31 Through the Night

Chapter 31 Piercing the Night

For a fleeting moment, Qin Ming felt as if someone had seen into his heart. The fire that engulfed the entire village two years ago seemed to burn from his memory into reality. The scorching heat and acrid smell of burning, the broken walls and corpses scattered everywhere, and that otherworldly young man in feathered robes all surfaced in his mind.

But the moment he turned around, he had regained his composure and felt at peace.

Although the woman in front of him had seen his destitute and embarrassed state when he was close to death two years ago, she could not possibly know his true experiences. If the two had had more interactions and past, it would be impossible for them to meet again only today when they were both near Silver Vine Town.

Qin Ming looked sincere and said, “Please tell me what happened, Miss Xie. Who took care of me back then? As you can see, I suffered a severe head injury and still don’t know what I went through during that time.”

Xie Lingxi planted the three-meter-long greatsword in the ground, glanced back at him, and said, “Back then, a man and a woman were traveling with you. They looked to be in their early thirties. From what they said, you couldn’t hold on any longer, and in the end, they could only leave you to fend for yourself.”

Qin Ming pondered, then murmured to himself, “I’m almost gone, and they’re still taking me on this long journey. Why?”

Xie Lingxi’s long black hair was a full seven feet long, her features were very three-dimensional, and her beautiful eyes shone like stars. She said, “I only heard a few words from afar. They want to take you to a remote place, completely away from the dazzling city. If you can survive, it would be best to settle down here.”

At this moment, a slender maid came to serve tea. The two teacups on the tray were quite different in size. She said, “My young lady once gave you a pill to replenish your qi and blood. Although it was not very precious, it was still a kind gesture.”

“Ah, thank you… Miss Xie.” Qin Ming immediately bowed. The other party had done him a favor but had not mentioned it. If this maid had not come to the backyard, he would not have known.

“Go down.” Xie Lingxi waved her hand, not letting the pretty maid say anything more.

Qin Ming cupped his hands and said, “Could Miss Xie please recall carefully if there were any other details from that day? I would be very grateful if you could tell me.”

“You were dressed in rags and stained with blood at the time, and it’s clear that even when your clothes were new, they must have been quite ordinary.”

Qin Ming nodded. During his second rebirth, he saw his younger self, wearing patched clothes. It was not surprising that his childhood was not easy. He just couldn’t understand why he would be killed and why the entire village would be engulfed in flames.

After thinking it over, Xie Lingxi said, “The two people who brought you here were mainly here to explore the spiritual mountains in this region that have been activated by the light of heaven. Since we discussed it on the way, hoping that you could settle down in a remote place, I guess they brought you here along the way.”

She said that the two had only met twice by chance on the road, and now she was just making guesses based on the few words the two had exchanged while they were hurrying along.

Qin Ming was lost in thought upon hearing this. What was the relationship between that man and woman and himself? They didn’t seem very close, yet they had saved him.

Meanwhile, what is the story behind the spiritual mountain activated by the heavenly light? He wanted to ask, but felt that asking too many questions would be impolite.

…

“Hehehe.” In the smaller living room in the front yard, a purple-eyed raven chuckled, looking at the woman draped in a black fur cloak, and said, “Those two boys mistook you for a young lady from the Xie family, caw caw caw…”

“Your laughter is awful!” The woman stretched out her long, slender finger and pointed it at the crow with a hazy light. The crow immediately took flight and nimbly dodged it.

The purple-eyed crow said, “I didn’t expect that such a remote area would produce two promising talents. I feel that if the other sick, foul-mouthed boy were to fully recover and return to his original form, he would also be quite remarkable.”

The woman spoke up: “That boy who is not good at speaking already has a master. It is obvious that someone is using extraordinary methods to help him improve his health.”

The crow said, “It is said that when the dawn broke through the night sky two years ago, among the dozens of blessed areas, this place was the darkest, with very little spiritual light. But that may not be the case. I actually saw two decent-looking teenagers in the nearby villages.”

The woman took a sip of tea and said, “My teacher is a man of profound learning, and his premonition is probably accurate. The celestial light from two hundred years ago may never have erupted here. It has accumulated to the present day, and now that two different colors of celestial light are merging, the special products born here will most likely be astonishing!”

