Chapter Eleven: Successful Search

  Lu Jian looked at the two people who suddenly fell silent, didn't understand what they just said, and felt anxious in her heart.

  "What's going on? Why haven't we gone to find Dao Jing yet?"

  Du Mu Yan wanted to explain it to her, but was stopped by Jiaolong: "It's just a guess, don't scare Lu Jian."

  "Yes."

  Du Mu searched for the quiet soul with his technique, subduing the surrounding spirits. Although he was only confident within a mile, he had an extremely strong sensitivity to spirits. At this moment, everyone was already outside the town by the creek, and not even a hint of a lost soul could be found.

  Another stalemate!

  "Goat goat, what is that floating over there?"

  Jiaolong heard Lu Jian's words and looked in the direction she pointed, only to see that several yellow light spots suddenly appeared by the creek, hovering and fluttering on the grass tips.

  "Give me a nickname, can you give me one that sounds more elegant?"

  "Who asked you to bully me?"

  "You don't know good people's hearts. You shouldn't be unaware of that thing, right? It's just fireflies, they're common in the wild, haven't you seen them before?"

  Lu Jing tilted his head, sucking on his thumb and thinking for a moment.

  "Fireflies I've seen before, but they're green, how come this one is yellow?"

  Duanmu Yan said with a serious face: "In our house, it's green, so you can't say it's yellow here. This is called being ignorant and making a fuss."

  The two continued to bicker, but the dragon noticed a yellow light flash by, only to reappear a short distance ahead, repeating this process several times. The yellow light seemed to be heading towards the mountain valley behind the town.

  He stirred in his heart and interrupted their conversation: "Don't quarrel first, let's go north and take a look."

  A few people walked along the creek, the sky had turned from black to blue, looking east towards the end of the plain, the sky was already glowing with a bluish light, and in another hour the sun would rise.

  Everyone quickened their pace at this thought.

  "I've heard that fireflies are inauspicious creatures and only appear where many people have died."

  "You're talking nonsense again, I haven't seen anyone die, I've only seen fireflies."

  Duanmu Chengyang wanted to explain, but saw that they had already arrived at the back mountain of the town. The vegetation on the back mountain was not very dense, and a faint yellow light could be seen rising from the bushes at the entrance of the valley, gradually disappearing.

  As soon as everyone arrived at the foot of the mountain, they smelled a faint stench. This might be where the townspeople were buried.

  Afraid of the scene being too bloody, Lu Jian and Duanmu Chengyang were left on the spot to wait, while Jiaolong himself went in to check.

  The distant sky gradually turned from blue to white, and a thin mist rose in the mountains and fields. An unknown strange bird made a low, guttural cry that sent shivers down one's spine.

  Duanmu Chengyang pulled Lu Jian up a crooked old tree, their clothes had been dampened by the morning dew, and they were now cold and hungry, looking miserable.

  "I don't even know how my brother is doing now?" Lu Jian poked Tong Mu Yan, who was dozing off, and asked: "If those heavenly soldiers and generals say that my brother is guilty, what kind of punishment will he receive?"

  Du Mu Yan stretched and yawned: "You're asking the wrong question, it's not up to the heavenly soldiers and generals to mete out punishment, they don't have that authority. How should I put it... He rubbed his eyes and said: "The 'Xian Gui Xing Lu' chapter of the Heavenly Rules states: 'For those who strongly resist and reveal their true form, if they are not tolerated by all, one can sever their roots and achieve a merit. For royalty and nobles above the rank of marquis, they must be captured and reported to the Lei Ting Du Si for sentencing. The crime report must be approved by the Northern Emperor before punishment can be carried out according to the law.' Someone like Mo Zun's level... in order to restrain the demon realm, the Northern Emperor won't kill him, but rather wants to imprison him, subjecting him to eternal heavenly punishment and torment!"

  "Look, Xuan Yi Shang Xian first didn't report to Lei Feng Du Si, and then privately killed him. Moreover, the secret scrolls of the Kunlun Mountains were leaked. The first two items added together would be punished three times, which is equivalent to losing three merits. This isn't a big deal, as Xuan Yi Shang Xian has a vast territory including Tiantai Mountain, Wu Yue region, and the islands in the sea, so it's easy to make up for the lost merits by doing something else. The main issue is that his divine prestige was damaged. As for the last item, it's hard to say, if serious, he might even be stripped of his position as the main deity."

  Duanmu Yang gazed thoughtfully at the sunrise on the horizon and concluded, "Exchanging a divine position for Mo Xun's life isn't a bad deal."

  "It's actually for his own good." Lu Jian muttered to himself.

