Chaotic World Book-Chapter 279 - 274: Xuanwu?

They said they were healing, but this time neither side exchanged True Qi.

Before this, all their intimacies could be ascribed to "fighting side by side without minding the little things," "just healing, no need to overthink," "just a small reward for him," and various other pretexts.

They were comrades, she was like a sister... After all, not lovers.

But at this moment, Yue Hongling did not want to deceive herself, and Zhao Changhe felt the same.

After his first confession, "I like you," and he willingly bowed down to kiss her while she was willing to accept, both felt a solemn and serious commitment akin to a rite.

To like is to like; to commit is to commit; some things shouldn’t be utilitarian.

Zhao Changhe could never quite discern whether his special fondness for Yue Hongling was because she embodied the Worldly Society in his heart, or because he liked her as a person.

But at this moment, he felt no need to distinguish.

Because everyone’s vision of the Worldly Society is different... others might see Yue Hongling but may not feel she represents the beauty of the Worldly Society; Qiao Er only felt obtrusion and fear.

Only those with aligned spirits would find her actions perfectly match their aesthetic, feeling the beauty of the Worldly Society embodied in her.

Thus, his heart was stirred.

Was it the Worldly Society he liked, or her as a person? Had there ever been a distinction? They were always one and the same.

That initial stirring of the heart had finally led him to embrace her.

And wasn’t Yue Hongling’s heart stirred the same way? She had never imagined, the youth she had casually saved at Zhao Mansion would so perfectly match her temperament and preferences, as if she had met another version of herself, like a traveler hesitating in the desert finding a companion to journey with, henceforth walking together, her wandering heart had settled here.

I see the mountains charming, I suppose the mountains see me the same.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Yue Hongling gently pushed his chest, whispering, "Okay, let’s focus on the important matters."

Zhao Changhe, somewhat reluctant, yet knowing it was not the time for indulgence, asked, "Have you discovered something while staying in Rocky Mountain?"

Yue Hongling replied, "I indeed felt a very strange aura, extremely faint, almost imperceptible. Despite trying to perceive it, I could not sense it clearly, almost like an illusion. I was a bit stubborn, wanting to look more... Later, when my supplies ran out, I wandered around Yellow Sand Market to see if I could find some opportunities, and then I saw the Qiao Family caravan..."

"Seeing a Central Plains caravan here, suddenly got your fire up, didn’t it?"

Yue Hongling smiled, "Anyway, I bumped into a yellow-faced man, I thought he seemed quite fitting to help search for things here, he seems quite sharp."

Zhao Changhe laughed, "So you decided to throw yourself into his arms for a kiss?"

"Look at you, clever." Yue Hongling chided, "Aside from those nonsenses you just spouted, any other thoughts? Quick, tell me."

Zhao Changhe teased her flushed lips with a finger and chuckled, "Since there’s water, there must be nourishment."

Yue Hongling’s brows furrowed.

"I was talking about Rocky Mountain, where did your mind go?"

Yue Hongling: "..."

Zhao Changhe continued, "Yuan San is likely a subordinate of Ying Wu; their organization’s main goal is to search for lost Secret Realms. Yellow Sand Market forming around a small lake in the desert is abrupt and given the hint of imperceptible aura nearby, it’s normal for Ying Wu to send people for research. But they might be mislead by the key point, a lake in the desert is not rare, like Crescent... uh, anyway, similar natural environments exist, just results of ’the sea changes into mulberry fields,’ it doesn’t signify a Secret Realm."

Yue Hongling doubtfully asked, "How do you know whose person San Niang is, are you very familiar with her?"

"Do all women reach a certain point like this?" Zhao Changhe deliberately avoided answering and continued, "On the other hand, the location where you stayed, Rocky Mountain, has a small amount of water seeping out, which at least indicates the presence of underground water that has seeped to the surface. However, if it really is underground water emerging on the surface, the plants there are too sparse, which feels somewhat odd."

"I also found this odd, so I stayed there to observe!" said Yue Hongling excitedly.

Zhao Changhe pointed to the lake in front of them. "If I’m not mistaken, the exit is over there. The spatial membrane has developed extremely fine fissures, allowing the water here to seep out slowly, which is also the source of the so-called elusive aura. But precisely because it’s just this subtle seepage and not real underground water, the vegetation is sparse, which makes sense now."

Yue Hongling looked at him with sparkling eyes, truly thinking he was indeed very clever.

While figuring out where they would arrive after exiting didn’t help much with the current situation, it had to be said that knowing this eased their minds tremendously; the slight feeling of confusion they had earlier had completely disappeared.

Yue Hongling felt revitalized, her body full of vigor.

She didn’t say more but simply turned around and strode back to the pile of rocks. "Since it all relates to stones, I’ll study whether this pile of rocks where we spent the night also has an array. You rest first."

Zhao Changhe turned his head to look at her and suddenly noticed that her usual high ponytail had come undone at some unknown time. Now, with her long hair flowing and her white clothes as pristine as snow, from the back alone, no one would recognize her as Yue Hongling.

It was as if it heralded a subtle change in the female knight.

But she was still herself, still so straightforward and dashing, defining relationships clearly, kissing and then getting right back to work without any stickiness.

Zhao Changhe’s mood became carefree as well; he stretched his arms and briefly felt his rib injury before plunging into the water with a dive.

Who needs to recover cultivation to avoid holding breath for too long... He didn’t even know how deep the lake was—explore as much as possible first.

This space had no sun or moon, no wind—it was like a completely still dimension, which some might believe to be a vacuum homeland. Of course, Zhao Changhe knew this had absolutely nothing to do with a vacuum homeland, but such isolated dimensions defied common sense and couldn’t be reasoned with normally.

If there were treasures, they were likely at the bottom of the lake. The Wang Family’s Sea Mud was also located at the bottom of the sea, and these two might have been related in the last epoch, separated to different parts of the world due to dimensional collapse—why one was a lake and the other a sea was unknown, but the aquatic life was likely still the same.

The Sea Mud itself probably had nothing to do directly with the Sea Race, being born at the sea bottom, but it was likely occupied by the Sea Race. The little that leaked out and was obtained by the Wang Family was probably deliberate, secretly infused with the essence of the Sea Race, subtly permeating the Wang Family. This the Wang Family themselves did not yet know, and Zhao Changhe had no intention of helping them solve this mystery.

Since this place was isolated, there were no issues of the Sea Race infiltration, but rather of true Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

There must be treasures below, Zhao Changhe was very certain of this.

Submerging deeper and deeper, Zhao Changhe suddenly noticed a problem.

The small island above was not a floating island; he had dived very deep by now, yet he could still see the submerged part of the island, as if it never had an end.

This was a mountain at the bottom of the lake, interconnected below.

And the further down he went, the larger the mass of the mountain became, and the more he realized that the mountain was now below him. He could envision a huge arch-like, low-prostrate mountain shape in his mind.

Zhao Changhe remembered the earlier Rocky Mountain, also a low-prostrate shape like a turtle, with a tail even.

Everywhere corresponding to the form of a turtle, even here.

If these places symbolized a turtle, could the long, extending mountain ranges symbolize a snake?

The turtle and snake entwined, the water of the north.

What was that? That was Xuanwu!

Was this place related to Xuanwu?

Four Symbols Sect’s Xuanwu had long been in the Northern Border—was it because of this?

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