0p0 Chapter 216 Yellow Sand Inn
Chapter 216 Yellow Sand Inn
Seeing that Xiaoxue had gotten tired of playing with it, Ning Xiaoxi threw the mask into the sea of spirit crystal sand. Suddenly, the spirit crystal sand became active, constantly gathering around the mask.
The yellow sand piled up and buried the mask inside.
Ning Xiaoxi watched the movement of the spirit crystals and yellow sand. She could feel the excitement and exhilaration emanating from those spirit crystals, as if they had found their anchor. More and more yellow sand surrounded the sand dunes, layer upon layer, making it look more like a real desert.
The sand dunes soon stopped, and a small, isolated desert appeared inside the cave.
The sun was high in the sky, and the temperature was rising higher and higher. Ning Xiaoxi had an urge to go back to the cave, where it was so cool.
I opened the map and located myself about a hundred miles southeast of Chen City. Traveling a hundred miles in less than a night—that's unusually fast! A carriage shouldn't be this fast.
After looking around but not finding any means of transportation, Ning Xiaoxi decided to head straight to Chencheng!
Although I dare not take too big a step, I can still avoid the gradually rising temperature.
Although Dust City is also a city built on an oasis, the oasis here is much smaller, and it is more like a settlement built around the oasis.
In the center of the oasis there is a small grove of trees, and outside the settlement there are heat-resistant plants such as sea buckthorn, as well as many cacti.
Here is a simple adobe building that serves as a rest stop. The thick earthen walls block out the scorching sunlight, providing a space to breathe.
There were customers at two tables inside the shop. Ning Xiaoxi sensed it as soon as she entered; both groups of people were Taoist priests.
A group of people, led by a subordinate official of the Earthly Fiends, were eating and drinking tea quietly, clearly intending to rest there for a while before leaving.
Another group of people were dressed simply, with veils around their necks, and seemed not to intend to stay here any longer.
Ning Xiaoxi ignored them. She didn't have any distinctive items on her, so as long as she didn't say anything, no one could call her a Taoist priest.
The waiter was a somewhat thin young man, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with dark skin; he seemed to be a local. "Would you like some tea or a rest, young lady?"
"Do you have a quiet room to rest in?"
"Yes, yes, please follow me." The boy was very agile. He turned around, picked up a kettle by the stairs, and led Ning Xiaoxi upstairs.
The stairs were made of adobe bricks, and the floor was slab-paved. A row of doors led down the corridor; turning left led to the end, and turning right led to the back corridor. There were four rooms in the same row there. The young man went to the innermost room, opened the door, and let Ning Xiaoxi in. "Miss, is this room alright?"
The house had low beams and small windows. A wave of heat rose from inside, and the air smelled of damp, earthy soil. Inside, there was a bed with a mosquito net, a wooden table with four benches, and an empty brass basin on a washbasin stand.
"This room is fine!" Ning Xiaoxi thought the conditions were acceptable. In a place with yellow sand everywhere, who needs lush green grass!
The young man put down the water bottle he had been carrying. "Then, young lady, please rest. If you need anything, just call the waiter at the door."
Ning Xiaoxi nodded, then closed the door, bolted it, and went into the cave.
The bed in the small bedroom finally came in handy. After tossing and turning all night and half a day, she didn't even want to drink water before collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep.
The room was quiet, and the cave was quiet too; only the stuffy air made people a little restless.
Ning Xiaoxi slept soundly and, unusually, woke up naturally.
After waking up, she lay in bed and listened, but there wasn't a sound. She had deliberately left the sound transmission on before entering the cave, just in case you came up and couldn't find her.
Stepping out of the cave, the sweltering heat hit Ning Xiaoxi, almost making it hard for her to breathe. "Ugh, so hot!"
The guy didn't assign her the wrong room; there was no noise at all, which allowed her to get a good night's sleep.
After leaving the room, turning the corner, and glancing into the lobby, Ning Xiaoxi froze.
Tianji sat openly in the hall, a clean white tablecloth on the table in front of him, with an exquisite white glass teapot on it, and he was drinking tea from a matching glass teacup.
Four subordinates stood behind him, one of whom was a female subordinate, Sui Lanting, whom he had met before in Panhou Mountain City.
Ning Xiaoxi came downstairs with a strange expression, then walked up to Tianji and bowed, "My lord!" He had never brought any subordinates with him when he met her.
Tianji raised his phoenix eyes. This girl seemed to have grown taller. Before, he could look down at her even when he was sitting down, but now he had to look her in the eye. "Sit down!"
Ning Xiaoxi glanced sideways at the officials behind Tianji, "Please feel free to give any orders, sir."
"Routine questioning, sit down and talk." Tianji picked up a glass cup and placed it in front of Ning Xiaoxi.
"Oh!" Ning Xiaoxi sat up straight, her eyes fixed straight ahead, and she didn't touch the cup.
"Have you ever seen a flying creature?"
"Ah!" Ning Xiaoxi was a little confused, but nodded. "I've met you before."
Tianji looked at her irritably, "Don't give me a perfunctory answer, explain in more detail."
Ning Xiaoxi stood up solemnly, walked to Tianji's side, and began to narrate softly, "I have met Lord Difei twice. Four days ago, I was passing through Yingcheng, heading towards Fuyun Mountain, when I received a message from Lord Difei requesting assistance. Since I was not far away, I rushed over. After the crisis was resolved, I continued on my way, but I hadn't actually gone very far when I received Lord Difei's second request for assistance, this time for Fuyu Valley, so I rushed over there again." As Ning Xiaoxi spoke, she secretly glanced at Tianji's expression, but couldn't discern anything.
"You only met her twice?" Tianji felt he had used up all his patience on this girl, and he was still slowly squeezing out his words.
"When we parted, we hadn't even gone ten miles when the black and white pythons came out and attacked Lord Difei and the others again." Ning Xiaoxi felt she could complain a bit. "My lord, look at this, what kind of mess is this? In just one day, they've been in danger three times. I feel tired just thinking about them."
Tianji's face darkened.
Seeing the change in Tianji's expression, Ning Xiaoxi quickly retracted her words. "Because it was already late, Lord Difei took pity on me, a young lady, and felt it was unsafe for me to be out alone. So he let me stay with him for the night, and we parted ways early the next morning."
"that's it?"
That's all.
Did Difei ask you to keep anything safe? Or did they give you anything?
"No!" Ning Xiaoxi answered naturally, with a slightly strange expression on her face. "My relationship with Lord Difei is just that of two acquaintances. Although I helped them a little, I don't need to repay them. I'm not a greedy person!"
Tianji watched Ning Xiaoxi perform.
"No, sir, has something happened?"
"Di Fei and five of his subordinates were killed in the woods ten miles from Ying City!"