Otherworldly Desert Dust-Chapter 364 - 319: Crushed into Mincemeat

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The people of Wuting trying to retrieve the stolen items was no easy task, because the two pilfered treasures had never actually been taken out of Wuting.

To the south of Wuting, on the wooden loft where Wu Hen resided, he was carefully examining the ten-thousand-year-old Dan Jade.

This thing indeed was a treasure.

"Tap, tap, tap~"

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The light footsteps sound came from the wooden stairs, as Ruan Muhuan dressed in her usual attire, slowly made her way toward Wu Hen.

"Did you also take the Demon Immortal Saber?" Ruan Muhuan asked as soon as she arrived.

"Heh, it was just something I picked up along the way. I didn’t even know what that thing was, just found it a bit displeasing to the eye, so I took it," Wu Hen said, passing the Dan Jade to Ruan Muhuan.

Ruan Muhuan received the ten-thousand-year-old Dan Jade, her gaze slightly shifting.

In fact, Ruan Muhuan had considered whether all of this was a lie from Wu Hen, that his real purpose was to gain the Dan Jade and Demon Immortal Saber through her. When coming toward the wooden loft, she had even prepared herself for the possibility that this man would disappear without a trace…

But here he still sat.

This gave Ruan Muhuan a sigh of relief.

If Wu Hen’s true identity was actually from the Demon Clan, the sin she would have committed was enormous!

"Are you really giving it to me?" Ruan Muhuan asked.

"Yep, if not to you, then to whom? I promised to train you… to cultivate you into a Valkyrie. Whatever you need, just tell me; I could even pluck the stars from the sky for you," Wu Hen said.

"That’s true, you gave me the Jade Spirit Mine back then too, when I was of no use to you," Ruan Muhuan said.

"Han Han, you’re speaking as if you’re an outsider. After all this time, don’t you know what I care about?" Wu Hen said.

"I may not know what the Demon Immortal Saber is. Still, its loss is definitely no less serious than the revival of a Demon God. I hope you take good care of it and also be wary of the chaos it could bring to the entire continent of Cangling," Ruan Muhuan simply reminded him.

"Aren’t you worried I would go on a killing spree with this Demon Immortal Saber in hand?" Wu Hen asked.

"I did consider it, all the possibilities. But then I remembered something…" Ruan Muhuan walked closer to Wu Hen and slowly sat down, "It’s about your journey to Sleeping Dream Cliff. I never understood why, knowing the location of Sleeping Dream Cliff and being able to capture an Ancient Dream Demon to please Mrs. Zeng in exchange for protection from Ya City, you prefer to kill Jiang Jiutao rather than speak."

"That was right after I woke up from Lu Yun; the Lu Yun you knew had already been lost at the Desolate Edge," Wu Hen no longer concealed the truth and spoke frankly, "At that time, we were also first acquaintances."

Ruan Muhuan nodded. Understanding that Wu Hen was the Awakener, she retrospected and realized that since Lu Yun stepped out of Sleeping Dream Cliff, the original timid, kind-hearted Young Master Lu Yun was lost.

"I didn’t come to see you these past few days because I encountered that Ancient Dream Demon," Ruan Muhuan said.

"Oh?" Wu Hen was surprised.

"Quite a coincidence, isn’t it? Even I didn’t expect that after three years, I would encounter in Wudou the Ancient Dream Demon I had captured. It was imprisoned in the backyard of a Sect matriarch, creating dreams daily for this faded lady. But dreams are still dreams, and once the novelty wears off, the repetition of the dreamscapes and the repeating joys would lead to a backlash of mental depletion. The Sect matriarch didn’t understand this and kept whipping the Ancient Dream Demon, thinking it was slacking off, not meticulously crafting the dreamscapes she desired," Ruan Muhuan recounted.

Wu Hen sat there, quietly listening.

It turned out, during Ruan Muhuan’s investigation of those Sects, such an incident had occurred.

She found an Ancient Dream Demon kept in the backyard of some Sect noble ladies. This same Dream Demon was the one she had captured three years ago to please Mrs. Zeng, who had then gifted the creature to a certain Sect within Wuting, to entertain that Sect matriarch…

"It was tormented, covered in wounds. Anyone, no matter how cold-hearted, would be moved. When I approached the cage where it was confined, the Ancient Dream Demon recognized me at a glance," Ruan Muhuan said.

"But there was no hatred for me in its eyes; it spoke to me, inquiring about my experiences over the years…"

Wu Hen didn’t know what to say, and simply lifted his teacup, taking a sip.

Wu Hen knew the Ancient Dream Demon Ruan Muhuan had captured wasn’t the one creating dreams for him. But when they left Sleeping Dream Cliff, these friendly little spirits had indeed actively led the way and seen them off.

"Through our conversation, I understood why you didn’t reveal any information about the Ancient Dream Demon to Jiang Jiutao back then," Ruan Muhuan said.

"They’ve told me before, in their understanding there’s no distinction between good and evil; creating dreams for the Lost Ones is merely their way of surviving," Wu Hen said.

"Yes, though they belong to the Demon Clan, they are the freest Holy Spirits in the world. It is we who have become the slaves to power, wealth, and status," Ruan Muhuan said.

"So, just because I didn’t want to betray information about the Ancient Dream Demon, you took me for a good person?" Wu Hen remarked.

