Chapter 493: Engraving Words on the Monument

Time swept across mountains and lands, carrying away the people of the past and leaving behind only history, whether it is remembered or forgotten. The years are like a song, and that song must be desolate and mournful.

Qin Mu stood on the box, embracing the girl. Sunlight, like the passage of time, poured over them. The moment its rays touched him, the girl in his arms turned into flying sand and flowed backward with the receding darkness.

The sunlight was clear and pure, scattering across the golden desert and illuminating the scale-like dunes. This place was originally a valley, surrounded by mountains that, though not tall, were picturesque with clear waters. However, the intertwining of years had left nothing but vast stretches of yellow sand.

Qin Mu jumped off the box. Although he knew this would happen, he still couldn't hide the melancholy in his heart. The box opened its lid and released Dragon Qilin. The large box seemed to be puzzled, wondering how hundreds of people, who had just been inside, had suddenly vanished.

Dragon Qilin was also terrified and restless. He was already very superstitious and extremely afraid of ghosts, and now he was so frightened that he buried his head in the sand.

Qin Mu looked up. Before him was a bare cliff face, standing solitary amidst the vast yellow desert. After tens of thousands of years of dust and sandstorms, it remained unweathered and uncollapsed. On the cliff face were the words he had left tens of thousands of years ago: "Human lives are paramount!"

Qin Mu was stunned; he had still left his mark in history.

All of this from last night was neither a historical reflection nor a dream. He couldn't explain the wondrous experience of that night, nor why he had returned three or four tens of thousands of years into the past, or why he had experienced a dark invasion alongside the people of Bailong City. He also couldn't explain why he had returned to the present, or why the High Emperor Era had vanished after the darkness. Yet, it had all truly happened!

He had fought alongside people from tens of thousands of years ago, watching them sacrifice their lives, seeing the suffering endured by people throughout history, and witnessing the casualties and devastation caused by another Heavenly Court destroying the Heavenly Court of the High Emperor Era!

"The High Emperor Era was destroyed, and the Emperor of Kai's Era was also destroyed. Was the Heavenly Court that destroyed both eras the same one?" He had a suspicion in his heart, but no concrete evidence to prove it. "Perhaps the one that will destroy Yankang will also be the same Heavenly Court? Where do they come from?"

From beneath the box, Ban Gungong quietly emerged. He looked up at the solitary cliff in the desert, examining the words on it, and leisurely said, "Cult Master Qin, you must be very lost and sad right now, aren't you? That girl from the Bai family might have liked you, and you might have liked her very much too, but she knew she had to part with you, so she didn't say it. Time is too merciless..."

His eyes flickered. The gourd behind him quietly opened, and one by one, blood clots silently floated into the air, making no sound. Ban Gungong stared intently at Qin Mu's back. The blood clots in the air twisted like venomous snakes, and his voice burrowed into Qin Mu's heart like a venomous snake, gnawing at Qin Mu's spirit, eroding his Dao heart, poisoning his convictions, and causing the young man to reveal a flaw.

"If you had stayed in that era, perhaps your life would have been completely different from now." Ban Gungong quietly shifted his feet and adjusted his breathing. His voice became increasingly alluring as he painted a picture entirely different from reality: "You might have fallen in love, perhaps had many children. You would also face many setbacks and dangers, but your lives would be so vibrant and colorful! The past of history would turn into magnificent colors, and you, a young couple, would have experienced those magnificent and colorful historical periods... What a pity."

He changed his tone, his words turning venomous: "Alas, you still parted ways, separated by tens of thousands of years. What love, what affection, what future—all turned into yellow sand and nothingness over the span of tens of thousands of years!" He revealed a strange smile, and his voice, mirroring his strange smile, became twisted and eerie: "That girl from the Bai family is likely long dead. After you left, she very likely died at the hands of her pursuers! Even if she escaped, she might have married someone else, had children, and become an old woman, only occasionally remembering, when her face was withered and her beauty faded in old age, the young man who suddenly appeared that night and cupped her face! Cult Master Qin—"

"Has sorrow ever gripped your heart? Is this sorrow gnawing at your spirit, poisoning your soul?" Ban Gungong moved closer to him, his voice eerie, like a devil from beyond the heavens whispering, tempting one to fall: "She ultimately died, turning into dust. Tens of thousands of years have passed; in the history buried like dust and sand in this desolate desert, no one remembers her except you, the sentimental man. She was simply submerged in the dust of history, buried beneath this rolling yellow sand."

He chuckled. "A youth knows not the taste of sorrow; he loves to climb to higher floors, loves to climb to higher floors! But now that the taste of sorrow is fully known, one longs to speak, yet holds back, longs to speak, yet holds back! Cult Master Qin, your heart is so fragile. Let me..."

Just as he was about to act, Dragon Qilin's body behind him grew larger and taller. Suddenly, it raised a massive paw and swatted him to the ground. Ban Gungong scrambled to his feet, only to be knocked down again. Dragon Qilin slapped him repeatedly, causing him to spit blood, and angrily roared, "That's for your loose tongue, for your loose tongue!"

Ban Gungong was enraged. "You fat pig, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Dragon Qilin's claws suddenly clinked, extending razor-sharp talons, about to disembowel him. Suddenly, Qin Mu's calm voice came: "Fat Dragon, you don't need to beat him anymore. Let him go."

Dragon Qilin paused, puzzled, and said, "Cult Master, this fellow is genuinely malicious, and he's a master at escaping. He just tried to harm you! If we let him go, it will be even harder to catch him again!"

