Mortals: Take Mo Juren at the start
Chapter 553 The Accident and the Beautiful Woman
Thousands of miles away is not that far for a high-ranking monk. At Han Li's speed, it took about half an hour for Mo Fei to arrive.
Suspended in the air, looking at a faintly visible small island on the sea ahead, he became extremely vigilant in an instant.
According to the location provided by the master, the lair of the Splitting Wind Beast is on the island. As long as the big monster in the transformation stage is still there at this moment, his arrival must not be concealed from the other party's perception.
The next step is to test my 'acting skills'. It is very important to be natural. After all, a big monster suspected of being a ninth-level monster is no less intelligent than a human race. If you are negligent, you may be seen as a flaw .
In this regard, he is quite confident, as long as he is careful, there will be no problems.
Han Li didn't go to the island immediately, but took the lead in probing out his divine sense "pretty" several times, and then continued to move forward, and soon flew over the island.
His eyes searched for a while, and finally he looked at the halfway up a certain rocky mountain, where there was a dark hole covered by several boulders, which was several feet in size.
Several spells for hiding were cast on the body continuously, and the figure disappeared instantly.
After being invisible, he no longer hesitated, and flew straight towards the entrance of the cave, and then stepped into it cautiously.
The cave is very deep, and all the way down, the further you go, the surrounding air becomes humid.
After about a cup of tea, he finally reached a corner, knowing in his heart that the next step was the highlight.He didn't stop, but crossed the corner while calming down his somewhat uneasy mood.
Suddenly, a huge natural cave with a radius of hundreds of feet and a height of more than ten feet appeared in sight.
The stone walls and the cave roof shone with a faint green light, and a green water pool was built in the central area, which was steaming, and there were some weird vegetation growing around it.
To Han Li's surprise, he did not see the target, the suspected ninth-level Wind Splitting Beast. On the contrary, there was another small figure next to the pool.
"Level [-] Wind Splitting Beast, could it be..." Han Li's heart moved, and he immediately thought of something. Could this little Wind Splitting Beast be the cub of the Wind Splitting Beast that his master mentioned?
At this time, the little Wind Splitting Beast was crouching alone on the edge of the pool, pawing at the emerald green water boredly, not aware of the arrival of outsiders at all.
Han Li, who was invisible, was also aware of this, and subconsciously thought, if he made a move at this moment and directly took down this Cracking Wind Beast cub, would he be able to use it to threaten his father?Wouldn't this save trouble?
However, this kind of thought was only born for a moment, and it was immediately dispelled by him. At this moment, he must have been exposed under the eyes of the other party, not to mention whether the kidnapping will be successful, even if it is successful, the other party will really surrender ?
The other party is not a fool, knowing that submitting is death, how could he be fooled?
Thinking of this, he immediately put away his thoughts, and was planning to do something according to the plan, but at this moment, a sudden change occurred, and a red light suddenly shot out from the pool.
Immediately afterwards, a group of scorching flames emerged out of thin air, turning into a series of fiery blades and sweeping towards them.
Han Li's complexion changed drastically, and he quickly summoned the divine light to protect his body. At the same time, he dodged sharply, avoiding the range of the fire blade attack in time.
After standing still, he could see everything clearly. He saw a strange figure standing beside the water pool and in front of the little Wind Splitting Beast.
She was actually a beautiful woman, about thirty years old in appearance, with a beautiful face and extraordinary temperament.
She has long fiery red hair, which is simply tied up by a dark red jade hairpin, a pair of willow eyebrows are also red, and her bright red eyes seem to flicker with fire when they blink.
With such an appearance, it is obviously not a human race, but it does not affect its stunning appearance at all, but it has a bit more bewitching beauty.
The moment the beautiful woman appeared, the little Wind Splitting Beast suddenly showed surprise, and then jumped to the side of the other party's red skirt, whining non-stop, acting like a baby, and at the same time showing panic, but not lacking Looking curiously at the human figure that suddenly appeared ahead.
"Don't be afraid, mother is here, no one can hurt you at all." The white jade hand stroked the head of the little split wind beast a few times for comfort, the beautiful woman just looked forward again, she did not continue attack, but looked at the person with great interest, and only after a long time did he sneer and say,
"You human kid is really daring. You dare to enter the vicinity of Haiyuan with only a mid-stage alchemy cultivation, and even enter the cave of this palace. Aren't you afraid of life and death?"
