“Get on the boat,” the middle-aged man said, beckoning to Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo stepped onto the small boat.
The man rowed, and the boat slowly drifted across the Clear River.
“They all went to worship the Dragon-Tiger God. Why didn’t you?” Xu Zimo asked curiously.
“There’s no need. The Dragon-Tiger God guards this city for his own reasons, not because he wants the people's worship,” the man said, shaking his head with a smile.
His strokes were rhythmic, as if following a specific tempo.
“You’re interesting,” Xu Zimo said, smiling.
“You’re not from Dragon-Tiger City, are you?” the man asked.
“No, just passing through,” Xu Zimo nodded.
“How did you know?”
“Thousands come and go from Dragon-Tiger City every day. I have a good sense of them all,” the man chuckled. “I’ve lived here a long time.”
“So you’ve been guarding this city all along?” Xu Zimo said calmly, looking at the end of the river.
The water was crystal clear, lotus flowers in bloom, white blossoms like girls dancing in white skirts.
Hearing Xu Zimo’s words, the man looked up and stared deeply at him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course the Dragon-Tiger God wouldn’t need to worship himself,” Xu Zimo laughed. “Don’t worry. I mean no harm, and I have no interest in your city.”
The man studied Xu Zimo for a moment, then took off his yellow conical hat.
When he did, Xu Zimo noticed that the man’s hair was yellow, and he had a pair of tiger ears, very unique.
“You…” Xu Zimo was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected this.
He had only sensed the strong demonic aura from the man earlier, which led him to probe.
“I used to be a resident of this city,” the man smiled.
“Later, I came upon a stroke of fate and ended up like this. I guard this place because I love it.”
“Good luck,” Xu Zimo said with a smile. The boat had reached the other shore.
“No fare for you, consider it payment for keeping my secret,” the man said with a grin.
Watching the boatman row away, Xu Zimo shook his head with a smile.
The man was like a guardian deity of Dragon-Tiger City.
If danger struck, he would surely rise to protect it. But normally, he lived in seclusion, unnoticed by others.
How laughable that the city’s people only knew to worship a dead statue.
After leaving Dragon-Tiger City, Xu Zimo was not far from the True Martial Sacred Sect.
He summoned the Dark Sky Tiger and rode off into the distance.
...
The season of autumn rain arrived. Heaven’s Will continued forming in the sky, unaffected by anything.
Elsewhere, light rain began to fall, and the cool breeze brought both freshness and a slight chill.
Through the drizzle, Xu Zimo arrived at a valley before nightfall.
The rain seemed to be picking up, so he stopped beneath a dense tree for shelter.
He patted the Darksky Tiger’s back. The tiger rose and uprooted several large trees, placing them around Xu Zimo to block the rain.
Xu Zimo wrung the moisture from his clothes and was preparing to enjoy the autumn rain when footsteps reached his ears.
Looking up, he saw a group of people in red robes approaching.
Their robes were bright crimson, with the character Nether printed on the back.
Xu Zimo recognized the attire, one of the imperial lineages of the Eastern Continent: the Blood Nether Sacred Ground.
“There’s someone here,” one of them said.
The others quickly looked toward Xu Zimo.
“Not him,” someone nearby said, shaking his head.
They walked up to Xu Zimo. The leading disciple looked down at him arrogantly and asked:
“Hey, kid, did you see a man and a woman pass by here?”
“I just got here,” Xu Zimo replied. “And I don’t like your tone.”
“You’ve got some attitude,” the disciple sneered and raised his sword to strike Xu Zimo.
Xu Zimo merely lifted his eyelids and glanced at them.
With several loud explosions, the entire group was crushed by a powerful force and exploded on the spot.
“Well, well, the imperial lineages sure like to throw their weight around,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head.
Ignoring the blood and broken bodies, he mounted the Darksky Tiger and headed deeper into the valley.
Any filth left behind would be washed away by the rain.
After walking some distance, Xu Zimo smelled a faint scent of blood.
There were also bloodstains not yet washed away by the rain.
Two steps further, he triggered a trap.
A string snapped, and countless poisoned tree spikes shot toward him.
These spikes were coated with deadly venom, contact meant death by flesh rotting away.
Xu Zimo waved his hand, obliterating all the spikes.
His gaze shifted to a nearby cave, where he sensed someone hiding.
“Come out,” Xu Zimo said calmly.
After a brief hesitation, a figure darted from the cave and bolted into the distance.
But they had only taken a single step before Xu Zimo froze them in place.
“Turn around,” Xu Zimo said coldly.
The rain poured down from the sky.
It drummed on leaves and echoed through the valley, sounding both chaotic and strangely quiet.
As the figure slowly turned, Xu Zimo’s eyes widened.
“You?” the two said in unison, surprised.
“Yao Shengnan, what are you doing here? What are you hiding from?” Xu Zimo asked.
“Lord Xu, I don’t have time to explain, please, save Guilin!” Yao Shengnan cried.
“What happened to Little Gui?” Xu Zimo frowned.
“He’s in the cave, he’s dying!” Yao Shengnan said urgently.
Seeing her panicked expression, Xu Zimo realized something serious had happened.
He followed her into the cave, where he found Little Gui lying in a pool of blood on a raised rock.
His body was covered in wounds, large and small, and he was barely hanging on, soaked in blood.
“How did this happen?” Xu Zimo asked with a frown.
“It was the Blood Nether Sacred Ground, they’re hunting us,” Yao Shengnan replied quickly.