lie squeezed my shoulder, stopping my reminder.
"Zhou Jingyi is your woman. Whether you suspect her or not, you're responsible for keeping an eye on her
! It has nothing to do with me, and her affairs are less important than what I'm about to tell you!"
I was taken aback. "What do you want to tell me?"
"I didn't have a chance to tell you before, so I didn't. Do you remember
the jewelry box you showed me to get my help in searching for the tattooed banshee?" Wang Lie said, his smile fading, becoming unusually
serious. Clearly, his previous smile was more of a deliberate attempt to reassure me.
"The... jewelry box?" I quickly realized what he meant.
When I first encountered my mother at the leather factory, I had given Wang Lie the jewelry box she left behind to examine in order to find her. I hoped
he could use the demonic energy remaining on the box to find her hiding place. But unfortunately,
the demonic energy remaining on the box was too faint; even Wang Lie couldn't locate my mother with that little bit of demonic energy. Then,
Zhou Jingyi went to Fengling Mountain to build a temple to trade for silk paintings, and I completely
forgot about it. I never expected that Wang Lie would suddenly bring it up again at this time.
"What about the jewelry box? I remember that jewelry box is still in my house..."
"I'm bringing up the jewelry box with you because I want to correct my previous misjudgment!" Wang Lie's attitude was extremely serious.
"A misjudgment?"
"When I sensed the lingering aura on the jewelry box, I mistook that faint aura for some kind of demonic energy!
Now I want to refute that claim!"
"Why?"
"Liangyi's ability to sense and judge demons is different from your Crimson Lotus ability. Therefore, my
sensitivity to auras is beyond your imagination. With demons and monsters, I only need to sense
the aura they emit to roughly determine their type, and even their strength. But
the faint aura I detected from the jewelry box was a type I had never encountered before. At the time, I just felt
that the aura was similar to, or rather, resembling, the aura emitted by a high-level demon, so I arbitrarily identified it
as some kind of unknown demonic energy!"
"Wasn't that demonic energy?"
"You're right! If I hadn't been there beside Xia Jiang, witnessing and experiencing
firsthand the entire process of her transformation from Yin energy to immortality, I wouldn't have known I made a mistake back then! What I'm trying to say is that the aura Xia Jiang emitted after her transformation
is completely identical to the aura remaining on the jewelry box you showed me!
So..."
"So what?"
"If my judgment is correct, the former owner of that jewelry box wasn't a demon at all! But
rather, like Xia Jiang, a real, existing human god possessing other divine powers!"
Hearing Wang Lie's words, I was completely stunned!
Wang Lie lowered his head, took out the cigarette I had given him earlier from his shirt pocket, put it in his mouth, and said to me:
"Can I borrow a light?" I numbly activated the crimson lotus flame on my finger and lit the cigarette for him. Wang Lie
glanced at the burning crimson lotus flame on my finger with interest and continued.
"You've been in contact with us for quite some time now! Although I haven't specifically
discussed this issue with you before, you should now know our specific
standards and classification criteria for gods and demons. Although Xia Jiang is still seemingly delirious, you should
be able to see from her that she is very similar to the Mystic Maiden we encountered before—both possess powerful mystical abilities and
vitality, but are not immortal! If there's any difference between her and the Mystic Maiden, besides
a slight difference in their auras, it should be their attitude towards the lives of us mortals! If, after she emerges from her cocoon and awakens
, she needs to maintain her internal balance of survival by devouring the flesh and blood of humans or other animals and forcibly absorbing
their energy, then I can..." "It's confirmed she's transformed into a demon! But you might not know that
she's been awake for three whole days now. For these three days, although she's been in this
dazed state, she hasn't shown any intention to attack or assault us, her guards. This is her instinctive
reaction! Therefore, we're certain she has transformed into a legendary god, not a demon! Because demons
are born with an innate greed and bloodlust for life, especially when they lack consciousness and thought—they are absolutely
unable to suppress or hide it! For us, this is the biggest difference between a god and a demon. That is
to say, once someone is confirmed as a god, they may not necessarily be willing to bestow favors upon us mortals, but the most basic
principle is: a god will never intentionally harm a person or ordinary life without any reason!"
