The crisp sound of bells broke through the deep sleep. Yu Shiqi felt the tip of his nose itching. He slowly opened his eyes and found a pair of bells hanging in front of his eyes.

"Did you sleep peacefully last night? Is your injury better?" Xilingyue, holding the red string tied with a bell with two fingers, squatted beside him and asked him with a smile.

The bonfire nearby had been extinguished, and he realized that he was wrapped in a felt blanket. He remembered that he had planned to stay up until dawn last night, but somehow fell asleep in the end.

"Thank you." He said softly.

This morning, Xilingyue had already changed her outfit. She was now wearing a brown cloak that was very common in the Western Wilderness. It had lost the ethereal look she had when she first saw her, and was now a little more pyrotechnic.

Yu Shiqi glanced at the clothes that had been dried on the shelf above the bonfire, and looked at Xilingue with embarrassment. The latter knew the elegant meaning of the string song after hearing it, suppressed a smile, nodded, waggled the bell with his finger, turned around and walked away.

The ringing of the bell gradually faded away. Yu Shiqi stood up, quickly put on his clothes, looked around the cave, and suddenly found that the white lion that made him almost walk through the gate of hell last night was gone.

He pinched his cheeks subconsciously, recalling what happened last night. If it weren't for the vague pain still feeling under his ribs, he would almost doubt whether he had had a weird dream.

Walking to the stone platform to pack his luggage and painting box, Yu Shiqi suddenly saw the white dress that Xiling Yue wore when she danced last night neatly stacked on the stone platform.

Without deliberately getting closer, he could smell a faint scent of incense.

Strangely enough, the smell of incense seemed a bit familiar to him, and he couldn't help but think of someone he had met when he was a child.

When he was a child, he would often neglect his homework during the hot summer and run to the bamboo forest behind Tongfengmen to enjoy the coolness and take a nap. Occasionally, he would meet a woman wearing a mask.

The woman would tell him many thrilling stories of adventures in the world, and she would also caress the top of his head very gently. After a while, he would be unable to resist the sleepiness and fall into a deep sleep. When he woke up, the woman had long since disappeared.

Although he would be punished by his father when he returned to the sect afterwards, Yu Shiqi did not feel depressed and kept this secret.

Looking back now, his memory was very fuzzy, and he couldn't even remember the characteristics of that woman's mask. The only thing that was certain was that she also had this similar scent of incense.

Yu Shiqi subconsciously picked up the white clothes stacked on the stone platform and sniffed them carefully.

"Tsk." A disdainful voice came from behind. Yu Shiqi turned around in shock and found Xilingyue looking at him with a look of disgust.

There must be some misunderstanding...

Yu Shiqi put her clothes back in place in embarrassment, her ears red, and she looked as embarrassed as a thief caught red-handed stealing in a busy city.

Xilingyue smiled half-heartedly: "It doesn't matter. If you like it, I'll give it to you."

"Ah? No no..."

"The ceremony has been completed, and I will not wear it again. Anyway, there will be a new one every year."

"Ritual? Oh..." He was stunned for a moment before he realized that the ceremony Xi Lingyue was referring to was her singing and dancing last night.

Xilingyue looked at him and said, "You don't think I danced that dance on a whim, do you? It's dedicated to the Queen Mother of the West. Hey, do you know the Queen Mother of the West?"

"I know, Kunlun... no, the biggest god in the entire Western Wilderness, Lord Immortality." Yu Shiqi nodded.

Xilingyue curled her lips, showing a hint of joy, and then said seriously: "In fact, in the legend of our clan, the Queen Mother of the West is the creator of all living things, but immortality does not mean immortality, but endless life."

"I don't quite understand." Yu Shiqi shook his head.

"Stupid, how can anyone really live forever? It is said that the Ling clan can live for ten thousand years and shine with the sun, and the Xi clan can live for a thousand years and ride the waves and watch the sea. But have you seen these?"

Yu Shiqi still shook his head.

"So legends are all lies, and immortality is also a lie," she said.

"Doesn't that mean Queen Mother Xi is a liar?" Yu Shiqi asked.

Xilingyue did not refute him, but said meaningfully: "As an outsider, it is difficult for you to understand what I mean by immortality."

Maybe so. Until now, it was hard to say that there was no wariness and hostility hidden between them. Yu Shiqi sighed softly, put his painting box and luggage on his back and walked out of the cave.

Xilingyue followed him silently with her hands behind her back, walking through the long rock path, and the bell in her hand made one or two crisp sounds from time to time.

"Where are you going, young master?"

"west."

It was like they were back to the way they were when they first met yesterday, the conversation between them was restrained and formal.

"Yesterday you said you went into the mountains to look for springs in order to paint. Now that you have seen the springs, are you still going west?"

"Cleaning Moon Spring, Tianque Peak, I still haven't seen the scenery I want to paint."

Xilingyue was stunned and said, "Do you know how to get to Tianque Peak?"

"I don't know. If the girl knows, I hope you can give me some advice."

Xilingyue said in a cold tone: "I advise you to go back. Tianque Peak is very far away, and it will take more time if you are not familiar with the road. According to the climate in the Western Wilderness in previous years, it won't be long before snow falls and the mountains will be closed.

There is snow country all around for thousands of miles, if you are an outsider, you will die."

"I still want to try."

Xilingyue looked at him with disbelief, as if he was a fool.

"Why? If you wait until next year to come back at an earlier date, you don't have to risk your life. Do you think I'm tricking you? Or do you think the word Snow Country sounds beautiful?"

