Chapter 523 — The Village Elder Returns to the City

"I am twenty-three this year.

" Shen Mu answered with complete honesty, "Twenty-three years squandered, and to this day I have accomplished nothing. Speaking of it, I cannot help but heave a sigh and shed tears.

" "Divine Physician Shen, to have achieved so much at twenty-three is already no small feat.

" Xing An turned around and raised the mirror in his hand, praising with utter sincerity, "At twenty-three you are not only the Hierarch of the Netherworld Demons, commanding a million divine ability users, but you also hold high office as the Grand Libationer of the Heavenly Sage Academy, and you are a Human Emperor—wealthy beyond measure, with connections far and wide. How many in this world could achieve what you have at twenty-three? You alone! " He raised the mirror and peered into it, but Shen Mu's reflection did not appear. He was slightly taken aback—then heard Shen Mu's voice come from afar: "Fat Dragon, Fat Dragon! Tell the newcomers with divine abilities that this is the Wasteland.

When night falls they must not wander about, or they will die! Get a few loud-voiced ones to shout a couple of times and warn the ability users not to leave the city at night! " Xing An put away the mirror and strode after him. When Shen Mu had steadied himself, he again took out the mirror, turning his back to Shen Mu to take a look—but once more, Shen Mu's figure was absent from the glass. Shen Mu's voice came again from the distance: "Yuxiu, can you find several dozen court painters?

Senior Brother Xing An gave me a painting. I need a thousand copies made and distributed everywhere. " Xing An's brows rose slightly.

He thought to himself, 'If the person Lu Li is searching for is him, then he surely would not copy the jade pendant in the painting. Could it be that I am truly being overly suspicious? But why does he avoid me?

' He caught up with Shen Mu once more, his gaze flickering: 'If he runs again, I will suppress him with my magic power and freeze him in place! ' Just then, the somewhat plump young woman from the Ling family tilted her head to examine the painting and said in surprise, "That jade pendant on it—I think I have seen it before! " Xing An gave a start.

Forgetful of using the mirror on Shen Mu, he quickly said, "Princess of the Ling family, you truly have seen it? " Ling Yuxiu had been in charge of military intelligence on the northern frontier for the past few months.

Raised on the northern snow plains, she had grown quite fair, and being at an age when the body develops, her face had lengthened a little, making her features even more delicate—though her figure remained plump. She had returned to the capital this time to report on her duties. Now that Shen Mu had established the Between Life and Death, she had seized her free time to come to Crimson Dragon City—not only to meet her sweetheart, but also to enter the Between Life and Death for some training.

"I have seen it once. " Having been tempered by military life in the north, Ling Yuxiu was much more mature than before.

She still preferred men's clothing and carried a dashing air. She said, "I saw it in a ruin in the Wasteland. " "The Wasteland! " Xing An was greatly shaken and quickly asked, "Was that person a youth?

" Ling Yuxiu said, "Not exactly. It was writing of that kind in the Wasteland ruins. There was also a small swaddling cloth and a little wooden horse in the ruins, as if a child had once lived there.

" Shen Mu looked at Xing An, who fell silent for a moment, evidently communicating with that strange eye in the Divine Treasury of Life and Death.

He looked at the mirror in Xing An's hand, deeply curious about it. Xing An had been trying to use the mirror on him just now—that was why he had dodged. "Senior Brother Xing An, you also like to carry a mirror?

Could this mirror be some extraordinary treasure?

" Shen Mu's gaze flickered as he reached for the mirror.

"May I borrow it for a moment? I think I have a pimple on my face and want to take a look. .

. " Smack!

Xing An slapped his hand away and stuffed the mirror back into his Taotie Pouch, saying calmly, "Do not touch my things. You are poisonous.

Princess of the Ling family, where in the Wasteland is the place you visited? Can you take me there?

" He had communicated with the strange eye in the Divine Treasury of Life and Death—the eye must have wanted him to go take a look. Ling Yuxiu hesitated, then said, "I still need to make a trip to Fengdu and have no time to take you there.

But I do remember the geography of that place.

I can draw you a map. " Xing An thanked her. Ling Yuxiu asked Shen Mu for brush and ink and drew a geographical map. Xing An said without betraying any emotion, "What dangers are there in this place?

" Ling Yuxiu laughed, "If there were dangers, how could I have returned alive? Who in this world has the highest cultivation and strength besides Senior Xing An?

" Xing An smiled, "If you could return alive, then naturally so can I. Divine Physician Shen, come with me for a trip? " Shen Mu hesitated, "Senior Brother, why must you bring me along to search for someone in the Wasteland?

I have helped you find the person, and I will help you put this painting up all over Jingping.

If there is any news, I will notify you. You go look for traces of the jade pendant, and I also need to go pay respects at the Human Emperor Hall.

If I delay any longer, the Human Emperors of past generations will poke my spine and curse me to die early and meet them. " Xing An looked at the map Ling Yuxiu had drawn and said earnestly, "Princess of the Ling family, if I do not find the writing from the jade pendant there, then you can well imagine the consequences.

Your Ling family will be erased from this world because of it! " Ling Yuxiu shuddered and forced a smile, "I did not lie to you.

. . " Xing An turned and left. Both Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu breathed a sigh of relief. Ling Yuxiu wiped the sweat from her forehead and was about to speak when Shen Mu raised his hand. Ling Yuxiu hastily stopped.

The two were of one mind. Together their primordial spirits left their bodies and fled far away. They flew tens of thousands of li from Crimson Dragon City before stopping. Ling Yuxiu's primordial spirit asked, "Cowherd, what exactly is that place?

Is it dangerous?

The lives and fortunes of my Ling family are riding on this!

" The reason she had said those things was that Shen Mu, seizing a moment when Xing An was not paying attention, had used the Celestial Feather Clan's psychic waves to contact her and told her to say and draw those things. The Celestial Feather Clan did not speak among themselves but communicated through psychic waves.

Without needing sound, with just a thought they could know each other's minds, acting as one, swift and agile.

Although psychic communication had great drawbacks, it was very useful for keeping secrets. "Rest assured, whatever you told Xing An, he will see it there—but he will not find anything useful. " Shen Mu's primordial spirit said, "After he goes there, if he turns back right away, he can still walk out.

If he insists on going deeper to search for more clues, then whether he can walk out will depend on his wisdom. Back then, the Village Head and the others barged in together and nearly could not return.

It was Grandpa Mo Jiang who rescued them. After Xing An returns, he will not come to kill you for this, because you did not lie. " The place he spoke of was the place they had once suspected to be the Land of No Sorrow—a giant ship forged by the Celestial Artisan God Clan.

But the Celestial Artisan God Clan had failed to enter the Land of No Sorrow. They had been ambushed by enemies and, together with that unimaginably vast ship, were trapped in an enormous three-dimensional spatial seal.