Mysterious Clouds in the Small Town

Chapter 24: Mystery in the Small Town

Flower Fox opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.

He harbored the same doubts. The scholar Tong Xuan's knowledge was clearly far inferior to Mister Wild Fox's, yet Tong Xuan possessed such abilities. How much more capable must Mister Wild Fox have been?

Yet, Mister Wild Fox was dead, and Huqiu Village had been massacred.

"The classics of the old sages only teach knowledge, not application."

Su Yun, standing nearby, was still struggling to contain his Blood Essence, trying to draw the Blood Essence Flood Dragon back into his body. He said, "Mister Wild Fox's knowledge was profound, but he didn't know how to use it."

He looked up, a faint glow flickering in his eyes. "Furthermore, Mister Shuijing said that the ultimate techniques of the old sages are outdated. What they teach in the city now are the ultimate techniques of the new sages. Therefore, we must leave the countryside and enter the city!"

Flower Fox and the three little foxes felt a heavy weight in their hearts. They were Fox Demons, feeling both fear and longing towards the city.

They had an instinctive fear of city dwellers, as Huqiu Village had been massacred by them. Yet, they also yearned for the life in the city.

If they, as Fox Demons, did not enter the city and learn the latest ultimate techniques, they would inevitably be exterminated sooner or later.

Su Yun had just withdrawn his Blood Essence when his expression suddenly changed. His old wounds reopened, and Blood Essence surged from them, splattering with a sizzling sound!

With the Blood Essence Flood Dragon entering his body, the surge of violent Blood Essence exceeded his body's capacity to withstand it!

He was able to achieve the third stage of the Flood Dragon's Roar, Blood Essence Materialization, transforming into a Flood Dragon, by stealing the Blood Essence clouds of "The Whole Village Eats" to strengthen his own Blood Essence, greatly enhancing his Origin Energy and blood.

But the crucial point was that while his cultivation had increased, his body had not kept pace.

His inner world could not contain so much Blood Essence. His inner world's Great Furnace roared, on the verge of exploding!

The excess Blood Essence, seeking an outlet, flowed out of his body through his old wounds. As the Blood Essence drained, his pupils gradually shrank, threatening to be blocked by the sword shadow of the Immortal Sword!

"No wonder Mister Shuijing told me I had to cultivate the Great Furnace Transformation to the sixth level to heal my eyes."

Su Yun's face darkened, allowing the excess Blood Essence to drain from his body.

His vision gradually darkened, returning to blackness.

"However, I have already achieved the third stage of the Flood Dragon's Roar. My cultivation of the Great Furnace Transformation will only be faster from now on."

The young man raised his head, thunder rumbling beneath his feet. "I will soon cultivate the Great Furnace Transformation to the sixth level and heal my eyes!"

The Flood Dragon's Tribulation was gradually drawing to a close. The thunder grew sparse, and the clouds thinned.

As dawn broke, above Snake Ravine, a rope silently descended. A little fox, the color of a leopard cat, clutched the rope and landed soundlessly.

The moment its front paws touched the ground, the little fox darted into the forest, hiding and looking around cautiously.

After a moment, the Fox Demon found several pieces of dry cow dung in the forest and, at the base of an old tree, dug a hole and buried the dung.

Having done this, the little fox bowed respectfully to the old tree several times before standing up and whispering to it.

The old tree suddenly rustled its branches and leaves. Two cloudy old eyes appeared on its trunk, and a mouth emerged from the bark. It spoke in a deep, muffled voice, "Little fellow from Huqiu Village, stop tickling me... Last night's fight was too fierce. Two old men from Huang Village are dead, and the other three fled for their lives. Niu Family Village also suffered heavy casualties; the leading bull's horns were broken. The Whole Village Eats is insidious; they poisoned them, killing over a dozen skilled fighters from Linyi Village and a Monk. But he was also captured by city folk, who intend to use him as a mount."

"Ge Gong, The Whole Village Eats was captured by city folk?" the little fox exclaimed in surprise.

This Fox Demon was Li Xiaofan, sent to gather information because he was the most clever.

"Captured, but not taken away."

The old tree spirit suddenly shivered and lowered its voice. "There really is a dragon buried in Fallen Dragon Valley! That dragon turned into a ghost and flew out of Fallen Dragon Valley, rescuing The Whole Village Eats. Two city dwellers were also injured and fled in disarray."

After gathering the news, Li Xiaofan emerged from the forest, mimicked a partridge's call, and tugged on the Immortal Rope.

