Yu Lu was startled at first, but she reacted immediately and sent a message to the “Big Boss.”
Lala’s Mainline: “Big Boss, is this the place you were talking about?”
Mainline Big Boss: “Yes. How did you get in?”
Lala’s Mainline: “I originally wanted to open the gate, but it seemed to have a barrier; I couldn’t open it. Then, we suddenly appeared here.”
Mainline Big Boss: “I see. This village is still full of mysteries; I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that you’ve entered. Also, have you noticed? Everyone connected to those five tombstones except for ‘Little Transparency’ and ‘Little Branch’ who have already left has arrived here.”
Lala’s Mainline: “I thought of that, too… it’s as if it was all designed this way.”
Min Yue took advantage of the moments his eyes met Yu Lu’s to send his thoughts. At the same time, Li Zi, for some unknown reason, charged toward him like a fierce tiger. The other villagers realized then that these people were indeed Min Yue’s friends.
Jialuo glanced at Min Yue from the side. “Strange, how did these people find this place?”
Jialuo’s voice was very soft, but Min Yue was only a step away and heard him clearly. This deepened his suspicion of Jialuo even further.
“Min Yue!”
Since the last time they met, Li Zi’s figure had remained that of the young, raw, and handsome youth, with skin as smooth as ointment. In contrast, Min Yue looked disheveled and unkempt, creating a stark contrast. Some of the young girls and women present blushed at the sight of Li Zi’s youthful face.
Min Yue glanced at the Li Zi who had run over. Oh, this kid was an old, ragged man before. You all who are blushing now are truly superficial.
Hmph… it’s not like I’m jealous…
Li Zi did not look at anyone else, his eyes fixed intently on Min Yue. He quickly ran to his side. Min Yue cleared his throat lightly and put on his usual noble and aloof demeanor.
“Why are you here?”
“Why are you injured?”
Both asked simultaneously. Min Yue froze, looking down at his abdomen. “It is fine, just a minor wound.”
“Do you take me for a fool? You are the God of War; you don’t get injured easily. What happened?”
In Li Zi’s eyes, Min Yue had always been valiant and skilled in battle, and furthermore, he always prioritized self-preservation he had never been wounded before. Therefore, this seemingly serious injury meant something major had occurred. Moreover, Min Yue was usually so meticulous about his appearance, yet now he couldn’t even bother to fix his hair. Li Zi had never seen him in such a state, which made him feel, for the first time, that Min Yue was not as invincible as he had imagined.
Li Zi’s worried tone made Min Yue pause. He hadn’t expected Li Zi to be so observant. However… nothing had really happened; he was just acting to scare people.
“I said it’s fine. If you don’t believe me, you can take a look. The wound has already healed.”
As he spoke, Min Yue reached to lift his robe, but a second later, he realized his brain must have gone haywire. Why would I lift my clothes in public, especially in front of Li Zi! This is very prone to misunderstandings!
So, the next second, amidst Li Zi’s surprised and expectant gaze, Min Yue immediately dropped his hand. Realizing his own gaze was too intense, Li Zi quickly looked away and coughed in embarrassment.
“Master! I actually found you here! By the way, that… where is the Third Junior Brother?” Yu Qiu actually wanted to ask where Senior Brother Lan was, but with so many people around, it wasn’t easy to ask.
“Oh… he…” Min Yue remembered that Lan Tian had been inexplicably taken away; he only knew he was at that “Granny Liu’s” house… but he still didn’t know their exact location.
“You must mean Lord Saint.” Jialuo spoke up from the side. Yu Qiu looked at him; it was a stranger’s face.
Meanwhile, Yu Qiu had been covering Fan Ren’s mouth. Upon hearing that voice he hated to the bone, Fan Ren’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness; he opened his mouth, intending to bite Yu Qiu’s hand. Fortunately, Yu Qiu noticed in time, pulled his hand back, and dodged it.
“Him? A Saint?” Fan Ren spat and continued: “If he is the Saint, then I am the Jade Buddha Emperor in the sky! What kind of place is this anyway!”
Seeing his insolence, Yu Qiu felt obligated to manage his fellow disciple. “Fan Ren! Do not be rude!”
Fan Ren curled his lips in disdain but didn’t speak again. However, his mouth kept moving, muttering something under his breath. It wasn’t hard to guess that, given his gloomy expression, he wasn’t saying anything good.
“Fan Ren? Why does that sound familiar?” Jialuo felt like he was remembering something, but when he tried to dig deeper, he couldn’t recall anything, only a feeling of inexplicable frustration and disgust.
