48. Fire element
After a few sharp pinches to the philtrum, Tang Xi gradually came to her senses.
Nine-Headed Octopus huddled in the corner, looking dejected. "You're such a coward! You have no taste! I'll play by myself!"
As it turned its back to dive into the water tank, a fist-sized, deep red bulge was revealed at the junction of its head and tentacles. The bulge was wrapped in a light blue, translucent bubble membrane, and it could be clearly seen that the bulge was hopping rhythmically.
Tang Xi glanced at it briefly, then looked away as if she'd been electrocuted. A demon is still a demon; even after being reformed and their minds turned towards good, most demons still look terrible.
So he had to hypnotize himself into thinking that in front of him was a moving golden octopus that had been "turned to gold" and closed his eyes, saying, "Sorry, I have no sense of aesthetics."
Nine-Headed Chapter ignored him.
Beichen followed along, turning his head to the water tank one moment and to Tangxi the next, his mind seemingly very busy, but unfortunately he only had one mouth.
"Nine-Headed Zhang, don't be sad. Actually, you're quite unique. But why is your other head on your neck? By the way, Tang Xihe, I think I have an inner core now. Where did you go this morning? We both drank the Heart-Revealing Water. Did you drink it? You just mentioned Fu Guanhong? They won't be chasing after us, will they..."
"Shut up! Get out of the way!"
Gui Fang shoved Bei Chen aside. "Hey, where did you see Fu Guan Hong? What happened this morning? Did you fight? How many of them were there...?"
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
Tangxi, clutching her buzzing head, jumped onto the seashell chair.
"This morning, while walking in the forest near the hotel, I sensed a fight going on on the outskirts, and the atmosphere was very strange. One of them followed me, and that guy looked exactly like Fu Guanhong! But he was sinister, his gait was odd, and I couldn't sense his presence at all!"
Thinking of the cold, eerie feeling of that guy speaking while supporting her shoulders, Tang Xi got goosebumps all over her body again.
That speed was simply not what one would expect from a human cultivator.
Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?
Gui Fang asked doubtfully, "If that person looks exactly like Fu Guan Hong... that's impossible, she's already dead."
"who?"
"Fu Ning Mirror".
Bei Chen added, "A couple of years ago, there was a heated argument on the school forum about Fu Guan Hong being expelled for murdering her classmate, who was her twin sister, Fu Ning Jing, a student in the divination department."
Gui Fang: "Don't you read the forum? The students in the weapon crafting department deliberately exploited a loophole in the Listening Wind Ruler."
"...Who reads gossip all day long?"
Tangxi thought to herself that the Wind Listening Ruler was a gift from Qin Xiuluo, and she had no idea that it could be used to read gossip on the school forum for the past two years.
"Twins should have a very good relationship, right? Why would she do this?"
Nobody knows.
Gui Fang stared blankly at a certain spot, lost in thought.
“Aside from confessing to murdering Fu Ningjing, she remained silent at other times. Based on the evidence at the dormitory scene and Fu Guanhong’s testimony, the aftermath team and the investigation team confirmed Fu Guanhong’s criminal facts. After that, Fu Guanhong seemed to have evaporated and never appeared again.”
That's strange.
Tang Xi's mood calmed down a bit. Thinking back carefully, if the person who had been playing tricks earlier really was Fu Ningjing, then was she alive or dead?
Oh, right!
"puppet!"
Tang Xi suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "If the person I just saw was Fu Ningjing, could she be a puppet? That's why her walking posture was so strange, and I couldn't sense her presence!"
After saying that, he began to waver again, "But can puppets use spiritual power?"
“Okay.” The nine-headed octopus, which was huddled in the water tank, suddenly spoke, its voice sounding like it came from a loudspeaker. “However, that kind of evil magic has been lost for many years.”
"What kind of evil magic?" Bei Chen pressed.
"Puppetry, you know."
The nine-headed octopus slid out of the water tank, its two tentacles reaching out in different directions, prying off the coral decorations and luminous pearls from the water columns in the hall.
"Look, this is a puppet. Let's assume this is a cold iron crystal."
A roll of pearls was crushed into powder in the tentacles and stuffed little by little into the coral. The dull gray coral began to turn colorful under the influence of the pearl powder.
"By combining the two, the puppet will become a ruthless forging tool with the properties of cold iron crystal."
