Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 835 A Journey of a Thousand Miles (Part 1)

Lu Yuque wiped her tears with her sleeve, but she couldn't wipe them away completely; instead, her face became covered in even more mud and grass.

The man turned to look at her. Lu Yuque pursed her lips, trying to force a smile and reply, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she burst into tears, buried her head, and sat by the lake, trembling uncontrollably.

The young man looked away without speaking. He put the gourd away and, amidst her sobs, walked over and tapped the porcelain figure's body and limbs with his sword. He lifted it up, moved its hands and feet, and slowly arranged it into a normal standing posture.

Lu Yuque stopped crying after a while, watching him do these things with her tear-stained eyes.

“Isn’t it…a ghost?” she asked.

“No. This is definitely an inanimate object.” The young man examined it closely. “There’s not a single sign of life about it, inside or out.”

"But it was just talking..."

“Hmm.” The young man stroked its throat. “It is exactly like a human being. Not only can it speak, but you can also see its internal organs when you cut it open. You see, its skin is soft now, but it can withstand being cut by a sword, and it hardens when you tap it. It can probably change its texture and color as well.”

"Then, what exactly is it?"

The young man thought for a moment and said, "I think it's a doll—have you ever played with those very delicate dolls?"

Its eyes were still moving eerily, but its limbs remained motionless. The image of its mother was still there: her black hair was like a cloud, each strand distinct, her nose straight and her lips soft. Her hands hung down in front of her, revealing the texture of her skin, her fingernails glistening with water.

It is gorgeous and ghostly, cold and eerie, still as porcelain, and swift as an arrow.

Lu Yuque's unease about this thing hadn't subsided, but after this person appeared, things did indeed begin to tilt in the direction he had described. She thought of the wooden dolls from her childhood; if used for dress-up games, this thing seemed like a truly large-scale puppet toy.

"I've played with things the size of my palm, where the neck, wrist, knee, and elbow can all move. How do you define something as very delicate?"

The young man looked at it and said, "In the past two years, a kind of doll has become popular in Shenjing. It sells for several tens of taels of silver. It is about the size of a palm, and the finger joints can move. It moves just like a real person. It can also be carved and painted to resemble a person. It is very realistic and natural."

Lu Yuque hesitated for a moment: "Are you from Shenjing?"

"Yes. I've only been in Xilong for seven days." The young man looked at her. "Is your leg feeling any better?"

"Better."

It still hurts a lot, but she feels she can stand up now.

"Aren't we leaving here?" She looked at the young man, trying to guess his identity. "Maybe they'll come back in a little while."

“Sure. You can walk slowly by supporting your calves with your inner energy.” The young man glanced at her and smiled. “It’s alright, don’t panic. Wash your face first.”

"..." Lu Yuque moved a couple of steps to the lakeside, carefully washed his forearms and face, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't remove his disguise, even though it looked somewhat unnatural.

She glanced again at the man fiddling with the doll in front of her, confirming that he truly didn't intend to carry her, but rather that the two of them would continue walking step by step like this.

'We won't be able to get out of Dayue Lake in half an hour,' she thought. She walked behind with a slight limp.

"Can you tell me about your experiences these past few days?" The young man walked ahead, and the puppet followed suit.

Lu Yuque paused for a moment: "Starting from when our sect was attacked?"

“From the moment the 'snow lotus sprout' grows.”

Lu Yuque recalled for a moment, then slowly recounted the story as instructed. Three footsteps clattered along the lakeside, and the young man listened quietly, occasionally asking a question.

Finally, Lu Yuque said in a slightly hoarse voice, "...So I knocked out Senior Brother Li and took the 'Unsolvable Sword Sutra' to the lakeside, but I tripped over a sharp piece of wood."

"I am new to Xilong and know little about it. Miss Lu, do you think there is any connection between Mount Lu and this puppet?"

"That...shouldn't be true."

"So actually, the man in white and Hua Shanglou are one group, the puppet is another, and Lushan is yet another. These are three groups," the young man said. "They're all coming for you."

Lu Yuque was slightly taken aback: "Yes."

“What I’ve been learning about these past few days is the snow lotus bud. You may not know much about it,” the young man said. “You know, the snow lotus is unique to the Tianshan Mountains.”

Lu Yuque's body stiffened for a moment.

"As far as the two Long regions are concerned, in early May, as soon as those strange lotus flowers appeared, many sects rushed to Mount Tian to inquire about them," the young man continued. "After that, Ye Wohan, the master of Tianchi Pool, issued a martial arts decree that extended to the western region."

