Journey to the Rose

Evening, not yet sunset.

Lu Zhenghe left the team first.

He told Li Shen to be optimistic about Ruan Xi, and he explained a few more words, and the two sides agreed to meet at the entrance of the next city.

When he left, Ruan Xi and Wen Kai were looking at the oatmeal latte sold by mobile vendors on Jewel City Street. Although it was brewed, there was still a long-lost aroma of coffee in the air.

Just after buying two glasses, Ruan Xi turned around, but did not see Lu Zhenghe—only Li Shen and Wen Kai were smiling at her, with a "welcome" posture.

Supported by Gu Zirong, Song Shumian was resting on a stone bench beside him, as if he didn't notice this side.

"What about you young master?"

Ruan Xi frowned, her thin eyebrows straightened and her nose kneaded into a ball, a strong sense of uneasiness welled up in her heart.And most importantly, he no longer smelled the comforting pheromone in the air.This is a bad omen sounding the alarm to him.

"Ah, the young master has something to do." Li Shen dealt with him bravely, "He said to come back as soon as possible, and let us wait for him in the next city."

"thing?"

By observing the changes in Li Shen's expression, Ruan Xi instantly understood the situation at a glance.Pointing to the poster posted on the building, he raised his eyebrows and said helplessly, "This matter?"

No need to guess, Lu Zhenghe must have gone to get that gemstone, and he was alone.Consistent solo style.

"He is not……"

Li Shen quickly bit his tongue: "He didn't want you to worry, so he went by himself."

"It really won't make me worry..." Ruan Xi was furious, and she couldn't take her anger out on the innocent subordinates. She had no choice but to fold her arms and look around. After careful observation, she found that Lu Zhenghe had indeed gone far.

The current Jewel City is in a chaotic state after the disaster, where the three religions and nine streams gather, and some people keep knocking down others because they walk too hastily.

Ruan Xi kept covering her face with a mask, and stood in front of the roadside stalls in such an "ordinary" way, her shoulders were rubbed several times by passers-by.He heard several "sorry" and "sorry" in various accents and languages, some of which he could understand and some of which he couldn't understand, but it was not difficult to tell that they were all southerners who had fled from the previous cities.

"Okay. I'll give Gu Zirong the latte." Ruan Xi handed over the coffee he just bought, "You've worked hard to take care of Shumian along the way."

"Ruan Xi..."

Gu Zirong was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't dare to answer. Instead, he put his hands behind his back, as if he wanted to decline.

Ruan Xi raised her eyebrows and said, "Go ahead, there's still something I need to trouble you about later."

After hearing what he said, Gu Zirong relaxed, took the steaming cup of oatmeal latte with both hands, and drank more than half of it with his head raised.

There is a little secret between Gu Zirong and Ruan Xi, Li Shen concluded so.He touched his chin, then looked away after a few seconds of hesitation, Ruan Xi didn't notice anything.

"Ah, it looks like the oatmeal latte is sold out."

Ruan Xi picked up the temporary menu written by the stall owner, and muttered: "There is also yam and orange juice... what kind of disgusting thing is this. Well, there is rock sugar pear juice to quench your thirst. Li Shen, Song Shumian, you want rock sugar pear juice juice?"

"I want a cup." Song Shumian smiled.

"I want two cups," Li Shen gestured "two" and quickly explained, "I have a good appetite."

"no problem."

Ruan Xi turned around, as if he was talking to the boss, and then he pointed to a nearby shop that was only a few steps away, and then pointed to the menu, as if to say that the rock sugar pear juice was also sold out.

Li Shen was lighting his cigarette with his head down, not paying much attention to Ruan Xi's actions.He only knew that Ruan Xi wanted to go to a stall a little farther away to buy drinks, and was about to light up his cigarette and follow him. When he looked up again, sparks had just shimmered from his fingertips. There is no shadow of Ruan Xi.

What about people?

"Where is Ruan Xi?"

"what?"

"I asked if you saw Ruan Xi leave?"

"what?"

When Wen Kai heard it, he really didn't see Ruan Xi running away, and looked around, "You were still here just now!"

"We didn't keep an eye on him," Li Shen patted his forehead with a headache, "ran away again!"

"I guess I'm looking for the young master." Wen Kai said.

After finishing his speech, he saw a note placed under the wheel of a mobile cart at a stall selling oatmeal latte, so he strode over and bent down to pick it up.

Before Wen Kai could take it apart, Li Shen reached out and snatched the paper away.

Li Shen stuck the paper between his fingers, and with a flick of his wrist, the crumpled paper immediately spread out, black and white, with a few crooked words——

I'll go find him, you go first.

There is also a cartoon little sword drawn under these eight characters, and a "yeah" gesture and a smile ":)" are drawn, and a sentence is added next to it:

——Everything went according to the original plan!

Ruan Xi was really cautious in writing the note, so cautious that she used the lingua franca, for fear that the northerners would not be able to understand it.

"Depend on……"

Li Shen sighed deeply, "The original plan was to protect you, ancestor."

Wen Kai looked around, feeling vigilant, and had to lean his back against the wall to barely take a breath.

