A dragon's head, a lion's body, a deer's antlers, fish scales, a goat's beard, eagle claws, ox eyes, horse hooves, and a dragon's tail.
Cheng Xinzhan was certain his eyes had not deceived him. This was a qilin.
The qilin had a blue-green face and scales, but its horns, whiskers, hair, mane, and fins were golden yellow. The mingling of blue-green and gold was strikingly eye-catching.
But even more conspicuous than its fur and scales were the wounds covering its body.
Some wounds had shattered scales and severed hair; some were deep enough to expose bone. Many more pierced straight through its mountain-sized body.
Yet not a drop of blood showed beneath those wounds, only golden flesh and jade-colored bones.
Looking again at the qilin's belly and nostrils, he could see not the slightest movement of breathing. Together with the wounds covering its body,
it looked as though it had been dead for many years.
Yet the fierce, arrogant, unyielding majesty woven together by its enormous corpse, its imposing scales and horns, and its countless wounds burned itself deep into Cheng Xinzhan's mind.
He steadied the shock within him and slowly backed away.
When he turned around, however, he discovered that everyone was staring at him.
Their eyes all conveyed the same question.
"You can see it?"
Cheng Xinzhan nodded.
"Qilin."
He silently mouthed the word. Everyone read his lips and understood, their expressions a splendid assortment.
"Has someone from the Zhu Household finally come?"
Just then, a man's voice rang out, weathered and resonant, with the clash of metal and weapons.
Everyone's expression changed. Cheng Xinzhan was even more astonished. The qilin was still alive despite those injuries?
"What are you hiding so far away for? You had the nerve to do it, but not to face me?"
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