Volume 3: A drop in the ocean Chapter 41 The Only Beauty in the World
If there is anything in Yonghui City that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, it is the Mirror Lake at the foot of the bamboo forest outside Yonghui City.
It is unknown how long this small lake has existed. It seems that it has existed since the beginning of the existence of Yonghui City in this virtual world. Year after year, the world has changed, but this place has remained unchanged. No, maybe there is a little change, the only change is the thousand-year-old locust tree that has been flourishing by the lake year by year and the man with long green hair who has occasionally appeared here since five hundred years ago, sitting by the lake in a daze or jumping into the lake and turning into a swimming dragon.
Perhaps, to him, this place represents a past, an unforgettable encounter, so it is not difficult to explain why the two people who were leaning against each other and sleeping soundly under the thousand-year-old locust tree came here late last night.
When Pinglili gurgled and gradually woke up from his sleep, he was stunned for a moment.
Everything is quiet, the world is silent.
Looking ahead , there is a tranquil lake. The water is clear and green, just like a green mirror.
The warm sunlight filtered through the dense leaves above her head and turned into golden spots. A burst of fresh fragrance wafted into her nose. Ping Lili subconsciously raised her eyes and discovered that the thousand-year-old locust tree above her head had blossomed. Clusters of white flowers were like strings of wind chimes. When the wind blew, the white flowers all over the tree blew up, making Ping Lili think of the thousands of miles of snowfield in her dream for no reason. She was stunned for a moment, as if she had not realized where she was now.
She tilted her head slightly and was surprised to find that her head seemed to have hit something. Only then did she realize that she had been leaning on someone's shoulder all night, and her head had hit that person's chin just now, waking him up from his sleep.
But after waking up, the man did not show any intention of complaining. He just lowered his eyes lazily and glanced at her with his eyes as clear and emerald as the mirror-like water of a lake, but he said nothing. He silently turned his gaze back to the clear and tranquil lake, as if he was lost in his own thoughts.
Following his gaze, she looked at the lake again. At this moment, memories flowed back into her mind. Yes, this was Mirror Lake, the place where she first met him five hundred years ago.
Those smoke-like past, those memories that originally belonged to Yao Ji, only became clear in Ping Lili's memory.
Last night, after being taken away from the Five Poison Garden of the Naruoye tribe's palace by Long Yu in a daze, they came directly here. The two of them leaned against this thousand-year-old locust tree, intending to have a long heart-to-heart talk all night. Long Yu must have a lot to tell her, and Ping Lili also had a lot of questions in her heart that she wanted to confirm with Long Yu one by one. However, they didn't expect that because they had experienced too much that night, they were both exhausted. While chatting, they fell asleep leaning against each other.
Thinking about the past events that Long Yu mentioned to her last night, it seemed that many things were beyond Yan Lili's expectations, and there were too many unexpected facts.
For example, the Yonghui competition that day. Although the final winner was Yao Ji as expected by Ying Lili, the biggest variable was after the third round, when the two strongest contenders, Mo Yi and Long Yu, withdrew from the Yonghui competition on their own, which was something Ying Lili had not expected.
"Why did you withdraw from the Yonghui competition midway?"
"I participated in that stupid competition just to find out the whereabouts of my missing sister in Yonghui City. After the third round, I found some clues and I was no longer interested in playing with that old guy."
When Ying Lili asked Long Yu in confusion why he quit halfway, the answer he got was even more confusing, and even led to another mystery. One thing that had puzzled Yao Ji in Yonghui City before was the whereabouts of Miss Ruo.
The young lady of the Ruo family is actually the eldest princess of the Ruoye tribe, Long Yu's sister, and her real name is Long Xin. Long Yu went to participate in the Yonghui martial arts competition just to find the whereabouts of his suddenly missing sister Long Xin.
As Long Yu said last night, the real reason why he withdrew from the Yonghui competition was because he accidentally learned the whereabouts of Miss Long Xin of the Ruo family. Eager to save his sister, he naturally had no intention of participating in the subsequent competitions and simply withdrew. As for how he rescued Long Xin later, Long Yu just glossed over it. Although Ping Lili had some doubts in her heart, she was embarrassed to ask more questions because Long Yu was unwilling to mention it too much.
As for the other withdrawn candidate, Mo Yi, it was even more miraculous. According to Long Yu's description, Mo Yi seemed to have an epiphany during the third round of the battle to break through the barrier, and then he disappeared. Originally, Mo Yi was the first winner to break through the third level, but after he broke through the barrier, he was never seen again. It was not until a long time after the Yonghui competition ended that people heard that he appeared in Mingsha City of the Kongming tribe again. As for what happened to him during that period, no one knew.
