He Lan Tianxia

Lingyi finally woke up. He immediately saw the pale-faced scholar standing there and instinctively lashed out with his tail, causing the scholar to fall to the ground with a thud.

"Lingyi, you're awake?" Murong Junlan asked in surprise.

"Your Highness, is that the eagle?"

"He's been poisoned." Murong Junlan held the eagle in his hands, his brows furrowed with anxiety. "It's serious. We have to leave here quickly."

“Okay,” Ling Yi agreed. As they were talking, Jiang He returned and tied the pale-faced scholar up tightly with a rope.

"Lingyi, can you take Young Master Bai out?" Jiang He asked worriedly, looking at Lingyi, whose breathing was still a bit weak.

"no problem."

“Your Highness, I can take care of the eagle,” the old pine spirit volunteered.

"No need, I'll do it myself." He was really worried about the eagle, afraid that something else might go wrong.

The old pine tree spirit didn't mind. Seeing that it had nothing to do, it picked up the wine jug and wobbled off into the wine cellar.

So Murong Junlan carried the eagle, Jiang He supported Murong Junlan, and Lingyi, with its tail curled around the pale-faced scholar, retreated from the "Dark and Sunless" forbidden area. But no one noticed that as they passed the brightly colored flower, the pale-faced scholar's nostrils twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes, a strange, wild joy flashing across them. He then casually plucked half of the flower and hid it in his pocket.

Inside the cave, only the innkeeper, still unconscious from the poisoning, lay on the ground; no one intended to pay him any attention.

Finally, they had escaped the "dark and gloomy" forbidden zone. Breathing in the fresh air, they felt much better. Lingyi went to the winery to get some water, which he had Murong Junlan use to wash the poison powder from his eyes. He then sprayed some mist into Murong Junlan's eyes, and most of his vision was restored. Lingyi also sprayed some mist into the eagle, which finally awoke slowly and bid them farewell, flying off alone to seek an antidote.

Only then did Murong Junlan notice the battered and bruised Ling Yi and the seriously injured Jiang He. He immediately said with a sense of guilt, "It is I who have dragged you into this."

Murong Junlan took out two pills from his body and handed them to Jiang He, and then tossed a bottle of pills to Ling Yi. Only then did he realize that Luo Xie and the two fiery red rabbits were nowhere to be seen. Could it be that Luo Xie had been captured by the white-haired woman?

"Your Highness, I'll go get you something to eat." It seems like he hasn't eaten for two days. If he doesn't eat soon, he'll either be poisoned or starve to death. Jiang He had just taken two steps when suddenly a few pheasants and a pot of wine fell down on his head.

"Thanks." Murong Junlan then noticed that the cool shade beside him was thanks to the old pine tree spirit. He casually flicked two pills to the old pine tree spirit to express his gratitude.

The old pine spirit's next words made Murong Junlan frown. The old pine spirit told Murong Junlan that Luo Xie, who was guarding the cave entrance, and two fiery red hares had chased after the woman.

"Is Luo Xie very free lately?" Murong Junlan asked with dissatisfaction.

“He guarded the cave entrance as you instructed,” Jiang He replied.

"We're in there facing life and death, and he still has the mood to chase after women?"

Jiang He couldn't help but chuckle, thinking to himself, "Luo Xie, let's see how you explain this time!" However, Jiang He still spoke up for Luo Xie, saying, "Your Highness, Luo Chanyu is pursuing your princess."

"Nonsense! What princess have I got?" Murong Junlan was displeased. It seemed Luo Xie was an unreliable playboy who dared to "openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass." Now even Jiang He dared to openly protect him. Did they intend to rebel?

"You should have less contact with him in the future," Murong Junlan warned Jiang He.

"Yes, Your Highness." Jiang He knew that the prince had wronged Luo Xie, but he didn't know how to explain it, so he casually replied "Yes" and turned to find firewood to roast the pheasant.

Soon, Jiang He roasted the pheasant, and the four of them, including the old pine tree spirit, enjoyed a hearty meal, their mouths brimming with the aroma of oil. Murong Junlan had originally instructed Jiang He to give a piece of meat to the pale-faced scholar, but the scholar pretended to be unconscious and remained asleep. However, his ability to resist hunger was still admirable.

