It was a soft whisper, but it punched heavily on Leng Changxi’s heart. Suddenly, there seemed to be a huge force pulling him out of this series of memories.
“Changxi?” Qin Yunuan quickly held on to the shaky Leng Changxi. She had known Leng Changxi for so long but had never seen him so flustered.
Beads of sweat appeared on Leng Changxi’s forehead, and he gasped quickly.
“What did you see, Changxi?” Qin Yunuan was a little worried. It was said that the fluorescent lake was weird, and Qin Yunuan was afraid that Leng Changxi would be confused by some phantoms in the lake and behave like the mad soldiers, nobody could pull them back. Fortunately, Leng Changxi raised his hand consciously to wipe off his sweat. He turned his head to Qin Yunuan and said gently, “I’m fine.”
Seeing Leng Changxi safe and sound, Wanyan Su and Lu Wuyi behind them also let out a sigh of relief. Leng Changxi was their backbone and cannot be lost.
The sun had slowly climbed up the mountain, and the emerald green mountain seems to be coated with a layer of gold. The blue fluorescence in the lake gradually disappeared. Leng Changxi looked up at the mountain peak not far away. The peak was sharp like a sword. When viewed from above, it was like a big pocket or a crescent moon. This mountain was as green and leisurely as in Leng Changxi’s illusion.
Leng Changxi called up Maomu. Although he was blind and didn’t play any guiding role along the way, he was the only survivor who had entered and exited the Savage Valley.
“When you entered the valley seven years ago, did you go up to the mountain east of Yingguang Lake?”
“Mountain?” Maomu raised his tone in surprise, “Are you talking about that ghost mountain?”
“Is it called Ghost Mountain?” Leng Changxi stared at the mountain, “Or, is it called Yueya Mountain?”
“I don’t know its real name,” Maomu shook his head. “We made the name ourselves. We walked in this mountain only because we wanted a shortcut. But the ghost mountain was not only gloomy. There were ghosts in it.”
“Nonsense, there are no ghosts in this world.” Wanyan Su scolded Maomu. Because Yasu was by his side, he didn’t want her to be scared, “Even if there was, our sun god will protect us.”
“There is no sun god,” Leng Changxi’s tone was lazy and mocking. He looked at the tip of the mountain in the distance, “If there was, those few people in your team will not die.”
Wanyan Su was surprised. Leng Changxi tilted his head and said firmly, as if there was no room for negotiation, “I’m going to that mountain.”
Lu Wuyi was dumbfounded, “But that wasn’t the right route for us. We should be heading southeast. Who knows what will be there in the east? What if ghosts were actually there?”
“You can leave first. I will go there and catch up with you later.”
Wanyan Su was puzzled, “Young Master Tuoba, why do you must go there?”
Leng Changxi turned back and said one sentence, which was equivalent to not saying anything, “I’ve got a very important reason.”
Wanyan Su choked and had to reply silently. Before he could speak, Cha on the side was already patting his chest and stood up and said, “Mr. Tuoba, if you want to go, I will be with you. My life is yours.”
Leng Changxi glanced at the confident face of Cha, “There’s no need.” Compared to Leng Changxi, Cha’s children and wife needed him back alive.
“Changxi.” Qin Yunuan stepped forward and held Leng Changxi’s hand, “I will accompany you.”
Leng Changxi didn’t speak but just pondered. He didn’t know whether he should let Qin Yunuan take the risk with him, just to prove the truth of an illusion. But he couldn’t leave Qin Yunuan alone with Wanyan Su and Yasu, who had always been hostile to Qin Yunuan.
“That’s it,” Wanyan Su frowned and made a decision, “Cha, lead your team to the ghost mountain with Mr. Tuoba. We set off toward the path on the map. When you are all set, use yellow fireworks to report, and we will wait for you two hours on the spot.”
Wanyan Su was saying that if they spent more than two hours, these skirmishers would be ignored. His words made sense. In a place like Savage Valley, people could cannibalize people without mercy, staying means dying.
Cha was quite prestigious in the army. After a while, four of his thirteen-person team volunteered to enter Ghost Mountain with Leng Changxi, and Cha didn’t make things difficult for the others.
“It’s just,” watching a small team separate from the large one, Wanyan Su made a request tactfully, “The lives of so many of us are in my hands. I don’t dare to joke. Madam Tuoba, could I have the map?”
Qin Yunuan had assembled all four maps last night. As long as there was a map, Wanyan Su could walk to the place where the endless treasure was hidden, as long as he was very careful.
