Chapter 48: Dragon Soul

A hum—

Behind Qin Mu, a halo spun behind the Buddha's image, emitting brilliant light that shot out in all directions, dispelling even the strange mist. He heard continuous thudding sounds. Qin Mu looked around to see countless mummified corpses falling from the air, so numerous that there was barely any space to step.

Besides the mummified corpses, there were also skeletons with no muscles left, only bones. They wore loose clothing that resembled official robes.

The mist around him vanished, and his surroundings became clear again. However, the singing continued, though now further away, still poignant and desolate, filled with endless sorrow.

Qin Mu withdrew his vital qi, and the Buddha's image behind him gradually faded.

"Why are there so many corpses hidden in this hall? These don't look like ordinary people..." Qin Mu observed them, frowning slightly. The sheer number of unrotted corpses was unusual. After all, the Flood Dragon King's corpse outside had already decomposed to a skeleton; it was impossible for these bodies in the hall to be preserved like this.

"One possibility is that these bodies entered after the Great Ruins catastrophe. Like Fox Spirit and me, they also discovered the path to the Flood Dragon Palace and entered this main hall." Qin Mu's eye twitched as he looked ahead; dense mist still lay in the depths of the hall. "Something in the mist killed them and turned them into this!"

His scalp tingled, and he gripped the monk's staff tightly. The Xiqiluo staff truly deserved its reputation as a treasure capable of buying a city; merely infusing it with his vital qi had unleashed astonishing power. Granny Si had wanted him to bring the staff. She was very concerned about his safety, and besides the staff, she had also taken various forms to protect him secretly. "Granny must have been worried sick these past few days..."

Qin Mu felt a pang of guilt, then braced himself, his gaze sweeping around. "The source of the mist must be in this hall, and the danger too! What exactly killed these martial artists who came to explore?"

Just then, the mist from the depths of the hall surged towards him, rising to his ankles, then slowly creeping higher. The mummified corpses on the ground, enveloped by the mist, slowly twisted their bodies and stood up in a grotesque manner. The mist rose higher and higher, eventually obscuring Qin Mu's head. Within the mist, the mummified corpses began to float, and as the fog grew thicker, they vanished from sight.

"What malevolent entity is playing tricks and causing trouble here? Xiqiluo!" Qin Mu advanced with his staff. After walking a dozen yards, the singing grew closer again. Qin Mu forcefully struck the ground with his staff, and brilliant Buddhist light erupted, accompanied by resounding Buddhist chants. The image of a great Buddha reappeared behind him, its light dispelling the mist, causing the mummified corpses to thud to the ground once more.

"Little bald donkey..." A chilling voice suddenly echoed in the hall, but it only spoke a single sentence, making Qin Mu and the little fox wonder if they were hallucinating.

Qin Mu finally saw the source of the mist: an ice sculpture at the center of the dragon palace, from which the fog emanated. He walked closer and saw a young dragon lying motionless within the ice sculpture, a broken sword piercing its heart. Between the dragon pillars of the main hall, a colossal green dragon slowly swam through the air. It seemed to have no true physical form, able to pass through the pillars. The singing emanated from the green dragon's mouth. Its gaze remained fixed on the ice-sealed young dragon, never moving. Its eyes were filled with tenderness and sorrow, and the song was equally mournful, as if grieving the departure of its child.

This was a dragon soul. The soul of a dragon. It could be the Flood Dragon King, or perhaps his wife. It was a mother, and the ice-sealed young dragon was likely her child. It must have encountered the Great Ruins catastrophe; disaster struck, and its child suffered an unavoidable, fatal sword wound. She loved her child so much that she encased it in ice and died in the catastrophe herself. Yet, her soul still wandered this hall, guarding her beloved child, continuing to hum a dragon lullaby, hoping to awaken her child.

"Little bald donkey, look over here!" Suddenly, the voice returned. Qin Mu quickly followed the sound and saw another block of black ice in the hall, in addition to the one he was observing. This block was hidden behind the black ice sealing the young dragon, with the two ice blocks connected. Sealed within this ice was an elderly man in purple robes with white eyebrows. His clothing appeared to be official attire: a dark green Xuan Chang robe embroidered with nine auspicious patterns. He wore golden and jade ornaments at his waist, carried a sword, and donned a nine-streamer imperial crown, positioned as if reaching for something.

