Finally, she walked through a small corridor and opened the door to the bedroom where she and her senior sister lived.
The girl pushed open the door; the window inside was open, letting in a few inches of sunlight, making the room bright.
When you enter, you can also smell the fragrance of flowers outside the courtyard.
After more than two hundred days, Xi Heng felt warm unconsciously when he saw the bedding with familiar patterns and colors on the bed again.
My mind subconsciously recalled all the strange things I had done with my senior sister.
But now, there are no traces of those marks on the sheets.
Her soft fingers touched the soft quilt, and the silky touch reminded her of the feel of her senior sister's skin.
It’s a pity that my senior sister is not here. The touch of her skin and the reaction that comes with it are much more enjoyable than this simple bed quilt.
"I'm back. When will senior sister come back?" Xi Heng wanted to do something with his senior sister.
However, she won't stay here for long.
Open the wooden cabinet beside the bed and you will see the letter that the maid just mentioned.
When he took it out, he could see the four words "Liu Yu Xi Heng" written in beautiful handwriting on the surface.
Break it apart and read silently.
What was written on the paper was Senior Sister Hong Miao saying that she didn't know when Xi Heng would come back, or whether he would be able to return. She had been left alone in her home for a long time, complaining and feeling worried.
"You haven't returned for a hundred days. If I had known this would happen, I should have grabbed you back no matter what."
"I don't want you to leave...but it's too late to say this now."
"You may have been trapped at sea, or you may have crossed Chonghai and found the place where you wanted to cultivate immortality, and are staying there to practice Qi and cultivate immortality... But please don't forget me just like that."
"If you become an immortal, come back to see me from time to time, okay?"
"Hey."
These delicate words are straightforward and sad. Compared with the letters left for Xi Heng, they are more like the thoughts of a girl writing in her diary when she is missing her lover.
"How could I forget my senior sister?" Xi Heng said softly after reading the previous part.
Even if she really went to another realm of immortal cultivation in the future, she would definitely miss Senior Sister Hong Miao from time to time.
The paper separates a section of the space.
The handwriting below, compared to the weak text above, has a stronger sense of strength and straightness.
"I've missed you for so long that I feel a little depressed... I can't do this anymore."
"I think it's not completely hopeless for you to return to Da Zhao. Maybe you can't find an immortal, or the road to immortality is full of difficulties. If you come back to seek help in the future, I probably can't help you with my current dark energy cultivation. You should make more progress in martial arts... You once said that it's difficult for me to break through your method of transforming energy, so I will find another one."
"If you return and see this letter, I will have already gone far away to find the method of transforming energy, and the day of my return is uncertain."
"I hope we'll meet again."
Xi Heng finished reading and let out a sigh of relief.
She always felt that there were many emotions hidden in this letter that were difficult to ignore.
The more I read, the more I felt that it was difficult for me to face my senior sister.
"See you later, Senior Sister."
Judging from what is written in this letter, Senior Sister Hong Miao probably won't be back in the short term.
There was no need for her to wait here. She could rest in this small courtyard for two or three days to relieve the fatigue from traveling...
"Just leave."
……
Three days later, the senior sister did not come back.
Xi Heng then got on the brown horse again, packed his luggage and left this courtyard full of memories.
Eating good meals and bathing and appreciating flowers in the courtyard every day helped her regain a lot of energy.
I felt refreshed when I left the city.
Xi Heng changed into a clean and tidy red outfit, changed his bamboo hat into a veil cap, and casually grabbed a red headband to tie up his hair. His temperament became much more refreshed than before.
With a slight flick of the reins, the horse's pace gradually increased.
Because she was in a good mood, she planned to kill fewer people on the way.
As long as I see blood, I will become my cold and indifferent self again. It is better to maintain my good mood for a while...
We had not walked for half a day when light raindrops suddenly fell on the road.
Raindrops dripped onto the brim of her veil hat, slid down along the white gauze, wetting her clothes and the backs of her hands.
