109 - A Farewell to Mr. Luo

Chapter 109 The azure sky held no trace of birds; the endless sands spread far and wide without a soul in sight. As night fell, starlight and moonlight adorned the heavens, but no sign of changing seasons marked the passing of time. The landscape was a desolation of yellowed grass hanging lifelessly like an elder's hair, heads downcast. A fierce gust rolled through, filling the air with whirling sand. Bai Fan and her companions had been soaring through this barren path for several months now. Once vibrant and spirited, the three now bore expressions dulled by monotony. The unvarying scenery was not just a visual strain but a mental numbness as well. If it weren't for the company of her two friends along this journey, Bai Fan thought she might have succumbed to the tedium. Mingzhu, who led the flight with her head bowed, seemed the least affected, perhaps due to her ability to endure millennia of solitude. "Mingzhu, how much longer until we're out of this forsaken place?" Bai Fan's voice held a note of weariness. "I don't know," Mingzhu replied with a shake of her head. "I've never traversed this path before either." He Yiman flew alongside Bai Fan. Though fatigue was evident in her eyes, she seemed in better spirits compared to Bai Fan’s dispirited state. Seeing Bai Fan's exhaustion, He Yiman proposed, "It's getting late. How about we rest here for the night?" The suggestion of rest immediately lit up Bai Fan's face with a smile. "Great idea, let's stop here tonight." After quickly surveying the ground below, Bai Fan spotted a large rock and pointed at it. "Let's rest there." "Alright," Mingzhu agreed. The three prepared to settle down for the night. Bai Fan, as she fiddled with some firewood, couldn't help but wish for a flying artifact similar to the one from Qingxu Sect. Relying solely on physical strength for flight was tiring, and the harsh conditions made it all the worse. She longed for a bath after months of grime, but even the use of a small rain cloud technique was futile in this arid land devoid of moisture. Her hair felt matted like a bird’s nest, and even the usually carefree He Yiman looked disheveled. As mortals, their bodies released oils, creating an unpleasant, greasy sensation that Bai Fan, with her keen sense of smell, found particularly offensive. Despite the discomfort, she tried not to show it to spare He Yiman any embarrassment. No matter how beautiful one might be, months without bathing left all of them looking like bedraggled vagrants. Bai Fan's once-pure white dress was now a dirty gray. "Ugh, this is awful. I miss taking a bath," Bai Fan grumbled, poking the fire with frustration. He Yiman, after a moment of thought, reached into her storage bag and handed Bai Fan a small white bottle. "Here's some water I saved. It should be enough for a bath." Bai Fan looked at He Yiman in surprise. Water had become rare, condensed slowly each night into a small cup’s worth, barely enough to quench their thirst. She hadn’t expected He Yiman to have saved enough for a bath. Her hand reached for the bottle but stopped midway, realizing that He Yiman might need this water for the difficult road ahead, where it could be her last source of hydration. She withdrew her hand. "No, you should keep it. I can still manage," Bai Fan said, turning away, staring into the fire, and silently wishing for the journey’s end. Mingzhu, feeling a bit unsure, whispered to Bai Fan while touching her golden bracelet. "Night River, something seems wrong with the bracelet." Bai Fan glanced at her and then at the bracelet. A thin, eerie red glow emanated from it. "What's wrong?" "Something inside seems amiss." When they had sealed the beings inside the bracelet, they hadn't worried too much since they were cultivators, likely meditating inside. They planned to release them further along the journey. Now, months later, who knew what was happening inside? "The alien creature and the woman in blue!" Mingzhu exclaimed, realizing belatedly that the two might have clashed. As Bai Fan and her companions worried, significant events were unfolding inside the bracelet. Time moved faster there, making months outside equate to years inside. For a cultivator, being in seclusion for years was not uncommon. Sheng Lan, who had planned to slowly recover her spiritual power inside the bracelet, was surprised when a severely injured man appeared, covered in blood and unconscious. She hesitated, considering her next move, but when she approached, the man startled her with a ferocious lunge. Caught off guard by his punch, her nearly recovered injuries worsened, and the man, seemingly delirious, continued to rage. "How dare you!" Sheng Lan barely managed to utter before another punch followed. What ensued was a power struggle where neither gained the upper hand. The man, though his golden core's power was sealed, still possessed immense brute strength, recovering quickly from each bout. Sheng Lan's spiritual power, on the other hand, waned with each confrontation. The relentless skirmishes drained her, and over time, she found herself increasingly