Zhang Xiaofan was taken aback for a moment, recognizing that the person was the beautiful girl who had argued with him at dinner about the sleeping fish. At this moment, she was still wearing the same aqua green dress, and under the moonlight, her skin was as white as snow, elegant and unparalleled, like an immortal fairy.

  The girl put the freshly picked flower to her nose, took a deep breath, and a look of intoxication appeared on her face, with an astonishing beauty. And the flower in front of her beautiful face seemed even more radiant.

  It was just Zhang Xiaofan who suddenly burst out with a nameless anger from the depths of his heart, frowning and saying: "This flower is blooming so well, why did you pick it?"

  That green-clad maidens bright eyes sparkled as she gazed at Zhang Xiaofan, her gaze flowing like water. She said calmly, "I plucked this flower, and it is the flowers good fortune; being smelled by me is even more a fate that the flower has cultivated for three lifetimes. How could you, an ordinary person, possibly understand?"

  Zhang Xiaofan was stunned for a moment, and it was the first time in his life that he had heard of such an absurd thing. He shook his head and said, "This flower has been plucked by you, and even its life is gone, how can it be happy?"

  The girl in green glanced at him and said, "Youre not a flower, how would you know it wont be happy?"

  Zhang Xiaofan listened to the womans words, feeling extremely unreasonable and angry in her heart. She said: "Youre not a flower either, how do you know it will be happy? Maybe this flower is suffering now, ah, look, theres water on the flower, maybe its crying from pain."

  The green-clothed girl was clearly stunned for a moment, and after a while, she burst out laughing, this time truly as beautiful as a hundred flowers blooming, almost making Zhang Xiaofans eyes widen in amazement.

  "Haha, dew? Ive never heard a grown man call dew tears of flowers before, youre killing me!"

  Zhang Xiaofans face turned red, and he stuttered, unable to speak. But seeing the girl laughing so hard that her waist was bent, her face burning, he forced himself to say: "T-then what?"

  The girl didnt seem to mind, and her laughter grew even louder, the clear sound echoing through the quiet, dimly lit garden, adding a touch of warmth.

  Zhang Xiaofan was furious, wanting to say something but didnt know how to start, looking at the womans joyful smile, she stomped her foot in anger and turned around to leave.

  Not two steps away, suddenly heard the green-clothed girl behind stop laughing, but her tone still carried a few smiles, saying: "Hey, wait a minute."

  Zhang Xiaofan was originally in a good mood tonight, but after running into this woman, his mood had taken a turn for the worse. Now that she had called out to him, he felt another wave of annoyance and couldnt help but turn around and say: "Im not even called hey, who are you calling?"

  The girl was taken aback, the smile on her face instantly disappeared, and her gaze at Zhang Xiaofan seemed to have cooled down a few degrees, as if very few people had ever been so rude to her. But after a moment, she seemed to have thought of something, although she didnt recover her brilliant smile from earlier, her tone was still relatively gentle, saying: "Oh, whats your name?"

  Zhang Xiaofan blurted out: "Im called..." He paused for a moment, then hummed and said, "Why should I tell you?"

  The green-clothed girls face turned solemn, looking somewhat angry, but when she saw Zhang Xiaofans sulky expression, she couldnt help but burst out laughing again like a mischievous little boy.

  This smile completely dissipated the momentum of her sinking face just now, set against the moonlight in the sky and the fragrance that filled the garden. The beautiful womans face was full of smiles, as if she knew it wasnt very good, shaking her head trying to hold back, but still couldnt help laughing out loud.

  Its as if the innocence of long ago has come alive again tonight.

  The moonlight was like water, gently sprinkling on her shoulders and face, reflecting a breathtaking beauty that touched the heart.

  Zhang Xiaofan was unaware of when he became infatuated.

  The girl laughed for a while, and when she saw Zhang Xiaofan staring at her, she let out a "heh" sound. Unlike most girls, her face didnt turn red; instead, she asked straightforwardly: "Am I pretty?"

  Zhang Xiaofan was startled by her, as if caught in the act of stealing, feeling extremely embarrassed. But under the girls gentle and soft gaze, he had a sense of having nowhere to escape: "You, uh, you look good!"

  As soon as the words came out, Zhang Xiaofan himself was stunned for a moment, and a strange and inexplicable taste floated up in his heart. The girl, however, seemed to be unbothered, with a faint smile on her face, saying: "I think so too, from childhood to adulthood, who hasnt said Im beautiful? You men are all the same."

