The blood-red setting sun slowly descended from the sky, leaving half of it on the horizon.
Inside a dilapidated building at the top of the mountain.
Zhen Xun slowly pushed open the door, stepping on the crushed stones and mud on the ground. He walked into the building's main hall and looked towards the window on his right.
Blood-red sunlight shone in through the arched window, illuminating a slender figure with long hair.
Zhen Xun narrowed his eyes and examined his surroundings.
There was nothing in the entire hall. There was no furniture, no pillars, not even stairs. There was only a flat expanse as far as the eye could see. The ground was covered in crushed stones and broken pieces of wooden furniture. Standing at the door, one could see the arched windows on all four sides.
Most of the arched windows that were as tall as two people were broken, and some even had broken wooden frames. Wooden thorns protruded from the ground and hung in the middle of the window.
The entire hall was dyed the color of blood by the setting sun, exuding a strong sense of decadence and defeat.
The figure with long hair stood in front of one of the windows, her hand gripping the frame as she looked out. The cold wind blew past, causing her skirt to flutter continuously.
Zhen Xun frowned. From his angle, he could only see the figure's dark shadow. He couldn't even tell what color skirt she was wearing. The red sunlight was too bright, making all the other shadows seem even darker.
The sunlight was blood red, and the shadows were pitch black.
"I don't like meeting you in this kind of place, at this kind of time, and under these circumstances. My dear sister, "Zhen Xun frowned and said in a low voice.
"If I didn't have to come, I wouldn't want to see you either." The woman continued to look out the window, not even turning her head.
Her voice was very gentle, like a weak and defenseless girl, giving off a strong feeling of harmlessness.
Zhen Xun frowned even deeper when he heard the voice.
"Tell me, what does the family want? They want me to come out and deal with this matter, but how long has it been since I sent out the request for help? There's still no reply. Could it be that they intend to ask you to help me solve this problem? "
"Of course not," the woman replied with a smile. "Of course, if you personally beg me, as my dearest brother, I can consider helping you." Although she said this, the sarcasm in her tone was very obvious.
"I don't have much time." Zhen Xun's face darkened.
"What a boring little brother." The woman slowly turned her head. Her shoulder-length hair fluttered in the wind, covering most of her face. In the shadows, most of her face was pitch-black. Only a pair of bright red eyes could be seen, quietly staring at Zhen Xun under the sunlight.
"Every time I see you, I have an urge to kill you …"
"What a coincidence, me too." Not to be outdone, Zhen Xun met the woman's blood-red eyes head on.
The two looked at each other calmly for a long time.
"The preparations at home are almost complete. We can evacuate at any time. You have to be prepared to deal with the aftermath. "In the end, the woman still told him the news she had come to deliver.
Zhen Xun was stunned. He closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
"How can he be so fast?"
"Because the Shangyang Family has also come. The other small forces are fine, but the Shangyang Family, who are also Noble Families, have also come. And it's obvious that they have come for the resource-poor Northern Lands. Therefore, our dearest grandfather has decided to evacuate in advance, "the woman replied calmly.
Zhen Xun took a deep breath, feeling somewhat indignant.
"Then our foundation here, the forces we've cultivated, the situation …"
"With the Devil Saber in hand, it's the same no matter where we rise again. That's our foundation. What's the current situation? As for the forces, they're just mortals. Like weeds, they'll quickly grow back after they die. What's there to worry about? "the woman interrupted him.
Zhen Xun fell silent. He knew very well that once they left, the forces and foundations they had lost would be like castles in the air. Under the assault of Scarlet District and the other forces, they would collapse instantly.
The foundation they had painstakingly cultivated for decades or even centuries would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
It took him a moment to recover from the sudden news.
"When do we leave?"
"I don't know, but it won't be too late. The news that we have the Scarlet Dragon Calamity Saber in our hands has spread quickly. The forces that were lured away are now rushing here again. So it won't be too late, "the woman replied.
"I … understand … I'll go back and make the necessary preparations," Zhen Xun exhaled.
…
Song Manor.
The sky was just beginning to brighten. Under the grayish-white light, at the edge of the burnt ruins of Song Manor.
Under a withered tree, three green stones the size of a foot were placed. The stones seemed to be placed carelessly under the tree, but in reality, they formed a crooked triangle.
The withered tree bared its fangs and brandished its claws. Its entire body was pitch-black, as if it had been smoked by fire. A few crows perched on the branches of the tree, combing their black feathers and cawing strangely from time to time.
"Kacha … kacha … kacha …"
Suddenly, a series of rhythmic footsteps sounded from afar. Boots stepped on the black ash and sand on the ground, producing a crisp sound as if someone was stepping on snow.
A muscular, tall, and bald man was walking slowly in the direction of the withered tree.
He carried two large machetes on his back and was dressed entirely in black. His arms and chest were covered with brown wrist guards and a half-body leather armor. What was even stranger was that not only did he have no hair, but he also had no eyebrows, beard, or even eyelashes.
Such a bald appearance gave off an inexplicable sense of danger and ferocity.