One of his hands rested on a black banner, while his other hand reached deep into another block of black ice, grasping an egg-sized cyan pearl within. It was unclear what the cyan pearl was, but a tiny cyan dragon was coiled inside it.

"Could this pearl be what sealed this old gentleman in ice?" Qin Mu blinked, walked closer, and carefully examined the old man encased in ice. He then noticed something strange: as he moved, the old man's eyeballs inside the ice also moved! "It truly was his voice earlier!"

Qin Mu felt a chill and turned to look at the mummified corpses on the hall floor, immediately considering a possibility. This old man in the ice must have been the first to discover the Flood Dragon Palace. He found this pearl within the black ice, but when he tried to take it, he was frozen by it. He must have survived in the ice for a long time. The reason he hadn't died was probably because he used the black banner he leaned on to kill the martial artists who entered the dragon palace, absorbing their vital essence and blood, which explained why these martial artists became mummified corpses after death! Sealed in the ice until now, the old man's usable cultivation was likely limited. Qin Mu, carrying the Xiqiluo staff into the dragon palace, was protected by its power, allowing him to escape the black banner's sinister influence and survive.

"So it's the Xiqiluo staff of that old bald donkey from Great Thunderclap Temple. No wonder it could resist the mist's strange power." The old man in the ice couldn't move his lips, but his Adam's apple vibrated as he spoke, "You're not a bald monk from Great Thunderclap Temple. Why do you have that old bald donkey's staff?"

Qin Mu honestly replied, "This junior won it by defeating his disciple."

"Won it?" A laugh rumbled from the old man's throat. "How could that old bald donkey ever admit defeat? How old are you?"

Qin Mu said, "I'll be twelve this autumn."

The purple-robed old man praised, "To be able to defeat that old bald donkey's disciple at twelve years old is truly remarkable."

Qin Mu blinked and asked, "Senior, why are you sealed in ice here?"

The old man chuckled, "That's a story, of course, and it starts from the beginning... Don't leave, come back!"

Qin Mu stopped, looking troubled. "Senior, I'm in a hurry to get home; I don't have time for a story."

The old man coughed. "To make a long story short, I was traveling through the Great Ruins with my disciples when I accidentally discovered this place. I saw many mummified corpses and realized that this dragon pearl was behind it all, killing everyone who entered and absorbing their vital energy and blood, turning them into mummified bodies. This dragon pearl absorbed others' vital energy to sustain the life of the young dragon in the ice! As a cultivator, it was my undeniable duty to intervene, so I prepared to take this dragon pearl to prevent it from harming future generations. Alas, I was one step too slow; I didn't expect this pearl to be a Dragon God's pearl, and I was frozen here by it! None of my disciples escaped this place; they were all absorbed of their vital energy by this dragon pearl to sustain the little dragon's life!"

Fox Spirit, who was hiding in Qin Mu's arms, quietly raised her head and whispered, "Young Master Mu, do you believe his story?"

Qin Mu hesitated. His own guess was the exact opposite of the old man's story. In the old man's narrative, the dragon mother saved her child by using the dragon pearl to harm others, drawing their vital energy and blood to sustain the young dragon's life, and the old man, upholding justice, was ambushed by the pearl. Qin Mu's conjecture, however, was that the old man had been frozen by the dragon pearl and, to prolong his own life, used evil methods to harm people, devouring the vital energy and blood of martial artists who found their way here.

It had to be said that both his theory and the old man's story were plausible. But which was true? Qin Mu glanced around, seeing the mist closing in. He immediately vibrated the Xiqiluo staff and forcefully struck the ground!

"Thus have I heard!" The Buddha's image reappeared behind him, and deep Sanskrit chants echoed, "All sentient beings, since beginningless time, have cycled through birth and death, all because they do not know the true eternal mind, the pure luminous essence, but instead cling to delusive thoughts. These thoughts are not real, hence the cycles—cycles—cycles—cycles..."

"Great Thunderclap Temple's Buddhist teachings are indeed profound," the old man in the ice remarked with admiration.

"What is your name, Senior?" Qin Mu asked as he dispelled the mist.

The old man in the ice replied, "This old man is Gu Lihuan, the Junior Protector of the Crown Prince of Yankang Kingdom, a first-rank official. If you can free me, I guarantee you endless glory and wealth when you reach Yankang Kingdom!"