Chapter 74: Only Shallow Grass Can Hide the Horse's Hooves

"What did you just say?" Chengkai asked Shanhuai in surprise.

"Landed in this sticky, damp place?" Shanhuai looked bewildered by the question.

"Not that sentence."

"It would be better to have a monster and have a good fight," Shanhuai replied, still feeling confused.

Hearing this, Chengkai turned to ask Shuzhu: "You say you think the same?"

Shuzhu seemed to understand Chengkai's meaning somewhat and hurriedly replied: "It's about the same, but I was thinking that even if an ancient giant beast came, it would be better than suffering this ordeal; at least I could broaden my horizons."

Chengkai couldn't help but ponder; he had just been thinking much the same thing. How could there be such a coincidence? This giant Flood Dragon in the water perfectly matched what the three of them were thinking. If this were really the case, then the mystery that Senior Brother Hanyang spoke of...

Thinking of this, he looked up at Shuzhu. Shuzhu also nodded in agreement, then said:

"Awei is the most timid among us, so he shouldn't have had that thought, but when the giant Flood Dragon appeared, it only ate him. I reckon that at the time, his thought must have been something like 'this monster is going to eat me,' which is why he was swallowed in one gulp."

Only then did Shanhuai grasp the meaning of their words: "Are you saying that whatever is thought of here will happen? This... this is too absurd!"

Shuzhu looked at Chengkai upon hearing this, and the latter hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Whether it is so, we will know by trying." Shuzhu, having received a signal from Chengkai, said: "Let us all think together right now that daylight is coming quickly, and see if this place can become bright."

Thus, the three of them tried hard to focus their thoughts on what Shuzhu had said, but after a long time, there was no sunrise, and it remained incomparably dim.

Yet just at this moment, there was a sudden churning in the water, and the giant Flood Dragon from before appeared again!

Seeing this, Chengkai was startled: Could it be that what they thought just now was wrong?

Shuzhu was also at a loss, looking at the giant Flood Dragon before him and not daring to move—could it be that it heard the three of them talking and came back for a surprise attack?

But at this moment, Shanhuai was scratching his head and smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but think about this giant Flood Dragon just now, I didn't expect it to actually come back."

Hearing this, Chengkai hurriedly covered Shanhuai's mouth. They didn't yet know if their previous guess was correct; if it wasn't, then this giant Flood Dragon certainly didn't return because of what Shanhuai thought.

And just at this time, the giant Flood Dragon in the water actually moved slowly toward the three of them. Shuzhu was greatly alarmed and hurriedly drew the Soft Sword in his hand, intending to strike, but was stopped by Chengkai.

Shuzhu was puzzled and looked at Chengkai, but Chengkai shook his head: This giant Flood Dragon did not seem to have any hostility this time. Furthermore, even if they really wanted to fight it, given the three of them's cultivation, it would be no different from a mantis trying to stop a chariot; there was absolutely no chance of winning.

They saw the giant Flood Dragon slowly approach the three of them, and just as it was about to reach them, it slowly lowered its body and placed its head beside Shanhuai.

Chengkai and Shuzhu were both filled with doubt upon seeing this, while over there, Shanhuai had reached out to touch the neck of the giant Flood Dragon.

"When I was little, a Daoist came to my home and gifted us a whip for dispelling demons, saying it was made from the neck hair of a Flood Dragon. I never believed it before, but now it seems it was true; the texture feels exactly the same."

Hearing this, Chengkai and Shuzhu were both incredulous. They knew that Shanhuai was a bit slow-witted on ordinary days, but they didn't expect it to reach such an unbelievable degree!

Immediately, the two of them looked at each other: Since this giant Flood Dragon could do this, it meant their previous hypothesis was correct, but why couldn't they make it turn to daylight?

Looking at Shanhuai, who was still petting the giant Flood Dragon, the two of them couldn't help but fall into deep thought:

Where exactly was it wrong?

Awei was finally calmed down. He sat up and looked at his surroundings, unable to help but feel puzzled: Hadn't he just been eaten by a big Snake? Why was he back in the sect?

Seeing Awei like this, Lingxiang walked down the stone steps, squatted in front of him, and asked: "What exactly did you see? To be so afraid?"

Looking at the suddenly appearing Lingxiang, Awei was startled at first, then began to shout:

"Snake! Big Snake! The big Snake is inside! Chengkai and the others haven't come out yet! Save them quickly! Ah! I was eaten! I was eaten!"

Seeing him like this, the young Daoist hurried forward to cast a spell, but Lingxiang took out a pill and stuffed it into Awei's mouth. After only a moment, he passed out.

"I fed him a Ningxin Pill; sending him back to have a sleep will make him better."

Hearing this, the young Daoist performed a bow, turned, and pinched a hand seal. They saw Awei float up like a marionette and follow the young Daoist's steps toward the Outer Sect Disciple Residence.

Watching the two walk away, Lingxiang smiled. It was the first time she had seen someone so timid.

However, hearing him mention Chengkai just now, it seemed he was already very close to the truth, only she didn't know if there would be enough time.

Lingxiang turned her head and saw the young Daoist had already begun to light incense, and she couldn't help but think of Long Qi.

There was only one stick of incense worth of time left!

"What? The tomb of the Giant Spider?" Banxia was shocked upon hearing this. "Does that mean these aren't mists, but miasmas!?"

Lianqiao rolled her eyes at her upon hearing this and said: "If it were miasma, would it have allowed you to be jumping around for so long? And even blowing a gust of evil wind."

"It is unusually cold and damp here; it is undoubtedly mist, but it is a bit strange." Liu Xia said, rubbing his chin: "Since the mist is so thick, where does the light come from? I climbed to the top just now and didn't see the sun, so how could there be light?"

"In that case, those lights are not always there, but appear only after walking a certain distance, as if..." Long Qi mused: "As if they are pointing the way."

Xinyi thought about it carefully, and it was indeed as Long Qi said, so he suggested: "Why not try following the light and see?"

The group followed the light for a long time, but no matter how they walked, they could not reach the end. In front of every light, there would always be another light, as if it were endless.

"How long are we going to walk like this? This is not a solution if we keep going on like this." Banxia sat down on a rock in frustration.

Xinyi looked at Banxia, his eyes full of questions. Banxia felt her skin crawl from being stared at and hurriedly asked him why he was looking at her.

But Xinyi did not answer; instead, he walked toward Banxia. Seeing him like this, Banxia hurriedly got up from the large rock and walked away, but Xinyi only passed her and touched the large rock.

"If you're tired of walking, just say so; you don't have to do that, it's quite scary."

Listening to Banxia's complaints, Lianqiao, who was to the side, glanced at her: Do you think everyone is like you?

And at this time, Xinyi said: "We have been walking for half a day; I fear we are walking in circles." As he spoke, he moved his hand aside, and there was a sword mark: "This is the mark I made earlier."

"You mean, we walked for six hours and returned to the same spot?" Banxia looked incredulous.

"It seems so..." Long Qi stepped forward and said, rubbing his chin: "This is just like..."

"Like an Array Formation," Lianqiao interjected.

The group looked at her in surprise upon hearing this.

"You understand Array Formations?" Liu Xia asked.

Lianqiao gave him a sidelong glance, her eyes full of dissatisfaction: At any rate, her family was a great clan for dispelling demons; she understood a few of the most basic mechanisms and Array Formations.

Seeing the group like this, Xinyi did not speak further. Lingxiang had informed him beforehand not to reveal his strength, to stop when the point was made at critical moments; it would be bad if too many people knew about his affairs.