The man walked to the withered tree and glanced at the three green stones on the ground. With a flip of his hand, he took out a long stick-like object wrapped in black cloth and lightly touched it with a flint.
The yellow-red flame danced, accompanied by bursts of black smoke. An indescribable stench slowly permeated the air.
Time passed, second by second.
Soon, the crows on the withered tree were alarmed and cawed as they flew into the distance.
The man turned around and saw a woman in pitch-black clothes wearing a bamboo hat and veil walking slowly towards him from another direction.
"Are you External Head Lu?" the woman asked in a low voice.
"Zhuo?" Lu Sheng only asked one word of the name.
"Yes. I've brought a few items that I've collected during this time. There are eight of them in total. I'll need time for the rest. "
Lu Sheng broke into a grin.
"Let me have a look first. I'll inspect it. It's fine if we don't trade this time. I'll see if the goods are what I want."
Zhuo Wenyu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
From the small bag on her back, she took out a piece of undergarments woven from golden threads and tossed it to Lu Sheng.
The latter caught it, and he could even smell the faint fragrance coming from it.
"Among the things you want, is this fine? This is someone else's undergarment. It's woven from golden threads and is from hundreds of years ago. "
As soon as Lu Sheng caught it, he immediately felt strands of Yin Qi emanating from the undergarment. It seemed like he could directly absorb an item with such low levels of Yin Qi without even a drop of his blood. Just like the green stone from the beginning.
Without batting an eyelid, he pinched the undergarment and pretended to inspect it carefully. Strands of Yin Qi flowed into his body as he inspected it.
"Sure. Count it as one item. " He smiled and explained, "What I want, firstly, is best if it's a burial item. It doesn't matter how old it is, but it can't be too young. Secondly, it must be something that belonged to the original owner when they were alive. "
"That's easy." Zhuo Wenyu nodded. "I'll try my best to find more of these for you. But I also hope that you can help me find some things in exchange."
"What things?" Lu Sheng asked.
"A hundred servings of human blood wine. I want to mix it with the blood of different people. It doesn't need to be a lot, just one drop per person, "Zhuo Wenyu made this strange request.
Lu Sheng thought about it.
"Sure." It was easy for him to obtain such blood wine from where he was. The only thing he had to worry about was whether she would use this blood wine to do something bad to those who had their blood drained.
But on second thought, Lu Sheng realized that this idea of his was rather laughable. If she had such terrifying strength, she wouldn't have been unable to defeat a mere mortal like him, who hadn't even reached the realm of Bind yet.
"And please take good care of that little tripod cauldron," Zhuo Wenyu was extremely sad about that little tripod cauldron.
"Don't worry." Lu Sheng wrapped the gold-threaded undergarment with a black cloth he had prepared beforehand. "What else?" He lifted his head and looked at Zhuo Wenyu.
"Can I take a look at the little tripod cauldron first?" Zhuo Wenyu asked softly.
"Of course." Lu Sheng took out a palm-sized black tripod cauldron from his robes. "After you've given me fifteen. I'll give it to you. "
Zhuo Wenyu clenched her teeth and stared fixedly at the little tripod cauldron.
"Alright!" She quickly took out various small items from her backpack. A makeup box, a bronze mirror, a wooden comb, a small pillow …
She passed these items to Lu Sheng. He carefully touched them one by one. There were seven items in total, but only two had Yin Qi, and not much at all. This disappointed him.
"That's it? There are only two items here. Including the first item, that's three in total, "he said with a frown.
"Only three?!" Zhuo Wenyu was exasperated. She didn't know why Lu Sheng was being so picky, but there wasn't much difference between these items. They were all funerary objects and treasures of their respective owners.
But Lu Sheng only picked out three of them, and didn't want the rest.
"I'm not bluffing. There really isn't anything I want," Lu Sheng explained. "Also, I have to check them myself before I know if I want them or not."
Zhuo Wenyu couldn't understand, but she had seen many of these strange existences. Many Anomalies and Demon Families were extremely strange, so she wasn't surprised.
But this way, Lu Sheng had the final say on how many items could be counted. She couldn't do anything about it.
"Alright … If that's the case, we'll count it as three this time. Do you still want these items? If not, I'll bring them back. "
Lu Sheng shook his head.
"Bring them all back." He could tell that Zhuo Wenyu couldn't sense the presence of Yin Qi. Or rather, he hadn't seen anyone who could sense the presence of Yin Qi like he could.
If it was as Duanmu Wan said, there wasn't any energy or Vitality in the air of this world, then what was Yin Qi? How could its essence be used by him? This was a question that needed to be researched.
The so-called Yin Qi was just the name he had given this thing in the beginning. In reality, he didn't know what this aura was.
Under the tree, the two of them exchanged the time and location for their next transaction. Then, Zhuo Wenyu left in a hurry. Lu Sheng swiftly returned the way he had come.
He needed to make another trip to the old Sect Master's place. He had to ask Hong Mingzi about Zhen Family's recent situation.
Recently, the situation between Scarlet District and Zhen Family was getting more and more complicated. Especially since Zhen Family's movements seemed a little too quiet. Something was off.
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