The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 997 Mirror Village
After Jing Village emerged from the "mystery of history" and returned to the present world a few months ago, it was first occupied by several powerful families in Yingzhou. Later, many independent cultivators and adventurers poured in, but very few of them actually benefited from it.

One of Ming Hongyue's subordinates was... After all, the "Cloud Mist Mountain" where Jing Village is located is very close to Tianchuan City, where the Princess's maternal grandmother's family is located. Among the people who first discovered and arrived at Jing Village, there happened to be a confidant that Hongyue had planted in her maternal grandmother's family.

Besides, the current leader of the Donghu Gang, Hong, is very likely another person who has obtained a true opportunity.

He happened to be on business near "Cloud Mist Mountain" at the time, and was the first cultivator to enter "Mirror Village".

"The information this person provided was a mix of truth and falsehood; there's definitely something they're hiding," Zhao Chen said with considerable certainty.

Wang Daoyi took a sip of wine and laughed, “That’s for sure. If he hadn’t been seen leaving Mirror Village and couldn’t deny it, he probably wouldn’t have admitted to having been there.”

"It's just that his progress was only so-so later on, otherwise he would probably have been murdered and robbed by now."

"Even so, there are still quite a few magic cultivators who have designs on him, otherwise he wouldn't have asked me for protection."

So this Hong Li is your underling, Master Wang? No wonder you were so sure he'd come to apologize. Zhao Chen was speechless for a moment, then picked up the documents and began to read them carefully.

To be honest, most of the information had already been reported by the Red Moon people, but there was one point that Zhao Chen had not known before.

That is, the mountain where "Jing Village" is located was called "Tianyanhu" by the locals in ancient times, or before it was incorporated into the Andong Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty.

Ten-Iwato... the Mirror of True Scripture? This is quite different from the "fantasy world" I saw in the "Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror".

Zhao Chen stroked his chin and asked Wang Daoyi, the true "ancient man," "Great Hero Wang, do you know where the name 'Tianyanhu' comes from?"

Wang Daoyi waved his hand and said, "How would I know such a thing? When I was born, Yingzhou had been under the jurisdiction of the Andong Protectorate for more than a thousand years, and the place names had long been changed to the style of the Tang Dynasty."

"Hong Li found out this name himself."

Why would he investigate this? Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes, but didn't ask the question, because Chief Hong had already hurriedly arrived downstairs at the restaurant.

As for Hong Li, after hearing his underlings report that they had been taught a lesson with a chopstick in the entertainment alley, he knew who they had offended and wished he could chop those three into pieces and feed them to the dogs.

Although he was known as the number one person below the supernatural power level in Changbin City, he didn't dare to challenge a real supernatural power cultivator, especially since the other party was his protector.

Therefore, Chief Hong had no intention of punishing his underlings and immediately rushed to the restaurant—his innate magic did not include flight magic, otherwise he would have flown directly there.

He had just arrived at the restaurant entrance when he heard someone say, "Come on up." Relieved, he nervously went upstairs and entered the private room.

Seeing that the Master Wang who had protected him was drinking with a young man, he dared not be negligent and immediately greeted the two of them before kneeling down to beg for forgiveness.

But before he could actually kneel down, Wang Daoyi waved his hand, and a gust of wind suddenly arose, blowing him away and sending him crashing heavily into another gust of wind that had suddenly appeared.

puff!
Hong Li's inner world was severely damaged, and his energy and spirit instantly withered away.

"This is a one-time exception; there will be no next time," Wang Daoyi said, picking up a peanut and putting it in his mouth while chewing.

Seeing this, Zhao Chen couldn't help but sigh inwardly: people from ancient times really had the air of underworld bosses.

At this moment, Wang Daoyi pointed at Zhao Chen again and said, "You should answer this young master's questions honestly and without reservation."

He didn't introduce Zhao Chen's identity, after all, this young master had changed his appearance again, and he didn't know what to say.

"Yes!" Hong Li got up from the ground, enduring the pain, and bowed, asking, "What does Young Master wish to know?"

Zhao Chen didn't rush to ask questions. Instead, he took out two boxes from his "storage bag" and opened them. Inside, there was a strand of protective energy and a strand of malevolent energy sealed.

“I won’t take advantage of you. Let’s make a deal. You’ll give me everything you know and have in ‘Mirror Village,’ and the ‘Azure Qian Spiritual Qi’ and ‘Purple Yuan Demonic Fiend’ will be yours.” Zhao Chen smiled, but his tone left no room for refusal.

