mijobooks Chapter 110 The Curse of Tianshan
Chapter 110 The Curse of Tianshan
Chapter 110 The Curse of Tianshan
Yanxi Village was just ahead. Shen Yaoxing raised her hand and caught a snowflake, wondering, "Why has it started snowing?"
Xiaomei explained, "This is the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, and we are already close to the Tianshan Boundary. The Tianshan Boundary is a virtual realm composed of snow-capped mountains."
The snow mountain map borders the desert map, a fact also recorded in Eternal Abyss.
The virtual world will affect the real world environment to a certain extent. For example, Yanzhou was not actually that hot in the past, but because of the Yanzhou Realm, the temperature has been rising year by year, and the outdoor temperature in summer can soar to more than 40 degrees Celsius.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yaoxing tentatively asked, "The Heavenly Mountain Realm? I've heard it's a Purple-Iridium level void realm. I wonder how much Miss Mei knows about it?"
Although there are Crimson Gold-level Void Beasts, there is no such thing as a Crimson Gold-level Void Realm. The Purple Iridium-level is the most dangerous Void Realm, and there are only 12 in the world. Any one of the Purple Iridium-level Void Beasts that appear in them can easily wipe out some small countries.
The Tianshan Mountains are therefore basically uninhabited forbidden zones. However, even without the Void Realm, the Tianshan Mountains are rarely visited by humans and do not belong to human territory.
The dark-skinned girl smiled wryly upon hearing this, "Miss Shen really overestimates me. How could we possibly know anything about that level of virtual realm? The rumors about it are nothing but hearsay."
They were only at the Torch level, one level below Star Cocoon, but it represented the Dragon-Snake Transformation. Even Shen Zhaozhao, a sorcerer, could wipe out their entire team by herself.
Star Cocoon Realm professionals are already experts who can guard a city, while the Heavenly Mountain Realm is a place that even Frost Moon Realm professionals dare not easily set foot in.
"Could you tell me some of the rumors you've heard? After all, Yanzhou is one of only two places in the country that is close to the Purple Iridium-level Void Realm."
"It's alright to talk about it—"
Jiang Yueying shivered as she looked at the heavy snowfall; she had always been afraid of the cold.
Looking to the side, she saw Lu Ren staring at the sky with his mouth agape. She asked, puzzled, "What...what are you doing?"
Lu Ren stared intently at the falling snowflakes, his mouth agape, and said, "Let's see... let's see if the snowflakes will... fall into... my mouth, and what they'll taste like."
Jiang Yueying: "————"
Lu Youhe was unsurprised: "Xiaoying, don't worry about him. He hasn't regained his senses yet."
Ji Liguang, who was standing next to him, pondered for a moment. A few seconds later, the person with their mouth open, looking at the sky, changed from one person to two.
Because they were walking with their heads tilted back, they swayed from side to side—Jiang Yueying suddenly felt very embarrassed, so she quickened her pace and followed Shen Yaoxing.
"Lu Ren, have you had your food yet?"
"Not yet, have you eaten?"
"I didn't either—"
Ji Liguang chuckled. Although she knew it was silly, she found it quite amusing. To be honest, she actually liked Lu Ren's current state, where he seemed a bit dim-witted and silly.
She likes to do some very childish things, like to squat on the ground and watch ants hunt all day, like to wear rain boots and splash in puddles on rainy days, like to pick up pretty stones and take them home, and like to ask adults all sorts of questions, like why the sky is blue and why the earth is round.
When she was little, people would praise her for doing these things, saying things like, "Ali is so childlike," or "Ali is so cute." Then they would say things like, "Ali, you're a big girl now, don't act like a little kid all the time."
Even though Ali has never changed, it's as if Ali suddenly made a mistake.
However, she later took in a follower, Shan Qi, who was barely qualified. When she did those silly things, Shan Qi would be disgusted, but he would also do stupid things with her.
"————" Damn it, that guy who betrayed the revolution, fortunes change in thirty years—humph, I don't want to think about him anymore, I have new friends to play with now.
"Lu Ren, how come it snows from the sky? How does the snow get up in the sky and then fall down?"
She didn't expect Lu Ren to answer; she just loved asking questions, bothering the adults and giving Shan Qi a headache, and then she would cover her mouth and laugh.
