That night, although Xia Qiu slept very late because of the game of intercepting the Kongming Lantern at midnight, the fatigue caused by practicing during the day and staying up late later made her sleep relatively deeper than usual.
It was already early morning outside the window, but the sky was much darker than usual. It was rare to have such a cloudy day, and large dark clouds shrouded the sky above Bauhinia Island. In fact, it was earlier than the usual time to wake up, but she and Xiaolibai were still dreaming.
Bang bang bang, a rapid knock on the door came from downstairs. Although she heard it subconsciously, her body couldn't get up at all. She turned over but fell asleep quickly. But then, there was another rapid knock on the door, so she had no choice but to get up. She lifted the gauze curtain, put on some clothes, and staggered down the stairs.
Because I wasn't too sleepy yet, I tried several times before opening the door. Standing outside was Ouyang Xueye. He looked extremely energetic. If it weren't for the obvious dark circles under his eyes, it would be hard to imagine that he had not slept all night. As soon as he saw Xia Qiu, he hurriedly said: "Get ready, you are leaving here today!"
"What?!" Xia Qiu rubbed her eyes and looked at his expression carefully. She saw that his eyes were bright and his face was serious, which showed that he was not joking with her, so he continued to ask, "What about you? Everyone? Where are your plans? Are they all in advance?!"
"Well! Because procrastinating any longer might not be good for us. Do you still remember those white bats that chased you in the realm of soul separation? They are probably controlled by the extraordinary. If he lets those guys sneak into the boundless heaven, If we come, our chances of winning may be even smaller!”
"Is there time to notify others of the temporary change of plans?"
"I have sent Wuyou Saint Boy and the others to notify the others, but I don't know how Xiong Man's weapons and supplies are prepared..." A trace of worry flashed across Ouyang Xueye's eyes, and then he continued to urge, "Hurry up. , everyone on Bauhinia Island will set off at noon, and our large force will eventually board the Ledge Island closest to Xuanmiao Palace. It will be used as the main battlefield, but because that island is far away from the waterfall, Jin and I Shanhui will lead the troops to escort you to the middle of Lvli Island here, and the rest of the way will be completed by you and Xiao Libai together!"
After listening to Ouyang Xueye's arrangements, Xia Qiu was no longer sleepy. She felt very guilty when she thought that he would not hesitate to delay the rendezvous with the large army, but also escort her to a place relatively close to the waterfall.
She knew that her own strength was not enough to make Ouyang Xueye rest assured that she could act alone. They had clearly reached the most critical moment for the enemy, but she still became a burden to them. But she really didn't know how to persuade him to change his mind. After all, she had already understood that in such a tense situation, no one would think more thoughtfully than Ouyang Xueye, so after hesitating for a moment, she had no choice but to nod and respond: "good!"
Back upstairs, she simply packed up two pieces of clothing, carefully rolled up the letters that she had yet to recite, tied them with a rope, and put them into a bag that she had sewn earlier under the guidance of the Elk Fairy. Wear it cross-body in your bag. While packing her things, she would look out the window from time to time. The low dark clouds outside the window seemed to be right above her head, giving people a strong sense of oppression. The lake was calmer than she imagined. From the looks of it, there was no one there. You will think that there will be a bloody storm in this world.
When he took her to the platform with Xiaolibai and her luggage, she found that her bow and quiver had already been cleaned by the Elk Fairy and placed neatly aside. Seeing her coming down, Elk Fairy brought her a steaming breakfast as usual. Looking at his calm and unhurried look, she always had the illusion that this was just an ordinary morning in the infinite heaven. The time when he is leaving is still far away, at least it won't be today.
Elk Fairy brought her the note left by Ouyang Xueye. He left first to complete some final preparations before the battle, and would return to Ziyunju to pick her up when it was time to set off. Elk Fairy's cooking skills were as good as ever, but she could barely swallow a few mouthfuls of porridge before she couldn't eat any more. Now, she only felt that her hands and feet were cold, and her whole body was extremely uncomfortable. She felt that although she was not experienced in hundreds of battles, she had experienced life and death hardships. She did not expect that she would still be so nervous at this moment.
At this time, there was a rumbling sound under the platform, causing her to suddenly put down her chopsticks and run to the edge of the platform involuntarily. She looked down and saw that, guided by the eagles and dragonflies, the spiritual horses on the pasture were all running towards the lake. She suddenly remembered that Ouyang Xueye said that these spirit horses would be responsible for going to Chizhao Island to pick up the souls of Xiong Man and his men. She didn't know that during this operation, the spirit horses also had other important responsibilities, that is, they were responsible for transporting the weapons and supplies prepared by Xiong Man and the others to Lvli Island.
In order to calm herself down, Xia Qiu began to review the archery movements after eating, and also tried to distract herself. When she focused on drawing the arrow, nocking the arrow, and stringing the string, her hands and feet were cold. The feeling disappeared unconsciously.
The sky was still dark, so she couldn't tell how much time had passed. It seemed that just a short while later, Ouyang Xueye came back from outside. As soon as he saw her, he smiled and asked: "How are you preparing, Xia Qiu?"
"Everything is ready!" She nodded.