Ruan Muhuan shook her head and replied, "I just realized something: whether Human Clan, Demon Clan, or even other more incredible creatures, they all have their unique souls. Compared to them, both your soul and the Ancient Dream Demon’s are nobler than mine. Why should I worry about your actions?"

"I’m not noble; the life and death of the beings in this world have nothing to do with me," Wu Hen retorted.

"But toward those lives and beings you acknowledge, you are kind and noble," Ruan Muhuan replied.

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As Wu Hen pondered the meaning of those words, Ruan Muhuan suddenly leaned in close.

Wu Hen instinctively thought she wanted to scrutinize his eyes to see if they hid any unspeakable filth, but found this woman with a body soft as jade had already pressed close, arms open, gently embracing him.

Though he seemed so cold an individual, his body was warm.

Wu Hen’s thoughts were instantly thrown into disarray.

In that moment, he firmly believed that his feelings for Ruan Muhuan were genuine, almost ready to voice the doubts buried in her heart.

"Han Han, actually…"

"I don’t want to know anymore, you don’t have to say, you can trust me unconditionally, but I may not trust myself," Ruan Muhuan said.

"Alright, let’s not talk about it. You know, I know, that’s enough." Wu Hen nodded.

The long-missed embrace finally arrived, and Wu Hen admitted to himself that he was no different from most who died tragically on the True Martial Continent; in the end, he was defeated by the emotions he developed, choosing between rationality and sensibility to confidently regard his feelings for that person as unique.

But that’s how humans are, harboring such fatal weaknesses.

It’s also the unique law of humanity, hard to surpass.

It’s like a dream: when believed, it’s beautiful, but how cruel is the reality behind that beauty!

...

Ruan Muhuan began to absorb the ten-thousand-year-old Dan Jade.

She had not a trace of doubt in martial arts, but her life was filled with considerable uncertainty.

Until she encountered the Ancient Dream Demon again, and the only emotional entanglement in her heart was dispelled.

Next, all she needed was to move towards the Martial God Heavenly Ladder calmly and composedly, no longer fearing the ethereal and chilling heights of the Sky Dome, nor longing for the complex world of desires; she had not shed the mortal world behind but understood it more deeply.

The energy of the Dan Jade was pure, forming a layer of faint Star Light around Ruan Muhuan’s slender body, her porcelain-white skin translucent and beautiful, her cool yet delicate features like a perfect piece of jade, radiating a slight chill from afar, seemingly aloof to others, but close enough, her warmth comforted one amidst the cold winds and harsh rain.

Wu Hen, acting as her protector, should have used his Perception to guard against any movement around them, but all his senses were involuntarily drawn to this ice beauty, awestruck and filled with emotion.

Though humanity can’t be considered to exist in a higher dimension in comparison to this True Martial Continent,

as long as the barrier of Nuwa God End does not intersect with the spirit rain of the True Martial Continent, they are lifeforms of two separate dimensions.

How many dimensions exist in the world is the question that countless scholars puzzle over today.

But people don’t need to concern themselves with how elusive and profound these dimensions are, how incomprehensible, because there is something that will always exist through the lives of different dimensions.

...

Spirit rain fluttered, cold wind whistled.

A woman in plain clothes emerged from the Three-color Mountains and Seas and stepped onto the muddied land of Wudou...

Raindrops pattered against her cheeks, mud splattered around her waist.

Finally, she arrived in front of the tightly closed gates of Wudou, her face beaming with expectation and joy, especially upon seeing the towering Martial God Statue on the city wall.

"Open the gates!" The distinctively dressed woman pounded on the city gate.

"Who goes there!" A gatekeeper challenged at the gate.

"Qin Hefang, I am the woman of your Rotating Martial God," the woman declared loudly.

The gatekeeper wore a face of confusion, but since the visitor made such a claim, they immediately reported it to their superiors.

However, before the gatekeeper could relay the message, the huge Martial God Statue seemed to come to life, its eyes of cold and remote moonlight gazing down upon the mere mortals beneath the city gate!

Martial God inspection!

The Martial God had noticed this Foreign Guest!

"You see me, don’t you?" Qin Hefang lifted her face, looking up at the majestic Martial God Statue, her eyes brimming with excitement and exhilaration, "This is my true form, in spirit, in Desert Dust Life, to meet you!"

The Martial God Statue was as cold as a mountain peak, watching the human indifferently.

"I said, I am not from the Demon Clan, we too are human, merely walking the world in different ways, now you no longer need to worry about me, nor feel shame before the creatures of this continent, we can be together without any constraints..." The woman didn’t care about the countless guards at the city gate, she was simply laying bare her heart.

However, however, before she could finish her avant-garde confession, daring to abandon all conventions, a massive foot came crashing down from above the city gate!!

"Crush!!"

Like a noisy cricket, squashed into a pulp by someone passing by!

Living as Desert Dust Life, carrying her soul, Qin Hefang had often traveled this True Martial World as a visitor, fully aware of the perils of this True Martial World, she hesitated for a long time before finally casting aside everything to integrate into this world, but she never imagined that, arriving as her true self, she would be greeted not by a person, but a statue, and ground into mush by the statue representing the Martial God, Jiang Qi!

The stone foot of the Martial God Statue ground back and forth, its loathing as if seeing maggots wriggling from the corpse of a loved one!