The cold wind is bleak, and the moon is tight.

The lights are dim, and everything is silent.

A delicate and delicate figure flashed in the dark street: a coarse cloth dress with blue florals and a shabby oil-paper lantern, swaying and hastily behaved.

The woman hurried along, looking panicked and frightened, and kept looking back as if a beast was chasing her behind her, and the little gray cloth bag tied around her waist was pressed to her side as if it were her whole world.

When the moon peeked through the clouds, the woman turned into a long, narrow alley, and the white moonlight hit the mottled and dirty walls of the alley, and at the same time the figure of another woman, ethereal like a ghost, followed the woman in front of her.

The woman in the hurry seemed to sense something, and quickened her pace, but her three inches were so unbearable that she almost fell to the ground several times, while the ghostly figure behind her approached her.

Just as the woman looked back, suddenly a slender pale palm blocked her vision, and the woman screamed, and without resistance, she was stuck in her throat by a strong force, and her body was hit against the wall, and the dust on the wall fell on her head, and her face made her unable to open her eyes, and she could only cry and scream.

"Shut up!" It was a woman's voice, a young woman's voice, which should have been crisp and pleasant, but at this time it was hoarse and powerless.

The frightened woman forcibly opened her eyes, and was colliding with a pair of deep blue eyes, and let out a hysterical scream, and the owner of the blue eyes hurriedly put out his other hand to gag her mouth: "Won't you order anything other than crying?" The woman's eyes widened and she looked at the man who had choked her by the throat, and to her astonishment, the man with whom he had the strength of his arms to tie her life between the applause turned out to be a woman, a woman of extraordinary beauty and paleness, and only the strange and flashing blue eyes could prove that the woman in front of her was a living person, and the little bright lip color on the whole pale face made people feel even more cold and frightened. Seeing that this woman opened her red lips, revealing a row of white Sensen's bloodstained teeth biting towards her neck, the woman couldn't move at all, leaving only strings of tears, although there was also the fear of dying in her eyes, but more worry, not about herself, but about the person she was worried about.

"Zihua, what are you doing?" Another strong hand was placed on the shoulder of the woman, who did not know whether she was a human or a ghost, and forcibly pulled her back. The woman hurriedly cast a grateful look at the visitor, and when she saw that he was magnificent, his face was like a crown of jade, and his white clothes were fluttering, she thought that a fairy had descended.

This ghostly woman who was about to drink the blood of someone's throat turned out to be the peerless beauty Zihua Yuxin who captivated the country and the city, how could it be unbelievable, even Lu Qingyu, who bumped into the right at this time, would never believe it.

"You...... Why are you following me? Zihua asked Lu Qingyu weakly.

"I noticed that you look different all day, so...... I didn't expect ...... What exactly do you want to do? Lu Qingyu rarely spoke and stopped, but this time he really didn't know how to finish his words, Zihua's demeanor and tone at the moment made him a man like him who had been through countless times can't help but have a hair on his back.

Zihua looked up at the miserable white moonlight, and then said to Lu Qingyu quietly: "At this time of every month, I have to drink enough blood from the throat of the three people to ......."

Lu Qingyu said nervously: "What can I do?" ”

Zihua bit her lower lip and said, "Only then can I live." She saw that Lu Qingyu pursed her lips and said nothing, and stomped her feet again: "It's true,...... Actually, I don't want to do that either. There was obviously a cry in the words, not at all like the calm and unhurried beautiful woman before, and the current Zihua is more like a child who has done something wrong and is waiting for the punishment of adults.

Zihua increased the strength of the woman's wrist and laughed self-deprecatingly: "How? Lord of Luoshen Palace, you didn't expect that my Zihua Jade Heart would be such a monster who has to drink people's blood to survive! ”

“…… That...... It's not because of you. Zihua turned her face away, her tone was full of complaints, in the past, she would never use this tone to talk to Lu Qingyu.

