Inherited 100 Million - Chapter 22

Xue Yizhuo sat with her knees drawn up next to the girl. The girl knelt on the sand, which had rubbed her knees raw. She didn’t seem to feel the pain, as she bowed her head and prayed with her hands clasped to her chest.

The Desert People had no gods they worshipped, but when disaster struck, helpless people could only beg for mercy from the unknown divine.

The sandstorm on the second night was even more violent than the first.

Xue Yizhuo sighed, burying her head in her knees. She tilted her head slightly, revealing part of her face to look at the girl. Tears flowed from the girl’s closed eyes, but they quickly dried in the wind.

The sand seemed determined to wipe everything away.

The trees protecting the oasis were snapped in half by the gale, and the houses were not spared. The lake was so muddy that its original appearance was unrecognizable, as if after the storm passed, the lake would turn into the same barren sand as the rest of the Yangsuo Desert.

The sandstorm lasted all night again. It wasn’t until the storm retreated and the sunlight fell on Xue Yizhuo that she vaguely realized it was already the second day.

She didn’t feel tired here, so it was easy to lose track of time.

Xue Yizhuo stretched, and a hoarse sob reached her ears. She looked at the girl beside her, stunned. The girl was desperately suppressing her cries. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of a dirty hand and gritted her teeth as she struggled to her feet.

Xue Yizhuo stood silently behind her, looking around. It was almost impossible to tell that this had once been an oasis.

“Zhuang Yi!” Xue Yizhuo heard someone call the girl’s name. Like the girl, she looked toward the source of the sound. From behind the broken walls and ruins, a woman stumbled out. Xue Yizhuo vaguely remembered that the woman was Zhuang Yi’s cousin. She wasn’t much older than Zhuang Yi, but the cumulative effect of the wind and sand made her look as aged as a middle-aged woman.

The cousin ran up to Zhuang Yi, grabbed her arm, and her face was filled with panic. “Zhuang Yi… Xiao Li, she’s gone! Xiao Li is missing!”

It was like a bolt from the blue.

Zhuang Yi’s body shook uncontrollably. She stared blankly at her cousin, unable to believe what she had just heard. “What did you say? My sister… my sister is gone?”

Xue Yizhuo frowned.

Xiao Li seemed to be the name of Zhuang Yi’s little sister… The little girl looked only three or four years old, a toddler. She was short and plump like a dumpling and was always hugging Zhuang Yi’s leg, giggling innocently.

Xue Yizhuo’s attention had been focused on Zhuang Yi, the first person she had seen here, and she hadn’t noticed where Xiao Li had run off to last night.

A tribe member who had heard the cousin’s words supported the shaky Zhuang Yi. Although their face also showed anxiety, they still comforted her, “Don’t panic. We’ll go look for Xiao Li now. She’s just a child. She won’t have gone too far.”

Zhuang Yi choked out a nod. She forced herself to cheer up, calling out Xiao Li’s name as she searched everywhere.

The tribe members also put down their repair work and scattered to look for Xiao Li.

Xue Yizhuo continued to follow Zhuang Yi, watching her search from morning until the sun went down. But she still couldn’t find any trace of Xiao Li. Many people had given up by noon. The sandstorm could return at any moment, and the most important thing was to rebuild a shelter before the storm came.

Only Zhuang Yi persisted in searching the desert.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind them. Xue Yizhuo paused and turned back, seeing the cousin catching up. The cousin grabbed Zhuang Yi’s arm, her face full of reluctance, but she said firmly, “You can’t go any further. If you go too far, you’ll get lost in the desert too.”

Zhuang Yi stubbornly tried to push forward, but exhausted from a day of searching, she was no match for her cousin’s strength. Her cousin held her tightly, forcing her to stay put.

After a long standoff, Zhuang Yi’s legs finally gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground, covering her face and crying hysterically.

Zhuang Yi returned to the tribe with her cousin.

She seemed to have lost her soul, a mere shell walking numbly through the world. After choking down a dry dinner, Zhuang Yi returned to the temporary shelter and lay on the bare wooden planks, staring blankly at the ceiling. There was a large hole in the roof, letting in the moonlight and starlight, but Zhuang Yi felt that everything beautiful had lost its color.

