Chapter 46: A Dragon
Qin Mu reached out and grabbed one, cautiously taking a small bite. As it entered his throat, it was extremely spicy—spicier even than the Butcher’s strong liquor. When it reached his stomach, it felt like a burning fire, making his primal energy unusually active.
He circulated his primal energy and surprisingly sensed a medicinal effect similar to a Body-Firming Pill, capable of enhancing his cultivation. However, the improvement was not as significant as that of a Body-Firming Pill.
“Is this creature a plant or an animal?”
Qin Mu grabbed another one and observed it closely. This strange being had no eyes, no hands, no feet, and no orifices. It used root-like tentacles to absorb nutrients from the moss, making it impossible for him to tell whether it was a plant or an animal.
He only ate one, but Fox Ling’er hopped around cheerfully, eating her fill.
The further they descended, the cooler the air became. After walking for an unknown distance, the sound of gurgling water reached them. A clear stream flowed along the mountain wall, and at its end, in a pool, several large eyeless fish emitted a faint glow. To proceed, they had to cross the pool to reach the passage on the opposite side.
“These big fish are ferocious! If they hear a sound, they’ll pounce!”
Fox Ling’er whispered, “I’ll throw a stone to lure them away, and we’ll dash across!” With that, she grabbed a rock with her claws and hurled it with force.
The stone struck the wall, and with a loud splash, the eyeless fish in the pool burst through the water’s surface. Their tails swung in the air, and their four fins spread out like wide wings as they swooped toward the source of the noise with a whoosh!
“Quick, let’s go!”
Fox Ling’er led the way, and Qin Mu sprinted along the edge of the pool toward the opposite side. In his haste, the young man heard a series of booming crashes. The strange fish slammed into the stone wall, opening their massive jaws and biting huge holes into it!
The rock, as hard as iron, crumbled in their mouths like tofu. If those jaws clamped down on a person, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Just as they reached the opposite bank, the strange fish heard their footsteps. Flapping their fins, they turned and flew toward them!
“Follow me, young master!”
Fox Ling’er darted into the passage ahead, and Qin Mu quickly followed. The passage was narrow, and the large fish behind them couldn’t fly inside. Instead, they used their four fins as legs, charging through the tunnel in pursuit of Qin Mu and the little fox!
“Are these even fish?”
Qin Mu’s scalp tingled as he kept close to Fox Ling’er. The strange fish chased them for a while but couldn’t catch up. One by one, they slowly retreated from the passage and returned to the pool to lie in ambush.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. The path ahead gradually widened, and as they emerged from a trumpet-shaped cave, sunlight suddenly streamed down in shimmering waves. Qin Mu looked up and froze.
Above his head, a vast expanse of water flowed by. Fish swam past overhead, and he saw a giant golden turtle, fish as large as boats, and massive river beasts.
One large fish spotted Qin Mu and the little fox and grew excited. It opened its enormous mouth and lunged toward them, but it slammed into an invisible wall of water and was bounced back.
The fish shook its head, looking puzzled, then swished its tail and swam away.
“The Surging River! We’re at the bottom of the Surging River!”
Qin Mu’s expression twisted. “The Surging River is right above us, but the water doesn’t fall and flood this place…”
He looked ahead, his heart pounding. Dragon pillars stood before him—massive, dozens of zhang tall, rising from the riverbed. Their tops touched the water above. The ground beneath their feet was paved with white marble, and a path stretched forward, flanked by rows of dragon pillars. After advancing a hundred zhang, clusters of palace buildings appeared.
These dragon pillars surrounded the palace complex, likely supporting the river water and preventing it from flooding the area.
But many of the palaces had collapsed. There must have been a great upheaval here, turning this place into ruins.
Fox Ling’er hopped over to the remains of a palace. Qin Mu saw a mottled mural on a half-collapsed wall. It depicted an old man with a dragon’s head hosting a banquet for guests. The guests were strange beings: an old man with a turtle shell, a woman with a snake’s tail, a monk, and humans.
Crash.
A pillar toppled over, nearly hitting Qin Mu and the little fox.
Fox Ling’er approached the half-ruined hall. “This is where I found those ancient texts,” she said.
