Ancient Country Returns to Ruins: Strange News from the Western Regions

  When I woke up with Wu Zihan, the desert was already in the depths of night. I shivered and felt a bit cold. Lao San told me to go warm myself by the fire. Fu Ma threw me an extra piece of clothing. The few of us didn't say anything, quietly sitting beside the bonfire.

  Since arriving in the Western Regions, I've encountered strange things that I'd never experienced in my life. Fortunately, I have these brothers by my side. Tonight is one of the rare moments of peace and quietness. Even Yang Cangcang, who usually loves to talk, is quietly sitting next to Wu Zihan. The road ahead is uncertain, with many more bumps to come. Suddenly, I feel like a big man has become timid and weak-willed.

  Karamay pulled out a leather wine bag from his bag, looked at us and said: "Come on, have some wine to warm up your body. It's homemade grain wine, low degree."

  I don't usually drink much alcohol, but I had a few sips today. This wine is quite strong and soon after drinking it my head started spinning.

  When drinking, Lao San glanced at me several times, and several times he wanted to speak but hesitated. I cleared my throat and said to Lao San: "If you have something to say, just say it."

  Lao San's face turned red as he spoke, fueled by the wine: "Second Brother, what that Forced Spirit said in the Nine Turns Array earlier, how much of it was what you wanted to say?"

  I was taken aback for a moment, then said: "What did the ghost say? I don't know at all. Although he is me, it doesn't mean he's necessarily the real me."

  Xiao Lao chuckled twice: "Jun Yang's little friend has a bit of philosophical depth in his words."

  "Lao San, we've been through thick and thin together as brothers, what do you mean by asking this?" Lao San lowered his head and didn't speak. Karamay hastily interjected: "Right, we're all brothers." He laughed a few times, but seeing no one else chiming in, he also fell silent.

  I looked at Wu Zihan, wanting to ask clearly about the dream just now, but he shook his head and said: "I'll keep watch tonight, everyone can rest assured and sleep, tomorrow we still need to go find the four-leaf ghost needle grass."

  Yang Cangcang said loudly: "Yes, you all hurry up and go to sleep, I'll keep watch with Zihan."

  Wu Zihan glanced at her and only said two words: "No need." He then fell silent, Yang Cangcang pouted and entered the tent. I had originally planned to sleep later, but was carried into the tent by Fu Ma and Xiao Lao, who said that the patient needed rest. Only Old Three and Wu Zihan were left outside.

  I tossed and turned in my sleeping bag, I don't know how long it took, but I vaguely heard Lao San and Wu Zihan talking. Lao San hesitated and asked: "Zihan, I'll ask you something, do you like Cengceng?"

  Wu Zihan didn't react for half a day, and didn't know if he still thought Lao San was talking to himself. The atmosphere was a bit awkward. Lao San got up and prepared to go to sleep. Wu Zihan said in a low voice: "I won't fall in love with anyone."

  After hearing this, I fell asleep and when I opened my eyes again, the sun was already high in the sky. Yang Cangcang was jumping up and down outside, saying: "Junyang is almost done, no wonder he's a descendant of the Supreme Emperor!"

  Karamay's mouth was stuffed with food and he said indistinctly: "Hurry up and eat, we're about to set off."

  Everyone gathered together, Xiao Lao spoke up: "This four-leaf ghost needle grass grows on the outskirts of the ghost mound. Everyone must be careful to distinguish it, as most ghost needle grass is three-leafed. The four-leaf ones are generally guarded by snake monsters. Be careful, everyone. However, most snake monsters are relatively large and empty shells, but still need to be cautious."

  After packing up, everyone started on the road. As they walked between the Tianyuan people's eyeballs and the ancient country of Daisen, the connection became murky. Wu Zihan could clearly feel the source of the power of the void, so he led the way.

  After walking for several hours, the temperature gradually began to rise, and I was almost soaked all over. Lao San complained while walking: "Big brother, what you brought is useless, we can't see anything no matter how far we walk."

  Xiao Lao looked around and said: "We're here."

  The surrounding scenery began to change, with irregular pits appearing on the ground, filled with magma that was bubbling and emitting white mist from time to time. A strong smell of sulfur wafted through the air, and sparse grass grew along the edges of the pits.

  Xiao Lao touched the Mediterranean hairstyle and said, "This ghost needle grass is indeed magical. It can grow in high-temperature magma. Everyone, be careful to find it, the flower leaves are four-petaled."

  "Old Xiao, there isn't even a volcano here, where did the magma come from?" I asked in puzzlement.

  Xiao Lao smiled slightly: "The mysterious place of this ancient country, you have only seen one percent."

  Lao San gazed at everything in front of him and exclaimed: "This place really looks like hell."

  "This ancient country was originally above the gates of hell, it's normal to be a bit strange." Karamay said with an expressionless face.

  I crouched down to take a closer look at the ghost needle grass, which was just an ordinary green leafy plant. However, its flowers were quite peculiar, with petals resembling pine tree leaves, shaped like needles and only having three petals. If you add a circle around the flower, it would be the logo of Mercedes-Benz.

  I've been searching for half a day, and my eyes are getting blurry. Everywhere I look, there are only three-petaled flowers. I'm getting impatient and say, "These are all three-petaled, where are the four-leafed ones?"

  Xiao Lao patted me and said: "Be patient, the four-leaf ghost needle grass is originally rare, but it's much easier to find than the Town Soul Grass."

  Everyone basically found one pit after another, at noon, the scorching sun shone on the ground, we were still near this high-temperature lava, I was about to heatstroke, sweat dripping down.

