Chapter 45: Yongjiang Dragon Palace

Qin Mu leaned closer and peered through the window lattice. He saw the white fox holding a bamboo tube, puffing its cheeks as it blew air onto the firewood beneath the cooking stove.

Qin Mu cleared his throat and asked, "Is anyone home?"

Inside the thatched hut, the white fox startled. It quickly hid the bamboo tube and, in an old voice, barked, "Who's shouting and disturbing my meditation? I am an ancient demon; I will grind your bones to dust..."

Qin Mu chuckled. Hearing the laughter, the white fox quickly looked up, saw the boy outside the window, and let out a sigh of relief. Its voice returned to normal, becoming melodious and pleasant: "Ah, it's the boy who borrowed wind from me the day before yesterday. I was drunk at a banquet that day, so I was a bit rude and neglectful. Don't stand outside; please come in."

Qin Mu walked into the thatched hut and looked around. He was quite surprised to see how neat and clean it was inside, with a bed, a rice jar, furniture, a folding screen, and even a dressing table.

The white fox stood on its hind legs and bowed respectfully to Qin Mu. "My humble abode is modest, please forgive its appearance."

Qin Mu returned the bow and asked curiously, "Are you cooking?"

The white fox replied, "My sisters hosted a banquet yesterday, and I had a few too many drinks. I woke up with a headache this morning and am making some hangover soup. Please, have a seat."

Qin Mu marveled inwardly. This white fox was even more intelligent than the ape demon, knowing how to make its own soup. However, it seemed the fox was fond of drinking and got drunk every day.

He noticed a bookshelf nearby and walked over to it. The shelf held several ancient texts. He pulled one out; it discussed breathing techniques and some spells, but all were incomplete.

"Sir, can you read?"

The white fox, having finished making the hangover soup, glanced at Qin Mu, who was engrossed in the book. It exclaimed with surprise, "I can't read the words in the book; I just practice by looking at the illustrations. If you can read them, could you explain them to me?"

"Why not?"

Qin Mu sat down. The white fox twitched its tail, and a bowl of hangover soup, carried by the wind, floated onto the table. The fox sat opposite him, its eyes bright and keen.

Qin Mu opened the first page and read aloud, "Circulate qi to the Square Inch Mountain, invigorate the Primordial Qi Elixir, the tiger roams beneath the lungs, shaking the cold Qi Sea..."

The white fox drank its hangover soup, listening intently, and suddenly asked, "Where is the Square Inch Mountain?"

"The Square Inch Mountain is between your eyebrows."

Qin Mu explained, "The spot between your eyebrows is the Divine Treasure of the Spirit Embryo. Circulating qi to the Square Inch Mountain means guiding your primordial qi to that point. However, when primordial qi reaches the spot between your eyebrows, divine sounds will come from beyond the Nine Heavens, blocking your qi."

The white fox tried it and shook its head, "I didn't hear any divine sounds."

Qin Mu frowned. Whenever he had guided his primordial qi to his brow, divine sounds would appear to prevent him from breaking through. He had assumed the white fox would encounter the same, but it said it didn't.

"Could it be that the Divine Treasure of the Spirit Embryo is structured differently in humans and foxes?"

Without dwelling on it, he continued explaining and soon finished the ancient text. The cultivation method described in this volume indeed had unique aspects, but it wasn't compatible with Qin Mu's "Overlord Body" cultivation, so he couldn't practice it.

The white fox was intelligent and grasped the book's contents, chuckling. "I used to practice according to the illustrations, thinking I had learned everything in this book, but it turns out I made many mistakes. Thank you for clarifying things for me. My name is Hu Ling'er. May I ask your name, young sir?"

"My name is Qin Mu, meaning 'the cowherd boy named Qin.' I'm not a young master or anything."

Qin Mu smiled, "I live nearby, not far from here. Where did you get these ancient texts?"

Hu Ling'er, drinking her hangover soup, felt her muddled head clear a little. She said, "About sixty li to the west of here, there's a ruin. One time, I came back late and sought shelter from the darkness in that ruin. I accidentally opened a stone chamber and found these books, along with a bottle of pills. After taking the pills, my senses suddenly sharpened, and I gained consciousness. I thought the books were valuable, so I brought them back, but since I can't read, I could only rely on the illustrations. All my spells were learned from these books."

"Sixty li to the west?"

Qin Mu was surprised and mused, "Could it be the Dragon King's Palace of Yong River?"

Hu Ling'er's eyes lit up. "There are indeed many dragon statues there, but it's very dangerous inside, full of great perils. I didn't dare to go in, so I just brought back some books."

