Tianshui Port is very prosperous because of maritime trade and its location near Tianshui city. It was a famous trading port when Penglai and Ying were not at war. Two months ago, Ying declared war on Penglai and merchant ships of Ying are now forbidden to pull in to shore.
Now the Mu caravan don’t have to hide as they always do along the way. Entering the ninth prince’s place, their boat rows ashore freely. A team of uniforms led by a lieutenant is waiting for them. The leader greets Mu Qingshan and asks his men to unload.
Others still think this is grain transport. The Mu caravan supports the front line with grain for free and the boatmen all praise this family’s devotion for serving the country. Although the front line of the war is not far from Tianshui City, Tianshui Port only bans the merchant ships of Ying. This place is related to several inland cities so the port is still very busy.
The lieutenant’s surname is Wu and he is the confidant of the ninth prince. Receiving this batch of arbalests is obviously of great significance and his dark face finally relaxes and smiles. However, Lin Luoran notices his mouth twists when he sees Sang Ye without the cyan phoenix birthmark following the Mu family off the boat.
Lin Luoran doesn’t want to see a tough soldier twisting so much and she turns her eyes to other places.
The port is prosperous. Boatmen and merchants are always coming and going. Most of the ships are grain carriers. The name of Tianshui city sounds sweet. In fact, the water produced by deep wells here is alkali water which tastes astringent. Not to mention the soil here is very hard. Lin Luoran has checked it with her spiritual mind earlier in the boat. This is totally a land of alkali soil and it can’t produce food. She really can’t understand why Ying tries so hard to get it.
A man is selling handmade noodle and Lin Luoran stops him to buy one bowl of it. The noodle is chewy and the scallion oil is delicious. However, the cooking water is astringent. Lin Luoran eats some and chats with the packman to get some local stories.
Here is the northmost Penglai and it is extremely muggy. Even the blowing sea breeze seems salty. The port is always busy so it is a mess. All people here are sweaty and they never see a clean woman as if she is from the quiet deep sea. They all gather around Lin Luoran to sell their own goods.
Buy sugar figure and get free fruit?
Lin Luoran spends less than a tael of silver and gets a bunch of small stuff in her hand, like fried bread stick, sugar figure, and omelette. She only gets some stories she has known on the way here. Lin Luoran feels helpless. People of the Mu family have finished unloading goods and they invite her to go to the camp together.
The seventh prince’s thing is not settled yet and Mu Qingshan certainly does not dare to let her go.
A fish and shrimp seller picks out the dead shrimps and says, “You guys are talking about what happened afterwards. The immortals of thousands of years ago were all from a Spirit Mountain!”
Lin Luoran is stunned but tries her best to calm down. She pretends to be curious and asks the fishmonger about Spirit Mountain. However, the man also doesn’t know much about it. He only tells her that his news was from a Ying businessman staying at Tianshui Port a few years ago.
Sang Ye’s eyes flicker and Lin Luoran doesn’t miss the emotion in his eyes.
Does this seventh prince also know the legend about Spirit Mountain?
The way Lin Luoran stares at him makes Sang Ye feel so creepy.
The front army is back to Tianshui city and soldiers all gather here when the sky is completely dark.
The ninth prince is a nobleman and his tent is guarded by many soldiers. Ebei City is a militant stronghold of Penglai. Guarding Ebei City is synonym for protecting Penglai. The upper classes of Penglai have always been fighting and it affects the battle on the front line. If the ninth prince had not defended Ebei City, the prosperity of Tianshui Port would have long been gone.
Mu Qingshan wants to introduce Lin Luoran to the ninth prince very much. However, Lin Luoran doesn’t belong here and she has no intention to meet the most possible future king of Penglai. Instead, she keeps Sang Ye with her.
On behalf of the Mu family, Mu Feiqiang is going to marry for advantage. She is very nervous about meeting the ninth prince who she has never seen. Lin Luoran is not in the mood to comfort her. She takes Sang Ye to the carriage and asks him directly.
“Do you know the legend about Spirit Mountain?”
Sang Ye’s eyes flicker but he totally ignores Lin Luoran.
Well, she is wrong about him. In addition to being able to endure hardship, the seventh prince still has the pride of the royal family subconsciously. Wood wolf is yelling in space, “Soul-searching technique! Soul-searching technique!”
“Do you want me to use the potion again or get into your brain directly?”
