Chapter 38: Into Sunset Valley

“Spring Breeze Love-Confusion Pill?”

Chen An: “…”

His hand trembled. He shoved the bottle back in a hurry.

“Wrong one, wrong one…”

Yan Li couldn’t hold it in after all. She turned her head away, closed her eyes, and fought to keep the corners of her mouth from curling.

Xuan Shiyan’s gaze fell on her profile. A hint of amusement rose in his eyes as well.

But neither of them actually looked down on it. Out in the world raiding secret realms, who didn’t rely on all sorts of odds and ends to survive?

Anyone who had made it this far in one piece had crawled out of a pit.

Chen An had a strong street-hawker air, but he really knew how to prepare supplies.

Xuan Shiyan casually flipped through the stack of fire-avoidance talismans. “How much for these?”

“If you want them, just cost price! And take a cold jade pendant too. Inside Sunset Valley it’s hot as a steamer basket. Wearing one close to your body will cool you down a lot.”

Yan Li took the cold jade pendant and weighed it. It felt cool in her hand, and faint spiritual light flowed inside. It was definitely not shoddy goods.

When Chen An saw the two actually start picking, he grew more excited. His mouth ran nonstop.

Yan Li took several cold jade pendants. Xuan Shiyan chose fire-avoidance talismans, fire-repelling beads, and a fireproof tent.

Soon, more than half the items on the table were gone.

Both were very supportive and really bought quite a lot. After all, it was their first trip to Sunset Valley, and bringing extra supplies was never wrong.

Chen An beamed and put the spirit stones into his storage pouch.

“Then I wish you both a full harvest.” He cupped his hands toward them. “Sunset Valley isn’t far from Tianque City. By sword flight it’s a quarter hour. By horse it’s half a day. If you lack anything on the road, or want to ask about news, just tell me.”

He patted his chest.

“I can’t promise much else, but for running errands, I, Chen An, am absolutely reliable.”

Xuan Shiyan smiled.

“Then I’ll thank you in advance, Fellow Daoist Chen.”

“Oh, you flatter me.”

Chen An felt comfortable all over from being called “Fellow Daoist Chen.” After all, low-level brokers like them usually feared running into cultivators with eyes above their heads.

Meeting people like Yan Li and Xuan Shiyan, capable yet polite, was a stroke of great luck.

In a great mood, he fished out a bag of insect repellent powder before they left.

“Take this too. Consider it a little extra from me.”

Yan Li was about to decline, but Chen An already waved his hand.

“It’s really not worth much. You two gave me such a big sale today, how could I be stingy?”

“When traveling, one more thing is one more bit of peace of mind.”

After saying that, he didn’t give them a chance to refuse and stuffed the insect repellent powder into Xuan Shiyan’s hand with a smile.

The two couldn’t decline and had to accept.

Off to the side, Yan Shu was holding her teething spirit wood and gnawing happily, drool all over her hands and face.

When she saw Yan Li look over, she immediately grinned, opened her wet little claws, and lunged at her.

Yan Li was quick. She grabbed Yan Shu’s wrist.

“Don’t wipe it on me.”

Yan Shu blinked, tilted her little head, and then with a plop, smeared it all on Xuan Shiyan’s sleeve.

Xuan Shiyan: “…”

Yan Li: “…”

The closer they got to Sunset Valley, the hotter the air became.

By the time they reached the valley mouth, the whole world was wrapped in dark red glow. Before they even entered, a scorching heat wave hit them, baking their skin tight.

The air twisted and warped in the high temperature. Distant rocks looked like they were behind a layer of rippling water, swaying and indistinct.

Yan Li stopped some distance from the valley mouth and got off the flying sword with Yan Shu in her arms.

Yan Shu in her arms had already been flushed red by the heat, twisting uneasily.

She was naturally of extreme yin constitution. This kind of extreme yang place, where fire spiritual energy was so rich it was almost berserk, was her natural nemesis.

But they couldn’t leave her alone at the inn. If they brought her out, they had to prepare thoroughly. Yan Li began applying the things bought from Chen An to Yan Shu one by one.

She stuffed a fire-repelling bead into her little clothes, then took out an ice-silk blanket and wrapped her up tightly, and finally added a cold jade pendant. She wished she could hang every fireproof item on her, arming her to the teeth.

Yan Shu twisted her little body and tried to wave her arms, but found she couldn’t move at all. She blinked, looking blank.

“Senior Brother, if you wrap her any more, she’ll have to roll there.”

Yan Li carefully pasted the last fire-avoidance talisman. “Safety first.”

Xuan Shiyan looked at the round little bundle and silently shut his mouth.

Then the two each took out a fire-repelling bead and injected spiritual power. The beads immediately gave off faint cold air, isolating the surrounding heat.

But just as they stepped into the valley mouth, a scorching wave slapped them in the face.

Inside the valley and outside were completely different worlds.

Red rock spread everywhere. Flames spurted from cracks now and then. The air was filled with fire spiritual energy so thick it wouldn’t disperse. One breath made the lungs burn.

The fire-repelling beads kept releasing cold air and blocked the heat outside, but the cold within the beads was slowly depleting. From farther in, faint roars of demonic beasts came.

Yan Li’s expression sank slightly. Her silver flying sword had already silently floated up beside her. Xuan Shiyan also released his black sword to patrol around him.

Both slowed their steps at the same time, spiritual sense quietly spreading in all directions.

If Sunset Valley could be listed as a mid-tier B-rank mission, it obviously wasn’t for sightseeing.

The valley mouth section was still relatively calm. There were only bare red rocks and a few charred withered trees. All around was dead silence. Even the wind seemed dried up by the heat.

Precisely because of that, the two dared not be careless.

They walked in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense when the gravel under their feet suddenly began to tremble. A rustling sound came from deep in the valley path, getting closer.

Looking toward the sound, a dark red river, deeper in color than the ground, was surging along the valley path toward them.

Yan Li’s gaze sharpened.

It wasn’t a river at all. It was fire spirit ants.

One of the most disgusting demonic beasts in the outer area of Sunset Valley.

A single one wasn’t strong. Most were only early-to-mid Qi Refining. But once caught by an ant swarm, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would be gnawed until no bones remained.

Each was palm-sized, completely red, with shells carrying a cold metallic sheen. They spread out densely from deep in the valley path.

Wherever they passed, the rocks were chewed into pits and hollows. Gravel turned to powder in an instant. Even hard red rock was gnawed into shocking gouges by the swarm.

“Retreat!” Xuan Shiyan shouted low. The black sword rose at his thought and became a black streak of light meeting the ant tide.

The sword light swept across. Large numbers of fire spirit ants at the very front were instantly chopped to pieces.

But before the corpses in front could land, the swarm behind had already stepped on their companions’ remains and kept surging forward without stopping.

Insect bodies burst apart. Scalding ant fluid and broken shells splattered everywhere. When they landed on the ground, they hissed and smoked, and the rock was immediately corroded into little black pits.

A drop of ant fluid splashed onto Yan Li’s hem. Her protective spiritual power flickered, but the robe still got a small charred hole burned into it.

If not for the spiritual power blocking it, that drop would have burned straight through.

“…Troublesome.”

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