331: One cave, two monsters

When Tang Ku was mistaken for the True Lord, Yang Jian knew that he had likely been mistaken for someone else too!

"The so-called 'Prophet' is an honorific for Muhammad, a follower of Allah, and also the founder of the Muslim sect... He's a very formidable figure!"

Flying east of the Tianshan Mountains with Yang Jian, Tang Ku explained to the depressed Yang Jian.

"No wonder, no wonder they looked at me with the eyes of someone looking at a servant!"

Yang Jian smiled helplessly and said, "By now, you must have saved tens of thousands of people. I estimate that you might even become their faith in the future... You saved them and even taught them how to rebuild their city. Such great kindness is something they could never repay, even if they were smashed to pieces!"

"Actually, I didn't think that much about it; I just simply didn't want to see these people displaced!"

Tang Ku couldn't help but shrug and said helplessly, "If I'm mistaken for someone else, so be it. If assuming the identity of the True Lord can reignite their hope, it's not a bad thing!"

A day ago, Tang Ku had thrown the massive body of the Doomsday Fortress back to the Khakas city of Kolem, and stood on the ruins to give a long speech. Of course, the ultimate goal was to let them reignite their confidence and rebuild their homeland.

During this time, he also gathered several important ministers of the Khakas nation to teach them modern construction experience, as well as some policies for letting the people rest and recover.

It could be said that during this period, the entire Khakas nation truly worshipped Tang Ku as a deity.

Tang Ku and his companion traveled east all the way and soon arrived near the previous Flaming Mountain. Come to think of it, ever since the flames were extinguished, this place had gradually become prosperous. The land that could not be used due to year-round scorching had actually become incredibly fertile, and a large population settlement soon developed.

In the Uyghur Western Regions, there was a lot of fruit cultivation, so the temperature difference created by the climate here made the melons and various fruits very sweet.

"So we've arrived here, have we?"

Looking down at the lively scene in the market below, Tang Ku couldn't help but smile and say, "The fruit here is not bad; even in the Great Tang, one might not necessarily get to taste it. Shall I take you to try some, True Lord?"

Yang Jian waved his hand and said, "When I was in the Immortal Realm, what kind of immortal fruit have I not tasted? It's more important for us to continue our journey."

Tang Ku chuckled and said, "Immortal fruits are for immortals to eat; they might have this or that benefit, but as for the taste... hehe, it's really not necessarily as delicious as the fruit here!"

Without further ado, Tang Ku pulled Yang Jian and landed outside the city.

Although it was a simple mud and Brick city wall, people were coming and going, and there seemed to be quite a few merchants from the Great Tang region, making it quite prosperous. This made Yang Jian quite curious about what the fruit in Tang Ku's hand actually tasted like.

Fortunately, Tang Ku still had some silver, and with a few taels of silver, he bought a cartload of fruit; Tang Ku even bought out an entire fruit stall.

"Even if we're just tasting it, we don't need this much!"

The two pushed the cart to the outskirts. Yang Jian waved his right hand, and a silvery-white light flashed. A round, plump melon split into pieces. He grabbed a slice, took a bite, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He said in surprise, "It's actually this delicious?"

Tang Ku had already eaten three or four slices of melon by now. He smiled contentedly and said, "The many facets of the human world are also part of the smoke and fire of life. Affected by the climate, the melons here have very long exposure to sunlight, so they are very fragrant and sweet. Even in the Immortal Realm, it's hard to eat them. I bought so many, hehe, just because I wanted to bring them back for everyone to taste!"

As he spoke, he set aside a portion for the two of them to eat, and used the Sleeve Universe technique to store the rest in his sleeve.

The two entered the city again to look for the top-tier, delicious roast lamb that Tang Ku had mentioned.

However, just as they reached the lamb stall and before they could hear the owner introduce his roast meat, the sky suddenly sounded like a thunderclap. Then, the entire ground shook for two or three seconds. Everyone on the street was swaying, almost falling to the ground. Many goods on the vendors' stalls were shaken off, looking extremely disheveled.

But after these two or three seconds passed, all the pedestrians and vendors gathered their stalls as if nothing unusual had happened. Even the pedestrians who had fallen just brushed off their clothes and slowly continued walking.

"Hey? What's going on? Is it an earthquake? Why aren't you all surprised?"

An out-of-town merchant asked a local companion.

"Hehe, this month, it's been shaking two or three times almost every day. This is only the first time today!"

Tang Ku and Yang Jian frowned slightly. They both looked up toward a certain direction in the northwest, and then looked at each other, seeing a hint of confusion in each other's eyes.

Whoosh!

Two figures instantly disappeared without a trace. The lamb vendor had just straightened his stove, but when he looked up, where could he see the two customers?

"These two... they left really fast!"

The owner muttered a sentence and began to greet other customers.

"Is it here?"

A few seconds later, the two were already standing in the air above the original core of the Flaming Mountain. Tang Ku looked around and couldn't help but ask.

"That's right, the Demonic Qi from just now was emitted from here..."

Yang Jian's third eye on his forehead narrowed, and he scanned the area, saying, "These two strands of Demonic Qi, even in the Human Realm, can be considered powerful entities in their own right..."

"Hehe, that's right, but I don't know what kind of demons they are... Holy crap!"

Tang Ku was suddenly shocked because he saw that the geothermal vent he had previously plugged was now empty, having once again become a large hole. That huge, mountain-like stone was nowhere to be found!

"Holy Monk, could it be that at the time, besides Brick, there were other demons underground?"

Yang Jian also noticed something was wrong and couldn't help but ask.

"Impossible. In that environment, apart from Brick, which is naturally fire-natured, no other creature could survive!"

Tang Ku said in a deep voice, "Perhaps some demons nearby moved the rocks here... The Spiritual Qi underground is abundant; it's a good place for cultivation..."

Boom!

Before Tang Ku could finish speaking, a burst of fire suddenly erupted from the mountain forest on the ground, and countless trees and rocks collapsed downward.

"Someone is fighting? It seems two demons couldn't agree on how to split the loot and started fighting!"

Yang Jian smiled and said.

"Let's go take a look..."

Tang Ku's figure flashed, and he had already arrived nearby. Yang Jian followed closely behind. They were shocked to see that after the smoke and dust dissipated, a young girl in green clothes was locked in a fierce battle with a middle-aged man in a black robe. This black-robed man clearly had not fully transformed, with stone bumps growing on his face, looking quite strange.

They heard the girl kick the burly man away and shout angrily, "Heishan, do you have no shame? You want to fight me over just this little bit of resources?"