This behavior is exactly the same as Hong Li's subordinates forcing others to sell their ancestral property.

Upon hearing this, Hong Li's eyes darted around, then he said in a seemingly obsequious manner, "I don't need your powerful aura, young master..."

But before he could finish speaking, Zhao Chen interrupted him, saying, "You have no right to refuse my deal."

After speaking, the "Great Sun Star Raft" supernatural power was activated instantly, and the "forced transaction" from the "Trade Official" was completed in an instant.

Before Hong Li could figure out what the young master in front of him meant, all his memories of "Mirror Village" vanished.

At the same time, his aura suddenly dropped, and his cultivation of the ninth level of magic power visibly declined, falling all the way to the sixth level.

In Zhao Chen's palm, the fierce aura had disappeared, replaced by a mirror, a bead radiating golden light, and a painting.

This was clearly the "benefits" that Hong Li had hidden from Jing Village.

"Alright, you can leave now." Zhao Chen waved his hand, subtly implying that the other person had forgotten about coming to the restaurant.

The leader of the Donghu Gang looked completely bewildered. He went downstairs in a daze and returned to his stronghold. He only remembered that it was Master Wang who had taught him a lesson, but he couldn't remember anything else.

“This kind of hint isn’t reliable. Aren’t you afraid he’ll betray us?” Wang Daoyi asked casually.

Zhao Chen shook his head: "The 'memories' that were taken in the transaction cannot be recalled by any means unless I return them. Even if a powerful figure were to go back in the 'history,' they would not succeed. And without important information, do you think his words would carry any weight? This person is also smart. Even if he doubts it afterward, he would not do something that would be detrimental to himself."

"Besides, I've changed my appearance, so even if I get into trouble, I'll come after you first."

After hearing this, Wang Dao took a sip of wine in frustration, unable to bring himself to swear at the young master.

Zhao Chen didn't care; his mind was now entirely focused on the memories he had just gained and the three items.

"It turns out that Hong Li entered the main gate of the central mansion in Mirror Village, and all these things were picked up from next to the skeleton of a monster..."

"The monster in the castle tower... could it be that Manager Fang who desperately bought Fei Meng ten seconds of time? I remember he transformed into an ugly fox at the last moment to stop me from touching the 'Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror'..."

"Looking back now, the thrilling scene seems like child's play. If that shopkeeper had even a little bit of combat experience, with the power he wielded, Fei Meng and I wouldn't have had a single chance of winning." Zhao Chen sighed a few times, then continued to ponder, "Actually, Hong Li obtained even more treasures, but when he left Tian Shou Ge, he happened to encounter the Tian family who came to investigate—the Tian family is Hong Yue's maternal grandmother's family, and the Tian family member who came to investigate was Hong Yue's subordinate."

"He dropped several things to escape, including the 'Summoning Edict'."

"As for the three treasures he brought back, the palm-sized mirror is of unknown function, but it is extremely hard. Hong Li's nine-turn attack spell could not leave a mark on its surface, so he guessed that it might be a fragment of a discarded 'magic weapon'."

"However, my 'Jade Book' shows that... this thing is actually a divine power that is formed from the void and condensed into reality. It is a 'communication' tool given to the subordinates by that 'Earth God'."

Zhao Chen picked up the completely useless mirror and glanced at it a few times. He felt that the idea behind this thing might be worth learning from. After all, with the "Great Sun Star Chariot" as a communication base station, it seemed that making a batch of similar communication devices wouldn't be a big problem.

After all, "Tiangongge" already had such a product, but its communication range was limited to one city and the signal was restricted, making it a low-end version of "Xiaolingtong".

"Secondly, this golden 'bead' has a similar effect to the 'dragon bead,' but it is extremely difficult to refine. Hong Li consumed it for more than half a year, and it only increased his magic power by three levels... In that time, I could have advanced from an ordinary person to a supernatural being."

"However, it's not his fault. After all, this bead wasn't meant for him to 'refine'... or rather, once he 'refined' the outer 'magic power' shell, he would basically be doomed."

"Because what is sealed inside the 'bead' is actually a kind of 'pollutant' that can control people's minds!"
"I guess this thing was originally prepared by Manager Fang for Wang Daoyi, but Master Wang is experienced and saw through his true colors directly."

"Hey, it seems that my forced purchase saved Hong Li's life."

"Finally, there's this picture..."

Zhao Chen unfurled the scroll, revealing a statue of a goddess painted on it.

"Although the clothes are different and the faces are different, this picture gives me a feeling that it looks a bit like the 'Goddess of Light'?"

