Mountain Patrol Military Officer-Chapter 383 - 319:

On the back of a Gu Diao as flat as the ground, an old man with a red nose was leaning on one hand,

and holding a wine-stained gourd in the other, his head tilted at a forty-five-degree angle

as he sat cross-legged, his breath smelled of alcohol, impervious to the wind and snow.

"General Chen, why stand there, when the journey of eight thousand miles of frost is still far ahead? Come, have a drink!"

The Dragon Breeding Clan’s Old Man Dong called out to him.

Behind him stood a silver-haired girl, her back turned, her hair fluttering, creating a scene of its own, her thoughts unknown.

Chen Yuan turned around, his gaze flickering. He leaped off the Gu Diao’s head and landed near the old man,

sweeping his hand to arrange tables, chairs, stools, wine, and pastries, all appearing in abundance before

he took a seat, glancing towards the girl named Cun Xin.

"What’s with her?"

Old Man Dong casually took a seat at the table, chuckling, "She might be reminded of the blooming flowers in the Northern Sea,

seeing the frozen thousand miles and drifting snow of ten thousand miles."

Chen Yuan raised his eyebrow, a question arising, "Old man, you mentioned earlier that the Dragon Girl lost her memory,

does she still remember who she is?"

"Of course, it’s not actually memory loss but a self-imposed seal of the Primordial Spirit due to severe injuries,

a life-saving Divine Skill of the Dragon Clan; even severe injuries slowly heal during sleep.

However, stimuli can awaken her completely. General Chen, you should be cautious.

The awakened Dragon Girl will be vastly different, and even this old man can’t control her."

Old Man Dong, his breath smelling of alcohol, chuckled slyly, looking at Chen Yuan with squinted eyes.

Chen Yuan pondered thoughtfully, "If it’s really possible, I’d indeed like to see the prowess of the Northern Sea Dragon Girl."

Saying this, he poured himself a glass of wine, raised it slightly, and took a sip,

then set the glass down, his voice leisurely,

"Old man, wouldn’t it be more comfortable staying in Jingguan City than having to wade through this muddy water with me?"

He originally wanted to ask Old Man Dong to look after Yunding Mountain, yet the old man insisted on bringing the Northern Sea Dragon Girl along.

Old Man Dong put the wine gourd on the table and quickly manipulated his ten fingers, like calculating,

then with lightning-fast movements, he flicked his hands around the surroundings, flinging seven snowflakes onto the table,

four on top and three below.

Then, the snowflakes quickly melted!

"Combining water and fire, General Chen, your journey this time is unpredictable,

whether it’s due to your extraordinary fate that defies heavenly secrets, or if it really is such a matter, heh,

being cautious is never a bad idea."

"I’ve finally found such a precious Dragon’s Nest like you; don’t get yourself killed."

Chen Yuan’s face twitched.

This old man usually does not act seriously, and it’s hard to tell if he’s genuine or not,

but members of such an Ancient Clan usually do possess true abilities; it would be wise of me to remain cautious.

Right!

He recalled something and raised his hand, forming a whirlwind in his palm,

snowflakes flying into his hand and slowly condensing into three characters.

But the next second,

"Puff"

"Puff"

"Puff"

Midway through condensing, the snowflakes exploded without warning.

And Chen Yuan felt a sudden strange force stopping it all, beyond his control.

"Hmm?"

Unconvinced, he tried a couple more times, each attempt surprisingly failing, making him more astonished.

Old Man Dong looked slightly puzzled, "General Chen, what is this... boredom?"

Chen Yuan, with a shocked face, ignored the old man, his fingertips flickering faintly,

tracing on the table.

"Crack"

A crack appeared on the table, then spread and shattered, scattering the wine and pastries on the table.

"Oh dear."

Old Man Dong was quick to react, lifting a jug of wine with a tip of his foot, steadying it, then flicking it up, muttering, "That was close, that was close."

But Chen Yuan’s interest was piqued.

This is truly strange!

In the sarcophagus at General Mountain, he uncovered four engravings using the Dharma Eye,

the first of which described the origins of the owner of the Emperor’s Coffin.

That group of people left Yunding Heavenly Palace, and there were three characters on that celestial structure;

he originally wanted to imprint them to show Old Man Dong of the Dragon Breeding Clan,

considering his background from an Ancient Clan, yet the imprinting failed.

He immediately turned to the mumbling Old Man Dong, "Old man, stop talking and watch me!"

Dragon Breeding Clan’s Dong Fu looked at Chen Yuan with strange eyes, glancing left and right, wondering what was up with this young man.