"But if a demon core is inserted, the puppet can move as nimbly as a human, and even use demonic energy freely."
Everyone was awed.
Nine-Headed Chapter: "Didn't you humans have an invention from ancient times? Something about a power generator or a battery? Anyway, puppets with that thing can move and jump, and a special energy source can maintain both the puppet's and the energy source's properties."
It's as if some kind of "perpetual motion energy" was designed into a shell, causing Fu Ningjing to take this strange form.
After a moment of silence, Bei Chen suddenly realized: "So... Fu Ningjing didn't die back then?"
"Dead."
Gui Fang said, "However, the two sisters had a deep bond. It's strange that Fu Guan Hong suddenly killed her sister, isn't it? Could it be that they planned it together? How did Fu Ning Jing end up in the blessed land?"
Bei Chen scoffed: "Is that even possible? Even brothers keep clear accounts! Who says twins are necessarily close?"
"You dare say you've never seen them argue?"
Gui Fang countered, "You teamed up with Fu Ningjing once, and Fu Guanhong wasn't happy about it, was he?"
"No way..."
"stop!"
Tang Xi grabbed his chin with one hand, "Don't get off topic! The first strange thing is Fu Ningjing, I haven't finished yet! She asked me to pass on a message to Xuanwu, what does she mean? Isn't Fu Ningjing on the side of the evil spirit masters?"
"She wants you to deliver a message to Xuanwu!"
Upon hearing this, the Nine-Headed Octopus burst out of the water vat with a "whoosh," stirring up a salty, fishy wind that caused the table around which the three of them were sitting to shake slightly.
What message did she want you to deliver?
“I don’t understand what she meant by saying ‘Qilin is very weak, hurry up.’”
Tang Xi rested her chin on her hand and said, "It sounds like Fu Ningjing came to remind Xuanwu? And she knows about Qilin."
Upon hearing this, Gui Fang also recalled their brief encounter at Fragrance Gravesite: "Speaking of which... Fu Guan Hong didn't seem to try to kill us, did he?"
"The more I think about it, the more suspicious it becomes. Are these two sisters spies on the side of the evil spirit masters? Who sent them?"
"...and that half-demon named Lang Yuehua."
Bei Chen whispered. He had always been concerned about the extent of Lang Yuehua's strength, but unfortunately, Lang Yuehua had not reappeared since the Fragrant Tomb Soil incident.
The Nine-Headed Octopus beside her seemed to be thinking about something, and its aura gradually dropped several degrees. Even though its newly replaced head made it difficult to discern its expression, Tang Xi could still feel the suppressed excitement and anger emanating from the Nine-Headed Octopus.
"Nine-headed Seal?"
"Huh? Uh..." Nine-Headed Zhang snapped out of his daze and asked seriously, "Young friend Tang, where did you meet her?"
“It’s very close.” Tang Xihe pointed in a certain direction. “About a kilometer away? There are Divine Coral Trees and Nine-Bend Vine nearby.”
"The Divine Coral Tree! So close!"
Nine-Headed Chapter was shocked, "She can sneak into the barrier?! How come I didn't sense it?! Even my dog didn't notice! Could it be a 'door' left for her by Xuanwu?"
As Jiu Tou Zhang spoke, he became increasingly flustered, then turned and burrowed into the water vat. "No, I have to contact Xuanwu!"
Tang Xi then realized that Xuanwu was not at the Wandering Inn at the moment.
"Xuanwu isn't here? Where did he go?"
He said he had something to do at Senluotai!
Nine-Headed Chapter's powerful voice rang out from the water tank like a trumpet, "Logically speaking, our Wandering Mountain has a special barrier set up by Xuanwu, which blurs the aura of the mountain and the sea, so it is impossible for outsiders to come in."
Bei Chen finally remembered the auditory hallucination he had ignored: "The deep sea? We're at the bottom of the sea?"
"Yes, our Wandering Mountain was once a sea hundreds of years ago... Oh well, never mind! I need to contact Xuanwu!"
Nine-Headed Zhang suddenly raised his voice: "No one is allowed in the water tank! Peeping will ruin your entire family!"
"What a vicious curse."
Gui Fang clicked his tongue twice. "But so Xuanwu set up a barrier here? Doesn't that mean the Wandering Inn is very safe?"
