“I heard this is an antique shop. I wonder if you buy things here?”

Fang Qiu pushed open the intricately carved heavy door, which was much heavier than she had imagined. It took her a moment to adjust to the dim lighting inside. Behind the counter, which emanated a classical atmosphere under the flickering candlelight, sat a young man.

He wore a black Zhongshan suit with an ordinary appearance, but on his right shoulder was embroidered a lifelike deep red dragon head. The dragon’s piercing eyes seemed to slowly move as she walked.

“We do.” The young shop owner put down the book in his hands, looked up, and smiled at her.

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She realized that when the owner smiled, he seemed like a completely different person, radiating a mysterious aura throughout his being.

Fang Qiu quickly lowered her head to avoid his gaze and walked over to place the newspaper bundle she was carrying onto the counter.

“These are things I found in an old box when I was moving. I don’t know if they have any value. I felt it wasn’t good to keep them at home, but throwing them away seemed too wasteful… Um, boss, please take a look first.” As Fang Qiu spoke, she unwrapped the newspaper, revealing some scattered bamboo strips inside.

Just as she was about to fully unfold the newspaper, she felt the owner’s breathing suddenly halt, and he unexpectedly pressed down on her hand. Fang Qiu was startled and looked up to find that he wasn’t even looking at her, but staring intently at the bamboo strips in the newspaper.

Fang Qiu pulled her hand free from the owner’s grasp and watched as he carefully opened the newspaper bit by bit. She suddenly recalled that the contact with his hand had been extremely cold, unlike a normal person’s body temperature.

“How much are you willing to sell these bamboo slips for?” The owner carefully examined the bamboo strips lying quietly in the newspaper and asked indifferently.

Fang Qiu was stunned. She hadn’t expected these broken bamboo strips to sell for much money; she was more curious about the origin of these bamboo slips.

“What’s written on these bamboo slips?” After asking, she couldn’t help but smile. The text on these bamboo slips was in seal script—how could an ordinary person recognize it at a glance?

But the young owner quickly gave her an answer: “What’s written here is the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.’ Based on the content, it should be the ‘Classic of Regions Within the Seas North’ section.”

Fang Qiu was slightly disappointed. She had thought it might contain martial arts secrets or treasure maps! It turned out to be just an ancient book that had been passed down for ages.

“Well, boss, please make an offer. I accidentally broke three pieces while sorting them, and the remaining ones probably aren’t complete either, just scattered fragments…”

Before Fang Qiu could continue, she heard a number from the owner’s mouth that far exceeded her expectations. She gasped in shock—for a student like her, this figure was simply unimaginable.

“How about it? Is that acceptable?” The owner looked up for the first time and seriously focused his gaze on her.

Fang Qiu had originally prepared to bargain before coming, but thinking of that astronomical figure, she nodded without any backbone, afraid the other party might change his mind. These had originally been trash from her home! If she hadn’t insisted on bringing them, her mother would have thrown them away long ago!

Before she could recover from her shock, Fang Qiu found that the young owner had somehow produced a black clay jar, turned it upside down on the counter, and poured out many tightly bundled stacks of hundred-yuan bills with a clattering sound. Fang Qiu’s eyes nearly popped out—who would casually keep such a huge sum of money in their shop like this!

“Don’t worry, this money is all currently circulating currency. I used to keep gold ingots in my shop, but even if I gave you gold ingots, you wouldn’t know if they were real.” The owner pushed the money on the counter toward Fang Qiu, then turned his attention to studying those bamboo slips.

Fang Qiu was speechless for a long moment. She reached out to confirm that the money was all real bills, which made her even more nervous. Was she really supposed to walk home carrying this huge sum of money?

Seeing that she had been dazed for quite a while, the owner looked up and asked puzzledly, “Is there anything else?”

Fang Qiu cleared her throat and tentatively asked, “Could you… give me a plastic bag?” Otherwise, how was she supposed to carry all this money!

“Hello! I’m here! I passed by the soup dumpling shop today and discovered they launched a new type of soup dumpling, so I bought some to try! Huh? Where is everyone? Where is everyone?” The doctor came in carrying two boxes of hot soup dumplings, surprised not to find the owner behind the counter.

He nonchalantly placed the lunch boxes on the counter. The stacked boxes caused one to fall, landing on the newspaper wrapping the bamboo strips. Immediately, there was a faint “crack” sound.

“What are you doing?” An ominous voice came from behind the screen. Before the words had finished, the owner appeared behind the counter like a gust of wind, looking menacingly at the lunch box pressing on the newspaper.

The doctor felt a chill down his back and quickly apologized: “I thought it was just newspaper. I didn’t know there was something inside. This… this… how much does it cost? I’ll compensate you!” The doctor clasped his hands together and said through gritted teeth. If he knew the real price of these bamboo slips, he would vomit blood—he couldn’t pay it back even if he sold himself for several years.

