The valley lay silent in the night, and Black Snake slept coiled on the grass.
Suddenly, the sound of beating wings drew nearer. He raised his head and saw Xiao Yu sweep through the night sky. After circling halfway around, she landed lightly on the pile of stones Xu Jin had heaped up while clearing the herb garden.
She folded her wings and tilted her head at Black Snake.
"I found a strange cave. Want to explore it together?"
Black Snake froze. She could speak to him directly without sending her yin spirit out of her body. How marvelous.
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Yu explained.
"You can speak directly like this too. It's the same as communicating through your yin spirit, only without all the fuss."
Black Snake thought for a moment before he understood what she meant.
On closer reflection, that was indeed the case. Conversations between yin spirits were never ordinary sounds, so whether the yin spirit left the body made no difference.
"Can you hear me speaking?"
"Yes."
"You really heard me?"
"I heard you."
Black Snake was delighted. This spared him a great deal of trouble; now he could speak during the day too. It seemed there were still many things he did not know. He really ought to pay closer attention and learn more from now on.
Xiao Yu was in no hurry. She simply waited quietly beside him while he worked it out for himself. Waiting a little longer hardly mattered.
Only after accepting this new change did Black Snake remember the cave Xiao Yu had mentioned.
"Is it far?"
"We have to cross five big mountains."
That sounded like quite a journey, but it was still within an acceptable distance. An ordinary cave would not attract a demonic beast's attention. Since Xiao Yu