Embers of Sword

Chapter 400 Learning to Kill

The Yuzhou Desert is sparsely populated. Even in years of great famine or rampant banditry, not many people flock here.

If you want to return to the Da Chu border, you need to cross the vast desert Gobi.

The teleportation portal opened by the Fire Lord was deliberately opened in the most remote place in the desert in order to avoid Nalan Xuance's [Iron Curtain] perception. It is true that it is only 200 miles away from Qujiang River, but this 200 miles is extremely difficult to walk.

Xie Xuanyi walked like this for four hours without stopping.

Deng Baiyi has already established her foundation. For her, walking in the desert is not a difficult task. What's more, she has the protection of the "Tao Realm", which protects her from the scorching sun and strong winds. These four hours are just a little boring, but not difficult.

However, she really didn't expect that the young man holding the sword behind her would persist throughout the whole process without saying a word.

Xie Xuanyi used his "Martial Arts Divine Embryo" to put pressure on Chunfeng Yecao. His original intention was not to let the young man go too easily. However, he was not so heartless. While the Martial Arts Divine Embryo put pressure on the umbrella sword, he used his clothes to block most of the wind and sand. His divine thoughts were always on Chu Guo.

This young man's intelligence and perseverance are both excellent.

Xie Xuanyi had noticed something when he was practicing sword in the back mountain of Taoyuan.

Very few people can practice the action of splitting a pile repeatedly for more than ten days without getting bored.

"All right."

Xie Xuanyi stopped and looked up at the sky: "We are almost there."

"Coming?"

Chu Guoru was pardoned, and the tense feeling in his heart relaxed a little.

But he followed Xie Zhen's gaze.

The young man felt disappointed.

There is nothing but wind and sand ahead, and nothing but desert.

Where is it almost there?

"You don't think we're almost at Da Chu, do you?"

Xie Xuanyi said calmly, "We walked for four hours, and we only traveled thirty miles in total."

The young man took a deep breath, rubbed his cheeks, and prepared to move on without saying a word.

"You don't have to go anymore."

Xie Xuanyi continued, "Yuzhou is extremely cold after nightfall. Let's find a place to rest... There is an 'inn' nearby where we can stay overnight."

"Inn?"

The young man was stunned. How could there be an inn in such a remote place? He walked for four hours and didn't even see a single person!
"follow me."

Xie Xuanyi walked towards the depths of the desert.

……

……

Strong winds howled and gathered into tornadoes. At the end of the desert sandstorm, a small inn could be vaguely seen. It was made of earth and rocks. In order to resist the wind and sand, two stone walls were built on the outside. From a distance of hundreds of feet, the sounds of horses neighing, camel bells, and noise could be vaguely heard.

“There really is an inn.”

Chu Guo was stunned. After all, he was a native of Li, yet he had no idea about this.

As for Deng Baiyi, she also showed a look of surprise.

During the time that Deng Baiyi followed Tang Fengshu, she traveled to many places.

But that journey was more about "socializing" and could not really be considered as "traveling around the world".

After all, Tang Fengshu is the master of the world's vegetarian restaurant. Wherever he goes, there are Taoist disciples serving him. If he encounters trouble, he only needs to say a word and it will be eradicated immediately. Just with this identity on the table, anyone who sees him in the counties and cities of Dachu will give him some face. Even if Tang Fengshu did not tell anyone about this trip, his reputation is too great and his status is too high. Even if he keeps the news secret, he can't stop his subordinates from offering their courtesy. As long as he tells the local county officials, they will do their best to send a "filial tribute" after learning the news. If nothing else, it will ensure a peaceful and stable journey without any problems.

As we approached the inn, the wind and sand gradually died down.

The stone wall is piled up, emitting bursts of green light.

"Screen formation?"

Deng Baiyi raised an eyebrow and said softly, "The innkeeper is also a formation master, but his attainments don't seem to be very high. He looks like a 'Qi Refiner' level. If he had a higher level, he would not have used such a low-level and inferior formation to block the wind and sand."

Xie Xuanyi smiled but said nothing.

"Mr. Xie, do you really want to stay here?"

Chu Guo leaned against the stone wall, took off his straw sandals, shook off the half-pound of mud and sand inside, and said carefully: "I heard from Old Zheng before that most of the people in Yuanzhou are refugees, and most of the people in Yuzhou are desperate criminals. If we stop here, I'm afraid something will happen... I still have the strength to walk, why don't we keep going forward?"

"Just rest here."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly: "It's just a one-night stay, what trouble will it cause?"

Chu Guo was speechless.

