Chapter 23: As If Being Stared At By Someone
The whimpering sound from earlier came again. Feng Shi sighed and went forward to hook the small black snake over.
“Is this your family?” Feng Shi asked.
The small black snake ignored him, still hugging that tail and crying to itself.
Feng Shi wanted to say something to comfort it, but the water bottom suddenly shook violently. Under the intense fluctuation, the Merman Cave collapsed instantly, stirring the water into turbidity.
It should be the fight between the two groups earlier that made the underwater structure unstable.
Feng Shi didn’t hesitate. Hugging a chicken in his arms and hooking a snake in his hand, he swam rapidly toward the surface of the water pool.
When he floated to the surface, the sky was already somewhat dim. Looking out from the mountains, the sun could no longer be seen.
Feng Shi threw the two spirit beasts onto the shore first, then wiped his face, propped himself on the rocks by the shore with both hands, and climbed up too.
His clothes were soaked by water in the panic. Feng Shi took out new clothes from his Qiankun bag. Just as he was about to change, he suddenly felt creeped out behind his back, as if being stared at by someone.
“…”
Feng Shi turned his head neurotically.
On the ground behind him stood only a free-range chicken with closed eyes and a small black snake hugging a remnant tail crying.
Feng Shi scratched his wet hair, turned back, and swiftly removed the clothes on his body.
Behind him, the elegant immortal crane’s eyelids moved, and it slowly opened its eyes.
The youth’s skin was snow-white, his figure thin, but his slender limbs were attached with a thin layer of powerful muscles. It was the kind of physique that looked frail but was full of explosive power.
Right in the center of the back of his neck was a conspicuous and abrupt black mole, closely attached to the protruding bone of the cervical vertebra. At this moment, it was bobbing up and down with the owner’s movements.
Shen Songhe stared at this mole, confusion surging in his eyes.
He couldn’t quite remember when this mole came into existence…
Feng Shi dried his body and hair, put on new clothes, and turned around only to see the small black snake twitching on the ground, twisting back and forth. Some scales on its body had been scraped off by the rocks.
Looking closer, this snake had started foaming white froth from its mouth!
Feng Shi exclaimed in a low voice, hurriedly used his dirty clothes on the ground to scoop up some pool water and splashed it around it.
A pool of water accumulated in the small depression. The small black snake lay in the water, opening and closing its mouth with large gasps twice, and only then gradually stopped twitching.
Feng Shi laughed once, bought a glass bottle capable of holding water from Qingqing for 10 points, scooped some pool water, put the small black snake in, tied it with a string, and hung it on his waist.
“Since you followed me out, just follow me from now on. At least you can survive.” Feng Shi patted the glass bottle and picked up the free-range chicken on the ground.
The small black snake lay listlessly at the bottom of the bottle, its gaze still falling on that tail until the person carrying it walked far away and it could no longer be seen.
Walking back to Linyu City, it was completely dark, but the atmosphere in the city was exceptionally strange and eerie.
Clearly, the atmosphere was heavy during the day, but at this time, it was brightly lit and bustling with voices. The faces of passersby were filled with joy, and the aroma of wine and food wafted through the streets and alleys.
Feng Shi returned to the inn where he was staying temporarily. Just after sitting down and drinking a cup of water, he learned roughly what happened from the people around him.
The owner of the black tail in the Merman Cave was indeed killed by the cultivators Feng Shi met in the afternoon. The corpse was now hanging on the guillotine in the city; it was a mixed-blood black flood dragon.
According to those cultivators, this black flood dragon was the culprit who abducted the young girls in the city.
Now that the evil-doing monster had been subdued, the people in the city naturally couldn’t help celebrating.
Feng Shi untied the glass bottle from his waist and placed it on the table, lying on the back of his hand watching the small black snake coiled up sleeping inside.
He knew things definitely wouldn’t be this simple.
The known key point hint was related to Yan Cheng. Now that Yan Cheng hadn’t appeared, it was highly likely the matter wasn’t over yet.
The plan for now was just to wait.
Feng Shi looked at the gradually thickening night outside the window, went to bed, and entered meditative cultivation.
Although the mission had to be done, breaking through to the Golden Core stage still had to be placed in the primary position. According to the general speed in the cultivation world, breaking through to the Golden Core might take a few years, or maybe decades, depending entirely on personal aptitude.
Feng Shi didn’t know what his aptitude was considered, nor how long it would take him, but striving to become stronger was always the right path; it wouldn’t be wrong.
Deep in the night, the liveliness dispersed. Only occasional shouts of the night watchman and the sound of gongs remained in the city.
Around the fourth watch (1 AM – 3 AM), a shrill scream suddenly pierced the dead silence, startling large areas of lights on.
Feng Shi opened his eyes, got up, quickly rushed out the window, and chased in the direction the sound came from.
Dark clouds passed by the moon at this time, blocking the moonlight pouring down.
Feng Shi flew on the eaves, moving against the wind. The night wind carried a faint smell of blood.
Gradually, Feng Shi realized he was approaching the guillotine in Linyu City.
The night was like a thick black mouth. The wind whimpered on the guillotine. A huge black strip-shaped figure hung high on the platform, swaying faintly with the wind.
This was a black flood dragon considered thin among the flood dragon species. It was already dead, disemboweled with all valuable items taken from its body. The severed tail rested on the ground, leading blood water to pave the floor.
Feng Shi couldn’t bear to look. He closed his eyes, bypassed the guillotine, and continued rushing toward the direction of the scream.
Passing through several long alleys, a huge thick black figure appeared before Feng Shi’s eyes.
This figure was enormous, fully three stories high. At this moment, it was hunching its body, speeding through the streets to flee into the mountain forest.
Feng Shi immediately drew his sword, preparing to chase. Who would have expected that a few other cultivators would pop up halfway and block his path.
“In the dead of night, where does this fellow daoist want to go?”
An unsheathed long sword horizontally blocked in front of him. Feng Shi stopped his steps.
Those blocking him were exactly the group of cultivators who killed the black flood dragon during the day.
Feng Shi wasn’t sure of their attitude, so he could only watch that black shadow leave, smiling on his face: “Just curious about the strange scream just now, came to have a look.”
Those few cultivators looked at each other, then slowly smiled: “Coincidentally, we also came to look. Did the little friend discover anything?”
Feng Shi shook his head without hesitation: “None.”
“Chasing to this point, the scream disappeared. My cultivation is insufficient; I didn’t discover anything.”
While lying without changing his expression, he observed the expressions of these people in front of him.
All were Foundation Establishment cultivators, seemingly not exceeding the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, but they had the advantage of numbers, so Feng Shi didn’t want to confront them head-on.
Fortunately, he was accustomed to using the System to hide his strength in front of outsiders, so the opponents didn’t know his details.
“So that’s how it is. Today the night is already deep. Why don’t we travel together tomorrow and explore jointly?”
“Very good.”
After putting off that group, Feng Shi pretended to return to the inn, then searched around the deep forest where that monster hid before dawn, but ultimately found nothing.
Until dawn the next day, another corpse of a young girl was found in the deep forest.
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