Chapter 4: The Scales of the Northern Dark Fish

  As dusk approaches, the afterglow of sunset spreads across the sky, and the surrounding mountain peaks stand tall and majestic. Amidst the encirclement of mountains, a city wall over ten meters high basks in the fading light of day, its green bricks tinged with a warm red hue, adding an air of grandeur to its already imposing presence.

  Outside the city gate of Shouyang, beside the official road, two figures stood under a tree. The gentle breeze blew the five-colored silk threads hanging from the small wooden knife at his waist back and forth. Shen Bailian stopped in her tracks and instructed Ruan Ci: "I'll send you off here. That is... don't mention today's encounter to anyone. Those people are suspicious and have some mysterious powers, don't get involved or invite trouble."

  Ruan Ci's eyes rolled around and she smiled, "I know! Brother Shen is so nagging, it's just like Zhang from the book academy, only missing two whiskers. Tomorrow, I'll come find Brother Shen to play, and then make a straw man for me, but make two!"

  Shen Bailian smiled and nodded: "Good, it's settled then."

  After sending Ruan Ci back to the city, Shen Bailian finally put his mind at ease. After all, he was several years older than Ruan Ci, that little girl, and his thoughts were more thorough. Just now, when those Southerners mentioned something about black-clad men, their words seemed to hint at some deep meaning about a strange cloud stealing away some treasure, he had already been extremely suspicious, fearing that these strange people would bring some disaster to Shouyang, if it were another tribe, it would be fine, but Ah Ci lived in this city too, and would also be implicated, what could be done?

  Now that he has personally seen the safety of Shouyang City, the sky is also very clear and calm. The heart that had been hanging high finally put down, but new doubts also arose in his heart. That strange cloud and the Nanjiang people were clearly heading towards Shouyang, where did they go now?

  Returning to Nest Lake, it was already late. Shen Bailian worried that his mother would scold him, so he quickly dove into the water and swam back to his residence in Nest Country.

  In the ancient city, the water moss swayed, with the most luxuriant growth outside the Temple of the Nesting God. When Shen Bailian passed by, she had a sudden movement in her heart, and she picked up a handful of grass leaves to wipe her body, wanting to cover up the aura of the human tribe, and then turned around to stroll towards the center of the city.

  It wasn't until he approached the temple that Shen Bailian discovered a cluster of eerie shadows looming outside, amidst a sea of lush greenery. A considerable number of spirits had gathered there. His curiosity piqued, Shen Bailian took a few steps closer to take a better look.

  Outside the Temple of Nesting Gods, on top of a massive stone platform, several lotus-leaf beds were laid out, with several small figures lying side by side. Shen Bailian's eyes were sharp, and with a sideways glance, she recognized that they were actually several of the most mischievous little monsters in the city, including the young alligator spirit from the River family next door.

  "You little scoundrel, what's gotten into you? You were fine just a moment ago, and now...now your mother is going to be frightened to death here!"

  Just then, a loud wail was heard, and a stout woman with a coarse face rushed to the side of the lotus-leaf bed, grasping the bed frame and refusing to let go. She pounded the bed and wept loudly, and it was River Yi's mother.

  "River Aunt, what's going on?" In the whole city, only River Ironworker and River Aunt treated Shen Baiyue extremely well, never abandoning her because of Shen Qing's eccentric personality. They often came to visit and brought some food. Now that Shen Baiyue saw that River Aunt's son, River Yi, seemed to have gotten into trouble, she also felt anxious for them.

  He Shu wiped the corner of her eyes, raised her head and saw that it was Shen Baiying. She hurriedly said: "Baiying, you've come at just the right time. Your mother's medicinal powder isn't known for its extraordinary effectiveness? Quickly bring some over to use, my little stinker doesn't know what evil he's contracted, today after coming back from who-knows-where, he collapsed onto the bed and can't get up again, his two paws are also rotten beyond recognition, look!" As she spoke, she flipped her son's small hands over.

  Shen Bailian leaned forward to take a look, and after a closer examination, she suddenly gasped. She saw that He Yi's hands were covered with a thick layer of white frost, the original dark copper-colored scales on the back of his hands had fallen off more than half, revealing large patches of dark purple-red festering flesh underneath, the curled fingers had fine cracks like ancient pottery cracked but not broken, truly ugly to the extreme.

  What could have caused frostbite? He thought to himself, even in the depths of Xiang Lake during severe winters, it had never frozen over, so what could have caused River's hand to be frostbitten?

  Shen Bailian followed her mother and also learned some pharmacology, busily opening He Yi's fingers to examine them carefully, discovering that the palmar surface and palm of his hand were severely injured, muttering to herself: "Could it be that he touched something extremely cold?"

  He thought for a moment and quickly examined the palms of several other little monsters, finding that although they were different in severity, they all had frostbite.

  The country of Juchao has no pharmacies, and the demons are often physically strong. After suffering some minor injuries, they can recover in a few days, so they never pay attention to it. Unexpectedly, such an incident occurred today, which is why all the monsters were shocked.

  Under the stone stage, there were discussions and debates everywhere. Other monsters, although not as anxious as those few little monsters' families, also had some worries.

  Only a few "dang" sounds were heard, followed by an old voice angrily saying: "What's all the commotion! We have the protection of our nest god, these children will certainly be fine, don't mess up your formation!"

  The crowd of demons was suddenly silent, and even the River Aunt stopped crying. A giant black man, eight feet tall, supported an old man with a hunchback as he walked out of the temple. The old man's long beard flowed like water, and a red fleshy tumor grew on his forehead. His dull eyes were cloudy, but one word from him made all the demons dare not make another sound. He was the venerable elder of the Ju Niao country, Yu Feng.