“Fan Ren, I’m telling you, this is Divine Hidden Village. You are not allowed to disparage Lord Saint.”
Jialuo’s face, which had been lively just a moment ago, returned to its stiff, cold state—though this time, it was laced with something else: anger. Fan Ren had never had some boy from nowhere dare to talk to him like that. Just as he was about to erupt, he saw his master glare at him.
Yu Lu walked to the village gate and entered. Seeing there was no one else, Uncle Hu quickly closed the gate.
“Haha, is no one going to introduce me?” Yu Lu reminded them loudly, and Yu Qiu finally remembered to introduce everyone. He said solemnly: “Master, this is Fairy Yu Lu. Fairy, this is Min Yue, our Master.”
Yu Lu wore a lotus-patterned skirt; she was delicate and emitted a clean, ethereal energy. She was truly a flower fairy. Min Yue looked at her, then immediately complained via private chat.
Mainline Big Boss: “Lala… what happened to the ‘mother’ we discussed!”
Lala’s Mainline: “Get lost. As the protagonist’s mother, can’t I be beautiful once?”
Mainline Big Boss: “Cough, the moment you said that, you exposed yourself as a loser…”
Lala’s Mainline: “…”
“I have long admired your name, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Despite the bickering in the group chat, Yu Lu maintained an elegant demeanor before others, a smile fixed on her face.
“Min, too, has long admired your name.”
After a round of polite social banter, the villagers grew even more jubilant as they saw more guests arriving. Yu Lu looked around, her heart filled with vigilance.
Lala’s Mainline: “Where is ‘Little Anti’? Where is my protagonist?”
Mainline Big Boss: “He was taken away by an old woman earlier. I wanted to chase after them, but it’s been a few minutes; I probably can’t catch up now. Let’s just private message him.”
After saying that, Min Yue tried to call Lan Tian. After a minute of calling… Min Yue suddenly looked up, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes. Yu Lu looked at his expression with confusion.
Lala’s Mainline: “What’s wrong? Where is ‘Little Anti’?”
Mainline Big Boss: “Oh no. It happened suddenly last time, too. I… I lost contact with him again! I can’t reach him!”
Lala’s Mainline: “What?!”
Meanwhile, Lan Tian was still in a daze as he was being dragged away by Granny Liu. After all, I’ve been acting so fierce, and these villagers aren’t afraid of me… Oh, right, he grew up in this village…
Could it be that this Granny Liu knows him?
Yu Shengyan caught up after a few steps. Granny Liu was very pleasantly surprised to see him. “Lord Saint is here too! Come, come, let’s all eat at my house.”
She grabbed one with each hand, beaming with joy. Yu Shengyan hesitated and wanted to pull his hand back, but seeing Granny Liu’s genuine happiness and seeing Lan Tian being dragged along, he didn’t pull away.
Lan Tian glanced at him. In truth, he hadn’t planned on refusing Granny Liu because… he was too used to it, too familiar with it… In reality, he was dragged around by elderly men and women every single day… to go accompany them to dance to plaza music… He was very popular, after all.
They soon arrived at Granny Liu’s house—just a small thatched hut. Inside, there was a simple wooden table and a few chairs. There was a bed in the inner room. Actually, immortals practice ‘bigu’ (fasting)… so they weren’t hungry…
Yet, Lan Tian sat obediently on the chair. Yu Shengyan was surprised and sat down next to him.
“Senior Brother? Are you hungry?”
Lan Tian glanced at him: “…Not hungry.”
If you’re not hungry, why did you come… Yu Shengyan pursed his lips, shook his head silently, and remained speechless.
Seeing that he had managed to stifle the protagonist once again, Lan Tian mentally gave himself a pat on the back. He then began to observe his surroundings. Granny Liu was in a small room preparing food, calling out from time to time: “Almost ready!”
Granny Liu wore extremely wide clothing, dragging on the ground, which made Lan Tian feel a bit strange. He continued to watch her slightly dirty pants cuffs. Is this a bit too long… isn’t she afraid of tripping over herself? She walked so smoothly while dragging me earlier…
Wait! She walked so smoothly… A strange feeling welled up in Lan Tian’s heart… Just now… he seemed to have heard nothing of the Granny’s footsteps… That’s right, he hadn’t heard a single sound…
“Almost ready!” Granny Liu called out again from the small room in a repetitive tone.
Lan Tian suddenly felt… that things were getting a bit eerie.