"After obtaining the painting, Hong Li consulted many scholars and confirmed that the painting depicts the 'Amaterasu Goddess' worshipped by the ancient indigenous people of Yingzhou..."

"Could it be that the Goddess of Light also used the alias 'Amaterasu'?" Zhao Chen examined it for a long time, somewhat unsure, and decided to go back and ask Fei Meng. She was so familiar with the Goddess of Light, she should know.

Wang Daoyi also came over at this time, clicking his tongue and saying, "Aren't these all Lao Fang's? I didn't expect to see them again after so many years."

"Hey, that bead was the payment for inviting me here... I'm glad I stuck to my principles and didn't take the payment first, otherwise I would have been tricked before I even entered the village."

"I see... I roughly guess what happened, but we still need to go and take a look at that so-called villa." Zhao Chen sighed, then patted Wang Daoyi on the shoulder and said with emotion, "Great Hero Wang, with what I've discovered so far, it was really luck that we were able to retreat safely from Mirror Village back then!"

He originally thought that a sealed, corrupt "Earthly Deity" was terrifying enough, but he didn't expect it to be just the tip of the iceberg... Fortunately, with the passage of time, there should be no danger there now.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have "arranged" for him and Fei Meng to unravel the "mystery of history" in the first place.

"What did you guess?" Wang Daoyi asked, quite surprised.

"It's best if you don't know this kind of knowledge," Zhao Chen replied meaningfully, then poured himself a glass of wine and drank it.

From this perspective, it seems that Taiyi's "contamination" of Xuantian may have been out of necessity, but it was indeed being exploited.

……

The next morning, after drinking all night, Zhao Chen bid farewell to Wang Daoyi and rode the clouds to Tianchuan City, arriving at the place he had agreed to meet Ming Hongyue before noon.

The princess was already waiting there, dressed in a light yellow ancient warrior outfit, looking like she had stepped out of a martial arts film. She was healthy and beautiful, completely different from her usual sickly appearance.

Yes, she used a magical artifact to change her appearance; she definitely looks like two different people.

"Young Master Chen, how have you been? Congratulations on achieving the first-grade divine power; the path to the Great Dao is now within reach."

The moment Ming Hongyue saw Zhao Chen, her eyebrows curved, her heartfelt joy overflowing.

Zhao Chen nodded with a smile, sizing up the princess he hadn't seen for many days, especially the pollution sealed within her soul, and the so-called "Emperor Shaohao".

As for the "pollution," removing it wouldn't be difficult for me now, but that thing that calls itself "Emperor Shaohao" is a bit more troublesome...

The jade scroll reveals very little information, which means the other party is of a very high status, making it impossible to "force a purchase"... Moreover, Zhao Chen is unwilling to put it into his star raft...

Hmm, after we return from that Beppu, we'll try using the "Sky-Gazing and Earth-Measuring Divine Mirror".

—This great supernatural power is feared by Xuan Tian, ​​and can only be used once a day without any cost; it must be saved to deal with unexpected situations.

Seeing Zhao Chen staring intently at her, the princess blushed slightly, but still unconsciously spoke in a somewhat sour tone:

"Why are you staring at me? Am I prettier than that eldest daughter of the Su family?"

In terms of temperament, they each have their own merits; in terms of appearance, you are indeed more beautiful; in terms of figure… although Xuanbing isn’t very big, you… Zhao Chen’s gaze shifted downwards for a few seconds before returning to his original position, smiling as he changed the subject, “Is the princess ready?”

Seeing that he was avoiding the main point, Ming Hongyue did not press him further. She simply extended her right hand and said, "Everything is settled. Take me to Mirror Village."

Zhao Chen took her hand and then clouds rose beneath his feet, carrying the two of them into the air.

At this moment, Zhao Chen took the opportunity of holding hands to activate the "Investigation" ability of the "Great Sun Star Chariot" again, and then frowned.

Upon seeing this, Ming Hongyue was startled and asked cautiously, "When will you play a tune for me, young master, so that I may hear its beautiful music?"

The "Emperor Shaohao" was deep within her soul, and she did not want to expose Zhao Chen, the trump card that could remove him.

Even though that thing behaves very "mechanically" and seems to lack intelligence.

Zhao Chen did not answer, but only smiled and said, "Let's talk about it after this adventure is over."

Upon hearing this, Ming Hongyue felt reassured, knowing that the other party must have a solution. She smiled sweetly and turned her attention to the abandoned village not far below, which seemed to be situated on a "black void".

(End of this chapter)