Chapter 73: I am not Gongzi, flying ring and flowing fire

  While walking and stopping, in the blink of an eye, a day has passed.

  In the past day, Ning Feng and Shu Baili's previous fatigue all burst out, and their pace slowed down a bit. A day's journey was only tens of miles.

  Even so, Tiandu Mountain Sun God Temple is still in sight, just a day or two's work.

  "Is that the Tian Du mountain range?"

  At leisure time, Shu Bailin was busy with various errands, running back and forth in front of the horse, then sat down by the bonfire, hugging his knees, gazing at the massive shadow in the distant dark night and asked.

  "Yes."

  Ning Feng sat beside him, gazing in the same direction.

  In the past day, everything that could be done has been done. Ning Feng is not narrow-minded and can let go of his own life. He has relaxed a lot and chatted with Shu Bailin about many things.

  There is a young man who seeks immortality with all his heart, and Ning Cai Chen exhausts his family's wealth to fulfill his son's wish; there is a youth in Chaoyang Town, outside the gate of the Temple of Gods, who encounters the dawn and persists stubbornly, refusing to give up no matter what.

  "It's really good."

  Xiu Baoling's envy couldn't be hidden at all.

  Having dreams, being able to work hard for them, having people willing to help, and actually succeeding.

  "Afterwards, it was found that reality is even better than dreams."

  Shu's eyes turned green with envy.

  "And you?"

  Ning Feng looked at him with a curious expression and asked.

  During this period of time together, he has come to realize that Shu Bailin is indeed a talented person. Saying that he is well-versed in all fields may be an exaggeration, but he does have some understanding of various schools of thought. Some unconventional methods and obscure knowledge are at his fingertips, and his miscellaneous skills can be put to use at any time.

  Such a person is already a story in himself.

  I'm so comfortable.

  Shu Bailin lay down. Using her hand as a pillow. Muttering to herself. Her voice was muffled, as if she had fallen into memories, and like a dreamy murmur.

  "Ugly since childhood, abandoned at birth, grew up drinking dog's milk."

  "Later, I was kidnapped by a Taoist priest and ran around everywhere, seeing all kinds of people, suffering all kinds of losses, and taking advantage of all kinds of cheap opportunities. Being despised and insulted, I've been living on my knees until now."

  "Ning Gongzi, do you know what I want most?"

  Shu Bailin suddenly sat up, his eyes shining brightly in the dark night beside the bonfire.

  "Don't call me young master."

  Ning Feng shook his head, correcting him: "I am not a young master. Those who are called 'young masters' are born with dignity and pride, walking forward with their heads held high. There is naturally a path beneath their feet."

  I am different."

  "I was born in an ordinary family. When I was very young, I saw my father exhaust our family's resources and still couldn't find a way to become immortal. So I understood a truth."

  He stood up, gazing at the Tian Du mountain range, letting the night wind blow his scholar's robe, not looking disheveled, but instead appearing carefree and clean.

  "What I want, no one will bring to me, all need to be paid with effort, all need to be persisted, even if crawling, must climb up and pick it up with my own hands."

  "Whether it's in the vastness of space or in this boundless human world, traversing through time and space, leaving behind one's name, letting all people on earth know that I once came here, it is all like this."

  Ning Feng turned his head and smiled, his smile was clean, his eyes were clear, and he said: "The posture of climbing is no different from crawling, isn't it?"

  Shu Bailin stared at him blankly, chewing on the meaning of his words. After a moment, she cracked open her mouth and laughed.

  "Alright, Brother Ning."

  Ning Feng nodded, this title was much more pleasant to hear.

  The conversation went on, and before they knew it, their relationship seemed to have taken another step closer.

  At least Shu felt that way.

  If not, Ning Feng had been calling him that for so long without correcting it, and now he was being so serious about it. It meant that before this, Shu Bai Ling was still just a passerby in Ning Feng's eyes, so what did the title even matter?

  "It's almost time."

  Shu Bailin was about to say something, but Ning Feng suddenly changed his expression and looked in another direction.

  "Huh?"

  Shu felt both annoyed and puzzled, looking in the direction he was heading, but it was pitch black and there was nothing to be seen, which made him even more curious.

