Although the umbrella seller's eyes were evasive and his words were evasive, the barrier city was full of things that were not right, so Yan Qing did not doubt it. The longevity lock was made of gold, with a unicorn carved on the back and the words "Long Life" written on the front. It looked very ordinary.
He walked on the street of Linxian City, holding it up to the light for a long time, but couldn't see anything wrong.
It takes water to get from Linxian City to Zhan City. Xie Shiyi and Yan Qing are not unfamiliar with this place, but two hundred years later, the world has changed dramatically here, and the Zhan River has obviously become much quieter. In the past, bamboo rafts and large ships were constantly coming and going, but now there are few people on the lake. It was only after he bargained with an old man who was fishing nearby for countless times that the old man agreed to take them there.
After Yan Qing got on the boat, he immediately asked the rowing man out of curiosity: "Has anything happened in this city recently? Why are there so few ferries on the water?"
"No one has been going to the Barrier City for decades." The old man paddled the boat and looked at how much money he had given him before he kindly said, "I wonder why you two little kids would go to the Barrier City when there are so many places to go. In recent years, few people who have entered the Barrier City have come out. Especially girls, every time they go in, they disappear."
Yan Qing was stunned: "Ah? So many people disappeared, the government doesn't do anything about it?"
In his memory, Zhancheng was one of the largest cities in the world, and its public security management was pretty good. How could it have fallen to this point
The old man's face trembled when he heard that, and he glanced at Yan Qing, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
Yan Qing seemed to be thinking about something, and asked mysteriously, "I heard that the Lord of the Barrier City is very fond of women, is that right? Are all the women who went there forced into his mansion by him?"
The old man's hands trembled and he almost dropped the pulp into the water. He was furious: "Keep your voice down! Don't you want to kill me? I want to kill you!"
Yan Qing smiled and comforted him, "Master, what are you afraid of? We are on the water. There is no one here for hundreds of miles. What we are talking about is known to you, me, heaven and earth. The Lord of the Barrier City is just an ordinary person. How can he have the ability to see and hear from afar?"
The old man rolled his eyes: "You only know that the Lord of Barrier City is a mortal?"
Yan Qing: "I heard that after the five families in the Barrier City were massacred that year, now everyone in the Barrier City is a mortal."
The old man looked at him like a young man: "A lean camel is bigger than a horse. I think the Lord of the Barrier City is most likely a cultivator. You know, the Chu government doesn't dare to intervene in the affairs of the Barrier City. So many people have disappeared and they didn't say a word."
Yan Qing said: "If the government doesn't dare to intervene, then will the Immortal Terrace intervene?"
The Immortal Platform is an institution established by the Upper Heaven in the human world to kill powerful demons.
The old man's face trembled, and he said, "Little kid, the origin of the Lord of the Barrier City is not simple. I advise you to get out as soon as you deliver the things. Don't stay in there for too long. The longer you stay, the more likely it is that something bad will happen."
Yan Qing keenly grasped the meaning of his words and smiled: "Master, do you mean that the Immortal Terrace can no longer control the Barrier City?"
Xianrentai ignores the imperial power in the human world, and even Xianrentai cannot handle it. There is only one reason: the Lord of Barrier City has the upper heaven behind him.
Uncle: “…”
The old man was really wasting his life talking to him. He glanced at Xie Shiyi who was sitting quietly at the stern and immediately changed the subject: "Oh, is your friend not feeling well? I see that little kid has a pale face. How about you take him to sit in the awning?"
When Yan Qing heard about Xie Shiyi, he immediately shut up and stopped asking questions. Watching the young man in green clothes turn around and leave, the old man silently worried for himself, thinking that he was really a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers and dared to say anything.
The oars dipped into the lake, creating ripples.
Birds flew across the sky, the light was golden, and the clear water reflected the mountains like a mirror. This boat was just an ordinary fishing boat, and the bow was just big enough for them to sit and stand. Even though Xie Shiyi's snow-white robe was beside the damp and rotten boat, it was still spotless like the clear light.
Yan Qing thought it was inconvenient to stand, so he sat down with Xie Shiyi. He sat on the other side and looked in the same direction as Xie Shiyi.
