The man in black glanced at him. Flower Fox immediately saw that his pupils looked normal ordinarily, but when they shrank slightly, they became vertical slits. He was clearly not human!
Flower Fox looked at his legs again and saw that the man in black limped on one foot.
—The Great Black Snake had transformed into a Flood Dragon, but because someone had interfered, the snakeskin on his tail had not completely shed. He had also been wounded in battle, so even in human form, he limped on his left leg.
Su Yun was blind and could not see who had come, but he was skilled at sensing the qi and blood around him. He "saw" that what approached was not a person, but a walking Flood Dragon, and thus recognized the Black Flood Dragon that had undergone its tribulation last night.
The man in black stopped, standing there with his vertical pupils fixed fiercely on Su Yun. "You recognized me? How did you recognize me?"
The four fox demons were deeply uneasy.
If The Whole Village Eats, who had evolved into a Flood Dragon, wanted to kill them, not one of them could hope to leave alive!
Su Yun remained neither servile nor overbearing. "From the shape of Senior's qi and blood, I sensed Senior's true form."
"The shape of qi and blood?"
The man in black frowned and muttered, "He sensed my true form from the shape of my qi and blood. How should I deal with that?"
At that moment, Su Yun and the four little foxes heard a rustling sound, as though someone were speaking in the shadows. Yet when they looked around, they could not see a single figure!
The man in black nodded repeatedly. After a moment, he said, "I understand."
A look of astonishment appeared on Su Yun's face. The shape of the black-clad man's qi and blood was actually gradually changing, quickly shifting from the shape of a Flood Dragon into that of a human!
The man in black said, "I have transformed into a Flood Dragon. From now on, I shall be called Jiao Shuao. You once helped me, so I will not eat you. There is nothing good in this house. Leave as soon as possible."
Su Yun said, "Uncle Jiao, are you planning to leave this place?"
The man in black, Jiao Shuao, tilted his head to listen. The rustling voices came again, emanating from right beside Jiao Shuao!
The four fox demons' fur stood on end. There was nothing at all beside Jiao Shuao!
Su Yun sensed the qi and blood, yet he could not sense the qi and blood of anyone beside him either!
The rustling ceased, and Jiao Shuao said, "I plan to head to Shuofang City. If you go to Shuofang City in the future, perhaps we will meet there. This place is extremely dangerous. You must leave before the sun sets, or you will never be able to leave again. Then there will be no need for us to meet in the future."
Su Yun bowed in thanks. "Thank you, Uncle Jiao, for your guidance."
Jiao Shuao strode away. The fox demons watched him go. He limped several dozen yards to a stone tablet, then tilted his head and began speaking to himself again.
The rustling voice came once more, as if someone were whispering in his ear, but there was nothing to be seen!
"Something unclean is following The Whole Village Eats!" The foxes exchanged looks.
The scene was truly bizarre. There was obviously no one beside Jiao Shuao, yet he still spoke from time to time with the "person beside him."
Jiao Shuao pulled the stone tablet from the ground, tossed it aside, and limped away.
"Most likely, a Spiritual Nature is following him."
Su Yun guessed, "Could it be the Dragon Spirit that saved him?"
Flower Fox pondered. "The Dragon Spirit that saved him last night came from this place. If the Dragon Spirit followed him away, then why did Jiao Shuao say this place would become dangerous after dark?"
Su Yun could not make sense of it either. "Let's investigate first. No matter what, we must leave before nightfall!"
Flower Fox led the way into the house. There were no corpses or bones here—Jiao Shuao was probably a very clean Flood Dragon. Though he had been severely injured last night, after arriving here, he had still tidied the place until it was spotless, without a speck of dust.
They were somewhat disappointed. The place was so clean that there was surely no treasure here. Even anything valuable had likely been taken away by Jiao Shuao.
Qingqiu Yue leaped onto the bookshelf, sat there properly with his tail swaying, and said delightedly, "There's still a book on the shelf!"
Flower Fox also jumped up and laid the book flat on the shelf, reading it word by word. "...In the Year of Yuanfeng Six, a green dragon fell into Tianshiyuan of the Northern Frontier. The Emperor dispatched Tiandao Academy to tame the dragon..."
Su Yun suddenly said, "Year of Yuanfeng Six? That was during the era of Martial Emperor, even earlier than Emperor Yuan and Emperor Ping! Then the falling dragon incident must have occurred one hundred and fifty years ago!"
Mister Wild Fox had once taught them the reign titles of the Great Emperors of the Yuanshuo Kingdom. Flower Fox and the others had not cared much about such things and had little impression of them, but Su Yun had the habit of reviewing his lessons every day after school, so he remembered them clearly.
