The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Xi Lang walked for a few minutes, then stopped. "There's a barrier ahead; we can't go any further."

"What should we do? Those people are about to come right up to us." The youngest man in the machine factory's voice was trembling with fear, as if he were about to cry.

"Nothing much. Just pretend they don't exist." Xi Lang remained calm.

"Brother, I can't do it." Shi Xin also wanted to cry.

Chen Zhi looked back, but apart from a few wisps of "qi" that made her uncomfortable, she still couldn't see anything.

Xi Lang sighed, took out a talisman from his Qiankun sleeve. The golden talisman was wet even when wet by rain. Xi Lang casually flicked it, and the talisman flew into the air and burst into flames.

As soon as the talisman was burned, the area within a ten-meter radius lit up, and those "people" who were chasing after it turned into a wisp of mist and disappeared without a trace.

"That's it?" Shi Xin felt it was a bit too simple.

But what he didn't notice was that the people at the machine factory were all dumbfounded when they saw the burning talisman. How did it fly into the sky? Not only did it hover in mid-air, but it also burned in the rain!

The talisman burned out, and darkness descended once more.

The people at the machinery factory looked at Xi Lang with admiration.

Then they noticed that Xi Lang had somehow acquired a wooden sword with several copper coins on it. Could those copper coins be the legendary Five Emperors Coins?

"Could you hold my umbrella for me?" Xi Lang said.

Chen Zhi took the umbrella and took two steps back. She had seen Xi Lang wielding this sword and slashing at the air in the mountains before, and Xi Lang's explanation at the time was that he was training his body. Now that she thought about it, Xi Lang was probably chasing something she couldn't see back then.

Chen Zhi stared at Xi Lang with her big, round eyes, completely unaware of fear, and felt a vague sense of excitement and anticipation.

"What is he doing?" the machine factory worker asked in a low voice.

No one answered.

They all held their breath in tension, their eyes wide open, afraid to blink, lest they miss something.

As Xi Lang swung his sword down, the air seemed to ripple, and a cool breeze came from nowhere.

Xi Lang frowned; his sword strike had failed.

He raised his sword again, gathered his strength, and slashed down once more.

Now, the air rippled even more noticeably, forming an airflow that rushed towards everyone present, forcing them to take a few steps back. Only Chen Zhi and Xi Lang remained motionless.

A slight cracking sound came from inside, as if something had broken.

Once everyone regained their footing, they found that their view suddenly became clear. In front of them was a large valley, a large meadow, and a lake.

They had never heard of such a place on Qiweng Mountain.

The scene before them was too bizarre; none of them spoke, nor did they move a step.

They only followed after seeing Xilang open his umbrella again and step onto the lawn.

"Brother, where is this place?" Shi Xin looked around and followed closely behind Xi Lang and Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi was also curious, "It's like it appeared out of thin air."

"The sealed place has an array, which is normal because it's not visible under normal circumstances. As time has passed, the array has weakened, and the rainy weather has further reduced its effectiveness, which is why we came across it," Xi Lang explained. "Of course, it's also possible that they deliberately lured us in."

Shi Xin: "What about the people from before? Could they have gone inside?"

Xi Lang hummed in agreement and gazed into the distance at the lake. "The missing person is in the lake."

"What?!"

Someone exclaimed in surprise.

Those who had intended to ask what an array was no longer concerned with that question and all turned to look into the lake.

Is anyone in the lake?

How come they can't see it?

Xi Lang, true to form, said something shocking: "Those black things that are above the water are them."

"..."

Those who were less timid turned pale and their legs went weak, as if they were about to faint at any moment.

Unexpectedly, Xi Lang added, "They're not dead, but they're practically dead."

The lake water has turned red, and these people will begin to die within an hour at most.

The lake is oval-shaped and not very large, about fifty meters wide.

Chen Zhi counted them; there were thirty-six heads on the lake, or thirty-six people. Their eyes were closed, their faces were pale, and their breaths were so faint they were almost imperceptible. At first glance, they truly looked like dead people.

The group stood by the lake, watching this scene with a chill running down their spines. How could these people have entered the lake?

"How... how do we save them?" someone asked.

They saw shoes and clothes by the lake, indicating that someone had tried to go into the river to rescue someone, but failed and couldn't get back up themselves.

Everyone turned their attention to Xi Lang. Xi Lang didn't say anything, but handed the umbrella to Chen Zhi, saying, "Back up to five meters away and protect yourself."

Chen Zhi pursed her lips. "Won't you be in danger?"

"Yes." He's not omnipotent.

"But if we don't deal with what's here, we'll die here too."

These words sent another shiver down the spines of everyone present.

Chen Zhi obediently retreated five meters, and the others followed suit, retreating behind Chen Zhi. They felt that Xi Lang must have left Chen Zhi with some means of survival, and that it would be safer to follow behind her.

However, they saw Chen Zhi put away both umbrellas, then silently unbutton her raincoat, take it off, and get soaked in the rain.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing?" Shi Xin moved the umbrella over Chen Zhi's head.

