After dark, the black flood dragon crawled out of his cave and streaked across the wilderness under cover of night. Once he reached his destination, he built a passage upward and slipped inside.
Daylight shone brightly in the Spirit Realm, and mist wreathed the mountains and wilderness. It was utterly different from the Mortal Realm.
He hurried up the mountain path, swimming upward over the treetops. When he reached the Mountain Gate, he went to one side and erased the lines he had left on the noticeboard earlier. Then he swam along the long street and turned into the alley beside it.
As he landed, his claws scraped sparks from the green stone pavement. He brought his enormous head up to the General Store's doorway.
His nostrils huffed heavily, breathing in and out.
Daoist Pang dragged six large gray sacks out from behind the counter and set them outside the General Store one by one. They looked sturdy.
Jin Si brought his enormous head closer and sniffed them.
He had thought the big sacks were sewn from beast hide. Only up close did he see that they were made of cloth woven from some kind of thread, coated with an odorless lacquer. Their dull gray fabric neither seeped nor leaked.
A cord ran around each sack's opening; one hard tug would cinch it tightly shut. He reached out a claw and pulled at a cord end, trying to tighten the mouth. It worked wonderfully. He was delighted. With airtight sacks to hold the herbs, he would not have to worry about their scent leaking out.
He stacked the six sacks with his claws, pressed them flat, and rolled them up tightly. Finally, he stamped hard on the bundle to flatten it further. Having claws really was convenient. He opened his