The group then meditated and circulated their qi to expel most of the poisonous gas, and their energy was finally restored to a considerable extent.

Murong Junlan glanced at the sun; two hours had passed, and Luo Xie still hadn't returned. Murong Junlan figured out the direction Luo Xie had gone and prepared to set off. Just then, he saw a fiery red rabbit running back alone in the distance.

Red Hare?

As soon as the Red Hare returned, it ran to Murong Junlan and rubbed against him. Murong Junlan understood; it meant he needed to set off to rescue the people. He immediately pulled on the reins and leaped onto the Red Hare. The old pine tree spirit also invited Ling Yi and Jiang He to sit on the tree, knowing they were injured and wouldn't recover much of their strength in a short time. Ling Yi also casually tucked the pale-faced scholar onto a branch. Inadvertently, Ling Yi made a significant discovery: the pale-faced scholar's face didn't change color after touching his tail. Ling Yi dared not make a sound; he decided to observe secretly.

A horse and a tree galloped across the road, a sight that could certainly challenge most people's perceptions; at least, for this moment, the pale-faced scholar was stunned. He sneered inwardly, "Hmph, eldest brother, our best show is yet to come."

In a small ravine, the fiery red hare came to a stop. Murong Junlan looked around; apart from the small trees on either side and a mountain stream running through the middle, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Would the white-haired woman hide Luo Xie here? Shouldn't she be back in her icy, snowy Valley of Destruction?

"Lingyi, have you found anything?"

"No."

"Yes, there aren't even any hoofprints here. What are we doing here?" Murong Junlan patted Fire Red Hare, as if asking a question. But Fire Red Hare just wouldn't move, standing there motionless. With Ling Yi's affinity with his kind, he should know what Fire Red Hare was thinking, but the guy was like a stubborn donkey today, standing firm. Murong Junlan pulled it a few times, and Fire Red Hare simply lay down.

"Lingyi, Jiang He, you two search around," Murong Junlan instructed, then leaped onto the branches of the old pine tree. He looked far and wide, but saw no one. However, the next second, Murong Junlan's brow furrowed slightly; he spotted a tree—a strange tree many times taller and larger than the old pine.

“Old pine tree, have you ever seen a tree stranger than yourself?” Murong Junlan asked.

"..." The old pine tree spirit choked; the words sounded so awkward. The old pine tree spirit stretched its neck, opened its eyes, and was instantly stunned. Good heavens, this tree is truly too strange!

The group immediately rushed over. There, nestled in the ravine, stood a massive tree, so large it would take twenty people to encircle it. Its trunk soared into the clouds, its leaves green as umbrellas, beneath which hung tangled vines and ripe, bright yellow pumpkins, arranged in a charmingly haphazard, yet lively manner. Below the pumpkins grew clusters of pale green wildflowers, in full bloom, their tiny yellow blossoms adding a touch of elegance. Most striking of all was a ring of vibrant, colorful foliage flowers, about two or three meters tall, their purple and red hues making the large green canopy appear as dazzling as a ruby.

"Let's go around and take a look." Murong Junlan wasn't in a hurry to climb the tree, fearing a trap. As the saying goes, the martial world is treacherous, full of hidden dangers; caution is always the best policy.

The old pine tree spirit immediately circled the strange tree. And what it saw there truly broadened its horizons. On the strange tree, amidst its leaves and blossoms, four kinds of fruit grew in the four cardinal directions: dark purple grapes, bright red apples, golden bananas, and crisp, sweet peaches. Good heavens, what kind of tree was this? How could these four kinds of fruit grow on the same tree, and ripen in the same season? Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!

The old pine tree spirit seemed to be completely outmatched, and touched his nose, saying smugly, "This tree's abilities are probably beyond my reach even if I lived for another five thousand years."

Yes, it takes a lot of effort to get a pine tree to bear fruit for a whole year. Getting it to bear several kinds of fruit on one tree is an extremely difficult task, and even if you try your hardest, you might not be able to get it to bear fruit.