The woman then pulled down the brim of her cloak, stood up, and said, “We should go. Senior Brother Xie will be very busy today. I didn’t expect that his daughter would take it upon herself to follow the path of the Giant Spirit God without consulting him first, which is causing him a huge headache now.”

…

In the end, Qin Ming couldn’t resist asking the noble lady in front of him for advice.

The other party has no obligation to help him answer his questions. If he is rejected because of this, he can just leave without feeling embarrassed. As long as he doesn’t feel awkward, it’s fine.

Xie Lingxi said, “After the sun sets, it never rises again. The moon and the stars in the sky have all disappeared. The light that shines through the night sky is light that accidentally penetrates the darkness. It occurs every few decades to a hundred years, without any pattern. It is quite extraordinary and can cause rare products to be born near the place where it lands.”

Qin Ming was genuinely grateful; the other party hadn’t put on airs and had actually told him directly.

“Miss Xie is beautiful and kind-hearted, unlike…” he began, noticing that if Xie Lingxi were shrunk proportionally, her face would be only the size of a palm, and she possessed a golden ratio figure. However, because she followed the path of the Giant Spirit God, everything about her was now much larger than that of ordinary people.

“Doesn’t look like what?” Xie Lingxi asked.

“Unlike some people who glance at her unintentionally and then glare back twice,” Qin Ming said casually.

“You’re not talking about my junior uncle in the front yard, are you?” Xie Lingxi asked with a surprised expression.

The woman who had just stepped out of the old nobleman’s mansion paused, while the purple-eyed raven flying low overhead let out a laugh: “Caw caw caw…”

“It sounds awful!”

…

Qin Ming felt embarrassed to freeload at the old nobleman’s house. He felt he had gained a lot today, and the information alone made the trip worthwhile.

As they approached Shuangshu Village, he was still thinking about what Xie Lingxi had said, pondering it for a long time along the way.

“I believe that with my three rebirths, those lost memories will eventually be retrieved,” he murmured, his gaze resolute.

Qin Ming realized that the old noblewoman was no ordinary person. Her daughter was very strong and was already nearly five meters tall at a young age, which meant that she had gone very far on the path of the Giant Spirit God.

“The two people who took me on this journey, the woman has a red mole in her right eyebrow, and the man has unusually long arms. I wonder if they will come to the mountains to harvest special products from the special nodes this time,” Qin Ming pondered.

He also knew that Moonfall City was quite large and very far away from here.

Soon, news came from Cao Long, Wei Zhirou, and Mu Qing that they would be entering the mountain in two days!

Now there is definite news: the higher-ups of Crimson Cloud City and the advanced beings in the mountains have reached an agreement that they will relinquish all the territory previously expanded by the aliens.

In the past, people from outside the mountains could go there to hunt and gather herbs; now, they can come and go as they please.

However, whether you want to go deeper and explore dangerous areas in the mountains depends on your own abilities.

Of course, the higher beings promised that they would not hunt in secret, but there are quite a few other dangerous creatures in the mountains, so those outside the mountains should handle it themselves.

The higher-ups in Crimson Cloud City also promised that they would not hunt them down in secret.

Clearly, even after both sides drove away the group of advanced beings from outside, the mountains would not be at peace. Even if the higher-ups did not engage in bloody hunts, there would still be old men from various families and other terrifying alien creatures in the mountains, who would clash in the areas where the night fog was thickest.

Once you delve deeper, bloodshed and conflict are inevitable, regardless of your identity or background.

“I can lead the way, but only to the outer areas; I won’t venture into those unknown regions!” Qin Ming informed Mu Qing and the others immediately.

“Sigh, we don’t dare to risk going deeper. That’s the old guys’ territory; they’ll go berserk.” Mu Qing, Cao Long, Wei Zhirou, and the others said with a sigh.

Most importantly, many people from other regions have also come here, and even in the outer areas, it is not so safe.

Because the news has spread, rare resources have already been found in some special locations and can now be harvested.

Over the next two days, Qin Ming witnessed various actions from all sides.

