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Jiangnan?

Ma Changyun was stunned. Could it be that he was fainting from hunger and dreaming?

He found it even more ludicrous than the two soldiers did.

Jiangnan, that was a great place in the Central Plains, a place he had never even thought of living in his entire life, let alone such a desirable location. If he could go there in his lifetime, he would even be willing to shorten his lifespan by ten years.

But that was utterly impossible. Everyone knew that on the Southern Barbarian border, the Imperial Court’s Flying Dragon Army was stationed, and not even a fly could escape.

It wasn’t that there were no refugees who couldn’t survive and wanted to flee there, but because the Southern Barbarians were skilled in the evil witchcraft of Gu insects, there had been several instances where they had stuffed Gu insects inside people’s bellies, turning ordinary civilians into living weapons.

As they approached populous areas, the insect eggs would explode, releasing swarms of insects that began to wreak havoc around them.

After those few incidents, the people of the Southern Barbarian territories had never again managed to cross the border, for even a hundred meters away the other side would shoot you dead with an arrow, regardless of whether you were an elderly person, a woman, or a child.

So even if they couldn’t survive, they never thought of running to the Central Plains because that was a sure path to death. Running to the mountains offered slim hope, but at least it was a faint hope. The razor-sharp arrows of the Central Plains warriors never spared the Southern Barbarians.

"You come from the Southern Barbarians?"

Just as the two soldiers were sneering and planning to take all these people down, the girl leading the group spoke.

Her voice, as young as her face, carried curiosity, but it made Ma Yunzhang’s heart skip a beat.

Girls who wore such beautiful clothes were generally nobles.

He had seen some nobles from the Central Plains in the Wutu Country, and those people looked at the Southern Barbarians with eyes full of disdain, especially the women who seemed to think these Southern Barbarians had insects on them, staying far away.

But the girl before him was different; all he saw in her eyes was curiosity.

"Yes, this Lord, we... we come from the Southern Barbarians, I swear to the Spirit Serpent Goddess..." he began, only to suddenly stop.

The Spirit Serpent Goddess worshipped by his village... was already dead, having died a horrid death. She was skinned and hung upside-down at the Divine Temple, her eyes empty and hollow, chilling to anyone who saw them.

"Spirit Serpent Goddess?" The young girl nodded slightly, "At the Sorcerer Academy, I learned from geography that the Wutu Country worships a Serpent Demon in the Earth Dragon Cave.

There are thousands of Serpent Demons there with many followers.Although he speaks in Chinese, his accent is indeed that of a Southern Barbarian. "

"Mr. Xiao Mu understands the language of the Southern Barbarians?" The soldier beside her suddenly put on a warm smile.

"Oh, I mainly study pharmacology. There are many good species deep in the mountains of the Southern Barbarians. In fact, if there was a chance, one could go to pick some and study how to improve them. It’s a pity that the current situation is bad, and I can’t visit the Southern Barbarians."

Saying this, the girl looked toward those who were greedily biting into white fruits, "This is a medicinal fruit, used for nourishing the essence and marrow and should not be eaten as food. You appear to be severely dehydrated, and it’s most harmful to eat too much.

Just eat one to tide you over, but don’t be greedy, or it could be dangerous. "

Ma Yunzhang, hearing this, immediately turned and shouted in the Southern Barbarian language to the people behind him, "The Family Head says this is a medicinal fruit, not to be eaten in excess, or it could be deadly, especially for children. Half is enough!"

Hearing the risk of death, many women quickly snatched the fruits from their children’s hands.

Ma Yunzhang, however, sighed a great sigh of relief internally.

The girl clearly was a person of status, but she had a kind heart—this might be their chance to survive.

Although he did not know why the other party claimed this place to be Jiangnan, as long as it allowed them to live, even saying this was the Imperial Capital would be fine.

"Where do you come from?" The girl said with a smile.

"We come from the Wutuo Country..."

"The Lord asks from which direction you came!" The soldier beside them said impatiently.

"We came from..." Ma Yunzhang turned and pointed behind them, but he instantly froze.

Where was the direction they had come from? There was no trace.

There was nothing there, just a clear drop-off of a cliff.

"What’s the matter?" The soldier sneered with a curl of his lip, "Did you drop from the sky?"

"No... we clearly came from that direction..."

What is going on?

Looking at the stunned Ma Yunzhang, the two soldiers’ eyes became increasingly menacing, "Mr. Xiao Mu, these people are not quite honest, with their strange origins, in my opinion, we’d better take them down first."