Qin Mu drew closer. Inside the dilapidated hall was a hidden stone chamber built into the wall. The stone door had fallen, revealing the chamber, which Fox Ling’er had discovered. It was now empty—Fox Ling’er must have taken everything inside.
“If we go further, there’s great danger!”
Fox Ling’er pointed at a towering gate ahead, looking nervous. “It’s terrifying!”
Qin Mu looked at the gate. Beyond it, he could vaguely make out a palace that seemed relatively intact, not collapsed. But strangely, it appeared shrouded in a mist, making it impossible to see clearly. The palace seemed to float within the mist, flickering in and out of view.
“There’s a terrifying creature inside…”
Fox Ling’er’s voice trembled. “If you get close to the gate, you’ll feel its presence, and then you’ll go weak, unable to get up…”
Qin Mu walked forward. Fox Ling’er bravely followed behind him. When they reached the gate, Qin Mu suddenly felt an overwhelmingly fierce aura rushing toward him—a chilling, terrifying presence. It was as if, in broad daylight, half the sky had darkened with storm clouds looming before him, and within those black clouds, a colossal, monstrous beast was staring at him!
Sacred, majestic, inviolable, yet also savage and ferocious—this was the great terror Fox Ling’er had mentioned!
Qin Mu took a deep breath, steadied himself, and calmed his mind.
“Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye, open!”
Primal energy array patterns wove within his pupils, forming a second layer of pupil patterns as he gazed into the mist beyond the gate.
Beside him, the white fox had already gone limp, lying on the ground with her belly flat. She slowly, painfully turned around and crawled back the way they came.
Qin Mu picked her up. The white fox went limp, muttering weakly, “Don’t grab me, I’m about to die, my heart’s pounding…”
“You’re not dead. The thing in this dragon palace is dead.”
Qin Mu chuckled. “Guess what I saw?”
Fox Ling’er didn’t answer. Her limbs paddled slowly through the air, and her tail wagged back and forth as if she were trying to crawl away, unwilling to stay for even a moment.
Qin Mu laughed. “I saw the Surging River Dragon King!”
“Ahhh—”
The little white fox sighed faintly and fainted, her four legs sticking straight out. Qin Mu waited a moment. The little white fox slyly opened one eye, glanced around, then closed it again. Qin Mu tested her. “Surging River Dragon King.”
Fox Ling’er’s legs stiffened even more, and her eyes shut tight.
“The Surging River Dragon King is dead.”
Qin Mu was both amused and exasperated. “Only bones remain. This dragon king died who knows how many years ago. I saw his dragon bones in the mist.”
Fox Ling’er quickly opened her eyes. “Dead?”
Qin Mu nodded. “You can relax now. Want to come in with me?”
Fox Ling’er shook her head frantically. Qin Mu had no choice but to set her down, only to see the white fox still belly-down, crawling weakly outward. He picked her up again and placed her on his shoulder, stepping toward the gate. The white fox was terrified, her snow-white fur bristling. Her claws dug into Qin Mu’s shoulder, and her eyes were wide with fear, not daring to move.
As Qin Mu entered the mist, Fox Ling’er gripped tighter, her fluffy tail standing straight up.
The mist was thick and never seemed to dissipate, but strangely, walking through it, Qin Mu felt no moisture at all. Inside the mist, he saw droplets of water floating motionlessly in the air.
Then, he noticed many broken pieces of jade floating in the air as well. Alongside them were fragments of spirit weapons and incomplete bones, all suspended weightlessly. When he had looked from outside the gate, he had only seen the dragon bones, not these things.
“There must have been a fierce battle here, even shattering the bones and spirit weapons of experts! What happened here? Did it occur before or after the Great Wasteland Cataclysm?”
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt a sharp pain on his scalp. Fox Ling’er, terrified by a skull floating in front of her, leaped onto his head, gripping his scalp tightly, her back arched high.
The white fox trembled violently, shaking Qin Mu’s scalp along with her.
“A dragon—!”
The white fox shrieked, quickly moving from Qin Mu’s head to cling to his back, her four claws digging into his waist like a white backpack.
—Zhaizhu suddenly thought about designing a Fox Ling’er backpack, but he can’t draw, so tears flow~