Qingyun Mountain, Dazhu Peak.

  Misty clouds linger in the mountains, like soft white silk ribbons, gently changing. In the early morning, the slightly damp air and the refreshing breeze pass through a patch of emerald green bamboo forest, brushing over the top of Dazhu Peak.

  That building centered on Shoujing Hall stood quietly in the morning light, everything seemed so peaceful...

  It was just a sudden burst of barking sounds, interspersed with "squeaky" calls, that broke the silence here. A big yellow dog with shiny fur came running from afar, and a little grey dog rode on its back, holding onto the fur on the big yellow dog's neck to support its body, while waving one paw in the air, looking very excited.

  Ten years ago, Zhang Xiaofan left from here to Tongtian Peak and never came back. At the beginning of that period, both animals became depressed and unhappy, especially Xiao Hui, who was originally very active but became sulky for a long time. As for Da Huang, it didn't feel well either, hanging its head in despair all day, and it's not clear if it was because it liked Zhang Xiaofan's cooking too much. During that period, every time Du Bishu replaced Zhang Xiaofan to cook and feed them, he would definitely be scolded by Da Huang and Xiao Hui, and after eating, they would often give him a cold eye, looking very dissatisfied. Poor Du Bishu was also depressed for a long time because of this.

  Time flies like water, and the memories of those years seem to be fading away. I don't know when it started, but Xiaohui and Dahuang began to play and frolic on the mountain top of Dazhu Peak again, only to return to Zhang Xiaofan's room at night, as if waiting for something.

  Although all these years, this room has always been empty and uninhabited.

  "Hiss!"

  Dà Huáng suddenly stopped in his tracks while running, the huge inertia almost made Xiao Hui fall off his back, fortunately, his hands grasped tightly enough to barely steady himself. Dà Huáng barked loudly, suddenly turned around, and with his mouth open, stuck out a long tongue to chase after his own tail, his body spinning non-stop on the spot.

  Xiao Hui sat steadily on its back, grinning and laughing loudly with a "squeak squeak" sound, looking very excited and happy. This dry game had been played countless times by Da Huang, but for them, it seemed to be the most fun thing ever.

  The soft light of dawn shines on them, and the sound of two animals echoes from the top of the bamboo forest. People are still asleep, and this good time seems to be left only for them.

  In the distance, the lush bamboo forest behind the mountain, faintly transmits the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo leaves, echoing back and forth. Even the wind blowing from that direction seems to carry the refreshing scent of the bamboo leaves and the atmosphere within that bamboo forest.

  Suddenly!

  The big yellow stopped chasing its own tail, and Xiao Hui on its back also lifted its head at almost the same time, opened its mouth wide, and looked towards the bamboo forest.

  Green hills, emerald bamboo, wind passing by, like the sea...

  Shā shā, shā shā, shā shā...

  "Squeak, squeak, squeak!" Xiao Hui suddenly let out a sharp cry. Da Huang's reaction was also somewhat strange, but his barking was much softer. After a few yips, the two animals seemed to understand something and Xiao Hui grabbed onto Da Huang tightly. Da Huang immediately sprang into action, dashing towards the black bamboo forest on the hill with lightning speed.

  The familiar mountain path behind, perhaps because no one has come here to do homework for a long time, the lush grass and trees have gradually blurred the original mountain road, but the dandelion seems to be naturally spiritual, shuttling through the forest, running faster and faster, soon arrived at the front of that bamboo forest.

  In the lush green bamboo forest, it was quiet and mysterious. Da Huang stopped at the edge of the bamboo forest, let out a few low "woos", Xiao Hui jumped down from its back, squatted beside it, looked at it, then gazed into the depths of the bamboo forest, occasionally scratching its head, as if also hesitant.

  But just for a moment, Xiao Hui finally made up his mind. He let out two "squeaks" to Da Huang and then walked towards the bamboo forest. It's not exactly walking, but Xiao Hui strangely didn't climb onto the bamboo. Instead, he used his front paws to support himself on the ground, adopting a hopping posture as he slowly made his way in. From his appearance, it seemed like he was being cautious yet full of expectation.

  The big yellow dog barked twice and also stepped out, following behind it, walking into the bamboo forest.

  A monkey and a dog slowly wove in and out of the quiet bamboo forest, soon disappearing from view.

  The morning light was blocked by the dense bamboo leaves, but from the gaps between them, there were still rays of light that transformed into finger-sized pillars of light, sprinkling down from above the bamboo forest and landing on the ground.

  Xiao Hui and Da Huang walked slowly through the bamboo forest, walking... Unconsciously, they arrived at a certain place deep in the bamboo forest, where there was a small clearing. It looked familiar, vaguely remembered, as if it were the place where Zhang Xiao Fan first came to cut bamboo years ago.