"There’s no need to rush..." the little girl shook her head, "Maybe they are not lying."

"If they are not lying, then what is it?" one of the soldiers asked, puzzled.

"I came here precisely because I sensed spatial fluctuations; unexpectedly, a group of people just appeared out of nowhere. Daqing Mountain might be outside the city, but the security here is extremely tight, and there’s even the Azure Dragon Great Array underneath the mountain—it’s the least likely place to be infiltrated by outsiders.

If among these people, there are such experts, then we don’t have the ability to capture them. "

"This..."

The two soldiers looked at each other, as if to agree; Daqing Mountain was considered the number one immortal mountain of Lyuzhou City, with the Mountain God himself being of the seventh rank—the highest rank in the entire Jiangnan area.

Moreover, with the backing of the Sorcerer Academy, a variety of new technologies emerged from here first. Each year, senior magicians developed cutting-edge products here that went viral, not to mention outsiders, even internal members needed permission to come here, as these products were worth a fortune and many merchants were waiting for them below.

To suggest that a group of old, weak women and children without any weapons could break through the blockade was an insult to the arrangements set below the mountain.

"This matter is peculiar; we must quickly send a Spiritual Bird to contact the superiors.

.." As she spoke, she glanced at the children who were obviously still very hungry and thirsty after having their fruits snatched away yet were licking their lips obediently in silence. The girl’s heart clenched, and she added, "Leave someone here to guard, I’ll go call Brother Wei Gongzhan to prepare some meat porridge for them. "

Meat porridge?

Upon hearing this word, Ma Yunzhang and the others couldn’t help but swallow hard.

The two soldiers sighed slightly; that guy Wei Gongzhan was lucky to have caught the eye of a college mistress. Tsk tsk, what a fortunate fool.

--------------------------------

Soon, Zi Yue who was stationed at the central hub of Jiangnan within Lyuzhou City received the Spiritual Bird’s message.

"Southern Barbarians?"

Beside her was Shen Qi, who temporarily had no other assignments due to being stabbed by Murong Yunji during the previous incident in Lyuzhou.

"This is already the fourth wave," Shen Qi looked towards Zi Yue, "What exactly is going on?"

"Spatial chaos!" Zi Yue replied without hesitation, "Originally, His Majesty was taken away by the Destiny Hole, forcibly crossing through space. The Destiny Hole is profound and mysterious, able to open up most of the world’s seals. From the few contacts I’ve had with Mister Tianji, I learned they were transported to a sealed location within the Southern Barbarians’ territory. "

"You’ve mentioned this before, that they’re in a sealed place, and thus temporarily can’t return. But what does this have to do with these Southern Barbarians arriving in Jiangnan?"

"I haven’t received any news from them for three days!" Zi Yue’s expression grew grave, "I suspect that Chen Qing and Tianji are trying to break through that seal, and it’s possible they were forced to use the Destiny Hole, whose other side is directly linked to Jiangnan."

"You’re saying... those Southern Barbarians were sent here by His Majesty?"

"No..." Zi Yue shook her head, "They were unwittingly transported. Chen Qing and the others must have encountered trouble. The Destiny Hole couldn’t be closed, directly connecting the Southern Barbarians and Jiangnan, resulting in Southern Barbarians occasionally being transported here."

"This..." Shen Qi was taken aback, "Is that even possible?"

"If only it were that simple..." Zi Yue rubbed her fingers together, "The people transported here so far all have ties to Wutuo Country; it’s too coincidental. And it was the Prince of Wutuo Country who requested Princess Mingxue this time. I strongly suspect this is intentional!"

"Intentional? How so?" asked Shen Qi, frowning, "Could it be that Tianji is colluding with the Imperial Court?"

"That’s unlikely..." Zi Yue shook her head, "If so, why not simply transport your Family Head into a trap? Wouldn’t he just be at their mercy?"

"Then what do you think it is?"

"Tianji was tracked!" Zi Yue took a deep breath, "It’s not just me; someone else is monitoring Chen Qing’s whereabouts, then set up a trap, forcing Chen Qing and Tianji to open the Destiny Hole, thus causing all of this!!"

Indiscriminate spatial transport, Southern Barbarians... Wutuo... Ghost Domain!

"This is probably..." Zi Yue’s gaze turned dark, "Someone.... is secretly plotting against Jiangnan!!"