Chapter 1293: Lighting the Long Night with Fire

"Wah yah yah, Art of Summoning Divine Beasts!"

Upon the soft, cloud-like ground, the little girl, carved from pink jade,pursed her tiny lips, her ten fingers shifting like flying shadows,changing through several complex movements, finally joining into a sword-finger,and she earnestly pointed forward: "As urgent as the law commands! Appear!"

"Woof!"

Suddenly, a bark sounded, a cloud blanket was lifted,and a small, grayish dog leaped out.

"Aoo woo woo woo!"

Baring its teeth and snarling, it looked very imposing.

Sitting before her was a woman of exquisite beauty,leaning her head on her hand, she said helplessly,"Jiang An'an, is this the secret art you tirelessly researchedafter not practicing calligraphy for several days?"

"How is it?" Jiang An'an asked gleefully,"Am I amazing or not?"

"Whether you are amazing or not, I do not know," Ye Qingyu sighed,"But my head certainly aches intensely."

Jiang An'an squeezed closer to her, pouting,"I just saw you were unhappy and wanted to make you laugh.Actually, I've caught up on all my schoolwork."

She held her treasured squirrel box, taking out several stacks of paper from within,all filled with neat, large characters: "Look."

Ye Qingyu reached out and gently stroked her hair,saying softly, "I am troubled by matters of cultivation, not unhappy."

"I'll have my brother teach you later!" Jiang An'an waved her small hand,saying grandly, "My brother is very formidable!"

Ye Qingyu replied casually, "Matters of cultivation...my father is also quite capable!"

Jiang An'an blinked her large eyes, tilting her head to ask,"My brother is the greatest in the world. Where does Uncle Ye rank?"

Ye Qingyu: ...

It is difficult to explain to a small child the gapbetween the Inner Prefecture realm and the Dongzhen realm.The difference between the world's greatest Inner Prefectureand the world's greatest is not so easy to articulate.Moreover, a younger sister's admiration for her brotheris a beautiful thing and need not be shattered.

She could only force a smile and say, "Alright, I will seek guidance from your brother later."

Jiang An'an thought for a moment and asked, "Is the State of Chu far?"

"Quite far," Ye Qingyu asked, "Why?"

"My brother said he went to the State of Chu. People there were crying and shouting,begging him to give guidance on that bewilderment or something..."Jiang An'an said, summoning her little cloud crane,unfolding it into a letter paper, and simply lay on the ground to write.

"I'll have my brother bring you a gift!"

As she wrote, she turned to look at Ye Qingyu, her eyes sparkling bright:"What delicious things are there in the State of Chu?"

Ye Qingyu was first a little moved, then couldn't help but laugh and cry:"Is this gift for you or for me?"

Jiang An'an giggled, drawing a large circle on the letter paper,writing within the circle, "Super lots of delicious food,"and added a note next to it, "Two portions."

After finishing writing, she looked at it with satisfaction,then happily rolled around on the ground.

"Woof woo woo woo..."

Stupid Gray affectionately came over, rubbing its head against her arm,and making whimpering sounds.

She pushed it away with her hand: "There's none for you!You hid so poorly, so many people spotted you at a glance!"

Stupid Gray thought she was praising it, and wagged its head happily.

"You might as well be stupid to death!" Jiang An'an gently folded the letter paperand tossed it into the air, where it transformed into a cloud crane, circling a few times.

Stupid Gray jumped up to pounce, but Jiang An'an held it down with her hand.

Without knowing the exact address, cloud crane letters requirea response from the recipient to travel thousands of miles.If the cloud crane cannot find the person, it can only driftwhere it last received a response.

That place could only be where Zhao Xuanyang of the State of Zhongshanintercepted all means of communication after capturing Jiang Wang.

Ye Qingyu put her hands behind her back, secretly casting an illusionto prevent An'an from discovering that her cloud crane was not actuallyflying towards the State of Chu.

Thinking of these things, Ye Qingyu couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Jiang An'an saw this and asked with great concern,"Why are you still unhappy?"

Adults always think they can hide their feelings from children,but often they cannot. Children are most sensitive to emotions.

"Perhaps I didn't sleep well last night..." Ye Qingyu explained,controlling her expression, and smiled gently, "I'm fine, okay?"

Jiang An'an thought for a moment, bit her lip,and said with firm resolve in a clear voice,"I'll share my brother with you!"

"Ah?" A blush suddenly appeared on Ye Qingyu's face:"This... how do you share?"

"Let him be your brother too!" Jiang An'an said with an air of great importance:"That way, you can be as happy as I am!"

Ye Qingyu woodenly said "Oh," then quickly regained her composure:"You should go practice your calligraphy."

Jiang An'an: ?

Jiang An'an, who was lectured instead of being comforted,pouted and left, followed by the tactless Stupid Gray,trotting along behind her.

Unaware that he had been "entrusted with a great responsibility,"Jiang Wang was setting foot on the grasslands for the first time.

Looking out, it was vast and boundless, the sky and earth stretching limitlessly!It was like stepping out of a cramped room, pushing aside cobwebs,cloud formations, and thorns, and suddenly experiencing the embrace of nature.It was so wide and boundless, capable of holding the freest of souls.

It was the time of the autumn moon, and the grasslands had shed their verdant green.The "grass cloak" that filled the view was yellow with hints of green,and red tinged with yellow. With the afternoon sun falling upon it,it was a colorful autumn!

At this time, Jiang Wang wore a cloak and hemp clothes,appearing as a solitary traveler, walking with a staff across the vast and boundless grassland.

The cloak was still the one he had "borrowed" from the fat and thin demons,but the staff he held was the Journeying Thought Staff obtained from Grandma Bijou.

Speaking of which, accompanying this Journeying Thought Staffwas a Cloud Twilight Vase, in which lived remarkably poisonous Five-Colored Fish.But Jiang Wang had hardly ever used it.Because its toxicity was too fierce, known as "a single kiss is fatal,"Jiang Wang wouldn't take it out for use in ordinary times.But in the few times he genuinely encountered danger...taking it out was useless, and he couldn't even get it out.Therefore, after following Jiang Wang, this Five-Colored Fishhad enjoyed a rare period of leisure, hardly ever working,spending its days idly in the Cloud Twilight Vase,a typical example of a freeloader.

Compared to Stupid Gray, it was simply a lazy fish and a lazy dog,two stars shining equally brightly.

Of course, there were differences.Jiang Wang hadn't taken out the Five-Colored Fish to use...Stupid Gray was useless.

Jiang Wang wandered through the endless grasslands,passing wild horses, cattle and sheep, herdsmen, and lakes.He was unusually relaxed, a smile on his face, his thoughts drifting.

He did not think about the world's situation,did not think about the hatred carved in the State of Zhuang,did not think about those choices, gains and losses, praise and censure...

There was a rare sense of freedom.The world is vast, my heart at ease.

He was very much looking forward to reuniting with Little Five.He wondered how that boy was getting along with the princess of the Pastoral State...

He heard Little Five say that Uncle Deng was now a Five-Horse Guest,living a peaceful life. He wondered where he was selling goods now,earning how many silver coins each day?

The human world is difficult, but one must seizethe scattered moments of beauty, only then can onelight the long night with a torch, and cross the sea of suffering on a small boat.Meeting old friends, of course, is one such moment.

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