"Senior, forgive me, but this junior also came here unintentionally. I hope you can forgive the offence." Han Li hurriedly saluted, but he was secretly anxious. Master is really foolish. Didn't he say that the information is safe?He even made such a detailed plan, but now it is good, and suddenly another banshee appeared, and everything changed.
He only hoped that there was a backup, otherwise he could only run away immediately. Facing an eighth-level demon cultivator, he thought he still had a certain amount of confidence. As long as he could wait for his master to rescue him, everything would be in time.
"Come here by accident!" A trace of ridicule flashed in the eyes of the beautiful woman, and she continued,
"It's really a coincidence that a human monk in the mid-stage of alchemy 'unintentionally' went deep into the sea and approached the outer area of the sea that even the monks in the Nascent Soul stage dared not approach easily. In my opinion, you should be Has it been planned for a long time?"
"This..." Hearing such a "reasonable and well-founded" analysis from the other party, Han Li seemed to have been debunked, and suddenly smiled wryly,
"Senior has sharp eyes, I really came here on purpose. But it's just to get some 'companion demon grass' to refine the elixir, and I don't have any other ideas."
"Companion Demon Grass?" Seemingly hearing such a name for the first time, the beautiful woman was a little puzzled. It was not until the other party raised her hand that she realized what the so-called Companion Demon Grass was.
"Just because of these weeds? Do you think I will believe it?" Looking away, the beautiful woman snorted again. Human monks are always cunning, and they hardly have a word of truth.
"Senior, I don't know that this Companion Demon Grass was called 'Qianyelu' in ancient times. It is a very special elixir, and it is used in some top-level elixir." Han Li hurriedly Explain again, and at the same time take out the jade slip given by the master, which is the record of knowledge about ancient times given by the monk in the Inch Golden Pavilion.
With a urge of mana in his hand, he slowly sent the jade slip to the other party, and then continued,
"There are relevant records in it, if seniors don't believe it, just look at it."
Looking at the jade slips in her hand, a hint of surprise flashed in the beautiful woman's eyes, wondering if she really misunderstood the other party?
With a ray of spiritual consciousness, he entered the jade slip, and finally browsed through the contents within a moment.As the other party said, it did mention Qianyelu's origin.
The vegetation in the eighth-level monster's lair has been infested by the monster's breath for many years, so that even ordinary weeds will undergo qualitative changes and become spiritual herbs with special medicinal properties.
I have to admit that the human race's research on alchemy is really extensive and profound, and the monster race is far behind in this respect.It's not just alchemy, the same is true for other aspects such as refining tools and formations.
Especially for the weapon refining, that guy in the past would praise the human race's way of refining weapons so much after returning from the inner sea, it seems that it is really not aimless.
Withdrawing her consciousness, the beautiful woman looked at Han Li again, paused, then said with a flash in her eyes,
"I believe your explanation for the time being, and I will bypass your life for the time being. However, as a human monk, you broke into my cave without paying some price."
"What do you mean, senior!" Hearing that a price would be paid, Han Li's expression changed immediately, and the vigilance in his heart was instantly raised to the extreme.He is ready to make a move at any time, and it depends on the other party's next answer.
"You don't need to be nervous. Since I have agreed to spare your life, I will naturally not break my promise. The so-called price is actually not difficult, and it is just a matter of effort for you."
"Senior, if you have any conditions, you may wish to speak out. As long as you can do what you can, this junior will do your best to satisfy." Han Li felt a little relieved, but continued to probe.
"It's very simple. I'm planning to do something in a while, and I just need the help of a monk who practices wood attribute skills. Since you happened to be here, just take one shot at that time.
In addition, this matter will not allow you to help in vain, and will even give you a great opportunity as a reward.Don't worry, as long as the matter is over, you can come and go freely, and I will never stop you. "The beautiful woman smiled slightly, and promised her vows.
"Help!" Han Li's heart moved, and he immediately thought of the matter that his master mentioned before, and it seemed that he was right.But this matter should be brought up by the Split Wind Beast. Would it be any different if it was the beautiful woman in front of me?
He was a little hesitant. After all, the situation has changed, so it is not certain whether it will continue to develop as the master said.