As for what happened between Long Yu and Yao Ji in the internal fight of the Ruoye tribe in the South China Sea, there was no way to ask. Ying Lili knew that it was not a very good memory for Long Yu. After all, from the conversation between C and the old man of the Kongming tribe yesterday, she vaguely understood that Long Yu's position as the crown prince came with great difficulty. Therefore, Ying Lili could not bear to do such a heart-wrenching thing. Although she was still extremely curious in her heart, she hid it carefully. She thought, maybe one day, she would get back all of Yao Ji's memories.
Ping Lili was still immersed in her own thoughts, recalling last night's conversation one by one, but she saw that Long Yu had suddenly stood up. He was tall and slender, with long dark green hair hanging down to his waist. His jade-like face had a somewhat elusive look, and his silhouette in the dazzling morning sun formed a beautiful picture. For some reason, Ping Lili felt that at this moment, his figure was actually somewhat lonely and desolate.
Then, the friend looked at her silently for a long time, and finally blurted out: "Lili, you can't go to Shamo City!"
Ying Lili was startled, looking up at him quietly in confusion, as if waiting for his further explanation. During the long conversation last night, Ying Lili told Long Yu all her previous experiences, including how she met Mo Yi, how she was hunted by the Nayu people, and even how she decided to come to the Xu Ming Realm. She told him everything from the beginning.
So, when Long Yu suddenly said this, it was beyond Ying Lili's expectations. She thought that he would definitely stand on her side and firmly support her.
"Why?" She couldn't help but blurt out.
"Have you forgotten how Yao Ji died back then?!" When Long Yu squeezed out this word from between his teeth, his expression became extremely gloomy, as if he was speaking up for Yao Ji. Long Yu had always been brooding over what happened back then.
"But I have no choice. The curse was caused by me, and I have the obligation and responsibility to resolve it." Ping Lili still sat motionless under the thousand-year-old locust tree, looking at Long Yu steadily, her eyes full of determination, just like when she was in front of Mo Yi that day.
"You can think of other ways to break the curse. You don't have to go back to Shamo City and seek death! They won't let you go so easily." The coldness in Long Yu's eyes became more and more intense, as if he recalled something from the past.
"But, my senior brother, he should help me..." Thinking of Yan Zheng who was willing to risk his life for her that day, and the senior brother he mentioned, Ping Lili felt that Long Yu was exaggerating at this time.
"Don't believe your so-and-so senior brother! If he really wanted to protect you, he would not have watched those people kill you!" Long Yu could not help but growl, and when he said the last sentence, he was almost gritting his teeth. At this moment, he did not hide his disdain and dissatisfaction with Wu Su at all.
Ping Lili was stunned. Although she didn't take Long Yu's warning to heart, after all, because of Yan Zheng, she felt a little more identified with the Shamo people as her fellow countrymen, so she subconsciously felt that they should not be as sinister as Long Yu said.
However, at this moment, there was still a warm feeling rising in Pinglili's heart, because she knew that the man in front of her was truly thinking about her, although she had no other choice...
Now Yao Ji's consciousness appears in her mind more and more frequently. She can feel that there seems to be a huge power awakening in her body. She is not sure whether she can suppress such power. Yao Ji's soul seems to have been calling her in the distant Shamo City. It seems that something is pulling her to uncover some mystery that has been buried for five hundred years. The feeling that it is about to come out makes her feel that she seems to be unwilling to wait any longer. She wishes she could return to Shamo City immediately to uncover all these things.
So, she shook her head firmly: "Long Yu, I know you care about me, and I appreciate your kindness, but this is my destiny. I have already made up my mind before coming to this virtual world. Whether I live or die, I must go to Shamo City to give it a try."
Long Yu's brows knitted deeper. He stared at her steadily, and stared into her determined golden brown eyes for a long time. After a long time, perhaps seeing her determination, he sighed helplessly: "Even if you really want to go, you can't go now. According to your current cultivation level, it is definitely dangerous to go to Shamo City alone. Wait for a while."
"We are going to the imperial city of the Ruoye tribe. Stay there for a while. I have some important things to deal with here. If I can handle the things here, I will accompany you. If anything happens to me, you will stay there honestly and spend the rest of your life there. Don't think about returning to Shamo again."
Ping Lili was stunned when she heard this. What kind of conversation was this? How did it suddenly become like a last will? Moreover, from the meaning of this conversation, there was a sense of foreboding. What could have happened that made Long Yu say something depressing like "What if something happened to him?" Ping Lili suddenly had an idea in her mind. She hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Long Yu's collar, her eyes widened: "What do you mean by this?"
Long Yu sighed slightly but remained silent. In fact, it was not his fault for exaggerating. It was just that, given the current situation, even he was not sure of winning. This was a huge gamble, a gamble on his life and the future of his entire family!
However, Wei Xingying and Gong Lili were the only ones whom Long Yu was unwilling to involve, so no matter what, before that battle of unknown life and death, he had to send them away. In this way, he could fight a decisive battle with the Kongming Clan without any worries!
