Xuanxia

Chapter 1074: Sword Pointing to the Sky Cliff
Northern Desert.

A tall figure stood on the sand dune, looking far into the east.

On the distant horizon, a new sun can be seen slowly rising.

This is a middle-aged man with a resolute face. His beard is thick and rough, but his eyes are not as sharp as before. Instead, they have become much more desolate.

Shen Chuke, president of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce, let out a sigh of relief.

"The camel bells are ringing in the empty courtyard while the trade routes are broken into halberd feathers."

"In prisoner's clothes, I look at the geese flying south, still holding my pipa and asking the post station."

"The poplar dies before it ages, and a handful of yellow sand half extends to green."

"The great banner should be hung with the head of a dragon, waiting to kill the barbarians and report to the imperial capital."

He recited the poem slowly, and sighed: "I never thought that the poems of my ancestors would be so in harmony with my mood at this moment."

"President, the poet Fu was unable to leave Beiyi in his lifetime, so he left behind such a poem. But you are different... We will be able to set off soon."

A soft female voice came from behind Shen Chuke.

That was the person he trusted the most and was closest to... Zixuan.

Zixuan was dressed in northern barbarian clothes, holding a cloak in her hands. She came behind Shen Chuke and put the cloak on his shoulders.

Shen Chuke turned around and smiled slightly.

"The ingenuity of the world is touching."

He smiled and said, "More than three hundred years ago, the poet Fu Rui wanted to open up the northern trade route and ventured to Beiyi, but he was imprisoned by the Beiyi people and died alone here... And today, more than three hundred years later, another young man named Fu came and actually recaptured Beiyi."

Zixuan also laughed: "President, you said... Fu Qingzhou, could he be the descendant of Fu Shisheng?"

"how come?"

Shen Chuke laughed: "Fu Shisheng never left any offspring in his lifetime, not to mention how many people with the same surname are there in the world. Even if the Shisheng brothers have descendants, the Shisheng family is not a prominent family. It is likely that they would have dispersed long ago over the past three hundred years."

"Okay." Zixuan chuckled and said, "Don't watch the sunrise here. Master Fu Qingzhou will arrive in Duanling Town today. We have to go and greet him."

Duanling Town is located in the northernmost part of Beiyi. It has another name in Beiyi language, called "Sulu Dingqiqige", which means flower on the tip of spear. This place is adjacent to the desert and has a very poor ecological environment. The earthen houses in the town are all corroded by wind and sand.

Logically speaking, a place like this one near the Northern Desert should only have a few small tribes surviving, just like the original Sand Scorpion Tribe, but there is a small town here.

Not only that, there are also many Northern Barbarian soldiers guarding this small town.

The Nebula Chamber of Commerce was lurking in Beiyi. Shen Chuke himself did not go to the most prosperous Yandu and Qionglu Fort. He only sent Situ Chong, Song Jinyu and other capable people in the Chamber of Commerce there, while he himself stayed in this desolate town.

The reason, of course, is to find out what’s so strange about this town.

But in the past three years, the answers Shen Chuke got were vague and illusory.

He only knew that there was a legend circulating among the Northern Yi people - that the ancestral spirits had stepped into the grassland from Duanling City and eventually founded the Dayi Kingdom.

Later, many "evil ghosts" wanted to destroy everything left by the ancestor, so they invaded the Yi State along the path he had walked, causing a large number of deaths. Therefore, the Yi people have needed to send troops to garrison this place from generation to generation to prevent the "evil ghosts" from attacking again.

But when asked what evil ghosts are, everyone in the town is mysterious. Some say they have seen them, some say their grandfathers have seen them, and some can describe them vividly, but when asked about the details, they become very secretive.

To put it bluntly, they are all legends.

Shen Chuke shoulders the heavy responsibility of investigating the secrets of the Northern Barbarians for Mingjian Pavilion. He has never left for three years, but has not received any answers.

Unexpectedly, he still hadn't found the answer, but Beiyi had already made up his mind.

"President!"

Before Shen Chuke and Zixuan returned to Duanling Town, they heard shouts from the front.

He looked up and saw a large group of people appearing at the entrance of the town under the light of the rising sun. Situ Chong, Song Jinyu... the elites of the Nebula Chamber of Commerce who had followed him to Beiyi were all standing there in rows, looking at him excitedly.

A smile appeared on Shen Chuke's face.

He strode forward, the desolation in his eyes gradually faded away, and his majesty returned.

"Everyone, long time no see!"

He looked at the excited crowd, bowed and spoke in a shocking voice.

"President, long time no see!" Everyone responded loudly, laughing, and some even wiped away tears.

"We have been in Beiyi for three years, and now it is finally time to succeed..."

Shen Chuke said in a deep voice: "The Northern Barbarians were conquered more than a month ago, but we have not received any news of their return. We thought the court had forgotten about us, but we didn't expect..."

He raised the corner of his mouth: "They want us to take over the business of the Yuan and Lan families!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the Nebula Chamber of Commerce smiled even more brightly!
"Our Nebula Chamber of Commerce..."

Shen Chuke raised his chin high and said proudly: "We want to be the greatest chamber of commerce in the world, from ancient times to the present!"

"it is good!"

"The greatest chamber of commerce throughout history, in heaven and on earth!"

"The largest chamber of commerce!"

Everyone's faces instantly turned red, they raised their arms high and shouted loudly!

"Hahahaha, President Shen, long time no see, you're still so heroic——"

At this moment, a clear laughter suddenly came from a distance.

Hearing this laughter, Shen Chuke's expression suddenly became serious. He raised his head abruptly and bowed to the sky: "Master Fu!"

After bowing, he turned around without hesitation and knelt on one knee: "I am Shen Chuke, greeting Master Fu!"

This turn is very particular.

He was facing everyone from the Xingyun Chamber of Commerce at this moment, and he didn't know where Fu Qingzhou was. This turn around meant that he was leading everyone from the Xingyun Chamber of Commerce to pay their respects... As for the location? Fu Qingzhou would find a location himself.

as predicted.

When everyone from the Nebula Chamber of Commerce followed Shen Chuke and knelt on one knee, shouting in unison "Greetings, Lord Fu", Fu Qingzhou floated lightly from mid-air and landed directly in front of Shen Chuke.

"Hahahaha, thank you so much, thank you so much."

He smiled and walked forward to help Shen Chuke up, patting the wind and sand on his shoulders: "President Shen has suffered a lot in the Beiyi Desert for the past three years."

"Master Fu, that's not right. For the stability of our country and the people of the world, everything should be done."

Shen Chuke lowered his head slightly, then smiled softly: "What's more, our three years of forbearance have also brought us a sufficiently generous reward - Master Fu, you have been very good to us."

"Before the Xuanmeng Ceremony, you stood on the right side, so I, Fu Qingzhou, will naturally not treat you unfairly."

Fu Qingzhou smiled and said, "Now, I want you to arrange one last thing for me in Beiyi, and then you can set off to return to Yanzhou."

Shen Chuke's eyes lit up: "You say!"

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal."

Fu Qingzhou looked back at the vast desert in the distance: "I'm going to Tianya this time, but the weather doesn't seem to be very good recently. If you go north for a while, there will always be wind and sand everywhere."

"We can fly, but we're always worried about flying too far and crashing into something we shouldn't... So, you have to help us find a better guide, and we can walk to Sky Cliff together."

(End of this chapter)