Stars twinkled. The night was dark.
In Fengxian Town, the sound of blowing and beating sounded again.
Wild horses held the banners.
Monkeys lifted the palanquin.
They beat and blow. It was lively. They walked all the way and finally stopped in front of an alley. The ghosts put down the palanquin and two monkeys rushed into the alley. After a while, a woman in a paper wedding dress floated out.
"Wu wu wu~~"
The woman sobbed as she got into the big red bridal sedan. The bridal escort team began to turn around. They had just walked a short distance when two people walked out of the night and blocked the way.
Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi stood side by side. Meng Yao, who was on his shoulder, had a cold expression on her face. She said in a crisp voice, "You're all bad people. Yaoyao wants to destroy you today."
"Ji ji ~"
The monkey carrying the palanquin seemed to have forgotten about Lu Chen's intimidation last night. It put down the palanquin and used all four limbs to quickly pounce on the two of them.
"I'll smash you!" Yaoyao snorted softly and pointed forward with her small hand. The red coin between her eyebrows disappeared into thin air.
Bang!
Before it could react, the red wedding money hit the monkey's head. The monkey staggered and fell on the ground with a plop. It was momentarily at a loss.
"Ji ji ~"
After reacting, it gritted its teeth and tried to get up.
"Smash you again."
Plop!
"Smash again!"
Plop!
After three consecutive heavy blows, three huge bumps appeared on the monkey's head. It was dizzy, its limbs twitched, and its legs turned into a wisp of green smoke.
The red wedding dress spun in the air, and Yaoyao's expression suddenly changed.
"Smells so good!"
Lu Chen turned his head to look at his shoulder and saw that Meng Yao's appearance had completely changed.
The red wedding dress turned pure black, and thick smoky makeup appeared on her upper eyelids. Two small canine teeth were revealed from the corners of her mouth, and long black nails appeared on her small hands.
"This …"
Lu Chen was slightly taken aback. He saw Yaoyao's mouth slightly open. With a light inhalation, the wisp of green smoke floated over, passed through the square hole of the red wedding coin, and entered her mouth.
"Delicious~" Yaoyao murmured and rushed forward with her small body.
In the blink of an eye, she flashed into the ghosts, appearing and disappearing from time to time. She bared her fangs and brandished her claws, looking like a ghost. Her small hands scratched here and there, reaping the ghosts one by one.
"Ji ji ~"
"Wu wu wu~"
The ghosts fled in fear. Flags, sedan chairs, silver gongs, and suonas scattered all over the ground.
"Meng Yao!" Lu Chen's loud roar startled many lights in the house. Yaoyao, who was chasing after the ghosts, suddenly stopped. Her black wedding dress spun and turned into a red wedding dress. Yaoyao lowered her head and returned to Lu Chen's side. Her small hands pinched the corner of her clothes as she stared at her embroidered shoes.
She was shy and timid. She looked like a little girl who had done something wrong. "Brother~~"
Lu Chen reached out and pinched Meng Yao's little face. He did not blame her. Instead, he reminded her, "You have to learn to control your instincts in the future. You can't let your instincts control your mind."
Yaoyao was elated. In a flash, she shrank and landed on Lu Chen's shoulder. She nodded his little head vigorously. "Mm, mm~"
Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi looked at each other and walked towards the red sedan chair. A soft sobbing sound came from inside. Lu Chen reached out and grabbed a corner of the curtain.
The sobbing suddenly stopped.
"Let's go."
Lu Chen lowered the curtain and did not open it again. He sighed faintly and walked towards the north gate with Fang Yuqi.
Ghosts, wraiths.
It followed life and death.
She could only blame herself for being unlucky and not having a brother named Lu Chen!
After Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi left, the woman in the sedan quietly walked out and stared blankly at the bridal sedan, at the lights, and at everything around her. After that, she mustered her courage and floated towards home.
Tap, tap, tap~
In the dark alley, light footsteps sounded. A short figure blocked the woman's path.
"I… I want your eyeballs."
…
Meng Yao had almost killed all 18 ghosts. Fortunately, Lu Chen had stopped her in time, so there were only two left. Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi walked past the north city gate and chased after the two ghosts that were almost scared to death, passing through the wilderness.
Ten miles to the north, the two of them saw a long river.
The two weasels floated on the river and quickly fled north. Lu Chen stopped by the shore and asked in surprise, "What river is this?"