"Because water from the ocean and land evaporates into the sky when heated, this water vapor is carried by the wind to other places. When it encounters cold air, it forms precipitation and returns to the Earth's surface. Then, because the temperature is too low, it condenses into snow as it falls."
Ji Liguang: "————?"
What is this person suddenly saying?
Why does it seem like it has such a cultured feel to it?
How can you, with that stupid look on your face, say things that sound incredibly professional?
She swallowed hard, and asked cautiously, "Then, why is the sky blue?"
Lu Ren was still tilting his head back, waiting for the snow to fall into his mouth, but he still answered her question casually: "According to Rayleigh scattering law, short-wavelength light (such as blue light) is more easily scattered by molecules in the atmosphere than long-wavelength light (such as red light), so the sky we see during the day is mostly blue."
Ji Liguang: "————" Something's not right, something's really not right!
You should say with me, "Yeah, why?" That's the right way to do it. What's with that tone of yours that says these are common sense?!
Lu Youhe, standing to the side, held her old-fashioned thermos, poured hot water into the cap, took a sip like an old aunt, sighed deeply, and looked at Ji Liguang, saying, "Although my brother is a bit of a fool, he was the top scorer in the city's high school entrance exam!"
"Zhong, the top scorer in the high school entrance exam, that's amazing!"
Ji Liguang had a natural respect for scholars, and she suddenly realized that this new friend seemed to be quite extraordinary!
Shen Yaoxing turned around and looked at them from the front, "You two, don't be silly, we've arrived at Yanxi Village."
After passing this bend, the view ahead suddenly opens up.
They traveled for six or seven hours by car and walked for an hour along mountain paths today, and have now arrived at the foot of the snow-capped mountain.
But as you approach the village, a chill runs down your spine. There, hanging from an old locust tree some distance from the village entrance, are three human skins.
The rope was threaded through the ankles and hung upside down. The skin was already tanned through, turning black and shiny. When the wind blew, it slowly spun around and collided with each other, making a muffled "thump, thump" sound.
The face on the far right is down and can't be seen clearly, but there's a wisp of black hair on the back of the head that's swaying back and forth.
As the sun was about to set, it turned around. It had no face, only an empty skin, facing the direction of the village entrance.
Lu Youhe stared wide-eyed at the sight, shaking Lu Ren's arm: "Lu Ren, look! Why are there still several people hanging in that tree? It's terrifying!"
"Why are you so excited about these things?"
"I'm scared!"
"I already said that it's understandable to be afraid."
Lu Ren gestured to Jiang Yueying, who was hiding behind him, clutching his clothes and not daring to look up.
"Lu, Lu Ren—hurry, hurry, hurry!"
Suddenly, he felt that Xiaoying seemed to better meet his expectations of his younger sister than Lu Youhe.
For some reason, I want to hear Xiaoying call me "Onii-chan" (older brother/older sister). I feel like I could die happy if I did.
A heavy snow was falling ahead, and several villagers waited at the village entrance. "They're here! These must be them!"
"Hey! You're here! I've been waiting for you, my eyes are practically blind!"
"My sheep was bleating inside that monster's belly!"
"Hey friend! Are you full of food? My stomach's been rumbling all night."
At the village entrance, someone greeted them, speaking in Chinese, but Ji Liguang found he couldn't understand a single word. However, they seemed quite enthusiastic.
The people of Yanzhou are known for their fierce nature, and the threat of the Void Beasts is greater. The density of professionals is also higher than in other places, not to mention that their village is close to the Tianshan Mountains.
Lu Ren glanced at the village and muttered, "Almost half of the people in this village are professionals, although they are all below the level of Candle Illumination."
The leader was an old man, who was probably the village chief. The village chief stood at the village entrance, followed by two young men. When they arrived, he greeted them with a smile.
"We've finally arrived. It's been a long and arduous journey."
Shen Yaoxing didn't speak, but gave Lu Ren a wink. He stepped forward and asked, "Hey, old man, what's going on here?"
"Situation?! Yes, yes—"
As he spoke, the old man approached furtively, took out a red cloth bag from his pocket containing several large red envelopes, and stuffed it into his hand.
