Chapter 19

“Many people have come here. After discovering that they couldn’t walk out of the main hall, they turned around and tried to flee.” The girl, draped in a white feather robe and wearing golden lotus ornaments, raised one finger and waved it. “Among them, the longest lasted one shichen, and even the shortest lasted fifteen minutes.”

Xu Yizhuo nodded, thinking, And what does that have to do with me?

The girl said eerily, “You hadn’t even walked for half an incense stick.”

Half an incense stick meant two and a half minutes.

Xu Yizhuo felt that she saw disdain in the girl’s eyes.

The girl sat atop a lotus jade statue. A thousand lotus lanterns floated through the hall, illuminating the great palace until it was as bright as day. It was almost impossible to imagine that this place had been the pitch-black, eerie palace from not long ago, or that the girl dressed in such a holy manner was the one pretending to be a ghost inside it.

Though calling her a person was not quite appropriate—Xu Yizhuo looked at the girl’s translucent body and guessed that she was something like a ghost.

After walking for so long, Xu Yizhuo was a little tired, so she simply sat cross-legged on the spotless white stone floor, raised her head, and asked the girl, “Who are you?”

She had run very decisively earlier, but before she could get more than a few steps away, a幽幽 glow had appeared before her eyes, and a lotus lantern had materialized out of thin air in front of her. Immediately after that, one lotus lantern after another floated into the air. Xu Yizhuo clearly remembered running toward the palace doors, but when she turned her head, the palace doors were behind her.

What she was facing was an altar. At the center of the altar, seated on a lotus jade statue, was a girl who looked about the same age as Xu Yizhuo currently did.

The entire main hall could be seen at a glance. It would not take more than a few minutes to walk from one end to the other, yet earlier, she had been as if walking in circles in the same spot.

Xu Yizhuo’s intuition told her that the culprit was the girl in front of her.

The girl propped up her chin, looking bored. “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? Someone who comes here during this season… Are you a treasure hunter trying to find treasure in Guque’s ruins?”

She seemed a little surprised. “This is the first time I’ve seen such a young girl working as a treasure hunter.”

“I’m not here to look for treasure,” Xu Yizhuo said. “I’m just an ordinary passerby.”

The girl did not believe her at all. “An ordinary passerby couldn’t easily cross the quicksand outside the royal palace. The mechanism for the bridge hasn’t been touched. How did you get here?”

The girl tilted her head and examined Xu Yizhuo, very puzzled.

“Quicksand?” Xu Yizhuo froze, then quickly realized that the girl was referring to the lake surrounding the royal palace.

So beneath the illusion, it had already turned into quicksand?

Xu Yizhuo took out that little wooden boat and said very calmly, “I came here by boat.”

The moment the girl saw the little wooden boat, her expression turned sharp. She jumped down from the lotus jade statue and walked toward Xu Yizhuo almost eagerly.

Xu Yizhuo did not understand what was happening and took a step back. When ​bailiantales.com​the girl took the little wooden boat from her hand, she did not resist at all and very naturally handed it over.

After all, she still had many identical boats in her inventory.

The girl turned the little wooden boat over and over, examining it again and again. Her expression gradually became one of disbelief. Xu Yizhuo waited for her for a long time, until she was so bored that she started poking the lotus lanterns drifting around her. She really could not understand how the girl could stare at an ordinary little wooden boat for so long.

The lotus lantern that Xu Yizhuo had poked into spinning was slapped apart by one hand.

When Xu Yizhuo turned her head, she met the girl’s gaze, which was so complicated it was difficult to describe.

“You… used it to cross quicksand?” Xu Yizhuo did not know whether it was her imagination, but she heard a trace of gritted teeth in the girl’s tone.

Xu Yizhuo nodded.

The girl fell into a strange silence for a moment. Immediately afterward, the girl’s furious roar erupted through the main hall.

“Whose little brat are you? You actually used a dignified divine artifact just to cross some quicksand!”

