Three days later, Mo Mo and his companions boarded the train to Shaanxi again, carrying Professor Chen's letter.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 106 Under the Covered Dragon Mountain
When Mo Mo and his group arrived at Gu Lan, Professor Sun had just returned from the Stone Tablet Shop. Moreover, he had not encountered any danger as described in the original story, which puzzled Mo Mo. He guessed that the chess player who set up the strategy had sped up the pace. However, it did not affect Mo Mo, since he would have gained a lot even if he went back now.
When Mo Mo and the others gave Professor Chen's letter to Professor Sun, Professor Sun still refused to tell them the contents of the article, but he did tell them what happened in the stone tablet shop. He then speculated that the last owner of the Muchen Pearl might have been King Xian, and that the Muchen Pearl might be in King Xian's tomb.
However, Professor Sun didn't know where the tomb of King Xian was. Mo Mo did know that someone had been to the tomb of King Xian and even had a map, but he couldn't say it directly because he had discovered that this world was subtly rejecting him. If he interfered too much with the plot, he felt that the rules of this world would definitely fight him to the death.
Just when Mo Mo was racking his brains about how to get Hu Bayi and the others to contact the blind man, the blind man unexpectedly came to them. It turned out that Hu Bayi and Shirley Yang were out shopping when the blind man bumped into them. He said that their faces were dark and insisted on telling their fortunes. Shirley Yang then saw through his disguise and dragged him to a restaurant. By chance, Hu Bayi mentioned the tomb of the Prince of Xian, and the blind man revealed that he had been to the tomb before. In the end, he successfully obtained the map.
After obtaining the map, Mo Mo and his group took the blind man back to Kyoto and met up at Professor Chen's house. When Mo Mo and his group took out the map, Professor Chen and his group were overjoyed and expressed their desire to go with them. However, after hearing the blind man's story, they regretted it and objected to Mo Mo and his group going to the Tomb of King Xian.
Ye Yixin held Mo Mo's hand tightly, then stared at him with her big, watery eyes, her expression saying, "If you dare to utter even half a word of dissent, I'll cry for you."
Mo Mo and his friends were at their wits' end. No matter what they said, Professor Chen and the others refused to let them go to the tomb of the King of Xian. Finally, Shirley Yang revealed the truth about her family, which barely convinced Professor Chen and the others to agree to the trip, on the condition that they must return if they encountered any danger. Before leaving Professor Chen's house, Professor Chen gave Mo Mo and his friends an address, telling them that they could find what they needed there.
To Mo Mo's surprise, Ye Yixin followed them out after they left, and amidst everyone's astonished gazes, she took Mo Mo's hand and left with him.
That day, Mo Mo took Ye Yixin on a tour of Beijing, and they didn't return to Mo Mo's place until after 7 p.m. Mo Mo then personally cooked a candlelight dinner, which lasted until almost 9 p.m. Perhaps because she had drunk some wine, Ye Yixin's face was flushed, and she looked exceptionally beautiful in the candlelight.
Perhaps because Mo Mo and the others were going to Yunnan the day after tomorrow, and after drinking some alcohol, Ye Yixin changed her usual obedient girl personality tonight. She actually took the initiative, staggered over to Mo Mo's side, wrapped her arms around his neck, and offered her fragrant lips to him.
Mo Mo could see that Ye Yixin was very nervous. Her tightly closed eyes were trembling. This must be her first kiss, otherwise she wouldn't be so flustered. Moreover, after closing her eyes and presenting herself to Mo Mo, she didn't move.
Seeing this, Mo Mo gently pulled Ye Yixin into his arms and kissed her. At first, Ye Yixin was very nervous and clearly didn't know how to kiss. She even bit Mo Mo's lip. Fortunately, Mo Mo had thick skin, otherwise she would definitely have bled.
Under Mo Mo's guidance, Ye Yixin gradually relaxed and began to cooperate with him. Mo Mo could sense that Ye Yixin was aroused. After the French kiss ended, Ye Yixin blushed and whispered, "Let's go back to the room!" Then she buried her head in Mo Mo's arms.
Outside, summer insects chirped and the moonlight was like water, while inside, spring was in the air. With a soft moan, the world gained a woman and lost a girl.
