Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 629 The First Man

The woman in red recognized it as a fifth-grade magic weapon. She stood up, examined the weapon, then looked at Shi Chun and asked, "What does this mean?"

Shi Chun pointed to the black lotus image and said, "See if it's the same tune I've heard before. If it is, it should be able to recognize it."

The woman in red was surprised. "It can even understand music? Could it be a magical artifact that reveres spirits?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Chun was taken aback. "Anything that can understand the melody is a Spirit Lord's magic weapon?"

He had heard of the Spirit Lord's magic treasures, but didn't know how to distinguish them. However, this reminder reminded him that this magic treasure was indeed different from the others. It was the only one among the magic treasures that had been struck by lightning and fallen into slumber that had awakened on its own.

The woman in red merely rolled her eyes at his ignorance without saying anything more. She flipped the xiao in her hand and put it away out of thin air. Then she flipped out a jade-colored purple bamboo flute and played with it, saying, "You said you heard the sound of a flute before. This piece was originally played on a flute. Later, I felt that the flute sound was not as expressive as the xiao sound. After that old friend passed away, I switched to the xiao."

Upon seeing the flute, Shi Chun's mind went blank for a moment, feeling as if he had seen it somewhere before, but he was certain that he had never seen it before.

The woman in red stroked the flute, her thoughts seemingly filled with some kind of reminiscence, and slowly began to play the flute.

It must be said that the flute's sound is penetrating and crisp enough, but it lacks the gentle murmur of the xiao (vertical bamboo flute), making them sound like two different pieces at first listen.

None of that matters. What matters is that as soon as the prelude to the music began, the black lotus image seemed to stir, tilting its head slightly as if listening intently.

The woman in red's eyes flashed with surprise, and she immediately began to play earnestly.

As the music unfolded, the body of the Black Lotus Dharma Image began to tremble, and the flowing light around it spun faster and faster.

The spirit's emotional fluctuations also affected Shi Chun's thoughts. As the melody became more tender and affectionate, Shi Chun seemed to see a scene from her memory reappear in a daze.

In the hazy, indistinct scene, atop a mountain shrouded in mist, appears a woman in an ice-blue velvet dress, her graceful figure playing a flute.

It was the same scene again. Shi Chun had seen it before. This time, he tried to see the other person's face clearly, but he found that the flute the other person was using was a purple bamboo flute with a jade-like color. It shone brightly under the sunlight. He was suddenly awakened and stared at the flute on the red-clothed woman's lips. He finally understood why he felt that he had seen it before.

It turns out I had seen it in the remnants of the Black Lotus Dharma Image's memories.

Suddenly, the black lotus Dharma image clutched its head, and its body collapsed in that instant, its fragments returning to one, transforming into the black lotus Dharma artifact that landed on the ground.

The flute music stopped abruptly, and the woman in red put down her flute and asked, "What happened?"

Shi Chun said, "It should be right. It should be this tune. This tune is the weakness of my magic weapon. When I fought with someone in the Divine Fire Domain, it was because of this tune that my magic weapon was restrained, and I almost lost my life."

The woman in red frowned slightly. "Just say what you want to do. Don't cause trouble in front of me."

She felt that the abnormality of the black lotus dharma form just now was caused by Shi Chun's secret manipulation, and instinctively thought that Shi Chun had some purpose.

Shi Chun knew immediately that she had misunderstood, and said with a wry smile, "How could I have known that you would suddenly play the flute late at night?"

As she spoke, she pointed to the flute in the other person's hand, "When you first took out this flute, I felt like I had seen it somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where. Until just now, when the flute music started and the spirit of my magical artifact was struggling with its emotions, I saw a scene, which should be a scene from its remaining memory. I vaguely saw the flute in your hand, as if on some cloud-shrouded mountain peak, a woman dressed in ice-blue clothes was playing it. Where did you get this flute?"

At first, the woman in red seemed to be observing her words and actions, but when she heard about the scene at the top of the cloud-shrouded mountain, her body trembled and her eyes widened suddenly.

At this moment, she displayed an unprecedented sense of shock, something Shi Chun had never seen in her before, a feeling that seemed to conflict with the woman's temperament.

