txolops Chapter 26 The Uncultured Princess
Chapter 26 The Uncultured Princess
The old man, leaning on his cane, limped around the cave entrance.
He walked to the stone pillar on the right side of the cave entrance, looked up at the two lines of words, pursed his lips, and muttered something, but his voice was too soft for Lu Changgeng to hear.
Then he took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from his sleeve and looked at it in the hole.
The bronze mirror was hazy and reflected nothing. The old man tilted his head and looked at it for a moment, then put the bronze mirror back into his sleeve. He then took out a thin booklet, turned to a certain page, dipped his fingernail in some saliva, and drew a line on it.
Then its body shrank, turning into a wisp of green smoke and disappearing into the ground without a trace.
Lu Changgeng, lying prone on the ground, saw it clearly. This scene seemed familiar; it had happened decades ago as well.
At that time, the local earth goddess of Pansiling also emerged from the spring in the same way, circled around the Cleansing Spring, muttered incantations, and then disappeared.
He was worried for a while, but nothing happened in the end, so he forgot about it.
Unexpectedly, I encountered another local deity at the entrance of the Xiezhi Cave.
Could it be a routine land inspection?
Lu Changgeng decided to lie still for a while to avoid being ambushed by the local deity.
Although he wasn't afraid of the land, the other party was, after all, a registered deity of the Heavenly Court, so it was better to avoid trouble.
After waiting another half hour to confirm that the old man of the land would not return, Lu Changgeng prepared to re-form into human form.
He glanced again in the direction of the cave entrance, and his gaze suddenly caught something unusual.
The sky above the cave entrance seemed to be a shade darker than the rest of the sky.
A very faint wisp of blue mist, barely perceptible, slowly descended.
If he hadn't been highly focused at that moment, he wouldn't have noticed at all.
"This Xie Zhi Cave is quite lively," Lu Changgeng thought to himself, but he didn't move.
The wisp of blue mist drifted very slowly, neither hurried nor slow. After reaching the cave entrance, it lingered for a while, as if observing its surroundings, before slowly drifting into the cave.
With a thought, Lu Changgeng began to slowly flow the clear water he had transformed into into the cave, concealing his aura and maintaining a distance of more than fifty feet from the cloud of mist.
The blue mist entered the main hall, circled in the air, and then slowly descended, gradually condensing into a human shape.
The mist surged from the outside in, as if an invisible hand was kneading and shaping it.
First, a graceful silhouette is outlined, with shoulders like those of a sculpted figure, a waist as slender as a silken sash, and curves that are exquisite yet not seductive, exuding an indescribable air of nobility from within.
Next came the clothes.
A light red silk skirt emerged from the mist, its hem adorned with tiny pearls that tinkled softly as she turned.
The collar was embroidered with golden cloud patterns, the stitches were so fine that it was clear that it was not the work of an ordinary embroiderer.
The cuffs narrowed, revealing two smooth, porcelain-like wrists, each adorned with a jade bracelet of exceptional quality, its green hue resembling a pool of spring water.
A jade belt was tied around his waist, with a dragon's head with its mouth open on the belt hook. The dragon's eyes were two rice-grain-sized rubies, gleaming with a faint red light.
Finally, there's the face.
She had an oval face and skin as white as snow, almost transparent, with fine bluish veins visible under her temples.
Her eyebrows, though unpainted, were naturally dark, like distant mountains shrouded in mist.
Her lips were naturally red without any makeup, with a slight upturn at the upper lip, giving her an air of innate pride.
Her eyes were particularly striking; they weren't the typical almond or peach blossom eyes of a woman, but rather slightly upturned phoenix eyes with a natural blush at the corners. Her gaze held both the nobility of a princess and an undeniable arrogance and cunning.
Her eyelashes were long and thick, casting a small fan-shaped shadow that made her eyes appear even deeper.
Her long black hair was styled into a bun, without many hairpins or ornaments, except for a single red gold hair ornament tucked diagonally into her hair.
The pendant of the hair ornament is a bright pearl the size of a soybean, with a shimmering luster; it is no ordinary item.
A few stray hairs fell from her temples, clinging to her ears, making her neck appear even whiter.
She stood in the center of the main hall, her water-red skirt spread out on the ground. She looked around, her phoenix eyes sweeping from left to right and then from right to left, her lips slightly downturned, a very familiar expression of disdain.
"This is the Xie Zhi Cave?" she asked, her voice clear and crisp, tinged with a hint of languor and undisguised disdain. "There isn't even a decent ornament. The Great Sage Who Guards the Mountain has lived here for five hundred years, and this is the poor, run-down place he's made?"
Lu Changgeng clearly saw the woman's appearance and clothing from the shadows.
His attire and demeanor were definitely not those of an ordinary demon cultivator. He had never seen such a person within hundreds of miles of Pansiling, nor had he ever heard Teng San Niang or the mountain demon mention him.
As for this woman's cultivation level, it was unfathomable. Lu Changgeng felt that it far surpassed that of the mountain demon, and he could only feel a faint but powerful aura emanating from her.
He immediately felt a chill and carefully restrained his divine sense, almost completely concealing his aura.
The woman walked towards the side hall, the pearls on her hair ornaments tinkling, their crisp sound particularly clear in the empty stone hall.
She walked with a gentle sway of her waist, her skirt billowing like ripples on water, her leisurely stroll as if she were at home.
After wandering around the side hall, she went to the back hall.
Wherever she went, she would reach out and tap the stone wall, stand on tiptoe to look up, and even lie down and tap the floor tiles.
What is she looking for? Why are her movements so practiced? Lu Changgeng wondered to himself.
The woman searched every corner of the side hall, even picking up and examining the spider webs and dried bones in the corners with her fingers.
She went even further into the back hall, pressing down on every protruding stone on the wall to see if there were any hidden compartments or mechanisms.
She even squatted down and tapped the floor tiles one by one with her fingers, listening intently to the changes in the sound.
Lu Changgeng became increasingly alert; this woman wasn't sightseeing, she was looking for something.
Moreover, they searched very carefully and were very experienced, clearly not doing this for the first time.
After about half an hour, the woman had searched the entire Xiezhi Cave thoroughly, from the main hall to the side hall, from the side hall to the back hall, and even the stone chamber where miscellaneous items were stored.
She even went to the open space outside the cave, circled the cave entrance twice, looked at the two lines of words, pursed her lips, and then went back inside the cave.
Got nothing.
"What a 'Great Sage Who Guards the Mountain'!" She kicked a pebble at her feet, sending it shattering into dust against the stone wall and falling down in a flurry. "Poor! Shabby! Not even a hair on his head! And he dares to call himself a king or a saint? This princess has traveled thousands of miles and hasn't even found a decent object! If I had known he was this poor, I wouldn't have even come!"
She cursed and swore for a long time, from the ancestors of the Great Sage Who Guards the Mountain to his disciples and grand-disciples, and then from his disciples and grand-disciples back to his ancestors.
The richness and cunning of her swear words were completely at odds with her appearance; she sounded more like a shrewish woman ranting in the street.
Lu Changgeng listened from the shadows, his heart skipping a beat.
This princess?
Which country's princess has such great abilities? And such a lack of manners?
As he was pondering this, the woman suddenly stopped cursing.
At the same time, he felt a tightness in his chest and sensed something was wrong.