"Me?" Lu Qingyu pointed at herself in a daze, "If you don't do this, will you really die?" Zihua didn't answer this time, but Lu Qingyu had already guessed the answer, he silently let go of his hand, and then turned away, no longer looking at the woman's eyes for help. With the sound of "snort-" in the muscles, Lu Qingyu's whole heart also twitched: over the years, he didn't know how many people he had killed, and he didn't know how many souls had been entangled in his sword, but he could still continue to add to his killing without blinking, but at this moment, he didn't dare to turn his face and face this scene that he felt cruel.

The woman's struggles and convulsions faded away, and as her struggling hands hung limply, the cloth bag she regarded as more important than life fell to the ground, and there were some rare and precious medicinal herbs that she could not have possessed in her capacity.

After Zihua drank enough blood, her face became red again, and her face was full of radiance, the blue in her eyes had receded, but the blood stains on the corners of her mouth were still reminding Lu Qingyu of the cruel scene just now.

Lu Qingyu thoughtfully picked up the bag of medicinal herbs on the ground and muttered, "You once again showed me the pain of being an ordinary person. ”

Zihua wiped the blood overflowing from the corner of her mouth, and said quietly: "This woman's name is Xiulian, she lives in the broken thatched hut at the end of the alley, her husband is a runner, he was seriously injured in a martial arts fight half a month ago, I heard that only the thousand-year-old ginseng of Changbai Mountain and the dragon's beard and fish liver of the East China Sea can be cured...... Her run all the way was to rush back to make medicine for her husband. Lu Qingyu said gloomily: "Such a deep woman, you actually chose her ......" Zihua smiled bitterly and said: "But do you know what awaits her after she goes back?" ”

"It's death. His husband is sharpening the knife and waiting for him, waiting for this 'shameless' ** to swing the knife as soon as he comes back. After Zihua finished speaking, she picked up the body of the dead woman on the ground, her eyes flashed, "Wouldn't it be better for her to die under my mouth like this than to die at the hands of her man thousands of times?" ”

Lu Qingyu was stunned, he thought that he had seen all the ironies and injustices in the world when he came to this point, but the scene he encountered tonight undoubtedly shocked his heart again: "When will this world become a little more cute?" Is it really so unbearable to be an ordinary person, and I don't even have the opportunity to at least control my own destiny. ”

"What are you thinking?" Zihua walked a few steps with the woman's body in her arms, and found that Lu Qingyu did not follow.

"Can't you count?" Lu Qingyu asked rhetorically.

"I can't count the thoughts of four people in this world: you, Xiaoxue, Yuwen Tuo, and Dugu Ningke."

"I'm thinking...... I must get this world. Lu Qingyu's expression suddenly became extremely firm, and then he ignored Zihua and turned to leave, his back was frank and detached.

Zihua sighed, there always seemed to be a gap between her and Lu Qingyu, even if she tried her best, she couldn't cross it and really stand on the side of him.

The next day, the city of a thousand people.

The sky is clear and cloudless, and the sun is as bright as new.

Biqiancheng is the last town of the Sui Kingdom, which stretches for hundreds of miles in the Gobi, transit Dunhuang City, and leads directly to Yumen Pass.

This town not only has a dry climate, but also a shortage of water, but in the end, because it is an important town in the west, the Hu and Han are very prosperous, the trade is frequent, and many people from Persia, Dashi and Qiuzi and other countries have come to do business or settle, making this town present a different style of mixing Chinese and Western.

At this time, Zihua, who was in the city, had already regained her former vigor, her face was like a peach blossom, her eyes were full of spring water, as if she had just taken the elixir of Our Lady of Yaochi, she was in good spirits, and she was scurrying around, first looking at the porcelain on this stall, and then moving the silk scarves and jewelry on the shop, and even twisting her flexible waist with those blonde orchids, dancing, smiling, and every move, completely like an innocent girl who is ignorant of the world.

Lu Qingyu followed her silently, looking at her, and her mind was inexplicably drawn by her. He tried to get rid of this gratuitous and tangled feelings, but he couldn't take his eyes off Zihua's figure.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Lu Qingyu was a little confused, he thought that there was no one in this world who was worthy of his attention except Xiao Xueben, but every time he looked at Zihua, he would always be a little cramped.