  Xiao Hui stopped in his tracks, crouched on the empty ground, scratched his head with his hand, and looked around.

  In the depths of the bamboo forest, there is a silence.

  But somehow there seems to be some inexplicable aura floating around here.

  Making heartbeats slow down...

  "Pffft!" A light footstep, treading softly in the quiet depths of the bamboo forest.

  Xiao Hui and Da Huang turned their heads at the same time. A figure slowly emerged from behind a thick bamboo tree.

  The bamboo forest suddenly became quiet again, but a moment later, there was a sudden cheer, Xiao Hui jumped up and turned into a gray light, rushing forward, jumping into the air, and leaping into that person's arms!

  It tightly grasped the person's clothes, laughed loudly and unrestrainedly released its own joy, "hee hee hee" laughing non-stop.

  That person came over, the former fierce and murderous aura was gone without a trace, his eyebrows were filled with a gentle smile that had not been seen for a long time, and he hugged Xiao Hui in his arms. A moment later, he suddenly felt something again, looked down, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He bent down, stroked the head of Da Huang who was rubbing against his body, and smiled: "Da Huang, are you okay?"

  The big yellow dog wouldn't talk, only making low whimpers and wagging his tail nonstop, gently nudging his palm with his head.

  His eyes seemed to be reflecting a faint light in the corner, as if no one was around: "Only you guys are still treating me like before!"

  He let out a soft sigh and took a deep breath, in this bamboo forest, where the familiar scent of memories lingered.

  "Whoosh!"

  Suddenly, another flurry of footsteps came from behind, and the wild dog Taoist rushed out, but seeing that his tattered Taoist robe had been torn by thorns in several places, it was clear that he had taken a wrong turn.

  The wild dog Daoist had a gloomy face, and complained to the former Zhang Xiaofan, now Gui Li: "Hey, stinky brat, are you crazy? Wanting to die doesn't have to be like this! This is Qingyun Gate, if we're discovered, even with ten lives, we'll definitely die!"

  Suddenly, the big yellow dog that was still very gentle with Gui Ye just a moment ago turned around, its neck hair standing on end, baring its teeth and clearly showing great dislike for the wild dog. A moment later, the big yellow dog let out a loud bark and actually pounced over.

  The wild dog was shocked, but seeing this giant dog that was almost half the height of a person suddenly pounce over, his heart skipped a beat first, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to grasp his own canine tooth treasure.

  Unexpectedly, Gui Li said faintly in front of him: "If you dare to use the treasure to hurt this dog, I will cut off your hands and feet and throw you down the mountain to guard the quiet hall."

  The wild dog was shocked and angrily said: "What did you just say..."

  But before he could finish speaking, Da Huang suddenly pounced on the wild dog, which was caught off guard and instantly knocked to the ground. The sound of barking and angry shouting filled the air as the two dogs tumbled and staggered about, creating a huge commotion. The wild dog led Da Huang to roll behind a thorny bush in the distance, where they were out of sight, but the occasional angry yells could still be heard.

  "Oh no! Dead dog, you're still biting... Hey, stinky brat, you beast, why don't you make this dog let go? No, release its mouth, ah... Dead dog, that's a human leg, not a chicken leg! Let go quickly, stop biting... Ahhh..."

  Gui Li was deaf to the distant howls of wild dogs, and instead turned his head to look at Xiao Hui in his arms, a smile spreading across his face. After a closer examination, he found that although it had been ten years since they last met, Xiao Hui seemed to have grown even bigger, and the feeling of holding him in his arms also seemed much heavier than before. Even the scar between Xiao Hui's eyes seemed to have grown larger.

  And Xiao Hui, after the initial joy and excitement, still had a smile on his face, crawling onto his shoulder as usual, habitually reaching out to touch his head.

  The demon stood quietly, then slowly walked outwards, walking to the edge of the bamboo forest, gazing into the distance at the place in front of the mountain that was shrouded in clouds and mist, which used to be his warmest home.

  He stared blankly into space, gazing deeply ahead.

  Also don't know how long, Dahuang proudly ran out from the depths of the bamboo forest, shaking his head and wagging his tail non-stop, jumping to Gui Li's side, "Woof woof woof" barking a few times.

  The ghost smiled fiercely and patted its head with his hand.

  After a while, the wild dog Daoist stumbled out of the black bamboo forest, his Taoist robe even more tattered, and there were several scratch marks on his dog face. As for the wound under his feet, it was faintly visible.

  At this moment, seeing Da Huang lying beside Gui Li, I felt a little scared and didn't dare to walk over. From afar, I shouted: "Dead dog, don't think that someone is backing you up, one of these days I'll kill you!"

