Chapter 27: Do You Dare To Go?

  Do you dare go?

  Shen Du had long promised that he would give up his life for Fei Lu if necessary. Since Sha Cheng was in trouble, he naturally couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He said calmly:

  "What is there to fear? Even if a Sword Emperor stood before me, what would I have to be afraid of?"

  Indeed, six years ago he risked his life to hold off Fu Xingbo and others so that Murong Ling could take Pei Xuexian away from the Imperial Capital, a feat that few people can achieve.

  Ji Lao stared at Shen Du with a look of surprise on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard, and asked again:

  "You really dare to go, do you know that everything in Jiuyou City is unfamiliar, and once you enter, it's highly likely that you'll never be able to leave even if you live forever. Are you not afraid of being alone and growing old in such an unfamiliar place?"

  There are so many treasures gathered in Jiuyou City, Shen Dou is determined to revive the Shen family, and he wants to help Feilu solve his current troubles. Moreover, there are still too many unresolved puzzles in his life, only by making himself stronger can he achieve all those seemingly impossible things.

  "Don't worry! Please tell me how to enter Jiuyou City." Shen Du said with a firm expression.

  The old man stared at Shen Dou with an unwavering gaze, his eyes filled with admiration. The thin, gaunt face was transformed into a radiant and resplendent one. He walked up to Shen Dou and pulled out a sheepskin scroll from his bosom, handing it over to him, saying:

  "This map will allow you to reach Jiuyou City faster."

  Feeling the old man's trembling hands, Shen Du asked with a puzzled mind: "Excuse me for being presumptuous, but how did you get this sheepskin map?"

  "That was over a decade ago, when the old city master obtained this map and secretly entered the Nine Underworlds City, he handed it to me for safekeeping and instructed me that if the Sandy City faced a crisis, I should give this map to the bravest warrior of the Sandy City and have him bring it to the Nine Underworlds City." said Seasoned Old Man.

  "So you're giving me this map then." Shen Du expressed his doubts again: "Aren't you afraid that once I go in, I'll never come out and won't be able to help Shachen anymore? Or what if I don't return at all and ignore the fate of Shachen?"

  Seasoned old man heard the words, deeply gazed at Shen Dou, those cunning eyes seemed to be able to see through Shen Dou's heart, stretched out his hand and patted Shen Dou's arm saying:

  "You won't let us down, from your eyes, I can see that you are absolutely upright and have the ability to enter Jiuyou City, successfully cultivate and return to Shacheng, solving the difficulties for Shacheng." Old Season's words were full of confidence.

  Shen Dou raised an eyebrow and said suspiciously: "Oh, you know all this, then tell me, what else did you figure out."

  The old man heard this and frowned, then opened up his tightly furrowed brow, and burst out laughing.

  "You're quite interesting, kiddo, but I'm not going to tell you everything, otherwise life would be too boring for me if you figured it all out." With that, he found a chair and sat down.

  "Come on, Seasoned Old Man, just say it already, this suspense is really boring."

  Shen Du had not yet spoken, and Hei Shen had already taken the lead to walk behind Qi Lao, pressing his shoulders and massaging them.

  He didn't expect Hei Shen to be so gentle in front of Ji Lao, his tone was so soft and sweet, completely mismatched with his fierce appearance, even Shen got goosebumps all over her body.

  "What's so interesting about Shen?" Ji Lao turned around and asked Hei Shen.

  Hei Shen was particularly embarrassed by this question. Although his dark face couldn't show whether he was blushing or not, at least it showed that he was somewhat unnatural. He rubbed his head and said:

  "Since Shen Dou doesn't have any objections, what are you worried about, Old Season? If you can see through Shen Dou, that would be a remarkable feat. He has been here for six years, yet almost no one understands him. In the three years since he woke up, every day except when seeing him practicing sword on the opposite mountain slope, his figure was hardly seen."

  Ji Lao heard this and jokingly said: "Hei Shen, this is where you're wrong. Shen Du isn't even considered one of our people in Sha Cheng, so he's a guest in our city. You've grown up in Sha Cheng since childhood, you're the master here, yet for three years you haven't greeted anyone, isn't that being somewhat unfriendly?"

  Hei Shen didn't expect to be turned around and said with a disappointed face: "Seasoned old man, you're not showing respect for your age. In all these years, haven't you also never greeted him? Besides, when we saw him practicing swordsmanship so intently, how could we go disturb him?"

  "Alright, alright, you young whippersnapper, how dare you try to outdo an old man like me? Fine, I admit defeat. Let's get back on track. Since Shen Dou has decided to go to Jiuyou City, we need to make sure he's fully prepared. We can't send him into battle unprepared." Seasoned Old Man stood up with a serious expression.