The owner carefully moved the lunch box away and found that one bamboo slip had broken. He sighed helplessly. Actually, he was also to blame for not putting the bamboo slips away in time. Dehydrated bamboo slips were extremely fragile—each slip was only about one centimeter wide and over twenty centimeters long, and had become as soft as noodles. They couldn’t be lifted as whole pieces at all. So he had gone to the inner room to find a box to store them, but he hadn’t expected this guy to arrive during his brief absence.

The owner’s phoenix eyes narrowed, then he sighed helplessly again. “Forget it. If it’s broken, it’s broken—this is its fate.” Throughout his life, he had seen countless antiques broken and destroyed. If he quibbled over every single one, he wouldn’t have time to think about anything else. After all, the doctor had acted unintentionally, and getting angry wouldn’t help.

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief. He understood the owner’s temperament—when he said it didn’t matter, it truly didn’t matter. But since he had broken someone’s bamboo slip, he still felt somewhat guilty. The doctor began thinking about how to make amends. He carefully looked at the bamboo slip and asked, “This should be able to be glued back together, right? By the way, what’s written on this?”

The owner leaned over to take a look and slowly read: “Huan Dog, beast head with human body. Also called Wei, shaped like a dog, yellow in color. This is from the ‘Classic of Regions Within the Seas North’ section of the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.'”

“Beast head with human body? Wouldn’t that be a monster? That’s not scientifically possible!” The doctor frowned, imagining what a dog’s head on a human body would look like, then shrugged and said, “Well, it’s just a legend anyway. Nothing surprising about that.”

The owner was about to say something when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed intently on something behind the doctor.

The doctor was puzzled by this stare. Just as he was about to turn around to look, the owner grabbed his wrist and rushed toward the shop’s corridor. The doctor involuntarily followed him as they ran. He had never seen the owner this anxious—it was as if… as if something was chasing them from behind.

As soon as this thought flashed through the doctor’s mind, he heard heavy footsteps behind them.

There really was someone there! But clearly no one had come in just now! The antique shop’s corridor had no light sources. The doctor couldn’t help but take out his phone to use as a flashlight. He shone it backward and glanced back, then his head buzzed and went blank.

Although he hadn’t seen clearly in the hurry, that blurry shadow was indeed a human body with a terrifying dog-like face!

Dog head with human body! Huan Dog! This monster actually existed! And it was right behind them! The doctor immediately felt his legs go weak.

“Don’t faint, or I won’t be able to carry you.” The owner’s calm voice came from the darkness. “Speaking of which, this is your fault.”

Hearing that there was little emotional fluctuation in the owner’s voice, the doctor felt reassured: “Could it be… the bamboo slip I broke?”

“Yes. I had already noticed something strange about these bamboo slips, but I didn’t expect them to be the original manuscript of the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas,’ with each bamboo slip containing the name of a monster having one sealed inside. Fortunately, you didn’t break the bamboo slips with location names written on them, or you would have been instantly teleported to places like Kunlun or Qingqiu Kingdom and never been able to return.” The owner explained calmly.

The doctor was too scared to make a sound, thinking to himself that the owner probably wouldn’t mind if he got teleported away.

Only then did he realize that the corridor behind the antique shop was unexpectedly long beyond imagination. They had been running for so long without seeing the end. After a while longer, the owner finally stopped at a room door, pushed it open, and led the doctor inside.

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief and was about to close the room door tightly when the owner stopped him, leaving only a crack open.

“Stand in the corner and don’t move around, or if something happens, I won’t save you.” The owner coldly instructed. “Also, it’s best if you close your eyes too.”

The doctor quickly did as he was told, pressing tightly against the corner wall, but he couldn’t bear to close his eyes. Instead, he looked around. Only then did he realize this room wasn’t large and was very similar to the room where he had found the mermaid candle last time, but this room was empty and had nothing special about it. Hearing the footsteps in the corridor gradually approaching, the doctor watched the owner standing in the center of the room doing nothing. Despite his confidence in the owner, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Slap!” The door was violently struck open by a hairy hand, and a dark shadow appeared in the doorway, stepping into the room without hesitation. The doctor estimated its height to be over two meters, with a terrifyingly robust build. He nervously held his breath, beginning to wonder if playing dead would be effective.

“Ding…” A ethereal bell sound suddenly rang out, and the floor where they stood suddenly lit up entirely with the bell sound.

Only then did the doctor discover that the floor of the room they were in was actually made of one complete piece of glass. Below the glass was a large area of very ancient-looking brick and stone. The glowing came from these bricks and stones, which were carved with strange symbols and images. Made from some unknown pigment, they emitted a fluorescent green light in the darkness.

The doctor could now see the Huan Dog clearly. Its body was more like a hairy gorilla than a human body, and its head looked very much like a wolf-dog’s head. A pair of green-glowing eyes were glaring malevolently at the owner standing in the center of the room.

“Ding…” The bell sound rang again, and the bricks and stones under the glass suddenly blazed with brilliant light, instantly illuminating the entire room like daylight.

The doctor didn’t know why those bricks and stones could emit such intense light. As a doctor, he knew this brightness was already threatening his vision. He couldn’t care about seeing clearly and quickly closed his eyes. He only felt a flash of white light, and when he opened his eyes again, the bricks and stones below the glass were emitting fluorescent green light again, slowly dimming.

