The sharp voice of the large white bird circled above everyone’s heads, striking the distant mountain walls and creating crisp, hollow echoes.
The battle on the verge of eruption froze.
Everyone’s gaze followed the large bird overhead. The vast world was full of strange and wondrous things, especially for cultivators who had seen all manner of extraordinary tales and were no longer surprised by oddities, but… they had never seen a bird that could speak human words!
Was this a spirit beast? Legend spoke of divine beasts that had awakened spiritual intelligence and could transform into human form and speak, but they had to transform into human form first. They had never seen one that spoke human words while still wearing bird skin—it was far too eerie.
Just as they were thinking this, a deep male voice suddenly came: “March 9th to April 9th, plant poplars and willows!”
“Protect the mountain forests, benefit future generations!”
Everyone looked up and could hardly believe their eyes as several spotted leopards emerged from the mountains on all sides, and it was these leopards that were speaking.
“This is haunted,” someone from the demon-slaying army murmured: “How can leopards talk?”
Those circling large birds flapped their wings and began diving down from mid-air toward everyone, while the spotted leopards gradually closed in, baring their sharp fangs at the crowd.
Some in the demon-slaying army were already reaching for the magical artifacts at their waists.
In truth, a few large birds and leopards weren’t enough to make everyone feel like they were facing a great enemy. Not to mention the demon side, even just the demon-slaying army, no matter how inadequate they might be, could still handle a few beasts. But the problem was that these birds and leopards were too sinister, being able to speak human words, who knew what problems might arise if they killed them.
And just listen to what they were saying—like shouting slogans, neat and orderly, righteously stern. Zanxing felt something was off.
She stepped back: “Mimi.”
In an instant, a mighty beast’s roar erupted from the spot. The white fat cat that had been standing beside the woman, completely ignored by the demon-slaying army, let out a howl completely at odds with its size. Silver light enveloped it as its form gradually stretched and grew massive. Silver mane danced in the wind, its voice like thunder and gale, causing everyone’s ears to ring with tearing reverberations, as if distant ocean tides and bedrock would collapse under this beast’s cry.
The silver giant lion stepped forward, causing the earth to shake and mountains to tremble. As it raised its head in a long howl, the lion’s majesty surpassed that of dragons, making all beasts prostrate themselves.
The birds and leopards closing in on everyone froze. They didn’t continue forward but instead slightly curled their bodies, as if intimidated by this lion’s roar.
The demons from Heishi City had already experienced Mimi’s Lion’s Roar skill before. The instant Zanxing called out Mimi’s name, they each held their breath or stuffed cotton balls in their ears. The demon-slaying army members weren’t so fortunate—Mimi’s roar shook them until they nearly vomited blood.
Mimi took another step forward and roared again. The white bird, large as a great roc, seemed unable to withstand this roar and fell from mid-air, struggling on the ground while flapping its wings, about to be trampled into bird paste by Mimi’s foot.
At this moment, an unfamiliar voice suddenly came from the air.
“Wait.”
Zanxing jerked her head up.
In the air before them, transparent ripples spread out. Zanxing was surprised—there was a restriction here? Why hadn’t they noticed it all along? And not just them—Gu Baiying and his group hadn’t detected it either.
Someone walked out of the void.
It was a man and a woman, each riding a brown bear. The man wore black clothes, extremely plain, while the woman wore white clothes, also without a single decoration. These two were tall and slender with dignified, refined features. At first glance, they gave people a very comfortable feeling.
Putao from Xiangling Sect’s expression changed as she demanded, “Who are you?”
“This humble one is Youlang, clan leader of the Sishi Clan from Siyou Kingdom.”
“This humble one is Qiongniang, clan leader of the Sinü Clan from Siyou Kingdom.”
The two spoke simultaneously, without the slightest difference, their voices combining in an indescribable harmony. Their expressions toward everyone showed neither hostility nor friendliness—indifferent, as if looking at a group of passing strangers.
“Siyou Kingdom?” Zanxing suddenly froze. “The Siyou Kingdom you speak of—wouldn’t that be the Siyou Kingdom where they don’t marry?”
At these words, the bland expressions on their faces were disrupted for a moment. The woman called Qiongniang looked at Zanxing with some surprise: “It seems our guest is not entirely ignorant about our Siyou Kingdom.”
White Bone Woman asked Zanxing in confusion: “Young Master, do you know them?” The demons had stayed in Heishi City for many years and weren’t very familiar with this side of the Duzhou Continent.
Zanxing paused before saying: “‘Legend tells of Siyou Kingdom. Siyou births Sishi men who take no wives; births Sinü women who take no husbands.’ Siyou Kingdom is divided into the Sishi and Sinü clans, neither of which marries.”
“What?” White Bone Woman clutched the skull head in her arms tightly, her face pale with shock: “Don’t marry? Then wouldn’t their country be extinct?”
“Erm… not exactly,” Zanxing said softly: “Legend says when men and women of Siyou Kingdom’s two clans look at each other, they can give birth to children.” When she had seen this passage in the library pavilion at Gufeng Mountain, she had marveled at how bold legends could be. If someone wanted smart, beautiful offspring, wouldn’t they just need to grab someone they fancied on the street and stare at them for a while? But today, these two people told them there was a Siyou Kingdom in this world.