Previously, the woman's languidness, even when she was lazy, was always measured and never collapsed. Instead, it created a unique charm, making people feel that she always maintained an invisible balance. Even when there was extreme indulgence between men and women, there was a sense of self-permissibility. In short, he had never seen such a genuine sense of loss of control in her.

The scene suddenly fell silent except for the sound of the wind.

The two stared at each other for a while. Shi Chun vaguely sensed something from the other's unusual reaction and was filled with suspicion. He tried to break the silence and asked, "What's wrong?"

The woman in red's eyes suddenly turned cold, even flashing with a hint of murderous intent. Her tone was equally chilling as she said, "Tell me, who arranged for you to approach me?"

"..." Shi Chun paused for a moment, then smiled bitterly and sighed, "Ruo Jun, you're overthinking it. I'm not lying. It's not that I'm manipulating the magic weapon. The fact that your music is affecting this magic weapon isn't really a secret. Back when I fought someone in the Divine Fire Domain, many people from the Extreme Fire Sect were there and witnessed this scene. If you're interested, with your background, you can find out by asking around."

"Even if you can't find out the relevant information, I can erase the connection to this magical artifact. You can then make it recognize you as its master, and have someone play your tune for you. You can then personally experience the artifact's reaction and you'll know."

He realized something was wrong and needed to explain, especially since he needed the other party's help.

I feel like slapping myself for this. Why did someone who doesn't understand music have to ramble on about it? It was just asking for trouble.

Upon hearing this, the woman in red, whose breathing was somewhat rapid, showed signs of quickly calming down and gestured with her chin toward the magical artifact on the ground.

Shi Chun understood and immediately picked up the Black Lotus magic weapon. He raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, afraid that he might throw the meat bun to a dog and never return, especially since he had just learned that it was a Spirit Venerable's magic weapon. However, considering his current needs and the pressure he was under, he still gritted his teeth and pressed his hand down to cast the spell.

After severing his connection with the magic weapon, he handed over the Black Lotus magic weapon.

The woman in red grabbed the magical artifact, immediately cast a spell to imprint her connection mark, and then cast a spell to throw it out.

The black lotus flashed in the air, its petals disintegrating and quickly reforming into a Dharma form in the air.

The woman in red looked up, and driven by her will, the avatar of the Dharma figure drew its sword in a flash, twirling it in a dazzling display of swordplay. Suddenly, the avatar of the Dharma figure plummeted headfirst into the rocky landscape below, then with a backhand thrust, struck a towering boulder.

Before the boulder was seen to be damaged, a series of explosions were heard behind it, and a dozen or so rocks or pillars within a straight line cracked open.

Shi Chun was stunned for a moment, instantly realizing the terrifying power of this move in battle. He secretly exclaimed in surprise, realizing that the spirit treasure's self-attack power was far stronger than he could control it. He had never been able to unleash the full potential of this treasure in his hands.

After a deadly strike, the sword light, along with the Dharma image, soared into the moonlit sky.

Looking at the figure that traversed the heavens and earth, the woman in red was already in tears, clutching her chest and trembling as if she were being torn apart by unbearable pain.

It wasn't until she heard soft sobbing that Shi Chun, who was looking up, turned her head and saw that she was crying, which vaguely confirmed her earlier guess.

A gust of wind swept by, and the Black Lotus Dharma Image landed on the mountaintop, right in front of the two of them.

The woman in red, her hand resting on the metal lotus plate on the Dharma Image's leg, looked up at the silhouette of the Dharma Image, sobbing uncontrollably, "So, before you died, your soul was extracted and your spirit was forged while you were still alive. How painful that must have been! Why did they torture you? Who did it? Who did it...?"

Shi Chun's heart sank. He hadn't been wrong. The spirit of the artifact was indeed someone the woman knew in her previous life. It couldn't be a relative, since the spirit was human and the woman was a demon.

After crying and sobbing for a while, the woman in red finally managed to control her emotions. She wiped away her tears, reached out, and the magic weapon that had transformed into a black lotus fell into her palm.

She turned to Shi Chun and asked, "Where did you get this magic weapon?"

Shi Chun said, "I got it in the Divine Fire Domain. I obtained it from a sect called Forget-Love Valley. It originally belonged to Wu Shanshan, the leader disciple of Forget-Love Valley. I traded a duplicate of the Divine Fire for it..."

He rattled off his story of grudges with the Valley of Forgetfulness, giving a general overview and detailed explanations to make it easier for others to verify the facts later.

