Seeing the Mountain-Shaking Bear so obedient, Zhang Xiaohua was somewhat at a loss.
He did not understand why these Mountain-Shaking Bears treated him this way. Was it because he had emerged from the rock, or because of Huan Wuxin's Finger Technique? After all, from beginning to end, Huan Wuxin had merely prattled on somewhere beside him. Only that final finger had left something incomprehensible within his Niwan Palace.
After considering it, Zhang Xiaohua temporarily set those matters aside. He wanted to ask where Houtu Hall was, but these Mountain-Shaking Bears were not Xiaohei or Xiaohuang. Even if they possessed intelligence, they could not understand Zhang Xiaohua's spoken explanations and gestures. Seeing their bewildered and anxious expressions, Zhang Xiaohua slapped his forehead and took out the pearls he had obtained from Lihuo Hall and Ruoshui Hall. The moment the two pearls emerged from his robes, they immediately stirred the earth-aspected primordial energy around them, terrifying the Mountain-Shaking Bears so badly that they nearly retreated several steps.
Zhang Xiaohua pointed at the pearls, then into the distance, and gestured again and again. Only after great difficulty did he make the Mountain-Shaking Bear that had brought him to the rock understand. Fear seemed to flicker in its tiny eyes upon that expressionless face as it stretched out a paw and pointed back the way they had come.
Zhang Xiaohua looked in that direction and estimated that it was roughly the same as the route he had taken earlier. He nodded, tucked the Five Elements Pearls back into his robes, then smiled and cupped his hands. "Bear brothers, I... this poor Daoist wishes to visit Houtu Hall. Could you lead the way?"
The Mountain-Shaking Bear seemed to understand. It turned and roared a few times at the other bears, apparently discussing the matter with