Chapter 606: An Unexpected Discovery of Chu Liuxiang's Relic
Chapter 606: An Unexpected Discovery of Chu Liuxiang's Relic
The scorching sun blazed overhead, radiating an intense heat that was impossible to look at directly.
The scorching heat distorted the air, making the desert appear hazy and twisted. The vast expanse of the desert seemed lifeless, with no trace of greenery in sight.
Just a few miles away from the oasis camp, the group was already feeling the oppressive heat's torment.
Hu Tiehua felt a bit dizzy and couldn't help but wipe his forehead, which was oddly dry. "I guess I drank too much last night. It’s like a delicate young lady, a bit of sun and I’m already dizzy. If this continues, what will happen?"
"You didn’t drink enough," Jin Banhua laughed.
Hu Tiehua turned back, surprised, and asked, "Not enough?"
"Exactly!" Jin Banhua said seriously, "The sun dizzies your head to the left, drinking too much dizzies it to the right. One left and one right cancel each other out, so your head wouldn’t be dizzy, right?"
Hu Tiehua burst into laughter, "That makes sense, it really does! It seems I drank too little last night, and I was actually quite sober this morning. I’ll have to drink two more jars tonight!"
Princess Pipa giggled, "There are twenty-pound jars of wine in the camp. I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it."
"Impossible!" Hu Tiehua boasted, "In martial arts, I’m not as good as the old stinkbug, and in wit, I’m not as good as the dead rooster. But in drinking, the two of them together aren’t a match for me!"
Mentioning his pride, Hu Tiehua even called out the nicknames of Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan.
Princess Pipa looked at Jin Banhua and then asked Hu Tiehua, "Great Hero Chu and Great Hero Ji have been out for a day and a night. They haven’t returned yet. Nothing’s happened to them, right?"
"Of course not!" Hu Tiehua confidently said, though he was a bit nervous inside.
Logically, there should be no human presence within a hundred miles around the oasis Camp. Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan went to deal with a Kucha rebel’s hired assassin, and it shouldn’t have taken them a day.
"Perhaps they found a new lead," Hu Tiehua could only say.
Just then, a Kucha warrior stepped forward and said, "There’s a shady spot up ahead. Should we rest a bit?"
Hu Tiehua asked, "How far have we come?"
"About ten miles," the warrior replied.
Hu Tiehua shook his dazed head, "We’ve only gone ten miles, and it’s almost noon. If we rest again, won’t we have to walk until tomorrow to cover fifty miles?"
"We can’t rest!" Hu Tiehua insisted, "We should walk another twenty miles and then rest. We must reach that place by tonight!"
Princess Pipa reminded, "But if we don’t rest, we might be exhausted after walking all day in this desert. They will be well-rested, which will be to our disadvantage, right?"
"Hmm?" Hu Tiehua scratched his head, "You’re right. Let’s rest a bit then."
Princess Pipa felt Hu Tiehua was a bit unreliable and glanced at Jin Banhua.
Jin Banhua smiled, "The person coming isn’t Shi Guanyin, but a disciple of Shi Guanyin. If they come with pure intentions, it’s fine. If they have any ulterior motives, I’ll handle it."
Princess Pipa immediately relaxed and laughed.
Hu Tiehua also chuckled, "Do you know how formidable Shi Guanyin is?"
Jin Banhua smiled calmly, "Do you know how formidable I am?"
Hu Tiefu couldn't help but sigh, turning to Liao Gang and Ye Jin. "If we reach the trading spot and Shi Guanyin really shows up, you two must hold onto this young master and make sure he doesn't act rashly."
Liao Gang and Ye Jin exchanged glances.
Liao Gang chuckled, "Thank you, Hu the Hero, for the reminder."
Ye Jin nodded, "We will definitely be more careful."
To be honest, they had no idea about this young master's martial arts skills. Jin Banhua was indeed a martial arts prodigy, having learned top-notch lightness, swordsmanship, and grappling techniques from a second-rate martial arts teacher. However, due to his flamboyant personality and unreliable nature, none of the martial arts experts they had seen believed he had such remarkable skills.
Or, by logic, aside from Jin Banhua's self-proclaimed greatness, he really shouldn't have such high martial arts skills!
This left Liao Gang and Ye Jin unsure about Jin Banhua's true level.
He had killed Bai Yuemo in a single strike, swift as lightning, leaving ordinary people unable to see clearly.
He had countered Du Huan in one move, so subtle and profound that no one in the crowd could understand.
It seemed his skills were sky-high, but how he compared to top-notch experts like Chu Liuxiang and Shi Guanyin, Liao Gang and Ye Jin, with their martial arts levels, truly couldn't predict.
So they didn't dare to follow Jin Banhua's exaggerations, but when he boasted, they could only nod along.
They decided to lie flat, play dead, and leave it to fate.
...
Hu Tiefu, after hearing the opinion of Princess Pipa, found a shaded spot behind a tall sand dune to rest for a while before continuing their journey.
They would almost rest every ten miles, and after traveling dozens of miles westward, the sun had already begun to set when they found a place with cacti and sea buckthorn.
"Should be close to the trading spot; let's rest here for a bit," a Kuyi warrior suggested.
Princess Pipa looked at the sun, then around, and finally asked another warrior, "Is our direction correct? The sun seems a bit off to me."
The warrior chuckled, "In this vast desert, it's hard to determine direction, and the sun today is too big, there might be a slight deviation, but the distance to the destination won't be too far."
Another warrior stepped forward, "Anyway, in this vast desert, even if we are a bit off, we'll still meet those people when we get there."
Princess Pipa nodded, somewhat understanding, somewhat not.
She had always lived a life of luxury in the Kuyi Kingdom and lacked experience in desert travel, so she could only listen to these true desert veterans.
Jin Banhua didn't speak but walked to the edge of the sea buckthorn bushes and saw a stone block with a black-yellow coating on its surface.
Jin Banhua glanced at the three warriors and nodded.
However, this wasn't the time to argue; Jin Banhua rubbed his hands, and it was time to open the box!
He moved the stone block and dug a few times, revealing a large bundle.
Jin Banhua waved his hand, calling Hu Tiefu and Princess Pipa, "Come and take a look; someone has hidden something here!"
Princess Pipa and Hu Tiefu hurried over and saw Jin Banhua take out a wooden bottle, a black pearl, a pair of Judge's Pens, a bag of gold beads, a silver dagger, and a pair of sleeping shoes, and a belly wrap from the bundle.
Seeing these items, Hu Tiefu's expression changed, "These are Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan's things; why would they hide them here?"
(End of Chapter)
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