The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

Longdun Mountain isn't high, but the road is difficult to walk on. The mud after the rain is slippery and sticky, and your shoes make a "smack, smack" sound when you step on it.

The bamboo groves on both sides of the road were so dense that no light could penetrate them. When the wind blew, the bamboo leaves rustled, as if someone was talking overhead.

Yuehen jumped down from Yang Wanqing's arms, ran ahead on the muddy road, sniffing here and there, its tail wagging like a small fan. After running a few steps, it stopped, turned back to look at Chen Hao, and called out, as if to say "Hurry up."

"Xiaoyue, don't run too far!" Yang Wanqing called from behind.

Ignoring her, Yuehen ran a little further before suddenly stopping, her ears perked up, staring into the depths of the bamboo forest by the roadside, letting out a low whimper.

Chen Siyao's heart tightened: "What's wrong with Xiaoyue?"

Chen Hao glanced in the direction Yuehen was staring at, his gaze sharpened slightly, and he walked over, bent down, and picked Yuehen up.

Yuehen calmed down in his arms, burying its head in his embrace. He handed Yuehen to Yang Wanqing and patted its forehead, and Yuehen quieted down.

"Let's go," Chen Hao said.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, the road began to turn uphill. The stone steps were covered with moss, and the weeds on both sides were almost knee-high, clearly indicating that no one had been here for a long time.

Chen Siyao looked up at the mountain and could vaguely see the outline of a building in the bushes halfway up the mountain.

"Brother, there's a temple over there." She pointed in that direction.

Chen Hao nodded. He had sensed it long ago, not the temple itself, but what lay beneath it. An indescribable energy rose from the ground, like a heartbeat, deep and slow.

"Let's go up and take a look."

Chen Siyao was taken aback: "Brother, weren't we supposed to be going to see the dragon? Why did we go to the temple?"

Chen Hao didn't turn around: "Don't rush, this is how you go in."

Chen Siyao and the other girls exchanged glances, all seeing doubt in each other's eyes. A dragon could be hidden in a dilapidated temple? This sounded like the scene from Journey to the West where Sun Wukong sneaks into a monster's cave.

But no one asked anymore. Chen Hao walked in front, and they followed behind, going up the stone steps overgrown with weeds.

The temple gate was mostly broken, leaving only a crooked wooden door. The red paint had long since peeled off, revealing the grayish-white wood underneath. A plaque hung above the door, the characters blurred, but the words "Zhenlong Temple" could be barely made out.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and the cracks in the stone slabs were covered with moss. The main hall door was closed, and the paper windows on both sides had several holes, making it pitch black inside.

Chen Siyao raised her phone and took pictures of everyone. In the live stream, comments scrolled by:

[New User 001: Is this the legendary place where dragons are said to live? Don't be ridiculous, my chicken coop is cleaner than this!]

[New User 002: Did the streamer come to the wrong place? This is clearly a dilapidated temple that nobody wants.]

[New User 003: I need to verify the license! I seriously suspect this is scripted; there's no way a dragon could be hiding here.]

Yang Wanqing carried Yuehen and walked around the courtyard. Yuehen peeked out from her arms, staring at the door of the main hall, her ears perked up again.

"Brother Hao, are you sure there's a dragon in here?" Yang Wanqing's voice was a little weak. "This temple is so small, how could such a large dragon be hidden underneath?"

Chen Hao didn't answer. He stood in the center of the courtyard, his eyes closed, as if listening to something. The wind rustled through the bamboo grove.

He opened his eyes.

That energy... it's coming from underground, even deeper down. The temple only has one entrance; you should be able to go down there.

He walked toward the main hall, pushed open the broken wooden door, and made a jarring creaking sound, with dust falling from the door panel.

The main hall was not large, with a statue of a deity in the center, but it was no longer recognizable who it represented. Most of the paint on its face had peeled off, and its features were blurred, with only its two eyes still barely discernible, staring straight ahead.

In front of the statue was a stone altar, completely empty. On either side of the altar stood a stone pillar, with some indistinct patterns carved on it.