If he refuses at this moment, he thinks he has a certain chance to escape, but it also means that the original plan has completely failed.But if you agree, it will also be troublesome.
Here he still has a little confidence to escape, but if he follows the other party into the depths of the lair, he will have no confidence.
While hesitating, a familiar voice suddenly entered the sea of consciousness.In an instant, all the tension and anxiety, hesitation and wandering in my heart disappeared instantly.
Sure enough, the master is hard-spoken and soft-hearted, and will not really watch himself die.
"When will it start?" Han Li asked again after regaining his senses.
"Don't worry, it won't take long." The beautiful woman's eyes flashed strangely, and then she asked, "How are you thinking, do you agree to my conditions?"
"This... junior, do you have any choice?" Han Li's face showed a hint of helplessness at the right time.
"Very good." The other party was so 'knowledgeable', the beautiful woman's face suddenly showed satisfaction, and then she gently waved her jade arm towards the water pool. The water in the pool was surging, and a red light suddenly appeared, and it was directly isolated in the central area. Get out of a straight downward passage.
"Please……"
"Excuse me." Han Li nodded without hesitation, and immediately flew down towards the pool with a flash of blue light.
Seeing this, a sly smile flashed again in the beautiful woman's red eyes, and then she grabbed the little Wind Splitting Beast by the back of its neck, carried it and flew down the same way.
The depth of the pool is not low, and it takes about a meal to reach the bottom.
What came into view at this time was a huge black stone door with white light flashing on it, obviously there was a restriction.
Turning his head to look at the beautiful woman, the latter didn't explain, and waved his arm lightly again, and the stone door opened, revealing a white light curtain.
Under his leadership, both of them walked forward, passed through the light curtain, and came straight to an unfamiliar passage.
Compared to the water pool, this place is very dry. The surroundings of the passage are colorful, and the stone walls are inlaid with countless large longan pearls of different colors. The pearls shine together, illuminating the surroundings like daylight.
"Snail House is right in front of you, fellow daoist is a rare guest, please go ahead." The beautiful woman put down the little Wind Splitting Beast in her hand, let the other party run forward, and invited again with a charming smile.
Han Li didn't speak, just nodded slightly, and then walked forward.Seeing this, the beautiful woman raised the corners of her rosy lips slightly, and followed behind unhurriedly.
The passage wasn't too long, and Han Li entered a gorgeous hall decorated with corals of various colors in an instant. In the center was a white and crystal-clear jade table, and there were several chairs also carved from beautiful jade.
There is an antique small cauldron placed around the hall, with finger-thick black incense sticks inserted in the cauldron, which emit a faint fragrance as they burn slowly.
"By the way, haven't you ever asked your fellow Taoist's name?" While walking, the beautiful woman suddenly asked casually.
"I don't dare to be a big name. My surname is Mo, but I am just an unknown person in the human race."
"Why should Fellow Daoist Mo be modest, he is already a mid-stage alchemy cultivator at such a young age, it is not an exaggeration to say he is a genius."
"Senior misunderstood, the reason why this junior looks young is because he has taken some beauty-retaining elixir."
"Preserving beauty elixir, so that's how it is."
"..."
While chatting, Han Li had already been guided by the beautiful woman into a certain area, and soon stopped in front of a fiery red stone wall.
After taking a closer look, it turned out that this was cut from a huge coral reef, and the whole body exuded bursts of red light, which seemed extremely mysterious.
When the beautiful woman suddenly pressed to a certain position, I saw a white light flashing, and a hole about Zhang Xu long and wide emerged.
"This is..." Han Li's expression froze slightly, and his heart suddenly became vigilant.
"The snail's house is shabby, and I can only use this stone room as a room for guests to live in temporarily. Fellow Daoist Mo shouldn't dislike it, right?" The beautiful woman smiled. There is no doubt about it.
"Of course... no!" Han Li still didn't understand what was going on, and showed a faint reluctance at the right time, but still walked in.
The moment he entered, the hole was instantly closed, and he was completely locked in it. (end of this chapter)
Suspended in the air, looking at a faintly visible small island on the sea ahead, he became extremely vigilant in an instant.
According to the location provided by the master, the lair of the Splitting Wind Beast is on the island. As long as the big monster in the transformation stage is still there at this moment, his arrival must not be concealed from the other party's perception.
