Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

After parting ways with Xia Dong at Fuqing Mountain, Zhao Ting returned to the Baihu Office with a heavy heart.

A day later, the two Eagle Wolf Guards who were responsible for escorting Master Qin home finally returned to report.

Zhao Ting immediately called the two into the secret room and asked with a stern expression, "How is it? Did you spot anyone following you along the way?"

"Reporting to you, sir, our brothers kept their eyes peeled the whole way and didn't find anything unusual," the subordinate replied respectfully.

Zhao Ting dared not be careless, so he pulled the two men aside and questioned them twice more about every detail of escorting Master Qin home, Master Qin's demeanor and words on the way, and the reactions of the Qin family when they met him. After confirming that no clues had been missed, he waved for the two men to leave.

He paced back and forth in the room, his brows furrowed in a deep frown.

Now, he not only openly sends people to escort them, but also secretly dispatches several shrewd and capable Eagle Wolf Guard brothers to keep a close watch on the Qin residence for twelve hours straight.

"Grave digging, empty coffin, Xuan Yin Sect, Snake Taoist..." Zhao Ting chewed on these words repeatedly, feeling more and more terrified as he thought about them.

This matter is definitely not simple.

Zhao Ting gritted his teeth inwardly, preparing for the worst: if the matter was too serious, to the point that even the prefectural city's Thousand Household Office couldn't handle it, he would not only immediately send a coded message to Xia Dong to run away, but he would also have to make a hasty retreat and flee back to his family in the capital overnight to seek the protection of his ancestor.

Not to mention how worried and uneasy Zhao Ting in the city was about this unexpected disaster.

……

……

Xia Dong used his wind-riding technique to travel at lightning speed and silently sneak back to his cave deep in the Tiger Hill Mountains.

As soon as they passed through the outer illusion array, the enormous Black Water Serpent emerged from the shadows, a hint of human-like intimacy flashing in its huge vertical pupils, and it flicked its scarlet forked tongue as it approached Xia Dong.

Seeing the familiar appearance of the giant snake, Xia Dong's tense nerves instantly relaxed, and he inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's so nice to be in these mountains." Xia Dong reached out and touched the snake's cold, hard scales, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

The endless scheming, complex backgrounds, and sudden mysteries surrounding one's origins in the mundane world are simply suffocating.

In comparison, the treacherous and deadly nature of the people outside the mountain far surpasses the terror of dealing with this seemingly frightening late-stage Qi Refining demon snake before him.

At least, Brother Snake's joys and sorrows are straightforward; he won't greet you with a smile to your face while stabbing you in the back.

Xia Dong turned to look at the spirit fields outside the cave and found that Brother Snake had been living a very comfortable life lately, with excellent food.

Perhaps it was because the spiritual energy emitted by the "purple-spotted leaves" and "green corn" planted in the spirit field was too tempting, that even though there was an illusion array around to conceal the aura, a few spirit rats that had gained some intelligence would occasionally stumble in by accident.

And these little creatures that walked right into the trap, unsurprisingly, all became the giant snake's meal.

As he was deep in thought, a very faint rustling sound suddenly came from the grass at the edge of the spirit field.

Before Xia Dong could turn his head, the large snake beside him shot out like an arrow.

A dark shadow flashed by, and when the giant snake raised its head again, it had a fat, gray-furred spirit rat, as big as a kitten, firmly clamped in its mouth. The spirit rat was still struggling desperately, making desperate squeaks.

The snake moved its lower jaw, preparing to swallow it whole.

"Brother Snake, have mercy!" Xia Dong smiled upon seeing this and stepped forward to stop the giant snake. "Leave it to me. Don't always try to eat it raw. I'll roast it for you. I guarantee it will taste much better than if you ate it raw."

The giant snake understood Xia Dong's meaning and readily opened its mouth, dropping the unconscious rat on the ground.

Xia Dong also became interested and skillfully skinned and cleaned the rat.

He even went to the extravagance of taking out a piece of firewood used for alchemy from his storage bag to start a fire.

The firewood burns at an extremely high temperature and has no smoky smell like ordinary wood.

As time passed, the spirit rat meat placed over the fire was roasted until it was golden and crispy, with tempting oil sizzling on the surface. A rich aroma of meat mixed with a faint spiritual energy permeated the area outside the cave.

