Chapter Thirty: The Flower City's Hua Shi

  After leaving the Shouyang city gate, Xuan Zhen lingered in the Huangshan area for several days. However, his memories of the past were like the eastward flowing river water, and he couldn't turn back. Helpless, he simply put this matter aside and focused on searching for the person with extremely strong yin-yang energy that his master had told him to find.

  As he traveled and toured along the way, he unknowingly went to many places. He cultivated in seclusion at Mount Kunlun for twelve years without asking about worldly affairs. Now that he had come down from the mountain, he naturally found many things strange and interesting. After visiting famous mountains and rivers, he also did a lot of demon-slaying and Dao-protecting along the way.

  In just over half a year, he had traveled through nearly half of the Central Plains' land. He had originally come from the north and was traveling south, and today he arrived at a small city in the most remote part of the south.

  It was March, the late spring season, and the gentle breeze seemed to carry a hint of warmth. In the small town, in front of houses and behind courtyards, everything was a vibrant purple and red. Along the roads and inside the courtyard walls, phoenix trees were planted everywhere, their newly bloomed flowers clustered together on the branches, exuding fragrance and covering the ground with crimson petals. The willow wind was soft and gentle, like a woman's slender hand hesitating to stretch out, and with just a slight touch, the flower branches trembled violently, shaking down a flurry of red rain.

  Xuan Zhen walked on the bluestone-paved street, admiring the scenery along the way. He felt that even the intoxicating flowers in the shade couldn't compare to this magnificent scene. There were so many fragrant flowers blooming freely, and yet there weren't as many people appreciating, cherishing, and cultivating them.

  All the way, I saw many people of different ethnic groups wrapped in turbans and wearing short jackets. It seems that because this small town is close to the southern border, those southerners come here to exchange goods such as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, rice, grain, and cloth for their daily lives. These ethnic minorities get along well with the Han people in the city, but their customs are very different from those of the Central Plains. Young men and women hold hands and play together everywhere, without any regard for the separation between men and women. Women expose their faces and even often show a pair of arms and a pair of small legs. Xuān Zhèn glanced at them sideways, then turned his head away, feeling slightly embarrassed but also broadening his horizons.

  After walking and stopping for a while in the city, he suddenly heard the sound of people clamoring in front of him, and arrived at a very lively place. Xuan Zhen looked around and saw that although there were many flower trees here, the houses became fewer and fewer, revealing a vast open space. Under the trees and on both sides of the road, many stalls were set up, and many small vendors were calling out to sell their wares. It turned out to be the city's market.

  Xuan Zhen listened clearly, and although the vendors' cries of "Drink! Sell!" behind him were in Chinese, they sounded somewhat awkward. The goods on display were also strange and exotic, and the merchants themselves were dressed differently from the other Han people around them. It seemed that these were some southern border tribespeople who had brought their tribe's specialties to exchange for silver coins. Xuan Zhen was naturally more interested in these vendors, lingering longer in front of their stalls than he did elsewhere, and when he came across something particularly fine and rare, he couldn't resist buying one or two pieces with his silver coins.

  In the market, there were also some snacks and miscellaneous foods. Xuan Zhen saw a Han woman's stall with exquisite and lovely pastries, so he casually picked up a few, wrapped them in paper, and continued to stroll elsewhere. Suddenly, three or four children appeared out of nowhere and collided with his legs. Xuan Zhen was caught off guard and instinctively unleashed a burst of internal energy, sending the child flying away. Just as he was about to bend down to ask if they were okay, the other two children suddenly panicked: "Tiger Head, hurry up and run! If we wait any longer, the wooden bird will fly away!"

  The child on the ground didn't even have time to blink or cry out, and quickly scrambled up, with two dirty buttocks following his playmates as they ran off to the side.

  Xuan Zhen stared at the two gray smudges on the child's buttocks, getting farther and farther away. He was stunned for a moment, and his curiosity got the better of him: "Wooden bird? How can a wooden bird possibly fly?" This was an extraordinary thing, he had to take a look. Thinking this, he turned around and followed after them.

  Not far away, I saw a stall in front of which many people were crowded, all of whom were half-grown children. The inside and outside of the small stall were packed tightly, so that nothing could be seen inside, but only heard bursts of joyful laughter and chatter.

  "Oh no, it's flying away!"

  "This can still move, haha!"

  "Fly higher, just a bit higher!"