She secretly made a decision.

After everyone was asleep, Zhuang Yi took a pouch of water and silently left the tribe.

Xue Yizhuo, who was resting on another empty bed, sighed silently. She resigned herself to getting out of bed and following Zhuang Yi.

Everyone else thought Xiao Li was lost forever, but Zhuang Yi didn’t. Others said a three-year-old child swept away by a sandstorm, without water or food, couldn’t possibly survive in the desert. But Zhuang Yi believed her sister was still waiting for her somewhere in the desert, waiting for her sister to save her.

The tribe members thought it was too dangerous to leave the tribe now, but Zhuang Yi was fearless. All she could think about was finding her sister.

Xue Yizhuo watched her struggle through the deep sand and really wanted to reach out and help her, but how could she change something that had already happened? Xue Yizhuo could only kick the sand in front of her in frustration.

Xue Yizhuo couldn’t help but look back. The oasis had become a small dot. She muttered, “Don’t go any further.”

If she went any further, she might really not be able to come back.

Zhuang Yi naturally couldn’t hear her. Soon, that small dot disappeared from Xue Yizhuo’s sight.

Xue Yizhuo felt helpless.

She looked up at the starry river in the sky, pondering where she was and what time period she was in. Was it after the destruction of Guque? It made sense that sandstorms were frequent in the Yangsuo Desert after Guque was destroyed. Yet, Xue Yizhuo felt that what she was seeing through the Originating Lotus Mirror must be a more significant event from the past.

At the time, Di Xiang seemed to want to see Xue Yizhuo’s past through the Originating Lotus Mirror, but something must have gone wrong. Everything she was seeing now was completely unfamiliar to Xue Yizhuo, perhaps because the Originating Lotus Mirror wouldn’t display her past as a transmigrator. Only she and Di Xiang were by the Originating Lotus Mirror. If what she was experiencing now wasn’t her past… then was it Di Xiang’s?

Xue Yizhuo’s expression froze for a moment.

The first thought that popped into her mind was whether Di Xiang would try to silence her.

Xue Yizhuo slapped her head, driving the brutal idea out of her mind.

Assuming this was Di Xiang’s past, where was Di Xiang?

Xue Yizhuo couldn’t help but look around. She couldn’t see any sign of Di Xiang. She then carefully scrutinized Zhuang Yi’s face. It was clear that the two were not the same person.

Xue Yizhuo quickly stopped overthinking. She would just take things one step at a time.

Her optimism lasted only a moment. As soon as Xue Yizhuo looked forward, she met a pair of glowing green eyes.

Xue Yizhuo: “…”

Zhuang Yi also saw the eyes. She instinctively backed away, protecting the water pouch at her waist. A low, raspy growl came from the wild animal’s throat. Even though she knew its target wasn’t her, Xue Yizhuo froze completely, cold sweat breaking out on her back.

Zhuang Yi stared at the eyes and slowly bent down. Her fingers touched her boot, and she suddenly drew the short knife hidden inside!

At the same moment, the lone wolf howled and lunged at her!

••••

“What are Soul-Catcher Lanterns?” Zhong Meng asked automatically when he heard Old Li’s words.

“It’s a black art,” Old Li coughed twice. Not wanting to elaborate, he simply said, “Soul-Catcher Lanterns can retain the souls of the dead and be driven by demon cultivators. That’s usually how they’re used… but the Soul-Catcher Lanterns here seem to have an unusual purpose.”

Old Li tore a corner of the window paper. There had always been a translucent layer of paper on the window, not a cloth curtain put up by the ghosts after they arrived. The window paper was made of the skin of some kind of animal and remained intact after a hundred years.

It was dark outside. The Soul-Catcher Lanterns had gone out. Old Li stared directly at a spot in the darkness.

“This Soul-Catcher Lantern has no offensive capabilities. Its only purpose seems to be to keep the lost souls here. The lost souls probably don’t know they’re dead… I’m a man of little learning, so I can’t figure out what the owner of the Soul-Catcher Lanterns is trying to do.”

