Gu Long's World: Starting with the Legend of Chu Liuxiang

Ji Bingyan indeed arrived, and the four of them were already sitting together in his carriage.

It didn't look like a carriage at all; it looked more like a house, because it had everything a house should have.

Hu Tiehua said, "This place is nice, but unfortunately I've looked around for a long time and haven't seen any wine."

Ji Bingyan reached out and gently pressed the edge of the couch, and a drawer popped out from under the brocade couch. Inside the drawer were six silver cups and ten square bottles made of silver, filled with various kinds of wine.

Hu Tiehua took out one of the bottles, poured himself a glass of wine, and said, "You dead rooster, I'll toast you three times, and then we're even."

Ji Bingyan said, "Since you want me to come, then all the arrangements from now on must be done according to my wishes. Our car can only go as far as the edge of the desert. After all, the desert is Shi Guanyin's territory, and we can't be too conspicuous."

Jiang Fengyue smiled and said, "I will follow Brother Ji's arrangements."

Jiang Fengyue knew that Ji Bingyan was a cautious person and had experienced so much in the desert, so she trusted him completely.

After a conversation and making a plan, Ji Bingyan lay down and fell asleep.

At dusk on the second day, they finally arrived at a small town on the edge of the desert. Ji Bingyan sold the horse, burned the cart, and spent a lot of money to replenish the water supply.

The group changed into clothes that resembled those of ordinary merchants and travelers.

They entered the desert after it was completely dark. In addition to the four of them, Ji Bingyan brought two other people with her.

Shi Tuo and Xiao Pan.

The stone camel was tall and strong, but it was deaf, mute, and blind.

As for why Xiao Pan is called Xiao Pan, it's simply because although he is forty-three years old, he still has a baby face.

Although stone camels cannot speak, they have the ability to communicate with animals.

The other five people were riding on camels, but Shi Tuo was walking. Jiang Fengyue knew that Shi Tuo would never ride on the back of any donkey, horse, or camel, because they were friends.

"Check-in!"

"Sign in to Huangfu Gao successfully and gain the ability to communicate with animals."

"Sign-in successfully with Xiao Pan, gaining the ability to be approachable."

After gaining the ability, Jiang Fengyue lay down and tried to communicate with the camel beneath her, but found that she could only roughly sense the camel's current state. At that moment, the camel only felt that its back was very heavy.

Jiang Fengyue pondered, "Humans are animals too, so could this ability also be used on humans?"

Jiang Fengyue gently patted Hu Tiehua and learned that Hu Tiehua was feeling cold. He found that this ability was completely unnecessary for people, because Hu Tiehua was so cold that he wanted to hide his whole body behind the camel hump.

Hu Tiehua looked up and asked, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Fengyue scratched his head and said, "It's nothing."

As for the other ability, Approachable, Jiang Fengyue didn't feel any special effects after activating it, and decided to try it again when she had the chance in the future.

The deeper the night, the colder Jiang Fengyue felt.

Xiao Pan, being the only one among them who didn't practice martial arts, was shivering uncontrollably from the cold. Ji Bingyan then found a sheltered spot, set up her tent, and started a fire.

After cooking some hot dishes over a fire and eating them, Jiang Fengyue gradually felt warmer.

Later that night, they all went back to their tents to prepare for sleep, but Shi Tuo did not go into the tent. He simply wrapped himself in a blanket and slept next to the camel.

Unable to hold back any longer, Hu Tiehua finally asked after a long pause, "Why didn't he come in with us?"

Ji Bingyan said, "He looks down on us."

Hu Tiehua retorted angrily, "Who does he look down on?"

Ji Bingyan said, "He looks down on everyone."

Hu Tiehua asked in a daze, "Do you look down on me too?"

Ji Bingyan laughed and said, "That's exactly what I look down on."

Hu Tiehua said, "He looks down on you, so why would he work for you?"

Ji Bingyan said, "He only works for me because he owes me a favor. When he feels that he no longer owes me anything, even if I kneel down and beg him, he will not stay."

Hu Tiehua tossed and turned, unable to sleep, thinking about Shi Tuo, and murmured, "Who exactly is he? And who did he do this to him?"

Jiang Fengyue was also awake, and said coldly, "He was Huangfu Gao, the former leader of the Seven Swords of Mount Hua."

As soon as Jiang Fengyue said that, everyone was wide awake and sat up to stare at him.

Hu Tiehua asked, "How did you know?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "My father once told me about the Seven Swords of Mount Hua. Although Shi Tuo's face is completely destroyed, his demeanor and physique will never change."

Jiang Fengyue had no choice but to bring up his non-existent father at the opportune moment.

Chu Liuxiang was moved and asked, "Were the Seven Swords of Mount Hua not all killed by Shi Guanyin?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "Although he didn't die, he has to suffer this torment for the rest of his life. Isn't this an even crueler form of revenge from Shi Guanyin?"

Hu Tiehua angrily said, "Damn Shi Guanyin, I'll cut off her head the moment I see her."

No one could sleep anymore, and they would sneak a peek at the stone camel guarding the tent every now and then. Wouldn't it be cruel to send someone who had been hurt by the desert back to the desert?

……

The scorching sun was already hanging in the sky, and the entire desert looked as if it were about to burst into flames.

Jiang Fengyue only felt hot, very hot. He already missed the cold of the night and hoped that the day would end soon.

There was not a breath of wind or a sound in the desert, as if everything had died.

Just then, Jiang Fengyue, who had the best hearing, caught a faint groan.

Jiang Fengyue asked, "Did you hear anything?"