Truly insane.
“I don’t care who they are,” a Chihua Gate disciple looked coldly at the two: “You suddenly appeared—are you in league with those evil demons?”
“Stop saying ‘evil demons’ this and ‘evil demons’ that,” Mountain Spider sneered: “Those who don’t know might think you cultivation world people are some kind of saints.”
“You have damaged the mountain forests here.” The Sishi clan leader—the young man called Youlang—spoke blandly, with hidden displeasure in his tone: “Yue’e Mountain has Buddhist temples. If you wish to fight, please be sure to leave this place.”
Qiongniang walked to the edge of the flower sea that Gu Baiying and Zanxing had destroyed in their battle. That beautiful expanse of flowers was now a patch of scorched earth. She bent down to pick up the remnants of a broken flower, sighing: “What a pity.”
Zanxing felt a wave of guilt. Before she could speak, Xiao Shuang, beside her, stepped forward. He first bowed apologetically to Youlang and Qiongniang, then spoke gently: “You two, we didn’t intend to deliberately damage your mountain forests. My Young Master was just dragged underwater by a monster, then escaped and incidentally rescued two people from the underwater monster’s lair. One of them belonged to their group.” Xiao Shuang pointed at the demon-slaying army, a slightly disappointed expression appearing on his face: “But these people believe my Young Master killed their senior sister. Not only do they show no gratitude, but they also keep insisting on killing us for revenge. My Young Master fought them only to protect us. Of course, damaging your flowers was our fault, and we’re truly sorry. After this matter is resolved, this humble one is willing to bring flower seeds back to this place and replant the destroyed flower seeds to express our apology.”
His features were clear and handsome, his temperament gentle, and his words quite sincere, making the demon-slaying army group look like bullies who oppressed the weak. That Qiongniang’s originally bland and distant expression also softened considerably after Xiao Shuang’s speech.
Zanxing secretly gave him a thumbs up in her heart. Listening to Bujiang’s advice to bring Xiao Shuang had indeed been correct. Xiao Shuang’s social skills surpassed even Duan Xiangrao from back then. With just a few words, these two people’s hostility toward them had lessened considerably.
These two people from the Siyou Kingdom had mysterious identities. The restriction hidden in the air hadn’t been detected by either of their groups, and they could make birds and beasts speak human words—they couldn’t be taken lightly. Before figuring things out, blindly getting into disputes with them wouldn’t be smart. You don’t hit someone who’s smiling at you—it’s better to probe them first. Since they couldn’t find the mountain gate entrance now, if these two were key to entering the mountains, they shouldn’t easily offend them at this point.
But just as Xiao Shuang finished speaking, Putao from the demon-slaying army stepped forward. She advanced a step and stared coldly at Zanxing: “Sophistry. You’re just taking advantage of the fact that my senior sister can’t wake up for the moment to speak nonsense.” That Xiangling Sect senior sister had been helped up by her junior sisters but hadn’t yet awakened. Putao said, “Since you insist you rescued my senior sister from the underwater monster, where is that monster? Have you seen what that monster looks like? How did it hurt people? Why are you unharmed? Since you fought the monster, why don’t you have a single wound on your body?”
“Little girl’s got quite a sharp tongue. Were you a storyteller in a tavern before cultivating?” Earth-Eating Ghost suddenly jumped up, seemingly finally finding an opportunity to speak. He pointed at his leg that was missing a section: “Look clearly! I was the one dragged down by that water monster! I didn’t see clearly what the water monster looked like either, but I lost a leg! My Young Master wasn’t injured because she’s strong. Do you think everyone’s as vulnerable as your demon-slaying army? Young Master,” Earth-Eating Ghost didn’t forget to complain to Zanxing: “I said long ago these cultivators have no shame. We shouldn’t have saved her back then—should have let that woman fend for herself!”
Putao’s gaze was cold as frost: “Evil demons and heretics.” Her tone was extremely contemptuous.
Earth-Eating Ghost made as if to hit her: “Don’t anyone stop me! I’m going to throw this little girl into the water and let her be eaten until not even bones remain!”
Zanxing: “Enough.”
Earth-Eating Ghost choked, glanced at Zanxing, and obediently retreated to one side. Zanxing looked at Putao. When she had encountered this little girl at Gufeng Mountain before, though she was somewhat spoiled and willful, she wasn’t particularly stubborn. Now, for some reason, she seemed full of hostility toward her, completely unreasonable. Zanxing spoke indifferently: “I caught a glimpse of that water monster underwater—its whole body was oily green with a viscous texture. After it dragged me underwater, it disappeared. I saw its lair underwater, which seemed to bind prey with water grass and slowly consume them, just like a spider’s habits. I found the Earth-Eating Ghost and the Xiangling Sect disciple among many corpses. These two had just been brought in and still had vital energy, so I brought them out together.”
“As for having no battle traces on my body, it’s because I never fought that monster at all. Miss from the righteous path,” Zanxing looked at Putao: “Are you satisfied with this answer?”
Putao’s face reddened somewhat as she gritted her teeth: “That’s just your one-sided story! It’s fake!” She still looked unwilling to believe.
Before Zanxing could speak, someone beside her interrupted: “What she said is true.”