  Yao Mo used the old wooden cane in his hand to knock on the stone slab a few more times and said, "Today these children don't know what kind of evil thing they ran into, and were injured like this. Hei's family, you'd better say something. Did Hei say where he was going before he fainted?"

  Hei Sao was taken aback and hastily said: "This... our little rascal is always running around everywhere, he must be at the bottom of Xi Hu Lake!"

  "There isn't even a extremely cold place in Ke Nao Lake..." Shen Bai Ling couldn't help but mutter.

  He heard, took a glance at him and said: "Is it Shen family's young master? You say the extremely cold place... do you know something?"

  Shen Bailian nodded: "I see that He Rui and the others have frost on their hands, as if they had touched something icy and frozen into this shape. But I'm puzzled, our Nest Lake has never frozen before, what kind of cold thing could it be?"

  Just then, a sudden cry of pain came from the little snake demon lying beside Heiwa's body. She was the least injured and still had some consciousness despite being dazed. All she could be heard saying in a low voice was: "Daddy, my tail hurts..."

  The giant snake demon of the Hua family hastily wrapped her in his arms and cooed, "Hong Yan, Father is here! Quickly tell Lao Lao and Shen Jia Xiao Ge about where you went today and what happened."

  The flower was red and had a sharp, crimson tail that throbbed with pain, causing it to roll around in agony. It cried out: "We didn't go anywhere... it's all because of the stinky riverbank, he insisted on pulling us to the gravel pile, saying something about searching for treasure. That strange plate was cold and heavy, what kind of treasure is that?... Daddy, it hurts!"

  Hurricane's eyebrows drew tighter, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he said to the giant black man behind him: "Hurricane, go take a look at the pile of sand outside the city. If you find anything that looks like a plate, bring it back!"

  He flew over with few words, nodded his head and then rushed to the east gate of the Nest Country City, disappearing in an instant.

  Shen Bailian then ran back home, telling her mother about the little monsters in a few words, and then took the lacquer box that Shen Qing had used to hold incense to return to the outside of the Nest of the Gods.

  At that time, Yuè had already gone and returned, standing behind Yuè's body again. In front of him, a thing was placed flat on the ground, wrapped in a white cloth, looking flat and round like a pancake.

  Shen Bailian squeezed to the edge of the lotus-leaf bed, placed the lacquer box and a small green incense burner beside He Rui's pillow, cast a sideways glance at the ground, thinking: Is that the "strange plate" in Huahong Yan's mouth?

  "Hongyu let out a loud cry and trembled as he asked: 'Hongyue, what is this thing?'"

  Yue said in a low voice: "There is nothing else unusual in the pile of gravel, only this thing keeps flashing blue light. When I touched it, it was very cold. So I brought it back."

  He stroked his long beard and nodded in approval: "Very good, untie it and let's take a look."

  Yuè Yuè lifted the white cloth, and under it appeared a blue object. As Huā Hóng Yàn had said, it was like a huge round plate, with shallow lines on its surface, surrounded by a layer of light, shining brightly, crystal clear and extremely rare.

  Shen Bailian looked at it for half a day before remembering to open the lacquer box and put the analgesic myrrh into the incense burner. Before long, wisps of milky white mist drifted out from the small beast-shaped mouths on the burner's surface. The refreshing fragrance mixed with the water, and smelling it made one feel comfortable in mind. Not only did the painful expressions on the faces of several little demons ease, but even the surrounding demons became much calmer.

  "Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and a long sigh was heard. 'So it's this thing!' he exclaimed, turning to the crowd of demons. 'No wonder these children were frozen! Do you know what this is? This is something left behind by a great person with some connection to Lake Tong, called Kunlin.'"

  Seeing the crowd of demons all looking bewildered, Ao continued: "It's said that in the Northern Darkness there's a fish named Kun. This is a scale from that very Kun gentleman. After he cultivated his demon body, he didn't like to stay in the Dark Sea and would often wander along the underground waters, never thinking that he'd pass through our place and leave some gifts... Alas, this Kun scale is also a rare cold artifact. However, since that gentleman resides in the coldest place under heaven, his whole body is icy cold, so naturally his scales gather cold energy. If you touch it directly with your hand, frostbite would be the least of your worries."

  The crowd of demons finally came to their senses, and the river aunt hugged her son and said: "Elder, can... my stinky little boy and these other demon brats be saved?"

  He thought for a moment and said, "If there is medicine to cure frostbite, applying it will make things all right. However, the country of Ju Chou has many water demons, so how can we get onto land to gather herbs? That's indeed a difficult task."

  Shen Bailian had heard her mother say that the female Luo rock in the northwest of Shouyang City was rich in Lythrum, a herb not only with a wonderful fragrance but also able to warm the blood and body, which was exactly the medicine for frostbite. She volunteered: "Elder, I have been to the lakeside forest many times to pick fragrant grass for my mother, and I am familiar with the path by Lake Tong. Why don't you let me go?"

  After a long while, he finally said, "Alright, you go early tomorrow and come back after picking the herbs. If you encounter people from nearby tribes, be careful to avoid them." Seeing Shen Bailian nodding in agreement, he smiled slightly and then turned to the other demons, "I'm afraid there may still be scales of Kun left in the sand pile. After a few days, when the whirlpool in the lake disperses, let the guards from the Nest Guard Unit search the area outside the city carefully. Recently, the refined monsters in the city cannot go there again." Having said that, he leaned on his cane and left.

  The author has something to say: Thank you Xiaoxi and Sodom's apple ~~ I didn't expect that on the first day of opening a pit, there would be relatives coming to support, thank you thank you ~~~~