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“So, it seems the fiction stories weren’t all making it up. Maybe the black magic and white magic do exist, so do the warlocks and sorcery.”

Closing the book, Gu Yu murmured to himself, “Art is rooted in life itself. Just look at our xianxia fictions. There might be exaggerations, but it’s not completely groundless.”

He slowly rose to his feet. The book in his hand disappeared suddenly and, almost instantaneously, reappeared on the nearby shelf.

It was one of the most popular western fantasies. Set in the Great Brittania, it was a story about a group of young sorcerers defeating a big monster. Quite a few books of similar themes could be found on the shelf. Some were about elves and dwarves, some depicting dragons and liches, some looking into alchemists, etc.

After saying yes to Wang Qi, Gu Yu had been doing his homework, reading through all kinds of relevant books. He made an interesting discovery: gods might not exist among the supernatural powers of the western world, but certain folklore or anecdotes on historical figures might not be fabricated after all.

For instance, Nicolas Flamel of Gaul, a famous 14th-century alchemist, was considered the founder of alchemy in Europe.

His best-known contribution was the creation of the philosopher’s stone—yes, that same one mentioned in Horry Patter ¹ ! Legend had it that not only could the stone transform mercury into gold, it could also make one immortal.

Flamel passed away in 1427 in his hometown. In search for the secret of the philosopher’s stone, alchemists left no stone unturned, only to find the Flamel couple’s coffins empty.

For centuries that followed, there were multiple witnesses claiming to have seen the couple…

It sounded both marvelous and exotic, yet come to think of it, wasn’t that whole setting somewhat familiar? Essentially, how was that different from the legends of Ge Hong, Ye Fashan, or Sa Shoujian?

Hence, since we ² could benefit from the benevolence of our forefathers, there was no reason they shouldn’t.

“Creak!”

Pushing open the door, Gu Yu found all was quiet in the yard and no one was under the old tree—the younger two had probably gone play somewhere.

He could not be bothered to search for them. Kicking lightly at the ground with the tip of his toe, he leapt 10 cm off the ground before stepping repeatedly. Instantly, he seemed to fade into the air, leaving behind nothing but a barely discernible thin mist, then like a piece of cloud carried swiftly away by the wind, he was two hundred meters away in a heartbeat.

Cottage of Pure Mind was forty minutes away from the training field by foot, but the thin mist landed in the middle of the field in a couple of minutes.

“Whoo….”

The mountain breeze brushed against the ground and the white mist filled the air, slowly taking the human shape again.

Landing on his feet, Gu Yu sensed the solid feeling of the ground and was greatly satisfied. With the help of the Body-refining and Mind-enhancing Dan, the cultivation speed of the family of four was taking the rocket.

The effect on his was the most obviously. Take the Shadow-switching Technique he used just then for an example, it had improved significantly in both the “special effect” and the duration from when he used it on Changbai Mountain.

It was literally a pretender’s best gift—the show was on 24/7!

Of course, he was still secretly frustrated a little—Xiaozhai was only a few feet away and did not even lift her eyelids.

***

“Brother!”

“Brother!”

Gu Yu popped a pill and had just absorbed it fully, breathing out a long breath, when there came an urgent calling. Long Qiu then appeared in sight, running happily towards them. “Great, you’re all here!”

“What’s wrong?” asked Xiaozhai.

“There is a big monster. It sounds very dangerous!”

Long Qiu took out her phone and handed it to the couple. In the forum of the app, the authorities had for the first time put up a post.

“Recently, an unknown beast has been spotted on the Tianhua Mountain—Five Dragons Ridge region. Its activity is covering a very wide area and the beast often travels across different regions. It is very aggressive and has taken up the habit to feed on human beings. Up to now, eight men have been killed and thirteen injured. App users in the area should take precautions of their safety and do not attempt to rashly search for it.”

“…”

Frowning, Gu Yu asked, “What other measures have they taken?”

“They have sent guards there. Protective nets are set around the mountain foot and the government has organized teams to enter the mountain. A lot of local people are protesting, saying they need to move; some even went to the provincial capital to petition.”

‘Pardon me?’

A politically sensitive term like “petition” sound so out of the place when uttered by Long Qiu.