The owner was still standing there, but the terrifying Huan Dog had disappeared.

“What… what just happened?” When the doctor spoke, he found his voice was terribly hoarse.

“It’s fine now. The bricks and stones under this room are ruins from an ancient altar. Each brick and stone has an ancient monster sealed within it, which means these bricks and stones all have sealing abilities. I didn’t hold much hope originally, but fortunately, the Huan Dog had been sealed for several thousand years and no longer had much magical power.” After the owner finished speaking, he walked outside without looking back.

At this time, the bricks and stones under their feet had completely dimmed, and the room was pitch black. The doctor didn’t have time to confirm whether the Huan Dog had become one of these bricks and stones, but thinking about how many bricks and stones were under his feet and how many monsters were sealed within them, he didn’t dare stay a moment longer and hurriedly followed the owner out.

But the doctor didn’t notice that right where he had been standing, one brick and stone hadn’t completely darkened. Following his steps, that point of light actually passed through the thick layer of glass, like a firefly following the doctor’s back, finally settling on his shoulder.

The owner seemed to sense something and looked back, but that point of light immediately hid behind the doctor, and the owner didn’t notice anything unusual.

Looking at the owner’s back, the doctor couldn’t help but mutter to himself quietly. Although that ancient ruin had helped the owner greatly, he had so easily sealed a monster from several thousand years ago—who was the real monster here? However, that Huan Dog looked really too terrifying, not beautiful at all. If it had a husky’s face… The doctor shuddered, thinking that would be very amusing…

As if it could understand the doctor’s words, the point of light behind the doctor flickered.

The owner walked quickly. When the doctor went around the jade screen and returned to the shop, he found the owner looking gravely at the bamboo slips on the counter. Only then did the doctor remember that there wasn’t just one broken bamboo slip—the one he had broken.

“Three-legged bird, Jiliang horse, Qiongqi…” The owner muttered to himself. “These three bamboo slips were all broken by that girl just now. Looks like we’ll be busy.”

The doctor took out his phone to search and immediately found information about these three monsters. “Oh oh! The three-legged bird is a small blue bird with three feet, and the Jiliang horse is a white horse with a fire-red mane and golden eyes—both are very gentle. But that Qiongqi… Holy crap! It looks so fierce! It’s a man-eating tiger with wings? If this appeared in the city, it would definitely make big news!”

But the owner shook his head: “Not necessarily. Qiongqi can understand human speech, and having been sealed for thousands of years, it might have changed in appearance, and its power would also be weakened.”

While they were discussing, Fang Qiu was carefully carrying a plastic bag full of money home. Suddenly, a weak cry came from the front door, and a fluffy, extremely cute little white cat came wobbling out.

Fang Qiu couldn’t help but stop.

Qiongqi raised its weak paw, wanting to leave some marks on this woman who had arbitrarily picked it up. But it sadly discovered that after being sealed for thousands of years, it had almost all its power taken away by Emperor Shun. Now it was just a harmless young beast.

“Ao wu—” Damn! Even its originally mighty and powerful roar had become as weak as a kitten’s!

But Qiongqi was dismayed to find that this woman was exceptionally pleased with its cry and, despite its strong objections, carried it into the house.

Meow meow meow—it didn’t want this! It had finally managed to climb out of such a high window! This woman better not think of imprisoning it again!

Moreover, this woman looked exactly like the female shaman who had served beside Emperor Shun a thousand years ago. Could it be that after all these years, she still hadn’t died?

Thinking of how it had been tormented back then, Qiongqi twisted its body even more, trying to escape, but its power had long been drained over thousands of years, and there was no way to break free.

However… Qiongqi couldn’t help but swallow its saliva. Being held in this witch’s arms, a intoxicating scent rushed straight to its nostrils.

It seemed like… it hadn’t drunk human blood for thousands of years… so hungry… wanted to drink so badly…

Qiongqi nuzzled against Fang Qiu’s chest. How could it give up such a good opportunity? It turned its head and with a bite clamped down on her wrist.

The moment its teeth contacted that blood, Qiongqi immediately perked up.

Mmm… so fresh and delicious…

Qiongqi first moved its fangs away, while stealing glances to see if this witch would attack it, but found she was still looking at it with an indulgent smile. She even quickened her pace into the house, then put it down and handed it a small dish of clear water.

“Ao wu…” Wu… it didn’t want to drink water, it wanted to drink blood! It had only just licked once!

The dish was pushed forward, but Qiongqi kept staring at the still-bleeding wrist that had pushed the dish.

“Ao wu…” Let it lick once more! It was so hungry!

The dish was pushed forward again, but Qiongqi didn’t even glance at it. It stretched its head forward, closer, even closer, as if it could smell the fragrance of that human blood…

Slap! Qiongqi felt its head being pressed into the clear water, with the obvious intent of not letting it lift its head until it drank.

Wu… don’t press so low! Didn’t she know its nose and mouth were very close together? Wu wu wu… it was going to become the first Qiongqi to be drowned! Someone come quickly, help! Wu… it would rather go back to being sealed in the bamboo slip!