"Tsk." Xi Heng slapped the horse's reins hard to speed up.
The drizzle fell to the ground faster and faster, and was about to turn into heavy rain.
She had just changed into new clothes and didn't want to get too wet.
Fortunately, there was another town not far ahead.
The horse started to walk and then started to run, its four hooves stepping on the wet ground, raising dust and splashing it backwards.
The damp and cold wind blew the gauze against my face, and the sound of raindrops could be heard.
By the time she arrived at the inn in the city, her sleeves were half wet.
"If you need to travel further, try not to ride a horse alone. It would be better to buy a carriage and a driver..."
Xi Heng was in the inn room, talking to himself as he watched the rain outside the window.
Although he still has some psychological trauma because he once encountered an assassin while riding in a carriage in the palace.
But when traveling, riding in a carriage is still more comfortable than riding a horse.
It rained heavily for two days.
In the foggy sky, Xi Heng left the inn and went to the real stable to buy a simple carriage according to the information he got from the innkeeper.
Although most of the stables and vehicles in this area are only for rent, they can be obtained as long as there is enough money and enough persuasion.
Xi Heng thought that his eloquence was not particularly good, so he made up for the gap with force.
Just as she thought, it worked like a charm.
As soon as she showed some murderous intent, the people who were just showing off their arrogance immediately trembled and put on a respectful look. They enthusiastically introduced the only two carriages in the field to her, explained the differences in size and the horses they were equipped with, and gave her a reasonable price.
Xi Heng was a little surprised when he saw this. Why was murderous aura used in this way in other books about martial arts? At most, it only said that the murderous aura of a warrior could make ordinary people feel a little cold.
Could it be that her murderous aura is stronger or more terrifying than that of ordinary warriors?
Why is this so?
Xi Heng couldn't figure it out, so he decided not to think about it anymore.
Finally, because she did not have enough silver on her, she just threw a jade pendant to the other party, and without caring about the premium or not, she got on the carriage and ordered the hired driver to drive east.
The official roads around Jiangning City are smooth and it is relatively safe for horse-drawn carriages to travel on them.
Along the way, Xi Heng pulled open the curtains and watched the scenery outside slowly passing by. He had the illusion that he was traveling.
There were few bandits around this official road, and she rode in the carriage for a whole day without seeing any enemy attacks.
"It seems that the army was sent to clean it up not long ago... Chu Xiao was able to train the Beijing army to be able to fight the bandits, which is not bad."
"But people's livelihood is still stuck in a quagmire of difficulties and is struggling. If it is not resolved, uprisings and rebellions will only continue to recur."
"I still have to lead the troops into the capital and clean out all the treacherous officials and villains." Xi Heng nodded.
……
On the way to Mingzhu City, we stopped and walked for more than twenty days.
Along the way, Xi Heng accumulated another thousand units of spiritual energy.
The spirit stone filled with spiritual energy sank between the five blood-stained fingers, and its internal veins seemed to expand and contract, and it trembled and flashed slightly.
"The spirit stone is already full... I'll give this one to Chen Fenghuo later."
The reason why only such a little spiritual energy was obtained in more than 20 days was naturally because there were not many bandits and robbers in this area. The number of people in the mountain strongholds was relatively small, at most only dozens or even hundreds, far less than the hundreds in the south before.
"Perhaps the big bandits in this area have all moved away from the official roads due to the government's investigation, resulting in the fact that the robbers and bandits who still dare to take advantage of the official roads are just small fry, occupying a small hill at most, with dozens of accomplices... So much so that it took until now to fill up a spirit stone."
She looked at the spirit stone and suddenly remembered some things she had heard at sea.
"Speaking of which, when Chen Fenghuo fell into the illusion, he said that using the Blood Sea Method to absorb spiritual energy would attract resentment... Spiritual energy is difficult to offset resentment, and if you are affected by resentment, you will definitely suffer a great disaster in the future."
"Is that really true?"