Flower Fox continued reading. "...In the First Year of Taichu, the dragon coffin was opened, the dragon corpse dissected, and its flesh, principles, sinews, veins, blood, fluids, heart, scales, eyes, whiskers, mane, claws, bones, qi, and so on were tamed, recorded in sixteen volumes... Xiao Fan, search around and see whether these archives are still here!"
The little foxes searched everywhere again, but found nothing.
"The Whole Village Eats most likely took them away."
Li Xiaofan said regretfully, "Or perhaps they weathered away like the other books."
Flower Fox was also filled with regret, but continued reading. "...On the fourteenth day of the first month, snow fell. The dragon corpse froze, and so Fallen Dragon Valley was explored. A Strange Object descended together with the dragon..."
Having read that far, he raised his head, looking bewildered. "A Strange Object?"
A chill crawled over Su Yun's scalp. He said urgently, "The Whole Village Eats just said that we must leave before dark, or we would certainly die! This dragon fell from the sky and succumbed to its grave injuries. Could this Strange Object be the evil thing that killed the divine dragon? This Strange Object will surely appear after dark! Second Brother Hua, take the book. We must leave immediately!"
Flower Fox rolled up the book and jumped down from the shelf. Su Yun and the three little foxes followed him outside.
Outside, the sky had already darkened.
The sun had not yet set, but this was a valley, much lower than the surrounding terrain, and the evening sunlight could not reach it.
In other words, night fell earlier at Dragon Burial Mound and Fallen Dragon Valley than they had expected!
One human and four foxes shivered repeatedly. The air in the valley seemed to have suddenly dropped by many degrees. Though it was September, they could actually see streams of white vapor pouring from their nostrils as they breathed!
"So cold!" Hu Buping shuddered.
Without a word, they hurried back along the original path. When they reached the dragon head, Dragon Burial Mound suddenly shook violently. Then the sky darkened at an extraordinary speed, as if someone had covered their eyes!
Foxes could see at night, but this darkness was exceedingly strange. Even the four fox demons could not see the road ahead!
"Don't move. Don't panic!"
Su Yun lowered his voice and said softly, "This is qi-and-blood suppression. Our eyes have encountered the suppression of external qi and blood, and our pupils have been locked shut. That is why we cannot see our surroundings. Follow me. I remember the way here."
Their hearts pounded wildly. In their ears, they heard only the howling wind—the sound of their oppressed blood flowing past their ears and pressing against their eardrums.
The sudden qi-and-blood suppression in Dragon Burial Mound had made their bodily functions abnormally poor. Not only were their physical senses malfunctioning, even circulating the Great Furnace Transformation technique had become extremely difficult!
Flower Fox held Su Yun's hem, while the little foxes behind him held onto his tail, following Su Yun outward.
Though Su Yun could not see, any place he had visited even once would remain crystal clear in his memory. Let alone a place like Dragon Burial Mound—even the maze of Tianmen Ghost Market, once he had walked through it, he could easily find his way out.
In his mind, the Yellow Bell spun without end, allowing him to sense his position precisely. Which way to go, when to turn, when to climb, when to avoid obstacles—everything was accurate to an unbelievable degree!
Not long after they began climbing the slope, Su Yun suddenly stopped.
Flower Fox hastily stopped as well, and the little foxes behind him immediately bumped into his rear.
"Little Yun, what is it?" Flower Fox asked in a low voice.
"A stone tablet has fallen over and blocked my path."
Su Yun's voice came through the darkness. "I was calculating the route. Strange, this stone tablet should not be here..."
When they had come, they had seen many stone tablets on the slopes around them. Most were embedded in the soil, and few had fallen. The stone tablet ahead had not fallen before, and it was not in the right place either.
"Brother Little Yun, hurry..."
Hu Buping's voice carried a sob as he trembled. "I can feel someone touching the back of my head..."
Li Xiaofan had already begun crying. "I can feel it too. I'm so scared, but it also feels kind of nice..."
"It was me touching you."
Qingqiu Yue sounded somewhat embarrassed. "When I'm scared, touching your heads makes me feel at ease."
Hu Buping and Li Xiaofan breathed sighs of relief. Flower Fox also let out a great sigh, laughing. "Xiao Yue, you're too mischievous. You gave me a fright too. I thought someone was touching my head."
Qingqiu Yue said in confusion, "Second Brother, I didn't touch your head. I'm too short to reach it."
"Not you..."
Flower Fox gave two dry laughs and said shakily, "Little Yun, have you found our bearings? Can we leave this place faster?"
Before you continue