“Each has its strengths.” Murong Junlan didn’t dwell on such matters or weigh his abilities. Now that he had decided to climb the tree, he turned to the old pine spirit and asked, “Do you dare come up the tree with me and take a look?”

"No problem." The old pine tree spirit was also very curious and instantly transformed into a little old man.

No sooner had he spoken than Murong Junlan leaped to the first fork in the tree. Looking at the two thick grapevines and apple tree roots inside the tree hollow, he immediately understood. However, the tenacious vitality of the tree also greatly shocked him. Now that he knew the truth, was there any need to climb the tree? Just as Murong Junlan hesitated, he suddenly heard some sounds. He reached out and grabbed, and the old pine tree spirit was lifted into the air like a chick snatched by an eagle.

"..." The old pine tree spirit was momentarily moved. In this world, this was the first time someone had protected it, even though the posture was a bit awkward.

Seeing that there was no danger, Murong Junlan put the old pine tree spirit back on the strange tree. The old pine tree spirit immediately leaped up like a fish in water. To be honest, the old pine tree spirit was both envious and admiring of the strange tree for being able to grow so many fruits; it needed to study it carefully.

"What's the use of envying others? Don't you have any special skills yourself?" Murong Junlan saw through the old pine tree spirit's thoughts and promptly reminded him.

"Can you see where the danger lies in this tree?" Murong Junlan asked again. He really couldn't see where the danger was yet, which was the most terrifying thing. Therefore, he believed that the old pine tree spirit, as one of its kind, should have a special sense of smell.

This is indeed a bit difficult.

"There's a big hole in the tree up there," the old pine tree spirit suddenly shouted.

Upon hearing the sound, Murong Junlan had already leaped up. A large tree hollow, big enough for ten people to fit inside, appeared before his eyes in the middle of the tree trunk.

"Could Luo Xie have been thrown into the tree hole?" Murong Junlan reached out and touched the smoothness of the tree wall at the entrance of the hole, his brow furrowing. Just as Murong Junlan was about to investigate further, he suddenly heard a "humming" sound from above. Looking up, Murong Junlan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Luo Xie was tied to a vine and hung upside down from a tree branch, a banana stuffed into his mouth. Because the banana wasn't ripe, he couldn't bite it. At this moment, Ling Yi and Jiang He also came up. Seeing this scene, they couldn't help but burst out laughing. Luo Xie struggled angrily, and Jiang He went up and rescued him.

"Beast, I'll kill it!" Luo Xie threw away the banana in his mouth, cursed loudly, and was about to jump into the cave.

"Is the princess in the tree hollow?" Jiang He asked anxiously.

"That damn monkey is inside."

Everyone: "..."

Luo Xie then remembered that they had gone to rescue the princess, but hadn't seen her. He asked, "Didn't you see the princess?"

That's strange. They didn't see the queen leave with her gorilla "husband," so why didn't they see the queen?

"Did you see the queen and the gorilla coming out of the cave together?" Lingyi suddenly asked.

"No."

Everyone: “…….”

Seeing the suspicious looks on everyone's faces, Luo Xie added, "At that moment, I saw a flash of light, felt a gust of wind pass by, and then I saw this beast jump onto a Red Hare and gallop forward. I thought, 'Oh no, the Red Hare has been kidnapped,' so I summoned another Red Hare to chase after this rascal."

"That's it?" Jiang He frowned deeply.

"Yes." Luo Xie thought for a moment, then hurriedly added embarrassedly, "Also, when I got to this tree, I wanted to pick some fruit to eat, but that mischievous monkey suddenly appeared, hung me upside down, and stuffed a banana into my mouth." Luo Xie recounted his disgraceful experience in detail.

"Back to Darkness and Sunlessness." Murong Junlan vaguely sensed that something had fallen at Darkness and Sunlessness. As soon as he finished speaking, he was already on the back of the Fire Red Hare under the tree. He pulled on the reins, and the Fire Red Hare was forced to run back the way it came. Ling Yi and the others followed closely behind. But halfway there, the Fire Red Hare became unruly and galloped back towards the strange tree.