  The children inside clapped and stomped their feet, excited beyond measure. The ones squeezed outside were anxious to the extreme. Among them was an exceptionally small one who couldn't see what the other kids were talking about even on tiptoes, so he stretched his neck, puffed out his cheeks, and jumped up and down like a little duck standing on hot coals. Xuan Zhen recognized at a glance the two black buns on that kid's butt - wasn't it the Tiger Head he had knocked over?

  He smiled slightly, his right hand pinched the sword's hilt and pulled it back, while his left hand stretched out to scoop up the child. He placed the kid firmly on the Spring Water Sword, which was like riding a bamboo horse. The sword let out a clear whistle as it floated forward with the child, who had widened their eyes in surprise. With a "wow", they tightly grasped the hilt of the sword, and soon a proud expression appeared on their face. They shouted loudly to their playmates below: "Look! Look! I can fly too! And I'm flying higher than that wooden sparrow!"

  The children on the ground heard the child shouting above their heads, and they all looked up to see him. They were both surprised and envious at what they saw. Xuán Zhèn smiled and said, "Now you can see clearly, right?"

  Just then, a very old voice behind the children suddenly whispered, "This... this swordsman who can wield a sword, may I ask you to come forward?"

  As soon as he heard this, Xuán Zhèn's heart was slightly puzzled, but he still lightly floated over the heads of those children and silently arrived at the other end of the field. Those children had just seen him use his sword to send the tiger head flying into the sky, and now seeing that he himself could also fly, they were even more astonished and clapped their hands in surprise.

  He landed on the ground, and suddenly a small object flew in front of him. Xuán Zhèn hastily grabbed it with his hand and took a look, only to find that it was a sparrow no bigger than the palm of one's hand. Its wings were still flapping, but there was not a sound coming from its beak. Upon closer inspection, this sparrow turned out to be an inanimate object, hard as stone when pinched between his fingers. It had been painted with a layer of varnish and carved with great precision, so that at first glance it looked just like a real bird.

  He took another glance at the stall, and only then did he see clearly that the things on display were all wooden trinkets, including birds, beasts, carriages, horses, and houses. Although they were made of ordinary wood, they were exquisite and delicate. Just as he was admiring them, a withered hand like an eagle's claw reached over from the side and took away the cloud swallow. Xuan Zhen turned his head to look, and found that there was also a thin old man standing beside him.

  The old man wore a dark-colored headscarf, a short jacket and shorts, with a pair of tattered straw shoes on his feet, apparently an outsider. His face was full of wrinkles like ravines, and his eyes were dull and unremarkable.

  But Xuan Zhen had been down the mountain for some days and had met some eccentric people, so he knew that some of them liked to disguise themselves as ordinary people and travel around. Therefore, he did not underestimate this old man because of his appearance. Moreover, he had heard from the elder of his sect that there were some capable people in the world who, although they were not skilled in martial arts or Taoist magic, were naturally clever with their hands and extremely skilled at inventing and manufacturing mechanisms. Even ordinary branches and wood could be transformed into exquisite and extraordinary mechanical devices in their hands. These capable people were what the world called masters of mechanics. It was just that no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't have imagined that he would actually meet one in a remote small town in the south, which was truly a rare occurrence.

  "I had heard that there were masters in the world who could create with their own hands carriages that could move without horses, and birds that could fly even though they were lifeless objects. I never thought that today I would be able to see them, what a great fortune." Xuan Zhen said with a bow and a smile.

  The old man glanced at him with his dim eyes, shook his head and smiled: "It's just a small thing to make people laugh, it doesn't deserve the praise of a knight. No matter how high this wooden bird flies, it can't compare to the height of a knight riding a sword into the sky." As he spoke, he looked at Chunshui, who was riding on the tiger's head, and his gaze condensed slightly.

  Xuan Zhen followed his gaze and looked over, wondering: "Is there anything special about that sword?"

  The old man shook his head again: "The sword is naturally a good sword, but what I'm looking at is the thing hanging from the hilt."

  The pendant on the hilt of Chunshui's sword was a small wooden pendant that Xuanzhen had tied to his waist when he entered Qionghua. Although it had been a long time, it was still very durable. Not only was the blunt blade of the one-foot-long wooden knife undamaged, but even the five-colored silk thread tied to the knife was still intact. Xuanzhen originally thought that this was just an ordinary object, but after coming down from the mountain, he realized that ordinary people wore jade pendants on their waists, and such ancient objects were rarely seen. At this time, listening to the old man's implicit meaning, it seemed that this wooden knife pendant had some extraordinary place, and he couldn't help asking: "What's so special about this sword pendant?"

