Back at the Cliffside Lair, everything seemed as usual. The seedlings in the Medicine Field had shot up a little taller, and the weeds were not too bad.
Xiao Yu poked her head out to look at her friend, then withdrew to continue cultivating.
Red Clothes floated out of a cold, gloomy crack in the rock. Her red skirt stirred gently in the wind as she approached the Black Flood Dragon's enormous head and examined him closely. Folding her arms, she curled her lips into a cold sneer.
"Well, well, the scholar has returned. Settling into the Village School?"
Jin Si slowly lay down, rested his head on the ground, and answered glumly.
"It's pretty good. The teacher's just a little fierce."
Every time he saw the teacher pacing toward him, he could not help growing nervous and tucking his two little four-fingered hands into his sleeves.
Red Clothes looked scornful.
"You're a Great Demon who's lived over five hundred years, after all. Why fear a mortal? If he snaps at you, just kill him. What a spineless thing you are." Jin Si lifted his eyelids and glanced at her.
"I wouldn't dare kill people for no reason."
At this, Jin Si suddenly fell silent. A trace of distraction flickered in his vertical pupils as he recalled a vague thought he had never been able to forget.
"If I do evil, an old Daoist with a sword on his back will appear."
His tone was grave and earnest.
"That white-bearded old Daoist is powerful. Stronger than anyone I've ever seen, stronger than every demon, monster, and ghost."
He did not know why the old Daoist had come to mind. Though the sword-bearing figure had blurred until only an outline remained, he was still like a gleam of swordlight suspended overhead,