bookrebus Chapter 1812 Surrounded by Hungry Wolves
Chapter 1812 Surrounded by Hungry Wolves
"Are you worrying all by yourself again?"
A gentle voice came from behind, carrying the unique fresh fragrance of the spiritual herbs.
Mingchuan knew who it was without even turning around.
He relaxed his tense shoulders, letting a pair of soft arms wrap around his waist from behind, pressing his face against his back.
"Chu Yan, what brings you here? Didn't you say you were going to help Qian Qian improve the formula for that batch of new pills?" Ming Chuan turned around, embraced Dong Chu Yan, and smelled the fragrance in her hair. Strangely, the restlessness in his heart calmed down a lot.
"The formula has been adjusted, and Xixi is experimenting with it, saying that she wants to use practice to verify the truth." Dong Chuyan looked up at him with gentle eyes and gently raised her hand to smooth his slightly furrowed brows. "They asked me to come and see you, saying that you have been locking yourself up here ever since you came back from Wangxiantai, and they were afraid that you would get bored."
Mingchuan felt a warmth in his heart and took her hand: "I'm fine, I just want to be alone."
“It’s okay to be quiet, but don’t carry everything on your shoulders alone.” Dong Chuyan pulled him to sit down on the soft couch next to her, and produced an exquisite tea set from somewhere, skillfully starting to brew tea. “Master, Senior Lingxu, the four sect leaders, Sister Jinman, Ah Xiong, Zhao Hu, and us… everyone is here. You are now the sect leader of Wanchuan Sect, the hope of many people in the Spirit Realm, but you are not fighting alone.”
The delicate aroma of tea rises gently, refreshing and soothing.
As Mingchuan watched Dong Chuyan's profile as she focused on making tea, the tension in his heart finally eased.
Yes, he is not alone.
He has brothers who would share life and death with him, a lover who would treat him with utmost sincerity, fellow practitioners with whom he could entrust his future, and a mentor like Master Lingxu who is like a pillar of strength guiding him.
"Try it. This is a new tea I made with the morning dew I brought back from Wangxiantai and several calming herbs. It should help soothe your mind." Dong Chuyan handed a cup of clear, green tea to Mingchuan's lips.
Mingchuan took a sip from her hand. The warm tea went down his throat and turned into a cool and soothing stream that went straight to his mind. The fatigue and tension of the past few days really dissipated.
"Excellent tea." He exclaimed sincerely, pulling Dong Chuyan closer to his side. "It's so good to have you all here with me."
Dong Chuyan nestled in his arms and whispered, "We know the road ahead will be difficult, but no matter what happens, we will be with you and face it together."
The two embraced quietly, sipping tea and watching the clouds drift and gather in the celestial mirror, as if time itself had slowed down.
The tranquility was broken by a flurry of footsteps.
"Mingchuan! Chuyan! You two were really hiding here having a good time!" Ran Qianqian rushed in, shouting, holding a jade bottle emitting strange black smoke. "Come help me take a look! How can I reduce the side effects of this Berserk Spirit-Boosting Pill? That idiot Xiong volunteered to test the medicine and is now yelling and chasing Zhao Hu around the training ground!"
Behind her, Leng Xi followed with a helpless expression, holding a jade slip containing recorded data.
Mingchuan and Dong Chuyan exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's go take a look." Mingchuan stood up and took Dong Chuyan's hand. "And while we're at it, let's hold down that wild bear."
Stepping out of the suspended hall, the sunlight shone perfectly on the well-arranged halls and pavilions of the Wanchuan Sect.
From the direction of the training ground came Ah Xiong's powerful roar and Zhao Hu's steady shout, mixed with the laughter and cheers of the other disciples.
The familiar fragrance of medicine wafted from the Pill Pavilion, and the clanging sounds of hammering echoed from the Weapon Refining Hall; everything was full of life and vitality.
This is everything he wants to protect.
Mingchuan took a deep breath of the spiritually rich air, the confusion and heaviness in his eyes vanishing, replaced by an even more determined light...
Surrounded by hungry wolves, he could simply lead his men to fight their way out!
……
Days slipped by quietly amidst seemingly peaceful busyness.
Everything in Wanchuan Sect gradually got back on track.
Zhao Hu, Chen Shu, and others who shone brightly at Wangxiantai were officially included in the core training sequence of the Hall of Talents. They did not slack off because of this, but instead cultivated even more diligently. Chen Shu, Jinwa, and Yaya, the three little ones, became the role models of diligence within the sect.
Ah Xiong was thoroughly tormented by Ran Qianqian's improved Berserk Spirit-Boosting Pill, remaining excited for three days and three nights before calming down. After waking up, his cultivation had improved slightly, but he refused to try any new pills and would hide whenever he saw Ran Qianqian.
This matter has become a laughing stock in Wanchuan Sect recently, which has actually eased the oppressive atmosphere caused by the undercurrents in the outside world.
Jizhou sent back news from Qingyuan Sect that the merchants from the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce indeed had extraordinary backgrounds.
After several rounds of probing and covert tracking, it was discovered that they had intricate connections with a peripheral merchant guild under the Holy Moon Wheel Pavilion, but the deeper clues were broken at a western border outpost called Blood Sand City.
Jizhou asked whether to continue the investigation.
“Blood Sand City…” Mingchuan looked at the intelligence report and tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.
He had heard of that place; it was located at the border of the western region of the Spirit Realm and the Endless Desert, a no-man's-land where all sorts of people mingled, and it was teeming with escaped cultivators, bandits, black market merchants, and spies from all walks of life.
It would be perfectly reasonable for the other party to set up a transit point there.
"Tell Jizhou to suspend tracking, withdraw all overt sentries near Blood Sand City, and switch to covert observation. Don't alert them," Mingchuan decided. "Since they dared to point the trail there, it's either a deliberate diversion or there's a big surprise waiting for us there. We shouldn't take any risks without further preparation."
He turned his gaze to the celestial mirror.
In recent days, he has spent a great deal of energy trying to reverse-engineer the origin of that divine consciousness clone by using the monitoring capabilities of the Observation Mirror and combining it with the energy characteristics provided by the Blue-Faced Fox.
The process was extremely difficult. The clone seemed to have been specially treated, its spatial trajectory appearing as if it had been deliberately painted over, discontinuous and pointing in multiple contradictory directions.
However, after countless data screenings, eliminations, and simulations, Mingchuan finally captured a trace of extremely weak but relatively stable spatial disturbance.
This remnant does not point to the Holy Domain, but rather... points to the interior of the Spirit Domain, in the northern part of the Western Regions, near an ancient forbidden zone known as the Fallen Star Wasteland!
“The Fallen Star Wasteland…” Mingchuan frowned.
It is said that the place was where a meteorite fell from the sky in ancient times, forming a peculiar landform and a chaotic energy field. The environment is harsh and rarely visited by people, but it has also given birth to some special minerals and spiritual plants that are rare in the outside world. Occasionally, fearless explorers and miners will venture deep into the area.
Why do the divine thought clones appear from there?
Is it a refining site? Or a transit point?
Or perhaps... there lies a secret stronghold of Yueyao within the Spirit Realm?
This discovery set off alarm bells in Mingchuan's mind.
If Yueyao's tentacles have already penetrated deep into the heart of the Spirit Realm, and even established a stronghold in a place like the Fallen Star Wasteland, then the extent of her infiltration is probably far beyond what was expected!