Sang Ye is still staring at her expressionlessly. His mouth suddenly droops. Lin Luoran thinks he is going to compromise. However, a sharp scream comes from his mouth in the next second. The sharp voice sounds like a woman stepping on a cockroach!
Lin Luoran sneers, “You have been waiting for so long to shout your name in the camp. Do you think the ninth prince dare not kill you in the eyes of everyone?”
Sang Ye does not answer her and he looks indifferent.
“Who is there!”
“It’s the carriage of the caravan.”
“No matter what, check it out first.”
A small group of soldiers with spears soon surround the carriage.
Lin Luoran’s fingertip moves slightly and a magical shield invisible for ordinary people covers the carriage. The carriage is totally surrounded. Sang Ye sees that Lin Luoran still does not stop him and he says with a deep voice, “I come to the front line army by the order of my father. Notify my brother to take the king’s order soon.”
“You, go to lift the curtain!”
Sang Ye doesn’t hear the respectful answer as he expects. Do these soldiers doubt who he is? Sang Ye is quite annoyed but he is also surprised that Lin Luoran still doesn’t stop him for some reason—is this woman really so fearless?
Someone lifts the carriage curtain with a spear and many people look inside. Sang Ye looks calm. In fact, his palms are sweating. He doesn’t have any proof for his identity at this moment and Lin Luoran has covered up his cyan phoenix birthmark. The ninth prince may not admit his identity and then he will be executed as an assassin. His brother will inevitably be punished by his father after returning to capital. However, he will be totally dead at that time.
Sang Ye glimpses Lin Luoran stealthily.
This female warrior is so calm… She is the strongest woman he has ever met and he doesn’t know how his ninth brother gets her.
Sang Ye suddenly gets scared. Maybe this female warrior can be so fearless because the North Army is completely under the control of his ninth brother.
“I am the seventh…”
The word “prince” is still spinning in his mouth but the carriage curtain is suddenly put down.
“There is nothing in this carriage. Let’s go check out other places!”
“Yes!”
Sang Ye can feel his dry mouth. How is it possible? The campfire is burning bright and there are two living persons sitting in a narrow carriage. Are these patrol soldiers all blind?
He turns his head to look at Lin Luoran. She smiles softly, looking like a charming female monster in the dim light.
“Well, it seems that you want to choose the second option. What should I do? It’s my first time to do so. How important the human brain is! I may accidentally make you an idiot…”
Sang Ye shudders. She is not martial artist at all. He has witnessed a very strange thing just now and she has always been talking about something weird as “getting into your brain”. It is obviously black magic!
…
“You mean, you read an ancient book about a Spirit Mountain with the same name as your country in a run-down loft of the palace when you were a kid?”
The night wind is blowing the curtain of the carriage. Sang Ye nods with sweat all over his forehead.
Lin Luoran ponders for a moment and her long and slender fingers knock for a few times on the carriage, “Where is the book? Did you burn it?”
Sang Ye is stunned for a moment. He is still thinking about how to convince Lin Luoran when she asks these questions.
Does it matter whether he burned it or not? The person who has read the book is here.
“Who knows if you are lying? It seems that if I want to verify it, I still have to use the old method…”
Lin Luoran’s fingertips burst into subtle light and Sang Ye’s eyebrows are throbbing. “You can’t directly get into my brain… You will never find the Spirit Mountain if I become an idiot. It has a lot to do with the cyan phoenix birthmark between my eyebrows. I also have been looking for it all these years!”
The light from Lin Luoran’s hand is extinguished and she now is a little convinced by Sang Ye’s words.
If he lies about Spirit Mountain, he will hardly know it named “Penglai”. Sang Ye’s cyan phoenix is really strange. It is not painted but naturally generated.
“Let’s go. We will start right away.”
Lin Luoran jumps out of the carriage and Sang Ye follows her slowly. He finds that all people around can’t see them and he finally gives up.
Lin Luoran looks at the bright tent not far away. She finally has a clue to Mount Penglai and she will definitely not take care of the earthly trivial matters. However, she still wants to give something to Mu Feiqiang. Getting along with her for almost a mouth, she finds this girl is a little arrogant but is actually very nice.
An adaptable young lady is precious. Lin Luoran smiles and leaves the box of twelve flower hairpins with a note. She then takes Sang Ye out of the camp breezily, heading for Tianshui City which she once passed by.