  The big yellow dog suddenly turned its head and barked at the wild dog, which was so frightened that it retreated several steps. However, the big yellow dog merely scared it and didn't chase after it. Instead, it turned its head back, and only then did the wild dog feel relieved, but from then on, it didn't dare to curse again.

  Looking down at the mountain for a while, the first ray of sunshine today had quietly fallen, and it put on a layer of light golden clothes for this green mountain.

  Qī Lì closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

  After a moment, he turned around, stretched out his hand and hugged the little grey dog in his arms, looked at the wild dog and said: "Let's go!"

  The wild dog couldn't help but hear this sentence, and hurriedly walked over, muttering: "Isn't this just looking for trouble? Risking one's life for a monkey..."

  Dahuang seemed to sense something, stood up and looked at Gui Li. Gui Li patted Dahuang's head with his hand, smiled, and with a wave of his left hand, a black rod emitting a mysterious blue-green light appeared, which was the "fire stick" from back then, supporting his body as he soared into the sky.

  The stray dog growled and complained: "You stinky brat, where do you think you are? Even walking is done so arrogantly..."

  He was just complaining when suddenly, Da Huang let out a loud roar and the wild dog was startled, hastily driving its magic treasure to follow Gui Li.

  In front of the black bamboo forest, Da Huang stood alone, barking loudly, continuously...

  Its loud roar echoed through the mountains, and it didn't stop until a white hand stroked its head, saying softly: "Dahuang, what's wrong? Why did you run here today and keep roaring?"

  Dà Huáng seemed somewhat agitated and panting, glanced at Tián Líng'ér who was now a young woman, then turned back and let out a loud howl towards the sky.

  "Woof woof, woof woof, woof woof woof..."

  Tian Ling'er furrowed her brow, looked around, and felt a bit strange. "What's wrong, Da Huang? And where's Xiao Hui? Why isn't it with you?"

  Dà Huáng didn't know if he understood what she said or not, but he still faced the sky and barked loudly.

  Tian Ling'er gazed up at the sky, but all she saw was a blue sky with white clouds, an endless expanse of azure. Faintly visible, a wisp of cloud drifted out from the layer of clouds, galloping across the vast heavens, a truly magnificent sight. For some reason, her heart suddenly felt a pang of melancholy, and for a moment, she stood there in a daze, lost in thought.

  South of Qingyun Mountain, thousands of miles away in a desolate and remote land, there is a high mountain called "Huli Mountain", which is the headquarters of the Demon Sect's Guiwang Sect.

  In the past decade, the demonic sect's power has grown increasingly prosperous, with many masters emerging, but internal strife has become even more brutal, almost more intense than the struggle against the righteous path. The Gui Wang Sect was originally one of the four major factions within the demonic sect, and in the past decade, its leader, Gui Wang, has been diligent in governing, displaying great talent and vision, making the Gui Wang Sect increasingly powerful, with a hint of replacing the Wan Du Men as the largest faction in the demonic sect.

  Nowadays, the Ghost King Sect has a mysterious figure "Ghost Mr." appearing around the Ghost King, who is only heard but not seen. However, what catches people's attention most is the young generation of the Ghost King Sect, especially Gui Lie, who is highly valued by the Ghost King and was promoted to Vice-Sect Master, treated as his own son. It is now widely known that Gui Lie will definitely be the next Sect Master of the Ghost King Sect.

  In the demonic cult, internal strife was not only intense but also extreme. Many people had tried to drive a wedge between Gui Wang and his top general, but all had failed.

  But in the hearts of the very few people who knew about that period, there was a faint sense of sadness towards the relationship between these two people, which had become almost unbreakable.

  A black veil lightly covered her face, that mysterious black-clothed woman - You Ji, was silently sitting in the most important room of Gui Wang Zong. The room wasn't very big, but it was very cold, and the reason for this was because in the center of the room, a crystal clear white ice platform was placed, and a faint chill emanated from the almost transparent ice platform.

  A beautiful woman, wearing her beloved green dress, lay quietly on top, in the gently rising white cold air, her face looked a bit pale, as if it were also transparent, with an icy beauty!

  Her hands were crossed in front of her, and in the palms of her hands was a small golden bell that seemed to be connected with her body as if it had become one. It shone with an unusual light, as if gazing at this world.

  At this time, a low "rumble" sound suddenly came from behind, the heavy stone door of this room was pushed open by someone, and then closed again.

  Footsteps sounded, and someone walked up beside Youji.

  Yougui slowly raised her head, and those who could enter this room, even if they were the Ghost King Sect, would not exceed four people.

  A somewhat pale face floated before her eyes, and in the black veil behind her heart, she lightly trembled, vaguely remembering that each time this man entered here, his complexion became paler.

  However, in the man's eyes, there was no existence of You Ji at all. The beautiful woman who lay quietly there had now occupied his entire body and mind.

