Chapter 856

Qiu Honglin died from having his essence and blood drained, and he died in the waters of Suedi, which is enough to indicate many problems.

Qiu Honglin died from having his essence and blood drained, and he died in the waters of Suedi, which is enough to indicate many problems.

We must keep the meaning exactly. Not add extra.

Qiu Honglin

the healer

twin brother

Hui Moqiong

special means

useful information

back then

whirlpool

Dragon Palace

Dragon God

Dragon Shadow Society

heavenly treasures and earthly riches

offer

Xiao Jiu

Dìmài Lóngshén

Xiao Jiu's initial decision to hold back troops

a lucky accident

hand over those few pieces of ao shell

follow the clue

those who secretly work hard for that ancient great demon

this net has already been cast out

actually failed to notice any contact between that ancient great demon and the outside world

So the heavenly treasures and earthly riches they collected might still be in the Dragon Shadow Society

We have now locked onto the Dragon Shadow Society; perhaps we can still stop worse things from happening

Maybe it's already too late

That ancient great demon could have completely destroyed the corpse and erased traces after draining Qiu Honglin's essence and blood, yet he left his desiccated corpse, which is a provocation; it seems that the small mountain pagoda in Suedi can barely suppress him anymore

The provocation is real, but don't you feel this provocation seems too deliberate?

If I were that ancient great demon, if I could go all out, why would I provoke the opponent? I'd just attack directly. Moreover, leaving so many flaws for our people to follow the clue and discover the Dragon Shadow Society.

So he's doing this to force us to act.

Xiao Laosan's progress is too rapid: from successfully surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, transforming into his true form, which is the dragon-turtle body I expected, to now first successfully molting and entering the quasi-mature state, all have put great pressure on the opponent.

Xiao Laosan's birth was already beyond his expectations," Xiao Jiu said. "Once Xiao Laosan enters the mature state, it will be even harder for him to turn the tables, so either we are forced to act, disturbing karma, or we force Xiao Laosan to act, because the quasi-mature state is his weakest, and his scheme is clinking away."

It seems I was too lenient; even a small mountain pagoda can't keep him behaving, so don't blame me for being harsh.

Xiao Jiu asked Liu Junyan whether, after returning this time, he would leave again.

Back then Liu Junyan had said that before Xiao Laosan fully grows up, he would from time to time go to the waters of Suedi to strengthen the seal on that ancient great demon.

But I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Xiao Jiu was somewhat worried that Liu Junyan might use excessive force, and immediately said, "I'll go with you."

Liu Junyan originally wanted to refuse, but seeing Xiao Jiu's determined gaze, he still compromised: "Alright, we'll go together."

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Xiao Jiu has been in these waters of Suedi before, and had also researched that small mountain pagoda underwater, but he had never entered the interior of the pagoda, let alone the area it suppresses.

That is precisely the 'Underground Dragon Palace' spoken of by the healer's brother.

That is not really an Underground Dragon Palace, but a node on the Dragon Vein line.

Or rather, it is the final stop where Liu Junyan clarifies the Dragon Vein line.

It is like a tumor growing on the tail of a giant dragon; cutting it off will spread the toxin (Earthfiend Qi), which will not only pollute this body of water, causing suffering to all living things, but may also backfire on the entire Dragon Vein, rendering Liu Junyan's previous efforts futile.

We can only think of ways to continually suppress it!

Actually, before seeing that ancient great demon, Xiao Jiu did not have a very clear concept of his situation.

Xiao Jiu only knew that this guy ultimately needs Xiao Laosan to deal with him.

But when Xiao Jiu saw him, saw his true form which is extremely similar to Xiao Laosan's, and saw the gigantic dragon-turtle lying in the earth palace, Xiao Jiu realized that the situation is far more complicated than she imagined.

That ancient great demon is like half of a being grown out of the Dragon Vein; his limbs extend from under the turtle shell, sinking into the Dragon Vein, and the throbbing of each blood vessel seems to be the Dragon Vein's own pulse beating.

On his turtle back stands a huge monument, like a perilous peak that reaches the heavens and stands firm on the earth.

And the small mountain pagoda that Liu Junyan built is precisely what presses down on that monument.

But soon Xiao Jiu discovered where the biggest difference between this ancient great demon and Xiao Laosan lies.

It's the tail!