  I didn't expect Old Ji's skill in changing the subject to be so remarkable, Hei Shen was also stunned.

  "What do we need to prepare?" Feilu stepped forward, asking with a concerned face.

  "A large amount of ginseng, a good sword, a suit of armor with excellent defense, and..."; Seasoned old man wanted to say something else, but stopped again: "Maybe even the desert city can't provide it, what we can provide is probably just these."

  But Fei Lu's face was filled with difficulty, and just these few words already made Sha Cheng feel a huge pressure.

  A large number of power pellets, all the power pellets in the entire province are in Feilu's hands, totaling no more than ten.

  A good sword is hard to come by in the desert city, most of the swords are ordinary iron swords, slightly better ones are only tungsten steel swords held by Heishen and the City Master Sword "Demon Subduing Sword" used by Feilu, and then there's that orange longsword in Chen Tao's hand, although its name is unknown, but since it belongs to one of the three sons of Demon King Han Xuan, it must be a top-notch sword.

  As for excellent defensive armor, Fei Lu thought of his father's Qing Long battle armor that he wore before him.

  Everyone focused their attention on Feilu's face, and she understood what they meant. However, she seemed to be thinking about something else, and after a moment of contemplation, she said in a low voice:

  "This is a matter of great importance, should we gather all the generals in Shacheng to discuss and then send Shendu to Jiuyou City?"

  "It's better that fewer people know about this matter, to avoid more trouble, we'll secretly escort Shen Dou out of the city tonight." Seasoned old man said in a low voice, as if he was afraid of being overheard by someone on the other side of the wall.

  Feilu didn't understand the profound meaning of Ji's words, but he didn't ask more questions either. Instead, he took out a jade bottle from his bosom and handed it to Shendu, saying seriously:

  "Shen Du, this is one of the only ten power pellets in Sha Cheng, you must keep it safe." As he spoke, he pulled out a red wooden box from under Shen Du's bed.

  On the box was carved an ancient intricate pattern and it was locked with a large ancient lock.

  Feilu took out the key and opened the red wooden box, only to see that inside was a suit of cyan armor, on which was embroidered a lifelike coiled dragon.

  She carefully took it out, held it in her palm, and gently stroked the embroidery on top of it, her face filled with emotion.

  "This is the armor Mother gave to Father, every stitch and thread on it was sewn with her whole heart and soul day and night, carrying all her emotions and worries for Father; even if Father were to die on the battlefield, this armor would still remain intact." At this point, Fei Lu choked up.

  Four big men in the room, and yet not one of them knew how to comfort her weak heart.

  Chen Tao furrowed his brow as if he was about to say something, but Shen Dou took the lead and walked up, gently grasping Fei Lu's fragrant shoulders with both hands, saying in a soft voice:

  "Don't be sad, wait for me to return to Shacheng again, and I will definitely get justice back for you."

  Feilu was also strong and quickly regained his composure. He said seriously: "Don't worry, I'm fine. This suit of armor I'll give to you now, you must come back unscathed!"

  What a precious gift, Shen Du carefully accepted the war armor, his handsome face looked extremely solemn.

  "I promise you! I'll definitely be back before the crime happens in Magic City!"

  Fei Lu didn't beat around the bush and walked straight up to Chen Tao, saying: "I'm afraid I'll have to borrow your treasured sword for a moment."

  Chen Tao was taken aback by the words, but only for a moment. He walked around Fei Lu and stood in front of Shen Dou, saying coldly: "Kid, although I don't particularly like you, at least your abilities surpass mine. This sword, I'm just lending it to you temporarily. Remember to return it after you're done." After that, he tossed the long sword to Shen Dou.

  Shen Du grasped the long sword and weighed it in his hand, unexpectedly finding that this small sword exceeded 100 jin in weight, truly unbelievable.

  Seeing Shen Du's shock, Chen Tao's face showed a strange smile, but it only lasted for an instant before he coldly said: "It seems that things are roughly like this, I want to calm down, you don't need to bother me." With that, he jumped out of the window.

  Alas!

  Watching Chen Tao's disappearing back, Fei Lu let out a deep sigh, "It seems he still can't put it down!"

  As the former Sand City Martial King, he was now being expelled by his own people in Sand City, and he couldn't just let it go so easily. The room fell silent once again, with everyone worrying about Chen Tao and also worried about Shen Du's trip to Jiuyou City.

  The weather has turned cooler recently, and I'm feeling a bit under the weather, my brain is foggy, so I might write something that doesn't make sense or isn't as moving as usual, hope you guys can forgive me. Also, remind everyone to pay attention to the weather changes, don't catch a cold!