After settling the matter of the talismans, Xia Dong pulled an entirely black iron flute from his sleeve and handed it to Xiao Hong.
"Keep this flute with you," Xia Dong instructed. Then, right there, he taught Xiao Hong a rather peculiar tune.
The melody lacked the gentle, lilting quality of ordinary music. Instead, it carried a low, chilling tone that seemed to stretch on without end.
"If you ever get lost in the mountains or run into danger, play this tune as hard as you can. It'll serve as a signal to contact the Great Serpent," Xia Dong explained.
With the Great Serpent's current cultivation and keen senses, as long as Xiao Hong played the iron flute, it would clearly catch the sound even from more than ten li away and follow it to her rescue.
In fact, the tune wasn't something Xia Dong had made up on a whim. He had worked it out bit by bit, deriving and transforming the patterns of energy circulation described in the Profound Yin Scripture into a melody with an extremely unusual rhythm.
Sure enough, the moment Xia Dong demonstrated the tune, the Great Serpent coiled nearby reacted at once.
Its lazy, upright pupils narrowed in an instant. It raised its enormous head high, flicking its tongue as a strange light—part bewilderment, part familiarity—shone in its eyes, as if the unusual melody had inadvertently stirred some ancient memory buried deep in its bloodline.
Xia Dong wasn't surprised by the Great Serpent's unusual reaction.
The relationship between the Profound Yin Scripture and the legendary Black Water Profound Snake was already quite mysterious. They seemed to share the same origin.
It was only natural for the Great Serpent to react.
Looking at the Great Serpent's huge, intimidating body, Xia Dong rubbed his chin. A