This sinister witch! She was taking revenge for being bitten just now, wasn’t she?

At the same time, the doctor emerged from Dumb House carrying a birdcage and a bag of trash. When he passed the corner garbage pile, he threw the trash bag into it. The green glowing light that had been lurking behind him quickly attached itself to the plastic bag. Only after the surroundings became quiet again did that fluorescent light float up once more. As it floated past a discarded pet magazine, it illuminated the magazine cover showing a mighty husky lying on the ground with a serious expression.

That point of fluorescent light circled around the magazine, as if studying what this husky dog actually looked like. Then, after a burst of intense green light, a beautiful and fierce husky walked out of the alley, its eyes faintly glowing green.

The husky held the newspaper that had originally wrapped the Classic of Mountains and Seas in its mouth. It lowered its head to sniff, memorized this scent, then determined the direction and quickly departed…

Qiongqi sat on the sofa with a sour expression, its entire body wet and bedraggled. Its already small body was reduced to just a skeleton frame, making it look even more pitiful.

After nearly drowning in that shallow dish, it had been taken to an even deeper water basin where this witch had soaked it in hot water for a while and washed its entire body with something that created bubbles. Now she was drying it with a towel in one hand while using a magical device that produced loud noise and hot air, blowing it vigorously with the other hand.

Ha! This witch—after all these thousands of years, she had even upgraded her magical devices! Could she have been specifically waiting for its seal to be broken so she could use every method to torture it to death?

Qiongqi almost wanted to shed tears of self-pity. How pitiful it was! Just because it liked drinking human blood—it wouldn’t even harm human lives—this little hobby had led to Emperor Shun chasing it for several years before sealing it in bamboo slips for thousands of years. Now that it had finally escaped, it had fallen into this witch’s hands. Wuu wuu meow… it wanted to cry… it must escape immediately later!

Qiongqi wallowed in self-pity for quite a while without realizing that all the fur on its body had dried. When it came back to its senses, it found a plate of pink things placed in front of it… sniffing the scent, it seemed to be meat…

“Little guy, you must be hungry. I don’t know if you can eat sausage. But looking at how you could bite through my wrist, it shows you’ve grown teeth already!”

Qiongqi tilted its head and listened. Although it didn’t know what sausage was, it smelled so good… Ao wu, Qiongqi found itself shamefully drooling, then couldn’t help but take a bite.

Ao ao! So delicious!

“Little guy, eat slowly. If you want more, there’s plenty!”

Qiongqi felt the witch’s hand stroke its back. Although it hated being touched by others, for the sake of such delicious sausage, it would endure for now!

“What should I call you? Since you’re so white, I’ll call you Little White!”

Qiongqi nearly choked on its own saliva.

Little White? It was the famous Qiongqi! The Qiongqi that had made humans tremble with fear thousands of years ago! How could it be given such a tasteless name? No! Wait! What right did she have to name it! Qiongqi immediately stopped eating the sausage and raised its head to wave its paws in protest.

“Haha! It seems you really like this name. Little White, Little White!”

Tired from protesting, Qiongqi helplessly rolled its eyes and decided not to argue with this witch anymore. After all, it would slip away after finishing this plate of sausage—who cared what she called it then? So it lowered its head and continued eating quietly.

“Little White, I have to go out for a while. Be good at home! Oh, I heard it’s going to rain today, so I need to close all the windows…”

Qiongqi didn’t listen to what Fang Qiu was saying at all, focusing more intently on finishing the sausage in the plate. After finally eating everything and licking the plate clean, it contentedly washed its face with its paws, planning to swagger out the door.

When it walked behind a door, it suddenly saw an incredibly cute, fluffy little white cat appear before it. Qiongqi stared at it warily, arching its back and raising its tail, watching for a long time before realizing that was actually itself!

Ao! This witch was really amazing! She actually had such a powerful demon-revealing mirror!

But when had it become so small and cute? Qiongqi raised its paw to sniff—its whole body smelled deliciously fragrant.

This wasn’t scary at all! But… it seemed… not bad either.

Qiongqi patted its head, thinking it should slip away while no one was around! But after running around the house for quite a while, it sadly discovered that all the windows were tightly closed—it was imprisoned here once again!

Hmph! Did they think they could bully it just because it had no magical power? But don’t underestimate its destructive capabilities!

Qiongqi raised its little paw, revealing sharp claws, and licked its pink little nose.

“Ah! What happened to the house? Was it robbed?”

Qiongqi lay on the sofa that it had scratched beyond recognition, lazily stretching. Hehe, it had scratched up everything scratchable in this house and knocked over everything breakable. Now this witch would definitely kick it out, right? Qiongqi was smugly making its little calculations when it found the witch bringing in a beautiful, soft little house and placing it squarely in front of it.

“Little White, this is the nest I bought for you! And this is cat litter and a litter box I bought for you. Remember to use the bathroom here…”

Fang Qiu wore a bright, sunny smile, as if she had completely forgotten about the room that Qiongqi had turned upside down.