He picked up the umbrella sword again and followed Xie Deng silently. What a ghost! The umbrella sword used to weigh a thousand pounds, but now it was as light as a feather.

"You three, would you like to stay overnight or stay in a hotel?"

Two walls passed.

A young servant in a green shirt and a white cloth on his shoulders immediately came up to greet him with brisk steps and a smile on his face, while at the same time looking at the visitor inconspicuously.

"Stay in the hotel and fill your stomach at the same time."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly: "No need to look, there are only three people."

The waiter was startled, and then realized that the young man in black was the leader of the three. He immediately bowed and began to flatter him: "It's not easy for three people to cross the desert. What's the name of this hero, and where are you from?"

"My last name is Xie."

Xie Xuanyi said casually: "From Qianzhou, these two are my servants."

Deng Baiyi, Chu Guo: “???”

"I see... I can tell at a glance that you have the appearance of a noble man."

The servant was a little surprised, but still flattered him and took the initiative to open the door of the inn for the three people.

The heat hit my face.

Both Chu Guo and Deng Baiyi were stunned, because neither of them had ever seen such a scene. After walking in the desert for four hours without seeing any human habitation, they found themselves in an inn lobby that was crowded with people. However, these people did not look friendly, just as Chu Guo said, "Yuzhou is mostly populated by desperadoes." Swords, spears, and sticks were everywhere. These guys were either wearing thick straw raincoats or had their upper bodies bare, revealing their scars.

Shouts and noise came out with the hot wind, and then died away.

The arrival of three young guests broke the noise.

Chu Guo frowned.

He could feel dozens of gazes passing over him.

As for Deng Baiyi, there is no need to mention it.

Her mind swept across the inn lobby, and she saw twenty to thirty men and a few women, and their gazes finally all fell on her... She could feel the emotions contained in their gazes, most of which were greed and hunger, and some were jealousy and disgust.

Among the three, the one who received the least attention was Xie Xuanyi, who was wearing a mask and had an ordinary appearance.

but.

The next moment, everyone's eyes fell on Xie Xuanyi.

"Serve the table with good wine and good food, and hurry up."

Xie Xuanyi chuckled, took out a small gold ingot from his waist bag and threw it to the servant.

"okay!"

The servant opened his eyes wide, took the gold ingot, and went to the kitchen happily.

……

……

Not all inns in the world have private rooms.

For example, this one in front of us, who needs a private room when coming here?
It is enough to have a mouthful of meat to eat and a bowl of wine to drink.

However, there are always exceptions.

If you give enough, it is not difficult to set up a private room.

Xie Xuanyi took out the second gold ingot and asked to have a meal alone here. The servant looked embarrassed and couldn't make the decision.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper showed up in time.

It was hard to imagine that the innkeeper who opened such an inn in the desolate desert of Yuzhou was actually a man weighing more than 300 to 400 kilograms, with fat piled up all over his body, and the ground shook when he walked. However, after learning about the noble guest's bold move of "paying the bill with gold ingots", the innkeeper walked lightly with a smile on his face, and quickly ordered the servant to bring the screen used by his wife to put on makeup upstairs, and enclosed the corner of the inn to make a temporary private room. "Mr. Xie, are you crazy?"

After sitting down.

Chu Guo's eyes widened and he lowered his voice: "Don't you know that wealth should not be shown off?"

"One gold ingot, is that a lot?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled and spoke.

To a practitioner at his level, gold and silver ingots are no different from waste paper.

Use it, then use it.

As for the principle of not showing off one's wealth, Xie Xuanyi understands it better than anyone else.

He felt somewhat relieved that the young man in front of him could say such words. It seemed that although he had lived a stable life in Pingzhi City, Yuanzhou over the years, it was not completely useless.

"This is Yuzhou... these people will kill you."

Chu Guo rubbed his brows and spoke in distress, and soon he realized the problem.

wrong!

This guy named Xie even killed Meng Kejian!
I guess all these guys combined are not even as good as Meng Kejian's finger, so how could they be qualified to kill him?
Why should you worry about someone named Xie!
The young man suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart. He slowly raised his head and met Xie Xuanyi's smiling eyes.

The sky is falling.

This is directed at myself.

"Mr. Xie, are you targeting me on purpose?"

The young man's face changed and turned pale.

"wrong."

Xie Xuanyi picked up the hot tea, sniffed it gently, and then took a small sip, and said slowly: "It's not directed at you, but at you all."

"???"

Deng Baiyi's expression also changed a little.

"Every man is innocent, but he is guilty of carrying a jade."