The direction of the barrier city
When they left the barrier city, the river was crowded with boats and people, so no one could tell that this was the chosen one who would become famous from now on. A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye, and it was all just a dream.
Yan Qing raised the corners of his lips, stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Xie Shiyi: "You are not missing the past, are you?"
Xie Shiyi withdrew his gaze from the overlapping green mountains, looked at Yan Qing, and said, "There is a formation outside the barrier city."
Yan Qing: “Ah?”
Xie Shiyi said: "I can't see clearly what is happening inside."
Unable to detect even Xie Shiyi's spiritual sense, Yan Qing frowned and told him the conversation between him and the boatman just now: "I heard that in recent years, people who went to the barrier city never came back, especially women. Yu Xin's previous investigation said that the Lord of the barrier city was lustful. Do you think the disappearance of those women is related to him?"
Xie Shiyi repeated softly: "Lewd? No? All of it."
After hearing what he said, Yan Qing nodded and said, "Indeed, it's not only women who go and never come back, and the missing women include both young and old." The women who went to the Barrier City included not only young girls, but also young girls and old women. If they all disappeared, it can't be blamed solely on lust.
Yan Qing muttered: "What do you think the Qin family thinks of the Barrier City?"
When Xie Shiyi heard his words, his tone was as light as snow. His dark and cold eyes looked across the mountains and rivers at the city that was covered in rain all year round. He said without a trace of ups and downs: "I think this may be the Qin family's 480 temples in the human world."
Four hundred and eighty? Temple...
Yan Qing was stunned.
In a flash, Yan Qing looked up and said, "So? In your original plan, how would you deal with the barrier city?"
Xie Shiyi raised his eyes and glanced at him: "Why do you ask?"
Yan Qing said based on his understanding of Xie Shiyi, "You should be able to directly block the barrier city. If necessary, it is not impossible to massacre the city."
After saying that, Yan Qing laughed out loud. He said, "Yaoyao, you obviously don't care about the world. Why did you become the leader of the Immortal Alliance?" Just like in the Zixiao Secret Realm of the Huichun Sect, Xie Shiyi's arrival was not for the so-called justice and fairness. Many times, he just needed an answer that he wanted.
Xie Shiyi did not deny it, his expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly: "Yan Qing, the leader of the Immortal Alliance does not need to care about the world. This identity was established to be used for killing."
Yan Qing asked back nonchalantly: "Will you lose yourself if you kill too many people?" There are so many desires in this world, and killing is the easiest to drive people crazy, no doubt about it.
Xie Shiyi smiled softly upon hearing this, and said calmly: "Well, so he can't be a bad guy, nor can he be a good guy."
Yan Qing was stunned for a moment. In this era of being born as a demon, he could not define the concept of the Immortal Alliance with any previous concept. Xie Shiyi was right. The leader of the Immortal Alliance could not be a bad guy, nor could he be a good guy.
Yan Qing smiled, feeling a little sad in his heart.
He was used to the bloody rule that the strong are respected in the Demon Realm, but after arriving in the Upper Heaven, he still hoped that Xie Shiyi could stand in the place of brilliant light.
"Unrestrained power is actually a heavier shackle." Xie Shiyi said: "The essence of Xiaoyu Palace is a cage."
Yan Qing: "Then why did you agree to it in the first place?"
Xie Shiyi looked at him calmly and said lightly, "Because at first, I was very curious about nightmares, especially curious."
I said "nightmare", but when the river breeze blew into my ears, it sounded more like "you".
In a sense, the misunderstanding that year really completely changed their future choices.
The boat was about to dock, and the peach blossoms on the shore fell into the water, forming a bright pink belt.
Yan Qing said softly: "Once the nightmare disappears completely, the Immortal Alliance will no longer need to exist."
Xie Shiyi paused and said slowly: "Actually, I am no longer interested in Nightmare. I am more interested in how to kill the Demon God."
Yan Qing couldn't help laughing out loud, his eyes curved: "What a coincidence, me too."