Qiongqi helplessly covered its face with its paws and curled up. It seemed this witch was determined to imprison it to the end! Just as it was contemplating whether to try another escape method, it found a plate of grayish things placed in front of it. Swallowing its saliva, it heard the witch say that this plate of enticingly fragrant stuff was called cat food.

Uh… it seemed it had just been running and jumping around, exercising for so long, and its stomach was hungry again… Qiongqi very spinelessly threw its escape plans to the back of its mind once more and lowered its head to happily munch on the cat food.

“Good boy, such a good boy…” Fang Qiu lovingly stroked Qiongqi’s back.

“Ao… meow wu meow wu…” Qiongqi, feeling very comfortable being petted, hummed contentedly while continuing to eat non-stop.

“Hmph! Look what I see here—isn’t this Qiongqi? Actually learning to meow like a cat! You’ve completely disgraced the dignity of us ancient divine beasts!” A cold, harsh voice suddenly rang out. All of Qiongqi’s fur stood up in alarm. Who was it? Qiongqi scanned the surroundings and saw a tall, mighty dog emerge from behind the witch.

“Huan Dog? You appeared too? This is my territory! Get lost!” Qiongqi arched its back, full of hostility. Although it had just been desperately trying to escape, its first reaction to any outsider invasion was to drive them away.

“Your territory? Hehe, sorry, but I was also picked up by this witch who served beside Emperor Shun. So this is also my territory.” Huan Dog lowered its head and, with an expression of fawning that Qiongqi couldn’t imagine, rubbed against the witch’s leg.

Shameless! Qiongqi cursed furiously in its heart.

Fang Qiu giggled and laughed, rubbing Huan Dog’s head as she took it to the bathroom for a bath. Thinking of the torture it had just endured, Qiongqi crept over to lie by the door, wanting to see exactly how Huan Dog would resist. Who knew that Huan Dog would actually remain motionless, allowing the witch to spray hot water on it, apply strange fragrant foam, and blow it with a hot air dryer…

Qiongqi saw Huan Dog smile meaningfully at it, then take the opportunity to lick the witch’s hand, smoothly licking the spot on her wrist where it had previously bitten her…

Qiongqi shuddered all over.

How could it have forgotten that Huan Dog was notoriously cunning? It must also be deliberately approaching her for the witch’s blood. It had only tasted a tiny bit and felt infinite power—if it could drink a mouthful… Qiongqi suddenly pounced toward Huan Dog!

The witch was its discovery first!

Qiongqi and Huan Dog fought fiercely in the bathroom. If this had been thousands of years ago when they both had abundant magical power, it would definitely have been an earth-shaking battle.

But now, in Fang Qiu’s eyes, it was just a cat and dog fighting. Sometimes the big dog pinned the little cat to the ground, sometimes the little cat used its claws to scratch the big dog’s ears and jumped onto its back, sometimes they both rolled into the water and became equally bedraggled, and sometimes they both jumped out shaking off water and continued to grapple… Meows and barks echoed continuously, rising and falling throughout the small bathroom.

“Alright, stop fighting. Little White, do you need another bath too?” Fang Qiu, splashed with water all over, couldn’t stand it anymore and picked up Qiongqi by the scruff of its neck, separating them.

“Little White? Hehe, that name really suits you!” Huan Dog bared its teeth in silent mockery.

Qiongqi sneered coldly, “Don’t hold any hopes for your name either—this witch’s taste isn’t that great!”

As the cat and dog glared daggers at each other, they heard Fang Qiu chattering: “Da Hei, don’t bully Little White anymore. You’re all family now, so you need to get along well!”

Da Hei? Huan Dog’s eyes widened in disbelief that this witch would give it such a name!

Qiongqi laughed mercilessly while rolling around.

“Got it! Got it!” The doctor’s excited voice came from the tree. Soon he jumped down, carrying an antique birdcage in his hand. Inside the cage was a small blue bird with three feet, brilliantly colored and gracefully built, singing with clear, bright calls.

It was now deep in the night, and the three-legged bird’s singing carried far into the distance, its lingering notes echoing. The doctor curiously observed this three-legged bird, discovering that most of its feathers were blue, but its head and wingtips were red, with jet-black eyes. It was only the size of his palm, and without careful observation, one couldn’t see the third foot on its belly.

“Boss, how did you know that hanging a birdcage on the parasol tree would catch the three-legged bird?” The doctor reached out to touch this divine bird’s feathers but nearly got pecked, fortunately pulling back quickly.

The owner chuckled softly: “The three-legged bird is the phoenix’s predecessor. Phoenix roosts on parasol trees, and there happens to be only this one ancient parasol tree in the nearby park. And this bird would definitely enter the cage.”

The doctor looked at the birdcage in his hands and asked hesitantly: “Such a beautiful little bird—does it also need to be sealed? I read in the materials that this bird was just the Queen Mother of the West’s carrier pigeon, right?”

“Legend says that Emperor Shun, to maintain his rule, destroyed all divine beasts, monsters, and races and nations other than the descendants of Yan and Huang one by one. Our history also transitioned from the age of mythology to the age of humanity. I just didn’t expect that even with Emperor Shun’s abilities, he could only seal all these extraordinary things in the original manuscript of the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.'”