"He did not offer a solution yet, but said it was a sign of the revival of the ancient immortal court. He invited more than 2,300 sects, large and small, from the western region to gather at the foot of Mount Yanzi on the first day of the sixth month to discuss the immortal affairs of the Queen Mother of the West and to negotiate an alliance at the Jade Pool. This is called the [Jade Pool Calendar - Great Alliance of 2,300 Sects].

Lu Yuque remained silent.

"At first, the situation was stable. Because of the high reputation of Tianshan, which had never been involved in worldly affairs before, many sects were reassured that Tianshan was willing to step forward to take responsibility when the Western Region was in trouble. Your sect should have received an invitation at that time as well?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. I previously thought that if Tianshan were to establish some kind of alliance, there would be a lot of resistance in the Western Region, but it seems that the sacred image of Tianshan is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and most sects are naturally and gladly accepting it."

Lu Yuque lowered his head: "Since I was little, my father has told me stories. Tianshan is a sacred mountain in the Western Regions. Fairies live on it."

"Yes. But after about six or seven days, the situation began to waver. Because the first batch of snow lotus buds bloomed, and the number was very large, about three hundred families in the entire western region."

"More than three hundred?"

"Hmm. More than three hundred sects," the young man said. "Did you know that the snow lotus sprouts in different martial arts manuals have different growth and blooming times?"

"I've heard some of it."

Do you know why?

"I don't know."

"Because they vary in depth and difficulty."

"..."

"The simpler the martial arts manual, the faster the snow lotus buds on it grow. They grow, sprout leaves, form buds, and bloom. After that, the snow lotus remains, but the martial arts manual turns into blank space."

"..."

"Therefore, even with the agreement for the first day of June, people cannot be at peace," the young man said. "Snow lotus sprouts often grow on the most important and highest inheritances. Martial arts manuals are the foundation of a sect. No matter what happens afterward, the fact that one's own unique skills have been devoured is the fact that they have been devoured. There is still a month until the Yaochi Gathering. Will the lost martial arts manuals ever return? Even if they are rewritten, will they be swallowed up and taken away by others? Therefore, the further we go, the more turbulent the martial world will become."

Lu Yuque paused for a moment: "Father announced it after that, saying there was a way to curb it."

“Yes,” the young man said. “I came to Huazhou after hearing about this. Who knew that Jiandu Villa would suffer such a calamity? It must have already spread throughout the martial arts world.”

"..."

"Miss Deer".

"Ah."

Who do you think is the murderer?

"……" "Um?"

"……I have no idea."

The young man turned to look at her: "Miss Lu isn't unaware, she's just afraid to say it."

Lu Yuque raised his head, his brown eyes clear, gazing calmly at her.

Suddenly, a surge of energy rose within Lu Yuque, and he pursed his lips, saying, "What good would it do to tell you?"

“If you tell us, then we can discuss and investigate.”

"What if I said it was the Tianshan Mountains?"

"Then let's go to Tianshan."

"..."

Lu Yuque stared at him blankly, his lips moving twice.

“Let’s go.” The young man turned back. “It’s a thousand miles to the Tianshan Mountains. I’ll take you there to ask.”

“I said it was… Tianshan!” Lu Yuque jogged a few steps to catch up, ignoring the pain in his calves, and said, “I think they won’t allow anyone to damage the snow lotus buds, so that everyone will have to join their alliance.”

“Yes. I also think they can’t shake off this suspicion. Snow Lotus Bud is related to Tianshan no matter what,” the young man said. “So let’s go there.”

"..."

“However, the massacre of the entire family may not be as you say,” he said.

"what?"

The young man stopped, squatted down, and the stench of blood filled his nostrils. The corpse of a disciple of Lushan appeared before him.

They had reached the north of the Great Lake.

Lu Yuque stepped forward to look and saw a horrifying gash on his neck, thin, sharp, and straight, almost drained of blood, his skin pale and bluish.

The two examined several corpses, all of which were identical. There were indeed skilled individuals among these disciples of Lushan, but the one who slit their throats made them look like wooden puppets with their throats slit.

“Because if Tianshan doesn’t want this method to be revealed, there are many ways,” the young man said. “Openly, we can persuade your father. Your father respects and trusts Tianshan. If a Grand Master comes in person and explains the reasoning sincerely that it cannot be made public now, I think it will be 90% successful. Secretly, we can also steal the ‘Unsolvable Sword Sutra’ or take your father away. Or, if all else fails, we can just assassinate your father.”

"..."