Mo Mo and Ye Yixin didn't get up until noon the next day. When they arrived at the restaurant they had arranged to meet, Hu Bayi and the others had already started eating.
"Oh, Mr. Mo, you've finally decided to get up? We thought you wouldn't get up until tonight, so we ate first. But we've only just started eating. Waiter, please bring two more sets of chopsticks and bowls." The fat man, who was sitting facing the door, was the first to spot Mo Mo and Ye Yixin, and thus began to tease them.
"Eat yours! No amount of food can shut you up." Hu Bayi said irritably, picking up a piece of meat and putting it in the fat man's bowl. The fat man seemed to realize something and quickly lowered his head to eat the food in his bowl.
Mo Mo was already used to the fat man's personality, so he simply ignored what he said. Ye Yixin, on the other hand, was a little shy. Although she didn't run away in embarrassment, her face was already flushed, which was quite beautiful.
"Sit down, it's already noon, let's eat something." He said, pulling Ye Yixin down to sit.
After a satisfying meal, Mo Mo and the others discussed their plans in detail at Professor Chen's house. They made sure nothing was overlooked before leaving to prepare. Mo Mo then pulled Ye Yixin along to continue their stroll.
The next morning, Mo Mo bid farewell to Professor Chen and the others and boarded a train heading south.
Mo Mo and his group traveled south by train and arrived in Kunming. They stayed in Kunming for two days. When Hu Bayi and his group arrived at the address given by Professor Chen and retrieved the items that Professor Chen had prepared in advance from the home of one of his former students, they were all stunned. These items included not only gas masks, searchlights, and some potentially useful medicines, but also entrenching tools, military knives, and even pistols and rifles. What's more, they even had hand grenades, flashbangs, and incendiary bombs.
After retrieving their items, Mo Mo and his companions disguised themselves as staff members of a natural history museum and ventured into the forest to catch butterflies for specimens. The Lancang River basin is rich in exotic butterflies, so using their identities as insect hunters as cover, they could raid tombs in the Insect Valley without being detected.
After everything was prepared, Mo Mo and his group traveled along National Highway 320, passing between the Ailao Mountains, Wuliang Mountains, and Dali Diancang Mountains and Erhai Lake, and arrived at the beautiful Lancang River. Their destination was the area with the most dense mountains and rivers in Yunnan Province, which was still some distance from the China-Myanmar border.
On the bus, Hu Bayi chatted with a tea merchant next to him and learned that they were going to Zhelong Mountain, which was not far away. Moreover, the tea merchant was also going there to buy tea. All he had to do was get off the bus with him.
Although the tea merchant said it wasn't far, as the saying goes, "looking at the mountain makes one's horse run itself to death," and the road was winding and circuitous, so the journey was still quite long. Mo Mo estimated that it would take about an hour to drive there.
Just as Hu Bayi was chatting happily with the tea merchant, the bus suddenly shook violently, as if it had run over something. The driver slammed on the brakes, and the passengers were thrown back and forth, causing chaos. In the confusion, someone shouted that someone had been run over. The fat man cursed, saying that this crazy driver was driving like that, it would be strange if someone wasn't run over. As he spoke, he looked out the back window at the road.
Mo Mo knew that they had bumped into living terracotta warriors that had fallen from the mountain, and that they had entered the territory of the former King Xian.
After the driver smashed the stone statue, he slowed down. He was probably worried that hitting such a thing would be bad luck, so he tried to drive as smoothly as possible. In addition, they had gradually left the dangerous road on the cliff, and Hu Bayi and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Time flew by as they chatted. The car stopped, and the tea merchant quickly told Mo Mo and the others to get out, saying that this was the closest place to get off at Zhelong Mountain.
Besides Mo Mo and his group, along with the tea merchants, two other local women also got off the bus at the same time. One was in her thirties and was carrying a child on her back, while the other was about sixteen or seventeen years old. Both of them wore headscarves and embroidered aprons.
Hu Bayi and his companions initially didn't want to travel with these people, but the kind tea merchant told them that in sparsely populated areas, it was customary to travel in groups and help and care for each other. To avoid unnecessary conflicts, Mo Mo and his group decided to follow the local custom and travel with the three.