The owner sighed, thinking that what he had obtained was only one volume of the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’—the ‘Classic of Regions Within the Seas North’—while there were seventeen other volumes. He didn’t know where they were scattered, but hopefully they were buried deep underground somewhere and would never be discovered.

Watching the doctor enthusiastically teasing the three-legged bird, the owner frowned imperceptibly.

“I want to keep it.” Seeing the owner look over, the doctor quickly hugged the birdcage to his chest, afraid it would be snatched away.

The owner seemed to have anticipated he would say this and said somewhat helplessly: “This bird was pampered and spoiled with dedicated attendants at the Queen Mother of the West’s place—it’s different from the dog you keep at home. You work day and night—can you really take care of it?”

The doctor hesitated but still refused to return the birdcage to the owner. The three-legged bird seemed to understand what they were arguing about, blinking its small mung bean eyes and looking affectionately at the doctor, then using its red head to nuzzle the doctor’s hand resting on the cage.

The doctor hugged the birdcage even tighter. Seeing his guarded appearance, the owner couldn’t help but smile: “Fine, this birdcage has been empty for over a thousand years anyway. I’ll help you keep it at Dumb House. But you’ll have to pay for the bird food yourself.”

The doctor nodded eagerly—how much could such a small bird eat? He could afford it!

“But lend me this bird now—I need to use it to find the Jiliang horse.” The owner approached the doctor and said to the three-legged bird in the cage: “You should know Jiliang, right? It’s dangerous for it to run around here. If it’s willing, I have bamboo slips from the Quanfeng Kingdom that can help it return to its homeland.”

The doctor listened with alarm, thinking it was fortunate he had broken Huan Dog’s bamboo slip. If it had been a bamboo slip with location names, it would be equivalent to a sealed alternate dimension—once inside, it would be very difficult to get out again. Of course, for him that would be doomsday, but for the Jiliang horse it would be the best choice.

The three-legged bird tilted its head and thought for a moment, then spread its wings and flapped twice. Its melodious, clear singing broke through the clouds.

Fortunately, they were in a suburban park surrounded by woods in the dead of night, or they would definitely attract attention. Before long, the sound of hoofbeats came from the distance, and a white horse appeared through the gaps in the trees. With red mane and golden pupils—this was exactly the Jiliang horse they were looking for.

However, the doctor couldn’t help but think the Jiliang horse’s face looked very much like the legendary divine beast Grass Mud Horse… He shook his head, pushing this absurd thought from his mind.

“Now we’re just missing Qiongqi, right? Strange—a winged tiger should be even more conspicuous in the city than birds and horses. Why haven’t there been any related news reports?”

The owner narrowed his eyes and said indifferently: “I checked some additional materials later and found that Qiongqi isn’t simple. It was originally the unfilial son of Shaohao, the Western Heaven Emperor—which means it can transform into human form.”

The doctor was stunned and immediately felt chilled all over: “It can become human? That’s terrible! No wonder there are no traces of tigers in the city—it must have transformed into a person. Looking for a person in the city would be like finding a needle in a haystack!”

The owner pondered for a long while, then frowned: “Perhaps… perhaps it will be at that place.”

Qiongqi lay quietly in its new nest. It was now the middle of the night, but it had no desire to sleep, staring with its round, rolling eyes while lost in thought.

It was certain this witch possessed many powerful magical artifacts. For example, that platform that could produce fire just by rotating, the large cabinet that could freeze things, and that small box that didn’t know how many people were sealed inside—the witch actually had those people sealed specifically to sing, dance, and perform for her! How evil!

What should it do? Stay here obediently? But it wasn’t resigned to that!

Not far from it, Huan Dog, transformed into a husky, also had no desire to sleep. Two green-glowing eyes in the darkness were greedily watching Fang Qiu sleeping on the bed.

“Hey, Da Hei, how about we make peace!” Qiongqi licked its paws and stood up.

“You’re Da Hei! Your whole family is Da Hei! Speak! How do you want to make peace? Little White?” Huan Dog also stood up, shaking the fur on its body with mighty presence.

“Our goal is both that witch’s blood, and we don’t need too much. Why should we be enemies? She’s our enemy, isn’t she?” Qiongqi said with a sweet smile.

Huan Dog thought about it and had to admit Qiongqi was right.

“I’m smaller, so I’ll go first!” Seeing that Huan Dog hadn’t reacted yet, Qiongqi leaped onto Fang Qiu’s bed with a swoosh, crawling toward the sleeping witch. A person is most defenseless when sleeping—it would take the opportunity to drink a few mouthfuls of her blood. Although the sausage and cat food she gave it were delicious, compared to her fresh blood, they were far inferior!

Though Huan Dog felt something was wrong, it was afraid of waking Fang Qiu and could only circle around the bed, unable to stop Qiongqi’s advance.