"I roughly understand all this, but what do you mean by all this?" Having adjusted
my mindset somewhat, I looked at Wang Lie with a puzzled expression.
"My point is simple: that tattooed woman is very likely not a demon! She's probably
a god, just like Xia Jiang! And if she's a god, then her meticulously planned schemes become quite
intriguing! Isn't that right?" Wang Lie looked up and exhaled a smoke ring.
"I'm not a demon? But a god like Xia Jiang now? How...how could this be? This is..."
"Is it possible?" Wang Lie's words swirled in my mind, challenging all my previous
understanding and views of my mother...
"Besides the differences between gods and demons that I just mentioned, gods also possess one or
more unique divine powers. For example, Xia Jiang can bring people good fortune! Of course, divine power
is not exclusive to gods. Powerful celestial demons or demon kings can also possess
abilities similar to divine power! Sometimes, we also call them demon gods or monster gods. So, when Xue Zong
said in Xia Yu City that Xuan Nu was a god, it can't be said that his statement was wrong. Xuan Nu can certainly be called a deity, but she is
a demon god! But more often, when we talk about gods, we should refer to someone like Xia Yatou now; the accurate term should be
human god! The one who is alive and existing now is the current human god! The Japanese say..." Their emperor is a living god,
something like that, of course, it's just a title! Perhaps the ancestor of the Japanese imperial family,
Amaterasu, really was a living god, but at least now, her descendants, the current imperial family,
are just ordinary people! Having a god ancestor isn't necessarily a big deal. Judging from
the information passed down in our line of work and comparing it to Xia Yatou's current situation, Fuxi and Nuwa from ancient times were very likely
real gods. Most Chinese people today, you could say, have
the blood of these two ancestors of the Chinese nation; we are all descendants of gods, so there's no need to care about these things."
Wang Lie casually tossed the remaining cigarette butt aside. "If the tattooed woman is truly another living god,
logically speaking, she shouldn't intentionally do anything to harm ordinary people! Yes, she
has planned and designed many things so far, and as you said, she's using us! But I just thought about it, and
it seems that none of what she's done so far has actually harmed anyone! On the contrary,
most of the people who died or were harmed in this series of events were actually reaping what they sowed, paying
the price for their own desires and ambitions. For example, Boss Li who went to Phoenix Mountain to rob tombs, and the Xuezong gang in Xia Yu City—if
they hadn't courted death and done those despicable things, would they have met such an end? As for the others
, they were passively harmed by these lunatics. For example, your comrade's family,
the couples who were captured and held hostage by Xuezong's men, and Xie Zhengnan's two brothers who died. Their misfortunes weren't
directly caused by the tattooed woman."
"Speaking of which, the only one who can be definitively identified as dead at the hands of the tattooed woman is your ex-girlfriend, Liao Xiaoqian!
But to be honest, after hearing what you later told me about what your ex-girlfriend did to you and other things she
did, I wanted to kill her too! Of course, I have my principles. Under normal circumstances, I only kill demons!
I won't kill unless absolutely necessary. If I encountered someone like your ex-girlfriend in real life, I would take legal action
to protect my rights. I suspect that the tattooed woman might have had another reason for killing your ex-girlfriend!"