Raising his eyes to see the city gate getting closer and closer, Lu Qingyu's brows tightened more and more: "Out of this gate, I'm getting closer and closer to there, I really don't want to go there again!" He said to himself in his heart, but who knows where it is?

"Why don't we go to Dunhuang, prepare enough dry food and go directly to Loulan country, and then set off from Loulan and take a detour to Hashku?" Zihua said what Lu Qingyu was afraid of.

"How do you know......" Lu Qingyu asked in surprise and joy.

"I just know." Zihua responded with a smile, her voice was soft and soft, making it uncomfortable to listen to. "Anyway! I know a lot of things about you, including your taboo about this Dunhuang city. After Zihua finished speaking, Lu Qingyu was not allowed to ask, "I will tell you when the time comes." ”

Lu Qingyu is indeed full of questions about this strange and familiar woman, thinking that since he met her on the Lancang River, he has been with her for most of the year, and there seems to be something invisible in the dark that is pulling them, what is it?

"What are you thinking?" After only a while, Zihua was already carrying a big bag of dry food, and walked over to this side with a smile, Lu Qingyu looked at her slender body and was a little shaky under the pressure of this burden, and her heart of pity rose, and she hurriedly took the burden on her back and carried it on her back. Not only Zihua was stunned, but even he himself was shocked by his own behavior - the famous Lord of Luoshen Palace actually carried his own baggage, which can really become the first big news in the rivers and lakes.

But even Lu Qingyu himself didn't know that only when he was with this woman, his arrogant and often restless heart could temporarily be calm, and only at this time would he be able to step down from the position of God.

"I'll have to pack my own baggage!" Lu Qingyu said with a bland smile, "Now that the Luoshen Palace will encounter a big disaster, two of the four masters have lost their minds, one is uncertain about life and death, and the other has to stay at home, and the rest of the people are all fledgling, even if they are brought out, they can't do anything, so it's not me, who else is carrying the backpack of the lord?" Zihua bit her lip and endured it for a long time, and finally laughed, Lu Qingyu hurriedly asked what to laugh at, Zihua said: "I don't think it's like it when I see the expression of an ordinary person like you, I think it's funny." Lu Qingyu also smiled: "I really want to be an ordinary person!" Zihua's laughter stopped, and she asked in a very solemn tone, "Do you really want to be an ordinary person?" Lu Qingyu couldn't answer, in fact, he just blurted out.

Seeing that Lu Qingyu didn't open her mouth for a long time, Zihua's expectant gaze turned into disappointment: "Forget it!" She turned away gloomily, her back looking gloomy and depressed.

Looking at such Zihua, Lu Qingyu was also a little remorseful.

He didn't have to.

At this time, I heard someone shouting in extremely non-standard official dialect: "Yurong paste, jade paste with top fragrance and moisturizing, come and take a look!" Lu Qingyu was overjoyed, hurriedly stepped forward to pick up a box, and asked, "How to sell it?" ”

The person who sold the jade paste was a black and fat old woman, and the skin on her face was rough enough to make people doubt the quality of her jade paste but Lu Qingyu took it to her nose and smelled it, and she was sure that this was a more authentic skin care cream for desert people.

"Miss, you're from out of town, aren't you?" When the old woman saw Lu Qingyu, she called Miss respectfully, at first Lu Qingyu thought that she had heard it wrong, but she listened carefully a few times, and she was really calling him Miss, the most taboo and disgusting thing in his life was to be treated as a woman, and he was furious for a while, and the murderous intent was overflowing.

Who knew that this old woman actually grabbed Lu Qingyu and said: "Miss, you have such good skin, if you don't use my wife's special jade paste here, I'm afraid that your white and tender face will peel off and crack in half a day?" The more Lu Qingyu listened, the more angry she became, and rudely shook off the old woman's black hand and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?" Didn't see me a big *** here? The old woman was also anxious: "Don't be angry, don't be angry!" I'm not going to say it, hee-hee! You must be a young lady from a rich family, otherwise how could you be so white and delicate, you are a woman dressed as a man and sneaked out to play, right? Because she said it in a hurry, the spit Xingzi splashed Lu Qingyu's face, and Lu Qingyu said angrily: "Open your old eyes and see clearly, I am a man!" "The old woman was stunned for a while, and she didn't know what to do.