After walking for nearly two hours through deep mountains and valleys, where there was no human habitation and dense forests, Mo Mo and his companions finally arrived at the foot of Zhelong Mountain. Accompanying them was the proprietress of the only inn in the area.
Sensing the faint, peculiar energy within Zhelong Mountain, Mo Mo frowned and murmured, "I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out."
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 107 Trapped
The next day, the landlady gave Mo Mo and the others some dry food, and then asked Peacock to give them directions. After Peacock led Mo Mo and the others to the riverbank behind the mountain, Mo Mo had a premonition that this time would not be simple, so he told her to go home first.
Since they were traveling by water, they naturally needed a boat. However, this was a remote mountain area, so there were no boats available. Fortunately, there was a bamboo forest nearby, so Mo Mo and his group of four got to work and quickly built a large bamboo raft in less than half an hour. After setting up the searchlight, Mo Mo and his group set off.
As the searchlight shone, Mo Mo and his companions witnessed the wonders of nature. Under the light, everything in the distance was clearly visible, and the scenery deep within the cave was unimaginably strange. Moreover, the beam of the powerful searchlight swept across the cave, and the jagged and bizarre stalactites only flashed by before disappearing back into the darkness. This made Hu Bayi and his group feel as if they had entered a bizarre and fantastical labyrinth.
Suddenly the river widened, and several thinner tributaries joined it, slowing the flow of water and reducing the swaying of the searchlights ahead.
Under the lamplight, the cave walls on both sides were covered with rows of smooth, naturally formed lava terraces, cascading down like waves on the sea, truly resembling a frozen silver ocean. A huge, vermilion natural stone bead hung upside down in the middle of the river. Behind the bead, the river flowed into the mouth of a gigantic beast. The massive stone beast, resembling both a tiger and a lion, seemed to be opening its blood-red maw, roaring madly, revealing a mouthful of sharp fangs, trying to devour the stone bead. Time seemed to freeze in that instant; its posture was fixed, perhaps remaining there for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
As they passed through the enormous beast head, Mo Mo felt as if they were passing through a membrane. Although the sensation was very slight, he could still clearly feel it, which made Mo Mo frown.
After passing through the beast head, Mo Mo's premonition came true. They arrived at another place, completely deviating from the plot; they had entered a mysterious space.
The river beneath their feet flowed into a vast lake, its banks adorned with all sorts of exotic flowers and trees. Butterflies danced gracefully among the blossoms, and even from the river itself, their intoxicating fragrance filled the air. In the distance, towering mountains reached into the clouds, where unidentified birds soared. On a nearby peak, a waterfall cascaded down like a dragon, its thunderous roar still clearly audible to them.
Hu Bayi and his companions were completely stunned by the sight. Their mouths were agape, and they were speechless. It took them several minutes to come to their senses.
"Old Hu, pinch me, let me see if we're dreaming. This is too unreal. Is this really where that grandson of the Prince Xian lives? This is simply paradise on earth!" The fat man was still a little incredulous after he came to his senses. But when he turned around and saw the scene behind him, he plopped down on the bamboo raft.
"Old...Old Hu, something's happened, the way we came is gone," Fatty Wang Kaixuan said in a trembling voice.
Hu Bayi and Shirley Yang heard Fatty's words and hurriedly turned around, but the scene behind them made their hearts tremble. The cave entrance they had come from had disappeared, replaced by a winding river that meandered into the layers of mountains.
The two swallowed hard and looked at the still composed Mo Mo, saying, "Master Mo, what's going on? Is this an illusion?"
"As you can see, this is not an illusion. This must be another space. Everything before you is real," Mo Mo said calmly.
Mo Mo closed his eyes and carefully sensed the space. He found that the space was not dangerous and was quite large, about the size of a large province. However, the entire space was sealed off. With his current strength, he could not get out at all, because it was a world that had sealed him off unless he left this world.
"Another space? What's going on? Could that beast head be a spacetime portal?" Shirley Yang asked in confusion.
"You could say that, but we can't get out for now. However, there's no danger here, so let's just treat this as a vacation. Since we're here, let's make the best of it. Maybe after a while, a passage will suddenly appear in front of us, and then we'll be able to get out," Mo Mo said with a smile, looking into the distance.
