Chapter 111: The Monster

The female ghost was incredibly cautious to the extreme. Even when the aura of the symbiotic ghost vanished, even when I entered the water to lure her, she did not approach—she just kept staring at me. It wasn’t until I was about to board the boat that Li Yue lowered her guard to help me.

At that moment, my thoughts were momentarily disturbed, and then suddenly, she appeared.

My mind was instantly thrown into chaos as water filled my nose and mouth. My head was violently struck against the boat’s hull. Panic surged within me—not only was I terrified for Li Yue’s safety, but now the symbiotic ghost had rushed forward. I didn’t know if the female ghost had harmed Li Yue.

Moreover, the length and depth of this dark river were unknown, and in almost complete darkness, falling in would surely mean death.

Flailing about, I tried to grasp the boat’s hull, but it was too smooth. The current was too strong, and I couldn’t float up.

At that moment, it felt as if something had grabbed my foot, pulling me downward.

I widened my eyes and struggled repeatedly, but I was no match for the force. The boat drifted farther away, and I clearly felt the waves dissipate.

My heart sank.

Finally, I held my breath and allowed myself to be pulled down by that force.

In my mind, I frantically sought a way to escape.

The water seemed to quiet. Because I was fully submerged, the rushing current’s force had lessened considerably.

My vision was no longer completely dark. The water radiated an eerie white glow.

This dark river was very deep—at least six or seven meters.

The thing pulling me was waterweed—dark, pitch-black, and strangely grown to a length of five or six meters.

The sensation of sinking earlier was due to the sudden tug. Now, calm, the weed did not pull me further down.

With the waterweed wrapped around my foot, I looked down and dove to untangle it.

I had a dagger in my pocket, which I took out and used to cut through the waterweed.

During this, I realized I could see a wide space clearly.

The light did not come from the river’s surface, as one would expect. Normally, light fades as it descends underwater. But the mountain’s interior had no external light source; this white glow originated from the riverbed.

Looking down, I was struck with shock.

Among the swaying waterweed lay a colossal creature—its body so vast it would take four or five people to encircle it. It was covered in strange pale scales.

This enormous being stretched beyond my view in both directions, hidden within the waterweed.

The source of the light in the water was the place where its body lay.

A terrifying realization dawned on me.

“This is the dragon Liu Changxi spoke of!”

“It’s not just in that section of the dark river; it still exists here!”

My heart trembled.

That place must be near the dragon’s head. Even if this monster wasn’t a true dragon, it was certainly a flood dragon or giant serpent.

“There’s an old saying in the countryside: snakes become flood dragons over time, and through thunder tribulations, they transform into dragons.”

Growing up, I was steeped in countless myths and legends of mountain spirits and wild beasts.

“Long-haired rats, yellow weasels, even raccoon dogs must never be offended.”

“These are demons that have cultivated their essence, and if they survive the thunder tribulation, they transform into earthly immortals.”

“Offending or harming such creatures brings disaster upon one’s family and divine retribution upon oneself.”

“How many years must that creature have lived to have such pale scales?”

As this thought crossed my mind, I realized I had completely run out of air.

I also noticed something strange: the turtle shell-like object hanging around my neck emitted a faint white glow, dim and nearly fading.

Surfacing, I gasped for breath repeatedly.

Shock continued to assault me.

The boat had completely disappeared from sight.

At this moment, all I could do was hope Li Yue was unharmed.

Holding the turtle shell tightly against my chest, I stared deeply at it. If this object was a scale from the creature in the water, it would explain why our movements in the formation had not awakened the ancestor of Mount Yaling.

The aura on the scale was connected to the underwater monster; carrying it meant we wouldn’t rouse him.

Perhaps the sudden attack by the female ghost was because we had trespassed into forbidden grounds.

Namely, Changyuan Village.

Taking a deep breath, I filled my lungs to their limit.

Then, I dove sharply into the water, diving down a meter or two before grabbing a piece of waterweed and pulling myself downward.

Minutes later, I reached the riverbed.

The buoyancy here was much greater than I expected. Without the waterweed’s support, I would have been swept back up.

At the riverbed, the creature’s immense body chilled me to the bone.

