When the Tea and Horse Road was prospering, a unique town had even taken form around the Celestial Spring. There were inns, restaurants, theaters and more whose services were tailored to traveling merchants. It was a good time.
Unfortunately, the town slowly became abandoned after the Tea and Horse Road declined. Today, all that was left was the remnants of the past.
Even so, the Celestial Spring remained the most important stop for all those who wished to use the Tea and Horse Road. Everyone—the traveling merchants, the horse caravans, the bandits, even the scout squads of Chu and Yan rested at the area.
The Celestial Spring was a magical place. Naturally, countless brigands and evildoers had plotted to occupy it for their own selfish purposes. No one had succeeded, however. It was because the scout squads of Chu and Yan who were passing through the area would wipe out the occupying brigands every once in a while. Over time, everyone learned that it was pointless to try and occupy the Celestial Spring.
It was also why the Celestial Spring was generally considered a safe spot.
When the horse caravan arrived at the Celestial Spring, the strangers gave them the occasional glance but paid them no attention.
Since they were strangers who got together by chance, and it didn’t look like the other group was interested in interacting with them, Wang Shengkun’s group too ignored them and focused on settling the horses and making cooking arrangements.
Forty or so meters away from their group, there was a young man who gave them a friendly nod. His appearance was average, and he wore a blue outfit. He was sitting alone under a tree, drinking from the spring, and eating his rations.
The young man looked very ordinary. He was the kind of person who could vanish into a crowd just like that. But when he smiled, he naturally elicited a good feeling in others. It almost felt like magic. It was why Wang Shengkun couldn’t help but shoot him a couple more looks.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the girl had run up to the Celestial Spring and was currently playing with its water.
“Ah! Yan’er, watch out!”
It was then someone noticed her action and cried out in warning. Maybe it was because the cry scared her, or maybe she was simply too engrossed with her game. As if on cue, she fell head first into the spring water.
The traveling merchants immediately flew into a panic. Everyone rushed toward the spring with shock and fear.
The Celestial Spring might be called a spring, but it was easily over thirty meters wide in diameter. Logically speaking, a lake was a more fitting description.
Not only that, the Celestial Spring was extremely deep. No one knew exactly how deep it was. Forget a young girl, it could drown even a cow—assuming the cow didn’t know how to swim, of course.
Wang Shengkun and the others remained calm though. In fact, some of them were smiling and watching the commotion with great interest. From a third person perspective, they looked stone-hearted and cruel.
“I don’t know how to swim! Will anyone please save my Yan’er?!”
“Please! Save Yan’er! Please!”
A middle-aged man was searching frantically for help. He was looking at Wang Shengkun’s group as well.
“Relax, brother. Your daughter will be fine,” Wang Shengkun said smilingly.
“You…! How could you smile at a time ? Are you even human?!” The middle-aged man roared with bloodshot eyes.
“You misunderstand me, brother. I’m saying that someone will save your daughter. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
Wang Shengkun explained before pointing at the spring. “Look!”
The middle-aged man subconsciously followed his finger just in time to see bubbles rising from the bottom of the spring. The girl named Yan’er was wrapped around by a bubble and brought back to the surface.
Inside the bubble, the girl giggled with great interest as she waved her hands about and poked at the bubble surrounding her. She was having the time of her life.
Some people looked both stunned and amazed by the miraculous sight. Wang Shengkun, Sun Bo and the rest of the horse caravan looked desensitized, however.
“See? I told you your daughter is going to be fine!” Wang Shengkun smiled.
This was one of the miraculous things about the Celestial Spring that made it seem like a celestial really does live in Celestial Spring. If someone accidentally fell into the spring, they would be rescued by a strange power. Therefore, no one had ever died in Celestial Spring.
On top of that, a small portion of the rations they brought with them would disappear as well. It was very strange.
To date, no one knew why this was happening. Of course, there were curious souls who tried to dive into the spring in search for the truth, but no one had ever found the answer.
Everyone in the horse caravan was an experienced traveler. In a sense, they were extremely superstitious, not to mention that there were true displays of power at the Celestial Spring. Over time, everyone believed that a kind celestial lived at Celestial Spring, and that they would rescue them from danger and bless them with good luck.
In fact, it was the truth. Every time they passed through Celestial Spring and drank its spring water, they would experience great luck for the next two or three days or so. They would not encounter any Stranger or danger during their journey.
Of course, the blessing did not last forever. That was why they always visited the Celestial Spring even if it wasn’t always by the way.
It was also why no one panicked or tried to help the girl after she accidentally fell into the water.
Suddenly, someone among the crowd tossed out a fish basket.
The fish basket looked like an ordinary fish basket made from bamboo, but it wasn’t. For one, it was floating in the air. Two, it gave off a colorful, auspicious light that took the form of a true dragon. Head and tail wrapped around the fish basket, its roars could be heard throughout the spring.
There was a reason Wang Shengkun’s group dared to work as a horse caravan between two hostile countries and brave the abandoned, bandit-and-stranger-infested Tea and Horse Road. No one in the caravan was lacking in courage, strength, insight and more.
Their caravan was guarded by over a dozen Spirit Purifiers, and even the weakest among them was an Astral Refiner. As for Wang Shengkun himself, he was a Half-Step Spirit Master. Given the right circumstances, he could enter the Spirit Master stage at any moment. Moreover, they were no imposter who only had the cultivation but none of the skill. Every single one of them had been blooded and tested in battles a hundred times over, which was why not even those brigands who specifically raided merchants for a living stayed well out of their way.
The draconic cry was nothing like anything they had ever heard before. For a moment, everyone was paralyzed with fear and shock.
“The Dragon Nursing Nest caught it! All of you, move!”
A woman shouted from the crowd, and a couple more people leaped into the open and occupied a corner each, forming a formation. At the same time, a couple of spells struck the fish basket.
The draconic roar booming from the fish basket immediately doubled in volume and intensity.
Inside the spring, something was being dragged out into the open together with the young girl. It charged left and right and tore gaps in between the stitches. However, the openings quickly resealed in no time.
The people’s faces slowly turned white. Their breathing grew erratic as well.
Just when it looked like they couldn’t hold their formation any longer, the girl in the sky suddenly lowered her palm. Countless invisible threads suddenly appeared in the sky, and each thread seemed to have a dragon attached to it. Countless tiny dragons swam across the threads and formed a massive net.
The next moment, the girl clenched her fingers into a fist, and the great net began shrinking rapidly while roaring. When it shrank to a certain point, the roars faded into nothing.
The girl was still floating in the sky when the net sat snugly between her fingers. She was still wearing a cute, innocent smile on her face.