Although Mo Mo said there was no danger, Hu Bayi and his group still took out their weapons, packed everything, and went ashore.
After they got ashore, the bamboo raft slowly drifted into the lake with the current. Two or three minutes later, it was already more than a hundred meters away from the shore. Just then, a huge figure suddenly leaped out of the lake and tore the bamboo raft to shreds in one bite. The fat man, who was climbing a tree to pick fruit, was startled and fell down with a thud, landing on his back. Fortunately, he had only climbed a little over a meter high, so the fall didn't hurt him much.
"Old Hu, you guys saw that, didn't you, Boss Mo? Is this what you meant by no danger? That thing we just saw, the whole bunch of us wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap!" The fat man said with a mournful face.
"There's no danger at all! I've decided, we'll eat it today. Let's go fishing." Mo Mo said, then looked like he suddenly realized something. "I forgot, although these things are not dangerous for me, they are still very dangerous for you, even if you're carrying rifles." Then he looked at Hu Bayi and the others with an innocent expression.
"Are you Master Mo Mo?" the fat man asked Mo Mo somewhat nervously.
"Genuine or genuine."
After thinking for a moment, Mo Mo took out three peach charms and handed them to Hu Bayi and the others, saying, "Let's go, with these you don't need to worry anymore, let's go fishing!"
"Master Mo, let's not. We can just eat dry rations. They're quite tasty, and we don't have any fishing rods," the fat man objected.
“I never said we needed to use fishing rods to fish. Bait is enough. Besides, haven’t you always wanted to learn martial arts from me? I think this place is perfect. It’s full of rare and precious materials, abundant with spiritual energy, and there are even training equipment on site. It’s simply perfect!” He glanced at the fat man as he spoke.
"Fish bait? No way, Master Mo! I don't taste good at all. My meat is rotten. Those fish definitely won't like to eat me. Use Shirley Yang instead. Her meat is so tender. Those fish will definitely love to eat her." The fat man saw Mo Mo glance at him and felt a chill in his heart. He immediately threw himself at Mo Mo's side and wailed.
Three minutes later, Fatty was tied up like a big rice dumpling and hung in the air above the center of the lake, while the other end of the rope was in Mo Mo's hand, and Hu Bayi and Shirley Yang, who were standing next to Mo Mo, cheered Fatty on.
"You make it sound so easy, why don't you come down and try it yourselves! Master Mo, I know I was wrong, I'll never dare to do it again. If you say east, I'll never go west; if you tell me to beat a dog, I'll never chase a chicken." The fat man swung about twenty meters above the lake, arguing with Hu Bayi and the others.
"Master Mo, is Fatty really alright? That thing just now, I felt like it could have swallowed Fatty whole in one bite." Although Hu Bayi was teasing Fatty, he was still very worried about him.
"Don't worry, you guys just tried it, a whole magazine of bullets couldn't even break through that shield. These fish are far from being able to bite through it. Fatty is perfectly safe," Mo Mo reassured him. And what he said was true. Although this space was rich in spiritual energy and had many rare and precious materials, their level was not high. The animals here were basically still in the state of wild beasts, which was equivalent to the early stage of martial arts. With Mo Mo's cultivation now restored to that of a saint, he could wipe out the entire space with a single slap.
"Fatty," Mo Mo suddenly called out to Fatty.
When the fat man heard Mo Mo call him, he responded with an "Ah!" and then screamed "Ahhhhh!" because the moment Mo Mo called him, a huge carp suddenly leaped out of the lake, its open mouth as big as a bus.
Then, the fat man was swallowed whole by the carp. After swallowing the fat man, the big carp seemed to want to return to the lake. However, how could Mo Mo let it have its way? With a flick of his hand, the big carp was thrown into the woods on the lake shore, while the fat man at the end of the rope was unharmed, but his face was pale, clearly he was very frightened.
In the woods, the fat man stood beside a giant carp that was more than a story tall, and couldn't help but kick it, cursing, "You think you're so tough? Come on, bite me, Fatty! Come on, I'm right here, come and bite me!"
Beside the campfire, Hu Bayi looked at the large carp with a worried expression. "Master Mo, this carp is so big, and its scales are so hard. How can I eat it like this? I used all my strength to make a scratch on its body. It will take forever to separate it."
