The Elders of the Town Were Not Human

Su Yun drew back his arm. The searing pain numbed his right arm, veins bulging across his forehead as bean-sized beads of sweat instantly covered it. It hurt so badly he nearly passed out.

"Did we win?" He cradled his right arm with his left hand, somewhat dazed.

At that critical moment, he had swung his arm according to the sword stroke that had slain the Divine Crocodile with the Immortal Sword. He had never expected it to truly kill such a terrifying foe as Yang Sheng.

That Immortal Sword was the culprit behind his blindness, the nightmare he encountered while cultivating Crocodile Dragon's Roar. Yet, after brooding on it until it had become an illness, he had unknowingly imitated the form of that sword stroke.

He had not expected that strike to be so powerful, either.

"Brother Xiaoyun..."

Hearing the voice, Su Yun's heart leaped with joy. "Bu Ping, you're alive?"

He was about to walk over when his legs gave out beneath him, and he nearly fell.

On the other side, Flower Fox crawled over while dragging a broken leg. Li Xiaofan leaned against a tree, clutching his broken tail and sobbing.

Su Yun heard Qingqiu Yue coughing as well. At last, he smiled and sat down weakly.

The next morning, Su Yun, Flower Fox, Li Buping, and the others appeared at the apothecary in Tianmen Town.

Tianmen Town was as overcast as ever, with no sun in sight. Yet outside the town, the sun blazed brightly. It was exceedingly strange.

Aunt Luo ran the town's only apothecary. She used cloth strips to suspend Su Yun's right arm against his chest, then used wooden boards to set Flower Fox's broken leg and gave him a crutch.

"You don't know how to fight, yet you insist on imitating those who do!"

Aunt Luo straightened Li Xiaofan's broken tail, fixed it with a wooden stick, and bound it up. She sneered, "Why didn't they beat you lot to death?"

Flower Fox, Li Buping, and the other fox demons stared at this Ghosts and Gods with faces full of terror. They trembled and did not dare speak.

Su Yun smiled. "Auntie, don't frighten them. We really were almost beaten to death."

Aunt Luo snorted and continued bandaging Hu Buping. Suddenly, she gave the bandage a hard tug. "You never learn!"

Tears streamed down Hu Buping's face. Just as he was about to cry out in pain, the terrified foxes covered his mouth. He could only make a few muffled noises in protest.

At last, Aunt Luo had treated all their wounds. Su Yun breathed a sigh of relief, pulled Aunt Luo into a corner, and whispered, "Auntie, I think Uncle Qu isn't human."

Aunt Luo was startled, but her expression did not change. "Xiaoyun, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Su Yun hesitated, not mentioning what he had seen in the world beyond the Heaven Gate. "It's only a suspicion. Uncle Qu might already be dead. The current Uncle Qu might only be his Spiritual Nature."

Aunt Luo burst out laughing. "You brat, you're letting your imagination run wild again. Old Qu can eat and drink, hop and jump. How could he possibly be a ghost? Stop thinking nonsense. Don't run around these next few days, or you'll get crippled again."

Su Yun acknowledged her words.

Flower Fox stood on crutches, Li Xiaofan stuck his rear in the air with his tail raised, while Hu Buping and Qingqiu Yue lay on stretchers, basking in the sun inside Su Yun's residence.

The entirety of Tianmen Town never saw daylight, yet sunlight alone shone down into Su Yun's courtyard.

That was Qiu Shuijing's doing.

Ever since that Mister Shuijing had arrived, he had laughed loudly once, and a hole had opened in the gloom over Tianmen Town. Whenever there was sun during the day, sunlight would shine down—precisely upon Su Yun's courtyard.

Su Yun sat there and pondered. "Brother Hua, for some reason, I always feel that there's something strange about Tianmen Town."

The four foxes looked at one another, not knowing why he would say such a thing.

When had Tianmen Town ever been normal?

Su Yun continued, "I suspect one of our town's elders may not be human."

The four foxes choked and coughed repeatedly.

Hu Buping had just opened his mouth to speak when Flower Fox shoved his crutch into it, leaving him unable to say anything.

Hu Buping felt utterly wronged. Brother Xiaoyun doesn't know that it isn't just one elder in their town who isn't human. None of the elders are human...

Su Yun continued, "But I don't think he means me any harm. On the contrary, he treats me very well."

He fell silent, sitting there lost in thought. Uncle Qu truly treated him well. He was a kind old man.

The four fox demons also settled down to recover from their injuries.

The Great Furnace Transformation: Qi Cultivation Chapter could strengthen the body and speed recovery, so when the sun set and the moon rose, they would absorb the essence of sun and moon to temper their vital qi.

The sword stroke that had killed Yang Sheng replayed over and over in Su Yun's mind.

That strike had effortlessly broken every move in Crocodile Dragon's Roar. Although Su Yun had used his arm as a sword and unleashed that stroke in utter despair at the time—

—now, he had no idea how to reproduce it.

Su Yun tried to stir his qi and blood, but the injury to his right arm was truly severe. When he killed Yang Sheng, his qi and blood had nearly run wild, surging madly into his dislocated right arm and tearing its tendons and fascia, leaving it bruised everywhere.

Now, the slightest circulation of qi and blood made his right arm feel as though it would explode.

"I'll try to recreate that sword move after I've fully recovered."

He also pondered and studied the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar. Whenever inspiration struck, he would practice a few moves, each attempt making him frown in pain.

"If you keep refusing to behave, you'll be crippled for good!"