Xi Heng has used the Blood Sea Technique many times, but has never experienced the side effect that the people in the illusion called "resentment".
"Is it because I didn't absorb enough spiritual energy? So there was no qualitative change and this side effect occurred?"
Because he had only heard the word "grudge" and had not heard of it in detail, Xi Heng could only make some simple guesses.
"Never mind. It doesn't matter even if it appears. At most, I'll just have to reload the save file."
She put away the Blood Spirit Stone in her hand, lifted the curtain in front of her, and saw the shadow of a big city slowly emerging in the distance outside.
"Pearl City is approaching." Xi Heng said to himself.
Her carriage was not the only one travelling along the long road.
There were many pilgrims wearing black robes, holding crutches and carrying bags on the surrounding roads, walking step by step towards Pearl City.
"Are there so many believers already?"
She just listened to what the Red Sky Goddess said and asked her subordinates to spread the news of the return of the Dark Sky Sect's Merciful Saint to all directions.
During this short period of time, the rumors may not have covered even half of Da Zhao.
But just this rumor has attracted countless pilgrims.
The road was wide and open all the way, but it became crowded when approaching Pearl City.
There were not only serious pilgrims from the sect walking on foot in black clothes with snake patterns on them, but also horse-drawn carriages like hers, and even donkeys pulling carts piled with all kinds of strange-looking treasures or garbage, probably coming to offer treasures.
Xi Heng even saw the flags of the remnants of Tianliang and Donghuangmei Mountain on the way, and it seemed that they were trying to win over the Dark Sky Sect.
"During troubled times, religious sects develop very quickly."
She had only robbed people from the Jingming Sect and founded the Dark Sky Sect. Then, she defeated the Jingming Sect and found a base for the Dark Sky Sect. Then, she let it develop for more than half a year... and it had grown to such a huge size.
"I think I have created a terrible cult."
“But it’s a good thing.”
Xi Heng felt that the former cult leader, the Goddess of Red Sky, should be able to keep the Dark Sky Cult firmly under control. If not, he could use force to assist.
Slowly approaching the city gate, Xi Heng stopped the carriage outside and ordered the driver to return to another village nearby and wait.
She did not queue up at the crowded city gate. She might not be able to enter the city even if she queued for a whole day in that hundreds of meters long queue.
Xi Heng didn't want to waste time, so he went around the city wall from the side.
First, he climbed over the city wall in stealth, and found the location of the Dark Sky Sect's headquarters above. Then he walked towards it through the sparsely populated streets and alleys.
The martial artist's martial arts skills are extremely fast, and he can reach the center of the main altar in the inner city from the outskirts of Mingzhu City in just a few minutes.
This place was originally the seat of the Mingzhu City government, and was later occupied by the Goddess Chitian as the headquarters of the Jingming Sect.
Later, Xi Heng came here and led the Dark Sky Sect to occupy the main temple again. The plaque with the words "Pure and Bright" was changed to "Great Dark Sky Sect".
There were several guards holding iron bars guarding the main hall gate. Xi Heng took a quick look and climbed over the courtyard wall to get in.
After more than half a year, the symbols and statues of the Pure Fire Master disappeared from the altar, and were replaced by many twisted snake patterns and various other landscapes that symbolized the Dark Sky Sect.
For example, the first thing you see after entering the courtyard is a huge square wall with a delicate painting of the religious legend of the Dark Sky Mother killing a black dragon and taking away the dragon's tendons to repair the sky.
The extremely huge black dragon on the stone wall almost covered the sky, and the sacred Dark Mother of Heaven, dressed in black and holding a long sword, also occupied most of the sky.
Anyone who enters the main altar will be shocked by this.
But in Xi Heng's eyes, he just felt that the so-called Great Dark Mother on the stone wall was exuding murderous aura, and the way she held the sword was somewhat similar to his own.
Moreover, the facial shape, hairstyle, etc. of the Dark Sky Mother on the mural are also somewhat similar to her.
Only the body shape is not.
"..."