But in the next moment, Chen Yuan’s eyes shone with golden light, swiftly condensing into a golden image.

Old Man Dong was immediately stunned, and then his eyes bulged out, exclaiming uncontrollably, "Baiyu Capital!"

Then, he abruptly leaned forward, his cloudy eyes shining brightly as he asked, "What place is this?"

These two seemingly contradictory sentences revealed the old man’s unrest.

Chen Yuan did not expect that the old man from the Dragon Breeding Clan would be so surprised by this engraving; he himself was also shocked.

"Baiyu Capital?"

"Could it be those three characters?"

This name was very familiar; in his world, there was a line of poetry that mentioned Baiyu Capital in the heavens, twelve floors, and five cities, which gave Chen Yuan a strange sense of temporal dislocation, making him somewhat dazed as the golden light in his eyes dispersed, and the image vanished along with it.

"Hey, hey, hey, let the old man take another look," Old Man Dong wasn’t done watching.

Chen Yuan grew more curious now, seeing Old Man Dong’s significant reaction, and asked with wonder, "Old man, the Baiyu Capital you mentioned, is it the three characters atop the Yunding Heavenly Palace?"

"Yes, these are characters from the Heavenly Book, a type of secret text, which even thousand-year noble families might not know exists. Where did General Chen obtain this image?"

"Could it be from your day at General Mountain..."

Suddenly, Old Man Dong was no longer drunkenly babbling, his eyes shifted, it turned out he knew everything.

Chen Yuan remained composed, naturally shook his head, and fabricated a story, "This is an engraving I discovered near a mountain at the forbidden area of the misty sea in Ten Thousand Mountains while I was recuperating from an injury."

"Based on the information I acquired, it’s speculated that the person depicted in the painting might be one of those Great Divine Power Users who sealed the Ten Evils a thousand years ago, so I was curious and showed it to the old man to see if any information could be gleaned."

Old Man Dong looked skeptically at Chen Yuan as he spoke, but couldn’t spot any flaws; after a moment, he chuckled,

"It doesn’t matter to me where this object came from; I was just excited a moment ago, the three characters are certainly Baiyu Capital, and your speculation is interesting. It’s been over a thousand years since those ancient events; there are only a few records of those people, it seems intentionally erased. To seek more about their identities, one might only find answers in the Imperial Capital, at the Court."

He mused aloud, his messy eyebrows furrowed.

"Could there really be a place called Baiyu Capital in this world?"

Chen Yuan felt baffled by the old man’s reaction, not understanding the meaning, as it was already written on the engraving.

Old Man Dong seemed to discern Chen Yuan’s confusion, and half-smiling, "General Chen might not understand, but this engraving alone can’t prove that Baiyu Capital is the real Baiyu Capital because..."

Saying this, the old man feigned profundity,

"Baiyu Capital has never been proven to exist!"

"It’s all but an ethereal legend!"

"Some say it’s a place where the Heavenly People reside, others say it’s an endless overseas territory."

"Nobody knows what this place looks like."

"So to say, this engraving alone doesn’t explain much, it could just be someone fabricating mysteries, deceiving the people of the world, I’ve heard of many such cases."

Chen Yuan listened intently to the old man from the Dragon Breeding Clan, feeling perhaps the vastness of this world was far beyond what he had grasped, a hint of longing arose in his heart.

He recalled the scene he witnessed on General Mountain, a thousand years ago those people arranged for the dead to revive, he was initially skeptical, but hearing the old man speak of the mystery of Baiyu Capital, he somewhat believed it.

He quickly collected his emotions, calming down soon after, as the matter was too mystical and elusive, consideration was futile.

"I see, I’ve learned a lot!"

Yet when Old Man Dong saw his reaction, he changed the topic with a chuckle, "It seems General Chen has kept that engraving, perhaps you could hand it over to the old man for study, we might discover some great secret, and ascend right here and now, haha."

After being serious for a moment, there he goes again!

Chen Yuan knew the old man was now scheming, and directly chose to ignore him, "I am going to cultivate!"

With those words, he rose, leapt onto the head of Gu Diao, facing the blowing snow and wind, and sat in meditation.

Behind him, the Dragon Breeding Clan’s Old Man Dong watched his figure, shaking his head and sighing, "Truly as lonely as snow."

....

Meanwhile, at Tianxiong Pass, Heavenly Fragrance Building, at dusk.

At the entrance,

"Make way!"

Following that, the sound of horse hooves trotted away.

The Colonel stood at the door, giving a respectful send-off.