This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

After finishing his business, Master Yunhe waved his hand.

"Xuanqing, take the young man to the guest room to rest. Zhang Chen, you stay here."

"Yes," Li Xuanqing replied, leading the still somewhat bewildered Wang Xiaoer out of the quiet room.

The door was gently closed, leaving only the uncle and nephew in the quiet room.

Master Yunhe's solemn expression vanished instantly. He glanced at Zhang Chen with a strange look in his eyes.

"You little rascal, in the years you've been down the mountain, you either don't cause trouble, or you always pick big ones."

Zhang Chen chuckled and scratched his head: "It was an accident, purely an accident."

"An accident?" Master Yunhe snorted. "A while ago, someone came looking for you from the Miao village in western Hunan."

Zhang Chen's smile froze instantly, and his expression became extremely unnatural.

He coughed lightly, his eyes darting around.

"Looking for me? What do you want? I don't know anyone from any Miao village."

Master Yunhe gave him a meaningful look and said slowly, "A girl with a head full of braids, wearing many silver bells that jingle as she walks, specifically asked for you, Zhang Chen."

Zhang Chen's Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't dare to reply.

"That girl said," Master Yunhe drawled, mimicking the girl's tone, "that you promised her grandmother something back then, and now it's time to fulfill that promise."

"I think that girl has quite a temper; she stood up for you. But judging from her attitude, she'll come after you sooner or later."

Zhang Chen's face had turned a deep purplish-red, and he awkwardly rubbed his hands together.

"Uncle-Master, let's not dwell on those old matters..."

"Aren't you going to mention it?"

Master Yunhe, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristled and glared.

"That girl's already come knocking on the mountain gate! Just how many romantic entanglements have you accumulated out there?!"

Zhang Chen trembled from the shout and quickly waved his hand.

"No! Absolutely no romantic entanglements! It's just... just a little misunderstanding!"

"A misunderstanding?" Master Yunhe sneered. "I don't think so. You'd better clean it up yourself and not bring trouble back to the mountain."

Zhang Chen gave a vague and ambiguous reply, managing to get through the matter.

With the provincial capital matter settled, he and Wang Xiaoer politely declined Li Xuanqing's offer to stay.

On the high-speed train home, the scenery outside the window rushed past, and the city and fields stretched into blurry lines in my field of vision.

The carriage was quiet. Zhang Chen leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest, but his brows were slightly furrowed. It was unclear whether he was thinking about the evil dragon or the Miao girl with the silver bell.

Wang Xiaoer rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly out the window.

He had no image of the evil dragon in his mind, nor of that weighty guest elder token.

His mind was filled with thoughts of that mysterious orange cat, Fugui.

What exactly is its origin? Why did it appear there? And what did its last look signify?

Back in that familiar office, Wang Xiaoer sank into the sofa, feeling as if he had returned to another world.

The clock on the wall ticked away, and outside the window was the familiar hustle and bustle of the city; everything was exactly the same as when he left a few days ago.

But he knew that something was different.

The eerie cave in the provincial capital, the ferocious dragon, and the sudden appearance of Fugui were like scenes from a movie, replaying repeatedly in his mind.

The first thing he did was take out his phone.

My fingertip swiped across the screen, found that familiar number, and dialed it.

"Hello, the number you dialed is currently switched off..."

A cold, mechanical female voice came through the phone. Wang Xiaoer paused for a moment, then hung up.

He opened QQ, found Lin Qingya's chat window, hovered his fingers over the keyboard for a long time, and finally only typed a few words.

"Is Fugui alright? Did it get lost?"

Click send.

There was only a gray exclamation mark next to the message. The other person had enabled friend verification; he had already been deleted.

Wang Xiaoer's heart sank.

"Dodge, no, hey, block it for me! You damn well better block it for me!"

Zhang Chen's roar came from the gaming chair next to him. He was wearing headphones and seemed to be glued to the chair, looking like he had turned back into that internet addict.

He seemed to have just finished a game. He took off his headphones, turned his head, and saw Wang Xiaoer holding his phone, looking completely lost.

"Hey, what's up?" Zhang Chen took a big gulp of cola, burped, and asked, "Did you get dumped in your relationship? Or are you thinking about some girl?"

Wang Xiaoer gave him a disgruntled look.

"It's a matter of wealth and status."

He recounted in detail the bizarre events of Fugui's sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance in the cave.

After listening, Zhang Chen's teasing expression gradually faded, and he stroked his chin, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"A cat, with just a glance, crippled three evil cultivators from the Five Ghosts Sect?"

He frowned, as if analyzing the situation. "I still feel that this isn't as simple as it seems. You saw how ferocious that evil dragon was before I passed out."

"I bet Li Xuanqing has secretly learned some hidden secret technique again, and your incredible luck just happened to trigger something. The combination of the two caused that effect."

"As for the cat you saw... maybe you were just hallucinating from fright."

Wang Xiaoer shook his head: "It's not an illusion, I touched it, it is wealth and honor."

"Alright, alright, even if it's wealth and status." Seeing his serious expression, Zhang Chen was too lazy to argue anymore and adopted a dismissive, teasing tone.

"That can only mean that this cat is no ordinary creature. It might be the reincarnation of some ancient spirit beast, the kind with a lineage within it."

"It even went out of its way to rescue you, the guy who treated it to some barbecue. It's taken a liking to you, huh? Wants to be its owner, right?"

He paused for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. I'd rather believe that it was the beautiful Lin who rescued us. Hey, you know what, I had a strange feeling about this girl the last time I saw her. Maybe she really is a celestial being who descended to earth for a journey."

Wang Xiaoer's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to say something.

Zhang Chen slapped his thigh and laughed again: "Damn! Just kidding, you didn't actually believe me, did you?"

Wang Xiaoer was too lazy to pay him any attention.

But Lin Qingya's disappearance was like a thorn stuck in his heart.

The next day, he couldn't contain himself and decided to go and see for himself.

He arrived at the upscale apartment building where Lin Qingya had previously rented, found the room based on his memory, and rang the doorbell.

No one answered.

He went to the property management office to inquire, and the staff checked the records and told him that the tenant of the room had already completed the lease termination procedures the day before yesterday.

The place is deserted.

Wang Xiaoer was not giving up. He remembered that Lin Qingya had mentioned that her brother also lived nearby. After much effort, he finally found out where her brother lived and went to his door.

The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man with a refined demeanor and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looked somewhat like Lin Qingya, but he was not the same person who had come to the store last time.

He looked at Wang Xiaoer with a wary expression.

Who are you looking for?

"Hello, I'm Wang Xiaoer, a friend of Lin Qingya. Is Lin Qingya there? I need to speak with her urgently."

The man's expression relaxed a little, but he still shook his head.

"You're looking for Xiaoya? Unfortunately, she went abroad a couple of days ago."

"You went abroad?" Wang Xiaoer was taken aback. "Where did you go? When are you coming back?"

"She said she was going to Europe to relax, and her return date is uncertain." The man pushed up his glasses, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable distance. "She left in a hurry and didn't leave any words. If you really have something urgent, wait until she comes back."

After saying that, the man politely closed the door.

The trail went completely cold.

Wang Xiaoer stood in the corridor, feeling a wave of weakness wash over him.