Closer, even closer… just one more step… Qiongqi had reached Fang Qiu’s shoulder, planning to lean down and take a bite at her neck. But it miscalculated the softness of the pillow—its foot sank right in, then its whole body tumbled toward Fang Qiu’s neck hollow, successfully waking her up.

Huan Dog quickly covered its eyes with its paws.

Ao wu! It was done for! Qiongqi felt its scruff being grabbed by the witch and trembled in fear.

“Little White, you want to sleep with me? Hehe, then come on!” Fang Qiu said sleepily, giggling as she pulled Qiongqi into the covers to sleep beside her.

Hey hey… this was allowed? Qiongqi was speechless, stiffening its body and not daring to move, afraid this was some trick by the witch.

Huan Dog was jumping around anxiously under the bed, cursing Qiongqi for being too cunning!

Qiongqi remained stiff for a long time without detecting anything unusual, so it grew bolder. It moved within the covers, found the spot on her wrist where it had bitten her, and gently bit down again.

So delicious… Qiongqi greedily sucked, and after just one lick, it felt its body beginning to change.

Indeed, this was a witch who had served beside Emperor Shun for a thousand years—her blood was more powerful than any divine pills or immortal herbs! But this was understandable; her home had so many magical artifacts and those Classic of Mountains and Seas bamboo slips—she might well be Emperor Shun’s descendant.

Qiongqi eagerly emerged from the covers and saw by moonlight that black markings were beginning to appear on its body, and wings were about to emerge from its back. It seemed this witch’s blood truly had enormous magical power. Ignoring Huan Dog’s dissatisfied growls, Qiongqi burrowed back into the covers and licked another mouthful of blood.

Moonlight shot through the gaps in the curtains. In the hazy moonlight, Fang Qiu’s covers suddenly bulged up, then a handsome man with silver-white hair emerged from under the blanket. He shook his silky hair and smiled with complete joy.

It had been so long since he’d returned to human form! Qiongqi smiled brilliantly, showing two small tiger fangs. He touched his head and found two fluffy tiger ears still there, with a tail trailing behind—though he hadn’t completely transformed into human form, this already made him very happy! Looking down, he found himself naked, so he casually grabbed a bath towel from nearby to wrap around his waist, then patted the snarling Huan Dog beside him and began studying the sleeping witch.

This witch’s blood was truly strange! His magical power hadn’t recovered, yet it could unlock the beast seal on his body… Qiongqi stroked his chin thoughtfully, suddenly realizing this witch seemed exceptionally beautiful. He remembered her name seemed to be Fang Qiu.

Hehehe… after being tormented so miserably by her today, let’s see how he’d get her back!

Qiongqi bared his two sharp little tiger fangs, deliberately making a fierce expression as he slowly approached the sleeping Fang Qiu, waiting for her to open her eyes the next second and be frightened out of her wits.

But after waiting a long time, she continued sleeping peacefully, even drooling from her slightly open mouth… while Qiongqi maintained his menacing pose until his neck began to ache.

Damn! Did this witch really have such powerful magical abilities? Why did she seem more and more dull the more he looked? Completely different from her a thousand years ago! Qiongqi couldn’t help but poke Fang Qiu’s cheek with his long-nailed finger, finding that she just turned over and continued sleeping.

“Qiongqi! Move aside, it’s my turn!” Huan Dog put its front paws on the bed, challenging Qiongqi.

Qiongqi stroked his chin, naturally unwilling to move aside easily. Taking advantage of Huan Dog not daring to wake Fang Qiu and having regained human form himself, he became even more brazen. Just as Qiongqi was about to continue teasing Huan Dog, his two ears suddenly twitched—there seemed to be some unusual movement in the garden outside the door. Qiongqi easily opened the window and leaped toward the ground below, not caring at all that this was actually the third floor.

Qiongqi landed gracefully on the grass without making a sound. He stood majestically with hands on his hips, looking up at the height he had jumped from, forgetting how ridiculous it was to pose like this wearing only a bath towel.

He was even smugly thinking that escaping from that witch wasn’t so difficult after all! He might as well just leave for good, though he did miss the sausages and cat food she fed him…

“Qiongqi, so it really is you.” A voice filled with laughter suddenly came from the darkness.

“Who?” Qiongqi raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He had regained human form—how could anyone still recognize him? He completely failed to notice that the tiger ears on his head and tail behind him easily betrayed his identity. He looked toward where the voice came from but found only pitch blackness with nothing visible. He stepped forward again and barely made out what seemed to be a deep red dragon in the darkness, watching him with ill intent.

“Who are you?” Qiongqi demanded in a low voice. This feeling of being watched from the shadows made him very uncomfortable.

“Who I am doesn’t matter.” The person in the darkness chuckled softly. “However, you should recognize this thing, right?”

A pale hand extended from the darkness, and the flowing, radiant jade seal in that palm was something he could never forget. Qiongqi’s face darkened: “Emperor Shun’s jade seal? Are you here to seal me?”

Qiongqi gritted his teeth, trying to buy time while scanning his surroundings with peripheral vision to determine where he could escape. But he sadly discovered that at the only exit, a white corner of clothing was clearly visible—this person actually had accomplices!