A moment later, Su Yun slid down the rope, followed by Flower Fox, Qingqiu Yue, and Hu Buping.

Su Yun sneezed a few times and rubbed his nose. It was too cold up in the sky. Unlike Flower Fox and the others, he didn't have fur, and the howling cold wind all night had almost frozen him stiff.

"So many things happened last night?"

Li Xiaofan recounted the news he had gathered, leaving Su Yun and the Fox Demons astonished. "There really is a dragon in Fallen Dragon Valley? A dragon that turned into a ghost?"

Hu Buping exclaimed excitedly, "The Dragon Ghost rescued The Whole Village Eats, is it planning to eat? I really want to see!"

"Let's go back and sleep first," Su Yun said, turning to leave.

The Fox Demons quickly followed him.

However, none of them noticed a Bi Fang Divine Bird standing on the cliff top, slowly preening its feathers.

Su Yun and the others returned to Tianmen Town. Tianmen Town was bustling, with its people busy with their tasks. The young man greeted the townsfolk along the way, and they responded warmly. The four foxes, however, kept their heads down, tails tucked, and eyes straight ahead.

Outside Tianmen Town, the sky remained overcast, but sunlight shone down on Su Yun's courtyard.

They ate something and collapsed into sleep, exhausted from the night's ordeal.

A firebird circled in the sky outside Tianmen Town. After a while, a woman holding a flower umbrella walked slowly. The Bi Fang Divine Bird suddenly flapped its wings and flew towards the flower umbrella, disappearing in a flash of fire.

The Bi Fang Divine Bird vanished, transforming into the firebird pattern on the flower umbrella.

Beneath the flower umbrella was a woman from the Tong Family of Shuofang City. Her figure was graceful and alluring, and she walked with delicate steps into Tianmen Town.

Tianmen Town was as peaceful as ever, with its residents going about their business. Uncle Qu was carving on the Heavenly Gate, making clanging sounds. Aunt Luo ran a pharmacy. Sister Fang'er was whispering and laughing with a neighbor boy, a blush on her face.

Uncle Xu, an old hypochondriac, weakly carried a medicine pot out to discard the dregs, spreading them on the road.

Grandma Le was scolding Grandpa Le, who was peeking at Aunt Luo. Grandpa Le sat upright, his hands on his knees, silent.

The woman with the flower umbrella entered the small town and saw a groom brushing a horse, a drunkard urinating against a wall, and across the street, in an upper-story building, a window was open. A pretty girl was looking in a mirror and doing her hair.

A man downstairs removed a door panel; he must have just gotten married. The shops opened later than usual.

There was also a steamed bun stall by the street, its steamer baskets steaming hot. A waiter with a towel draped over his shoulder was busy serving customers, his calls ceaseless.

The woman with the flower umbrella walked smilingly down the center of the street, heading towards Su Yun's courtyard.

At this moment, the noisy clamor on the street suddenly vanished. Time seemed to completely freeze. Everyone turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed intently on the woman with the flower umbrella, unmoving.

Even the drunken man relieving himself against the corner wall twisted his head around strangely.

Even more bizarrely, his urine stopped in mid-air. The steam from the bun stall's steamer baskets also paused. The debris chipped from the Heavenly Gate by Uncle Qu hung suspended in the air, motionless.

The entire Tianmen Town was left with only the tap-tap sound of the woman's wooden clogs on the bluestone slabs.

The woman with the flower umbrella let out a cold laugh. Her chilling voice came from beneath the umbrella: "Playing tricks! The Tong Family of Shuofang is conducting business here. Anyone not involved, withdraw immediately!"

There was still no sound from Tianmen Town.

The woman with the flower umbrella stopped. She raised the flower umbrella slightly, revealing the lower half of her face beneath it, and said coldly, "If you don't want your entire clan annihilated..."

"Little girl, has no one ever told you this is a no-man's-land? Our clan was annihilated long ago."

The woman with the flower umbrella spun around abruptly, looking towards the Heavenly Gate at the end of the street.

On the Heavenly Gate, Uncle Qu began to move again, carving patterns onto it. The ding-ding sound echoed.

"There is only one person in this world who can give orders in Tianmen Town. That person is Emperor Ping of Yuanshuo."

Uncle Qu diligently carved the Heavenly Gate. Suddenly, the surrounding mist around Tianmen Town dissipated. All the houses, pavilions, shops, and townsfolk within the town disintegrated the moment the mist cleared!

The woman with the flower umbrella felt a chill crawl up her spine. She saw that Tianmen Town was now filled with graves, overgrown with weeds, and littered with rubble!