"Forget-Love Valley..." The woman in red slowly spun around, holding the black lotus artifact in her hand, and asked in confusion, "How could a mere Forget-Love Valley have its own artifact spirit?"

Shi Chun thought for a moment and then told her: "The first time I came into contact with and became aware of the tracking ability of the 'Demon Eye' was in the Divine Fire Domain, on this Wu Shanshan. No matter how I ran, she could catch up with me. It took a lot of effort to figure out what was going on and find a way to get rid of her."

"The demonic path... it was the demonic path that did it. How could the corpse have been found intact? And how would the demonic path know this melody..." The woman in red frowned for a moment, then slowly relaxed, letting out a series of cold laughs. "Forget-Love Valley, forget-love, what a fine way to make me forget love..."

After saying that, he slowly put the Black Lotus magic weapon into his pocket.

"..." Shi Chun hesitated, wanting to say something but unable to. This was his magic weapon, the legendary Spirit Lord's magic weapon.

The woman in red turned her head and asked, "You don't have any objections to me giving you this treasure, do you?"

"No, you gave me the person. No matter how important the treasure is, it's not as important as you." Shi Chun patted his chest, feigning innocence, secretly planning to trick her back later. After all, this woman's cultivation was inferior to his. After suppressing his inner conflict, he couldn't help but ask, "What is your relationship with the spirit of this treasure?"

The woman in red glanced at him, took the large red flower back from his hand, and tucked it back into her hair. She said calmly, "He was my first man in life."

"Uh..." Shi Chun was speechless. It was indeed a bit disgusting. So it turned out to be the other party's old flame. He had actually done a good deed for her. What kind of situation was this?

Thinking it over, she decided it wasn't necessary to be jealous of a dead person, but then asked out of curiosity, "Judging from his actions just now, and the quality of the magical artifact he supported, he must have been incredibly powerful in life. What was his identity, and how did he end up being refined into a weapon spirit?"

The woman in red, who had just been crying, now acted as if nothing had happened. "Let's talk about it when you can survive the Eastern Victory Royal Court."

After speaking, she walked to the edge of the cliff and strode down the cliff. Her skirt fluttered, as if she had no desire to live. Then she was carried away by the wind scales she released and flew towards Dazhi City.

They left abruptly, without even saying goodbye. Shi Chun opened his mouth to watch them go, then dejectedly flung his sleeves, regretting the trouble he had caused.

He also took out the Wind Scale and soared into the sky...

Inside the old attic, a woman in red emerged from a spatial rift, which then vanished behind her.

Alan, who was busy at the corner table, immediately stood up and bowed, "Your Majesty."

The woman in red glanced at her and directly instructed, "From the Extreme Fire Sect, find all the people who entered the Divine Fire Domain last time, as well as those from the Summer Dao Mountain."

"Yes," Alan replied, then tentatively asked, "What does Your Highness want?"

The woman in red didn't answer, but continued to give orders, "The Phoenix Clan has imprisoned the Golden-haired Rat Clan for countless years. Tomorrow, you will personally go there and ask the Phoenix Clan to give those rats their freedom."

Bai Qiru was released today. When he told Shi Chun about the Golden Rat Clan, he said that his cousin had sent someone to communicate with them. That was just to fool Shi Chun. The reason why it wasn't resolved today was to show that there was a communication process. Otherwise, if he could solve it immediately, then his cousin would probably be closer than his own father.

"Yes," Alan replied.

The woman in red paced back and forth and said, "Shi Chun asked me for a guarantee. He's probably going to turn himself in at the Dongsheng Royal Court. That guy is very cunning. He probably won't just ask me for a guarantee. You should sort out his network of connections again and see who else might come forward to guarantee him a guarantee. Then, secretly stop them all."

Alan was taken aback. Was this an attempt to cut off Shi Chun's path to survival and put him to death?
She didn't understand the meaning of doing this in secret, and after observing the situation, she didn't ask any further questions, and replied again, "Yes."

The woman in red, who was pacing around, glanced at her, walked to the recliner, lay down, kicked off her shoes and went barefoot. She then took out her flute and played it for a while before suddenly stopping and asking, "Alan, you often accompany me and listen to me play this tune. I suppose you can play it too?"

(End of this chapter)