Xiao Laosan not only has a dragon's head, but his tail is also a dragon's tail.

But this ancient great demon's tail is actually a genuine turtle tail—short and small, tucked under the turtle shell, making it especially easy to overlook.

Xiao Jiu didn't see his tail at first, because she came down from the front and the turtle tail was hidden behind that monument.

Strangely, from the moment they descended until they approached this so-called ancient great demon, he lay there silently, eyes shut, completely still.

As if he were dead.

Just then, Liu Junyan lifted something in his hand.

Xiao Jiu turned her head and saw Liu Junyan frowning, staring at a piece of skin as thin as a cicada's wing in his hand.

Then Xiao Jiu saw Liu Junyan toss that piece of skin and reach out to touch the ancient great demon's back.

Xiao Jiu also reached up and touched it, and immediately her brows furrowed.

His back shell is actually soft!

This shows that he also molted not long ago, but for various reasons, the scales on his back never hardened.

Even in some places, not even soft scales grew, leaving a bloody mess.

Is it because he's been suppressed by the small mountain pagoda?

Or is he just too weak?

The next moment, Liu Junyan placed his hand on the ancient great demon's head, eyes closed, not knowing what he was sensing.

Soon Liu Junyan opened his eyes, took Xiao Jiu's hand, and left; shortly afterward they appeared at the waterside.

Xiao Jiu asked, "Ayán, have you discovered something?"

Liu Junyan glanced around, as if searching for something.

Finally, his gaze settled on the waterside, on the small temple built for Liu Junyan by the locals a few months ago.

Xiao Jiu personally witnessed this small temple being built, and she specially placed a golden statue of the Dragon Vein God inside.

At least before Xiao Jiu left Suedi, this small temple and its golden statue had no problems……

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Now after all lines, output ===TITLE=== then translation of chapter title: 番外4：93. The title: "番外4：93". "番外" means "Side Story" or "Extra". "4：" maybe "4:"? Actually "番外4：93" likely means "Side Story 4: 93". So translate as "Side Story 4: 93". We'll output that.

Now

Fortunately, they had caught the twin brother of that medic.

That person was stubborn; when captured, he was ready to poison himself, and only through Hui Moqiong's special methods did they manage to pry a bit of useful information from his mouth.

It turned out that when he was thrown into the water back then, he had not yet completely stopped breathing, and was sucked by the whirlpool into the Dragon Palace beneath the waters of Suedi.

The Dragon God gave him a breath of Dragon Qi, which saved his life.

From childhood he was raised in an organization called the Dragon Shadow Society, whose all members had received the Dragon God's favor; their duty was to gather heavenly treasures and earthly riches through various channels and offer them to the Dragon God.

Xiao Jiu glanced at Liu Junyan; the true Dìmài Lóngshén was right here.

"Xiao Jiu's initial decision to hold back troops was actually a blessing in disguise," Liu Junyan said. "If Xiao Jiu had not handed over those few tortoise shell pieces back then, we would not have been able to follow the clues to discover the Dragon Shadow Society; even without Qiu Honglin, there are still many people secretly working for that ancient great demon, and this net had already been cast wide—I've been in Suedi's waters for so long, yet I failed to notice any contact between that ancient great demon and the outside world."

Hui Moqiong said, "So the heavenly treasures and earthly riches they gathered might still be within the Dragon Shadow Society; by locking onto the Dragon Shadow Society now, we might still be in time to prevent worse things from happening."

"It might already be too late," Xiao Jiu said. "That ancient great demon drained Qiu Honglin dry; he could have destroyed the corpse and erased traces, yet he deliberately left his desiccated body—a provocation. It seems the small pagoda in Suedi can barely hold him back any longer."

Liu Junyan, however, said, "The provocation is real, but don't you think this provocation seems a bit too deliberate?"

"Exactly!" Hui Moqiong analyzed. "If I were that ancient great demon and could go all out, why would I provoke the opponent? I'd just attack directly. Moreover, leaving all these loopholes lets our people follow the clues to discover the Dragon Shadow Society."

Xiao Jiu suddenly understood: "So he's doing this to force us to act."

Liu Junyan nodded: "Little Three's progress has been too rapid—from successfully surviving the Heavenly Tribulation and manifesting his true form, which is the dragon-turtle body I expected, to now undergoing his first successful molt and entering the quasi-mature state, all of which have put tremendous pressure on the opponent."