  Lao San plopped down on the ground with a thud, fanning himself with his hand and saying: "I'm not looking anymore, it's too hot to death." The others also looked disappointed.

  "Everyone look carefully, it must be there!" Xiao Lao comforted.

  Suddenly, Wu Zihan turned to us and beckoned with his hand, saying softly: "Here!"

  Yang Cangcang and Lao San rushed over excitedly together, "Found it?" They squeezed Wu Zihan to one side and carefully examined the grass, "Ah! It's really a four-leaf clover!" Yang Cangcang shouted.

  Wu Zihan furrowed his brow and made a "shh" expression towards her, the others' faces were also very serious, Yang Cangcang looked at everyone in confusion.

  Suddenly, a giant red serpent-like monster emerged from the lava pit in front of them. The monster opened its big mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and let out a loud roar, startling Yang Can-can. Old Three quickly drew his military knife upon hearing the sound.

  Xiao Lao Da shouted: "A Long, be careful! The magma snake monster's attack power is small, but it hides in the magma. Be careful not to scald yourself!"

  Wu Zihan blocked in front of them and said, "Fall back, I'll take care of this!" Yang Can's eyes suddenly sparkled, and Lao San waved his hand, imitating Wu Zihan's usual tone, saying, "No need to!"

  The serpent's body was enormous, standing in the magma with a height of about three stories, its entire body deep red in color. The outer skin appeared to be very hard, even able to withstand the heat of the magma. It stared with a pair of scarlet eyes.

  The monster opened its big mouth and bit towards Old Three, who was standing at the edge of the snake's mouth. With a fierce stab, he thrust his knife into the snake's mouth. The snake saw that it hadn't bitten anything and immediately loosened its jaws. Old Three retreated two steps back, trying to lure the snake onto land. However, the monster seemed to have anticipated his plan and stood still, staring at him. Taking advantage of Old Three's distance, it swiftly swept its tail towards Yang Cangcang. The movement was too fast, and Cangcang didn't react in time, falling flat on her backside.

  Lao San saw that things were not going well, so he quickly ran back to the edge of the pit, pulled out the four-leaf ghost needle grass and turned around to run. The snake monster suddenly became anxious, forgetting its advantage in the rock magma, and quickly chased after him. Seeing the monster come out, Lao San handed the grass to Xiao Lao with a swift motion, and then stopped suddenly. The monster lowered its head, opened its bloody mouth wide, ready to swallow him alive.

  Lao San leaped up and landed on the snake's head, using his military knife to fiercely stab into the snake's eyes. Instantly, blood splattered everywhere, and the monster writhed in pain on the ground. Seeing an opportunity, Lao San used his knife to pierce through the snake's head from top to bottom, and the snake monster struggled a few times before lying still on the ground.

  We stared at Lao San, who was covered in snake blood, with our eyes wide with shock. Karamay sighed and said, "Indeed, the power of love is still great."

  Lao San looked like Wu Zihan possessed him, with a cold gaze he glanced at us and said: "Hurry up and calm your souls!"

  Xiao Lao carefully examined the four-leaf clover, suddenly furrowing his brow. He asked Wu Ziheng: "Ziheng little friend, this grass has fine red threads on its leaf veins, I remember it didn't have them before? Is this really a four-leaf clover?"

  Wu Zihan was also a bit bewildered: "I really haven't seen four-leaf ghost grass with red threads before, let's find another one."

  "This grass is just for calming the soul, we can try it out, at worst it's just a failed attempt to calm the soul, and then we can look again later." Karamay interjected.

  "Just... " Fan Ma had only said half when he was interrupted by Yang Cangcang, who impatiently said: "Hurry up, a few big men dawdling around, what's the worst that could happen if the soul-calming fails? We can just try again."

  Xiao Lao nodded and said: "Then it's settled." Xiao Lao handed the grass to Wu Zihan.

  Wu Zihan put the four-leaf clover in his hand, muttered a spell that we couldn't understand, and the grass instantly turned into green lights mixed with red lights. The green lights fell to the ground, forming a circle. Xiao Lao took out the spray bottle of holy water from last time when he caught the moth man and poured it into the circle.

  I helplessly looked at him and said: "Is this again the urine of Mr. Xiao Xianren?"

  "This isn't natural, this is the exclusive brew of our family's ancestral recipe, Shao Shi Zhen Hun Water. Ordinary people don't get to see it." Old Shao said with a smile. After he finished speaking, he said to me: "Come on in."

  As soon as I stepped into the circle, I suddenly felt that I was controlled by some kind of power, my whole body became stiff, and under the cover of that green light, another semi-transparent me slowly appeared on top.

  Xiao Lao beckoned me with his hand and said: "Come out, Jun Yang."

  I saw two overlapping selves wanting to walk out, I walked out easily, but the semi-transparent ghost was trapped in the circle. He cursed loudly inside: "Zhou Junyang, you will regret abandoning me for a lifetime, just wait and see."

  Wu Zihan continued to chant the spell, and the ghost's voice grew smaller and smaller. Yang Cangcang smiled and said, "It will be successful soon."

  Who would have thought that the green-shrouded soul, was suddenly covered by a red glow. Wu Zihan suddenly opened his eyes and shouted: "No, I also can't hold back."

  The specter shrouded in red light became increasingly clear, and he laughed at me, saying: "Thanks to your Four-Leafed Soul Grass, I've finally completely separated from that coward Zhou Junyang. I'll replace him sooner or later." Then he disappeared before our eyes.