10: A red dress (please add to collection and vote)

A hundred miles away, Five Mile Temple.

The great fire had extinguished.

At this moment, two figures shrouded in large robes, their brows and eyes hidden in shadow, stood before the pile of human heads forming a Jing Guan.

The one leading, at the front, also wore a black demon mask.

"Did you find Black Robe's head?"

A sound like metal grinding against metal squeezed from his throat, exceptionally grating.

"Reporting to Altar Lord, it was not found; only the corpse remained."

The person behind him replied.

"Useless! I told you to stay and guard the sub-altar, yet you didn't even see a shadow of the person."

"It seems he was taken away by that person!"

"Investigate for me: what happened in the nearby area, and who came?"

"Two Protectors died; we don't have enough manpower to complete the ritual. When the Venerable from the main altar comes down, neither you nor I will have a good outcome."

"Yes!"

The person behind him bowed and retreated.

His figure flickered and disappeared.

The person wearing the demon mask looked in the direction of Qingshan County, his voice gloomy and grating.

"This Altar Lord will dig you out sooner or later!"

But at that moment,

Below the mountain outside the village,

A rapid sound of hooves echoed.

Only to see in the distance, on the river surface.

A brown exotic horse, with flying clouds and flowing mane, was treading on the river surface, walking on water.

On the horse, a figure in red, like a blazing sun.

Transformed into a red flowing shadow, galloping through the green mountains.

As it passed the Five Mile Temple area, the red-clad figure on the horse clearly sensed something, taking a fleeting glance through the mountain forest leaves, looking up the mountain.

And met eyes with the person wearing the demon mask.

Those were eyes that made the spring river and moon pale in comparison!

Then, without further delay, it disappeared among the towering mountains and ridges.

"What keen perception!"

On the mountain, the figure wearing the demon mask murmured.

This woman seems to be heading towards Yunlu!

...

On the other side, eight hundred miles away, Langdang Mountain.

A certain forest area near the border of Qingshan County.

The sun was setting in the west; dusk was approaching.

Birds returned to their nests; insects were silent.

Yet, in a patch of woods,

Chirping sounds could be heard.

A white-furred fox held a golden-furred Squirrel in its mouth, placing it onto a rock.

Then it let out "ying ying ying" cries.

And that golden-furred Squirrel, about a foot in size, chirped "jiji" at the fox, seemingly very displeased.

Then, it transformed into a golden phantom and ran outwards.

The white-furred fox let out a strange cry and quickly turned back to chase, retrieving the Squirrel.

Seemingly in a great hurry, the fox even picked up a branch from nearby, then awkwardly gripped it with one paw and waved it twice in the air.

Then it let out strange "ying ying ying" cries at the golden-furred Squirrel.

Next, it bared its teeth and made a fierce face.

It seemed to be saying that there was something very, very fierce, and it absolutely should not go out.

The Squirrel chirped "jiji" incessantly, its two furry front paws akimbo, baring its two large teeth fiercely, and then pointed to its belly.

After speaking, it inhaled, and its small belly instantly puffed up.

Its entire Squirrel body swelled to the size of a balloon, becoming round and plump.

Then it floated directly upwards, slowly drifting towards the foot of the mountain.

Seeing this, the white-furred fox anxiously spun in circles on the ground, crying out at the Squirrel flying in the sky.

But very quickly, the Little Squirrel floated down the mountain.

Floating and floating, the Little Squirrel drifted into a mountain hollow.

In the sky, the returning birds seemed very curious.

Several birds pecked at the bulging belly.

Pecking the Little Squirrel, making it roll up and down in the air like a kicked ball.

Which made it chirp angrily, wanting to drive away these few stinky birds.

But because its belly was too full, its four furry paws could only flail like a turtle flipping over, without achieving anything.

Just then, a clear eagle cry came from above the sky.

An eagle with feathers like poured silver, spreading wings three or four meters long, swooped down from below.

Like a sharp arrow shooting forth.

The few birds instantly scattered in fright.

And the Little Squirrel, seeing the large eagle, cried out in fear.

Its bulging belly instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, quickly plummeting from the air.

The huge shadow enveloped it the next second.

A pair of sharp claws, gleaming with a cold metallic light, struck empty air.

And that golden-furred Little Squirrel fell from the air, fortunately buffered by the fluffy tree canopy.

As it fell, its small paws hastily grabbed a branch, swaying precariously before stabilizing its small body.

Then it flipped over and lay on the branch.

Next, it chirped at the eagle circling in the air, waving its paws, seemingly very angry.

Then, it agilely leaped from tree to tree in the dense forest.

Swinging towards the edge of the dense forest.

After about half an hour, the Little Squirrel stood on a large tree and saw the outline of a city.

At this time, the sky was darkening.

Only the last ray of twilight illuminated the eaves of the city wall's corner tower.

Once it completely disappeared and night fell, the Little Squirrel transformed into a black shadow, leaping up and down, and darted inside the city wall.

It quickly and familiarly arrived on the eaves of a rice shop in Guilinfang.

And at this moment, inside the rice shop, lights were on.

The chubby rice shop owner and the shop assistant guarded the rice jar, staring at each other wide-eyed.

Their bodies trembled slightly; in fact, both were terrified.

Strange things had been happening in the shop for several days.

The rice in the shop was always mysteriously missing a lot.

Initially, the shop assistant told the owner about this, and the owner thought the assistant was up to no good.

But later, when he personally guarded the shop and the rice still decreased, he panicked.

This was a haunting!

Today, at night, he lit the oil lamp and guarded with the assistant, holding things for self-defense.

They dared not sleep easily.

Those were his life savings.

At this moment, the chubby owner, with dark circles under his eyes, paced in the flickering shadows of the candlelight. The quiet atmosphere terrified him, so he nudged the assistant, who was leaning back to back with him.

The assistant, however, made no movement.

This startled his chubby face into a tremble.

Turning his head, he saw that the fellow had actually fallen asleep.

Angrily, he slapped the assistant's head directly, "Sleep, sleep, sleep! I haven't even slept! If you sleep again, I'll deduct your wages."

The assistant had untold suffering, so he could only grimace, enduring his sleepiness, and guarding through the night.

And at this time, these two still didn't know that a black shadow had silently slipped into the large rice jar.

The bulging rice slowly collapsed by a lot.

A few minutes later, a round figure emerged from the rice.

It swaggered out from the bottom of the rice jar.

And scurried out of the house.

Only, the figure became heavier, and made a rustling sound as it climbed the eaves.

This slight disturbance startled the chubby owner.

He quickly raised the lamp to shine.

Empty.

And this light shone on the rice jar, which was more than half empty.

Immediately, he let out a pig-like squeal of heartache.

Outside the house, a round figure skillfully emerged from the rooftop.

Just as it was about to make a clean getaway,

A hand suddenly grabbed its neck.

Lifting it up, a half-smiling face appeared.

"Rice thief, so it was you, you little thing."

The Little Squirrel instantly let out chirps of fright.

Scared the Squirrel to death!