The next step is to test my 'acting skills'. It is very important to be natural. After all, a big monster suspected of being a ninth-level monster is no less intelligent than a human race. If you are negligent, you may be seen as a flaw .
In this regard, he is quite confident, as long as he is careful, there will be no problems.
Han Li didn't go to the island immediately, but took the lead in probing out his divine sense "pretty" several times, and then continued to move forward, and soon flew over the island.
His eyes searched for a while, and finally he looked at the halfway up a certain rocky mountain, where there was a dark hole covered by several boulders, which was several feet in size.
Several spells for hiding were cast on the body continuously, and the figure disappeared instantly.
After being invisible, he no longer hesitated, and flew straight towards the entrance of the cave, and then stepped into it cautiously.
The cave is very deep, and all the way down, the further you go, the surrounding air becomes humid.
After about a cup of tea, he finally reached a corner, knowing in his heart that the next step was the highlight.He didn't stop, but crossed the corner while calming down his somewhat uneasy mood.
Suddenly, a huge natural cave with a radius of hundreds of feet and a height of more than ten feet appeared in sight.
The stone walls and the cave roof shone with a faint green light, and a green water pool was built in the central area, which was steaming, and there were some weird vegetation growing around it.
To Han Li's surprise, he did not see the target, the suspected ninth-level Wind Splitting Beast. On the contrary, there was another small figure next to the pool.
"Level [-] Wind Splitting Beast, could it be..." Han Li's heart moved, and he immediately thought of something. Could this little Wind Splitting Beast be the cub of the Wind Splitting Beast that his master mentioned?
At this time, the little Wind Splitting Beast was crouching alone on the edge of the pool, pawing at the emerald green water boredly, not aware of the arrival of outsiders at all.
Han Li, who was invisible, was also aware of this, and subconsciously thought, if he made a move at this moment and directly took down this Cracking Wind Beast cub, would he be able to use it to threaten his father?Wouldn't this save trouble?
However, this kind of thought was only born for a moment, and it was immediately dispelled by him. At this moment, he must have been exposed under the eyes of the other party, not to mention whether the kidnapping will be successful, even if it is successful, the other party will really surrender ?
The other party is not a fool, knowing that submitting is death, how could he be fooled?
Thinking of this, he immediately put away his thoughts, and was planning to do something according to the plan, but at this moment, a sudden change occurred, and a red light suddenly shot out from the pool.
Immediately afterwards, a group of scorching flames emerged out of thin air, turning into a series of fiery blades and sweeping towards them.
Han Li's complexion changed drastically, and he quickly summoned the divine light to protect his body. At the same time, he dodged sharply, avoiding the range of the fire blade attack in time.
After standing still, he could see everything clearly. He saw a strange figure standing beside the water pool and in front of the little Wind Splitting Beast.
She was actually a beautiful woman, about thirty years old in appearance, with a beautiful face and extraordinary temperament.
She has long fiery red hair, which is simply tied up by a dark red jade hairpin, a pair of willow eyebrows are also red, and her bright red eyes seem to flicker with fire when they blink.
With such an appearance, it is obviously not a human race, but it does not affect its stunning appearance at all, but it has a bit more bewitching beauty.
The moment the beautiful woman appeared, the little Wind Splitting Beast suddenly showed surprise, and then jumped to the side of the other party's red skirt, whining non-stop, acting like a baby, and at the same time showing panic, but not lacking Looking curiously at the human figure that suddenly appeared ahead.
"Don't be afraid, mother is here, no one can hurt you at all." The white jade hand stroked the head of the little split wind beast a few times for comfort, the beautiful woman just looked forward again, she did not continue attack, but looked at the person with great interest, and only after a long time did he sneer and say,
"You human kid is really daring. You dare to enter the vicinity of Haiyuan with only a mid-stage alchemy cultivation, and even enter the cave of this palace. Aren't you afraid of life and death?"
"Senior, forgive me, but this junior also came here unintentionally. I hope you can forgive the offence." Han Li hurriedly saluted, but he was secretly anxious. Master is really foolish. Didn't he say that the information is safe?He even made such a detailed plan, but now it is good, and suddenly another banshee appeared, and everything changed.
He only hoped that there was a backup, otherwise he could only run away immediately. Facing an eighth-level demon cultivator, he thought he still had a certain amount of confidence. As long as he could wait for his master to rescue him, everything would be in time.
