Pixiu and Yazi (Bonus Chapter 12/76)

Seeing Qin Yi's expression, An'an lowered her gaze in fear.

She finally realized that what Qin Yi said to her that day was definitely not unintentional; he had suspected Dragon Son from the very beginning!

In other words, he suspected from the beginning that An'an knew the inside story.

An'an felt extremely uncomfortable and couldn't stay any longer. She hurriedly stood up and said, "It's getting late, An'an will take her leave..."

He left in a hurry after saying that.

Just as they were about to turn the corner in the corridor, Qin Yi suddenly called out, "An'an."

An'an was so frightened that she stepped on her own skirt and fell to the ground with a "plop." Then, the clam shell instinctively protected her, turning into a rolling pillar, rolling a long way before crashing into the wall and coming to a stop, her two little feet still sticking out under the clam shell, twitching.

Qin Yi, who was full of annoyance, was amused by the scene and couldn't help but say, "Actually, if you bring out your special talent, even the king will be amused. It's much better than playing the flute."

A voice came from the Little Pillar: "That's what made the king so furious."

"This shows that your king has no childlike heart," Qin Yi said calmly, then suddenly changed the subject. "Not only does he lack childlike heart, but he also harbors malicious intentions."

The Little Pillar twitched and then stopped moving.

Qin Yi's voice softened. "An'an, after spending these past few days together, I'm certain you're an extremely kind girl. Faced with something as serious as the extinction of an entire clan, can you truly remain unmoved?"

After a long silence, An'an finally spoke from inside the pillar, "The King has no intention of eradicating the lineage..."

"Perhaps it has other motives and doesn't intend to eradicate them completely," Qin Yi said coldly. "In fact, even if it wanted to, it couldn't. There's always a way out. The Feathered People aren't unable to survive without the Jianmu Tree. They can simply leave the sea and Xun Wood City or the Divine Continent. Where wouldn't they find a place to stay? Even if the Fountain of Reproduction has a problem, they can simply embrace other races and intermarry normally. They can always survive, right?"

Little Pillar stopped talking.

"But this is ultimately coercion using the very foundation of an entire race. Once the Feathered People don't satisfy its desires, they'll have no choice but to leave their homeland, to abandon this island where they've lived for tens of thousands of years," Qin Yi said. "Even if it's not extermination, it's still coercion, it's extortion!"

Little Pillar remained silent, seemingly slowly adjusting its direction, attempting to roll directly outwards.

Qin Yi sighed, "An'an."

An'an couldn't bear it any longer and finally said, "Sir, please don't force me. If I really say it and it causes a conflict between you and the Dragon Son, then my Clam Clan will never be able to survive in this sea again."

Qin Yi said, "I won't be foolish enough to cause trouble, and I certainly won't betray you."

An'an said, "Sir, why are you doing this to yourself? The Feathered People have you under house arrest. Why waste your energy worrying about them?"

"They haven't wronged me in any way," Qin Yi said gently. "An'an, although we're no longer master and disciple, and I haven't really taught you much, we still have a master-disciple bond. If your Clam Clan encounters any trouble in the future, I will treat it as my own business."

The dog rolled its eyes as it watched him coax the little girl.

An'an wasn't fooled. After a moment of silence, she finally said, "Nine Great Kings wants is the phoenix feather..."

Qin Yi shook his head. "Don't lie to me. Just coveting the Phoenix Feather wouldn't have caused such a big incident. This kind of thing could easily cause the strongest race under his command to become disloyal. Although the Dragon Son is strong, he is not at the point where he can completely abandon the Winged Human Race. He wouldn't take such a risk for a mere treasure. Can't they tell what's more important? He is Pixiu, not a Taotie whose greed has clouded its judgment."

The dog angrily retorted, "What's wrong with you humans? Can you stop using me as an example all the time?"

An'an paused for a moment, then asked in alarm, "Who... who's speaking?"

The dog poked its head out of the ring. "Could you please take your head out of that pillar before asking such a question?"

An'an secretly opened the clam shell a crack and saw a round, Black Fur Ball peeking out of the ring. Its upper half was still in a misty state, like a little tail stuffed inside the ring. Its two little hands were tugging at the edge of the ring, and its two big eyes were wide open in a fierce expression. It was cute no matter how you looked at it.