Yu Shiqi didn't understand why Xilingyue's tone suddenly became excited. He said, "I promised others that I would bring the painting back before the end of next month."

"Hey, how much money is your customer going to give you?"

Yu Shiqi pursed her lips and did not answer.

"I guess it's not much. Are you willing to risk your life to earn it? Didn't you say last night that you were afraid of death and that you had to live to do what you wanted to do?"

"Things I want to do while alive...this is included."

Xilingyue shook his head and said: "I won't tell you the way to Tianque Peak. Just give up this business. I bought the painting of Xiyuequan. I will also pay how much your patrons paid for your two paintings."

Same price.”

Yu Shiqi had a dazed expression on his face, as if he didn't understand what she said.

Xi Lingyue glanced at the painting box behind him impatiently, and took out the scroll of painting from it.

"Is that enough?" She turned her palm over and revealed five gold-lacquered coins. The front side had a moon pattern and the back side had characters engraved in Chinese characters.

Yu Shiqi's eyes widened. He knew that although this gold lacquer coin was not the official currency of Chenlin, it was more useful than gold banknotes and silver certificates in Xiliang Prefecture.

This is the recognized "common currency" of the Western Wasteland. According to the different patterns on the front, there are four types: moon, cloud, mountain, and flower. The moon is the most expensive and the flower is the cheapest. They are replaced by ten times each. A gold lacquer coin with a moon pattern.

It's worth a thousand patterned gold lacquer coins.

What can you buy with five moon-patterned gold lacquer coins? You can almost buy a mansion in the most prestigious area of ​​Jingrong City, the capital of Xiliang Prefecture, complete with servants and supplies.

Yu Shiqi had to look at Xi Lingyue's expression carefully, fearing that there was a dangerous murderous intention hidden in this ridiculous deal. After all, there are always weird people in the world who kill people for various strange reasons. The Yunzhong Sword swordsmen of the Huangwu Sect are always there.

They are all working hard to defeat these dangerous people.

"How much more do you want?" Xilingyue seemed to have misunderstood the meaning behind his hesitation, "This money is enough for you to find a place to settle down in Jingrong City. You don't have to wander around anymore, and you can paint your paintings in peace.

.”

In fact, what she said is absolutely right. Even if you need to travel again and again to paint those beautiful scenery in the world, at least you will have a home of your own where you can rest and settle down.

"No, I can't ask for this money." Yu Shiqi, who came back to his senses, refused seriously: "I don't know why the girl did this, but I know that my painting is not worth the price."

Xilingyue blinked in surprise, her eyes changed when she looked at Yu Qiqi, and after a while she said: "Whether a painting is worth seeing or not depends on what the buyer thinks. Now that I am willing to pay this price, don't you think it's worth it?"

Not selling it?”

"I won't sell it." Yu Shiqi said with absolute certainty.

"Why not sell it?"

Yu Shiqi just shook his head and did not continue to answer.

Xilingyue held his scroll in one hand and five moon-patterned coins in the other, with a look of disbelief on his face.

Yu Shiqi waited for a while and saw that she had nothing else to say. He thought that she was probably not willing to show him the way to Tianque Peak, so he solemnly clasped his fists to her and said goodbye: "I met the girl by chance, and I am very grateful for the care.

That’s it, let’s just say goodbye.”

Xilingyue looked at the painting in her hand: "Then...your painting..."

"I'll give this painting to the girl for free." After saying this, Yu Shiqi turned around and walked northwest along the mountain road.

Xilingyue asked from behind: "What about the promise you made to your customer?"

"Every scene I have seen is remembered in my mind, and I just paint another one."

Xi Lingyue silently watched his back fading away, reluctantly and reluctantly putting away the coins in her hand. Then she unfolded the scroll in her hand, looked down at it, and sighed softly.

There was a powerful flapping sound in the sky. Xilingyue heard the sound and looked up to see the Haidongqing hovering above her and smiled slightly. She stretched out her right hand wearing an animal skin girdle and blew a whistle.

After a long whistle, the hovering Hai Dongqing flew onto her wrist.

"Who did you bring here? Is it Red Flower?" she asked while teasing the sharp eagle beak with her fingers.

Two figures, a man and a woman, came from the other end of the mountain road. Both were wearing brown cloaks, and the woman's eye-catching red dress was vaguely exposed under the cloak.

After the two approached, they saluted Xi Lingyue together: "Holy girl, we are here to pick you up."

Xilingyue glanced at it: "Why is Cang Feng here too?"

"Anyway, I have nothing to do." The thin and slender man smiled lightly.

"I don't want to go back yet."

Cang Feng and Hong Hua looked at each other, each looking worried.

Xilingyue raised her eyebrows: "What's wrong?"

"Recently, traces of people from the Desolate Sect have been discovered in the Western Wasteland..." Honghua said in a low voice, "The Holy Master is very worried about your safety."

"People from the Desolate Sect?"

"I don't know yet, maybe... it has something to do with the murder that happened inexplicably in Jingrong City before." Cang Feng said.

"Those guys who claim to carry the banner of justice in the world always like to meddle in other people's business." Honghua curled her lips disdainfully.

Xilingyue looked at them suspiciously: "Jingrong's matter has nothing to do with us, right?"

"The Saint is worried that Desolation will cause trouble for us?"

"It's not something to worry about. This is the Western Wilderness far away from the Emperor Tiangao. Even the imperial army can only control a few big cities including Jingrong. There is nothing to be afraid of a few swordsmen in the deserted sect." She finished speaking.
Chapter completed!