"Come here by accident!" A trace of ridicule flashed in the eyes of the beautiful woman, and she continued,
"It's really a coincidence that a human monk in the mid-stage of alchemy 'unintentionally' went deep into the sea and approached the outer area of the sea that even the monks in the Nascent Soul stage dared not approach easily. In my opinion, you should be Has it been planned for a long time?"
"This..." Hearing such a "reasonable and well-founded" analysis from the other party, Han Li seemed to have been debunked, and suddenly smiled wryly,
"Senior has sharp eyes, I really came here on purpose. But it's just to get some 'companion demon grass' to refine the elixir, and I don't have any other ideas."
"Companion Demon Grass?" Seemingly hearing such a name for the first time, the beautiful woman was a little puzzled. It was not until the other party raised her hand that she realized what the so-called Companion Demon Grass was.
"Just because of these weeds? Do you think I will believe it?" Looking away, the beautiful woman snorted again. Human monks are always cunning, and they hardly have a word of truth.
"Senior, I don't know that this Companion Demon Grass was called 'Qianyelu' in ancient times. It is a very special elixir, and it is used in some top-level elixir." Han Li hurriedly Explain again, and at the same time take out the jade slip given by the master, which is the record of knowledge about ancient times given by the monk in the Inch Golden Pavilion.
With a urge of mana in his hand, he slowly sent the jade slip to the other party, and then continued,
"There are relevant records in it, if seniors don't believe it, just look at it."
Looking at the jade slips in her hand, a hint of surprise flashed in the beautiful woman's eyes, wondering if she really misunderstood the other party?
With a ray of spiritual consciousness, he entered the jade slip, and finally browsed through the contents within a moment.As the other party said, it did mention Qianyelu's origin.
The vegetation in the eighth-level monster's lair has been infested by the monster's breath for many years, so that even ordinary weeds will undergo qualitative changes and become spiritual herbs with special medicinal properties.
I have to admit that the human race's research on alchemy is really extensive and profound, and the monster race is far behind in this respect.It's not just alchemy, the same is true for other aspects such as refining tools and formations.
Especially for the weapon refining, that guy in the past would praise the human race's way of refining weapons so much after returning from the inner sea, it seems that it is really not aimless.
Withdrawing her consciousness, the beautiful woman looked at Han Li again, paused, then said with a flash in her eyes,
"I believe your explanation for the time being, and I will bypass your life for the time being. However, as a human monk, you broke into my cave without paying some price."
"What do you mean, senior!" Hearing that a price would be paid, Han Li's expression changed immediately, and the vigilance in his heart was instantly raised to the extreme.He is ready to make a move at any time, and it depends on the other party's next answer.
"You don't need to be nervous. Since I have agreed to spare your life, I will naturally not break my promise. The so-called price is actually not difficult, and it is just a matter of effort for you."
"Senior, if you have any conditions, you may wish to speak out. As long as you can do what you can, this junior will do your best to satisfy." Han Li felt a little relieved, but continued to probe.
"It's very simple. I'm planning to do something in a while, and I just need the help of a monk who practices wood attribute skills. Since you happened to be here, just take one shot at that time.
In addition, this matter will not allow you to help in vain, and will even give you a great opportunity as a reward.Don't worry, as long as the matter is over, you can come and go freely, and I will never stop you. "The beautiful woman smiled slightly, and promised her vows.
"Help!" Han Li's heart moved, and he immediately thought of the matter that his master mentioned before, and it seemed that he was right.But this matter should be brought up by the Split Wind Beast. Would it be any different if it was the beautiful woman in front of me?
He was a little hesitant. After all, the situation has changed, so it is not certain whether it will continue to develop as the master said.
If he refuses at this moment, he thinks he has a certain chance to escape, but it also means that the original plan has completely failed.But if you agree, it will also be troublesome.
Here he still has a little confidence to escape, but if he follows the other party into the depths of the lair, he will have no confidence.
While hesitating, a familiar voice suddenly entered the sea of consciousness.In an instant, all the tension and anxiety, hesitation and wandering in my heart disappeared instantly.
Sure enough, the master is hard-spoken and soft-hearted, and will not really watch himself die.
"When will it start?" Han Li asked again after regaining his senses.
