Chapter 645 (1/2)

Chapter 645: The Fog Dissipates, Revealing Red Robes

Places like quagmires, which are difficult and dangerous, were rarely visited . This also meant that they were safer . Ning Que thought so, as did many animals . The waters exuded a faint scent of sulfur and could not support the growth of big plants . However, they could eat moss and escape the winter here because of its warmth . That was why many animals stayed in this patch of swamp throughout the year .

The staple food was moss or plankton in the water . There were no lions or tigers in the swamp, but there was a fierce beast that looked like a snake and was covered with a light dusting of fine greasy hair .

This ferocious beast was called the Capybara by herdsmen in the Golden Palace . They swam quickly and had venomous saliva . They were carnivorous, and the horses and sheep of herdsmen who got lost and entered the swamp would mostly be killed by the beast .

Ning Que was not afraid of such capybaras . The capybaras seemed to be able to sense his dangerous aura and they would avoid him whenever they met . However, a few days ago, a capybara could not bear the temptation of the Big Black Horse and wanted to take a bite of it . It swam stealthily under the aquatic plants and ambushed the horse .

The Big Black Horse bit and killed the Capybara . It crushed the beast with its front hooves and bit into it . However, the capybara tasted horrible, so the horse did not eat it .

The fog in the Quagmire grew thicker .

They could no longer see the thick black clouds . Even though they knew that the cloud still hung above the horse carriage, both Sangsang and Ning Que felt much better .

They continued walking into the swamp . It would be about two to three days before they could cross it . The black horse carriage came to a pool, and a ray of light appeared before Ning Que .

The terrain here was relatively low . The water in the pool would reach the waist of a person and compared to the rest of the areas in the swamp, the water was much clearer . Perhaps because of the water source, the water here was drinkable . There were plenty of aquatic plants in the pool and tiny silverfish swimming amongst them . There were also dozens of white waterbirds drinking at the edge of the pond .

”Eldest Brother would be extremely happy to see this place . ”

Ning Que walked to the edge of the pool . He felt momentarily refreshed by the colors of the pool after having seen nothing but the desolate Wilderness and mud . He reached out into the water and discovered that the temperature was just right, so he allowed Sangsang to bathe in it .

The Big Black Horse was chased to another part of the pool . It neighed happily and rushed into the pool, shaking its head uncontrollably . It washed away the mud stains and then salivated as it stared at the swimming silverfish .

Sangsang removed her heavy fur clothes and the thin vest underneath . She walked into the pool and s.h.i.+vered slightly at the light breeze brus.h.i.+ng across the surface of the pool . She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold .

”Sit in the water and you'll warm up . ”

Ning Que brought a towel and walked up behind her, prepared to rub her back .

Sangsang did as he said . She sank down slowly until her head was submerged in the warm water before standing up again . Her short wet hair seemed very smooth and water dripped from its ends onto her slender shoulders .

When they were little, Ning Que often bathed Sangsang . When they grew up, Sangsang insisted on was.h.i.+ng herself, but also insisted on him rubbing her back . After that, when Sangsang was ill, Ning Que helped her to bathe again .

They've lived together for many years, and they had no secrets between them, whether physically or spiriturally . Furthermore, they were engaged, so neither Sangsang nor Ning Que were embarra.s.sed .

The girl's body was still immature, but soft . Sangsang had grown up after all . Ning Que's hands gently rubbed on her back, then reached out to the front and held on .

Sangsang said softly, ”Too small?”

Ning Que said, ”Not anymore . ”

No one knew if the two were talking about the same thing .

Sangsang suddenly started coughing . Ning Que grew solemn and began to rub her back seriously . They were done within a short time . Then, he carried her back to the carriage, where he dried and dressed her .

He washed up hurriedly and put on new clothing . Then, he sat on the gra.s.s by the pool and hugged Sangsang closely, while looking out at the scenery . He noted her damp hair and thought of the past, smiling softly .

Sangsang always knew what he was thinking about . And even if she did not know, she'd know that he was thinking . She wriggled in between his arms and asked, ”What are you thinking about?”

”I'm thinking about Shanshan . ”

Ning Que answered honestly, ”When I first met her at the northern frontier fortress of the Yan Kingdom, it was also during a hot spring . She was standing on a tree and her hair was also damp . ”

Sangsang leaned against him lazily and thought of something . She said worriedly, ”Miss Shanshan helped us at the Lanke Temple . It wouldn't get her into trouble, would it?”

Ning Que shook his head, saying, ”Her teacher, the Master of Calligraphy, is a visiting professor of Haotian Taoism . She is also a Divine Talisman Master, so the Buddhism and Taoism Sects have to take that into account . Furthermore, Eldest Brother took her in as his sworn sister, so she must be fine . ”

The Big Black Horse was done with was.h.i.+ng up as well and ran back happily . It ran up to the two and wanted to play with them . However, when he opened his mouth, Ning Que smelled a strong fishy odor . He couldn't help but said angrily, ”Are you stupid or a foodie? You haven't forgotten to eat even while taking a bath . Go away quickly . ”

The Big Black Horse walked away angrily, crouching down at the pool and basking in the nonexistent sun . It gradually relaxed as the warm wind blew on it, and it snorted joyfully from time to time .