  Listening to her speak, with a tone that seemed to have experienced the vicissitudes of life at such a young age. Zhang Xiaofan was about to retort, but inadvertently glanced over and saw her bright eyes and white teeth standing alone in the moonlight, and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. He immediately thought of the beautiful figure of his senior sister that he had seen with his own eyes on Qingyun Mountain, by the side of the Bi Shui Tan, and at that moment, he suddenly lost interest and couldnt muster up the spirit to speak again. He looked at the green-clothed girl once more, let out a low sigh, and turned to leave without saying another word.

  "Hey," he walked a few steps, but then heard the calling voice behind him again. Zhang Xiaofan furrowed his brow and turned around to look at the green-clothed girl.

  She narrowed her eyes slightly, and her moist lips seemed to purse a little tighter, as if thinking of something, but the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

  "Whats your name?" she asked again, with his shadow reflected in her eyes.

  Zhang Xiaofan suddenly retreated, the anger from just now completely dissipated in an instant, as if towards this figure, a hint of anger was not allowed. He avoided that gentle gaze, with a bit of weakness that even he himself did not feel at ease, and said: "Zhang Xiaofan."

  Then he quickly walked backwards, with a somewhat fleeing and escaping appearance.

  He walked with his head down, taking big strides. Just as he reached a bend in the winding path, a black figure suddenly appeared before him. In this dimly lit garden, it would have been hard to see if you hadnt approached close by.

  He almost lost control, fortunately his body reaction was still agile, and he stopped tightly in front of that person. In the darkness, a pair of bright but quiet eyes appeared in front of him.

  The two were too close, and Zhang Xiaofan was startled, hastily retreating a step back. Only then did he see clearly that this person was the masked woman who sat beside the green-clothed girl at dinner. At this moment, she still wore a veil over her face, but had changed into a black silk dress, which in this night, made her almost like a ghost.

  Zhang Xiaofan calmed down, still panting slightly, and faintly smelled a whiff of fragrance in his nose, unsure whether it was the scent of the garden or from when he was close to that woman earlier.

  His heart skipped a beat, and he felt that going out tonight was a mistake. He muttered an apology, "Sorry," and walked past the masked woman to head back to his residence.

  From head to toe, the masked woman didnt say a word, she just stood there quietly, her eyes fixed on the young man. After Zhang Xiaofan walked past her, she slowly turned around and watched him leave.

  It wasnt until her figure had almost merged with the darkness of the garden that she finally turned around and walked towards the depths of the garden. Soon, she saw the woman in green again, still standing in the same place, playing with a freshly picked flower.

  The girl in green lifted her head, without a look of surprise, and smiled: "Aunt Yu, youre back."

  The veiled woman glanced at the flowers in her hand, and her veil fluttered slightly, as if she had nodded. "Those four people are from Qingyun Gate," she said. Her voice echoed through the garden, deep and floating, soft yet with a hint of eeriness. "The leader is Qi Hua from the Longfeng lineage, and the other three Ive never seen before. They seem to be young juniors, unknown by name."

  The green-clothed girl smiled slightly and said: "I know one, the person who just passed by is called Zhang Xiaofan, a good earthy name."

  The masked woman glanced at her and said faintly, "Bi Yao, its been a long time since youve come to admire the flowers."

  The green-clothed girl, also known as Bi Yao, seemed to be stunned for a moment. The next moment, her beautiful face showed a smile again, saying: "Yes, Aunt Yu, its been a long time."

  She picked up the flower and examined it carefully. Then, under the gaze of the veiled woman, the green-clad girl smiled faintly, but her hand closed tightly and decisively, crushing the beautiful blossom into fragments.

  ※※※

  The next day, the four people of Qingyunmen got up, washed and dressed, and Qi Huan gathered the four people to discuss: "Kong Sangshan is three thousand miles away in the east, the journey is not close, we should hurry on our way." The other three people had no objection, so they settled the bill and left.

  The boss of the Shanhai Garden indeed had a deep respect for the Qingyun Gate, and the originally expensive rent was surprisingly discounted by half, almost comparable to ordinary rent. Zhang Xiaofan watched as Qi Huan and the old boss chatted and calculated the bill, but his eyes glanced around in all directions, yet until they left, he still didnt see the green-clothed girl from last night or her group of people.

