Chapter 340 - 195: Dotting the Eyes

Chapter 340: Chapter 195: Dotting the Eyes

The "Green River" was a route pioneered by explorers of the past, a path that led through a series of lush oases at regular intervals. There were sixteen such oases along this route. In the desert, an oasis was the very Source of life; only by reaching them could one hope to cross the Great Desert.

Along the way, Zheng Xiu noticed that roughly every few dozen miles, there were small hills formed from piles of heavy stones. They didn’t look natural; they seemed man-made. When Zheng Xiu casually asked about them, Xie Luohe said with a smile:

"Those are the ’Hou Mountains’ on the Green River."

"So they are ’hou’ after all."

The so-called "hou" are typically mounds of stone or earth found on official roads and side paths, used to mark distance. By counting the number of "hou" one passed, you could estimate how many miles you had traveled. But along the Green River, each "Hou Mountain" was a full ten feet tall. Barring a sandstorm, ordinary winds could hardly topple them.

Zheng Xiu found it hard to imagine how their predecessors managed to build the "Hou Mountains" from massive stones in this boundless Great Desert. The Difficulty involved was self-evident. He could only wonder how many years, how much labor, and how many lives it had cost to forge the "Green River," a path that allowed people to cross the Great Desert in relative safety.

At first, there was no path in the Great Desert. But as more people walked it, and as more lives were lost to it, a path was formed.

「July 28th.」

They had been in the Great Desert for over half a month.

Zheng Xiu’s skin was tanned dark, while Xie Luohe remained as fair as ever, her skin whiter than snow.

They reached the eighth oasis along the Green River. To their surprise, a few wild coconut trees grew here next to a small, crystal-clear pool.

After filling their waterskins, Zheng Xiu told Xie Luohe not to look, then stripped himself bare and jumped into the pool for a long-awaited bath.

The chill went straight to his heart, making his spirits soar.

By the time Zheng Xiu had soaked long enough, he wrapped a robe around himself and walked back to the two camels. Xie Luohe had somehow knocked down a few coconuts, sliced the top off one, and was now drinking the juice.

Xie Luohe’s eyes were glued to Zheng Xiu’s bare torso, where a few crystal-clear droplets of water were trickling down his abs and V-lines. Blushing, she gave two dry coughs and opened another coconut for him. "It’s so sweet. You have some too."

"Really?" Zheng Xiu asked, habitually skeptical. He took a sip and nearly spat it out.

It was bitter and astringent.

Only then did he remember that you’re not supposed to drink the water from mature coconuts.

Xie Luohe burst out laughing, tossed her coconut aside, and began to disrobe.

His relationship with Xie Luohe had become somewhat delicate over the past few days, but the sight still made Zheng Xiu’s expression freeze.

Halfway through, Xie Luohe reminded him:

"You... no peeking."

With that, Xie Luohe leaped high into the air and landed in the pool with a SPLASH.

Zheng Xiu ignored her. Taking a deep breath, he listened to the distant sound of her splashing about like a cheerful bird as he walked to the edge of the oasis and stared into the distance.

The horizon was the same as ever—rolling dunes and swirling yellow sand. But today, the Great Desert’s color seemed different. In the twilight, the desert was stained a brilliant, piercing, girlish red, as if it might start to bleed at any moment.

The distant dunes seemed to warp, and the faint image of a Mirage appeared.

Zheng Xiu fixed his gaze on the distance, watching in silence.

Soft footsteps approached from behind. Xie Luohe, with a cloth wrapped loosely around her body, came over barefoot, tilting her head as she dried her long, soaking hair with a towel.

Zheng Xiu glanced back, then forced himself to look away. "Can you please put on something more... substantial?"

Xie Luohe sat down gracefully beside him and smiled faintly. "Is that... important?"

Zheng Xiu was speechless.

After a moment, Xie Luohe covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. "Are you worried about me losing out, or about *her* losing out?"

Zheng Xiu didn’t rise to the bait.

Throughout the journey, Zheng Xiu had deliberately avoided mentioning "Zheng Xiu" and "Feng Bei" in front of Xie Luohe.

He had noticed that whenever he accidentally steered the conversation toward "two hundred years in the future," her expression would remain unchanged, but she would secretly clench her fists.

Seeing that Zheng Xiu wasn’t answering, Xie Luohe draped the damp towel over his shoulder, rested her head gently on his, and joined him in gazing into the distance.

After a moment of silence, Xie Luohe said with a smile, "A sandstorm is coming."

"Right."

Normally, Zheng Xiu would be skeptical, but this was one thing he believed without a doubt.

Xie Luohe must have heard the "footsteps" of the sandstorm.

Zheng Xiu sat with her for a while longer, until the last of the blood-red sun sank completely behind the dunes. He then stood up. "I’ll go get ready. You and I should be fine in the sandstorm, but we can’t let ’Xiaohe’ and... ’Xiaomo’ get buried."

"Xiaohe" and "Xiaomo" were, of course, the names of their two camels—a testament to Xie Luohe’s taste.

She rode Xiaomo, and Zheng Xiu rode Xiaohe.

While traveling through the Great Desert, Xie Luohe would often shout gleefully at her camel, "Xiaomo, Xiaomo, run faster!" Zheng Xiu, possessing the basic sense of shame that comes with being Human, was too embarrassed to retaliate in kind. He could only swallow his pride and cover his ears, pretending not to hear.

Zheng Xiu walked over to the camels and pulled a gleaming little Curved Saber from a beast-hide sheath in a saddlebag. He looked at his wrist, then walked silently toward the pool.

"Are you going to cut yourself again?"

Xie Luohe drew near, her curiosity piqued.

She had always been interested in Zheng Xiu’s "Miracle Technique."

Zheng Xiu was not like Xie Luohe and Feng Bei, who were obviously many times more powerful than a normal person. His Miracle Technique still had harsh Restrictions and rules he was forced to obey. This was one of the reasons Xie Luohe felt he wasn’t really a "Mystic."

"Can’t you put on some proper clothes first?" Zheng Xiu shot her an exasperated look before resolutely slashing his wrist.

GUSH...

Blood streamed out, and in an instant, the pool was dyed a faint red.