The fire starter in Tang Zhou's hand slowly burned to the end. With a pop, the surroundings fell into darkness again.
Yan Dan flicked her sleeves, and a cloud of silver-white light emerged in the darkness, slowly illuminating the underground cave. It was surrounded by stalactites, and water droplets dripped from the stones, making a ticking sound.
Yu Mo smiled lightly and walked straight forward. After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, "Tang Zhou, do you believe it or not—do you think it matters?" He paused, then said slowly, "If you want to go to Mirror Lake Water Moon, come with me. If you don't want to, we part ways."
Tang Zhou said coldly, "Then please lead the way."
Seeing this, Yan Dan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She pulled Yu Mo's sleeve and shook it. "Yu Mo, Yu Mo, why did you come to find me?"
Yu Mo looked down at her, his eyes dark, and smiled slightly. "I rushed back to the Chenglan Mountain Realm but found that you didn't come back, so I guessed you'd encountered some danger and came all the way. But now it seems you haven't suffered much."
"Who said that? You don't know—I..." Yan Dan laughed all the way, vividly recounting the events after their separation. Yu Mo listened quietly with his head tilted and couldn't help but laugh when she said something interesting. Tang Zhou listened to her exaggerate what she'd done several times over and could only smile and shake his head.
"Speaking of which, you found me in Xiangdu. Why didn't you come out then?" Yan Dan suddenly remembered this.
Yu Mo nodded slightly. "Weren't you thinking about how to get out at that time? If I carried you back, would you have been willing? What's more—" He said in a light tone, "Later, when you were no longer bound by the ban and wanted to help find the artifact, what I wanted to say—would you have still listened to it?"
Yan Dan suddenly had nothing to say. Although she should listen to the mountain master, Yu Mo had never put on airs. As time went by, she'd become accustomed to it and even called him by name on weekdays.
"I followed you all the way to the southwest and found that someone was finding the way for you before I discovered it. The southwest area is beyond the control of the imperial court—how can it be so stable?"
Yan Dan let out a long sigh. She'd felt the government was too controlling before, not even leaving a bandit or ringing horse. It turned out she'd blamed them wrongly. The real culprit was actually Liu Weiyang.
Tang Zhou suddenly stopped and lowered his head to look at the pile of debris in front of him. Yan Dan leaned over and took a look, saying curiously, "What is this?"
Yu Mo glanced at it and said lightly, "Snake skin."
Tang Zhou thought for a while and muttered, "Could it be that the mountain god in their mouths is actually a snake?"
"It's not surprising. This is a remote area—naturally there are more strange customs than in the Central Plains." Yu Mo said indifferently, "The two locals who led the way had a fishy smell, probably the smell of snakes. Thinking about it, with this smell, the snake wouldn't swallow them."
Yan Dan said in surprise, "So it's a snake? I thought they usually ate rotten corpses and had such a smell on their bodies."
Tang Zhou glanced at her sideways. "Why do you always have so many strange ideas?"
Yan Dan pouted and stopped talking.
Yu Mo smiled slightly and said, "It seems there are still a lot of benefits to Yan Dan following you—at least she's learned to stop in moderation." Yan Dan was shocked, only to see Yu Mo looking at her lightly with a smile on his lips. "But it was also because I was too polite to her that I indulged her like this." Yan Dan was simply angry. "You, you, you..."
Tang Zhou smiled reservedly. "Not at all. It should be like this."
Yan Dan watched as the two people who weren't on the same page just moments ago almost began to call each other brothers. She had to drag her feet to the back, sulking by herself.
They went deeper and deeper underground, and their feet slowly became wet, water splashing when they stepped on them.
Yan Dan hugged her arms and began to feel a cold air rising from her feet. There was a faint rustling sound in her ears, as if something was wriggling here. "Haven't you heard any strange sounds?"
Tang Zhou stopped, listened for a while, and shook his head. "Nothing."
Yan Dan muttered, "Of course you won't hear it. Mortals' sense of hearing and smell is terribly dull."
Yu Mo smiled slightly and said, "I didn't hear any sound. Aren't you too nervous?"
Yan Dan hurriedly stopped and listened carefully for a while. Sure enough, she didn't hear any noise again, so she had to stop talking. But once they started walking forward, she heard a rustling sound in her ears again and couldn't help but say, "But there really is a..."
Yu Mo raised his hand. A blue halo slowly bloomed, suddenly reflecting the entire cave in a green glow. Amid the green light, Yan Dan watched as a group of tangled snakes in front of them slowly crawled toward them. The snake scales reflected the pale blue light, making them look even more ghostly. Wherever this large group of snakes passed, they left behind shiny mucus.
Yan Dan pointed ahead and said in a trembling voice, "Is this a snake's nest?"
Yu Mo looked around and pointed to the cave on his left. "Go there!"
Yan Dan naturally didn't wait for him to urge her and immediately turned around to run. She heard the hissing sound behind her getting louder and louder. Suddenly she felt a gust of wind behind her. She immediately lowered her body, only to see a colorful poisonous snake jump over her head and crash into the stone wall. Before she could straighten up, someone pushed hard behind her, and she staggered forward.