Chen Zhi untied the slingshot from his waist, took out a pebble from his pocket, and aimed the slingshot at Xi Lang's direction.

"I'm afraid something might jump out of the water," she explained.

Shi Xin was somewhat speechless. If something were to actually escape, his slingshot wouldn't be of any use.

But Shi Xin didn't discourage Chen Zhi. Chen Zhi meant well; she just didn't use the right methods. She was stronger than these grown men; she even thought of helping, while they didn't even dare to entertain the thought of helping.

Golden talismans flew out of Xi Lang's hand, hovering above the lake and circling in a circle. When the circle closed, the talismans burst into flames without being lit.

It instantly turned into a ring of fire.

The rain suddenly intensified, as if someone were pouring basins of water down from the sky onto the burning talismans.

The talisman did not extinguish.

An unpleasant smell filled the air, like something dirty had been burned, with a pungent, fishy odor.

"The lake water is moving!"

Someone pointed at the lake in alarm.

The once calm lake surface now appeared to be boiling, first bubbling, then churning... and finally forming a large whirlpool.

The vortex grew larger and larger, and a black thing rose from the center of the vortex. At first, it had two horns, then a body, and then four thick legs.

It was a cow!

A sturdy, majestic bull!

But it wasn't a live cow; it was an artificially sculpted cow. I don't know what material the cow's body was made of; it was dark and looked quite heavy.

"There's something else under the cow!"

Another gasp of surprise rang out.

They saw a long, white creature emerge from beneath the ox; this creature was no smaller than the iron ox, and perhaps even more robust.

"It's moving! It's alive!"

"It looks a bit like a python."

"No, it has horns, it's not a python."

And its body must be thirty or forty meters long, right? Are pythons that long?

"Could it be a dragon?"

This guess was too bold, but no one refuted it.

"Who's ruining my plans?"

A slightly weathered voice echoed through the valley.

Who is speaking?

The crowd looked around but couldn't find anyone to speak to.

"Is that you?" the voice asked again.

Chen Zhi saw the thing, which was neither a dragon nor a snake, raise its head high and look down at Xi Lang.

Her heart leaped into her throat. Could it be that this thing was talking?

"It's you stinking Taoist priests again, you deserve to die!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the long tail lashed out at Xi Lang.

"Be careful!"

Chen Zhi exclaimed in surprise. At the same time, she threw the pebble in her hand. The pebble hit the long tail and shattered into powder.

But that can't stop the long tail.

Xi Lang replaced his wooden sword with a black iron sword. He leaped up, dodging the tail, and slashed at the white body with his sword.

Sparks flew everywhere!

They couldn't even harm the dragon in the slightest.

Xi Lang's expression was solemn. The dragon in front of him was different from the black dragon in the mountains. The black dragon had not yet evolved a complete inner core, but this dragon was a fully grown dragon!

Xi Lang regretted coming to help; he shouldn't have put Chen Zhi in danger.

It's too late for regrets now; all we can do is fight to the death.

Chen Zhi watched Xi Lang dodge and weave, feeling anxious and unsure of what to do.

Just as she was extremely anxious, Xi Lang was struck by the long tail and sent flying backward.

"Siron!"

Chen Zhi exclaimed and ran towards Xi Lang as fast as she could. She was as fast as lightning and caught Xi Lang the moment he landed.

"Xi Lang, how are you? Does it hurt?" Chen Zhi's eyes reddened.

Xi Lang was about to say that he was fine when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Would you believe me if I said I was fine?" he laughed.

Tears streamed down Chen Zhi's face. "A letter."

"If you believe me, don't cry. Go to the lake and save them; they're about to drown," Xi Lang said.

"And what about you?"

"Slay that dragon and use its inner core to calm your nerves."

Xi Lang charged forward again, sword in hand.

Chen Zhi wiped away her tears and ran into the lake. Xi Lang asked her to save people, so she did. After she had completely rescued everyone and brought them ashore, she would go and help Xi Lang fight the snake!

Chen Zhi plunged into the water with a splash and swam toward the people in the lake.

She was very fast, like a nimble fish, grabbing people's hands and swimming towards the shore, throwing them ashore, and then going to save another one.

"My sister-in-law has already gone to rescue people. Everyone, don't just stand there. It's dangerous over there. Let's go and move the people away." Shi Xin said, and took the lead in rushing towards the lake.

The four men from the machinery factory looked at the battle in mid-air, then at Chen Zhi in the lake, gritted their teeth, and rushed over as well.

They are men, and they cannot lose to a woman.

"A feint attack?"

The dragon sneered, "It's all in vain. Once I've dealt with you, none of them will be able to escape."

"Are you the one who can't escape?"

Xi Lang laughed too, "How many years have you been suppressed? A hundred years, or a thousand years?"

"Shut up!"

The dragon was enraged.

Xi Lang laughed even harder. "Oh dear, so it's been a thousand years. A thousand years trapped in this tiny place, how painful must it be?"

"You're asking for it!"

The dragon's killing intent was almost tangible. How dare a mere human laugh at him? It wanted to make him wish he were dead!