Xu Yizhuo sat on the steps leading to the altar with a numb expression, watching the girl pace back and forth in front of her, muttering nonstop as she cursed her for fifteen minutes with all kinds of words that did not contain a single vulgarity.

The girl suddenly drew close to Xu Yizhuo, her expression somewhat dark. “Wastrel, don’t tell me you’re the illegitimate daughter of some ancient immortal who was lost in the mortal world?”

If an ordinary person obtained a divine artifact, they would probably have long enshrined it for worship. Even those old monsters on the Western Continent could not remain Read on BaiLianTalescalm before a divine artifact. But when Xu Yizhuo took out the Return-Trace Boat, her manner had not been like taking out a divine artifact at all. It was more like she had taken out a cabbage she had just bought at the market.

Xu Yizhuo said, “Don’t ruin my parents’ innocence.”

“That shouldn’t be right.” The girl’s expression grew even more confused. “What were you thinking, using the Return-Trace Boat just to cross quicksand?”

Because this is the only boat in my inventory.

Xu Yizhuo fell silent. She felt that if she honestly said what she was thinking, the girl would be unable to stop herself from calling her a wasteful thing again.

Xu Yizhuo reached out and poked the boat’s body. “What does it do?”

“Legend says the Return-Trace Boat can go straight to Yellow Springs, cross the River of Forgetfulness, and bring back the souls of the dead… I’ve only seen it before, never used it, so I don’t know whether that legend is true or false.” The girl frowned. “You’re holding a divine artifact, yet you don’t know how to use it?”

How could Xu Yizhuo possibly know how to use it? In Yellow Springs Mirror, the Return-Trace Boat was categorized under mounts. It did not even count as a weapon. It had to be classified as an outfit item. Who would have thought that it was actually a divine artifact?

“How strange. Which family are you from? How do you not know even these basic things?” The girl looked at Xu Yizhuo as if she were looking at a rare species. “Your elders gave you a divine artifact, yet didn’t tell you how to use it. How could they be so irresponsible?”

The nonexistent elders were made to take the blame.

“How do you know these things?” Xu Yizhuo supported herself on the steps behind her and stood up, asking directly, “Are you a cultivator from the Western Continent?”

“The Lidan River cannot completely cut off the Eastern and Western Continents. It isn’t strange for cultivators from the Western Continent to come to the Eastern Continent.” The girl admitted it casually. “Rather, you don’t seem like a mortal, but you don’t seem like a cultivator either.”

She tossed the Return-Trace Boat into Xu Yizhuo’s arms and warned, “Keep it safe. It’s one thing to use it on the Eastern Continent, but if one day you go to the Western Continent, don’t casually take something like this out.”

Xu Yizhuo caught the Return-Trace Boat and casually threw it into her inventory, then followed the girl up onto the altar. “You say this is a divine artifact, but you don’t seem to care about it that much.”

The magic tools in Yellow Springs Mirror were divided by rank. Although she did not know whether the settings here were exactly the same as the game settings, there should not be too much deviation. Divine artifacts were currently priceless existences in the game. Only a very small number of dungeons could drop related materials.

Only programmers could directly modify the data and give Xu Yizhuo one hundred million of each.

A divine artifact that cultivators should scramble madly for—although the girl’s initial reaction had been a bit intense, she did not seem to have any other thoughts about it.

“I’m already dead.” The girl returned to the lotus jade statue, propped up her chin, and said lazily, “What does a divine artifact have to do with me?”

Xu Yizhuo repeated the question the girl had not answered earlier. “Who are you?”

The girl sighed. “Looks like there really aren’t many people who know of Guque anymore.”

She beckoned over a lotus lantern and idly fiddled with its petals. “A feather robe and golden crown, lotus flowers blooming with each step. I am the first ruler of Guque.”

“This is the first city ever built by Guque.” Zhong Meng half-knelt on the ground and brushed away a layer of sand. A damaged city stele was revealed, on which the character “Moon” could faintly be seen.