"Little Three's birth was already beyond his expectations," Xiao Jiu said. "Once Little Three enters the mature state, it will be even harder for him to turn the tables, so either we are forced to act, disrupting Karma, or we force Little Three to act—after all, the quasi-mature state is his weakest, and his scheme is clicking away nicely."

Liu Junyan sneered, "It seems I was too lenient—even a small pagoda can't keep him in line, so don't blame me for getting harsh."

Xiao Jiu had asked Liu Junyan whether, after returning this time, he would leave again.

At that time, Liu Junyan had said that before Little Three fully grows up, he would occasionally go to Suedi's waters to strengthen the seal on that ancient great demon.

But he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

Xiao Jiu was somewhat worried that Liu Junyan's hand might be too heavy or too light, so she immediately said, "I'll go with you."

Liu Junyan had wanted to refuse, but seeing Xiao Jiu's determined gaze, he relented: "All right, we'll go together."

·

Xiao Jiu had been in Suedi's waters before and had even studied that small pagoda underwater, but she had never entered its interior, let alone the area it suppresses.

That is precisely the "Underground Dragon Palace" the medic's brother spoke of.

That is not an underground dragon palace at all, but rather a node of the earth vein line.

Or put another way, it is the final stop in Liu Junyan's clarification of the earth vein line.

It is like a tumor growing on a giant dragon's tail; cutting it out would cause the toxin (nefarious earthly qi) to spread, not only polluting this waters and causing suffering to living beings, but also possibly backlashing onto the entire earth vein, rendering Liu Junyan's previous efforts futile.

The only option is to continually think of ways to suppress it!

Actually, before seeing that ancient great demon, Xiao Jiu did not have a very clear concept of his situation.

Xiao Jiu only knew that this guy ultimately needed Little Three to deal with him.

But when Xiao Jiu saw him, saw his true form that was extremely similar to Little Three's, and saw the gigantic dragon-turtle lying in the earth palace, she realized the situation was far more complicated than she had imagined.

That ancient great demon seemed to be half-grown from the earth vein itself; his limbs extended from beneath the turtle shell, sinking into the earth vein, and the throbbing of each blood vessel seemed to echo the pulse of the earth vein itself.

Upon his turtle back stood a massive stele, like a perilous peak that reaches heaven and stands firm on earth.

And the small pagoda that Liu Junyan had built is precisely what presses down on that stele.

However, Xiao Jiu soon discovered where the greatest difference between this ancient great demon and Little Three lay.

It's the tail!

Little Three not only has a dragon's head, but his tail is also a dragon's tail.

But this ancient great demon's tail is a genuine turtle tail, moreover short and small, tucked beneath the turtle shell, making it especially easy to overlook.

Xiao Jiu initially did not see his tail because she had descended from the front, and the turtle tail happened to be blocked by that stele.

Strangely enough, from when they descended to when they approached this so-called ancient great demon, he remained lying still, eyes tightly shut, completely motionless.

Like a corpse.

At that very moment, Liu Junyan lifted something in his hand.

Xiao Jiu turned her head and saw Liu Junyan frowning as he stared at a piece of skin as thin as a cicada's wing in his hand.

Then Xiao Jiu saw Liu Junyan toss that piece of skin and reach out to touch the ancient great demon's back.

Xiao Jiu also reached up and touched it, and immediately her brows knit together.

His shell was actually soft!

This indicates that he had also undergone a molt not long ago, but for various reasons the scales on his back never hardened.

In some places even the soft scale failed to grow, leaving a blur of flesh and blood.

Could it be because he's being suppressed by the small pagoda?

Or is he simply too weak?

The next moment, Liu Junyan's hand was already placed on the ancient great demon's head, eyes closed, unaware of what he was sensing.

Soon Liu Junyan opened his eyes, took Xiao Jiu's hand, and left; before long they appeared at the water's edge.

Xiao Jiu asked, "Āyàn, did you discover something?"

Liu Junyan scanned the surroundings, as if searching for something.

Finally, his gaze settled on the small shrine that the townspeople had built for Liu Junyan by the water's edge a few months earlier.

Xiao Jiu had personally watched that shrine being built, and she had specially crafted a golden statue of Dìmài Lóngshén to place inside it.

At least until Xiao Jiu left Suedi, that shrine and its golden statue had presented no problems……