"Then let's go! I'm afraid I have to ask you and Xiaolibai to give me a ride. Diaoyan and Dragonfly will be responsible for guiding the spirit horses for the time being."
"No problem!" Xia Qiu said, taking Little Libai off the table, touching its head and gently putting it down. Then it understood and transformed into a huge form, and then shook its body proudly. That fluffy hair up and down. She boasted about her luggage, put on her quiver, then flew on Xiaolibai's back, then turned to Ouyang Xueye and said, "Come up!"
So Ouyang Xueye also turned over and stepped behind her, and told the Elk Immortal: "I will leave everything in Ziyunju to you!"
Elk Immortal nodded silently, but Xia Qiu saw tears shining in the corners of his eyes. For each of them, this is a matter of life and death. What lies before them is a battle with unknown outcome, a mysterious enemy, and an uncertain fate. But at the same time, this is a trial before Nirvana, and it is also the dawn after darkness. .
Just as she was thinking about it, the sky suddenly brightened up. When the layers of dark clouds dispersed in all directions, the sun shone on them again. For some reason, the rain did not start falling after all. Xia Qiu drove Xiao Libai away from the platform in the sunshine and jumped into the air. Xiao Libai carried her and Ouyang Xueye as they climbed higher and higher.
Ouyang Xueye pointed forward and said, "Look, the others are right there!"
Xia Qiu looked in the direction of his finger and found a team waiting for them on the other side of the island. However, there were only about a hundred dead souls. She asked in confusion: "Aren't Jinshan and Changnariko together?" Leading two hundred dead souls?"
"Chang Naruko has taken the lead to go to Chizhao Island to meet Xiong Nan. The most important part of this battle is enough weapons and supplies, and all of them are on the Shisou boat escorted by Xiong Nan and the others." Ouyang Xueye explained.
Xia Qiu controlled Xiao Libai to reach the top of Jinshan's team. Ouyang Xueye flew down from behind her and landed next to Jinshan. She saw Yu Chan in the team at a glance. She originally thought that Yu Chan was only responsible for contacting the souls participating in the operation, but she did not expect that she would also participate in the battle.
Today, her upper body is still wearing a light yellow dress, and she also wears a fish scale-like silver armor outside the dress, but her lower body is wearing white trousers made of the same luminous material as the others. The trousers are connected to the boots, so they should Able to be waterproof.
Seeing Xia Qiu in the air, she smiled and waved to her. She looked as calm as Ouyang Xueye, so Xia Qiu had to admire her. Jinshan's face, on the other hand, was tense, and his expressions and movements were not very natural.
Ouyang Xueye obviously noticed something strange about him, so she put her hand on his shoulder and patted him twice, asking, "Are you okay?"
"No...it's okay!"
"You were experienced in many battles before you were alive, why are you so nervous now?"
"Well, it's not because of the wasted time in the boundless heaven that I have become completely lazy. I am still not used to being in such a tense state suddenly." Jinshan sighed and responded truthfully.
"Don't worry, the fairy beast in the lake gave me a dream last night. It said that we will definitely win this time!"
Hearing Ouyang Xueye's words, Jin Shan also relaxed a lot. Seeing that he looked rough and heroic on the outside, he actually believed very persistently in things like luck or omens. He He said repeatedly: "That's good, that's good!"
Xia Qiu, who also landed not far from them, knew in his heart that the so-called dream was most likely made up by Ouyang Xueye. He couldn't help it, but he could only look away and smile. When he looked up, he found that Yuchan was also making faces for herself, and the two looked at each other and laughed even more.
She had seen some of the other faces in the team at Yu Chan's house last time, but most of them were still unfamiliar faces, and Big Tou was not among them. She guessed that he might have been assigned to Chang Naruko's team. , so I didn’t think much about it. Originally, she wanted to ask Ouyang Xueye today whether the traitor had been caught, but she never found the opportunity. Now it was even more impossible to ask him.
Ouyang Xueye calculated the time again, and then nodded towards Jinshan. Everyone understood that the time to go on the expedition had come. They turned over and mounted their own spiritual horses. Ouyang Xueye still had to temporarily ride Xiaoli Bai with Xia Qiu. Jinshan was the first to ride towards the lake, and everyone followed closely behind. According to the original plan, Ouyang Xueye and Xia Qiu were temporarily at the end of the queue.
The last time she was at the bottom of the lake, Xia Qiu had already seen the water properties of spirit horses, but this was the first time she saw how they moved on the water. Even with heavy loads on their bodies, only half of their bodies are submerged in the water, and they can swim at astonishing speeds on their four legs.
Xia Qiu tried his best to let Little Libai fly as low as possible, almost sticking to the lake. It was not very satisfied with its position at the end of the team and always wanted to find opportunities to surpass the people in front. However, as long as Xia Qiu stopped it sharply, it would let go again. Slow speed. Today it seems to be more obedient than usual. Perhaps even it feels the tension at this moment.
There was still no sign of the enemy on their side, but a cloud of smoke had risen on the lake far away from here, and underneath the smoke were blazing flames. Ouyang Xueye said as if talking to himself: "It seems Wuyou succeeded!"