Xia Dong tore off a piece of rat leg and took a bite. The meat was tender, melted in his mouth, and had a wonderful aroma.

He tossed the remaining half to the giant snake, which swallowed it whole, smacking its lips with satisfaction, clearly finding the cooked food to be truly delicious.

"This little bit isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap." Xia Dong took a bite but felt unsatisfied, and her cravings were being whetted.

He simply got up and left the formation, used his wind-riding technique to wander around the deep mountains, and without much effort, he killed a wild boar weighing two or three hundred pounds and carried it back to the cave.

Wild boars have thick, rough skin and meat, with a strong earthy smell and wildness, making them quite difficult to handle. Xia Dong used a short knife to gut and bleed the boar, then picked a few leaves of wild grass with a special spicy aroma from the edge of the spirit field and stuffed them into the boar's stomach to remove the odor.

Although the wild boar meat is rather tough and dry even when roasted, and can't be considered a particularly delicious delicacy, it's worth it because of the generous portion size, allowing people to eat large chunks of meat and enjoy its freshness.

Summer and winter would set up a whole wild boar on a thick tree branch and roast it over a roaring campfire, the fat dripping into the fire and creating bursts of flames.

The giant snake coiled to one side, its vertical pupils fixed on the roasted pig, clearly showing its approval and anticipation of Xia Dong's culinary skills.

Once the wild boar was roasted until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, Xia Dong cut off the tenderest piece of tenderloin for himself, and gave the rest, skin and bones, to the big snake.

The giant snake opened its blood-red maw and began tearing and biting, accompanied by the sickening sound of bones cracking, as it devoured the enormous roasted wild boar with relish.

Xia Dong sat on a blue stone to the side, slowly chewing the roasted meat in his mouth while watching the snake eat and listening to the rustling of the mountain wind through the forest. His mood, which had been tense because of the changes in the city, inexplicably became completely pleasant and relaxed.

"No wonder those sages and great figures in the ancient books of my past life loved to live in seclusion in the countryside and find solace in nature." Xia Dong looked at the leaping campfire, a serene smile appearing on his lips.

Even without seeking immortality through cultivation, the tranquility of being far removed from the deceit and treachery of the world is enough to bring joy and contentment.

Time flies when you're in the mountains; a few days of carefree joy and happiness pass in the blink of an eye until the night of the full moon arrives.

This day is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for families to reunite.

Xia Dong sat cross-legged by the cold pool, holding his breath and concentrating, waiting for midnight.

A giant serpent coiled beside him, its head raised to the sky, its vertical pupils fixed on the bright moon hanging high in the sky, as if it wanted to take advantage of the yin and yang transition at midnight to absorb the purest and coldest moonlight.

...

...

The same moonlight fell upon the mortal world beyond the mountains.

Qin Wan didn't return home every Mid-Autumn Festival, but this year, Master Qin sent several letters home, specifically urging her to come back for a reunion dinner. After reporting to her sect, she returned as promised.

That night, the Qin residence was brightly lit with red candles and bustling with noise that was almost abnormal.

Qin Wan sat with her father in the courtyard to admire the moon, but she was somewhat restless.

As night deepened, the laughter and chatter in the mansion were slowly swallowed up by the cold dew, leaving only the moonlight that resembled frost covering the steps.

The moment midnight arrives.

Master Qin suddenly stopped what he was doing, looked at the soft moonlight in the courtyard, and sighed softly. He slowly raised his hand, his palm icy cold, and placed it heavily on his daughter's shoulder, his voice sounding particularly melancholy in the night breeze: "Wan'er, the time has come."

...

...

hum!

A deep, resonant bell tolled suddenly from the void.

In the mountains, the spirit snake stood upright, bowed to the bright moon in the distance, and spat out its frosty white inner core; Xia Dong took advantage of the momentum and rose up, its graceful figure like a crane spreading its wings and dancing in the heavens.

The magnificent moonlight cascaded down like a silver waterfall, coating the spiritual fields and the cold pool with a flowing celestial glow, making them otherworldly and like a fairyland.

Amidst the ethereal dance of the cranes, Xia Dong suddenly heard that long-lost resounding sound, and was overjoyed.

The ancient bronze bell has finally been restored!