"Jiechuan River." Fang Yuqi pondered and introduced, "This river is ten miles wide. On the other side is the Northern Mang Province. It's across the river from our Yuluan Province. It's also one of the eighteen provinces of the Great Vast Dynasty. In the past, when it was peaceful, there were three iron chains across the river. There were pedestrians coming and going from time to time. It was cut off by someone twenty years ago. From then on, it's difficult to get any news from the other side."
"Oh." Lu Chen seemed to be deep in thought as he asked, "Is Northern Mang Province the northernmost province of Great Vast?"
"No." Fang Yuqi shook her head and explained, "There's another province further north. It's called the Night Province. It doesn't see sunlight all year round."
"And further north?"
"If we go further north, it won't be Great Vast's territory. I've seen historical records and remember that it's a place called the Great Tamarin Dynasty. The people there eat raw meat and drink blood. It's completely different from our Great Vast."
"Jiechuan River… Northern Mang… Night Province… Great Tamarin Dynasty!" Lu Chen's eyes flickered. Then, he stopped thinking about it and reached out to grab Fang Yuqi's waist. He smiled evilly. "Stand firm."
Whoosh!
The sound of a sword suddenly rang out. Accompanied by Fang Yuqi's delicate cry, the two of them stepped on the peach wood sword and rushed into the sky.
The river surged, white waves filled the sky. Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi flew on the sword, chasing after the ghosts as they flew across the long river. When they were halfway across the river, Lu Chen suddenly stopped.
"Did you feel it?"
"Mm." Lu Chen nodded and said in surprise, "The spiritual qi here is very dense. Is there a spiritual vein in the river?"
"That's right." Fang Yuqi looked down at the river and explained, "The Jiechuan River stretches for hundreds of thousands of miles from east to west. It's a spiritual river. There are many water-element spiritual veins under the water, so the spiritual qi is naturally richer than elsewhere. A large portion of the spiritual sand in Fengxian Town is salvaged from the river. Our Town Guards Mansion has built a ferry by the river. There are three troops guarding there all year round."
"Is it because of the spirit beasts?"
"Yes, there are spiritual veins in the river. Water-type spirit beasts appear from time to time. We have to be careful."
There were spiritual veins in the river, and spiritual veins could nurture spiritual items.
In order to occupy the spiritual vein and fight for spiritual items, the spirit beasts in the river would often fight to the death. If they fought too much, their bodies would accumulate a murderous aura that would affect their spirituality. Without cultivators to help dispel it, they would gradually become bloodthirsty and crazy.
"How much spiritual sand can we get at the ferry station in a month?"
"About two hundred grains. After deducting the remuneration for the four of you, we don't have much left after consuming my own for cultivation and handing over the portion to Fengpo City."
"Can you increase the production?"
"It's not easy. At the moment, we can only salvage it by the river. The deeper we go, the harder it is to find it. Moreover, it's dangerous. The gains often outweigh the losses."
Speaking of Fengpo City, Lu Chen thought of the chaos in the south and asked, "What's the situation in the south?"
"We're not sure yet. We've already sent out two teams of soldiers, but they haven't returned yet."
"Okay."
In Lu Chen's opinion, if Fengxian Town wanted to develop, it had to at least occupy a spiritual land. Not only could it speed up cultivation, but it could also increase its output. It could also nurture spiritual items and create spiritual fields.
Only then could everything go on the right track.
As for himself, he did not care too much. He only needed to quietly level up. When he was strong enough, everything would be fine.
Then, he didn't say anything else.
He formed a sword finger with his hand and urged the peach wood sword to continue chasing after the ghosts. He did not stop along the way. Not long after, they finally crossed the Jiechuan River. After landing, they walked another three to five miles.
A pitch-black mountain appeared in front of them. The mountain was nearly a thousand meters tall. It was majestic and imposing.
There was no vegetation on it. It was bare and filled with black rocks that fused with the night. If one did not integrate spiritual qi into their eyes, they would almost not be able to see the existence of the mountain.
"Yaoyao!" Lu Chen called out softly.
Meng Yao quickly moved forward like a phantom. In a flash, she covered a hundred meters. Before the two yellow weasels could get close to the mountain, they were taken away by a wave and turned into a wisp of green smoke.
"Delicious~" Yaoyao stuck out her pink tongue and licked her red lips before returning to Lu Chen's shoulder.
Lu Chen asked, "What kind of mountain is this?"
"I'm not too sure. We haven't interacted much for more than twenty years. I don't know much about the situation here."
"Okay."
Lu Chen and Fang Yuqi walked towards the black mountain together. A moment later, they were not far from the black mountain. A tall stone tablet appeared in front of them. There were a few eye-catching words carved on the stone tablet:
Danger Zone – Jiu Qiao Mountain!