  He was about to ask when Ning Feng raised his index finger to his lips and whispered, "Listen carefully."

  "...and indeed there is."

  Shu Bailin suppressed his distracting thoughts and concentrated on listening carefully. Sure enough, he faintly heard strange cries drifting in with the wind.

  "Rustle rustle rustle... rustle rustle..."

  Faint and disordered, with long and short intervals intermingled, it sends shivers down one's spine when heard.

  The sound grew louder and clearer, as if something was approaching relentlessly.

  Closer, even closer!

  Ning Feng and Shu Baili's faces were a bit off-color, that voice fell into their ears, and in their minds, they immediately restored this scene:

  Tens of thousands of mice filled the ground, wherever they passed seemed like a large piece of gray, wriggling gray carpet, all moving were sharp mouse heads.

  This scene was too scary, and both of them shook their heads, shaking it out of their minds.

  "Or else... we..."

  Shu Bailin swallowed a mouthful of saliva and stammered halfway through his words before seeing Ning Feng nod, saying: "Alright, let's go take a look."

  As soon as the words fell, Ning Feng followed the source of the sound and went over, leaving Shu Bailin in the original place, like a chaotic fire in the wind.

  "What's good about it? I...I didn't mean it like that..."

  Shu Bailin wanted to shout out loud, he clearly wanted to say "Why don't we get out of here", how did it become twisted?

  He couldn't understand what was going on but had no choice, so he reluctantly followed Ning Feng's back figure with a bitter face.

  "Wait... wait for me."

  Shu Bailin chased after him, panting heavily, dozens of breaths passed, and Ning Feng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

  "Huh? It's her!"

  Ning Feng stood up straight, and Shu Baili, who was following closely behind him, could feel that his breathing had changed, seeming somewhat... tense.

  "What happened?"

  Shu Bailin poked her head out from beside Ning Feng and looked ahead.

  In an instant, a picture of beauty and horror intertwined appeared before his eyes.

  Under the starry sky, a woman in white clothes, her sleeves fluttering. She was flying upside down and jumping freely, like a white cloud floating away.

  About a hundred feet in front of her, the "gray carpet" was constantly crawling, with no grass growing where it passed. Who knows how many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of rats formed an army, making a continuous rustling sound.

  "What a big family of mice."

  Shu Bailin's eyes almost popped out, and he blurted out, "How can this fairy-like girl attract so many old mice?"

  Ning Feng heard this and felt that something was off, so he gave him a sideways glance and coldly snorted: "If you can't speak properly then don't speak. What's the point of attracting mice?"

  Shu Bailin was taken aback for a moment, then reacted and asked with a hint of curiosity: "Ning Ge, an acquaintance?"

  "Hmm!"

  Ning Feng nodded. This white-clothed woman was all too familiar to him; the tune "Phoenix Comes" still lingered in his ears.

  Chen Ximiao!

  Now appearing in front of him, being chased and killed by a large army of mice, was none other than Chen Xiwei.

  "I didn't expect her to come down the mountain too."

  Ning Feng's mind flashed with an idea, without delving into its meaning, and he racked his brains to think of a way to get her out of the mouse army.

  Suddenly

  Chen Ximiao gently descended like a startled swan and stopped without warning.

  The moonlight was like water, sprinkled on her body. Flowing over her bright and clean face, it reflected her strong will clearly.

  Opposite them were countless mice with red lights in their eyes, trampling each other, forming a massive army that surged forward like a huge wave.

  "Not good!"

  Ning Feng and Shu Bailin exclaimed in unison, with Ning Feng grabbing onto Shu Bailin and hastily saying, "Fu."

  "What's wrong?"

  Shu Bailin slapped his forehead, suddenly understanding.

  They are now at least a few miles apart from each other, with hills undulating in between. If it weren't for the perfect angle and the bright moon in the sky, they might not have been able to see each other.

  In this case, if you want to get there at the first time, there is only one way...

  Shu Bailin's face turned sour, intending to persuade him, but seeing Ning Feng's expression as if he was about to devour someone, he immediately swallowed his words without hesitation. His hands left residual shadows as he slapped a talisman onto Ning Feng's body, lightly shouting: "Dì!"

