Chapter Thirty-Seven: Betrayal of the Black Sorcerer Clan

  This time when he woke up again it was already dusk. The forest was originally gloomy, and now it was even darker everywhere. Xuan Zhen was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly remembered that he had been poisoned by the miasma. He hastily mobilized his true energy to circulate throughout his body, and after one cycle, he found that everything was fine. He let out a long sigh of relief, and his whole body relaxed again.

  Looking around again, it was no longer the place where he had fainted. Xuan Zhen simply got up lightly and felt a sway under his body. It turned out that he had arrived at a branch, and his hands and wrists were entwined with many green vines and tree trunks. The vines were not tied tightly, and it seemed that the person who put him on the tree did not intend to bind him, but only to prevent him from falling down carelessly. Although these green vines were flexible, Xuan Zhen's cultivation was not weak either. With a light pull of his fingers, the vines all broke into two segments and fell down the tree.

  He stood at the treetop, not hurrying to go down, but instead furrowed his brow in contemplation. The purple-clothed girl who was by his side before he fainted, when he woke up he had changed places, it must have been her who saved him from leaving the poisonous swamp, only, where did that little girl go now?

  Just then, a singing voice suddenly came from the side of my ear. The sound was not very close, but in this quiet forest, it was exceptionally clear, passing through the treetops, sweeping across the leaves, and drifting with the wind, gentle and lingering. It seemed to bring a different flavor to this dark land full of poisonous flowers and snakes in the south. Xuan Zhen listened quietly, feeling that the wind blowing from that direction seemed to have less of the smell of rotten leaves and dry branches, and more of a faint, indistinguishable fragrance.

  Having traveled in the southern wilderness for several days, Xuan Zhen heard human voices for the second time. Without hesitation, he stretched out his right hand and leapt from the treetop, with Chunshui Sword flashing out of its scabbard and flying forward to stop exactly where Xuan Zhen's foot landed. The sword tip was slightly raised, and it charged forward rapidly like lightning.

  The whole way was dark, with only a few branches occasionally sticking out from the night shadows, forcing him to narrowly avoid them. The tree shadows on both sides kept retreating backwards, and the gray evening fog was also split open by the sword light of the spring water, revealing a narrow opening. The singing voice seemed like a butterfly dancing lightly in front of the sword, fluttering up and down, guiding the direction. Suddenly, without warning, the misty fog dispersed, followed by the sound of clear and cold water.

  The gurgling of the brook seemed to be cut off by the gray fog, and it was hard to hear in the fog, but once out of the mist, it suddenly became clear. On the contrary, that mysterious singing voice was not disturbed by the fog at all, and it spread far and wide, clearly and loudly.

  In the morning, a silver stream appeared before my eyes, with a very slow current, gurgling out from behind the trees. The singing voice had not stopped, and it came rushing down from the upper reaches of the stream, along with the white water flowers.

  The momentum of the Spring Water Sword had slowed down, and Xuan Zhen led it to hover just above the creek water, slowly drifting forward with the song. At this time, the remaining mist had already become like wet rice paper that couldn't block one's line of sight, but before long, a few strands gathered again. Xuan Zhen brushed aside a wisp of gray in front of him, his gaze unobstructed as he looked straight ahead, and a hint of surprise floated onto his face.

  But the silver creek is like white silk, extremely soft and delicate, divided into two streams by a large snow-white boulder, only to merge again soon after. Water splashes everywhere, sounding like pearls falling onto a jade plate, faint water mist like a fantasy or a dream, gauze-like enveloping a slender purple figure on the rock.

  It was already dusk, but the girl seemed to be surrounded by a faint light, her originally beautiful face had an extra air of elegance, her bright eyes were gentle and lively, her glances were extraordinary, her lips were red and her teeth were white, when she smiled slightly, she had a few hints of childishness. A purple dress was tied at the waist, revealing a pair of snow-white jade feet stirring up water flowers, swaying back and forth in time with the rhythm of the song, lively and charming to the extreme.

  Xuan Zhen stood on the sword, staring blankly for a moment, and suddenly felt a hint of embarrassment. He was not unfamiliar with beautiful women, his fellow female disciples in Kunlun Mountain, Su Yao and Su Xiang, were rare beauties, and Yu Er, who had just been accepted as a disciple by Tai Qing Zhen Ren, was even more stunningly beautiful. However, he had always been calm and composed, at most silently admiring them, never having his heart stirred. But somehow, just now, looking at that 13 or 14-year-old girl swinging her legs on the big rock, his heart seemed to have skipped a beat.

  That's a little girl! Xuan Zhen couldn't help but scold himself in his heart, but his thoughts drifted away uncontrollably, and he felt as if the beautiful scene before him was not the first time he had seen it. It seemed that many years ago, there was also such an adorable girl... sitting on a big stone... with a pair of green... flower shoes...

