Chapter 196: How Could a Golden Scale Be a Mere Pond Creature?

The sole reason a section of Dragon Spine appears in the mountain hollow is that a piece of Liu Junyan's Golden Scale fell here and caused it.

That black toad, unaware of what fortune it had encountered, found this piece of Golden Scale and stayed there to cultivate silently.

If it continued cultivating like this, absorbing the Golden Scale, the sun and moon, and the essence of this auspicious land, it might one day truly become a Three‑Eyed Golden Toad—or it might not.

Unfortunately, everything was destroyed by the Qiu Family.

The black toad was forced to abandon its proper cultivation path and chose the shortcut of blood sacrifice.

It constantly bore that piece of Golden Scale, which had become its talisman; ordinary people could not deal with it unless they destroyed this auspicious land.

But Liu Junyan is different.

Liu Junyan is the owner of the Golden Scale; he could even snatch that piece back from Ox Tiger Mountain, so why would he fear a toad spirit that has not yet achieved true cultivation?

"I can help you handle this matter," Liu Junyan said, "but Boss Qiu, after this, the Qiu Family's fortune may not be as good as before, but it won't be too bad either."

Qiu Fengnian nodded directly: "It's fine if I don't remain the richest man in Prosperous City; a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. With my business skills, I'm confident I won't end up too miserable. Master, I… I'm still most concerned about my family…"

I took up the conversation and said: "After this, I will invite an experienced master to come to your home and set up a Dao field to help stabilize your household's peace; judging from your appearance, the Qiu Family ought to be thriving in population."

Qiu Fengnian had been waiting for exactly those words; how could he dare to object?

But just as we were preparing to lay out our formation and move, suddenly, from within the mountain hollow beneath the graves, came a chorus of frog calls, rising and falling, as if thousands of frogs or toads were calling.

That sound had extraordinary penetrative power, drilling straight into our eardrums.

The first to be struck was Qiu Fengnian; almost instantly, he clapped his hands over his ears, and blood threads oozed simultaneously from his nostrils and ears.

Immediately after, it was the bodyguards guarding the perimeter.

Liu Junyan's expression changed, and he said: "Oh no, this toad actually has an owner, and moreover it's a female toad."

While saying that, he pulled me and Qiu Fengnian backward.

Qiu Fengnian, while wiping his nosebleed, anxiously asked: "Master, this… this…"

Before he could finish speaking, the ground beneath our feet began to tremble.

That trembling force was very slight, not a large‑area vibration, but rather along a vertical line.

"It's that Dragon Spine moving," I said.

Liu Junyan said: "It's absorbing the Dragon Spine's vital essence!"

While saying that, he raised his head to look around; after scanning the area, his gaze suddenly locked onto a mountain peak beyond the southeast corner.

I only saw his hand move, and a golden copper coin had already shot off in that direction.

"Xiao Jiu, keep an eye on that Dragon Spine; if a corpse transformation occurs, burn it!"

Liu Junyan tossed out those words and leapt forward, chasing toward the southeast corner.

The incident happened too quickly; from Qiu Fengnian's description, that black toad was just an ownerless black lump.

We didn't suspect it had an owner, mainly because it had been receiving offerings from the Qiu Family for ten years.

If it had an owner, that owner shouldn't remain completely unmoved, right?

Would someone really remain hidden for ten years after suffering heavy damage, taking no action?

Unless… the other party still wants something from the Qiu Family.

I narrowed my eyes; a thought suddenly flashed in my mind, and I immediately asked: "Boss Qiu, tell me your father's birth date and time."

Qiu Fengnian's lips were trembling.

He had been seasoned in the marketplace and should have been calm in crisis, but that toad spirit had drained too much of his vital energy, leaving him weak!

Qiu Fengnian haltingly recited his father's birth date and time; I calculated it, and it was quite ordinary.

It somewhat deviated from what I had imagined.

I also asked about the date of his father's burial; it was the same.

No, it's still not right!

Just now, when Liu Junyan left, he cautioned me that if a corpse transformation occurred… this point coincided with my thinking.

But I surmise that Qiu Fengnian's father's birth date and time are extremely yin, having been used to nurture a corpse; failing that, the burial date itself is extremely yin.

But neither is the case.

Then where does the problem lie?

What if Qiu Fengnian's father is merely a facade?

What if, beneath this Dragon Spine, there are other people buried?

Qiu Fengnian's father is a smokescreen.

Nor is the toad spirit any different.

Qiu Fengnian, worried and anxious, asked: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, how… how is it?"

"A grave beneath a grave," I inferred. "Boss Qiu, the master who performed the acupuncture point for you back then—did he bear a grudge against your Qiu Family?"

"Ah?"

Qiu Fengnian gasped in shock: "No way? After all, I am now the richest man in Prosperous City, aren't I?"

"Exactly." I shifted my tone and said: "But your Qiu Family's fortune over these past few years has been exchanged for the hidden virtue of several generations of your ancestors!"

This is the most reasonable explanation.

How could a Golden Scale be a mere pond creature?

Such a piece of Golden Scale hidden in this mountain hollow will surely be discovered sooner or later.

To long‑term preserve this piece of Golden Scale, to preserve the Dragon Spine formed by it, and even to one day be able to continually expand outward along this Dragon Spine… all of this requires a vessel to bear it.

Our vast China, with its nearly ten million square kilometers of land, has measurable qi flow on every parcel of land.

In this region of Prosperous City, the bulk of the qi flow lies with the Qiu Family.

This is the fundamental reason why the Qiu Family has been targeted!

Since the Qiu Family's ancestral graves are buried here, they will spare no effort to protect this area.

And the Qiu Family's fortune and yin virtue can also conceal whatever is being nurtured beneath this feng shui treasure land.

At the southeast corner, Liu Junyan was engaged in combat with a black shadow.

In the darkness I couldn't make out what kind of thing the opponent was.

Just then, a bang came from the mountain hollow.

Immediately after, the mountain ridge split open a seam from the middle, and a coffin lid flew out, slamming heavily onto the ground.

The next moment, a person flew out from within and stood firmly on the ground.

After jumping out, that person raised his head, opened his mouth toward the moon, as if practicing breath control.

His hair was white and sparse, his frame gaunt, he wore a black funeral garb, and both hands stretched straight forward.

In the moonlight I could even see his long, black nails.

Black hair seemed to be growing on his nails.

His corpse was well preserved, with no sign of decay; his long fangs pressed against his lips, emitting a cold white glow in the night.

Upon seeing this person, Qiu Fengnian cried out in anguish: "Dad! Why… why aren't you rotting yet?!"

Uh…

With that shout from Qiu Fengnian, the guy's body jerked toward us, letting out a few strange "jie-jie" cries, then he leapt high and sprang straight at us.

That old thing seemed quite capable—one jump carried it over two meters, and a few jumps brought it right up close.

Qiu Fengnian was scared silly, his whole body trembling like a sieve, muttering constantly: "Dad… dad…"

I kicked him, sending Qiu Fengnian flying down the hillside.

Below, bodyguards and his eldest son were guarding him, so he wouldn't die.

And I had already simultaneously summoned Feng Wu, aiming the longbow steadily at the zombie…