Wang Lie paused slightly at this point. "Because I've thought about all this, I have a feeling that this 　　tattooed woman, who
's unsure whether she's a god or a demon , isn't necessarily trying to harm us. If that's the case, 　　why don't we just play along with her script? I think being used 　　is uncomfortable, but if there's no real loss, it's not a big deal! There's a saying 　　: 'Going against the current is oppressive, going with the current is beneficial.' Letting things take their natural course is often the best 　　outcome." 　　Looking at Wang Lie's seemingly carefree expression, I said sternly, "Haven't you considered that her 　　target might also be the Nine Cauldrons? You told me you didn't want anyone to covet the Nine Cauldrons! You brought me 　　here to participate in this mess to thwart others' plans to seize them!" 　　Wang Lie nodded, "You're right! I entrusted you and Lao Huang to come here for that very 　　reason. I..." Now that I've come this far, I'll naturally act to achieve this goal! But the current situation 　　is that there's no trace of the Nine Cauldrons, and we face danger and a predicament. Solving our problems first is 　　paramount. I also want to plan ahead and prepare for every step. But now we probably can't afford to discuss 　　this further. It's not so bad if it's just the few of us, but the key is that there are those people from the Baihui Group with us. They have nothing to do with this; they've been innocently dragged into it. 　　Ensuring their safety within 　　our capabilities is our responsibility. This is also 　　the main reason I opposed your heading east to the hideout where Lao Huang and the others used to be. Because if we go there, the possibility of encountering Daye and Rinpoche's group 　　is too high! If we encounter them, we might be able to break through successfully on our own, but 　　are you confident you can protect Mr. Ma and the others? After all, bullets have no eyes." 　　Hearing Wang Lie say this, I shook my head helplessly. "But once we enter the Burial Valley, it might be even more dangerous 　　! Your thinking is typical of looking at the head but not the tail..." 　　Wang Lie chuckled self-deprecatingly, about to say something to comfort himself, when a 　　woman's shrill scream came from the crowd... The moment I heard that scream, I felt my blood rushing, my head spinning, and 　　my chest tight! The feeling was similar to the screams of Xuan Nu and my mother, only far less terrifying 　　, and it didn't have the same effect on me as before! 　　"What happened?" I quickly turned to look at the crowd, while Wang Lie rushed into the crowd before me 　　. 　　When I caught up with Wang Lie and pushed through the crowd, I realized that the woman's 　　scream was actually from Xia Jiang, who had been kneeling blankly. Not only that, Xia Jiang had finally changed her 　　previous wooden state, but she seemed to have fallen into a hysterical mental breakdown! She 　　was kneeling on the ground, her whole body trembling violently, incoherently screaming, her hands covering her ears 　　, her head shaking like a rattle-drum. 　　"...Stop...stop! I won't listen...I don't want to hear it...I don't want to hear it!"

Wang Lie approached her, trying to grab her arm to comfort her, but unexpectedly, the girl was strong. With a slight
sway of her body, she elbowed Wang Lie aside...
Seeing this, I quickly went over as well, but unexpectedly, as soon as I reached Xia Jiang's side, the girl suddenly pushed me
away. Just as I was about to try to approach Xia Jiang again, Zhou Jingyi squeezed out from the crowd!
She cautiously walked to the front of Xia Jiang, bent down, and knelt down in front of Xia Jiang. Then, she
carefully placed her hands on both sides of Xia Jiang's head, cupped Xia Jiang's face, and smiled gently,
looking into Xia Jiang's eyes. We all thought she would be pushed away roughly by Xia Jiang like Wang Lie! But to our
surprise, the trembling and agitated Xia Jiang gradually calmed down under Zhou Jingyi's gentle gaze
. Zhou Jingyi then pressed her body closer to Xia Jiang, eventually pulling her into her arms.
She patted Xia Jiang's back and stroked her
chest, comforting her as if she were a crying, frightened child. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid...we're here for you! We know you
're not feeling well, your head hurts..."
Zhou Jingyi's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, her lips closer to Xia Jiang's ear. Under Zhou Jingyi's soothing touch,
Xia Jiang finally removed her hands from her ears, gazing at
Zhou Jingyi with hazy eyes, and ultimately leaned on her shoulder, seemingly completely captivated by her whispers...
Seeing that Xia Jiang had been calmed down by Zhou Jingyi, Wang Lie and I exchanged a glance, temporarily relieved
. I asked Fanzhou, who was beside me, what had happened. Fanzhou just shook his head and replied, "Nothing happened
. Everyone was packing and checking their belongings to prepare for departure when Miss Xia suddenly started yelling."