"————" Playing this game with him? You're testing me with this? Lu Ren said irritably, stuffing the red envelope into his pocket. Shen Yaoxing slapped his arm, and he reluctantly took it out again: "Go away, who wants this? We don't take a single needle or thread from our fellow villagers. I'm asking what's going on with the monster?"
"Oh! On the mountain to the north, there's a nest of red-headed scorpions. We call them red-headed here, but outside they're called something like 'red something,' right? Red sand scorpions!"
The village chief turned and led the way, saying as he walked, "Last year, a female came, probably from the Tianshan Mountains. This year, she had more than a dozen offspring. I guess there wasn't enough food in the mountains. A while ago, she came down and injured people; three of us died."
Lu Ren, curious, asked, "Old man, what's with those three human skins? Tell me?"
The village chief glanced back and sighed, "You saw that? These are some of the village's more skilled professionals. They tried to take advantage of the little scorpion while it was still small, but they were injured by it during the day, ran back, and died that same day. It's a village rule that if someone dies, they should leave behind a memento."
It's such a strange custom. Even the dead can't find peace. But I've heard that in some places, leaving the body on a mountain for vultures to eat is considered a blessing. Lu Ren doesn't really understand it.
The village chief continued, "There's a stone forest over there. These things hide in the stone forest during the day and come out at night. One sting with their tail and a person is instantly killed. If you go during the day, with knives and swords, it should be easy to deal with them!"
Shen Yaoxing spoke up at the opportune moment, asking, "Besides the Red Sand Scorpion, are there any others?"
"Yes, yes, the White-headed Beasts have recently become rampant again. They're not too difficult to deal with. Our village has medicine from the city to protect against magical beasts, so the White-headed Beasts don't come near the village. But cows and sheep keep going missing; they've probably been eaten!"
The so-called "white-headed" creature is probably a rock-shelled lizard, which is pretty much what's described in the mission description.
The village chief paused for a moment, then continued walking. "I'll have to trouble you to resolve this problem this week. The village will be busy with the sacrificial ceremony next week, so we won't have time for anything else."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and smiled again: "You've arrived just in time. The sacrificial ceremony is a big day, and it's been held for over a hundred years. The whole village gathers in the square, slaughters sheep and cattle, drinks, and it's quite a lively affair!"
"Offer sacrifices to a god? What god?"
Everyone quickly realized that this village also believed in the Tianshan religion. In fact, most of the people living near Tianshan believed in the Tianshan religion, and the village chief's mention of worshipping the gods meant worshipping the Tianshan god. However, this was the Eastern Tianshan, so strictly speaking, they were worshipping the Eastern Tianshan mountain god.
Shen Yaoxing and Xiao Mei, as the captains of their respective teams, spoke with the village chief and confirmed the forest where the virtual beasts roamed, deciding to investigate it the next day.
Normally, a subjugation mission cannot be completed in one day. It was already evening when we arrived at Yanxi Village, so we stayed in a villager's house for the night.
The village chief led you to the door of a few mud houses and stopped: "This is it. Gentlemen, please get some rest. Dinner and hot water have been prepared!"
He turned to leave, then stopped, looked back at them, the sun setting behind him, his entire face buried in shadow, only his eye sockets visible, dark and staring at them—
"That's right, it's best not to leave any of those scorpions in that nest on the mountain. If the female escapes, she'll have to come down the mountain to give birth to another brood next year."
There were four mud houses in total, each with several beds inside. The two teams each had two houses.
Lu Ren didn't know how the Black Mountain High Moon Squad was divided. On their side, he, Youhe, and the young lady were in one room, while Jiang Yueying, Shen Zhaozhao, and Ali were in another.
Shen Yaoxing said to her teammates, "It's getting late, let's all get some rest. We'll set off tomorrow morning to check on the situation."
As she was saying this, Lu Youhe hurriedly said to her, "Miss, something bad has happened! My brother seems to have a fever!"
Lu Ren said irritably, "What fever? It's just a bit hot. Don't make a fuss."
"What do you mean it's hot? It's snowing outside!"
Shen Yaoxing frowned and said to Lu Ren, "Come here, let me take a look."
"It's really nothing, Miss, don't listen to her nonsense!"
