A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

The desert.

The three of them had been walking for three days and were still wandering around in the desert.

The food was gone, the water was gone, and then they stared longingly at the sun hanging in the sky, its heat stinging their eyes, but there was nothing they could do.

"I regret!"

Shu Baimei spoke to the female corpse.

The female corpse glanced at her but didn't say anything; it didn't care anyway.

Even a little mouse wearing human skin can feel the dizziness and lightheadedness caused by dryness and hunger.

Where is Xiangyun Temple?

Shu Baimei plopped down on the shady side of the slope, looking at the swirling yellow sand, and couldn't help but utter a sentence. Although she knew no one would answer her.

The mouse suddenly raised its head alertly and looked ahead.

The female corpse seemed to sense something as well, raising her head and looking in the direction the little mouse had been looking.

Then Shu Baimei also stood up, patted the dust off her bottom, and looked in that direction.

Has anyone died?

In the distance, the light and shadow seemed to be evaporating, creating somewhat distorted images.

A group of people dressed in white robes and hats, carrying banners, moved slowly, with a huge golden coffin being pulled on a massive carriage. A troupe of musicians played music, the faint sounds of their drums drifting over.

Shu Baimei, who had just learned some business from Zhang Zhengdao, knew that this was a funeral procession.

Moreover, this scale and number of attendees should at least indicate a funeral for someone from a powerful family or of royal status. Funerals in the Great Xia Dynasty had strict regulations; exceeding these regulations was considered an act of usurpation.

Such a large group of over a thousand people is definitely a scale reserved for royalty or aristocratic families.

"Someone's there! Someone's there!"

The little mouse jumped up with great joy.

It was the most thirsty thing here right now, and it quickly lifted its skirt and rushed towards the procession in front, not caring whether it would disturb the funeral procession.

"Go, go, go!"

Shu Baimei was also pleasantly surprised. She patted the female corpse, used her light-footed skills to overtake the little mouse, and took the lead.

The female corpse followed slowly behind.

The funeral procession in front of us.

The faint sound of drums and music.

It seems like everything is right in front of you, yet you can never catch up with it.

They were clearly coming from the opposite direction, yet it seemed as if they would never meet.

As the sun set, the last rays of sunlight vanished, and the desert was plunged into darkness. The panting Shu Baimei was horrified to discover that the so-called funeral procession and the sounds of drums and music had all disappeared.

As if it had never appeared.

Exhausted and thirsty, every part of her body was telling her—water!

Her chapped lips and the feeling of helplessness as she sat down on the sand made her gaze somewhat vacant.

"Evil magic!"

Shu Baimei growled angrily in a low voice.

"It must be the evil magic of the demon race."

The little mouse was already lying on the ground, its rear end sticking up high. This posture was rather unseemly, but it made the little mouse feel very comfortable, because this was usually its most comfortable position when resting.

The female corpse slowly walked over and stood to the side.

A flawless body doesn't mean it's immune to decay, nor does it mean it can endure hunger and thirst. Since one hasn't yet attained immortality, how can one practice fasting?

"How to go?"

Shu Baimei asked the female corpse.

The female corpse looked around, then pointed in a direction and walked this way.

Shu Baimei glared at it: "If you go the wrong way again, I'll cut your head off."

Female corpse: "You can't cut me!"

It's truly impossible to cut her; the female corpse's body seems to have reached a level of invulnerability. I wonder how she cultivates while hiding in the Taoist priest's room all day.

"go!"

Shu Baimei shouted loudly, seemingly to cheer herself up.

The little mouse had already darted out.

They had only gone less than ten paces when their legs gave way, and then they heard a loud "boom." The little mouse running ahead suddenly disappeared, as if it had been swallowed up by the sand on the ground.

"sisters!"

Shu Baimei called out.

"Where did it fall? Make a sound!"

The little mouse couldn't make a sound, only letting out short, startled cries of "ah ah ah" in the air before landing on its back with a "thud."

It landed hard.

Then came a series of "ah ah ah" sounds.

"Boom-"

The impact was loud, and the echo still reverberated.

Another hard landing.

The last white shadow drifted down and landed steadily on the ground.

Shu Baimei, who had gotten up, angrily asked, "Why didn't you fall?"

The female corpse: "I fell. I didn't fall."

Shu Baimei was speechless. After a moment of silence, she said to the female corpse, "Sisters...we'll share hardships from now on!"

The little mouse has already gotten up.

"An underground palace!"

Although it was pitch black, the mouse, with its innate instincts, immediately determined their location.

Another underground palace, it never ends.

"This underground palace is huge!" the little mouse continued.

Shu Baimei took out a flint and steel, an essential item for her as one of the Five Eccentrics traveling the world. She tore off a piece of the little mouse's skirt, lit it, and illuminated the surroundings.

Fortunately, there were torches on the surrounding stone walls. I tried to light them, and they actually caught fire.

The firelight immediately illuminated the surroundings.

"what--"

A scream startled Shu Baimei, who angrily yelled at the little mouse.

"Don't you know where you are? What are you yelling about!"

The little mouse complained, "You tore my clothes."

One calf was visible.

I must say, it looks quite good. The portrayal of Consort Shun is truly exquisite.

Shu Baimei: "Why are you so concerned about your legs, you're just a mouse? Every mouse's legs are exposed!"

The little mouse was confused. It seemed right!

So he stopped caring and started sniffing and smelling everything around him.

The female corpse didn't move; she just stood there, her eyes fixed on another door in the underground palace.

It was as if a primordial beast was locked inside that door.

Shu Baimei didn't have the same keen senses as the female corpse. Seeing that it wasn't moving and its eyes were fixed on the only stone door in the secret chamber, she frowned and said, "What do you see?"

Female corpse: "Corpse."

Shu Baimei: ...

"Sister, you yourself are a corpse, why are you so strange?"

The female corpse: "It's different."

Shu Baimei immediately became alert.

Since the female corpse said so, then the corpse inside must be of great importance.

The secret chamber they were in was not actually the main hall of the underground palace, but a side room. From the light, they could only see various stone wall sculptures and some burial objects.

Most of the burial goods were porcelain.

"boom--"

A muffled sound came, and the stone gate slowly rose.

Shu Baimei looked and, sure enough, the little mouse had turned a porcelain-like mechanism, and the stone door opened.

Is this how the organization handles things? They probably aren't anyone important.

Shu Baimei casually took a torch from the stone wall.

The little mouse was a little scared, but it still took a torch and followed.

The female corpse thought for a moment and then took a torch as well.

The main hall of the underground palace was indeed located here.

Upon entering, one immediately senses the vastness of the underground palace, followed by its chilling atmosphere. A musty, cold wind blows by, making one's hair stand on end.

Fortunately, none of the three were normal people.

The three stood in the main hall of the underground palace, somewhat bewildered.

Because the main hall was filled with people dressed in white.

These people dressed in white almost filled the entire main hall, standing in neat rows, straight and motionless. However, beneath their white mourning caps, each person's face was nothing but a skull.

The bones were stark, and the eye sockets were dark and hollow.

The coffin above the main hall was golden.

"This is……"

Shu Baimei turned her head and asked the little mouse.

The little mouse indicated that it didn't know and shook its head with a squeak.

The female corpse stared intently at the coffin, seemingly lost in thought.

"They're all the same people we saw during the day..."

The little mouse stared intently at these people and the enormous golden coffin, then turned to Shu Baimei and said...

Shu Baimei: "I know."

She was thinking about what was going on.

She had also wandered the world, and although she had never been to the desert, she seemed to be connected with some of the legends about the desert.

Mirage.