  "What did you say?"

  Lu Jing shook his head and fell into silence.

  The morning fog grew thicker, just as the red sun was about to break through the horizon, a sharp wail suddenly echoed, and the sky changed color in an instant. Thick black clouds pressed down, and the shallow creek on the mountain edge surged violently!

  "It's no good, it looks like the dam is going to burst, run quickly!"

  Rolling yellow water rushed over from all sides, and in the blink of an eye it had overflowed the shrubbery, pressing right up to the feet of the two people, who were forced to stand on a tree holding each other.

  The wailing continued, the water level rose higher and higher, and the two were already unable to escape...

  "What to do, what to do, Brother Nai is still inside."

  Just then the crying stopped, but turned into a woman's scolding voice. All the water flows converged together and rushed straight to the valley!

  "Brother Nai, Brother Nai!"

  "Come out quickly, Brother Nai!"

  They supported each other with branches and loudly shouted into the valley. The floodwaters under their feet all surged into the valley, and in an instant they exposed the ground.

  "What to do? What to do?" Lu Jian anxiously stamped his foot.

  Duanmu Yang observed the small mountain beside him, which had more rocks and fewer trees, and was not steep.

  "It's all right, follow me."

  They used their hands and feet to climb desperately to the top of the mountain, the stench like a dead fish getting heavier and heavier. It wasn't until they passed the middle of the mountain that it gradually subsided. When they reached the top of the mountain, although the foul smell was gone, they saw something even more terrifying!

  A gigantic grey snake stood upright like a human on its upper body, standing at the edge of the cliff and overlooking the valley.

  Two people hastily hid behind a large rock, and the more they observed this monster, the more terrifying it became. It had the body of a snake, but on top was the head of a wolf. On its right side hung a bloody wing, while on its left side only half a piece of wrinkled gray skin remained. Its entire body was covered in blood and flesh, with a dark aura surrounding it, truly disgusting to an extreme degree.

  Du Mu Yang and Lu Jian simultaneously let out a loud shout, this was too infuriating.

  They didn't dare to move forward, unable to see the dragon's shadow. Just as they were hesitating, suddenly a loud "boom" sound was heard, and a wave of water surged up from the valley, pouring down on them, leaving them no time to dodge and covering their heads and faces with mud and water.

  Duanmu Yan wiped her face and looked again, the gray snake was still standing in its original place, opposite her stood a black dragon with a fierce killing intent.

  Dragon!

  Water fell down, a foul smell rushed to the sky, and there were corpses lying on the ground, as well as many broken limbs hanging from trees and scattered on the ground. A gray snake stood among the corpses, like an evil ghost from hell.

  "Hua She, why did you slaughter the people of Nangong and unilaterally launch a flood?"

  The grey serpent was originally called Hua She, an ancient mythical creature. As soon as she changed her form, she transformed into the middle-aged woman seen that day.

  She coughed for a while and said, "Are you worthy of interrogating me?"

  "Looking at your miserable state today, I can tell that either your disciples are dead or they have escaped. With just your heavily injured body, how can you contend with the immortal realm? Hand over Dao Jing quickly!"

  The snake sneered and said: "Why should I do that?"

  The dragon transformed into a human figure and seemed to have deliberately fallen in front of Lu Jian and Duanmu Xiangyang, blocking their silhouettes.

  "As long as you return the Dao Jing, I will not make things difficult for you today."

  "Hah, today? This deal isn't worth it. Besides, I've heard that the immortal in your household is now struggling to save himself, Dao Jing, if you go back, won't you be dragged down together?"

  "Don't bother yourself, just hand over Dao Jing quickly, don't force me to take action."

  The snake demon tidied up his hair with a leisurely air: "When the Demon Lord gathered us, the masters of evil, I had already guessed that this move would be like a moth to a flame. That Upper Immortal has long been detached from worldly affairs, and all he thinks about is the Tao of tranquility. Although the Demon Lord insisted on going his own way, I couldn't let him leave without getting what's due to him. The outcome for Xuan Yi Upper Immortal will be his own, but first, this little brat will come with me to keep the Demon Lord company in death."

  "How dare you!"

  "Why should I not dare? Nian, don't forget who you are..." A light and airy sentence suddenly enraged the Jiaolong, it transformed into its true form, carrying a massive water curtain like a striking snake!

  The snake seemed difficult to fly high, although it also transformed into its original shape, only entwining with the crocodile on the ground.

  But she was after all a master of her craft, and the dragon had the upper hand in the attack, yet it didn't gain much advantage either.

  Two people were evenly matched and the fighting array was getting bigger and bigger.