"The act of wiping out an entire family is too extreme and high-profile, which is somewhat strange."

Lu Yuque paused for a moment, then said, "Is that so? Then, who is it?"

“No one would have known before,” the young man said, turning back. “But since you, Miss Deer, have survived by chance and I have found you, we will know soon.”

Lu Yuque followed behind him, and in the afternoon, the two walked out of Dayue Lake.

Lu Yuque's mind was still not completely at ease, and the stench of blood lingering in the reed marshes was also tugging at her nerves.

The man in white won't let her go. So many people have died on Mount Lu; their encirclement will arrive soon. And according to the young man, there's more than one of those puppets.

At this speed, there is no way they can escape the enemy's pursuit.

But the young man seemed unaware of this, and Lu Yuque had no idea what he was thinking.

She guessed that he might indeed have some kind of stealth method, since the man in white hadn't been able to find them just now. The price of this method was that he had to walk step by step and couldn't use his inner energy.

Otherwise, why wouldn't he channel his true energy into his bone injury?

Lu Yuque gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he thought about it.

But anyway, as long as it can be hidden, the slow pace and some injuries are hardly a price to pay.

But this speculation was shattered when it got dark.

They didn't hide at all.

Lu Yuque hadn't expected him to take her into the city, but she chose, and could only trust, him. While fleeing for her life, she naturally didn't care about her appearance, but as she walked step by step through the bustling streets at dusk, the astonished stares she received made her somewhat uncomfortable.

With disheveled, dirty hair and clumps of mud on his body, he looked like a cat or dog that had rolled around in a mud pit.

"Why are we going into the city?" she whispered from behind.

The young man turned around: "I'll wash you. Are you going to leave it like this? It'll smell bad."

Lu Yuque never thought of herself as unclean, but at this moment she blushed for no reason and stared at him, saying, "I...I know. I'm not usually like this."

“I didn’t say you were like this all the time.” The young man seemed a little puzzled, but didn’t seem to mind. “I think you should take a hot bath, see a doctor to get your wound bandaged, and then get a good night’s sleep. After that, you can ride your horse and we can set off.”

Lu Yuque followed him into an inn. She saw that he had ordered two superior rooms, a hot spring bath, and meals. When it was time to pay, he turned around and glanced at her for a moment, waiting. Lu Yuque didn't understand what he meant, but since the rooms were booked anyway, the two went upstairs together.

"Shall we share two rooms?" Lu Yuque hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can share a room with you... I'll sleep on the floor."

"It's alright. You can stay here." The young man smiled. "It's safe."

Lu Yuque had no choice but to go into her room. In fact, her fear of being alone had never dissipated. As soon as she closed the door, her heart and lungs jumped, as if something deadly might suddenly appear from under the bed, behind the curtain, on the roof, or anywhere else.

It could be an ambush killer, or a monster that has twisted its limbs to hide itself.

She knew nothing about the young man's background or identity, and perhaps he was also an untrustworthy person, but the short half-day she spent with him was indeed the most reassuring time she had felt in days.

This sense of security even made her afraid to ask about his origins and identity, lest she herself shatter the illusion.

But now that she was alone, she forced herself to think—he said he was investigating, could it be someone from Xianrentai? And he came from Shenjing… She was very familiar with Shenjing from the stories, but she didn’t know the real city that never sleeps.

A clean bathtub was already set up in the room. She almost dared not get it dirty with her body at first. She took off her clothes and slowly washed herself with the water. Only when she was mostly clean did she grit her teeth, lift her legs, and crawl in, comfortably opening every pore.

It was almost the most comfortable hot bath of her life.

Just as this long-awaited enjoyment was ending, the waiter knocked on the door and brought up a table of hot dishes.

Lu Yuque picked up her chopsticks, her stomach rumbling, and was about to start eating when a subtle aroma mixed with scallions and garlic made her freeze in place.

Since childhood, she has been familiar with poisons and sedatives. Especially after she became enemies with Hua Shanglou, her father told her about several poisons that the other party often used.

Lu Yuque was drenched in cold sweat. It wasn't that she was afraid of being poisoned, nor was it because she had been discovered by Hua Shanglou; rather, she suddenly realized that her food had been delivered later. The young man hadn't asked for the bath, so he must have eaten earlier, and yet he hadn't reminded her. Wasn't that already…

She turned her head to look at the sword she had placed by the bed, but in that instant, the window behind her was suddenly flung open. She turned around abruptly, and a gleaming blade filled her entire field of vision.

That guy put on a great show, but he was all show and no substance!
She thought angrily.

(End of this chapter)