  The stone chamber suddenly became very quiet, a dead silence.

  Yuè Jī got up quietly and retreated backwards, but her gaze remained fixed on the man. His figure seemed even more solitary than before, and the terrifying bloody aura that often appeared around him in the outside world was completely absent here.

  Nor does he know if it's just here that he can find peace of mind.

  She took a last look at the man and walked out, carefully closing the stone gate behind her. Suddenly, she was startled to find a white-robed Qinglong standing beside her.

  "What's wrong?" Youji fell silent for a moment before saying calmly.

  The Azure Dragon glanced at the stone gate and said, "Has he returned?"

  Yuè Ji's black veil moved slightly, as if she nodded slightly, and said: "Yes, I'm inside talking to Bi Yao."

  The Azure Dragon furrowed his brow and let out a soft sigh. In fact, they all knew in their hearts that the so-called conversation was just Ghostly Silence talking to himself in a low voice, as for whether Biyu could hear it or not, that was another matter altogether. It's just that this thing was too sad, none of them were willing to bring it up.

  Yu Nu stood silently for a moment before suddenly saying: "Every time Zhang Xiaofan returns, the first place he'll come to is here..."

  Qing Long's expression changed slightly, and he interrupted: "Third Sister, he has now been given the name Gui Li by the master of the Ghost King Sect. I've told you many times not to call him that name again."

  Behind Yuji's black veil, it was unknown what expression she had, but only her tone remained unchanged as she continued, "......However, the Sect Master has not come here for a very long time."

  The Azure Dragon looked at her and finally let out a long sigh, saying: "In these ten years, the white hairs on our Master's temples have increased by so much, can't you see that? He isn't unwilling to think of this only daughter of his, it's just that he has been hiding his pain in his heart."

  Yuugi fell silent again, then seemed to remember something and looked up, saying: "How's the search for the Black Witch tribe going?"

  The Azure Dragon shook its head and said, "The Black Witch tribe only appeared for a brief moment a thousand years ago. Now, where can we find them? It's truly impossible to even get a clue."

  Yuè Jī slowly turned around and walked away.

  This stone room where Biyao was sleeping was naturally in a very secluded place of the Gui Wang Sect, and there were few people who came here on ordinary days. At this moment, outside the stone room, only the two of them were in the corridor.

  Qing Long gazed at the back of You Ji as she walked away and suddenly spoke up: "You'd best keep a distance from Gui Li."

  Yuè Jī's body suddenly shook, and she immediately stopped in her tracks. Her entire being seemed to stiffen, but then slowly relaxed, turned around, and stared at Qing Long through the black veil, saying word by word: "What do you mean?"

  The Blue Dragon did not look at her again, turning his eyes to the stone gate of that stone room, and said lightly: "I know you have a guilty conscience towards Bi Yao, thinking that you didn't protect her well, but your private concern for that man has already gone too far."

  Youyu didn't speak, but the atmosphere in this corridor suddenly became almost colder than the stone room just now. An invisible murderous intent seemed to emanate from the black-clothed woman's body, spreading out continuously.

  "Are you saying... I've actually developed feelings for this young man?" she spat out word by word.

  The Azure Dragon seemed to be unaffected by the killing intent in front of him, his expression didn't change either. He slowly said: "Third sister, I didn't say that. I just wanted to remind you that due to Bi Yao's reason, the relationship between the Ghost King Sect Master and this man has always been very subtle. I have followed the Ghost King Sect Master for many years, I know he treats Gui Yi as his own, but sometimes when thinking of Bi Yao, he might also harbor some resentment."

  He turned around and gazed deeply at Youji, saying softly: "Third sister, take care of yourself."

  Youyu hummed coldly from a distance and said indifferently, "I don't know what you're talking about!" After that, she turned around and walked away.

  The green dragon sighed and shook his head slightly.

  Inside the stone room.

  Guile sat beside Biyao, gazing at that beautiful yet slightly pale face, and softly said: "I'm back, Biyao."

  ……

  "This time out, I've helped your father wipe out another sect, the Lianxuetang, the one we met back then. You must still remember it?"

  ……

  "I don't know how, but when I was left as the last person, I suddenly thought of you and remembered that we met here. I couldn't bring myself to kill you. Biyao, will you blame me?"

  ……

  "A few days ago, I secretly evaded the guards and made a trip to Dazhu Peak, bringing back Xiao Hui. Have you seen Xiao Hui? It's that monkey I've been raising since it was little..."

  ……

  "I went to Heizhulin, guess what I saw?"

  ……

  "Look, that black bamboo node is still lying on the ground. Bi Yao, do you remember? It was the one we sat on together..."

  ……

  "Actually, nothing has changed, Biyao."

  ……

  "Bixiao..." He whispered softly, with a faintly choked voice, lingering in the stone chamber.