Everyone: “…….”

After trying several times to turn the horse around without success, Murong Junlan had no choice but to let the horse run wild, and the Red Hare once again arrived at the strange tree.

"Come, Your Highness, have a taste." Luo Xie, who was walking in front, picked a large handful of fruit as if to vent his anger. He thought the strange tree belonged to that damned monkey.

"Crunch." Luo Xie took a satisfied bite of the bright red apple; it tasted really good.

"Your Highness, this fruit is poisonous and cannot be eaten." Seeing Murong Junlan put a grape into his mouth, Lingyi hurriedly stopped him.

"Is it poisonous?" Luo Xie had already swallowed a mouthful and didn't notice anything wrong.

Upon hearing this, Murong Junlan immediately vomited again, but after standing still for a while, he did not find anything wrong.

"Old man, try one." Luo Xie tossed a bunch of grapes to the little old man, the pine tree spirit.

The old pine tree spirit glared and said, "...Since it's poisonous, how can I eat it?"

Luo Xie said, "If you are poisoned, our prince will save you."

The old pine tree looked pale and sickly.

Luo Xie ignored it, tossed a few more grapes into his mouth, and said nonchalantly, "What are you afraid of? You could poison me first, but you didn't."

The old pine tree spirit was caught in a dilemma and could only look at Murong Junlan. Murong Junlan was silent for a while. Indeed, Luo Xie had eaten so much and still showed no signs of poisoning.

"Are you sure this fruit is poisonous?" Murong Junlan turned his gaze back to Ling Yi's face.

“Your Highness, I didn’t smell any poison, but such fruit wouldn’t be taken for free.” Lingyi voiced his doubts.

“That makes sense.” Murong Junlan agreed with Lingyi’s point of view, but he still had quite a few doubts about such a large and strange tree, so he decided to go into the tree hole to take a look.

"Your Highness, let me go in and scout ahead first." Ling Yi suddenly appeared in front of Murong Junlan.

"Alright, your injuries haven't healed yet. You stay at the entrance and keep an eye on that Young Master Bai. Jiang He and I will go in." Murong Junlan had already reached the entrance of the tree hole before he finished speaking.

"Your Highness, what about me?" Luo Xie swallowed half a banana and choked, coughing.

"You stay at the cave entrance too, so there will be someone to help you later." Murong Junlan didn't actually want to leave Lingyi alone to guard the pale-faced scholar. He hadn't figured out the man's true abilities yet, and besides, Lingyi's skills were still recovering, so he had to be careful.

"Alright. Your Highness, if you encounter any danger, just shout loudly, and I'll rush in immediately."

"..." Why would I shout for you if I was in danger? Murong Junlan was speechless. But he was too lazy to pay attention to Luo Xie and stepped into the tree hole, with Jiang He following closely behind.

Half an hour passed, and none of the people who went in came out. Ling Yi and Luo Xie were getting a little anxious, but the pine tree spirit was even more anxious than them. The reason it didn't volunteer to go in earlier was that it caught a glimpse of the pale-faced scholar blinking slightly. Oh, so this guy was pretending to be unconscious. In order not to alert him, it simply closed its eyes and rested, only glancing at Ling Yi intentionally or unintentionally when he turned his tail.

Suddenly, there was a loud "boom" in the cave, and the tree trunk moved slightly. Then there were two more loud "booms," and the tree trunk moved again. Several fruits fell down from the tree.

"Finally got it?" Luo Xie tossed another grape into his mouth.

With a few loud "booms," the fruit on the tree began to fall rapidly. Luo Xie felt it was a bit of a waste, as all the falling fruit were good ones. So, Luo Xie lifted a piece of his robe and ran to the tree to catch the fruit.

With a "plop," something fell from the sky and landed heavily on Luo Xie's head. Luo Xie tried to dodge but failed, and the thing sat on Luo Xie's shoulder, its two little legs swinging in front of its chest.

What the hell? Luo Xie pushed hard and actually pushed down a dumbfounded little figure.