  The four of them flew through the air, and this three-thousand-mile journey took a full ten days. During this time, Zhang Xiaofan naturally dragged his feet, but in the last few days, Zhang Xiaofans Taoist skills gradually improved, and he became more familiar with the "Fire Stick". He even flew like a pro, and every day when he soared through the sky, that feeling of flying through the blue sky and white clouds really excited him for several days.

  They finally arrived at the Kong Sang Mountain, and everyone got off the cloud head, all of whom were shocked to see that within a hundred miles around, there was a steep and towering mountain, but more rocks and less grass and trees, and no human habitation could be seen below the mountain, a desolate scene.

  It was already near dusk, the sun had set in the west, and the hazy sunset shone on the Kong Sang Mountain, as if it had brought a bit of desolation and also a bit of eeriness. The crowd landed at the foot of the mountain and put away their magical swords and treasures. Qi Huan looked up at the sky and said, "I think theres no one around here who can lend us a place to stay, so why dont we head up the mountain right now? We can look for that Wan Bat Cave while also finding a suitable place to rest for the night."

  Zeng: "Brother Qi is right, lets head up the mountain." Zhang Xiaofan saw that Zeng Shu had agreed and didnt have any objections himself. Xueqi glanced at the sky and said nothing, but was the first to start walking towards the summit.

  Although this empty mulberry mountain is not as high as the Tongtian Peak of Qingyun Mountain, it is also not low. Coupled with its remote and rugged terrain, there are no roads to be found. The four people walked from the foot of the mountain up to the waist of the mountain, but by then the sky had already completely darkened.

  Four people walked onto a fast platform, Qi Huan stopped everyone, took out a small copper mirror from his pocket, and the three of them immediately recognized that this was indeed the Qingyun Gates treasure "Mirror". For a moment, they were all stunned, unsure what Qi Huan wanted to do.

  Only to see Qi Hua holding the mirror in his hand, he muttered a few incantations under his breath. The originally dim and lightless mirror seemed to have responded, gradually brightening up, and then floated out of Qi Huas hand, hovering two feet above his head. Its radiance grew stronger, casting a soft yellow glow that illuminated an area of about six feet around the four of them, enveloping them in its center.

  "Qī Hào said, Eight hundred years ago, Kōng Sāng Mountain was a gathering place for evil cults and demons. I observe that this mountain is desolate and eerie, and I fear there may be many malevolent spirits lurking about. The mirrors function is to protect the master; we should also take precautions beforehand."

  Zhang Xiaofan glanced at the mirror floating in mid-air, and saw that its small face was unremarkable, but with a subtle aura of good fortune hidden beneath its simplicity. Just then, everyone suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound from afar, followed by the sound of "crackling" growing louder and more intense, until it became almost deafening, with only a massive, muffled roar echoing through the desolate mountains and valleys. In the distance, a faint light emanated from the mirror, and everyones eyes widened as they saw a dark cloud suddenly rise up behind the mountain ridge, its darkness making it even more ominous, and the thunderous rumble coming from within.

  Everyone is changing color, Zeng: "Mirror!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd had not yet reacted when the huge black cloud in the sky seemed to have sensed something and moved towards them. After a moment, a piercing whistling sound seemed to come from the black cloud, and in an instant, the black cloud turned around and pounced on the four of them, the only bright spot in this dark night.

  In an instant, the originally starry night sky turned pitch black, as if something had covered it. Everyone felt a strong smell of blood and gore suddenly filling the air around them, and Zhang Xiaofan and others were shocked and lost their color. Only Qi Huan was still relatively calm, but his face was already pale, and he hastily said: "Dont move, whatever you do, dont leave the Mirror Light Circles range."

  After a moment, the rumbling sound was right next to their ears, reflecting the light of the mirror. The crowd finally saw clearly that the black cloud was actually countless black bats, densely packed and larger than usual by at least twice, each with its mouth wide open, revealing a scarlet patch in the midst of its black body, looking ferocious and terrifying.

  But the faint yellow glow emanating from the mirror suddenly revealed its effect, and all the bats were isolated outside the light circle. No matter how they collided and squeezed, the light circle didnt budge. On the contrary, the bats near the light circle, which came into contact with the faint yellow glow, made a "sizzling" sound with their black bodies, and after a moment, they fell to the ground, struggling in vain, apparently on the verge of death.

