In the frigid lands, after my exile, I began to slay demons and monsters.

Chapter 241 Taking Back the Cabbage

She quickly stepped back a few paces, bowed deeply, and said, "My lord, please forgive Xiaoxi's disrespect."

Tianji straightened up, his expression turning calm. "Since you don't want to watch, I won't waste any more time." With that, he walked out of the tent.

Ning Xiaoxi followed with small steps. Outside the tent, six Heavenly Secrets officials were waiting, each leading a Sandstorm Beast and a sled pulled by a Sandstorm Beast. A light breeze blew across the canopy of the sled, carrying a faint fragrance.

After Tianji boarded the chariot, she lifted the veil and smiled at Ning Xiaoxi, saying, "I will be in the royal city for the next year. Come and find me in the royal city after you finish your business here."

Ning Xiaoxi bowed respectfully, "Yes, sir."

Sui Lanting and Su Yu deliberately walked past her. Sui Lanting patted her on the shoulder, and Su Yu bumped her with his shoulder before riding the Sandstorm Beast and following the scooter away.

Behind her, a group of servants were tidying up the tent where Tianji had just been. Ning Xiaoxi stood there watching Tianji's convoy disappear.

The servants moved swiftly, perhaps because they were so skilled at it; in the blink of an eye, people and objects were gone.

The once bustling beach was deserted in an instant.

The sound of the sea crashing against the beach could be clearly heard in the distance.

The red seawater is alluring.

[Tuanzi, why can't we see a single living creature in this Red Sea?]

The Dark Spirit Stardust Worm is extremely tiny, only the size of a grain of sand, and very difficult to spot with the naked eye without close observation. Its body is an irregular polyhedron. It has a pair of translucent wing buds on its back, seemingly fragile, yet capable of vibrating at an extremely high frequency, generating powerful air currents that propel it at high speed through the seawater. It possesses excellent swarm concealment abilities; when they gather together, they form a special energy field that interferes with the perception of other organisms, making it difficult for them to detect the swarm, allowing it to hide among the corals and seaweed of the Red Sea. It has no dietary restrictions.

Ning Xiaoxi was speechless again. This huge red sea of ​​insects, and it's all just these little bugs? They've just been completely taken over by these tiny creatures. Does "unrestrained eating" mean they eat everything, right?

She could only sigh in despair! She had no intention of going down to challenge those little creatures.

With a dart around its eyes, it walked to the seaside, stopped where the waves couldn't reach it, and released the little red fish, throwing it into the sea.

Before Ning Xiaoxi could take two steps back, a small cannonball popped out of the seawater, opened its arms and hugged Ning Xiaoxi's thigh, trembling and shaking off a small patch of seawater, seawater that wouldn't seep into the sand and would still move.

Ning Xiaoxi watched with disgust as pools of seawater gathered together, rolled, and merged with the incoming seawater before disappearing back into the ocean.

The little mermaid clinging to Ning Xiaoxi's leg stared up at its unruly master with teary eyes.

"Hehe, I didn't mean to," Ning Xiaoxi explained dryly, patting the little mermaid's head and putting it back into the Five Elements Array.

The source of the West lies beneath the sea.

Ning Xiaoxi felt that she was only fit to sleep today and not to do anything else.

We can't take it this time. Didn't you see that Tianji guy was testing me the whole time?

[He won't suspect you this time! You didn't know the location, and he tested you. Given his suspicious nature, he won't doubt you this time.]

"No, I can't move this time." Ning Xiaoxi turned and left. "I need to get all the Nüba masks ready first."

Tuanzi grunted and didn't try to persuade her any further. It wasn't a bad idea to collect the Nüba masks first; there was still time!

Stepping off the beach, the crowd that had gathered there had vanished, leaving only quiet and not a soul in sight.

The barrier has been opened, and Ning Xiaoxi can sense that the underground formation is also in a suspended state; it will not be triggered again without spiritual power.

The sun was already high in the sky, and the temperature was rising rapidly, making it a very unfavorable time to move around.

With one step out, the temperature in the original oasis within the formation was still quite pleasant, except for the large pit where the tree demon had once entrenched itself.

I pulled out a chair, sat down by the lake, and started fishing. Whether there were any fish in the lake or not, at least I was in a good mood.

The entire trial area was deserted. Apart from this area, there were still scattered remnants of people who had left. It wouldn't be long before there was truly no one left here.

As the wind whistled, Ning Xiaoxi turned her head and was surprised to see Jian Xingzhi riding a Sandstorm Beast outside the oasis.

Ning Xiaoxi tilted her head and watched Jian Xingzhi run over with a smile, "Luckily, the lady hasn't left."

"Why did Young Master Jian return?"

Jian Xingzhi took a bundle off the back of the Sandstorm Beast, took out a box from it, and sat cross-legged next to Ning Xiaoxi. "Young lady, take a look. This is a food box brought from Yandu. It contains sweet but not greasy pastries that are soft, sticky, and not dry. Try some."

Ning Xiaoxi glanced at the box, which had a nine-square grid design with red, white, yellow, and green colors, and various patterns of plum blossoms, orchids, osmanthus, and apricot blossoms. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Jian Xingzhi. "Offering help for no reason?"

“We were in the trial before, so we couldn’t talk in detail. Now that we’re finally in peace, we can have a proper conversation with you, young lady.” Jian Xingzhi raised the food box in his hand. “I am the eldest son of the third branch of the Jian family in Yizhou. The former Dark Lord of Panhou Mountain City was my fourth uncle.”

Ning Xiaoxi sat up straight, looking at the fish bladders floating on the lake surface, her voice somewhat cold, "So?"

Seeing Ning Xiaoxi's pale face, Jian Xingzhi quickly said, "Miss, please don't mind. I was just thinking that since we have this relationship, we're not strangers, so it's easier to talk to each other."

Ning Xiaoxi sat steadily, not even glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

Jian Xingzhi felt embarrassed, but thinking of the task his family had given him, he had no choice but to speak up, "Young lady, it's like this, my fourth uncle has been my grandmother's life since he was a child, and all the sons of the Jian family have their own life tablets in the clan's territory. When my fourth uncle had the accident, although the life tablet cracked, it did not break."

Ning Xiaoxi's expression gradually darkened.

Jian Xingzhi felt a little short of breath and didn't dare to put down the food box. He held it in one hand and took out a jade silkworm from his bosom with the other. "My life-saving jade is this jade silkworm. It can block a fatal blow. If it still can't save my life, I can inject a wisp of my soul into it. It will be nourished by my Jian family's secret method and at least my soul can be preserved."

"You want some cabbage from me?" Ning Xiaoxi glanced at Jian Xingzhi.

"When our family arrived, we were informed by Lord Tianjie's subordinates that the cabbage had been destroyed and there was no living soul left, so it was given to the young lady as a memento," Jian Xingzhi quickly explained.

Ning Xiaoxi frowned. Something was wrong. Uncle Jian's soul was indeed inside the cabbage. Didn't Tianjie find out? Besides, why was it Tianjie's subordinate who told her? Sui Lanting was clearly by her side at the time, and it was Tianji who sent her away.