"That's your problem. Have you remembered what I just taught you? Let's get started now. Self-reliance is the key to survival. From now on, your task is to survive. Every day, you need to obtain enough food without triggering the shield. If you do trigger it, I'm sorry, you won't get any food today, and you'll have to be bait." After Mo Mo finished speaking, he waved his hand at the carp, and several pieces of fresh fish-man flew over.
And from that day on, Hu Bayi and his companions began their happy life. Every day they raced against tigers that were four or five meters tall, played hide-and-seek with a pack of wolves that were three or four meters tall, and had swimming competitions with fish that were more than ten meters long.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 108 Unexpected People
The sky was clear and blue, the wind was gentle and the clouds were light. The sunlight cast a golden veil over the earth. A young man lay lazily on a boulder by the lake, basking in the sun. Three figures were quietly approaching from the bushes.
Following a signal from one of the figures, the three split into three groups and quietly approached the boulder. A dozen minutes later, the three figures finally reached the base of the boulder, and then, as if by telepathy, they simultaneously leaped up and attacked the youth on the boulder.
Three seconds later, the three people jumped up and piled up on top of each other, while the young man was still lazily basking in the sun.
"Hey, Lao Hu, get up quickly! You're crushing me!" Fatty cried out as Hu Bayi and his companion pinned him to the bottom.
"I want to get up, but I can't," Hu Bayi said helplessly.
"Master Mo, I'm getting so tanned! Please let us go for the sake of Jingjue. We're all fat guys, and we've already mastered our skills so we can challenge you to a duel." Shirley Yang pleaded with Mo Mo.
After Shirley Yang finished speaking, she realized she could move again and quickly got off Hu Bayi.
"Looks like you guys are having too much of a time, even having the leisure to ambush me. Should I consider doubling the training volume?" Mo Mo's calm voice came after the three separated, and immediately, a wail of pain erupted from the rocks.
Mo Mo and his group have been trapped in this space for more than three months. Under Mo Mo's special training, Hu Bayi and the others have been completely transformed. From being chased by giant wolves that were two or three meters tall and crying for their parents at the beginning, they can now chase a group of giant wolves and make them run for their lives. Now, there is no animal of any size within ten miles of their dwelling. They have basically eaten them all.
A week after they entered, Mo Mo released the Queen of Jingjue. As Mo Mo expected, the Queen of Jingjue in this world was not dead at all; she was just sleeping in the Kunlun Divine Tree. Unfortunately, Mo Mo did not obtain any valuable information from the Queen of Jingjue.
When Mo Mo released the Queen of Jingjue, Hu Bayi and the others were startled. When the Queen of Jingjue took off her mask, the three were even more shocked, because the Queen of Jingjue and Shirley Yang were practically identical. Apart from their temperament and personality, their appearances were exactly the same.
Although the two look alike, they can be easily distinguished at a glance. Shirley Yang is more youthful than the Queen of Jingjue, who is more mature and charming, like a ripe peach. Shirley Yang, on the other hand, is more youthful and beautiful, with less charm and more intellect.
Mo Mo originally released the Queen of Jingjue only to gather some information and was prepared to let her go. After all, although he was slightly interested in the Queen of Jingjue, it was just interest, and he never thought of taking her into his possession. However, to Mo Mo's surprise, the Queen of Jingjue climbed into Mo Mo's bed that night, and what surprised Mo Mo even more was that it was the Queen of Jingjue's first time.
At that time, the Queen of Jingjue noticed Mo Mo's confusion and explained, "Our Jingjue Kingdom worships the Ghost Eye Celestial Venerable. Only the purest and most beautiful woman can become the Queen of Jingjue Kingdom. I feel that you are even more powerful than the Ghost Eye Celestial Venerable we worship. Now, I can only survive by relying on the strong, and you are my best choice."
It must be said that the Queen of Jingjue was very smart. She made the best choice in what she considered the most dangerous situation. Although Mo Mo did not intend to do anything to her, it must be said that her choice was very correct, because Mo Mo knew that once she went out, there would only be one outcome: she would become a puppet to be manipulated and live a muddled life.