The fog was like smoke, and the clear pond was a faint emerald . The edge of the pond was green with gra.s.s, and the fish in the pool jumped around . Ning Que hugged Sangsang and watched the beautiful scenery, and felt tired as he relaxed and fell asleep .

After some time .

The fog dispersed even though there was no wind . A figure loomed across the quiet pool .

Ning Que opened his eyes and looked across, only to discover that the area of the pool was larger than he had imagined . The sh.o.r.e across was at least hundreds of feet away .

He was not very surprised when he saw the figure because if it was a person or a beast, it would not have been able to avoid his or Sangsang's sense of perception . As such, he thought it was a tree .

The fog around the swamp grew fainter, and the fog around the pool had gradually dispersed . One could see the thick black cloud above and what was on the opposite sh.o.r.e .

It was not a tree across the sh.o.r.e, but a person .

It was a person both Ning Que and Sangsang had not sensed .

It was a beautiful woman .

They could sense the charm rolling off her even through such a long distance . However, the charm turned into death and horror due to her blood red clothes .

There was no blood on her blood red robe . The robe of the Divine Priest was red, but the robe, which was usually spotless was covered with mud . However, the woman wearing the robe was ethereal .

The woman wore a divine crown .

The crown was made of gold, and threaded with silver . It was inlaid with 13 bright precious stones . It seemed as if there was a curtain of light hanging down from the crown, shrouding her face . It was so luxurious, solemn and beautiful that it could not be overlooked .

Ning Que knew that the divine crown was very expensive . He had handled it in the Taoism Temple in the Kingdom of Qi . However, he did not know that he would see it again as well as the red divine robe on his escape route .

But when he saw her, he understood that this was but just a matter of fact .

The death of the Daughter of Yama was a great event . The Buddhism Sect had even managed to invite the Chief Preaching Monk of the Xuankong Temple . As servants of Haotian, the Haotian Taoism would not have stayed idle .

The powerhouses of Haotian Taoism lurking at the ridge seemed strong, but were not strong enough . Even though the abbey dean of the Zhishou Abbey was far away at the southern seas, the West-Hill Divine Palace should still have sent a Great Divine Priest .

The West-Hill Divine Palace had sent her as the Great Divine Priest . Ning Que felt lucky, and unfortunate at the same time . That was why he could only remain silent as he looked at the girl across the sh.o.r.e, not knowing what else to do .

The long period of absolute silence had caused the atmosphere by the pool to be rather grave and depressing . A school of slender silverfish dove deep into the aquatic plants . The dozens of white waterbirds flew away, terrified . The fog had also dissipated, as if knowing what was about to happen .

Ning Que suddenly laughed and waved to the figure across the sh.o.r.e, ”What a coincidence to have met here . ”

Ye Hongyu said, ”I've been waiting for days in the Quagmire to meet you guys . How is this a coincidence?”

Ning Que smiled, saying, ”Why do you have to make the atmosphere so tense right when we meet . It's been months since we met in the Kingdom of Qi, didn't we have a good chat then?”

Ye Hongyu answered, ”Firstly, she wasn't yet the Daughter of Yama then . Secondly, it's been a year since we last met, not just a few months . ”

She continued after a pause, ”It seems that the Buddha's chessboard saved you . ”

Ning Que said, ”You waited for days just to hear about how we got out of the Lanke Temple?”

Ye Hongyu said, ”I waited to kill you guys . ”

After saying that, she walked toward the other end of the sh.o.r.e, her blood red robe floating behind her .

Ning Que yelled, ”If you don't want to hear about how we escaped, I can tell you about what happened at the Xuankong Temple . That was interesting . ”

It seemed as if Ye Hongyu had not heard him at all . She continued going forth slowly yet firmly .

Ning Que said angrily, ”What I hate most about you is that you always talk about killing people so casually . ”

Ye Hongyu furrowed her brows and stopped . She said, ”I don't need you to like me . ”

Ning Que said furiously, ”I'm such an outstanding man . What's bad about me?”

Ye Hongyu answered, ”You even dare to marry the Daughter of Yama . You're too brave . You're so brave that it has shocked me . So I'd better kill you rather than like you . ”

Ning Que said, ”This means that you might like me . ”

Ye Hongyu knew what kind of person he was . She ignored him and continued moving forward .

Ning Que's expression was calm . However, his body grew cold and he said, ”You waited for us in this quagmire for so many days . That's so nice of you, I cannot reciprocate your goodwill . I'm going to treat you to a bath . ”

Ye Hongyu did not stop . She said, ”Killing you is not an easy task . I will definitely be covered with mud and your blood later . So I shall bathe later . ”

Ning Que shook his head and said, ”I don't fight with women who are covered with mud . No matter what kind of fight it is . When touching the mud and smelling its odor, I wouldn't be happy about it . ”

Ye Hongyu froze slightly and said, ”You're such a pervert, to like killing clean women . ”

Ning Que stood up and looked at her calmly . He said, ”You should know very well that we are all perverts . ”