Qin Mu eagerly asked, "Can you take me there?"

The little white fox said, "It's very fierce inside; you can't easily go in. I was so scared just reaching the entrance that I..."

It was very ashamed and didn't finish its sentence, presumably too terrified to describe being scared witless.

Qin Mu was somewhat excited. "Don't you want to see the Dragon Palace? There might even be a Dragon King inside!"

"No."

Hu Ling'er thought for a moment, then cunningly blinked her eyes. "If you can come often, Young Master Mu, and explain these ancient texts, I'll take you there. But I won't go inside."

"Deal!"

Qin Mu laughed and raised his hand. Hu Ling'er hesitated for a moment, then raised her furry paw and touched it against his. She then drank the hangover soup completely.

The boy and the fox walked out of the thatched hut and headed west.

"Whose banquet did you attend the day before yesterday?" Qin Mu asked, recalling the earlier conversation.

"It was a banquet hosted by Great Demon King Yaoling, inviting various great demons. After I acquired the ancient texts from the Yong River Dragon Palace, my intelligence greatly increased, and I became a somewhat well-known great demon in the vicinity. However, I can't defeat those brute-force types, so I'm at the very bottom among the great demons."

Hu Ling'er jumped onto a banana leaf, activated her spell, and a demonic wind began to blow. The wind lifted the banana leaf, and she chuckled, "Great Demon King Yaoling has already achieved human form and is very powerful. All great demons within a thousand li radius, whether they are beast overlords or not, must obey his commands."

The demonic wind propelled the banana leaf, carrying the white fox into the air. Qin Mu leaped up, running on the wind's edge, and hurried westward.

Meanwhile, two or three li from the thatched hut, a gigantic gluttonous beast was looking around curiously, muttering, "By my reckoning, Mu'er should have arrived by now. This time I disguised myself as a strange beast, so he surely wouldn't recognize me... Strange, where did that brat go? Hmm? A fox's demonic wind! The little rascal's first time out hunting, and he's already been led astray by a vixen!"

A hundred li from Crippled Old Village, on the river, a gust of wind propelled a ten-foot-long banana leaf, upon which sat a white fox. Beside it, a boy ran on the wind—it was Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er.

"With my current magic power, I can't fly directly. I can only use spells to conjure a demonic wind, and that wind has to carry the banana leaf for me to stay in the air. If I were to run on the wind like you, I'd definitely fall... The Dragon Palace is nearby!"

Hu Ling'er lowered the demonic wind, and Qin Mu and the white fox on the banana leaf gradually descended. A moment later, the boy and the fox landed.

Qin Mu looked around. The Yong River curved around a large mountain here, green water embracing verdant hills. Birdsong echoed crisply through the valley, monkeys leaped freely through the forest, and large fish and river beasts swam in the water. It was all very calm and peaceful.

The white fox leaped as if flying, leading the way. Qin Mu quickly followed. Hu Ling'er was running towards the mountain encircled by the river, making Qin Mu wonder if the Dragon Palace wasn't in the river but built on the mountain instead.

A moment later, they reached the mountaintop. Qin Mu saw a ruin: a Dragon King Temple. In front of the temple stood a massive water-suppressing stone, over eight zhang tall, resembling a stele. Below it was carved a gigantic stone turtle, bearing the water-suppressing stone on its back. The stone turtle had a large mouth, appearing to be panting, as if exhausted.

This Dragon King Temple was dilapidated, with crumbling walls and a collapsed main hall. Qin Mu looked around and saw that there weren't even any stone statues, suggesting it couldn't withstand the invasion of darkness.

He was still wondering when Hu Ling'er suddenly disappeared. Then, her voice called out, "Come in quickly!"

Qin Mu looked in the direction of the voice and saw the white fox inside the stone turtle's mouth, waving its paw at him. Qin Mu hurried over. The stone turtle was large enough for a person to stand upright inside. Qin Mu followed the hopping white fox, and when they reached the turtle's throat, a deep, secluded staircase appeared before them.

There had originally been a stone door at the entrance to the stairs, but it had fallen for unknown reasons, revealing this staircase leading underground.

Qin Mu continued following the white fox. The passage grew wider and wider, gradually seeming to delve deeper into the mountain. The surrounding rock walls were covered in glowing, damp moss, and strange creatures, like dandelions, drifted through the air. They had thin tentacles beneath them, which they twirled to fly.

The white fox leaped up, caught one in its mouth, and ate it. Then it hopped around, continuing to eat, seemingly finding them quite delicious.