"Don't worry, it won't take long." The beautiful woman's eyes flashed strangely, and then she asked, "How are you thinking, do you agree to my conditions?"
"This... junior, do you have any choice?" Han Li's face showed a hint of helplessness at the right time.
"Very good." The other party was so 'knowledgeable', the beautiful woman's face suddenly showed satisfaction, and then she gently waved her jade arm towards the water pool. The water in the pool was surging, and a red light suddenly appeared, and it was directly isolated in the central area. Get out of a straight downward passage.
"Please……"
"Excuse me." Han Li nodded without hesitation, and immediately flew down towards the pool with a flash of blue light.
Seeing this, a sly smile flashed again in the beautiful woman's red eyes, and then she grabbed the little Wind Splitting Beast by the back of its neck, carried it and flew down the same way.
The depth of the pool is not low, and it takes about a meal to reach the bottom.
What came into view at this time was a huge black stone door with white light flashing on it, obviously there was a restriction.
Turning his head to look at the beautiful woman, the latter didn't explain, and waved his arm lightly again, and the stone door opened, revealing a white light curtain.
Under his leadership, both of them walked forward, passed through the light curtain, and came straight to an unfamiliar passage.
Compared to the water pool, this place is very dry. The surroundings of the passage are colorful, and the stone walls are inlaid with countless large longan pearls of different colors. The pearls shine together, illuminating the surroundings like daylight.
"Snail House is right in front of you, fellow daoist is a rare guest, please go ahead." The beautiful woman put down the little Wind Splitting Beast in her hand, let the other party run forward, and invited again with a charming smile.
Han Li didn't speak, just nodded slightly, and then walked forward.Seeing this, the beautiful woman raised the corners of her rosy lips slightly, and followed behind unhurriedly.
The passage wasn't too long, and Han Li entered a gorgeous hall decorated with corals of various colors in an instant. In the center was a white and crystal-clear jade table, and there were several chairs also carved from beautiful jade.
There is an antique small cauldron placed around the hall, with finger-thick black incense sticks inserted in the cauldron, which emit a faint fragrance as they burn slowly.
"By the way, haven't you ever asked your fellow Taoist's name?" While walking, the beautiful woman suddenly asked casually.
"I don't dare to be a big name. My surname is Mo, but I am just an unknown person in the human race."
"Why should Fellow Daoist Mo be modest, he is already a mid-stage alchemy cultivator at such a young age, it is not an exaggeration to say he is a genius."
"Senior misunderstood, the reason why this junior looks young is because he has taken some beauty-retaining elixir."
"Preserving beauty elixir, so that's how it is."
"..."
While chatting, Han Li had already been guided by the beautiful woman into a certain area, and soon stopped in front of a fiery red stone wall.
After taking a closer look, it turned out that this was cut from a huge coral reef, and the whole body exuded bursts of red light, which seemed extremely mysterious.
When the beautiful woman suddenly pressed to a certain position, I saw a white light flashing, and a hole about Zhang Xu long and wide emerged.
"This is..." Han Li's expression froze slightly, and his heart suddenly became vigilant.
"The snail's house is shabby, and I can only use this stone room as a room for guests to live in temporarily. Fellow Daoist Mo shouldn't dislike it, right?" The beautiful woman smiled. There is no doubt about it.
"Of course... no!" Han Li still didn't understand what was going on, and showed a faint reluctance at the right time, but still walked in.
The moment he entered, the hole was instantly closed, and he was completely locked in it. (end of this chapter)
You'll Also Like
-
Who taught him to restore the country like this
Chapter 247 10 hours ago -
Douluo Dragon King: I am the Lord of the Abyss, the King of Eternal Night.
Chapter 445 10 hours ago -
Fighting: Practice makes it real, start with a poisonous body.
Chapter 364 10 hours ago -
Elf: Starting as the Fighting Gym Master, and being entangled by Nancy.
Chapter 501 10 hours ago -
Do You Know?: Rule the World.
Chapter 204 10 hours ago -
Marvel: Awakening the Universe.
Chapter 549 10 hours ago -
Starting from the young master of Haotian Sect.
Chapter 583 10 hours ago -
Puzzle Madness
Chapter 215 10 hours ago -
Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.
Chapter 465 10 hours ago -
Let you make a game, what the hell is Pokemon?.
Chapter 247 10 hours ago