Chen Hao didn't look at the statue; he went straight to the altar. There was a stone platform there, with two round stone array plates on it, one on each side.

Two small flags, one white and one black, were stuck on the array plate. The flags had faded and turned yellow, but the runes on them were still faintly visible.

"Brother, what did you find?" Chen Siyao followed over and leaned closer to examine the two array plates. The array plates were covered with characters, densely packed, with neat strokes in regular script.

"Huh? It's in regular script?" Chen Siyao squatted down and gently touched the characters with her fingers. "I recognize a few, but I can't understand them when they're put together."

Cai Jingwen walked over and squatted down to look at the characters. Having been well-versed in classical literature since childhood, she had a deep understanding of ancient writing. After a while, she said softly, "These are characters used before the Qing Dynasty. They're in regular script; I can recognize them."

Chen Siyao stepped aside and pointed the camera at the array. The tens of millions of viewers in the live stream fell silent, waiting for Cai Jingwen to translate.

Cai Jingwen took a deep breath and read it word by word:

"In the seventh year of the Jiaqing reign, Suzhou suffered from floods for years. Each time a flood occurred, the earth shook and the people were terrified, all saying that the Dragon King was angry. The prefect reported to the court, and I, Zhuoting of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain, came here to investigate on the special orders of the Jiaqing Emperor."

Her voice echoed in the dilapidated temple, carrying an indescribable solemnity.

"After several months of investigation, I have discovered that there is indeed a dragon in this place. This dragon has already cultivated itself to have four legs and two claws, and is beginning to take the form of a dragon. It is about to molt and emerge. On the day it emerges, it will surely stir up the earth's veins, causing floods and widespread suffering."

The women exchanged glances, all seeing surprise in each other's eyes. The story they'd heard from the old man wasn't made up after all. It had simply changed from "The True Dragon Fights the Flood Dragon" to "The True Man of Dragon Tiger Mountain Fights the Flood Dragon."

Cai Jingwen continued reading:

"My cultivation is limited, and I cannot support it alone. Therefore, I returned to the mountain to consult with my master's sect and gathered the strength of everyone in the Celestial Master's Mansion to build a Dragon Suppression Temple here. In accordance with the earth's veins, I set up the Yin-Yang Coiled Dragon Eight Trigrams Formation to forcibly suppress this evil dragon here."

She paused, then lowered her voice.

"However, although the evil dragon has been suppressed, its essence cannot be harmed. It is hoped that future generations will carefully guard this place, not recklessly tamper with the array's core, and not dig into the earth's veins. If they keep a respectful distance, then the weather will be favorable and the people will live in peace and happiness."

After reading the last sentence, she looked up at Chen Hao.

The chat room exploded with comments:

【I am Ying Zheng】: What a joke! There really is a dragon!

【Yaoyao's Little Red Riding Hood】: Master Zhuoting? From Longhu Mountain? That powerful?

【Dongmen Chuixue】: Longhu Mountain is amazing! It can actually suppress a dragon!

[Master of Metaphysics]: Master Zhuoting, whose real name is Zhang Yu, is the 59th Celestial Master of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain. I saw his portrait in the Sutra Repository when I was a child.

[Master of Metaphysics]: The formation personally set up by Master Zhuoting is no joke.

[Yilin Daoist]: The formation was personally set up by the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain. Don't move rashly, or you'll be doomed if you release the dragon!

However, there were also dissenting comments:

[Outsider]: What kind of formation is this? It's just a Dragon King Temple. People used to be superstitious; when there were flash floods, they said it was caused by dragons.

[Beautiful Women Company]: There are indeed records of floods in the seventh year of the Jiaqing reign, but whether there were any dragons involved is unknown.

[Look at the handsome guy]: Look at the characters on that plate, they're so new, they might have been carved by someone else later.

[Moye Head] The so-called formation to suppress the dragon is pure nonsense. It's just ancient superstition that people attributed flash floods to dragons. It's all just a way to fool children. It's just an ordinary Dragon King Temple.