a green and naive youth, he's taller than me, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old. He has handsome features, his thin lips are pursed in a pout, and he looks quite proud and aloof!"You... indee...Mu Wanchen opened the portal and brought me to the Wuzhuang Mountain City. This portal was located on a giant stone platform in the center of the Wu Wang Palace.
I once stood here and looked down, seeing the surging river water rushing eastward.
Being here again, there's no longer the initial surprise and fear. Looking around, I see countless lights dotting both sides of the cliff face, mysterious and magnificent. Strangely enough, the most shadowy place is actually the Witch King's Palace.
"Why is your palace so dim Are you afraid to light the lamps" I asked.
"Nobody lives here, so why bother turning on the lights," he said casually, holding my wrist and leading me out.
"As I walk, I casually say: 'Master back then left a magical passageway for Mu Xia Qiao on this platform. I've placed another one here for you. It's convenient for me to monitor. When you want to go home, I'll open it here, and the other end will connect to your room.'"
"Oh, okay." I nodded, somewhat dazedly following him outside.
The last time I saw Wuzhuang Mountain City, it was only one tenth of its size. Both sides of this great river and the mountains' heart are filled with all sorts of roads and mechanisms.
The lighting and ventilation are both excellent, and the orientation of each room's windows aligns well with the layout.
Some houses even have small courtyards, and the entire mountain city can only be described as breathtakingly crafted. It's like a comprehensive, 3D sculpture.
"How many years ago was this built" I asked.
"...started construction over two thousand years ago, with yearly additions. Tens of thousands of residences and thousands of rooms in various halls. It was quite large in scale, but..."
But
He said nothing, his gaze drifting towards the stone colonnades of the palace.
A woman's figure rushed over here, carrying a lantern in her hand. She stumbled and fell at the threshold of the Witch King's palace just before entering, and the lantern went out.
Who is this
Mu Wanchen's slight frown, he raised his hand and put the Xuan Sha face mask on his face, waiting for that woman to run over.
Soon, the woman saw him standing on the giant stone platform. She ran up to him, her skirt swirling around her legs, and when she got closer, I could see that her hands were covered in blood.
"My Lord Shaman!" Her brow was slick with sweat, pressed against her face as she rushed to kneel on the ground.
"... said." Mu Wanchen seemed to have grown accustomed to this situation.
The second daughter-in-law of the Gongshu family in Nanging just gave birth, but... The woman's face was grim, as if she didn't know how to speak.
Mu Wanchen didn't ask further, nodding and saying, "I understand. Go get the medicine powder for the blood-gu."
The woman's expression was filled with annoyance, and Mu Wanchen's tone also became heavy. I watched her run away before softly asking, "What's wrong What happened"
"Probably another child is gone." Mu Wanchen's tone was a bit cold, with a hint of helplessness.
"Then what is this blood gu you're talking about"
He let out a soft sigh and led me up the stone steps.
Over two thousand years of proliferation and survival, even though there have been constant arrivals of outsiders seeking refuge in this sect, they couldn't overcome the laws of bloodlines.
It is simply the most painful thing in the world to fail to raise a child properly.
“Over recent years, it's as if a curse has fallen upon us. Newborn children seem to have various problems. Some are born with deformities and disabilities, some die in utero even after seven months, and there have been instances of stillbirths. All this has instilled fear among the clan,” Mu Wanchen sighed softly.
"It's not just Wuzhuang City, the entire Mi River basin is like this. The law of bloodlines begins to concentrate and erupt. The previous generation of Witch King even agreed to let the corpse refiners establish villages here in order to have fresh blood."
Reanimate corpses What's the point
Do you handle cremation
Mu Wanchen glanced at me: "…It's those corpse refiners. They got Mu Xiaoqiao and my master into trouble. They captured Mu Xiaoqiao, wanting to refine her unborn child into a Corpse King. This enraged my master, who summoned the underworld fire to burn the mountain, destroying the gate in the southeast corner of the Mi Jiang River Basin…"
“It took years to repair, and it still wasn't fixed. The master, in order to make amends, simply settled in Nanshan Mountain, temporarily using immortal power to cover up the damage to the school's gate. But this is also dangerous, anyone who accidentally breaks in, we erase their memories and send them away.”
I walked slowly behind him, nodding my head like a sparrow pecking at grain.
Originally, before me, Xiao Shi Niang and Mu Wan Chen had a deep entanglement.
Standing upon that towering precipice, the Witch King's Palace and countless flickering lights lay at his feet.
Prosperity and decline coexist.
"I think you should find a queen to help you manage these people. I don't know anything about that," I said frankly.
He let out a light chuckle and whistled with his hand near his mouth.
Behind the cliff, the forest shimmered with bioluminescence. A white deer bounced towards me.
The deer's head was adorned with magnificent antlers, giving it a majestic appearance.
This kind of horned deer must have lived for a long time. I hid behind Mu Wanchen, afraid that it would recognize me and gored me with one charge.
"This deer looks a little strange..." I whispered.
It bowed to Mu Chen, lowering its forelimbs in a respectful gesture. Only then did I notice the strange horns on its head.
It's not a single pair, but two pairs, four corners.
This stag has majestic four-pronged antlers, a pure white coat, and long white fur on its hooves, giving it an otherworldly charm.
Mu Wanchen said in a deep voice, "This is not a deer, this is a divine beast."
"What kind of divine beast is this"
"Its name is Fu Zhu, an ancient divine beast. It used to live on Ao'an Mountain, where there were beautiful jade in the south and gold and ochre stones in the north. After the Great Wilderness, it lost its dwelling place and hid in remote places to eke out a living... These are divine beasts left behind by deities. The upper realm has no dwelling place for it, so it can only hide among humans."
Mu Wanchen sighed and reached out to rub her husband's head.
When everyone else was so submissive towards him, rubbing against him with their eyes half-closed and looking extremely affectionate, I couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
"You can pet it too, divine beasts can tell the nature of our relationship," Mu Wanchen encouraged me, pulling me to Hu Zhu's presence.
Within those dark and deep eyes lies a slender pupil, a mark of the divine and demonic.
It wasn't a common animal, and I was a little afraid. As it turned out, it proactively squinted its eyes and lowered its head towards me. Only then did I dare to reach out and stroke its fur.
Although divine beasts have rather unique appearances, they are especially spiritual. Once you come into contact with them, you will be drawn to them. Anyway, I think they are all adorable, even venomous spiders, scorpions, and snakes look cute to me.
I hugged Fu Zhu's neck and rubbed against its fur hard. Its eyes even seemed to show a smile.
"Such a cute divine beast, why is it left alone in the mortal realm" I asked.
Mu Wanchen frowned slightly: "Because it's a beast of ill omen, repeatedly harmed... I have a place here that resembles its habitat, so it's willing to stay here... Come on, let me take you to see."
As he spoke, he reached down to my ribs and lifted me up, setting me onto Fu Zhu's back.w a snowflake clinging to his brow and couldn't help but take off my scarf and give it to him."You don't care, but I think it's so cold just looking at you... You were already cold before... It's like...