Just as Shen Yaoxing was about to reach out to touch his forehead, she suddenly remembered something, pulled up her collar, covered it with one hand, and brushed away the stray hairs on his forehead with the other.
Lu Ren: "————" I have a feeling that the young lady has a deep misunderstanding about him now.
However, when the young lady's hand touched her forehead, it felt cool and soft, giving her a pleasant feeling both physically and mentally.
"She has a slight fever; is it because the poison hasn't been neutralized yet? What's going on?"
Shen Yaoxing found it strange that Lu Ren's gluttony sin talent was very strong. As long as he was not poisoned to death immediately, he could slowly detoxify by eating spirit remains.
He has consumed many spirit remains since the afternoon, but it seems that the toxins are only suppressed and cannot be eradicated.
She had actually considered asking Shen Zhaozhao for help, but if Shen Zhaozhao were to intervene, it would mean that their training had failed and the mission would have to be abandoned. Moreover, she had been following along and had been standing by, which meant that in Shen Zhaozhao's eyes, it wasn't yet time for her to intervene.
After thinking it over, Shen Yaoxing went to the next room and found Shen Zhaozhao, who was discussing with Jiang Yueying and Jiang Wan about sleeping with her.
"Sister Zhao Zhao, do you know what happened to Lu Ren? What kind of poison is this, and it's so potent?"
Shen Zhaozhao seemed to have anticipated her question, and shook her head: "Poison? That's not poison."
"Not poison? Then what is it?"
"It's a curse."
"curse!"
When it comes to his brother, Lu Youhe always gets all worked up: "Who's cursing my brother?!"
The tone was like that of a parent who heard their child was being bullied at school and immediately asked who was bullying their child.
"Little Star, do you want to know how to break this curse? I can tell you, and even if I do, it won't count as a failure of your training."
"How do we solve this?"
Shen Zhaozhao leaned closer: "Hehe, give your older sister a kiss, and I'll tell you what to do!"
Shen Yaoxing looked at her expressionlessly. If Shen Zhaozhao were a normal girl, she might not mind, but the way this person looked at her chest was exactly the same as Lu Ren's just now.
Looking at her cousin who was staring at her with a cold face, Shen Zhaozhao suddenly felt like she had been hit. Even though she was being disliked, why did she feel a strange sense of pleasure?
Lu Youhe, who was listening nearby, said anxiously, "Sister Zhaozhao, please tell me if I can kiss you!"
"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. This kid was sacrificed to Eastern Tianshan by Xuehou, and he's now 'cursed' by Eastern Tianshan—the solution is simple: just go down the mountain."
"Is it enough to just get down the mountain? Miss, why don't my brother and I go down the mountain first?"
"Let's go down the mountain now—"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yaoxing pondered. Naturally, he couldn't let the two siblings go down the mountain alone. Compared to the safety of his companions, whether the mission could be completed was not a big deal.
Moreover, they have one month to complete five silver-level tasks.
Shen Zhaozhao gently rubbed Lu Youhe's head: "Don't worry too much. This kind of curse only targets corpses. For living people, it will probably only make them weak. Besides, your brother has a very special constitution. He's so strong that it's disgusting. For your brother, it's probably just the effect of a minor cold."
Lu Youhe still wanted to go down the mountain, "But my brother has become an idiot now. All he can think about is eating and sex. What if he attacks tonight and tries to take over my and the young lady's lives?"
Very good, she's learning very quickly and already knows about NTR. If she hangs out with Jiang Yueying for a while longer, Lu Ren doesn't dare to imagine what kind of messy things this girl will learn.
"No matter what, I could never do NTR my sister, no, I would never do NTR anyone!"
Lu Ren waved his hand: "Besides, Sister Zhao Zhao said she's fine. I don't really feel weak at all; it's probably just like a minor cold!"
Shen Yaoxing rubbed her temples. In the past, she wasn't the team leader, so she didn't have to consider many things. Now that the responsibility of the team has fallen on her shoulders, she realizes that every decision she makes requires careful consideration of many issues.
"Let's hope so. I hope the mission goes smoothly and we can get down the mountain soon."
P.S.: Why is the sky blue? It's from a fiber optic sensing technology exam I took in my junior year. I almost failed because I couldn't answer this question in one breath, so I still remember the answer. (kissing sound)
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