overwhelmed. One decisive blow nearly shattered her ribs, and in her fury, she unleashed her full power, damaging her cultivation to retaliate. Her rampant energy shook the entire space. Coming from a prestigious background and having been revered within the blue robes sect, she found her current predicament intolerable. Imprisoned and tormented by a barbarian, both mentally and physically, infuriated her to no end. Every confrontation left her weaker while her opponent seemed to recover effortlessly. In a final explosive outburst, Sheng Lan wanted nothing more than to escape. She vowed to exact vengeance on those who imprisoned her. As she struck down the man, the space above her opened, and she hurriedly fled. Outside, Bai Fan and her companions, noticing something wrong with the bracelet, were about to investigate when a streak of blue light shot out, illuminating the sky. Temporarily blinded, they shielded their eyes. As the light faded, a blue-robed woman appeared, exuding an aura of turbulent spiritual energy, her attire fluttering like a sorceress’s. Without waiting for Bai Fan and the others to comprehend the situation, she attacked. Bai Fan, seeing Mingzhu stunned, quickly pushed her aside and countered the woman’s blow. The clash of their palms generated a powerful vortex of wind, scattering the desert sands. Despite her exhaustion, Bai Fan's spiritual energy reserves allowed her to only step back slightly from the impact, indicating she had plenty of strength left. Sheng Lan, however, was different. Her depleted spiritual energy made this attack her last stand. Unable to sustain it, she was flung back and landed heavily on the sand, coughing up blood. Glaring at Bai Fan and Mingzhu with hatred, she spat, "You took my bracelet. I will reclaim it. The suffering you've put me through will be returned a hundredfold." With those words, she activated a teleportation array and vanished, leaving Bai Fan and her companions bewildered. "What's going on? Why does she hold such a grudge against us? We only confined her for a few months and did nothing more," Bai Fan questioned, perplexed. "I don't know either," Mingzhu replied. He Yiman, furrowing her brow in contemplation, recalled the feral alien they had stored alongside the woman. "Could the issue be related to that alien? Mingzhu, is the alien still in the bracelet?" Mingzhu paused, then opened the bracelet for a look, only to find a lifeless body inside. "He's dead." "How did he die?" Bai Fan was bewildered. "Could it be that they clashed inside the bracelet?" He Yiman speculated. They had been too focused on hiding the prisoners to realize there might have been conflict between them. "Regardless of what happened inside, that woman, Sheng Lan, now harbors a deep hatred for us," Bai Fan continued, remembering that Sheng Lan was the prized granddaughter of the influential Sheng Ji from Loulan City. If she managed to escape, they could be in for serious trouble. "We need to leave immediately," Bai Fan urged. "Her identity is no ordinary one. Once she returns, she could bring disaster upon us." Mingzhu's face paled as she too remembered Sheng Lan's background. "It's all my fault for bringing her back. I never thought it would lead to this." Bai Fan could only sigh, "There's no choice now. I didn't foresee this either." He Yiman, speaking quickly, said, "This place is no longer safe. We need to leave right away." The three of them quickly took to the skies and flew away. Meanwhile, far away in a great mansion in Loulan, a sudden burst of white light illuminated the scene. As the light faded, a severely wounded blue-robed woman lay on the ground. The mansion's guards were instantly alerted by her appearance. "Miss Sun has returned!" "Inform the Great Power right away that Miss Sun is back." For years, the Great Power had been nursing a wounded spirit, an injury incurred during an attempt to break through in cultivation. Recently, he had learned of a thousand-year-old spirit-restoring herb from Crescent Moon Tower, which was said to be incredibly effective for healing the spirit. Upon hearing this, he had rushed over and managed to secure the herb just before the event ended, albeit at the hefty cost of eight hundred high-grade spirit stones. Nonetheless, it was worth it, for spirit stones could not compare to the rarity of a thousand-year restorative herb. "What is all this noise outside?" the Great Power bellowed from within his stone chamber. He had been deep in a rare period of recovery meditation but was now disturbed by the clamor, his face showing clear displeasure. From outside came the voice of a house servant, "Great Power, Miss Sun has returned." "What's the commotion about her return?" "Miss Sun seems to have sustained serious injuries and used your teleportation array to come back." "What? Lan'er is severely injured and had to use the teleportation array?" The Great Power leaped to his feet, the stone door slowly opening as he waved his sleeve authoritatively. "Lead the way." --- _(:з」∠)_ Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter Home | Desktop Version | Bookshelf | Popular Novels