After thinking that Xia Jiang should have calmed down, Zhou Jingyi turned her head, glared at me and Wang Lie, and
scolded, "Two grown men, you don't even know how to coax a girl! You're all useless!" Then she
turned to Xia Jiang and said, "Don't pay attention to those idiots. I'm here to look after you. Tell me,
what do you like the most?"
Xia Jiang looked completely bewildered and finally managed to utter a single "Zhi!" Zhou Jingyi blinked
and muttered, "Zhi?" but quickly realized what she meant. "Is it about eating? I know..."
He then gave a fierce look to the onlookers around him, shouting, "Didn't you hear me? Hurry up,
take out all the food you have with you!" Finally, he glared at me, specifically instructing me:
"Go, bring me my backpack. I have some good food in it!"
Although reluctant, under Wang Lie's encouragement, everyone took out
some of the food they had painstakingly saved and placed it in front of Zhou Jingyi and Xia Jiang. I also followed Zhou Jingyi's instructions, found her backpack, and
placed it in front of the two women. Upon seeing the food, Xia Jiang's previously dull and confused eyes finally
lit up again. Seeing this, Wang Lie and I exchanged a smile, realizing that the Xia Jiang we knew
had finally returned...
Accompanied by Zhou Jingyi, Xia Jiang wolfed down various types and packaged portable foods, oblivious to everyone else
. The others were fine; they tidied up their belongings and sat around chatting, waiting. Zhou Jingyi forcibly
assigned me a special task: to directly heat opened canned food with the Crimson Lotus Flame…
I reckon I'm probably the only one in history who has used the Crimson Lotus Flame for cooking and heating food.
However, as long as it keeps Xia Jiang calm, I don't mind accepting Zhou Jingyi's constant assignments. It's just that
controlling the heat is quite difficult; I burned two cans of luncheon meat into metal blocks before gradually mastering
the technique.
"...Heat up the braised pork belly and put it here. Then heat up another can of beef! Be careful not to burn it again!"
After giving me her latest instructions, Zhou Jingyi turned to Xia Jiang with a smile and said, "Eat slowly, don't rush!
There's still plenty left... By the way, can you tell me what was wrong with your headache earlier?"
For some reason, Xia Jiang seemed quite dependent on and close to Zhou Jingyi. Faced with Zhou Jingyi's question
, Xia Jiang ate her food very seriously while responding in a muffled voice:
"...So many voices! I can hear so many, so many voices! So many people are talking to me, I don't
know who they are, I don't know where they are! I feel so uncomfortable, and those people are still talking..."
I looked at Xia Jiang with some surprise. The reason was simple! This girl had indeed undergone a huge
change. I remember before going to Xia Yucheng, although she could understand our language and its meaning, she
still had serious problems with expressing herself. Often, her speech was
a mix of classical Chinese and modern vernacular. We often had to guess to understand what she meant! But now, this
girl could explain something clearly and unambiguously in almost entirely modern language!
"...Oh, is that so! That must be really awful! If it were me, I'd go
crazy like you! But it's alright now, let's eat, let's focus on eating! Concentrate all our attention and energy
on this delicious food. Let's ignore those sounds! But, I'm curious,
what did those sounds say to you? Can you tell me?" Zhou Jingyi carefully coaxed Xia Jiang.
Xia Jiang paused, stopping what she was doing! Suddenly, she exclaimed, "It must hit the daily limit tomorrow!" Then
she added, "I must win the lottery for subscriptions tomorrow!" "Real Madrid must win, and by at least two goals
!" "Five figures, just five figures is enough! I'm not hoping for the jackpot, second prize will be satisfactory!" "Eighty
thousand, eighty thousand, the next card must be eighty thousand!" "Give me an orange item, I must give you an orange item! My guild points are now
number one, no one is competing with me!" "The child has boarded the plane, I hope for a smooth journey, please don't have any accidents!"
"It would be best if XX Qiang died in a car accident, so I can inherit the property with Song X, hehe!"
Xia Jiang's words were a string of unrelated and inexplicable statements that came out one after another
! Everyone around was stunned! Finally, Wang Lie was the first to react! He said:
"Wishes! I understand, these are the wishes of different people at this moment! This girl is
the Goddess of Fortune, therefore she can hear the wishes and needs of people in this world at this moment!"