After giving ten taels of the hundred taels he got from the owner of the oil-paper umbrella shop to the boatman as a reward, Yan Qing jumped off the bow and walked inside. From Linxian City to here, the sky had already begun to slowly darken. When they passed through a forest and a small hill without using magic and arrived in front of the gate of the barrier city, they saw a scene that was completely different from before.
There are trees growing in front of the gate of the barrier city, and the grass and trees are even thicker in spring.
The city gate was covered with dark clouds and was heavily guarded outside the gate, with entry allowed but exit restricted.
He and Xie Shiyi didn't even need to register to enter the city gate, and the officers and soldiers didn't even look at them.
Yan Qing was playing with the longevity lock in his hand, looking for trouble. People ignored him, but he insisted on paying attention to them.
"Sir, I'm new here, can I ask you something?"
The guard looked at him coldly, as if he were a dying man, and said nothing.
Yan Qing raised the longevity lock in his hand and said, "I was entrusted by someone to deliver the longevity lock to the Su family in the city. Do you know where the Su family is in the city and the direction? Then I can avoid taking detours."
When the guard heard that Su Jia's brows were furrowed so much that they could instantly catch a fly, he said in a veiled tone, "Su Jia? Who are you looking for?"
Yan Qing: "Madam of the Su family."
The guard smiled as expected, and said sarcastically: "It's this woman again." However, he obviously looked down on Yan Qing and said: "The Su family is in the east of the city."
Yan Qing: "Okay, thank you, sir."
Since Xie Shiyi arrived at the barrier city, he just watched everything he did without saying anything to stop him, and just let Yan Qing do whatever he wanted.
The streets of the barrier city were still bustling, with buildings everywhere and various shops and restaurants on the street, but the change that could be seen with the naked eye was that there were no women and very few children in the city. Most of the people coming and going were young and old, and when they saw the two strangers, they all cast strange glances at them.
As they walked on the road, someone even came out to ask them where they were going. After Yan Qing told them the name of the Su family, the man's smile instantly stopped, and he walked while muttering in the dialect of Zhancheng: "I said this woman is unlucky, I don't know what kind of evil Su Qu has been possessed by, he wasted half his life to get her from the city lord." He probably thought Yan Qing and Xie Shiyi couldn't understand, and while cursing, he said: "There are fewer and fewer women coming here, and life is getting harder and harder."
Back then, Xie Shiyi burned all the five families in Zhancheng to ashes. All the magnificent buildings now were built later. Yan Qing looked at the people in Zhancheng who were calculating them as fat sheep to be slaughtered, and felt strange and indescribable in his heart. Do they know what kind of killing god they are targeting now
Relying on his ability to speak differently to different people, Yan Qing was able to get a lot of information out of people along the way.
Su Qu, the head of the Su family, is the most capable general under the Lord of Zhancheng. His current status here can be said to be second only to the Lord and he is at the peak of his career.
Yan Qing tried to ask some questions, and asked in a tactful way why there were so few women in the city.
Perhaps because Yan Qing had made them happy, the person leading them said frankly: "Recuperate at home. You are sick and can't come out."
Yan Qing: "Sick? Everyone is sick at the same time?" Yan Qing asked fearfully: "What kind of illness is it? No one is going to see a doctor and get medicine?"
When this person mentioned this, his face turned pale: "They are not the ones who should take medicine, but us."
Yan Qing: “?”
The man rolled his eyes, took out a bottle of medicine from his sleeve, and smiled as if he saw a new business opportunity: "Have you got married, young man?"
Yan Qing glanced at Xie Shiyi and smiled, "Not married yet, but has a fiancée."
The man asked, "What's your fiancée like? Is she hot-tempered?"
Yan Qing sighed and said, "No, she's not aggressive. My fiancée isn't the proactive type."
Upon hearing this, the man immediately chuckled twice: "If she doesn't take the initiative, you have to take the initiative. Look at my medicine, how about selling it to you for ten taels of silver?"
Yan Qing looked at the medicine bottle in his hand, on which were clearly written the three words "Aphrodisiac Pills".
"This is a must-have item for every household in our city! You can't buy it outside."
Yan Qing: “…” He thought he would see all kinds of weird and evil scenes when he came to the barrier city, but now he was confused right away.