If his magical power had recovered, facing Emperor Shun’s jade seal, he might have had some fighting chance. But now, just standing before Emperor Shun’s jade seal made breathing difficult. Damn, he should have drunk more of that witch’s blood! He didn’t want to be imprisoned for another few thousand years!

“Seal?” The person in the darkness laughed: “The princess released you from the seal for her own purposes. How would I dare go against her wishes?”

Qiongqi was stunned. Eh? That witch was actually a princess? No wonder her blood was so special… She really was Emperor Shun’s descendant? And these two were her attendants? Did they appear because he was trying to escape? Qiongqi’s brain wasn’t very bright to begin with, and being locked up for thousands of years had made it rather dull. After being kept as a cat for a while, it couldn’t function properly for a moment. But he still heard that there was a chance for things to work out, so he quickly asked: “Then what do you want me to do?”

“Very simple. Make a poison oath that you will absolutely never harm any human. You must always obey the princess’s commands and absolutely cannot go against her wishes. If she passes away, you must find her reincarnation and guard her forever.” The person in the darkness said without hesitation.

Qiongqi stared at Emperor Shun’s jade seal, which flowed with five colors even in the darkness. He struggled for the blink of an eye between being sealed for thousands of years and becoming someone’s pet, then unhesitatingly sold himself out.

“By the way, Huan Dog is also here.” Qiongqi, unwilling to be the only one bound, unhesitatingly betrayed Huan Dog. Afraid the person hadn’t seen, he pointed and shouted: “Look, he’s right there!”

“You brat!” Huan Dog, who was preparing to sneak away through the stairwell, was furious and charged out upon hearing this. After licking Fang Qiu’s blood, he had completely returned to human form, without any animal ears or tail like Qiongqi. If Qiongqi hadn’t pointed him out, no one would believe this cold, dignified handsome man was a hairy, dog-headed humanoid monster.

The person in the darkness chuckled again, pointing Emperor Shun’s jade seal toward Huan Dog.

When Huan Dog saw that radiant jade seal, he felt enormous pressure bearing down on him, cold sweat pouring down. Earlier in that strange antique shop, he had nearly been sealed. If there hadn’t been an ordinary person present for him to attach to, he would probably have become a cold stone by now. So he absolutely didn’t doubt that the person before him had the power to seal him again. He immediately followed Qiongqi’s example and made a poison oath.

Just as Huan Dog finished his oath, Fang Qiu’s anxious voice came from the stairwell, calling affectionately for “Little White” and “Da Hei.”

Upon hearing this, Huan Dog immediately transformed into a husky, tail drooping.

Qiongqi also gloomily changed back into a weak little white cat, then unhappily discovered that the person emerging from the darkness was just an ordinary-looking young man.

The deep red dragon he had seen before was merely embroidery on the man’s black clothing. Qiongqi bared his teeth, beginning to wonder if he had been deceived.

But when this person easily picked him up, the other’s ice-cold body temperature made him shiver involuntarily.

—This person was not ordinary!

Qiongqi immediately felt his recent decision had been very wise.

“Little White? How did you get out? Da Hei got out too? Eh? Boss?” Fang Qiu ran to the garden and found her Little White in someone’s hands—and that person was actually the boss from this morning’s antique shop.

The boss smiled kindly, handing over the Qiongqi in his hands: “I was just passing by and found this poor little white cat. I didn’t expect it had run away from your home. Little White? Hmm, that name suits him well.”

Qiongqi was speechless, burying his face in Fang Qiu’s chest. Thinking that this stupid name would follow him for life made him feel powerless. Huan Dog was equally depressed, hanging its head listlessly.

“Uh… thank you…” Though Fang Qiu felt something seemed off, it was so late and Little White and Da Hei had been found, so that was good. “I’ll head home now.”

The boss watched Fang Qiu’s retreating figure and very kindly suggested: “This kitten and puppy will grow up in a few months. Remember to get them spayed and neutered then! Otherwise they’ll make a mess of your home.”

After saying this, afraid Qiongqi and Huan Dog wouldn’t understand, he added an ancient Chinese translation: “That is, neutering surgery means ‘castrating pigs and boars brings good fortune.'”

“Ao! Ao! Woof! Woof! Ao wu—” Qiongqi and Huan Dog’s miserable cries echoed throughout the night sky…

“That’s it? No need to seal them?” The doctor emerged from the garden gate, wiping his sweat.

The boss smiled: “Seal them? Using that remnant of ancient ruins to seal Huan Dog already failed. As for Qiongqi, he’s the son of Shaohao, the Western Heaven Emperor—I alone cannot seal him. But don’t worry, the poison oaths they made have contractual effects. If they don’t comply, they’ll suffer backlash—their physical bodies will disappear and their souls will never be reborn.”

“Eh? I thought you relied on that Emperor Shun jade seal…” The doctor was puzzled.

“This?” The boss turned his palm, and Emperor Shun’s jade seal lay quietly in his palm. In the darkness, the boss’s smile became increasingly mysterious.

“Hehe, who told you there were no forgeries in Dumb House?”

“…”