  Duanmu Yan watched intently as the two clashed, his spirit concentrated. However, beside him, Lu Jian broke free from his grasp and ran in another direction.

  He suddenly grabbed Lu Jian's arm: "Don't run around, it's very dangerous, don't you know?"

  The deer arrow points to the back, only to see a bare mountain under the solitary standing of a land temple.

  "I just saw what looked like fireflies flying into it."

  "Nonsense, it's broad daylight." Du Mu Yan looked at the dark clouds and changed his tone: "It's a gloomy day, you're not wrong?"

  The deer arrow turned his head to look at the two people who were fighting with their fists, and then pulled him over, whispering and gesturing for him to go take a look.

  Duanmu Changyang thought to himself that the transformed snake couldn't fly, and there were no helpers around, so it definitely wouldn't have hidden the person too far away. He nodded immediately and pulled Lu Jian quickly running down the mountain.

  Two people stumbled to the front of the Land Temple, the voice on the mountain was slightly smaller, and they were afraid that Huashe would notice, seeing the temple door rushing in.

  The temple gate was very narrow, Duanmu Yan Guan was staring at the deer arrow and didn't notice his feet, he tripped and fell, but only rolled once before hitting the wall.

  The deer dodged quickly and she saw a person sitting in the corner of the wall by the light from the door seam, at which time the jade pendant in her arms suddenly flashed brightly.

  "It's you!"

  The man was pulled up by the front row of the arrow, and then dragged forward: "Are you Dao Jing?"

  No answer came from him; he stood there stupidly, like a clay image of the Buddha.

  The temple was dimly lit and the light was too poor, so I couldn't even see that person's face clearly.

  Asked again and again, still said nothing.

  Duanmu Yan stumbled up, his footsteps staggering as if he had drunk too much, apparently the fall was not light.

  He finally stood firm by supporting the man's body. He looked up at the man, then carefully observed his collar and nodded to Lu Jian: "We were on Tiantai Mountain when someone called Nai Da Ge out, I followed behind and saw that the style of this person's clothes is similar to this one. As for the pattern, his clothes are too dirty, I'm not sure about this..."

  "Oh, come on, just say yes or no."

  Duanmu Chengyang asked Lu Jian to hang the jade pendant on his waist, and the jade pendant shone brightly, making him look more spirited.

  "It's him!"

  Lu Jing felt her heart settle back into place with a "thud" when she heard this sentence.

  "What's holding you back? Run quickly!"

  Duanmu Chengyang grabbed Lu Jian and Dao Jing, saying urgently: "Are you okay? It's flat outside, where can we run to?"

  Lu Jing pulled on Diao's other arm and asked, "Can you drive clouds?"

  "I won't."

  "It's useless!"

  Duanmu Chengyan's face fell heavily, and with a red face, he argued strongly: "I won't, he definitely will."

  Lu Jian really wanted to bite him, "Are you stupid too?"

  "Alright, alright, I won't argue with you. The two of us arguing here won't do any good even if we shout loud enough to shake the roof off. Don't worry, once he runs out, he won't get far and will be caught soon."

  "Now that everything has been discovered, what's there for me to worry about?" Lu Jian glared at him.

  Dao Jing stood between the two of them, silent and still, it was indeed very quiet.

  Du Mu chewed on his fingernail and suddenly had an idea: "You say I whistle, can Brother Nian hear it?"

  Nodding nodding.

  "Wait."

  Duanmu Yan crouched down and carefully made his way out, clinging to the door panel as he gazed up at the mountain top. The mountain wasn't very high, and he could vaguely see two figures entwined in a struggle.

  He made a preparatory gesture with his deer-like arrow.

  Another hand was placed on his mouth.

  A whistle.

  Sudden silence!

  Lu Jian's heart rose to his throat.

  Suddenly a black light shot from the top of the mountain and rushed over, Duanmu Yan reached back with one hand and pulled over Lu Jian, who was holding onto Dao Jing tightly.

  The dragon swooped down to the front of the Temple of Land, its massive claws grasped Tongmu Xiangyang, and then it took off again, pulling out three people in a row from the small temple.

  He glared with wide eyes, his whiskers flying wildly, and suddenly flung the string of people from his paws onto his back, his body paused for a moment before steadily catching them.

  Du Mu held tightly onto the sharp dragon horns and had Lu Jian sandwiched in between.

  A few people sat firmly, and the dragonfly accelerated instantly, flying into the sky.

  The snake wanted to chase, but it couldn't even see their shadows anymore.

  Only the proud and crazy laughter of Jiaolong was left, echoing in the sky and earth.

  "Hahaha...!"