Aunt Luo came to change their medicine. Seeing Su Yun still practicing Unbound Moves with his left arm, she could not help shaking her head. "Don't leave the house these next few days. Some outsiders have come near Tianmen Town, and they're vicious."

"Outsiders?" Su Yun's expression turned wary.

Outsiders rarely came to Tianmen Town.

He had killed Tong Fan at the Ghost Market. Judging by Yang Sheng's reaction, Tong Fan must have been an important person. Could these so-called outsiders have come because of Tong Fan's death?

After examining them, Aunt Luo said, "I heard they came to catch a Flood Dragon. Apparently, someone spread word that a great snake here is about to transform into a Flood Dragon, so everyone wants to capture it. Stay obediently in town and don't go joining the excitement."

"They aren't here for me?"

Su Yun relaxed. Then they must be here to catch The Whole Village Eats. That snake even invited us to watch him transform into a Flood Dragon.

For a snake to shed its skin and transform into a Flood Dragon was a rare opportunity.

In the world beyond the Heaven Gate, Su Yun had encountered the Immortal Diagram and seen the Crocodile Dragon's transformation into a Flood Dragon. Therefore, he was not particularly interested in watching the Great Black Snake transform.

Besides, he could not see. He would not be able to witness the transformation process.

But for Flower Fox and the others, witnessing a dragon transformation held extraordinary significance. It would greatly improve their Crocodile Dragon's Roar. They absolutely could not miss it!

Su Yun recuperated peacefully. Over those two days, he successfully cultivated his Great Furnace Transformation to the fourth level, and his vital qi became even more abundant.

Once the injury on his shoulder had mostly healed, Su Yun began practicing the Unbound Moves again and again.

His battle with Yang Sheng had deepened his understanding of Crocodile Dragon's Roar. His injuries had been too severe for practice these past days, but in his mind, he had already rehearsed the thirty-six Unbound Moves an unknown number of times.

He had also figured out the mysteries of the thirty-six Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar.

Understanding them in his mind was not enough; his body needed to master them as well. Thus, the moment his injuries improved, he immediately began practicing without pause.

Flower Fox's broken bones had not completely healed. He stood nearby on crutches and watched as Su Yun became ever more proficient with the thirty-six Unbound Moves. In a blur, Su Yun resembled a many-headed Crocodile Dragon monster, ferocious and savage, striking in every direction. It was truly terrifying!

"Xiaoyun is getting stronger and stronger." Flower Fox felt sincerely happy for him.

Suddenly, the Crocodile Dragon Thunderclap grew increasingly loud. Vital qi surged through Su Yun's chest with greater and greater violence, and the four kinds of Crocodile Dragon Thunderclap blended into one.

The instant those four sounds merged, the sound seemed to transform. It made the vital qi within Su Yun rub together violently, while a long roar rang from his chest.

That dragon's roar was like great bells and mighty chimes, the sounds of metal and stone interwoven. In that instant, qi and blood actually surged from Su Yun's body and formed a Crocodile Dragon. Within that Crocodile Dragon, a Flood Dragon struggled desperately, raising its head in a long cry as it tried to break free from its shell!

At that moment, Su Yun was like a Crocodile Dragon undergoing transformation, struggling to shed its Crocodile Dragon shell and become a Flood Dragon!

Flower Fox nearly thought he had seen wrong. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes. "Is that the third attainment of Crocodile Dragon's Roar—Manifestation? No, that can't be right! Xiaoyun has only just cultivated Great Furnace Transformation to the fourth level. How could he possibly achieve Qi-Blood Manifestation?"

The Crocodile Dragon form created by Su Yun's qi and blood spilling from his body churned and struggled ceaselessly, like a monster about to undergo tribulation!

Su Yun was completely unaware of it. He stood there with his eyes closed.

At that moment, something strange occurred within him.

On the seventh ring of his Spiritual Abilities, the Yellow Bell's hu ring, images of Crocodile Dragons suddenly appeared across the surface!

The hu ring had three hundred and sixty markings. Each Crocodile Dragon image occupied exactly one marking. There were thirty-six images in total, filling thirty-six markings.

As the hu ring turned, the Crocodile Dragon images on those thirty-six markings also galloped and roared on their own. They were precisely the thirty-six Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar!

Su Yun was astonished.

Others did not know the origin of the Yellow Bell, but he knew it perfectly well.

When he had gone blind as a child, he had been depressed and unhappy. One day, he staggered outside town and sat beneath a crooked willow tree, crying bitterly. Uncle Cen beneath the tree took pity on him and told him the measures of time: years, months, days, hours, characters, seconds, and hu.

Uncle Cen told him that as long as he had such a clock recording time within his mind, even without eyes, he could live as though he had them. He could see everything around him and sense the beauty of the world.

Su Yun had believed him. In his childish innocence, he climbed the town's bell tower and felt the Bronze Bell inside it bit by bit.

He imagined that there was also a great Yellow Bell in his mind. Unlike the Bronze Bell in the bell tower, his Yellow Bell was divided into seven distinct rings, each with different measures of time and different rotational speeds.

Only later did he learn that this was called visualization.

But Su Yun had been only seven years old then and knew none of this. To survive, to be able to "see" his surroundings, he constantly imagined the Yellow Bell, deepening its impression again and again.

Over time, such a Yellow Bell had formed in his mind.

But there had never been Crocodile Dragon images among the markings of his Yellow Bell!

Zhai Zhu: Asking for recommendation votes. Yes, the ones in your pocket, those two round... No, no, not those! Put those two round things away! The ones beside them. Yes, yes, these two coins.