The brightly lit Manor of Beasts was full of a hubbub of noises.
Right now, tables had been set up, and all dishes were filled with exotic food such as wolf’s leg or bear’s palm.
“Master Ji, here’s a toast to you. I want to apologize for offending you earlier!”
Shi the Fourth picked up a bowl the size of his head, filled it with liquor, and spoke to Ji Ye, as he sat at the host seat.
The man then emptied the bowl in one go.
“Teehee, Brother Ji, I’d like to drink a toast to you, too!”
Guo Xiang smiled as well, and just like Shi the Fourth, she raised her cup and drained it. But she wasn’t drinking liquor but some fruit wine brewed from some rare fruit that grew in the Manor of Beasts.
Ji Ye had wanted her to go back to the inn, for her siblings had to be worried sick.
But the girl was the carefree type and had soon recovered from the fright she had from the beasts.
However, when she heard that the Shi Brothers were going to throw a welcome party for Ji Ye and Yang Guo, she insisted that she should stay.
Hence, Ji Ye could only let the Manor of Beasts send a servant back to deliver a message for her siblings, as well as telling Elder Meng how he had been doing. Elder Meng should know what to do next.
After the dinner party, Ji Ye, Yang Zhi, Lu Junyi, and the others stayed at the Manor of Beasts for the night.
“Master, the dead body of the fox is gone!”
They heard the news the following morning at breakfast with the Shi Brothers.
It was delivered by Lu Junyi, who spoke in a surprised tone.
“What? How dare someone steal inside the Manor of Beasts?”
The quick-tempered Shi the Fourth immediately jumped to the conclusion that a servant had stolen it.
After all, the fox was so rare that even its fur could be worth a fortune.
“The Nine-tailed Fox is very cunning. It must have faked its death!”
The oldest one of the brothers seemed to have realized something.
“It was only pretending to be dead?”
Ji Ye was surprised before he put on a frustrated look.
“To tell you the truth, the Twin Dragon Mount actually knows a thing or two about taming animals as well.
“Because the fox was a very rare creature, we tried to capture it before and thought that we had accidentally killed it, which was quite a regrettable thing. But as it turned out, it was only pretending to be dead. How did I miss that?”
The Shi Brothers didn’t suspect a thing.
Because they saw that after Ji Ye showed up, the wolves that they had raised for years immediately surrendered.
They believed that the man was much more capable in taming beasts than they were.
What they didn’t know was that Ji Ye was able to take control over the wolves largely because the beasts had been tamed by them already.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy for Ji Ye to control a real pack of wild wolves.
Because they weren’t the Steelback Blue Wolves.
It was just like what happened outside the Lanruo Temple back then. Although they would fear him, they would never give him their allegiance.
“Masters, do you know where the den of the fox is?”
An idea seemed to have struck Lu Junyi, and he asked the five brothers.
“It’s in a swamp a little over 5 km from here, and that place is known as the ‘Black Dragon Swamp’. The mud there was over 30 m deep, and no one could venture in. The fox’s den is right in the middle of it.
“However, we’ve startled the fox, and it’ll never come out once it returns to the swamp,” said the oldest one of the Shi Brothers.
That was also why they were in despair when they saw the fox running away.
“Don’t worry. We’ll have a go!
“Plus, to make the Black Jade Ointment, our secret medicine, we’ll also need some mud from that swamp. The trip would be worthwhile.”
Ji Ye nodded and was ready to pay the Black Dragon Swamp a visit.
“Master Ji, I’ll go with you!” said Yang Guo.
He felt uneasy to accept Ji Ye’s help, for he hadn’t done anything for Ji Ye, while the latter was going to prepare the ointment for him.
Naturally, he would want to go with Ji Ye.
“Brother Ji, I want to go as well!”
Guo Xiang’s eyes lit up, and she wanted to go with Ji Ye to catch the “little white fox”.
“You’ll have to stay put in the Manor of Beasts. Your big sister is coming. After I catch the fox, I’ll bring it to Xiangyang City for you.”
Of course, Ji Ye couldn’t bring her.
Strictly speaking, one of the reasons that he was in a hurry to go to the Black Dragon Swamp was that he wanted to stop Yang Guo from meeting Guo Fu.
With the old grudges between them, this wasn’t the right time for them to meet!
“Master Ji, the Black Dragon Swamp is right ahead!”
Yang Guo was one of the best alacrity skill practitioners in the book, but Ji Ye was as good as he was. The condor was with them as well.
The two men and a bird didn’t rush over, yet they still arrived at the Black Dragon Swamp before sunrise.
“Amitabha! I’m Yideng the monk, and I wish to see Aunt Yin.”
Before they were even close, they heard a voice coming in the direction of the Black Dragon Swamp.
The person was nowhere to be seen, but he sounded as if he were right next to them.
“That’s the technique of ‘Voice Far Away’!