  With a "whoosh", Ning Feng flashed out like lightning and rushed straight to where Chen Xi was staying.

  The effect of this symbol is that when they encounter a demon that stops them in their tracks, they can verify it and come over, the speed is so fast that there's nothing to say, it just can't be stopped...

  Ning Feng didn't care about stopping or not at this time, he just wanted to rush up and fight side by side.

  After a flurry of activity, from start to finish it was only one or two breaths' worth of time, the army of mice surged forward again for over ten zhang, and the distance between Chen Xi and Wei had already shrunk to less than 100 zhang.

  Among the earth-shaking "squeak squeak squeak" cries, a woman's clear and pleasant voice suddenly rang out:

  "Human emotions are indeed... affectionate... foolish, entwining and lingering, never resting..."

  Chen Xi hummed a soft tune, her left hand stroking the fair wrist of her right hand, slowly sliding down a golden ring from her wrist, which she then held between her palms.

  Her movements were elegant, neither fast nor slow, and precisely matched the rhythm of the chanting. As the last one fell, she opened her palms just in time to face the advancing army of mice.

  "Wow!"

  Whether it was Shu Bailin who was still in the distance or Ning Feng who had run a third of the way, both of them suddenly felt a flash before their eyes and saw countless golden lights.

  "This is..."

  As the wind subsided and the dust settled, he saw that what had scattered into a sky full of stars, shining with dazzling golden light, was actually that golden ring.

  The moment the ring left his hand, it split into two, then four, eight... and so on, to infinity, countless.

  Each one is unique in shape, when scattered, either flying horizontally or vertically, or slanting... no two hand rings have the same angle.

  Innumerable armlets, colliding with each other countless times, and every collision gives birth to even more golden rings, echoing that one chant: entwined, entwined, forever without end.

  "Hoo hoo hoo~~"

  Behind Chen Xiwei, a fierce gust of wind wrapped around the flickering flames, catching up with the hand ring and propelling its speed, igniting small sparks on each hand ring.

  The sun is really hot!

  At that moment, the night sky was filled with stars, and the ground had flying rings of fire.

  The wind suddenly stopped for a moment, as if it could be seen that the beauty of the scenery in front of me was even more dazzling.

  "Squeak"

  The army of mice who squeaked out in a shrill voice had a completely different idea.

  A storm of flying rings and a legion of mice clashed head-on, in an instant, like a wildfire spreading across the prairie, or an oil lamp falling onto a carpet, screams, flesh colliding with flesh, roasting meat sounds, rose and fell in succession.

  "That's amazing!"

  Ning Feng's eyes didn't even blink as he watched the entire scene unfold, witnessing with his own eyes the army of rats being utterly annihilated by Chen Ximiao's single strike, leaving him speechless.

  "Is this the power of the treasure?"

  This was Ning Feng's first time seeing the might of a treasure bursting out under the stimulation of a cultivator, and it was far from comparable to that toy-like embroidered ball in his courtyard back then.

  Ning Feng couldn't even tell what level of treasure this was.

  After the shock, he let out a slight sigh of relief, at least Chen Xiwei was safe and sound.

  Chen Ximiao's face was covered with fine sweat, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his palms that had been stretched out.

  "Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~"

  Innumerable golden rings flew back, layered and overlapping, entwined together, finally pressed together between a pair of jade hands, then spread out again to be a single ring, slipping back onto Chen Xiwei's wrist.

  A bright wrist with a golden ring, shining together and radiating brilliance.

  "Are you still not coming out? Your descendants will all die out, you rat!"

  Chen Xi's soft voice was clear and far-reaching, echoing in the night sky...

  PS: The third update, I'm continuing!

  My body isn't feeling too great, I'm a bit dizzy, and my efficiency has dropped a lot. It's taking me longer to write, sorry everyone.

  I will persist.

  Continue to ask for monthly votes, and the difference from the previous one on the new book's monthly vote list is just a matter of twenty or thirty votes, let's rush up.

  Above, the Dongjiang River flows generally eastward