Although the cooperation has been fighting for a long time...

But Wen Kai's thinking mode is different from Li Shen's.

He was thinking, if Ruan Xi went to find Lu Zhenghe, in which direction would he go?Now the next step is to chase Ruan Xi back, or follow what the young master said, to meet at the entrance of the next city?If the young master had met Ruan Xi in advance, he would definitely cut us into pieces...

These are not the most important things.

The point is: it's over, Ruan Xi disappeared again.

We are going to be beheaded by the young master.

·

Everything is dry and hard in winter.

After the catastrophe, Jewel City is far less lively than before, and there is a smell of death and decay everywhere.

Looking up at the sky, Ruan Xi took a breath of cold air through his nasal cavity, and the cold air drilled into his throat, poking the inner wall like a needle tip, making his throat tremble with pain.Moving his fingers that were frozen stiff, he closed his palms together, wanting to rub them together to generate some pathetic heat.

The entire sky is slowly falling like a giant corpse.

As the legend says, the giant's breasts turned into mountains, his blood turned into rivers, and his veins turned into flat roads leading to distant places.The body is everything.

Ruan Xi quietly observed the surrounding situation.

With the sound of the crowd running, several doors in the arena were slowly opened.

Some people gathered in front of the empty archway, all of them were wearing jewelry, and they looked like they were watching a show.Ruan Xi narrowed her eyes and quietly hid by the wall not far away, feeling that these people looked familiar.

what.

Isn't this the person who took refuge in the arena before?

Why do you still have time to watch the game now?

What are you doing, you should run for your life now! ! ! ! !

He really overestimated these people's desire to survive...

It's like being possessed by a demon.

Sure enough, Wen Kai was right. For the people in this city, the ownership of treasures is more important than their own survival.They forget their surnames, and they will not forget that their belongings are worth a few dollars, which is hard to buy.

With a sound of "唰——", a flag was erected at the entrance of the main passage outside the arena.

It was a bright red silk cloth.

Ruan Xi couldn't understand the above text, guessing it should mean: there is a game today.

As soon as the messy flags were hung up, the crowd immediately boiled.

They scrambled to enter the arena, wanting to have a glimpse of the "space-time mirror".

Ruan Xi looked around for a long time, but he didn't see Lu Zhenghe in the mighty army. There were so many people, he didn't dare to release pheromones to attract Lu Zhenghe.

He only regrets that he didn't buy a diamond-encrusted telescope in Holy City.

Thinking of this, he flipped through the things that were still on his body.

Fortunately, before the boat capsized last time, he didn't bring any luggage with him, only the most important thing - that photo.

Ruan Xi hurriedly took out the photo, imitated Lu Zhenghe's cool and domineering expression in the photo, and made another grimace.

After soaking in ice water, the photos were all soaked.

But fortunately, the faces of the two people in the photo are still clearly visible.I just don't know when the next time I'll take pictures.After looking at the photos for a while, Ruan Xi suddenly hated his attachment to the past, and even Lu Zhenghe, who knew nothing about it, became the same as him now.

No.

People have to learn to look ahead.

Thinking about it, Ruan Xi folded the photo in half without any distress, and put it back into the pocket of her underwear.But when he folded the photo, he saw Lu Zhenghe's face in the photo, and his heart still twitched a little.

In the deep winter weather, the chill is already creeping into the sleeves.

The flag not far away was blown crooked by the cold wind, and no one was free to help it.Under the banner, a very thin-looking man trembled with his arms folded, stamped his feet while shaking, and complained non-stop: "No way, this is the beginning of a fight? I heard that the person who came to fetch the treasure was a foreigner who had never seen it before." People? Can we let outsiders qualify, it would be a shame if we lose!"

"Now that the whole land is in such a mess, it's fine if someone wants it! Maybe it's an ominous thing. You see, if it is dug out, nothing good will happen to our Jewel City..." The person who answered his words was mysterious , deliberately lowered his head, and covered his mouth with his hands, "The ground collapsed and flooded several cities, but this only flooded to the entrance of the arena, which means..."

Someone around answered: "It means it will be won!"

"That's right, that's the reason." Someone agreed very much.

what?

Already fighting?

Ruan Xi stood up suddenly from the ground, because her legs became numb after squatting for a long time, and she could barely hold on to the wall.He saw the secretive expressions on the faces of the group of people, didn't understand a few words, and hated himself for not taking foreign language lessons well, and he could only communicate with people who didn't speak the common language by gestures.

On the other side, the flags were flying, and there were more and more people.

The people who came to see the excitement saw that there were people chatting, and they couldn't help but gather in crowded places.

Someone with gemstones hanging all over his neck sighed, "I can't wait for the result, I have to run for my life first."

The crowd began to discuss:

"That's right, why don't you let us in to see it now? If you can't see it, let me go. My family is still waiting for me to go to the next city..."

"That's a deadly game! How can you, an omega, watch it?"

"Who the hell are you looking down on!"

So people pushed and shoved each other, as if they were going to fight outside the court, and other people also talked and talked, and after persuading this and that, within a few minutes, the scene became chaotic.