Stumbling all the way, stepping over stalagmites, stepping in puddles, Yan Dan only heard Tang Zhou behind her say, "Okay, it should be thrown off."
Yan Dan was out of breath. Her fingers swiped lightly, opening a white light, only to see two yellow lanterns in front of her. She was stunned for a moment, then slowly saw clearly—the two yellow lanterns were growing on a triangular face full of scales, and that face was almost attached to the tip of her nose!
She almost screamed but finally reacted immediately and covered her mouth. She slowly took a small step back, only to see the terrifying face stick closer again. She heard two hisses, and a slender forked tongue swallowed and spit out before her eyes. Yan Dan's feet were weak, and she sat down on the ground all of a sudden.
That was a giant snake!
Although she hadn't been able to see how long its body was, such a big snake head was placed there—she couldn't deceive herself. She forced herself to look up at the giant snake. She couldn't move and didn't dare to move. Even if she blinked slightly, the giant snake would pounce on her.
Tang Zhou wanted to draw his sword, but saw Yu Mo stretch out his hand to stop him and slowly shake his head.
"Yan Dan, don't move. I'm behind you." Yu Mo slowly approached, trying his best not to make a sound between his steps.
Yan Dan watched the giant snake slowly open its mouth, revealing sharp teeth like knife blades. A smell of old rancidity also brushed against her face. "Yu, Yu Mo..."
"When I touch your shoulder, run forward immediately, and don't stop until you run to the end." Yu Mo slowly stretched out his hand and gently pushed her shoulder. "Go!"
As soon as Yan Dan took a step, Tang Zhou reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her forward. She couldn't help but look back, only to see a pale blue demonic aura rippling all over Yu Mo's body. This demonic aura became stronger and stronger—in the blink of an eye, it had become blue-black. The giant snake was bound tightly by the demonic aura. It could only keep twitching its tail and hissing and roaring.
Yan Dan felt she'd been really unlucky recently. She'd begun to be chased and run from mortals, and now she was chased by a snake to escape—extremely embarrassed twice.
The tunnel grew wetter and wetter. They could even hear the sound of water not far away. The view gradually opened up, and there seemed to be a little light coming in at the end. Even a little light was priceless to people walking in the dark.
Yan Dan ran to the end, only to see there was no way forward. The sound of water outside shook the sky—it turned out to be an extremely magnificent waterfall. She whispered, "That's the end."
Tang Zhou suddenly asked, "How long have you been with Brother Yu?"
Yan Dan thought for a while and said simply, "It's been almost twenty years."
"So, do you understand him?"
Yan Dan thought for a moment and nodded.
Tang Zhou said lightly, "I think he is probably the master of Shenxiao Palace."
Yan Dan was stunned for a moment, feeling a little incredulous. "How is this possible? I've known Yu Mo for so long and have never found that he has the habit of pretending to be someone else like the Shenxiao Palace Master."
"There will always be some flaws in disguise techniques in this world, but the master of Shenxiao Palace is already superb, and Yu Mo can also change into someone else's appearance at will. Even if this is a coincidence, then he knows that one of the artifacts is in the hands of the Lord of the Shenxiao Palace. Has he told you—is he acquainted with the Lord of the Shenxiao Palace?"
"This... not really."
"Even if he's known the Lord of Shenxiao Palace for a long time, he doesn't even know the way to Mirror Lake Water Moon. Isn't this ridiculous?"
Yan Dan thought for a while and said, "Although these words sound ridiculous, don't you think that if Yu Mo wanted to use such flawed words to deceive people, that would be even more absurd?"
Tang Zhou smiled faintly. "How could a smart person like him say such flawed words? You think so, right? So these words sound absurd, and there must be a reason. If you think so, then these words are no longer absurd."
Yan Dan propped her chin and said slowly, "What you said is right, but if Yu Mo is really the master of Shenxiao Palace, I'll be too late to be happy."
"If I say I'm not, wouldn't you be disappointed?" Yu Mo strode over, his dark eyes narrowing slightly. "It seems that some things aren't made clear, and everyone has a knot in their hearts. Whatever you want to ask, I'll tell you everything I can say."
Yan Dan rubbed beside him and showed a flattering smile. "I only don't understand one thing. You said you've seen the Shenxiao Palace Master twice, so is this Shenxiao Palace Master Liu Weiyang?"
Yu Mo shook his head slightly. "The disguise technique of the Shenxiao Palace Master is unparalleled in the world, and I'm not sure if what I saw was his true face, but it wasn't Liu Weiyang's appearance." He turned to look at Tang Zhou. "As I said before, I don't know how to go to Mirror Lake Water Moon, just because I was blindfolded all the way. As soon as Yan Dan fell into this underground cave, I felt it seemed somewhat similar to the road I'd traveled. I wrote down the route based on my feelings and the sounds around me."
Tang Zhou said slowly, "What about that basilisk? Obviously you and I could kill it, but you didn't want to do this. Why is that?"
