Chapter 6: The Most Miserable Case of Talking Past Each Other

The secluded valley suddenly began to vibrate violently.

Gu Liuxi was shaken so much by the sudden tremors that she couldn't stand steadily, her body swaying uncontrollably from side to side.

An earthquake? Was it an earthquake?

With a loud *bang*, the heavens and earth shook violently once more. A massive tail suddenly slammed down right in front of Gu Liuxi, nearly scaring her to death; reflexively, she clung tightly to a large tree beside her.

A colossal entity suddenly loomed overhead, blotting out the sun and moon. A black wing flapped incessantly, sending powerful gusts of wind down upon her head.

Gu Liuxi looked up and nearly suffered a heart attack. A massive black eagle was flying directly above her, beating its enormous wings.

The great black eagle's two massive talons were gripped onto the back of a giant golden python, lifting it up. The golden python's tail lashed out continuously at the black eagle; wherever the massive tail swept, trees were toppled.

The golden python's mouth was not idle either, frantically flicking its tongue and spitting a cloud of green poisonous gas toward the black eagle. The black eagle beat its wings with great force, fanning out a massive gale that dispersed all the poison.

The black eagle's flapping was akin to a Category 7 typhoon. Although Gu Liuxi had the foresight to cling tightly to the tree, she didn't expect the tree to be uprooted by that intense wind.

Gu Liuxi fell in a pathetic heap, landing on her back and tumbling several times before coming to a stop. The stone mirror she had been holding in her hand fell to the ground; her hand struck the stone mirror, scraping her skin and causing blood to flow onto it.

When the blood reached the center of the stone mirror, it was actually absorbed into it.

After absorbing her blood, the stone mirror emitted a faint red light.

Gu Liuxi was too terrified to speak.

That faint red light grew increasingly intense, instantly enveloping the entire secluded valley in a sacred crimson glow.

The intense light was so bright that Gu Liuxi couldn't open her eyes; she could only use the back of her hand to shield her eyes from the radiance.

Only after the intense light faded did she lower her hand and slowly open her eyes.

The surroundings had returned to darkness, making everything that had just happened feel like a dream.

However, the pain in her body remained, the wound on her hand was still there, and the destruction around her was real—the only things missing were the giant black eagle and the golden python.

"Ow... it hurts..."

Gu Liuxi clutched her scraped hand and glanced at the stone mirror on the ground, but there was nothing there; even the bloodstains that had been on it were gone.

What had just happened? Had she really seen the stone mirror emit an incredibly intense light?

She couldn't be dreaming, could she?

If it were a dream, why would her hand hurt so much?

Suspicious and wary, Gu Liuxi picked up the stone mirror, looking at it from every angle, but she couldn't make sense of it.

This place was too terrifying; she had to get out of here as soon as possible!

Holding the stone mirror, Gu Liuxi stumbled forward. Behind her, a golden python poked its head out from the bushes not far from where she had just been, its honey-colored eyes flashing with a brilliant light.

*

*Slap—*

"Ow, that hurts! Old man, stop rushing me! Can't I just get up and go to school now?"

Gu Liuxi stood up in a daze, intending to put on her slippers to wash up and get ready for class. She struggled to put them on for a long time without success. That damn Xiao Bai must have stolen her slippers to play with again. Just as she was preparing to go find Xiao Bai to get them back, her pupils suddenly dilated.

Before her eyes was a vast, dense forest overgrown with wild grass, and she was standing right in the middle of it.

Her memory suddenly cleared.

She was still in this strange place.

She had walked for most of the night yesterday and still hadn't found an exit, so she had thought to rest for a bit. She hadn't expected that this "rest" would turn into a deep sleep, and upon waking, she was still here.

Gu Liuxi rubbed her head; what was that thing that had hit her just now? Her head still ached a little.

She looked up, and she nearly suffered a myocardial infarction from fright.

Above her was a large tree covered in red fruits, and there was actually a person in the tree.

It would have been one thing if there were just a person, but that person was actually smiling at her, holding a large cluster of fruit in his hand. It turned out that this fellow was the one who had hit her with the fruit just now.

However, that wasn't the point.

The point was that this man's eyes were honey-colored. Those honey-colored pupils were like the most precious cat's eyes in the world, shimmering with a noble and magnificent luster.

What... what beautiful eyes. Is he a foreigner?

Seeing a person suddenly in this desolate, uninhabited place, Gu Liuxi's heart was incredibly excited. Even though the other party was a foreigner, it didn't dampen her excitement.

Because this foreign hunk was simply too handsome.

The handsome man merely looked at her and smiled, saying nothing.

Gu Liuxi scratched her head in confusion, wondering if this handsome guy couldn't understand English or if she had said something wrong.

When Gu Liuxi got nervous, she would rack her brains and still be unable to remember the English she had learned. She had actually studied quite hard, but she changed schools more than once a month; moving from place to place meant she couldn't absorb much knowledge, and her grades couldn't keep up—especially her math, which was so bad it could infuriate a kindergarten teacher.

"Do you want to eat this?"

Just as Gu Liuxi was racking her brains to find some English to communicate with him, she didn't expect the handsome man in the tree to actually speak—and in fluent Chinese, even more fluent than hers.

Gu Liuxi tilted her head back, staring at him with wide eyes.

With a light leap, the wind ruffled his magnificent golden robes as he landed before Gu Liuxi like an immortal. He handed her the red fruit he had picked and said with a smile, "This is very delicious."

Gu Liuxi blinked in disbelief, then blinked again, simply unable to believe what she was seeing. She opened her mouth and said somewhat haltingly, "How... how did you just come down from the tree?"

The handsome man also blinked, looking at her in confusion. "Just like this."

"What exactly is 'like this'?"

"Just like this."

Seeing that Gu Liuxi didn't seem to understand, the handsome man went back up the tree with a *whoosh*.

This time, Gu Liuxi kept her eyes wide open. When she saw the handsome man fly back into the tree with a *whoosh*, her entire world was instantly thrown into chaos.

"Can you see clearly now?"

The handsome man landed in front of her again with another *whoosh*, still wearing a smile.

That smile was so eerie that if it weren't broad daylight, she would have thought she had encountered a ghost.

Gu Liuxi took a step back inconspicuously, watching him warily, and stammered, "Who... who... are... you... exactly... and... where... is... this... place?"

"Oh, are you asking where this place is?" The handsome man didn't notice her fear at all and took a step forward. "This is the Cangyue Empire. The place we are standing is the Valley Tomb Secret Forest of the Cangyue Empire."

Cangyue Empire?

Valley Tomb Secret Forest?

Gu Liuxi felt like she was on the verge of going insane. What kind of crap empire was this? Wasn't this China?

The handsome man continued to look at her with a smile, a smile that seemed entirely pure and without a trace of malice.

Such a handsome smile was purely asking for a beating.