Not to mention those outsiders crossing the river, even local organizations are actively taking action, such as the Three-Eyed Cult and Golden Rooster Ridge.

The Three-Eyed Cult is very mysterious. It is said that it has members in distant cities, and this area is just a stronghold.

Normally, the local members of this sect like to use the power of their superiors to intimidate others. Before any conflict breaks out, they always tell others that they are from the Three-Eyed Sect and that there are top experts above them, so they should think twice.

But today they changed their tune; someone came to communicate with Xu Yueping, and things weren’t so simple and crude anymore.

“We are all locals. When we make special discoveries, we share them. Naturally, the rare local products should remain in our area. Look at those mountains, they are there, they will never move, they will accompany us throughout our lives, and even in death, we will sleep with them. The Three-Eyed Cult is rooted here, and like those mountains, it will endure forever…”

Old Liu, unable to bear it any longer, looked at the man with the scar on his face and said, “Scarface, you might as well be as straightforward as before. You should roll up your sleeves, stick the knife on the table, put your feet on the stool, and threaten us. We’ll tell you when we find a special node after we enter the mountain. Otherwise, once the people from Crimson Cloud City leave, you’ll remain here like the mountains and take revenge on us. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes, I actually wanted to say that too, but the higher-ups said not to be rough this time. You understand what I mean. I’m leaving!” Scarface, the second brother of the Three-Eyed Cult, turned and left.

Soon after, the people from Jinji Ridge also arrived. They used to be bandits, and although they had been recruited into the government, they were still feared by the nearby villages and towns.

Because the Golden Rooster Knights trained in Golden Rooster Ridge are very fierce and are very suitable for assassination in the mountains and forests. The golden free-range chickens correspond to secondary mutated creatures, and together with the master on their backs, they are quite dangerous.

…

“We’re about to enter the mountains…” You Liangyun sat in the quiet room. On the table in front of him was a jade jar containing some kind of spiritual substance. Consuming it would allow him to be reborn. There were still two days left before entering the mountains, enough time for his life level to be comprehensively improved.

He didn’t want to rush things, as he wanted to further hone the foundation of the new students.

But now his expression was uncertain, sometimes cold and sometimes hesitant. He was really unwilling to go to Liuguang City with that woman.

“You’ve all done your investigation, right?” You Liangyun asked the people outside the quiet room.

“Yes, everything has been investigated. It’s best not to look for him for the first two days after entering the mountains. He will most likely be with Mu Qing and Cao Long. Once that group is familiar with the terrain, we can probably go look for him.”

“good!”

Two days later, various groups began to enter the mountains.

To Qin Ming’s dismay, Old Liu, clad in armor and carrying a thick-backed broadsword, sat atop his large, tan-colored dog.

Not only him, Yang Yongqing, carrying two swords, rode on the back of a black goat that was taller than an adult’s shoulder, transforming into the Black Goat Knight.

“Let’s go into the mountains!” Cao Long, Wei Zhirou, Mu Qing and others set off with their team. They were just a small part of the young people from Chixia City. There were many more large groups from various organizations and families.

“Watch out! There are people here! Two-legged creatures have appeared!” Not long after entering the mountains, a magpie was shouting loudly above Qin Ming and his group.

This is a bird that can speak human language; it is incredibly clever and flies at an astonishing speed. It is currently sending a message to the creatures in the mountains.

The key words are “human” and “two-legged creature,” and the mutated beings in the mountains can understand these two transliterated words.

“Shoot it!” Cao Long said.

“There’s a huge horde of two-legged creatures here, bigger than a three-meter-tall bear!” Without a doubt, this talking sparrow has mutated. It’s not only sending messages to the aliens in the mountains, but also sending information to other human groups, hoping to cause them to fight amongst themselves.

Upon hearing this, Cao Long flew into a rage and personally drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

…

Boom!

Suddenly, five-colored smoke billowed into the sky from the depths of the mountains, shocking everyone. They had only just begun their journey into the mountains, and the most mysterious resource was already ripe and ready to be revealed?!

“My mountain god, a land bathed in five-colored mist has suddenly appeared! Charge!”