“According to legend, on a night when wind and sand covered the moon, a woman came from the west, draped in a snow-white feather robe and wearing golden lotus ornaments. With every step she took, clear streams flowed behind her, and lotus [bailiantales.com]flowers bloomed. The sandstorm could not advance half a step. The people of the desert worshiped the woman as a deity. That was Guque’s first ruler,” Zhong Meng said softly. “When the sandstorm receded and the clouds broke to reveal the moon, the ruler named the first city she built Moon City. Ahead are the ruins of Moon City.”

Zhong Meng stood and looked forward. Above the yellow sand, only broken walls and ruins could be seen, most of which could be recognized as the shapes of rooftops.

“Most of the city is buried beneath the sand.” Old Li dragged his sprained foot and limped forward.

“Yes, but the buildings exposed above the ground can barely block a sandstorm…” Zhong Meng realized who was speaking and quickly followed to support Old Li. “Old Mister Li, please walk more slowly.”

The sandstorm had come suddenly. Even though they had already been prepared, dealing with it had still been extremely difficult. Old Li had even accidentally twisted his foot while anxiously searching for Xu Yizhuo.

Old Li coughed twice, then turned his head and asked Zhong Meng, “You said they should come here?”

Zhong Meng actually was not certain in his heart, but to reassure the old man, he still nodded firmly. “They were swept away together with the camels. Nearby, only Guque’s ruins are suitable for resting.”

Old Li frowned. “She doesn’t know the way.”

Xu Yizhuo had not even remembered much of the roads in Qingping Town, let alone in a completely unfamiliar desert.

Sister-in-law Cheng stepped forward and comforted him, “I spoke a little with the girl we rescued. She is very familiar with the desert. She can lead Miss Xu to a place.”

It would have been better not to mention that woman. The moment she was mentioned, Old Li felt even more uneasy.

From the very first glance at that person, he had vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Old Li suddenly stopped walking.

Zhong Meng was startled. “What’s wrong?”

Old Li asked softly, “Do you hear any sound?”

As soon as he said this, everyone immediately fell silent. When the surroundings grew quiet enough that only the sound of wind could be heard, they truly caught a faint trace of music and dancing carried over by the wind.

Cheng Er’s expression immediately turned solemn, and he lowered his voice to ask, “Sand bandits?”

At this season, who else besides sand bandits would remain in the Yangshu Desert?

After listening patiently for a while, Zhong Meng shook his head. “There are women’s voices. It isn’t sand bandits.”

Old Li said, “Let’s go take a look.”

When Xu Yizhuo was present, Xu Yizhuo was in charge. When Xu Yizhuo was not present, Old Li was the one in charge.

Although Zhong Meng felt it was strange in his heart, he still supported Old Li and set off. He tried his best to think in a good direction. Perhaps there was a caravan that had also been trapped in the desert by the sandstorm and was now celebrating their survival in Moon City’s ruins.

The five of them walked deeper into Moon City, until they arrived before the best-preserved building. [stolen content]It had originally been a tall tower, but now only the top two floors remained above ground.

Bright light shone through the tower’s square windows. From inside came laughter, music, dancing, and the sound of wine cups clinking. Several graceful figures danced lightly. The dancers twirled, and red gauze outlined waists so slender they seemed one hand could encircle them.

Three or four cargo carts were parked outside the tower. Joy appeared in Zhong Meng and the others’ eyes, but Old Li’s pair of murky eyes immediately noticed the lotus lanterns hanging on the carts.

In a hoarse voice only he could hear, he said, “Soul-Detaining Lanterns.”

Because there’s quite a lot of plot in the early stage, Jun Yu doesn’t appear much. Hmmmmm, I’ve decided. Starting next chapter, I’ll try writing some daily-life extras in the author’s notes that don’t affect the main plot. If Jun Yu lives in the author’s notes, that counts as appearing too… right?