The Rebel

The woman in the tent was shrouded in a black robe, concealing her face, revealing only a pair of sapphire-like eyes.

Mo Jingxian took the opportunity to scan the surroundings. Apart from a small table a foot high in front of the woman, there was nothing else.

No ambush.

The situation was somewhat unexpected. Hearing the mysterious woman's address, he raised an eyebrow:

"I am not the 'Rebel' you speak of. Why don't we get straight to the point? What guidance do you have for me, dragging me out here in the middle of the night."

The black-veiled woman showed no discernible emotion, merely gazing at him sincerely.

"Everything is arranged by fate, and I am merely a coordinate in the river of your destiny."

The more she spoke, the more mysterious it became. Mo Jingxian decided to just go along with it.

Ever since entering this tent, that feeling in his heart had grown stronger.

He was certain it wasn't the mysterious woman's ability, but rather an item she possessed.

Mo Jingxian sat down by the table, facing the mysterious woman.

"Then, may I ask... Your Excellency Coordinate, what guidance can you offer me tonight?"

The woman took out a set of bone tiles and laid them out on the table, thirteen in total.

Under the dim yellow lamplight, the bone tiles emitted a soft glow, their backs carved with uniform symbols.

The symbols resembled a roulette wheel, with several incomprehensible mysterious characters within.

They were likely the same type of writing as that inscribed on the city gates.

"Please turn over three tiles. In the river of destiny, there are always special individuals who surface, leaving indelible marks."

Mo Jingxian carefully sensed the bone tiles, detecting no danger, as if they were ordinary objects.

He reached out and revealed one tile. It depicted a river, with indistinct shadows beneath it.

He looked up at the mysterious woman opposite him, and she gestured for Mo Jingxian to continue.

Late at night, a mysterious woman, bone tiles – this scene felt rather eerie no matter how one looked at it.

Mo Jingxian quickly turned over the other two tiles.

One showed several stick figures dancing around a campfire, with several eyes depicted around them.

The eyes were varied in form, and even included Sharingan.

The other tile was completely black, or rather, empty, with nothing on it.

The mysterious woman frowned, her movement obvious. This was the first time Mo Jingxian had sensed any emotional change from her.

The tent fell silent. He didn't rush her, waiting patiently.

"Those who pry into destiny will surely sink into the abyss of nothingness."

"What do you mean?"

The woman scrutinized the young man before her again, from head to toe.

Just as Mo Jingxian was getting creeped out and about to flip the table, she spoke again.

"It's not you."

"Huh?" Mo Jingxian was stunned. She had summoned him here in the middle of the night only to say she made a mistake.

"You're not... are you messing with me?"

The mysterious woman paid no mind to his attitude, her eyes' confusion gradually dissipating.

"When listening to destiny, it's inevitable to sink into the river of the mind. It's not you now; your destiny lies in your future."

Mo Jingxian automatically translated her meaning in his mind: in short, he had come too early.

He hadn't forgotten the purpose of his visit. There was a mysterious item hidden on the woman, likely related to him.

"And then? Don't tell me it's over!"

The woman put away the bone tiles, returning to her previous calm demeanor.

"Please settle the divination fee. It's 25 Moonstones in total, thank you!"

The sudden turn caught him off guard, almost straining Mo Jingxian's lower back.

If not for that real and strong feeling, he would have thought he'd encountered a scam artist.

He took out the money left over from his meal, which was called Moonstones here.

Fortunately, he had just enough left to pay the bill. Mo Jingxian placed 25 of them on the table.

He kept one Moonstone, playing with it in his hand, the crystal clear gem flipping between his fingers.

"I thought fate brought us together, but I didn't expect it to be a business transaction."

As if not hearing the sarcasm in his tone, the mysterious woman stared intently into his eyes.

"Fate has already marked the price for everything in the dark."

The Moonstone flipping between her fingertips suddenly stopped.

Mo Jingxian heard this sentence for the second time; the last time was when he activated his Golden Finger, when a voice from the void had imprinted these words into his mind.

The playful expression on his face faded, replaced instantly by a look of solemnity.

He finally confirmed that the other party was not merely playing tricks; it seemed a mysterious entity had been eyeing him for a long time.

He did not know what it was, but perhaps the actions he believed to be his own subjective choices had actually been arranged by that entity all along.

A chill shot straight from his tailbone to the top of his head.

The mysterious woman took a small glass bottle from her bosom, inside which purple clouds were churning.

Occasionally, one could catch a fleeting glimpse of a thin shadow hiding within, though it would immediately vanish back into the purple mist.

Mo Jingxian's heart tightened; this was exactly that feeling.

Ever since the bottle appeared, the sense of being summoned and the longing in his heart erupted completely.

His gaze locked onto the purple clouds, and the elements within his body vibrated in unison, echoing them.

The woman opened the cap and placed a Moonstone inside.

Just like clear water meeting a sponge, in the blink of an eye, the Moonstone absorbed every bit of the purple mist in the bottle.

And that fleeting, thin shadow also vanished without a trace.

The mysterious woman handed the bottle over: "Here, that will be one Moonstone."

Mo Jingxian dazedly handed the Moonstone in his hand to her and took the bottle.

It was surreal; the strange object he had been yearning for had been obtained so easily.