A string of beautiful laughter sounded, like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing the angry flames of Lu Qingyu here, "Miss? Woman dressed as a man? Zihua pointed to Lu Qingyu, holding her stomach and laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Lu Qingyu's face was still gloomy.

Zihua ignored it, just threw more than four taels of silver at the old woman, picked up two bottles of jade paste and said, "Don't look for it!" Grabbed Lu Qingyu and walked aside, Lu Qingyu angrily shook off and said, "I still want to reason with that old woman!" Zihua stopped and said, "Saying that you are a woman proves that you are handsome!" It's not like that, is it? ”

"I ......" Lu Qingyu didn't know how to refute, "Besides, it won't help you even if you kill her!" Zihua dipped a little jade paste on the back of her hand, and exclaimed, "This is something for women, right?" Your Excellency, what are you ...... Could it be that you ......" She immediately looked at Lu Qingyu with a suspicious eye, and Lu Qingyu blushed and said, "How could I use that kind of thing, I bought it for you,...... The sun is very big in the desert, and you can't stand such delicate skin. After he finished speaking, he immediately turned his back to prevent Zihua from seeing his expression, "Is this a concern?" You...... Concerned about me? Zihua's eyes were filled with a moving gleam.

"Sort of!" Lu Qingyu remembered that eleven years ago, when he and his father went to the gate for the first time, it was also the last time he saw his father. At that time, his father also bought such a jade paste for him, and he patted his chest and protested to his father: "I am a manly husband, who uses that kind of thing for women." But his father pressed his shoulder hard and said forcefully, "This is a concern for you, understand?" Fathers don't want you to get sunburned. Lu Qingyu obediently applied a layer of jade paste on the back of her face and hands, and sure enough, her skin was not so dry and uncomfortable. Right now...... He was doing the same thing as his father, to a woman he knew and didn't know well. The jade paste is still the jade paste of the year, and the people are no longer like the people of the past! Lu Qingyu was in a state of mind for a while, and she felt a lot of emotion.

"After all this stuff, do you like me a little?" Zihua stood in front of Lu Qingyu coldly, and asked with her hands behind her back playfully.

Lu Qingyu glanced at her lightly, and said angrily: "You are really not ashamed!" He casually threw the burden back to Zihua, and walked to the front with his sleeves swinged.

Zihua had no choice but to follow with the burden on her back, and she went out of the city gate.

Outside the city gate, I rode a horse through the Gobi Desert for dozens of miles before arriving at the famous beacon tower.

Here, the two changed horses, put on a black cloak specially made by the desert people to protect against sand and sun, and replenished some dry food and water sources, and then marched to Loulan.

As soon as you enter the desert, the wind and sand become wild and raging, and even the natural thing of breathing becomes extremely difficult here, and the hot sun is scorching in the sky, but the cloak on the body is sewn impenetrable, and the heat is all forced into the body, making people anxious and bored.

Lu Qingyu and Zihua Yuxin traveled in such an environment for seven days, and by the eighth day, Zihua was already a little unsupportable, and when they reached Shen, Zihua couldn't help but untie the cloak on her body, Lu Qingyu hurriedly stopped her: "Don't take it off, so that your skin will be cracked by the sun." Zihua agreed weakly, but it didn't take long for her body to shake until she fell off the leash, Lu Qingyu was in a hurry, and hurriedly turned over and dismounted to take Zihua in her arms, pulled down her cloak and looked at it, it simply stunned him, Zihua's face and the skin on the back of her hands were cracked, and blood continued to ooze from the cracks, at first glance, this peerless beauty turned out to be a little terrifying.

Lu Qingyu only said that Zihua's skin was fragile, but she didn't expect that she would still be sunburned under such good protection, and while worrying, she also felt a little guilty in her heart: "If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have used this ghost place."