Its white scales were irregular and bizarre in shape, resembling a turtle shell that darkened when out of water.

Its sheer size was beyond human capacity to contend with.

On the riverbank lay many shed scales.

This gave me an impression: the creature had not moved for many years.

Like a snake shedding its skin, the discarded scales were either washed away or left behind here.

The scales in the elder’s possession must have come from this place.

If our previous assumptions were correct, the elder wanted us to enter to confront the ancestor. Those scales must have belonged to Zhang Chang.

Now, one thing became clear in my mind.

The elder said our arrival was at the ancestor’s behest.

Yet the ancestor in the mountain’s heart remained asleep, explaining many contradictions.

If the elder’s intentions matched my suspicions, the scales came from Zhang Chang—from Changyuan Village.

Zhang Chang must have discovered these scales upon entering the village.

He may have left or perhaps never did.

Li Cangshui had been here! Had seen Zhang Chang!

He took something out and followed Zhang Chang’s instructions.

He brought back papers for longevity theft, but now the task had passed to me and Li Yue.

After these realizations, I steadied my heart, gathered two handfuls of scales, and, exhausted, released the waterweed to swim toward the surface.

Just as I broke the surface, a pale green light appeared.

Accompanying it was a voice trembling with tears: “Xie Yuan! Where are you? Come out quickly. Don’t scare me!”

The voice struck my heart, and the light came from the Qingjing Mirror!

Li Yue was safe!

I quickly looked around. Sure enough, downstream, a boat was struggling to row upstream.

I raised my hand and waved twice, drifting with the current downstream.

When I reached the boat’s side, I saw Li Yue nearly crying her eyes out.

Her face was filled with joy, tears falling uncontrollably.

I immediately signaled her to be quiet and whispered, “Don’t speak… keep your voice low. There’s something in the water.”

Li Yue quickly closed her mouth.

With her help, I climbed aboard.

Out of the water, I instantly felt the temperature rise. Li Yue wrung the water from my clothes.

She had been rowing against the current, which explained the boat’s upstream movement.

Now, it drifted downstream again.

Liu Changxi’s corpse lay there still.

Beside him was a wet white robe.

Besides the robe, there was a clump of hair.

The symbiotic ghost had doubled in size, holding something in its hands before stuffing it into the skull’s mouth.

The twin flames in its eye sockets had become much more vivid.

It trembled and returned to my hand.

My right hand felt much heavier than the left.

The skeletal mark was no longer confined to the back of my hand but had spread to my wrist. Pulling back my sleeve, I saw the entire forearm bore a skeletal pattern.

A skull on the back of my hand, and a bone framework on the forearm.

Two small flames flickered within the skull.

I closed my eyes, sensing the soul’s weight growing heavier.

“After that ghost appeared, the symbiotic ghost snapped her neck and devoured her head first. I was terrified and used the fusion talisman, which sealed her completely.”

“With her soul and consciousness swallowed by the symbiotic ghost, only her ghostly flesh remained. I hurried back—thank heavens you’re safe.”

I opened my eyes and nodded, breathing more steadily.

“I’m fine. The underwater danger wasn’t as bad as I imagined. Besides, there’s something else down there.”

Speaking, I took out a few scales and handed them to Li Yue.

“Look, what are these?”

Her eyes widened in astonishment.

“These turtle shells… they’re from the water?”

I shook my head. “They’re not turtle shells. The light underwater, that white glow, all comes from these scales.”

Li Yue’s face turned pale again.

“Then these aren’t turtle shells—they’re the scales of the dragon Liu Changxi mentioned?”

I said solemnly, “It’s a colossal creature, definitely not a dragon. It’s one of those legendary beings. A monster this large might be as long as this dark river. If it awakens and moves, Mount Yaling would not withstand even a few shakes.”

Li Yue bit her lip and said, “Ancient texts record that creatures that dare not face daylight are demons. They absorb essence and death energy to grow, slowly gaining consciousness over years.”

“If exposed to sunlight, the heavens punish them. Surviving the thunder tribulation transforms them.”

“Xie Yuan, when you saw that thing, didn’t you think of something?”

Her words made me frown deeply.

What was she hinting at?