"It's so cute! What kind of pet is it?"

The dog jumped out, hopped around on the ground twice, and put its hands on its hips. "I'm a glutton!"

An'an: "?"

Qin Yi sighed, "It really is a Taotie. A few days ago, Black and White Vortex above the Sacred Tree. You were in the Little Castle on the island at the time, so you should know about it."

An'an tried to close the clam shell, but she couldn't. The Black Fur Ball in front of her was hard to associate with the Taotie, and her natural fear of the name Taotie was completely suppressed.

I can't be afraid.

Qin Yi introduced Gouzi for a reason, "An'an, you know that Taotie is the original wonder of Jianmu. Its understanding of Jianmu is almost as good as that of the Nine Sons of the Dragon. In other words, if I expose Pixiu's intentions, they will only assume that Taotie saw through them, and will not point the finger at you. You can rest assured."

An'an remained silent.

She, a kind-hearted girl, couldn't stand what the Dragon Son did to the Feathered People. She couldn't even bear to see Qin Yi wronged, which is why she reluctantly came to "visit him in prison." The reason she dared not speak was entirely for the sake of the Clam Clan. The Clam Clan was a follower of the Dragon Son, and they only managed to live peacefully by bribing the Nine Great Kings. How could they dare to offend the Nine Great Kings?

If there were a way to have the best of both worlds—one that would put her mind at ease and avoid offending the Nine Great Kings —she would be willing to do so deep down.

They didn't dare make a decision based on Qin Yi's words alone, as it concerned the future of the entire clan.

The dog, hands on his hips, said, "To be honest, this is my hometown. Once I've recovered a bit more, I'll definitely come back. Those idiots, Qiu Niu, won't turn me away. Soon this place will be home to the ten sons of the dragon, not just the nine. Are you afraid of offending the Pixiu, but not afraid of offending me?"

An'an stared wide-eyed. "You're not Dragon Son."

Taotie repeated what he had said to Qin Yi before with righteous indignation, "Everyone in the world is my father!"

Qin Yi rolled his eyes.

Only by being shameless can one be invincible.

An'an was truly stunned by this shamelessness.

What will happen to them if Taotie is indeed one of the Dragon Son in the future?

Either offend the Nine Great Kings or the Tenth King? Wait, this Taotie's cultivation level...

An'an discovered that the Taotie had already reached the Qian Yuan Perfection stage.

The Nine Great Kings hasn't even reached this level of cultivation yet... By then, who knows where the Taotie will rank? Can the Clam Clan afford to offend them?

The dog said smugly, "If you tell the truth, we can cover for you. I'd be happy to brag to everyone that I saw through it, and I won't give you the credit. The chances of you offending the Pixiu are slim, right?"

That seems to make sense...

The dog continued, "On the contrary, you've offended me by not saying anything, woof!"

The Black Fur Ball suddenly transformed into a terrifying ferocious beast.

An'an was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she sat back down as soon as she had stood up.

"Bang!" Qin Yi slapped the beast on the back of the head. "Hey, don't get too into character!"

The ferocious beast transformed into Black Fur Ball, staring speechlessly at Qin Yi: "If I don't scare her, she won't agree. What kind of chivalry are you talking about?"

Qin Yi shook his head. "No need to scare people."

Then he turned to An'an and extended his hand. "Come on, don't be afraid. Actually, let's not talk about Taotie. For this concert, I did my best to build a good relationship with Qiu Niu for you. Does that put your mind at ease a little?"

An'an stared blankly at Qin Yi's gentle face, his outstretched hand serene and warm.

She pursed her lips, didn't take his hand, and stood up on her own. "This matter involves not only the Nine Great Kings, but more importantly, the Fifth Great King."

Qin Yi narrowed his eyes.

I knew it wouldn't be that simple.

Besides Pixiu, there is also Yazi.

Not all of the Nine Sons of the Dragon are Auspicious Beast. Just as the Taotie is also considered a Dragon Son in some legends, people do not regard all Nine Sons of the Dragon as auspicious Auspicious Omen.

The dog also said that their sense of good and evil is different, so don't try to apply human notions of good and evil to them.

If the Pixiu is also associated with Auspicious Beast guarding wealth, then the image of the Yazi is not necessarily good.

That's a ferocious beast.