“I didn’t expect to see Reverend Yideng here.”
Hearing that voice, Yang Guo smiled behind the mask.
We’re here on time!
Ji Ye thought to himself.
He knew that the fox was only pretending to be dead, but he still let it slip away. Obviously, he had done it on purpose.
Because he wanted to use the opportunity to find its den and the other fox of the pair.
Moreover, he wanted to see a plot in the book.
After they entered the Black Dragon Swamp, they saw a man standing in the snow. His white beard was down to his chest, and he wore a grey monk’s robe.
“Reverend Yideng, to what do we owe this honor!”
Yang Guo ran to the old monk’s side and greeted him with a bow.
“Yang Guo, my dear fellow, how have you been?”
Reverend Yideng was also pleasantly surprised. He immediately took Yang Guo’s hand, stopping him from bowing.
“Isn’t that Reverend Cien? What happened?!”
Yang Guo straightened himself up to find a man lying on the ground next to Reverend Yideng. His eyes were closed, and he had a sallow face. In addition, he was barely breathing.
When Yang Guo saw the man’s face, he was surprised.
“He’s been injured. I’ve done all I could, but there’s nothing I can do now.”
Reverend Yideng shook his head and looked crestfallen.
“With Reverend Cien’s capability, I wonder who could have injured him so gravely?”
Yang Guo was even more surprised.
Because Cien wasn’t just any monk. He was Qiu Qianren, the once “Water Walking Iron Fist”. In terms of martial arts achievement, he was the closest to the Five Greats.
With his cultivation level, how could anyone inflict such an injury onto him?!
“It was the doing of the Yuan people. He and I have been living in seclusion in Hunan, but it was rumored that because the Yuan army still couldn’t take Xiangyang after a long siege, they were going to attack Dali first before they regroup and attack Xiangyang together.
“Seeing that I was concerned with my homeland, Cien went to Dali to gather information, but he ran into a martial arts expert of the Yuan army, who injured him after a fierce battle…”
Reverend Yideng had a solemn look on his face.
“The Yuan people had established their kingdom on martial prowess, and the man was able to injure Reverend Cien, so he was probably one of the four lords!”
Hearing that, Yang Guo had a serious look on his face.
Ji Ye learned something from that conversation.
In this Battlefield of Providence, the Yuan lords were as capable as the Five Greats.
It seemed that they would have to improve their capability if they wanted to complete the task.
“Reverend Yideng, are you here to ask someone in the swamp to save Reverend Cien?” asked Ji Ye.
Of course he knew what the monk was here for; he only said that to strike up a conversation.
“I’m afraid Cien’s injury is beyond saving. To tell you the truth, my pupil here is ready to die, but he has one last wish: he wishes that the person living in the swamp could forgive him. Otherwise, he’ll never rest in peace.
“However, I’ve been here for eight days, but she still wouldn’t see me. I’m afraid that Cien won’t last much longer.”
Reverend Yideng shook his head and sighed.
Qiu Qianren had become his pupil, converted to Buddhism, and severely injured by a Yuan master when running errands for him. If his last wish couldn’t be granted, even an eminent monk like Yideng would find it hard to accept the reality.
“Reverend Yideng, it’s not really that difficult to bring the person in the swamp out. Sorry about this!” said Ji Ye with a smile.
Boom!
He gave off a different energy after that.
Immediately, the water melted from the snow began to flow rapidly over the swamp.
Boom! Boom!
Right after that, the entire Black Dragon Swamp shook violently, as if there was an earthquake.
“Well…”
Both Yang Guo and Reverend Yideng looked astonished.
They were already the top martial arts practitioners of this world, but even they couldn’t make such an impact with all their effort.
What Ji Ye had done was beyond human power.
“Huh?”
Not only them, but Ji Ye was surprised as well.
He had activated his Flood Dragon Blood only to control the snow melted by the sun so that he could demonstrate his power to flush out the person hiding in the swamp.
However, once the Flood Dragon Blood was activated, the Black Dragon Swamp had a strange reaction.
After that, he was able to sense the property of the swamp.
[Black Dragon Swamp]
[Level: Extraordinary]
[Rarity: Common]
[Description: Legend has it that a black dragon used to live here. Having been affected by its energy over the years, the Black Dragon Swamp went through some unusual change.]
At first, Ji Ye thought that the “black dragon” was only a name, but by the look of it, a black dragon had really existed once.
The mud in the entire swamp had resonated with him, stirring the entire Black Dragon Swamp.
Yes, dragons did exist in the book.
Because in Master Jin’s original book (the fantasy wuxia version), the Dragon-Subduing Strike, which was supposed to be the most formidable fist strike technique in the world, was created by combining the combat method of a black flood dragon and the Book of Changes.
Maybe this Black Dragon Swamp was where that black dragon used to live.
Although things had been toned down in the Battlefield of Providence, some things had remained remarkable!