  The old man said: "My eyes are not very good, I need to take a closer look before I dare to make a conclusion. If the knight doesn't mind, can you take down that sword and let me take a look?"

  Xuan Zhen didn't mind at all, and with a wave of his hand, he summoned Chun Shui to come before him. He first took down the tiger head and let it go play on its own, then removed the small wooden knife and handed it over to the old man. The old man held it in his hands, turning it over and examining it repeatedly, his dry fingers carefully stroking the shallow patterns on the blade. After a long time, he let out a breath and said: "Indeed, I didn't recognize it wrongly... Hero, this is indeed an object from Nanjiang."

  "What?" Xuan Zhen took back the small wooden sword pendant and looked at it again, feeling greatly surprised in his heart. He had never expected that a trinket he had carried with him for many years would have a connection to Nanjiang.

  The old man pointed and said, "Look at the knife, it has floral patterns carved on it. Those are rare flowers and grasses that grow in the southern border and are used to make poison. Behind the flower pattern, there are a few words hidden. Among the various tribes of the southern border, only the Black and White Witch Tribes have their own writing system, and among them, the Black Witch Tribe is most skilled in using poison. It seems that this wooden knife was made by someone from the Black Witch Tribe."

  Xuan Zhen was even more shocked and asked: "But I don't know what's written on it?"

  The old man shook his head and said, "I'm not a member of the Black Witch tribe, how can I know their script? You don't seem to be from our Southern Border tribe either. It seems that you've also got some connection with my Southern Border, so it's no harm in telling you a bit about the Southern Border."

  Xuan Zhen hurriedly bowed his hands again: "Thank you, sir. Xuan Zhen will listen respectfully."

  "Ah, you're Xuan Zhen? Han people's names are indeed a bit strange." The old man smiled, revealing several yellow teeth in his mouth. "My surname is Huo, and people in my tribe call me Huo Chou. Although the Southern Barbarian tribes have lived in the deep mountains for thousands of years without coming out, we are not the uncivilized, blood-drinking savages that you Han people think we are. The blood of our ancestors flows with the power of Nüwa Niangniang. Each tribe worships Nüwa Niangniang, but over the centuries, there have been many differences between us, and each tribe has come to live separately, gradually losing contact with one another. Some tribes slowly disappeared, while others grew stronger. The Black Witch and White Witch are now the two most powerful tribes in the Southern Barbarian lands. The Black Witch is strong because they excel at raising Gu and using poison, while the White Witch is strong because of their generations of descendants from Nüwa Niangniang."

  "Nüwa's descendant? Can't gods also leave behind descendants?" Xuan Zhenqi said.

  "It's just a rumor, some witches believe it, but others don't. However, I've heard that the descendants of Nüwa indeed have some unusual characteristics, and are said to resemble the statue of Nüwa left over from ancient times. But whether or not this is true can't be determined yet. After all, I'm just a villager who often goes out and about, that's how I know these legends."

  Xuan Zhen nodded slowly and asked again: "Which tribe does that scoundrel belong to?"

  "The calamity elder sank into thought for a moment before saying, 'It's no harm in telling you, I come from the Lingfu tribe and live in a place called Wumeng Spiritual Valley. As for other things, due to tribal rules, I can't say more.'"

  The southern mountains are numerous, and many of them are unknown, even if they have a name, only people living nearby know about it. When Xuan Zhen first arrived in this land, he had never heard of the name "Wu Meng Ling Valley". He didn't pay much attention to it at first, but after listening for a while, he forgot about it. Gu Su continued to tell him some other stories about the ancient tribes, and Xuan Zhen gained a lot of knowledge from them. It turned out that among the southern tribes, there was still a position called "Shaman", which they called "Wu Zhu". The highest-ranking Shaman in a tribe was the most powerful person, who could handle all major and minor matters within the tribe. Most Shaman tribes were like the Ling Wu tribe where Gu Su lived, where without the permission of the Shaman, even walking out of the village was not allowed. If they went out, it was usually only to go to the Han people's territory to buy some necessities. The tribes did not interact with each other and knew very little about each other. People like Gu Su who had a general understanding of other tribes' affairs were extremely rare.

  Xuan Zhen listened intently, his fingers gently stroking the small wooden knife, and suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He thought to himself: This pendant comes from Nanjiang... Nanjiang... Could it be that my past has some connection with Nanjiang?

  P.S. I just returned to the dorm yesterday and was busy cleaning up, so I didn't have time to update... Then today and tomorrow I'll be traveling with my roommates... So I quickly uploaded a chapter, and some weeds were cleared away...