Qingxi Town

"No wonder it's called the 'Thousand Lakes Wasteland,' it truly desolate!"

All that could be seen was desolation; the greenery between heaven and earth had been completely cut off, leaving only some thorny plants scattered in the wasteland.

A fierce wind blew by, swirling up the rough soil and stones on the ground, sometimes to the east and sometimes to the north, and the dust and dirt spread with the wind, making the world a dim yellow.

"Pooh!"

When the wind subsided, Xu Yunxin quickly spat out the sand that had been blown into his mouth.

He and Uncle Fu were unprepared and hadn't bought any straw hats to protect them from the wind and sand, so they could only cover their mouths and noses with their sleeves and ride forward while lying on their horseback.

However, the weather was harsh, with strong winds and sandstorms, so even though the two horses were very fine, they walked extremely slowly.

They had already walked for another day in this desert.

Since leaving the dense forest and entering this desolate Gobi Desert, without the support of the forest environment, Xu Yunxin's condition has deteriorated rapidly.

His cultivation level of the first stage of Qi Refining was simply no match for the immense power of heaven and earth.

During the day, the sun blazed and sandstorms raged; at night, the cold was biting to the bone. Wild wolves and poisonous insects would also appear from time to time. If it weren't for Uncle Fu, who was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, he wouldn't have been able to travel this far by himself and would have been killed long ago.

Taking advantage of a brief respite from the sandstorm, Uncle Fu took out a map to check the direction, then pointed to a dark dot in the distance and exclaimed happily, "Young Master, we're almost there! That's Qingxi Town!"

Xu Yunxin looked in the direction Uncle Fu pointed, but with his limited eyesight, he could only see a dim yellow expanse, without a trace of village or town. He could only ask, "Uncle Fu, how much longer do we have to walk?"

Uncle Fu estimated for a moment and said, "Young Master, I'm afraid we'll have to travel for another day."

Just as Xu Yunxin was about to lament, another gust of wind blew in, and sand and dust hit their faces. The two could only lower their bodies again and continue towards their destination.

Looking at the mountain, one's horse will eventually die.

They walked until dusk.

Under the dim yellow sky, a dilapidated village, black at the bottom and yellow at the top, could be seen in the distance. The village walls were mostly intact, but the walls were bare and there was not a single person in sight.

A stream, only two people wide, meanders around the village. The stream is not deep, and the water is so clear that you can see the bottom.

Uncle Fu and Xu Yunxin dismounted, led their horses across the stream, and after tidying their clothes on the bank, they approached the village.

It was already dusk. One of the gates of Qingxi Town was wide open, while the other had vanished. There was still no one in front of the gate.

It can't just be an empty village, can it?

After wading through the stream, Qingxi Town is now in sight.

Looking at it now, the black walls below are made of bricks, while the yellowish-brown ones are made of irregularly shaped stones, pieced together by force.

The entire village is not high; the top of the village wall is just a flat surface, very narrow, with no watchtowers or observation posts for cover. It is simply a wall.

Looking through the doorway, the first thing you see are two collapsed houses and half-rotten walls.

There were no farmlands or plants around the village, no human voices or animal calls, and not a wisp of smoke.

The entire town was devoid of any sign of life; there was absolutely no indication that anyone was living there.

It can't be that the people in the town received advance notice and ran away in order to avoid being managed by the new town lord, right?

Xu Yunxin and Uncle Fu looked at each other, and Uncle Fu said, "Young Master, please rest here for a while, and allow me to go to town to find out what's going on."

Xu Yunxin said, "Uncle Fu, let's go together. That way, we can look out for each other!"

Having witnessed Xu Yunxin's true abilities, since the young master insisted, Uncle Fu took out his long sword and led the way into the town.

The two passed through the town gate one after the other and had just stepped onto the street when they heard a rustling sound behind them.

Looking back, a piece of earth-colored stone fell from the town gate and landed on the ground with a "thud".

Just by listening to the sound of it crashing down, you can tell that this stone is quite heavy.

Immediately afterwards, two figures suddenly stood up on the previously empty village wall. The two were dressed in earth-colored clothes and their faces were covered with yellow cloth, so they could only be vaguely identified as two women.

Just as Uncle Fu was about to ask a question, the two women blew a sharp whistle, followed by a series of hurried footsteps surrounding them.

The first to run over were several large wolfhounds. These wolfhounds were clearly trained. They immediately assumed an attack posture, but did not bark or howl, waiting only for their owner's command.

Following the wolfhound were dozens of men, their expressions tense. Their clothes and armor were old and tattered, and their weapons were a motley collection, with one even carrying a pitchfork.

Behind the men were some women and teenagers. The women were carrying bows and arrows, while the children were holding slingshots or stones. Everyone was watching Xu Yunxin and Uncle Fu with bated breath.

Xu Yunxin is not afraid of having people, but he is afraid of having no one.

Uncle Fu coldly glanced around and whispered to Xu Yunxin, "Young Master, those two on the wall are Qi Refiners."

Xu Yunxin nodded, stepped forward, and clasped his hands in greeting to the two masked female cultivators standing on the stockade wall, saying, "Gentlemen, I am from Wancheng. Please trouble you to inform the town lord that the Xu family of Wancheng has come to visit."

After Xu Yunxin finished speaking, he took out a white jade pendant engraved with the character "Xu" and waved it at the two women to show his identity.

The two women standing on the stockade wall remained silent, but the men surrounding them began to stir.

"Another bunch of good-for-nothings from Wancheng. Last time, they were the ones who caused the town to fall and killed many of our brothers. And they're back again?"

"These two are cultivators, right? Could they be sent by Wancheng to interrogate us?"

"What crime have we committed! It's that good-for-nothing who's guilty!"

The man with the pitchfork was the most hot-tempered. He was the first to yell at Xu Yunxin, "What are you doing here again? You're not welcome here, get out!"

"Yes! Get out of here!"

"Go back to where you came from! This is not a place for you to enjoy yourself!"

Once someone took the lead, the others became bolder and started yelling and cursing at Xu Yunxin and his companion.

"Hmph! Shut up, all of you!"

Uncle Fu roared, revealing his eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation, instantly silencing the noise in the arena.

These men were stopped by Uncle Fu, and dared not utter a word in rebuttal, so they turned their eyes to the two female cultivators on the village wall.

Those two female cultivators weren't easy to get along with either. The one standing on the west side spoke first: "You bunch of good-for-nothing bastards from Wancheng, claiming to be here to guard the village, are utterly useless except for lust and pleasure. They're also arrogant and conceited, letting the demonic beasts rush into the village while they ran away first, causing the deaths of many people!"

The female cultivator on the east side of the stockade also spoke coldly: "You two heard it too. Qingxi Town is a remote and impoverished place. There is no treasure or beauty here. The town does not welcome outsiders and does not need a garrison. Go back to where you came from."

After the two female cultivators made their stance clear, the townspeople around them became bolder and were about to brandish their weapons and shout.

Seeing the townspeople's clear stance, Xu Yunxin didn't mince words, chuckling lightly, "Oh? You're going to defy orders and start your own household?!"

"Or is it that your Qingxi Town is harboring powerful cultivators, and you dare not allow our town to settle there?"

"Um?!"