The sensation of holding the bottle was very real, and the information relayed by the interaction of the elements around him proved that he had not fallen under any illusion.

The way she tossed it over, as if throwing away a piece of flatbread, seemed far too casual.

"Clatter!"

Mo Jingxian took out the Moonstone; it now appeared ink-purple.

He held it up to the candlelight, and as the light penetrated the stone, it looked as if a miniature dragon was swimming inside.

"Mysterious traveler, the Dragon Vein is not yet mature. When the time is not yet right, please depart early."

Mo Jingxian stopped his observation, keenly capturing several key pieces of information from this sentence.

First, the form of address had changed; it seemed the mysterious woman had become suspicious of his origins.

In that light, she was likely just an ordinary person who possessed some mysterious power.

As long as she was human, things were manageable, especially since she adhered to the principle of fair trade.

Secondly... Dragon Vein, timing, departure—these words were very interesting when placed together.

Conversely, it meant that as long as the Dragon Vein matured, he could come and claim it.

Thinking of this, Mo Jingxian raised the Moonstone in his hand and shook it.

"Two questions. First: when will the Dragon Vein mature, and how will I receive the information?"

"The Dragon Vein will mature when it is meant to. The Moonstone in your hand is the key to entering the Dragon Vein; it will always guide you in the right direction."

He silently translated her words:

She did not know when the Dragon Vein would mature either; the Moonstone would react when it truly reached maturity.

Imprinting this information in his mind, Mo Jingxian posed his second question.

"Can I obtain the Dragon Vein ahead of schedule? You know... it's more reassuring to have good things in one's own hands."

The mysterious woman began to tidy up the bone tiles on the table, placing them one by one into a box and arranging them neatly.

"An immature Dragon Vein is formless and intangible; no one can obtain it."

Fine!

Seeing that she intended to see him out, he did not linger; the amount of information he had gained tonight was far beyond his expectations.

"By the way, the Rebel marked by fate is not the only one."

Before he stepped out, she left him with one final piece of information.

Mo Jingxian walked through the quiet city streets, repeatedly examining the Moonstone in his hand.

The intense sense of summoning had now vanished; it seemed this little thing was what had led him there.

Since fate had set a point in the future, there was no use in overthinking it now.

He tucked the Moonstone away and, with a flash, blended perfectly into the shadows of the city buildings.

An hour later.

Having searched the entire city, Mo Jingxian found nothing else out of the ordinary.

It seems that person didn't lie to me; there really are no clues to be found regarding the Dragon Vein.

That's fine; I've been out for quite a while, and if I don't return, the two of them will start to worry.

"Not the only one, huh? This is getting more and more interesting..."

The ancient city bustled with life once more under the sunlight, and the trio passed through the city gates without incident.

After a day and a night of rest, they felt refreshed, their conditions restored to their peak.

Even their tone of conversation had become noticeably lighter.

With no pursuers and the threat of death thoroughly behind them, the three headed toward the Land of Earth.

They had not traveled far when Ayako Hyuuga suddenly cried out in surprise.

"It's gone! That ancient city has vanished!"

The two men turned back.

Indeed, the direction of the city was completely empty; there was nothing there.

They had walked less than two kilometers, and with the desert lacking any tall obstructions, it was impossible for the city to be hidden from view.

Yet, the reality was right before their eyes.

Even that oasis... Crescent Lake, had vanished into thin air along with the city.

"This... this... this!"

Shinju Ishikawa stammered for a long time before finally trembling out a sentence:

"We didn't accidentally stumble into a ghost city, did we? Could it be that what we ate yesterday..."

He quickly shut his mouth, as Ayako Hyuuga's expression had turned visibly sour.

Whatever the two of them were thinking, Shinju Ishikawa's face had turned pale.

"Hahaha..."

Mo Jingxian's cheerful laughter interrupted their wild imaginations.

"This world holds many secrets; who dares claim to know everything? For ninjas, you two are surprisingly ignorant—have you never heard of Space-Time Ninjutsu?"

Distracted by his interjection, the two thought it over and realized Mo Jingxian's words made sense.

Indeed, the Ninja World was full of legends; the sudden disappearance of an ancient city was not entirely unacceptable.

After this interlude, the three faced reality once more, for there were some questions they could not avoid.

There was a thorn in Shinju Ishikawa's heart that had yet to be pulled out; he wanted to know the truth behind this ambush mission.

"Tell me, if we return to camp and discover our previous suspicions were true, what should we do?"

"What to do? We just deal with it!"

Mo Jingxian met their gazes, the message he conveyed quite clear.

The two realized the implication, and Ishikawa forced an ugly smile:

"Right, our cries have no voice."

The atmosphere grew oppressive for a moment, and Mo Jingxian said nothing more; often, people must discover the nature of the rules for themselves.

Only then could they see the path ahead clearly.

In this silence, the group marched for three hours, estimating they were not far from the border.

"Stop!"

The veins around Ayako Hyuuga's eyes bulged.

"A ninja detected, 1,000 meters to the southwest."

A ninja capable of traveling alone in the desert must possess formidable strength.

For the sake of safety, the three chose to detour, moving rapidly in the opposite direction.

Ten minutes later, Ayako Hyuuga said urgently:

"This is bad, that person is catching up!"