Xie Xuanyi looked outside through the screen and said calmly, "This world is full of rivers and lakes. Gold, silver, treasures, and beautiful faces seem to be excellent gifts, but if you don't have the corresponding ability to protect this gift, then carrying it with you will only cause trouble."

At this moment, the inn was bustling again.

Many voices swept into his mind. He had already heard the people around him talking and whispering in dialect, using the jargon of their trade.

Xie Xuanyi and the servant did not hide anything from anyone during their previous conversation. The identities of the three people have now spread among everyone in the inn...

A foolish young man with a lot of money.

A beautiful foot-warming maid.

There is also a handsome boy holding a sword.

These three people came from Qianzhou. They had such a good time but insisted on going to the Yuzhou Desert to experience scenery they had never seen before.

This is more than just a distinguished guest.

It's simply the fattest of the fat sheep.

"Do you know what these guys outside are talking about?"

Chu Guo couldn't sit still any longer, as he also heard the faint sound of conversation outside the screen.

Among them was the Yuanzhou dialect with which he was familiar.

The cavalry under Chen Chong's command destroyed Buddhism in Yuanzhou and also wiped out the bandits!
This group of people are the bandits who fled from Yuanzhou!
"What are they talking about?"

Xie Xuanyi looked calm.

"They're going to eat us up!"

Chu Guo widened his eyes and looked to the left, his face pale: "Those men are discussing what part to eat!"

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

In addition, there are some words that he heard but found difficult to say.

These bandits fled to Yuzhou to avoid the pursuit of the cavalry. They lived one day at a time. They knew it would be difficult for them to go back. They would probably have to stay in this ghost place for the rest of their lives. They couldn't even see anyone on weekdays. Who could have thought that one day they would meet a young woman as beautiful as Deng Baiyi? For them, a fragrant woman was more attractive than gold and silver treasures!

"..."

Xie Xuanyi remained calm: "So?"

"So the next step is to take action, right?"

Compared to Chu Guo, Deng Baiyi seemed very calm.

Her palms were already on her waist bag, ready to take out the talisman to fight at any time. After all, she was a cultivator in the foundation building stage. If it was just an ordinary bandit, she would not take it seriously. But at this moment, she suddenly recalled the scene when Xie Zhen smiled and said nothing when he looked at the "screen formation" when he stepped into the inn.

Qi-refining masters are available, but formation masters are hard to find.

Not everyone in this world can practice cultivation, and even less can everyone draw talismans.

The inferior "screen" was hung on the wall of the inn.

obviously……

It’s not because the innkeeper knows how to practice.

It was because the innkeeper had killed such a cultivator and looted this set of formation patterns and talismans from him, and was using them as a makeshift method.

"Yes."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly: "I brought you here because I have been here before. I have killed many people here, and I hope you can learn how to kill too."

He had already heard what was said behind the screen.

When traveling to Liguo, Xie Xuanyi visited all the places he should go. He could understand some of the Yuanzhou dialect, Yuzhou dialect, and even more remote dialects.

The reason why people are people.

It's nothing more than etiquette, rules, iron laws, and strict discipline.

These Yuzhou bandits and desperate criminals may be wearing human skins, but they have long ceased to behave like human beings.

Such people are actually not scary.

"Learn... to kill?"

At this moment, Chu Guo's face was as pale as paper. He could hear the sound of his own heartbeat, beating violently in his thin chest.

Just before, he even hesitated and couldn't bear to chop the wooden man.

How long has it been?

Just two days had passed and Xie Zhen had brought himself to this place. He wanted to learn how to kill people!
"..."

Deng Baiyi also looked a little ugly.

Since she started practicing, she has done a lot of things like carving talismans and saving people.

But this was the first time I killed someone.

The three of them fell into silence. Xie Xuanyi did not say anything and did not urge them, giving the two of them ample time to think. During this time, the waiter called out and served a table full of food. Looking around, it was all meat. The two gold ingots were well spent. There were seven or eight people sitting around the other table, but their food was not even half as sumptuous as the three of them.

Xie Xuanyi picked up the chopsticks.

He glanced at the table full of food, frowned, and put his chopsticks down again.

Xie Xuanyi looked at Chu Guo and said coldly: "Next, there are only two situations..."

"Or, they kill you."

"Or, you kill them."

"You'd better make a decision quickly if you want to survive."

The young man's expression changed. He stared at the food in front of him, took deep breaths repeatedly, and then began to eat in big mouthfuls.

……

……

(There will be another update at 12 o'clock tonight)
(End of this chapter)