Old Li paused and continued, “The woman you saved earlier… cough cough, I felt something was wrong when I saw her, but I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Now that I think about it, she was probably a lost soul too, only her Soul-Catcher Lantern wasn’t near her.”

Cheng Sao said blankly, “Miss Xue is with her…”

Old Li coughed violently again. Cheng Sao quickly patted his back to help him catch his breath.

“That girl Xue will be fine.” Old Li waved his hand. The suspicious aspects of Xue Yizhuo were numerous. Sometimes, Old Li had the illusion that Xue Yizhuo was incredibly strong, yet she often did things that were so ordinary they confused him… Old Li didn’t know the full extent of Xue Yizhuo’s capabilities, but he knew she wouldn’t die in the Yangsuo Desert.

“These lost souls are from the country of Guque. Xue likely followed that lost soul to the ruins of Guque… Guide Zhong, do you know the location of the Guque ruins?” Old Li looked at Zhong Meng.

Zhong Meng nodded affirmatively.

“Good,” Old Li said decisively. “After the sandstorm stops, we’ll go to the nearby Guque ruins to look for her.”

••••

Xue Yizhuo certainly wouldn’t be harmed.

But she thought Zhuang Yi was in trouble right now.

Xue Yizhuo watched with a pounding heart as the girl frantically swung the short knife, successfully forcing the lone wolf to retreat. The lone wolf ran away with its tail between its legs, but Zhuang Yi was scratched all over, covered in wounds.

Almost the moment the lone wolf disappeared from sight, Zhuang Yi collapsed onto the ground.

Xue Yizhuo looked at the claw marks on Zhuang Yi, and she started to feel pain in her own body. Blood slowly oozed from the wounds, and dark patches spread on her clothes in the darkness. Zhuang Yi’s face was pale from the pain, but she only did a quick first aid on her wounds before getting back up.

Zhuang Yi stumbled toward the water pouch that had been ripped from her waist during the struggle with the lone wolf.

Xue Yizhuo already knew the condition of the water pouch and could hardly bear to look.

Zhuang Yi picked up the water pouch and saw a huge tear in it. Most of the clear water had spilled out and was absorbed by the yellow sand, leaving no trace.

Zhuang Yi’s breathing was heavy. She had used up too much energy and needed to replenish her water supply now more than ever.

But there was only enough water left in the pouch for two or three sips.

Zhuang Yi closed her eyes, swallowed, and tied a knot in the pouch to prevent any more water from leaking out. She carefully hung the water pouch back on her waist.

My sister has been thirsty for a day.

Zhuang Yi clutched her aching arm and resolutely walked toward the front, a place where there might or might not be hope.

Author’s Note:

I should be entering premium on Tuesday. I’m sorry I write so slowly, qwq. Below is a little bit of daily life. The timeline of this daily life is not synchronized with the main text. It assumes Xue Yizhuo and Jun Yu are already together.

[Rain]

The flower branches outside the window were bent by the rain. Jun Yu listened to the pattering sound of the rain and reached her fingertip out of the window. The coolness that spread from her fingertip was very unfamiliar. Jun Yu didn’t remember how long it had been since she had touched rainwater. She didn’t even need an umbrella; the rain couldn’t touch her even if she walked in it. Getting soaked in the rain was also an unfamiliar concept. Even a cultivator who had just introduced Qi into their body knew how to use spiritual energy to shield themselves and would not get wet from the heavy rain.

…No, that wasn’t entirely true.

The wooden door was pushed open carelessly. Only one person could enter her room without knocking. Jun Yu herself didn’t realize that a smile had involuntarily appeared on her face.

“It’s raining so hard! My dress is all wet!” Xue Yizhuo complained, running all the way to her and throwing herself into her arms like a spoiled child. Jun Yu patted her back and looked down. “Not just your dress, your sleeves are wet too.”

“I guess so.” Xue Yizhuo rested her chin on Jun Yu’s shoulder, holding onto her without letting go. Jun Yu felt the rainwater from Xue Yizhuo’s body soak her own clothes.

But she didn’t mind it at all.