After Xia Jiang continued to chatter for a while, the can in her hand fell to the ground, and she covered
her ears again, shouting. "...I feel so bad...I can't take it anymore..."
Fortunately, Zhou Jingyi reacted quickly and immediately hugged Xia Jiang and comforted her. Xia Jiang
gradually calmed down...
Just as everyone was looking at each other because of Xia Jiang's condition, Xiao Suyan, who had been standing at the very edge of the crowd, suddenly
shouted! "Who's there?"
When we turned our gaze to Xiao Suyan's direction, we saw him rush into the nearby
dark place like a ghost, and just a moment later, the sound of metal clashing came from the darkness!
In an instant, everyone quickly took a defensive stance...
"A sudden moment? Is that you?"
When Xiao Suyan's next voice came, a figure appeared in our field of vision without warning
. Spring Day, who had left with her mother, suddenly reappeared before my eyes!
Xiao Suyan emerged from the darkness, sword in hand. While making defensive
movements in anticipation of Xiao Suyan's possible attack, Spring Day spoke to us in a cold tone, "You have at most ten minutes.
If you don't leave within ten minutes, it's highly likely you won't be able to safely enter the Burial Valley!"
Hearing Spring Day's words, Xiao Suyan stopped his attack! A look of confusion appeared on his face, and
everyone fell silent! When the surroundings became completely quiet, everyone realized that the rhythmic,
terrifying sound seemed very close, and the ground began to tremble slightly with the sound
…
Wang Lie broke the silence first, giving everyone clear instructions. "We really can't delay any longer! Lao
Huang, you lead the way, Yan Ping and I will cover the rear. Everyone, set off immediately!" After saying that, Wang Lie gestured with his chin towards Chunri and
said, "Chunri, can you give me a definite answer? Are you really parting ways with us?"
Chunri replied expressionlessly, "No! I was just temporarily asked to run errands for her
! Now I've finished what she asked me to do. I came here to remind you that if you don't leave now, it will be too
late!"
"Is that so? So what are your plans next?" Wang Lie nodded to Chunri and then asked.
"No other plans, I'll continue to work with you! Guanxue is waiting at the entrance to the Burial Valley
!" Chunri replied.
Wang Lie's lips curled up, and he waved to Chunri. "Then you and Lao Huang will lead the way!
Let's go now!"
Huang Yandong and Chunri led Ma Guofu, Song Kui, and others into the darkness first 　　. Next, Zhou Jingyi, along with Xia Jiang, Fan Zhou, and two other women, as well as the Taoist priest, Zhu Yu, Zhang Lu and her son, were escorted by
several armed members of the Baihui Group and began their journey south. 　　After they all left, only Wang Lie, Xiao Suyan, and I remained at the back. 　　"You two trust Shana that much? Aren't you afraid she'll betray us all? She's currently serving her 　　natal demon lord!" Xiao Suyan glanced sideways at the movements to the north and asked Wang Lie and me. 　　"We've already acted according to her lord's orders, so whether we trust her or not doesn't really matter!" 　　Wang Lie took the cigarette from my hand, bent down to borrow a light from me, took a puff, then looked up to the north, 　　muttering, "I'm more curious about what exactly is coming from the north. 　　Even with hundreds of people like Rinpoche, they had to retreat. Chunri seems terrified too." 　　Just as he finished speaking, he and Xiao Suyan froze on the spot, and the cigarette I had just been holding 　　fell silently to the ground in my astonishment… 　　At this moment, the night was about to end, and a few glimmers of light appeared on the distant horizon, allowing the three of us to see 　　the blurry horizon several kilometers away! 　　At the edge of the horizon, an enormous humanoid black shadow appeared in our sight! With 　　my superhuman eyesight and the sheer size of the object, I saw its true form! 　　It was a humanoid stone statue as huge as a small mountain! The stone statues appeared stiff and slow, yet 　　they were slowly walking towards us, step by step!

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