"This basilisk is poisonous all over its body, even on its scales. If its blood splattered out, it would immediately fester and die. It's indeed not difficult to kill it, but the cave is narrow and the stratum is not strong enough. It's not cost-effective."
Tang Zhou nodded slightly. "I see. So have you found the way to Mirror Lake Water Moon now?"
Yu Mo pointed to the waterfall. "It's right down here."
Yan Dan poked her head out and looked out, not knowing if she should just close her eyes and jump down. After all, water born on a cliff is a waterfall, and if she jumped down, it was equivalent to jumping off a cliff. Even if she was a demon, she only had these bones. If they broke, where would she find new ones?
She saw Yu Mo calmly walk over by himself, and without blinking, he jumped down.
The lord jumped, and Yan Dan naturally had to follow. What's more, Yu Mo was calm on his face, but she knew he must be very angry now. Yan Dan fell into the pool under the waterfall and immediately poked her head out of the water, looking around. She couldn't help but say, "The scenery here is good." The blue pool was like wash water. The lake and mountains were beautiful, set against the blue sky and white clouds—particularly bright.
Yan Dan slowly swam to the shore and saw that Tang Zhou had also come down after her, choking on several mouthfuls of water. A discerning person could see that his swimming skills were not very good at once. If she'd taken the waterway when they met on narrow roads in Nandu, she really could have suffered a lot less...
Yu Mo stood on the shore soaking wet. When he saw that she didn't swim to the shore, he said lightly, "Now walk one hundred and fourteen steps forward along the lake."
Yan Dan secretly glanced at him a few times and carefully pulled his sleeve. "Lord... are you angry?"
Yu Mo turned his head to look at her, still calm. "So you know I'm angry again?"
Yan Dan smiled obediently. "As soon as I look at you, I know what you're thinking... No, even if I see a strand of your hair, I can guess what you're thinking."
Yu Mo looked at her for a while, and a smile slowly curled up at the corner of his mouth. "Really."
They walked along the lake for a long time, only to hear two screams from ahead. They saw blood slowly dripping from the long sword in the hand of a woman in light purple clothes in front of them. The two corpses on the ground, one tall and one short, were the two locals who'd led the way for them.
The woman in the purple shirt was facing away from them and suddenly turned around when she heard the footsteps behind her. Yan Dan couldn't help but lose her voice. "Miss Tao!" This woman in light purple clothes turned out to be Tao Ziqi, whom she'd known in the secret passage of the ancient tomb in Qingshi Town.
When Tao Ziqi saw them, her expression didn't change, and her voice was like broken jade. "The Lord sent me to lead the way for the three of you and go to Mirror Lake Water Moon to take a look. The Lord has been making tea and waiting for you for a long time."
Yan Dan looked at her turning back and couldn't help frowning. She asked with a slight smile, "Is the Shenxiao Palace Master very proficient in the tea ceremony?" She suddenly remembered that before the Lingxiao Taoist Temple was attacked from behind, the figure in night clothes she'd seen was very similar to Tao Ziqi's back.
Tao Ziqi glanced at her coldly. "The master is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and miscellaneous scriptures."
Tang Zhou said lightly, "Miss Tao, I was originally worried that you'd be trapped in the tunnel, but now it seems you're still safe."
Tao Ziqi's back stiffened, and she said coldly, "Thank you for your concern. The second half of the cemetery secret passage was actually repaired by the Lord, and I was originally ordered by the Lord to bring you here, but I didn't expect Shen Yijun to suddenly betray and lock me in the tunnel."
Yan Dan couldn't help but think—the level of the master of the Shenxiao Palace was already otherworldly. She didn't expect his influence was so pervasive that even his subordinates were stained with this preference. Tao Ziqi had been a timid and shy appearance in the cemetery, and now she didn't even shake her hands when killing a person. It was really birds of a feather flocking together.
"What is the purpose of the Shenxiao Palace Master bringing us here?" Tang Zhou asked.
Yan Dan sighed. If she was willing to say it, she would have said it long ago. Tang Zhou's question was really redundant.
Unexpectedly, Tao Ziqi hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Lord—he has obtained one of the artifacts and needs a pure soul to unlock the curse seal engraved on this artifact. Although in this world, Master Tang is not the only one who has a pure soul, the process of unlocking the curse seal is too difficult and dangerous. Without kung fu, it's impossible to do it."
As the group spoke, they saw a small boat docked on the shore not far away. Tao Ziqi stepped forward, untied the rope at the stern, and walked to the bow of the boat. "You can still decide now whether you want to go to Mirror Lake Water Moon or not. Once you get there, it's too late to regret it."
Yan Dan was slightly puzzled. Although Tao Ziqi was a subordinate of the Shenxiao Palace Lord, why did she feel that what she said and did wasn't directed toward her own lord? To put it nicely, she was outwardly cold but kind. To put it badly, it meant eating from both sides.
Tang Zhou turned his head to look at them and said softly, "You go back. It's enough to accompany me here."
His expression was vaguely uncertain.
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