  "Ah!"

  The back of his head suddenly felt a severe pain, like thousands of needles piercing his skull, and it seemed as if that place was being chopped with an axe, and more like a large hammer had heavily smashed down, smashing all the faint thoughts that had appeared out of nowhere into powder. Xuān Zhèn supported his forehead with his hand, and his legs felt weak, but fortunately, the magic sword still had its spirit, and with great effort, it brought him to the edge of the stream before slowly falling down.

  "Huh, you're awake?" The singing stopped abruptly, followed by the sound of splashing water. The girl's soft voice also drew closer, "Hey, bad guy, what...what happened to you?"

  The pain disappeared in an instant, and Xuan Zhen furrowed his brow, his mind a mess. This pain was indeed strange, coming suddenly and then dispersing after a while, but it had come several times already. On ordinary days, he could still hold on, but if it happened during a battle against monsters or enemies...

  "Hey, bad guy, bad guy?"

  Xuan Zhen's thoughts were slightly calmer, and he saw that in front of him there was a pair of snow-white bare feet, the purple hem of her clothes dripping with water. Looking up further, it was a lovely face with a hint of worry, exactly that spoiled purple-clothed girl.

  "...Xuan Zhen is fine, miss, don't worry." Xuan Zhen stood up, waved his hand to put Spring Water back in its scabbard, the wooden hilt swayed slightly, and the long silk thread below shook out a colorful pattern.

  The girl in purple clothes looked at the pendant and seemed to still have a fond expression on her face, finally couldn't help but say: "Hey, bad guy, I saved your life, you give me that pendant, and I won't ask for thanks, okay?"

  Xuan Zhen looked at the wooden knife pendant again, and then glanced at her sideways, saying: "It's not possible. This wooden knife pendant isn't even a valuable item, why must you have it?"

  The girl in purple clothes was taken aback, pouting and saying: "If you don't give it to me, then don't give it to me. Why ask this and that? I just saw the face of a dead man from the Black Witch tribe once, and when I asked him for it, he was too stingy. Hmph, what can he do if he doesn't give it to me? Can't I make one myself to wear? When the time comes, I'll make dozens or hundreds of them and show them to him in front of his face...". As she spoke, her anger towards that "dead man's face" was evident.

  Xuan Zhen suddenly understood the three words "Hei Wu Zu" and hastily asked, "Little girl, have you been to the village of Hei Wu Zu?"

  The purple-clothed girl nodded, looking at him inexplicably: "Yes, it's just behind the Divine Wood Forest. Didn't you know?" She looked him up and down, suddenly realizing, "Ah, I knew why I felt something was off about you as soon as I saw you...and you're so afraid of snakes...it turns out you're not from our Southern Border!"

  "Little girl, I'm not actually from the Nanjiang tribe, but there's something important that can only be resolved in the place where the Black Witch tribe is. I've been circling this forest for days and still haven't found it. If you can take me to the Black Witch tribe, I'll give you another gift, how about it?"

  The purple-clothed girl's big eyes rolled around and she pointed at the wooden knife pendant, saying: "Then I want this one——"

  "This won't do, there are many fun things in the Central Plains, I'll give you something else, how about that?" Xuan Zhen hastily interrupted her thoughts, enticing her with other things.

  The girl in purple clothes pouted, her eyes rolled around again, and she reluctantly said, "Alright, alright... I don't want anything, but you have to promise me one thing."

  "Alright, alright." Xuan Zhen finally found some tricks to coax the little one, smiling as he said, "But I won't do anything bad."

  "Hmm, I haven't thought of a good excuse yet, so let's just owe it for now... Taking you to the Black Witch tribe isn't a big deal, but on the way, you have to tell me some interesting stories." The purple-clothed girl said with a smile, "You mentioned Central Plains earlier... You must be from Central Plains, right? I've never left Southern Border before... Tell me more about it!"

  "Alright, alright." Xuan Zhen smiled and said, "Then let's not delay, little girl, shall we be off?"

  The purple-robed girl smiled and nodded: "I already know you're called Xuan Zhen, so I'll tell you my name too... My name is Zi Xuan, the most important person in the White Witch tribe..."

  "What a big shot!" Xuan Zhen smiled and continued with her.

  Suddenly, another burst of silvery laughter echoed through the forest.

  P.S. Recently, I've heard that many of you mistakenly thought this was a romance novel. I'm shocked! Although I did use heavy ink to describe several beauties out of my love for strong-willed beauties, the ones I truly love are still Xiao Ge and Zi Ying. Please rest assured, although this story is slow-burning, its attribute is absolutely [danmei]. Zhen Yu, Zhen Ci, and Zhen Zi are all just fleeting clouds!