W

hen the Holy Mother Scepter flew out, the Thousand Mirrors Formation was broken. The entire room fell into darkness. 

I recognized my 

mistake.

 The formation was supported by my spiritual energy, and I had 

used

 all of it 

while

throwing

 the Holy Mother Scepter! 

Even worse

, I heard a thud

 that wasn’t 

the beast

’s 

scream.

The Holy Mother Scepter had missed the 

creature

. 

The room 

was so dark

 that I couldn’t see my fingers. I had to grope around to turn on the light. Then, I saw the Holy Mother Scepter stabbed into the ground. The monster was nowhere to be seen. 

Subconsciously, I went to check the chimney. 

A

 shadow swiftly leaped up and disappeared into the dark. 

“Damn!” I withdrew the Holy Mother Scepter and rushed to the roof. I wanted to follow its aura to chase after it. Surprisingly, the ice layer on the roof was gone! 

I

t didn’t melt

 but

 disappeared as if it had evaporated. I 

understood

 something

 and rushed 

to the chimney. Indeed, there was no wisp of Yin energy left. It seemed the beast was scared of me, so it had taken the ice with it to erase its smell on the surface of the ice!

When I 

returned

 to the house, Yin Xinyue and my in-laws had already gotten up. Yin Xinyue hurriedly asked me, “How was it?” 

“Sorry, I let it escape…” I was a little dispirited. 

Yin Xinyue froze 

on

 her spot, but she soon got herself together and comforted me. “We still have a chance to get rid of it

, 

hon.”

I could still see 

the disappointment and 

worry

 in her eyes.

 Since

 I didn’t succeed this time, it would be more 

difficult to deal with the next

 time. This beast was as 

cowardly

 as a rat. Moreover, it was very cautious. 

My in-laws looked calm

. They gently comforted 

me. I carefully checked them. 

After c

onfirming that they didn’t get hurt, I exhaled in relief. I then squatted

 and took 

in a deep breath. 

Soon, the sun rose from the East. I made the ointment and asked Yin Xinyue to apply it 

to

 her parents before going to our room to sleep. 

For the next two days, I slept during the day and watched 

through the

 night. It wasn’t out of my expectation 

that

 the beast didn’t come again. I felt somewhat disappointed but also lucky. Anyway, I could ensure my in-laws’ safety for now. 

Chuyi arrived at twilight on the third day. Yin Xinyue and I were so happy we almost cracked up.

No matter how harsh the situation was, 

now that

 he was here, I felt assured. 

Chuyi didn’t rest. After drinking a cup of tea, he started to work.

 After ch

ecking my father’s soft skin that had just regrown, his frowning face loosened up. It gave me hope. “Did you find 

anything?

” 

“I need to check more.” Chuyi waved at m

e. H

is voice was calm. “D

id

 you keep the scales you cut from them?” 

“I 

did.”

 I gave him a nod and pulled out a drawer. After calling him, I knew he would need to see those scales, so I had kept a few here. 

Unexpectedly, when I opened the drawer, the palm-sized scales had all shrunk to the size of a fingernail. 

Moreover

, they 

had grown

 some coarse hair. 

I didn’t know what had happened, so I called Chuyi to come and take a look himself. When he saw the scales and the thick hair, his pupils shrank

. H

is voice grew icy cold. “

H

ow could this thing survive until now?”

With a serious face, he asked, “Do you know the Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon?” 

“

Y

eah, it’s a mythical beast

. It’s s

ome sort of ox. It appeared in Xin Qiji’s poem. Traveled eight hundred miles to the rescue

, f

ifty banners flew in the 

borderland, and came

to the battlefield

 in autumn.” I skeptically ranted.

But soon, I got it

. I looked 

at Chuyi disbelievingly, “You mean, that thing is an Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon?” 

Chuyi nodded. “I haven’t seen 

one

 with my own eyes yet, but I

’ve

 heard about 

them

 from some old men in our Circle. This sort of beast really exists. However, they haven’t appeared much in history, and not many people have seen them. That’s why they 

thought it was 

just a legend. When I saw the picture you sent me, I thought about this possibility. However, I wasn’t so sure at that time. Now, I

 can 

confirm the Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon has reappear

ed

!” 

The 

Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon was 

originally

 a fast ox. The King of Jin wanted to

 increase its speed,

 so he fed it with countless pellets refined by

alchemists. After 

eating

 the pellets, the Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon 

grew

 more legs and scales to protect its body. Its legs and hooves also slightly changed into the primal form of dragon claws. 

Sure enough

, the beast could run much faster! 

The 

King of Jin was so excited. He rewarded the alchemists and let them go. Unexpectedly, a few days after the alchemists 

left

, the 

seal on the 

Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon was also gone. It didn’t listen to the King of Jin anymore. However, being scared by humans, it fled 

to

 the swamp area and disappeared. 

The beast didn’t die but had 

a

 strange encounter, which gave it spiritual power. It 

became an 

amphibian, but it couldn’t change 

its

 timid and 

cowardly

 character. When it saw humans, it would run away. Normally, it would stay away from people. That

 was

why the Eight-hundred-mile

 Scaled Dragon was a pitiful animal. 

Chuyi looked a little emotional while telling me the story. “Don’t worry. The Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon won’t harm people

. I

t won’t 

hold a grudge, either.

 I think 

it’s pestering 

your in-laws by 

mistake

.” 

“Then why 

has it come

 to 

bother

 my parents again an

d again

? It even wrote the word ‘d

eath

’ on the floor!” Yin Xinyue was still doubtful. 

Chuyi thought then answered, “I don

’t 

think the Scaled Dragon 

knows that

 pestering your parents harms them. It seems to 

be dependent

 on them.” 

“E

h

?” I gawked at him

. 

W

hat an awkward explanation!

That

 could be okay, but what about the word ‘

death

’? 

Before I could 

ask

, Chuyi sighed. “That word 

wasn’t meant for

 your parents, I suppose. Perhaps

the beast was trying to tell you its situation. I think it’s also the reason why it’s 

pestering

 your parents. If it 

doesn’t

 do that, it will die, somehow.” 

“E

mh

…” 

Yin Xinyue and I were perplexed. 

This

 was beyond our imagination.

 Still, i

t was true that the Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon had never tried to hurt us. 

E

ven if 

the dragon was frightened of me

, it could have found a chance to ambush me!

Moreover, even if it couldn’t beat me, it could have chosen to 

attack 

Yin Xinyue. Yet, 

i

t 

didn’t do

 anything harmful to us. 

T

h

e night we fought, i

t could have taken the advantage of the 

darkness

 to attack me, but the ox had chosen to run away instead. 

I felt more comfortable knowing this detail

. I 

didn’t know why, but I 

imagined

a

 young calf hiding in 

a

 dark corner

, 

licking its wounds to heal itself.

“Pity the little thing.” 

Yin Xinyue looked a little 

sad

, but soon, she 

regained her 

focus. “Chuyi, how should we deal with the Eight-hundred-mile Scaled Dragon?”