Wanyan Su stretched his hand towards Qin Yunuan, obviously asking for the life-saving map.
Wanyan Su and Leng Changxi had frictions. From the day they set off from the capital of North Di, they were destined to finally part ways and fight with each other, but nobody had expected that this day would come so suddenly and so quickly.
“That’s for sure.” Unexpectedly, Qin Yunuan just smiled lightly and took out the four maps from a very ethnic purse at her waist. The serial numbers were carefully indicated on them, “This was the map, your Highness. We should go now.”
Wanyan Su raised his head a bit. A feeling of gloom and pride appeared on his elegant face, which was quite incompatible with his temperament, “You should go early and return early.”
The words “go early and return early” sounded like sarcasm.
As most of the troop walked away, Cha looked at the strange ghost mountain in the distance, took a deep breath, and said to Leng Changxi, “Mr. Tuoba, let’s go.”
“You don’t need to go with me. If you go, you will die in vain.” Leng Changxi had a firm attitude, “While the team is not far away, go back.”
Cha was also determined, “Even if I went with everyone, it’s hard to escape death. Mr. Tuoba, you are not going alone but also bring your wife. If something happened to Madam, no matter how bad that could be, we could at least protect your wife.”
He persuaded Leng Changxi with Qin Yunuan, whom Leng worried the most. It was obvious that Leng Changxi was convinced. He didn’t say anything else but looked at Yueya Mountain and whispered, “Let’s go.”
Yueya Mountain was now called a ghost mountain. Maybe it was because of the name that people would feel the gloomy wind as they walked close. The branch suddenly hung on the white gauze that Qin Yunuan bound her eyes, cutting out a finger-long opening. Qin Yunuan found the gauze troublesome and simply took it off. She had a pair of clear, bright and watery eyes, like gems in the desert. Those eyes robbed everyone’s attention immediately.
“Madam Tuoba, your eyes…” Cha was protecting her from the left side. He was surprised at the scene.
“My eyes were healed a long time ago. In other words, I have never been blind. Because of this white gauze, I can see more clearly through the good and bad hearts of people and see what was true and what was false.” Qin Yunuan replied very calmly. Qin Yunuan didn’t need to cover up in front of those people. First, since they were willing to risk their lives to come with Leng Changxi, they have enough loyalty. What was more, they came in but may not be able to go out alive.
Cha and the other four people all sighed at how Qin Yunuan, this seemingly weak woman, could keep such a secret for so long and also from everyone.
Before they knew it, they had already reached the depths of Yueya Mountain. The biting wind seemed to be cooler, piercing people’s skin.
Leng Changxi stopped suddenly. His keen senses caught the strange breath in the air. A black figure flashed across the woods at speed faster than lightning.
“Someone!” Cha shouted immediately, and the others made a defensive posture. Almost subconsciously, everyone surrounded Qin Yunuan as the key protected object.
“There.” Leng Changxi pointed towards the southeast, and Cha took out the short crossbow from his sleeve instantly. He shot at the shadow but missed. Cha was impatient and wanted to shoot the second one. When Leng Changxi was shouting “Stop”, the short crossbow was out of its sheath. Leng Changxi threw the spear in his hand hard, and with a bang, the spear directly pierced into an old locust tree that could be surrounded by two people. Cha’s short crossbow crushed onto the spearhead, clanked and landed on the ground.
Cha was surprised. Leng Changxi turned his head and said coldly, “She is a woman.”
After speaking, they saw the black figure flashing into the dense forest quickly.
In this wilderness, this Yeren Valley full of traps and in the most terrifying ghost mountain of the valley, there lived a woman. She didn’t look like a local, but strangely this woman was extraordinarily familiar with Yueya Mountain. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so quick for her to appear and then disappear mysteriously.
“How do you know that she is a woman, Mr. Tuoba?” Cha took a deep breath. The black creature suddenly rushed out and scared him, “Maybe it’s a female ghost? By the way, Maomu mentioned that when they came seven years ago, they have encountered ghosts and monsters here, and it was also a dark mass.”
Leng Changxi stared at the direction that the female left, “She has slender limbs and dexterity. She is either a woman or a monkey. But have you ever seen monkeys in shoes? Although her shoes and clothes are messy, she tried to keep them as they were, and she didn’t forget to lift the skirts even when she ran away. She must be well-educated.”
“It’s not only that,” Qin Yunuan picked up a beautiful azalea on the ground, “this fell from the dark shadow. This kind of azalea is only found at the foot of the mountain. It seems that this woman came down for it only. Not only does she have a good education, but also loves beauty very much?”