Hu Tiehua said, "I heard it. It's a person who is about to die."

He jumped off the camel, pointed to a sand dune on the left, and said, "The person is over there, let's go take a look."

Ji Bingyan said, "What's so interesting about a person who's about to die?"

Jiang Fengyue chuckled softly, "What if it's someone faking death? Aren't you all interested in going to take a look?"

Jiang Fengyue could tell that the person was groaning deliberately, and she knew that these people must have come to destroy their water bags.

Chu Liuxiang said, "You mean...?"

Jiang Fengyue said in a deep voice, "Stone Guanyin."

Ji Bingyan said coldly, "Let's go take a look. Since they've set their sights on us, we can't avoid them in the desert."

The four of them leaped over the sand dune and saw two people who were hardly human. They were naked and nailed to the ground, their skin no longer intact.

Hu Tiehua said emotionally, "You said they were sent by Shi Guanyin to deal with us? But they..."

Jiang Fengyue said, "I know what you're thinking. Wait here for me."

Jiang Fengyue walked over. The two people were barely alive, still groaning, "Water..."

Jiang Fengyue laughed happily, then suddenly grabbed their hair with both hands and quickly pulled out two spring-loaded crossbow tubes from their hair.

The two "dying men" never imagined that there were such cautious people in the world. They were so frightened that they jumped up and hurriedly ran away.

But how could they escape? Chu Liuxiang darted out and was already beside them, striking more than ten acupoints on them.

Jiang Fengyue seemed to realize something and exclaimed, "Quickly, pinch their mouths shut!"

Chu Liuxiang was about to make his move, but it was too late. The two men had already swallowed the poison, and one of them said, "You wait... you will die soon."

He died right after he finished speaking, a strange smile remaining on his face.

Chu Liuxiang sighed, "Little Jiang has a good eye, what a pity."

Jiang Fengyue said, "Even if the person behind the scenes isn't Shi Guanyin, they're still in cahoots with her."

Ji Bingyan said coldly, "Even if this kind of person doesn't die, he can't possibly lead the way for us."

Jiang Fengyue sighed, "That's true. How could someone who is determined to die for his master possibly betray him?"

Hu Tiehua said, "The desert is so vast, where are we going to find the Stone Guanyin?"

Jiang Fengyue knew that to find Shi Guanyin, he had to find the King of Kucha first. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: the ability he had previously acquired to find water sources might come in handy.

He immediately activated his technique, and the network of underground water sources in the desert formed a net in his mind. Far away from them, there was a large water source, and Jiang Fengyue guessed that the King of Kucha was camped there.

Based on the directions in her mind, Jiang Fengyue pointed the way and said, "We'll go this way next."

Although it was still hot during the day and bitterly cold at night, they were fortunate to have enough water and food, and they did not encounter any further setbacks along the way.

However, one day, several corpses were found on the road. One of them was the son of Hu Tiehua's old friend. Jiang Fengyue knew that the Star of Bliss had been stolen.

On the morning of the fourth day, Hu Tiehua complained, "Xiao Jiang, what kind of terrible road are you leading? We can't even see a single house along the way."

Jiang Fengyue smiled and asked, "What do you think that is up ahead?"

Everyone looked up and saw a large oasis. If you listened carefully, you could faintly hear laughter coming from there.

Hu Tiehua said, "Could it be that we have already arrived at Shi Guanyin's lair? Then what are we waiting for? Let's charge in right now."

Jiang Fengyue smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry. This is not Shi Guanyin's lair at all. There is a hospitable host inside."

As the group entered the oasis, they were greeted by two ponds, one large and one small. Beside the large pond were three ornate tents, in front of which stood several armored warriors.

Upon seeing the group approaching, the guards immediately became alert. One of them asked, "What brings you here?"

Jiang Fengyue smiled and said, "We heard that His Majesty the King of Kucha is recruiting martial arts masters with a large sum of money, so we came here from the Central Plains because of his reputation."

After the warrior went in to announce their arrival, he led the four men into the tent. Shi Tuo and Xiao Pan remained outside the tent.

Inside the tent, however, was a soft carpet with several low tables piled high with fresh fruit, wine, and food. Several people were happily sitting on the carpet drinking.

In front of a low table in the very center sat a man in a red robe wearing a golden crown, and next to him was a stunningly beautiful woman.

Jiang Fengyue knew that this must be the King of Kucha and Princess Pipa.

"Check-in!"

"Successfully checked in with the King of Kucha and received 100,000 taels of silver, which has been stored in the system space and can be withdrawn at any time."

"Successfully checked in with Princess Pipa and gained the ability to play the pipa."

Playing the pipa is a rather useless skill for Jiang Fengyue, but upon closer examination, the Pipa Princess's martial arts are not outstanding and she has no other talents, so this reward is quite reasonable.

As for the silver earned, Jiang Fengyue discovered that as long as he signed in with people who didn't have any famous martial arts skills, he would basically receive silver. The higher the status of the person he signed in with, the more silver he would receive.

When the King of Kucha saw the group enter, he laughed heartily and said, "You all managed to enter the vast desert alone and find my residence, which is quite an achievement."

Jiang Fengyue smiled and said, "Your Highness is too kind."

The King of Kucha smiled and said, "My greatest pleasure in life is making friends with people skilled in martial arts and other arts. You have come from afar; would you be so kind as to broaden my horizons?"

Jiang Fengyue said, "I would be extremely happy to."

The King of Kucha clapped his hands, and a bald, burly man emerged from the purple curtains behind the tent, shirtless.