"I came of my own free will." Zihua opened her eyes weakly and spit out these words with difficulty, "I'm from Beihai, and I really can't stand this kind of climate." Zihua's voice was as light as a mosquito, and her eyes were not as clear as usual, Lu Qingyu was startled, and hurriedly helped her up to feed her water, but Zihua didn't drink a sip, just said guiltily: "It seems that I can't accompany you to Hashku, I'm ...... It's a pity that I haven't made you like me by this time, and it seems that there will be no chance in the future. Lu Qingyu's heart was hot, and her voice trembled: "At this time, you are still saying this, you are just eager to attack your heart, you won't ......" Before he finished speaking, Zihua's body was already limp in his arms, Lu Qingyu was stunned, and he didn't even dare to probe her snort.

Just when Lu Qingyu was at a loss, two camels drove behind him, and on the camels were also sitting a person wearing a black cloak, but judging from the movements and demeanor of the two people, they seemed to be two women.

The two stopped beside Lu Qingyu, one of the women got off the camel first, and then helped the other woman down, Lu Qingyu watched the two of them walk lightly, and felt a burst of cool water vapor blowing towards him, which was refreshing.

What surprised him even more was that one of the women, who seemed to be the master, was obviously thin and thin, but she could walk comfortably in such a violent wind, and her feet were as leisurely and brisk as stepping on clouds.

This thin woman was covered with a black veil, and only a pair of eyes were exposed, but just by seeing these eyes, she could already be sure that the other party must be extraordinarily beautiful.

The woman squatted down gracefully in front of Lu Qingyu, glanced at his face indifferently, and carefully examined Zihua's injury, but Lu Qingyu felt that her eyes were a little familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

The masked woman leisurely stretched out a white hand, with a layer of light blue light mist on her hand, as if it still had the smell of clear water, she pressed her hand on Zihua's forehead, and the blue light mist gradually spread to Zihua's face, all over her body, and after a while, Zihua's cracked skin was healed, leaving only some traces of redness. The masked woman stood up and said in a delicate and tactful voice, "I must have multiple diseases! It's just that the sunburn is excessive, so it's going to be dead or alive! With that, he stepped on the back of another woman, turned over and rode on a camel.

Lu Qingyu thanked the masked woman: "Thank you girl for saving me, in Xia Lu Qingyu, the palace master of Shaanxi Luoshen Palace, if the girl needs to serve in the future, please command." The woman just smiled indifferently and waved her hand at Lu Qingyu casually, without much surprise, as if she had already known Lu Qingyu's identity. Seeing that this woman's attitude was so peaceful and detached, Lu Qingyu didn't say anything more, picked up Zihua and got on the horse, ready to continue on the road.

"Why do you need to be in such a hurry, your female companion is naturally frail, plus the inner heat is attacking, I just healed her external injuries, if you don't find a cool place in time to let her recuperate carefully, I'm afraid that I still have to worry about my life." The masked woman said as she pointed in the direction ahead.

Lu Qingyu raised his eyes and looked, Dunhuang City, Dunhuang City was close in front of him, the terrible Dunhuang City, no matter how powerful he became, he would look fragile and weak when facing this city. He didn't dare to face it, just because it was the place where his whole life had changed, and even if he returned here after many years, he still couldn't forget the pain of transformation that he once remembered.

In the blink of an eye, the camels of the two women had already driven to the front, and gradually, the masked woman's eyebrows had a smile, she didn't have to look back at all, she knew that Lu Qingyu would follow no matter what, but there was a trace of sadness in her eyes.

"Dunhuang City, Dunhuang City......" Lu Qingyu silently recited this name thousands of times in his heart, even if he was unwilling, he still had to approach it step by step and regain his former injuries. Seeing that he was about to enter the city, Lu Qingyu couldn't help but look back, the footprints left by the horse's hooves had already been covered in the yellow sand, so he shuddered, and sighed that the power of man is really small compared to nature, even if you are the best in the world in martial arts, in the face of powerful natural forces, you will become helpless and powerless!