Journey to the Tagore Desert

Gu He's invitation for Wu Changqing to accompany him to the Tagore Desert in search of a Heavenly Flame came as quite a surprise.

In the original story, he had invited Yun Yun, but this time, he had invited Wu Changqing.

Naturally, Wu Changqing agreed. He had to go to the Tagore Desert anyway, so it made no difference who he went with.

However, they had not set out yet. After thinking it over, he felt that he should tell Yun Yun first.

But the moment he arrived at Yun Yun's courtyard and she saw him, she hurried back into her room and shut the door.

Wu Changqing did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Was he some kind of bad guy?

"Yun'er, why are you shutting the door the moment you see me?"

"Y-you, what do you want..." Yun Yun's small voice came from inside the room.

"I came to let you know that I'll be leaving the sect for a while soon. I'm going somewhere rather far away, and I probably won't be back anytime soon." He deliberately made his tone grave, as if he were saying farewell.

The effect was obvious.

Before long, Yun Yun opened the door and looked at him. "Where are you going?"

"Didn't you shut the door because you didn't want to see me?" Wu Changqing teased.

"Y-you tricked me?"

Yun Yun immediately realized she had fallen for it and hurried to close the door again.

Wu Changqing did not stop her. He merely said calmly, "I didn't trick you. I really am leaving the sect for a while."

Yun Yun stopped closing the door, and her expression changed slightly. "Then where are you going?"

She felt that Wu Changqing was deceiving her, yet it did not seem quite like that.

"The Tagore Desert. The Snake People."

At the mention of that place, Yun Yun frowned at once. "What are you going there for? The Snake People are very dangerous!"

Back then, the Jia Ma Empire had joined forces with several surrounding empires just to drive the Snake People into the Tagore Desert.

Everyone avoided the Snake People whenever possible.

Yet Wu Changqing wanted to go there willingly?

"It's not that I want to go. Gu He asked me to protect him while he goes to the Tagore Desert," he said.

"Gu He? Why did he ask you to go to the Tagore Desert?" Yun Yun's brow furrowed even more deeply.

How did this involve Gu He too?

"Could you let me come in so I can explain? Don't you think it's strange for us to keep standing at the door?"

Yun Yun gave him a suspicious look, but in the end, she chose to trust him and let him into the room.

Wu Changqing was already very familiar with this place.

He and Yun Yun had lived together in the same room for several years.

But after being away recently, when he entered again now, he felt that the room carried an additional faint, elegant fragrance.

It was Yun Yun's scent.

He had not found it particularly noticeable when he had lived here before, but now that he had returned, he could clearly sense it.

"Why did Gu He ask you to go to the Tagore Desert?" Yun Yun cared more about that question.

"He said there were traces of a Heavenly Flame appearing in the desert. He wants to search for it, but the Snake People there are powerful, so he needs a highly cultivated expert as a guard. That's why he came to me," Wu Changqing said.

"Queen Medusa of the Snake People is a peak Dou Emperor, and she has eight Snake People leaders at the Dou King level under her command."

"If he wants to enter the depths of the desert to search for the Heavenly Flame, conflict with the Snake People will be unavoidable. Traveling with a Dou Emperor would indeed be much safer," Yun Yun said.

"Didn't Gu He ask you?" Wu Changqing suddenly asked.

Yun Yun shook her head. "Perhaps it's because I said some things to him a few days ago, so he was too embarrassed to ask me?"

"What did you say to him?"

She paused before saying, "Senior, you know that Gu He has feelings for me, but I don't feel the same way about him. So that day, I spoke to him and told him not to keep thinking about me anymore."

Yun Yun had gone to speak to Gu He after Yun Shan had called her over and compared Gu He with Wu Changqing.

It was a clear rejection, in a sense.

Without that incident, Gu He would probably still have asked Yun Yun for help first.

He would not have come looking for Wu Changqing.

"I see."

"But the desert is indeed very dangerous. Senior, you must be careful. If you encounter Queen Medusa, remember to run immediately." Yun Yun looked at him with concern and reminded him.

Wu Changqing's heart warmed. "Mm, I'll be careful. If I can't beat her, I'll run."

"Then I'll be going back now."

He rose and walked toward the door. Yun Yun also stood up, intending to see him out.

Suddenly, Wu Changqing turned around and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace.

Yun Yun let out a soft cry. Looking at the face so close to hers, her heartbeat quickened.

"Y-you, what are you trying to do now..."

She had just been worrying about his safety, and now he was trying to take advantage of her!

Yet Wu Changqing merely smiled. "Yun'er, when I return from the Tagore Desert, I hope you won't shut the door and hide from me the moment you see me again."

Yun Yun felt a little guilty and lowered her head slightly. "I-I'm just a little embarrassed to face you, Senior..."

Wu Changqing smiled, released her waist, and pushed open the door to leave.

"Senior!"

Yun Yun suddenly called out to him. The moment he turned around, she hurried forward, rose slightly on her toes, and pressed her soft lips to his.

Her kiss was light, like a dragonfly touching the water, parting after a single brush.

But that had already taken all her courage.

"Senior, I'll wait for you to come back..."

"Alright."

Tagore Desert, outskirts of the desert.

Although the ferocious Snake People lived in the depths of the Tagore Desert,

the outskirts were still primarily where humans conducted their activities, and the Snake People generally did not appear here.

At this moment, the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was carrying out a large-scale operation in the desert.

Xiao Yan and Qinglin were searching for the whereabouts of the Heavenly Flame.

"Young Master Xiao Yan, the strange aura I sensed half a year ago is nearby," Qinglin said.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded and had the others search the surrounding area quickly.

Before long, someone found the entrance to an underground passage.

"Commander, over here!"

Everyone hurried over and assessed the situation beneath the opening.

In the end, Xiao Yan decided to go down personally to inspect it.

The others remained outside to stand guard.

An hour later.

Xiao Yan emerged from inside, and Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and the others hurriedly gathered around him.

"Little Yan, how was it? Did you find the Heavenly Flame?"

Xiao Yan shook his head.

In the magma world below, he had only found the place where the Green Lotus Core Flame had once been, but he could not find the Heavenly Flame itself.

However, he had found a piece of seven-colored snake scale inside and deduced who might have taken the Heavenly Flame.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, I may have to go into the depths of the desert."

"What are you going there for? The depths of the desert are very dangerous." Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were both startled.

The depths of the desert were Snake People territory!

"I'm going to find the Heavenly Flame!" Xiao Yan's gaze was resolute.

As an alchemist, now that he had finally found a clue to a Heavenly Flame, how could he give up halfway?

He had to find the Heavenly Flame!

As for the dangers in the depths of the desert, with Old Yao around, he was not afraid.