"We fought side by side. He also put in a lot of effort to save people, risking his life. He deserves one chance to live." Qin Mu stood with his hands behind his back, looking at his words on the cliff face, and calmly said, "Great Master, I won't kill you. You may leave. Next time we meet, I will take your head."

Ban Gungong got up, brushed the sand off his clothes, his eyes flickering as he said, "Are you sure you're letting me go this time? Not tricking me? You won't attack and kill me when I turn my back?"

Qin Mu replied indifferently, "Too many people died last night. I don't want to kill anyone today."

Ban Gungong did not turn around, but retreated step by step. He kept his eyes fixed on Qin Mu's every move, thinking, "Although this was a perilous, life-or-death struggle, I didn't come away without benefits. I gained at least two divine legs... Wait a minute, these two divine legs..."

Qin Mu's back remained to him, making his eyes light up. He couldn't help but feel excited, thinking, "With these two divine legs, why should I be afraid of this brat? I have divine legs, my escape speed is unmatched; if I can't beat him, I can flee! What's more, with my unparalleled speed, my combat power will also increase directly. I can finish him off!"

His heart pounded with excitement, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes. Just as he was about to stop and attack, he suddenly felt a jolt of alarm and quickly leaped high into the air. A streak of sword light shot out from the desert, flashing past the root of his right leg!

Ban Gungong cried out in pain, and, suspended in mid-air, he sharply exclaimed, "Cult Master Qin, your word isn't good!"

Qin Mu turned around and said calmly, "It counts. I cut off one of your legs before, so I can return one to you, but I won't let you have two divine legs. Great Master, you may leave now."

Ban Gungong, still in mid-air, looked down at the falling divine leg. He wanted to retrieve it, but the yellow sand below had already swallowed the severed leg. In the yellow sand, countless streaks of sword light flickered, weaving and interweaving like silver needles, protecting the divine leg. These were Qin Mu's eight thousand swords, formed from his Sword Pellet. Clearly, Qin Mu had already sent his Sword Pellet into the yellow sand when Ban Gungong was trying to bewitch him.

Ban Gungong immediately knew he had lost the initiative. With a sudden clench of his teeth, a lotus flower taller than a person appeared behind him. He retreated into the flower, and the lotus closed. Ban Gungong, along with the flower, vanished.

"Cult Master Qin, next time we meet, I will take your head!" His voice faded into the distance, vanishing deep within the vast yellow sands.

"The Great Master has become quite courageous now." Qin Mu turned around. Countless flying swords rose from the desert, delivering the divine leg to the side of the box. He said softly, "This is good. Now that he has courage, it won't be so hard to kill him next time."

The box became excited and quickly opened its lid. It took the divine leg inside, storing it carefully.

Qin Mu looked at the words on the cliff face and whispered, "If you're still alive, will you come here to find me? Are you still alive? Tens of thousands of years, one tribulation after another, would they have taken your life, or turned your beauty to dust and ashes?" He waited quietly at the foot of the cliff, lingering there. The surrounding mountains had also been leveled by the wind and sand. Why was only this cliff face left? Hope still lingered in his heart, unextinguished.

"Cult Master, there's a large stone tablet on this side of the mountain!" Suddenly, Dragon Qilin made a discovery.

Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he hurried over. Dragon Qilin had found a stone tablet at the foot of the mountain. Half of it was buried by yellow sand, and being at the base of the cliff, it was hard to notice without careful inspection. The stone tablet seemed to possess a miraculous power, resisting the wind and sand, and had not weathered. There were also inscriptions on the tablet.

Qin Mu looked at the tablet and was startled. The characters on the stone tablet were bold and domineering, reading: "Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu, Great Master of the Loulan Golden Palace, buried at..."

The words after "buried at" were somewhat blurry, and some characters were buried in the yellow sand. Dragon Qilin was about to approach and clear away the sand when Qin Mu quickly said, "Fat Dragon, it's a trap! Don't touch the sand under the tablet!"

Upon hearing the word "trap," Dragon Qilin quickly retreated, not daring to linger for a moment.

Qin Mu sneered, "To set a trap with such methods truly underestimates me. The words beneath the stone tablet are nothing more than 'buried here.' If I were to disturb the sand, I would trigger his trap and die without a burial place!"

Dragon Qilin shivered and said, "If my name were written on it, I would definitely go forward to check..."

Qin Mu looked around. This vast yellow desert was truly desolate, with no other life besides them. It was impossible for anyone to be ambushing nearby. "To be honest, I am quite curious."

His eyes flickered as he examined the stone tablet buried under the yellow sand. Dragon Qilin immediately had a bad feeling and said, "Cult Master, don't do anything foolish!"

Qin Mu quickly retreated, laughing, "I really want to see if the person who left this stone tablet to plot against me and the Great Master left a signature. He's so arrogant and conceited, he's sure to leave his name. Let's retreat a hundred *li*, and then I'll use a spell to clear the sand from under the tablet!"

***

**Author's Note:**

Although I updated early today, I won't be showing off. I know you all want to "slaughter" me; it's Chinese New Year, everyone wants to slaughter pigs for pork. I can't be too jubilant, or I'll be slaughtered.

It's now time for a "fan drop" (referring to losing followers). Otaku Pig's official WeChat account is currently selecting the strongest king of Disabled Elderly Village, and today it has already ranked among the top few. As the saying goes, "with knives in hand, they emerge from their restricted area, holding the head of Otaku Pig." I won't tell you who I'm going to talk about tonight. Please follow the official WeChat account, Otaku Pig!