Jade Essence Part 2

The City Lord was usually very lazy, even lazy with his words, and rarely choked them up like this. Ning Huaishan felt extremely aggrieved from being rebuffed and muttered in a very low voice, "I was just offering a seat..."

Wu Xingxue thought, 'Does he need you to offer?'

Besides, High Immortal Tianxiu seemed naturally averse to sitting, or perhaps averse to being too close to people. Even if Wu Xingxue had asked, and even if Ning Huaishan had proactively offered, he probably would have only replied with a "No need."

It had been just like that when they came to Great Sorrow Valley.

Wu Xingxue stared straight ahead, about to continue his verbal jabs at the sheepish Ning Huaishan, when he saw a tall shadow move in his peripheral vision.

His longsword knocked against the pendant on his waist, making a very soft sound. From a distance, it came closer, and another person's aura and warmth suddenly became distinct.

Xiao Fuxuan sat down beside him.

Wu Xingxue was suddenly at a loss for words.

And so, Ning Huaishan witnessed a strange sight. One moment, his City Lord had an inscrutable aura about him, and the next, he fell silent.

He was a bit like a Jade-Faced Leopard Cat, which he had seen as a small child and was now nearly extinct. Its spine would tense up, but a scratch or two under the chin and it would calm down completely.

The next moment, he felt that this thought was even more frightening than the inscrutable City Lord himself.

He thought about it and decided to learn from Fang Chu: close his eyes, play dead, and all would be peaceful.

Of course, Wu Xingxue didn't know what nonsense this comical subordinate of his was thinking. When he looked up at some point, he saw the three people opposite him with their eyes closed, 'dead' in a row.

"..."

He almost laughed out of exasperation.

"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Fuxuan suddenly spoke.

Wu Xingxue: "Nothing."

He retracted his gaze from the opposite side, tucked the hand warmer further into his sleeve, and only then did he raise his eyes to look at Xiao Fuxuan. "I heard them say earlier that the Fallen Flower Mountain Market was a marketplace from several hundred years ago, but it's gone now."

The first time he heard of this place was when Yi Wusheng said that "the Mortal Realm's Dream Bells first came from there." The second time was during Yun Hai's questioning.

He should have had no impression of that place, but perhaps because of the Dream Bell hanging at his waist, whenever the name "Fallen Flower Mountain Market" was mentioned, he would always think of faint but jumbled, noisy human voices.

It must have been a lively, wonderful place. It was just a pity that it had now become the entrance to the Demon's Den, Zhaoye City.

According to Ning Huaishan, he was the one who had personally drawn that entrance into Zhaoye City's territory back then.

Wu Xingxue asked, "How did that mountain market disappear?"

Xiao Fuxuan said, "A sudden mountain fire."

Wu Xingxue: "A mountain fire?"

Xiao Fuxuan hummed in affirmation. It was an extremely long time ago. He recalled for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "That mountain market was supposed to open on the third day of the third month. Legend has it that a mountain fire started not long after the market opened that year. It happened so suddenly and the fire was so fierce that no one had time to react."

Every year, the Fallen Flower Mountain Market was brilliantly lit and bustling with activity. It was said that when the mountain fire started, people outside the mountain thought the market was just lighting its lamps as usual.

That day, the twelve miles of mountains were like fire, and even the moon hanging over the peak was reflected a rouge red. When the surrounding common people saw it, they pointed at the moon and said, "That's a good omen of prosperity."

Later, when the entire Fallen Flower Terrace was shrouded in smoke, people finally realized something was wrong. By the time they rushed over, no one could enter the mountain anymore.

The various Immortal Sects tried many methods—diverting water into the mountains, summoning clouds and rain—but the mountain fire just couldn't be extinguished. It only slowly died out after the twelve miles of Fallen Flower Terrace had been burned clean, with nothing left to burn.

"I hadn't been born yet at that time, but I heard many rumors later," Yi Wusheng said, opening his eyes. "Back then, many people felt it wasn't an ordinary mountain fire, but that someone had done something to incur the Heavenly Dao's punishment."

Upon hearing the word "punishment," Wu Xingxue looked at Xiao Fuxuan.

But Yi Wusheng immediately continued, "It wasn't Tianxiu who delivered it. Rumor has it that back then, High Immortal Tianxiu... uh, was under a prohibition order and stayed at Beyond the Extreme North for a full hundred years?"

Under a prohibition order?

A full hundred years?

Wu Xingxue didn't actually understand what this prohibition order meant, or what consequences carrying it would entail. But by the time he realized it, his brows were already furrowed.

"Just some restrictions, nothing much." Xiao Fuxuan's deep voice sounded.

Wu Xingxue raised his eyes in a daze, only to see Xiao Fuxuan's expression turn cold for an instant, as if he didn't want to talk about it.

Yi Wusheng was much more tactful than Ning Huaishan and the others. He immediately changed the subject, saying, "In any case, the Fallen Flower Mountain Market never opened again after that. The entire Fallen Flower Terrace was burned to scorched earth. It's said that so much blood soaked into the mountains that the river was a pale white when it entered, but turned crimson when it flowed out, meandering through the entire Jiaming Wilderness.

"However, every year on the third day of the third month, a rouge moon still hangs over the mountain peak, and flickers of firelight can still be seen on the twelve-mile Fallen Flower Terrace.

"Initially, the Immortal Sects and the common people were unaware and would rush to the mountainside when they saw the firelight, only to find when they got closer that there was no fire in the mountains.

"Later, they thought it was the souls of those who died that year who could not rest in peace, so they went every year to recite the Spirit-Ferrying Sutra and sing the Spirit-Ferrying Song. Even toddlers just learning to speak knew a line or two.

"Even later, it was designated as the entrance to the Demon's Den. It's unknown whether it was a case of one evil suppressing another or something else, but the Fallen Flower Terrace actually quieted down and hasn't shown any firelight for decades."

For people nowadays, that place was long since nothing special.

That was why Yi Wusheng was truly puzzled as to why they had to come to the long-nonexistent Fallen Flower Mountain Market to repair the Dream Bell.

But it was an immortal treasure, after all. Immortals wouldn't just tell you how to forge or repair it for no reason. In many people's eyes, this was a topic to be avoided. As someone from an Immortal Sect, Yi Wusheng naturally wouldn't carelessly break taboos. He had held it in for the whole journey until his face turned blue.

Fortunately, there was an ancestor in the carriage who didn't hold anything back...

And High Immortal Tianxiu would answer any question that ancestor asked.

The ancestor asked the question Yi Wusheng was most curious about.

Xiao Fuxuan replied: Because the Fallen Flower Terrace has Jade Essence.

The ancestor didn't even know what the hell Jade Essence was.

He silently looked at Xiao Fuxuan, waiting for an explanation... but what came instead was Xiao Fuxuan's hand.

He saw those fingers flick the Dream Bell that was hanging by the seat, pinch its edge and examine it for a moment, then say lightly, "It was originally made using the Jade Essence from there."

Wu Xingxue: "..."

The Spirit-Dispelling Lamp inside the carriage was not lit, making it dim and murky. Only when the felt door curtain was occasionally lifted would a bit of misty light filter in.

Xiao Fuxuan couldn't see Wu Xingxue's expression clearly. He only saw his eyes half-lowered, his fingers hooked around the string of the Dream Bell.

After a good while, he saw Wu Xingxue silently pull that White Jade Bell back.