The Amber Dragon King feels that he has been saying goodbye to his son again and again recently. The reluctance when seeing him off and the concern when waiting for his news have not changed, but his trust in him is growing day by day.
Looking at his son wearing dragon scale armor, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction in his heart. It was a kind of pride that parents felt after watching their children grow up. This time he did not send his son to the dock, but only said goodbye to him in the Amber Dragon Palace.
When leaving, he looked at Xia Qiu who was standing next to Qian Qi, and then said meaningfully to his son: "As a man, you must protect the people you think are the most important!"
Regardless of her identity, Yuchan rushed to the pier to see Ouyang Xiaoleng off, but she couldn't get close, so she had to watch them board the ferry from a distance. Because she was in such a hurry when she came out, she only wore a Luo shirt and was even more nervous by the water. I felt cold, and my eyes burst into tears for a while.
After leaving Dongyao, the four teenagers continued their journey. The further east you go, the more desolate it becomes. The entire forest has died for unknown reasons, leaving only bare tree trunks and no grass growing on the ground. Looking at the specks of white on the tree trunks, Ouyang Xiaoleng guesses that these trees are probably... What's wrong with you? In the demon world, it is rare for trees and plants to get sick, because the demon power of most trees allows them to heal themselves, so this phenomenon inevitably attracts their attention.
He jumped off his horse and observed the conditions of the trees at close range, but inadvertently discovered a water source next to the tree. From the smell and color of the water source, he easily found the real reason for the death of many plants. It was a puddle left after a heavy rain, which reminded him of the acid rain he had heard of in the human world, but acid rain in the demon world only happened once in a thousand years.
When they arrived at the border of Mucheng Xizhen, they finally saw a little life again. Although the weeds on the edge of the city were not dense, they were still green. Although there were white spots on the scattered trees, there were still some green leaves hanging on them. . The gates of Xizhen City are locked. The walls here are extremely high and it is difficult to see what is going on inside. If you fly in rashly, you may easily encounter hidden weapons or be attacked.
Ouyang Xiaoleng and Qianqi dismounted, walked to the city gate and patted it several times, but there was no response. They carefully searched for possible traps on and around the city gate for a long time, but unfortunately still found nothing.
"Is this city simply not allowed to allow outsiders to enter now?" Qianqi asked in confusion, then he leaned on the gate and listened to what was going on in the city.
At this moment, the door reacted. The small window used as a door mirror was opened, and a round eye looked carefully from the inside to the outside and asked: "Who are you?" What are you doing in Xizhen?"
"I am the current Demon King Fox Ouyang Xiaoleng, and I have come to Xizhen City to meet your city lord!" Ouyang Xiaoleng replied calmly.
The owner of the eye inside was silent for a while, and then disappeared. After a while, the door was finally pushed open from the inside. The owner of the eye just now appeared in the door together with another person. The person who had just talked to them was a short pangolin monster wearing green clothes. He obviously had average demon power, and his human body also had pangolin scales and long nails. Another man wearing a gray robe was much higher than him in terms of identity and demonic power. Sure enough, he confirmed this as soon as he opened his mouth.
He said respectfully: "I am the raccoon ghost who has been following the city lord Blue Snake Xizhen! I heard from my subordinates that you are the current demon king fox from the royal city. Do you have the credentials?"
Ouyang Xiaoleng raised the fox pattern armband on his arm in his direction.
The raccoon ghost looked at it carefully, then bowed deeply and said: "Forgive me and my subordinates for offending you. It's just because no one from the royal city has come to Xizhen in so many years, so I can't help but worry that it will be someone else." fake."
Several teenagers put away their demon horses and were welcomed into the city by the raccoon ghosts. Perhaps it was because I had just seen the prosperous scene of Dongyao that the depression in Xizhen City became so obvious. There were only a few scattered residents on the street, and judging from their clothes, they were quite poor. Moreover, a mere city lord even had a car. There is no welcome car, which is really hard to understand.
Originally, according to the information Dong Muya had and Ouyang Hongye's description, Blue Snake Xizhen should be a very capable woman, and the city should be managed prosperously by her, but after seeing it with their own eyes, they It doesn't feel that way.
"Where is the city lord?" Ouyang Xiaoleng asked while looking at the dilapidated houses around him.
"The Lord of the City is ill. No matter how we try to persuade her, she asserts that she will die soon, and even built a tomb for herself long ago."
Speaking of this, the raccoon ghost's voice was choked with sobs, and he raised his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve a few times. The pangolin monster following behind also looked sad, and it was not difficult to see their affection for the blue snake Xizhen.
After walking forward for a while, they came to the center of the wooden city. The famous towering white oak tree grew here. From the outside, this tree also had the same disease as the trees outside the city. The huge trunk had spots on it. Little by little, the leaves on the branches have basically withered.
"I noticed it outside the city. The plants around here..."
Before Ouyang Xiaoleng could finish speaking, the raccoon ghost interrupted him: "Since a few years ago, acid rain has often fallen here without warning. Although the city lord has cast spells many times to try to stop it, he has failed. There was no grass growing, and the white oak tree that symbolized Xizhen City was also on the verge of death. Rumors spread that this was an ominous sign. All the residents in the city, including the younger ones who could walk, left, leaving only The old, weak, sick and disabled, the city lord also fell ill because he could not bear the dying blow of the white oak tree."
Xia Qiu remembered Dong Muya’s story about Xizhen City. The little blue snake survived by climbing up a small oak tree, and later built its own city around it. They have been together for thousands of years. But we have to face separation, how can we not be sentimental
Blue Snake Xizhen's palace is obviously much smaller than those of other city lords, but it is still exquisite. The entire palace is made of cinnabar sandstone, with beautiful reliefs everywhere. It does have a somewhat exotic feel and is reminiscent of the architectural styles of ancient palaces in Southeast Asia.