"I don't think so. Now that this whole place is a paradise, where is there any safe place?"
Tang Xi waved her hand. "There's one more thing. Gui Fang, before the school was attacked by the evil spirit, did you go to the house I rented?"
Gui Fang asked in bewilderment, "No? What's wrong?"
"Not you?"
Who could it be?
"What?!" Gui Fang was intrigued by Tang Xihe's question. "Explain yourself! I'm not a sneaky person! Was your house burgled? And now, after more than half a month, you think I'm suspicious? You're innocent! I've hurt Tang Xihe's feelings!"
No! I didn't suspect you!
Tang Xi quickly said, "Back then, Pipi was still in her tortoiseshell rabbit form. I found a locksmith advertisement in the room I rented."
"What's so special about locksmith ads?" Bei Chen couldn't help but ask.
"But that advertisement was posted on my dining table."
"..."
Bei Chen's gaze slowly drifted towards Gui Fang. "I can't blame Tang Xi for suddenly thinking of you; this kind of prank is very much like something you would do."
Gui Fang: "I'm not that bored!"
Nine-Headed Octopus suddenly popped out of the water tank and said in a low voice, "It's one thing to not keep your mouth shut, but to play pranks too..."
"It wasn't me!" Gui Fang's face flushed with anger. "How would I know where Tang Xi lives! I'm really angry! I didn't do it, and I didn't do it!"
·
Although the misunderstanding surrounding the "advertising incident" was cleared up, Gui Fang was still in a bad mood after being misunderstood for no reason. So he threatened to randomly spray itching powder on a guest room in the hotel, which made Jiu Tou Zhang feel like he was facing a major threat. He dragged Bei Chen on the left and Tang Xi on the right and forcibly cleaned the room, leaving no brick or tile untouched. He even dug out the bottom of an old pot to wash the two guests.
Joking aside, Gui Fang now understood why Tang Xi was feeling down. Anyone would feel depressed if they suddenly encountered so many things in a short period of time.
The curse of karma, the legend of the immortals, the poison of corruption, and Pipi left in the fragrant graveyard, the cunning and cowardly Golden Toad, the evil spirit master's background is still unknown, so he can only passively hide in the hotel...
Tsk, nothing good has come of it.
As if possessed, he thought of Tang Xi's description of "Fu Ning Mirror," and imitated the languid walking posture of a rubber man, randomly bumping his head into a tree.
He slammed his fist against the tree trunk, sending leaves scattering everywhere.
"Waaah..."
The action of hitting the tree paused slightly.
Gui Fang cautiously looked around, but there was no sign of any living creature. However, he clearly heard what sounded like the whimpering of a small animal.
"Uluru..."
Gui Fang froze for a second. At this moment, he not only heard the noise, but also sensed an unfamiliar presence nearby.
He cautiously approached the source of the sound. "...Who's snoring? There's a hotel nearby. I know the owner well. Give me your incense coins, and I'll help you negotiate the price."
The sound suddenly stopped, followed by a rustling sound from the bushes. The sound was faint, but in the silence, the subtle rustling sound seemed very abrupt.
Gui Fang raised his hand, and eerie energy condensed into threads, parting the bushes. What came into view was a very small fireball, the surrounding low bushes already scorched black by the fireball.
Gui Fang breathed a sigh of relief.
He's been under a lot of stress lately because he's been being chased by evil spirits, which makes him paranoid.
As he approached the trembling flame, ready to stomp it out, Gui Fang was startled again.
What was curled up on the ground was not a fireball, but a miniature elephant.
This fire elephant was only the size of two palms, with thick and rough skin. It had wounds on its body and limbs, and bright red, lava-like flames seeped from the cracks. Its whole body was surrounded by fire, and at first glance it looked like a small fireball. Even the stone shuttle that ran through its waist and abdomen was about to be burned by the lava on its body.
"This is……"
monster?
Gui Fang sensed the little guy's fear and carefully and slowly approached, his eerie energy condensing into skeletal claws, and gently nudged the little fire elephant.
"Why is it fire element again? Is there going to be a war? Seriously... Hey, are you related to Pipi?"
Where the skeletal claws touched the baby elephant, a purplish-blue smoke hissed out.
Gui Fang's eyes narrowed.
This fire elephant can counter my poison?
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