"Then where is the person going to the competition?" A voice suddenly came from the crowd.

Clear and bright, it is very different from the noise of the surrounding people, mixed in the noise, and highly recognizable.

"People who came to challenge? There was a long queue!"

The person answering the question lazily leaned on the stone pillar beside the flag, with a grass in the corner of his mouth, and continued: "They should be at the back door. I heard that the first ones to enter are outsiders. But this is easy to talk about, you If you want to go in now, you can give me three rubies, if they are uncut, and then I will show you the way...Huh? Where are you?"

Before he finished speaking, he spat out the grass roots in his mouth and found that the masked man who asked the question had disappeared.

·

Ruan Xi climbed in through the wall outside the back door.

He touched the pockets all over his body, thinking that if he sold himself, he probably wouldn't be able to exchange for three rubies.

Profiteer!

He also knew that the killer could not be killed in such a peaceful moment, and no innocents were hurt, so he deliberately inserted the handle of the knife upside down/behind the crook of his arm, chose to bypass the gate guards, and sneaked into the arena.

As soon as he entered the arena, he smelled a heavy smell of blood again.

Ruan Xi couldn't help frowning, covered her mouth and nose, and ran past the seats in the stands with a low waist.

At this moment, some people were already sitting on the benches against the wall in the arena.They were all wearing gemstone pendants, holding some small cut gemstones in their hands, their eyes flashed with excitement, and they threw small gemstones onto the ring in the center of the arena from time to time.

Not bad, so rich.

After running, he stopped by a stone pillar.Since Ruan Xi was wearing a mask and the competition was going on fiercely, although Ruan Xi behaved strangely, he did not attract the attention of others.

He poked an eye over the side of the pillar.

In the center of the arena is a circular arena, which is built high and has an open field, which has been decorated in advance.

The blocking nets of the arena are no longer red and black plaster due to blood splatter, but luxurious animal skins.Those animal skins look like fluffy manes and intricate patterns, or cave lions, or pseudo lions, and they look several times bigger than humans.

Ruan Xi remembered what was said in the textbook that these two kinds of beasts have thick limbs, amazing bite power, and their length can reach the sum of the height of several adults. Because they adapt to the cold of the mountains, they have basically nothing to do with the south. Now they have been picked up Using a floor mat, it can be seen how twisted the worship of force by the people of Jewel City is...

However, these rare and precious animal skins are standing beside Lu Zhenghe.

He was tall and tall, with a solemn face, and stood out among the people standing, even though he only held a dagger in his hand.Ruan Xi narrowed his eyes and looked again, and found that the person who was going to fight him was carrying a long knife with an arm width.

But that knife doesn't look as powerful as his own Xiaoyanling knife.

Now is a turbulent period, and the game is not as standardized as before. There is only a middle-aged man with a flushed face on the referee's seat.

He brushed his curly black hair nervously and excitedly, his eyes were swollen with excessive excitement, and the eyeballs were about to protrude.He clenched one hand into a fist and screamed loudly: "Hit him! Hit him! Toya hit him!"

In his other hand he held a wooden box the size of a head.

Judging from the reaction of the "Tuoya" who confronted Lu Zhenghe on the stage, Ruan Xi guessed that this person is the owner of the "Space-Time Mirror".

If it wasn't for breaking the rules of the rivers and lakes, Ruan Xi really wanted to knock the old man unconscious, give money, and then buy what Lu Zhenghe wanted.

Moreover, there is no referee now, how can the two sides rely on each to win?

Beat till you die?

Isn't it just a mirror!Are you worthy of a fight?

Ruan Xi couldn't help confirming a fact over and over again:

——There is no need to prove it, Lu Zhenghe's head must be broken.

He held his breath, tried his best to cover his figure, and successfully circled from the stands to the outside of the blocking net beside the ring.

Ruan Xi felt that Lu Zhenghe's expression changed.

It seemed that it was because he smelled the unique scent of his own omega... This kind of sympathy can only be revealed if it is marked, and at this moment, he was a little afraid that Lu Zhenghe would suddenly turn around.

Alas, what are they holding in their hands.

Ruan Xi looked at the poor dagger in Lu Zhenghe's hand, feeling uneasy.

He simply pulled out the incomparably precious Little Yanling Saber with its scabbard, and a cold light flashed, causing him to close his eyes, lamenting that the Little Yanling Saber won without a fight.Immediately afterwards, he exerted all his strength on his arm, raised his wrist, and threw the Xiaoyan Lingdao into the ring.

"Clang-crack-"

Xiao Yan Ling Dao hit the animal skin heavily.

Lu Zhenghe didn't turn back immediately, but raised the handle of the knife with his toes, and held the Xiaoyanling knife firmly in his hand.He was about to turn around to look for Ruan Xi beside the ring, but unexpectedly, the young alpha called "Tuoya" did not follow the rules and pulled out the long knife the moment Lu Zhenghe turned his head.

Ruan Xi sternly shouted: "Don't fucking look at me! Look behind me!"

Of course Jewel·54 wants to kiss after the fight!