The palace is small in size, with only three floors of courtyards. In front of the outermost courtyard are two reddish frogman stone statues. They were all kneeling on one knee, with their eyes closed, smiling, their upper bodies naked, and their earlobes like cattail leaf hanging down to their shoulders.
The second floor of the courtyard requires several steps to enter. There is a square pond on both sides of the walkway. The water in the pond has disappeared. Perhaps it was contaminated by acid rain and was simply drained away, leaving only two empty large ponds. pit.
The innermost courtyard is where Blue Snake Xizhen lives. Xia Qiu has never seen a building with so many exquisite carvings. Even the outer windows and doors are full of hollow carvings. It is not difficult to tell that this is A palace with feminine features. When they reached the third floor of the courtyard, the pangolin monster retreated automatically. His identity should not allow him to enter further inside. Now only the raccoon ghost was left with a few teenagers.
He pushed open the door of Blue Snake Xizhen's residence for them, and the smell of herbs mixed with exotic incense came out. The four walls and vaults of the palace were covered with murals, most of which were people sitting upright. These paintings of gods, Buddhas and flying fairies are exaggerated and colorful, with a Baroque style. A long red carpet stretches forward on the ground, seeming to guide visitors to follow it.
They walked along the long carpet for a while, and a huge golden curtain appeared in front of it. Behind it, there seemed to be a square couch slightly higher than the ground. A graceful figure could be vaguely seen lying on her side inside the curtain. .
"City Lord, the Demon King Fox is here!" The raccoon ghost walked to the curtain and said respectfully.
The figure inside the curtain paused for a moment, and then stood up with support. Judging from her movements, her body was still relatively weak. When Blue Snake Xizhen opened the curtain and came out to greet them, the few teenagers finally saw the true face of this legendary and mysterious city lord in Lushan. She was wearing a golden satin robe without too many modifications. She had a tall and well-proportioned figure. Her hair was draped down to her ankles. Her cheeks were a little thin, and her eyebrows were dark and green. Even though she was ill, she could not conceal her charming appearance.
No introduction was needed, and Blue Snake Xizhen immediately recognized who was the descendant of the Demon King Fox. Although it had been a thousand years since she met the first demon king Fox Li, she still remembered Li's unique temperament, and the boy in front of her looked very much like the man who once had the divine status, especially His pair of gray-blue pupils were exactly the same as Li's.
She bowed deeply to Ouyang Xiaoleng, then raised her head and said breathlessly: "I didn't know that the Demon King Fox would come to the villain's wooden city. Please forgive me for missing the welcome." Then she turned to the raccoon ghost and gave instructions. He said, "Raccoon Ghost, please quickly invite Demon King Fox and others to take a seat, and then prepare some refreshments!"
"Yes! Sir, please come here!"
The raccoon ghost led a few teenagers to some chairs in front of the screen. Blue Snake Xizhen also came and sat next to them. All the furniture in this living area was made of mahogany, and it also had markings on it. Carved decoration.
"Wucheng is far away from the Royal City. Why did Master Demon King Fox come here?" Blue Snake Xizhen asked.
"I heard that you built a tomb for yourself underground in the city?" Ouyang Xiaoleng asked tentatively.
"Yes, to be honest, the snake clan has always been able to predict their own death, and the villain feels that he will die soon. As you can see, since the acid rain hit, the city has also declined. In order not to die Later, I became a lonely ghost, so I had to make plans first and build the tomb."
Blue Snake Xizhen's tone could no longer hear any trace of the rumored heroic spirit among women, and there was only a sense of helplessness left.
"I heard that Qingyun, the enemy of the entire demon world, wants to use a certain substance in your tomb to achieve his ulterior plan!" Ouyang Xiaoleng said Qingyun's name so bluntly that several people around him were stunned. .
"Qingyun..." After hearing the name, Blue Snake Xizhen paused for a few seconds before saying, "I have never seen this person before, and I don't understand what the substance you are referring to is."
While saying this, Ling Yu noticed that Lan Snake Xizhen's eyes were not as calm as before, but seemed to be deliberately hiding something.
Although Ouyang Xiaoleng also felt that there was something strange about Blue Snake Xizhen, he did not continue to ask about Qingyun. Instead, he directly said to her: "Can we go to your tomb to find out?"
At this time, the raccoon ghost had just brought the tea, and before he could offer it to the people present, Xizhen, the blue snake, glanced at the tray in the raccoon ghost's hand and said, "Please have a cup of hot tea first, and I will take you there myself." of!"
Although the several teenagers were anxious, out of courtesy, they still drank their cups of tea as slowly as possible. Blue Snake Xizhen stood up when he saw everyone put down their cups.
The raccoon ghost quickly took out a cloak from behind the golden curtain and put it on her shoulders, advising: "It's shady underground, adults, you'd better put it on!"
Blue Snake Xizhen nodded to him and walked in front to lead everyone towards the catacombs.
Going out from the back door is a courtyard. Walk along the road with small stone Buddha statues standing on both sides. After bypassing a small pond with relatively clear water, walk for a while and you will reach a stone wall covered with vines. In front of you, there is a huge tree carved on the stone wall and a man standing under the tree with his long coat fluttering in the wind. She stretched out her hand and drew the shape of the moon on the wall at a 45-degree angle to the top of the tree.
After a muffled "bang" sound, the wall began to slide to the left.