  There were simply too many bats, filling the sky and blocking out the stars. There must have been hundreds of millions or even billions of them. The ones that had fallen to the ground were probably less than one percent of the total number, but still, countless bats kept coming, wave after wave, surrounding the four people in the center. Although they were safe for the moment, all around them were terrifying open mouths and a stench so foul it made one want to vomit.

  However, the mirror was after all a treasured artifact of the Taoist sect. Under the attack of countless ferocious beasts, it did not show any signs of weakness or instability. The yellow light circle seemed thin and fragile, but it stood firm like a mountain. Before long, the bat corpses around the light circle piled up higher and higher.

  At this moment, in the air around the light circle, countless black bats are also unknown to have surrounded it. Its not three layers inside and three layers outside, but probably three hundred layers inside and three hundred layers outside. However, these beasts impact on the light circle seems to be slowing down, as if they know its futile, so they no longer do this useless thing. But these bats seem reluctant to give up the delicious taste, still surrounding and refusing to leave.

  Zhang Xiaofans mind was in turmoil, he had never seen such a ferocious creature in his life, and even now he was still somewhat tense with fear. He gasped for breath as he withdrew his gaze from the outer bats, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Xueqi, standing beside him, was also pale to the extreme.

  As if at the same time, Xue Qi also sensed his gaze and looked over here towards Zhang Xiao Fan. The two peoples gazes met in mid-air.

  Xue Qi suddenly turned her head away, her pale face seemed to have turned even paler, but she never looked back again.

  Brush

  Suddenly, all the bats flapped their wings and flew away. Zeng Shu looked at them and finally let out a sigh of relief, saying: "Its about time."

  Before he could finish speaking, he was unable to continue. The sky was filled with dark clouds and countless bats flew up high, suddenly turned around, and one by one, like hailstones, they dived down onto the mirrors lens, but were bounced back by the mirrors light ring. Then a cloud of blood mist rose up, and under the pale yellow glow, they fell to the ground in a shower of broken bodies.

  Blood flowed horizontally, and the bloody splatters appeared in the night, then fell to the ground. However, the later bats seemed to be unmoved by the death of their predecessors, still colliding non-stop. The four people from Qingyunmen were all pale-faced, looking at this rare and brutal alien creature.

  Around the light, a thick layer of bat carcasses piled up quickly, nearly half a persons height.

  Zhang Xiaofan suddenly appeared, and his clothes behind him were all soaked with cold sweat.

  This terrifying scene didnt know how long it lasted, until the bat corpses outside the light circle were almost piled up to a persons height. The bat group finally stopped this fierce and brutal attack. At this moment, even if it was the treasure mirror, the brightness of the scattered light circle dimmed a bit, but still flickered in the dark night, standing upright and unshakeable.

  Dark clouds filled the sky, surrounding the only light in this dark night, yet still refusing to leave.

  Four people didnt even dare to close their eyes for a moment, each holding their own magic sword in hand, not daring to relax for a single thread.

  These huge groups of bats seem to have no other good method, just surrounding and refusing to leave, but also not making any further attacks.

  It lasted until dawn.

  When the first ray of sunlight came over the horizon, it was as if something in the darkness was calling out, and all the bats suddenly took flight, circling in the air for a moment before flying back to where they had flown out the night before. They came quickly and left even more quickly, disappearing from view in an instant.

  The four people of Qingyunmen slowly relaxed, but it wasnt until much later that Qi Huan withdrew the mirror, only after he was completely certain that those bats wouldnt come out again.

  Aperture dissolves.

  A dull thud, the bat corpses that had piled up around the four like small mountains suddenly collapsed in from all sides, burying them in this disgusting and terrifying river. Zhang Xiaofans heart skipped a beat at that moment, almost thinking he had stopped breathing, and at the same time, he heard a scream coming from beside him, a jade-like hand reaching out to tightly grab his arm.

  The force was so great that, despite the clothes in between, his fingernails sank into his flesh.

  This pain pierced his heart, he turned around and looked at this frightened beautiful woman, her pale face had a hint of panic in the morning sun, making ones heart inexplicably ache.

  Suddenly, all the fears in his heart disappeared, although there was still some tension, but his attention was drawn to Xue Qi, as if he couldnt shrink back in front of her.

  He took another step forward and stood in front of her.

  Xue Qis heavy breathing gradually calmed down, she slightly lifted her head, her lips moved lightly, and she took a deep look at Zhang Xiao Fans face before releasing his hand.