The Tianhua Mountain was at the edge of Dongyun’s jurisdiction and right next to Five Dragons Ridge of Shengtian, which was also a small mountain. Five Dragons Ridge had some hot springs and was quite a popular tourist destination.

As mentioned before, moving southeast away from Shengtian, one would find unbroken mountain regions, all a stretching branch of Changbai Mountains. The mountains were of various sizes and ran all the way through the two cities.

Since the monstrous beast enjoyed roaming around, it would inevitably bring damage wherever it went. Hence, someone simply had to teach it some discipline.

But how?

After some consideration, Gu Yu suddenly announced, “Xiao Qiu, the job is yours.”

“Oh… huh?” Long Qiu was about to nod when she realized what she just heard. “Are you asking me… to go alone?”

“Surely you can handle a petty four-legged thing, can’t you?” asked Xiaozhai.

“Yes, of course, I just…” The girl was anxious at first, but soon grew excited. “Well, I’ll give it a go, then?”

“It’s not a question. I’m giving you an order. You’re leaving, now!” said Gu Yu.

“But I was going to make some preparations first!” Long Qiu was a little dumbstruck.

“There’s no need for that. Just go, quickly!” Xiaozhai joined in rushing her out.

“But I don’t know if it— what? Brother! Sister!”

The poor girl was overruled in all her objections and before she knew it, she was out on her way to the job. ‘Are you kidding me? We’ve finally had something worth solving and she’d better use every precious minute to train herself!’

The third of Phoenix Mountain against a mutated beast, what was there to prepare?!

***

Shengtian, Youth Street.

It was one of the main roads of the city. At night, the street would be lit up brightly by the endless streams of vehicles and flickering neon lights, but such a scene had been toned down by a great deal since the beginning of this month.

With the upsurge in power consumption, there wasn’t enough left to light up the night sky.

“Whoosh!”

A white vehicle sped along the wide street. The coupe was powerful and excellent to handle. The big sister behind the wheel was composed and at ease—it was none other than Yang Qing, Xiaojin’s mother.

She was coming back from a facial with a couple of BFFs and on her way home—not the one she shared with her husband, but her own home. The couple had a row this morning and she did not want to speak to him yet, so she decided to stay the night in the house of her own.

“Good evening, everybody. Welcome back to ‘Late Night Babble’. I’m Xiang Xiang. Before we start, I’d like to give you a heads-up. Actually, it was announced several days ago already. Because of the summertime electricity shortage, power cut will be carried out in zones this month. From eight tonight to six tomorrow morning, the electricity of thirteen residential districts including Kunshan Road, Shenshantie Road, and Baishan Road will be temporarily cut off. Please be prepared…”

Yang Qing realized her house was within the affected area and made a mental note to buy a couple of candles from the convenience store downstairs later.

“Now, we’ll begin today’s program with something on Zhongyuan Festival. The day arrives slightly earlier this year, which is Aug. 8th ³ and which means it’s less than two weeks’ time. We’re all familiar with the festival. On that day, we’ll visit the graves to honor the memory of the dead and show our grief…”

The broadcaster babbled on, yet Yang Qing was lost in her own thoughts after a while.

She was from the region south of the Yangtze River, where the family tradition was well preserved. They even still kept an ancestral hall of the clan. Back then, she would join the elder generation in the worship ceremony during the major festivals. However, she seldom went back there after she got married and moved to the north.

Both of her parents had passed away. An older brother remained in her hometown and would take care of their graves. At the sudden mention of the subject, her thoughts were drifting further and further away.

Hello, sister! You’re driving!

“Bang!”

Unsurprisingly, the car jolted abruptly and Yang Qing suddenly came to herself. There was a thump, as if she had just crushed something. Meanwhile, the tire pressure monitor alerted: the right rear wheel had lost pressure.

“Screech!”

She pulled over in a hurry, got off, and bent over to check. She had driven over some sort of tile, which had broken into sharp pieces and pierced the tire.

“Tsk!”

Frustrated, Yang Qiu pulled out the shard and tossed it aside. Looking around, she realized she was somewhere around Lilac Lake, which was quite distant from the downtown area and very remote.

A major road ran through the area in the middle, flanked by construction sites on both sides.

It was the middle of nowhere. Her only option was to call the police before calling her BFFs for help as well. After that, feeling she had not yet fully worked off her anger, she found the lousy thing and trampled it until it was broken into the tiniest pieces.