Chapter 191: Chapter 190: Yunyang’s Spring Has Come

When the group gathered again, a lovely, striking woman in white was at Yunyang’s side, her eyes full of curiosity as she studied the old Daoists.

Besides this woman in white, Taoist Yan Song had also returned with a rough-featured giant of a man, two meters tall. Following the man were seven or eight youths of varying ages.

Taoist Ming Yu’s gaze first fell upon the youths. Though their clothes were tattered, their complexions were reasonably healthy. Their eyes were pure, and while they looked at the Daoists with nervousness, there was no fear.

Taoist Yan Song gestured to the giant beside him. "I was patrolling from the sky just now and saw this man escaping the city with several civilians. He carried no Evil Qi, so I went over to greet him."

Taoist Yan Song’s Magical Power was profound, but to avoid attracting the Ink Flood Dragon’s attention, he dared not get too close or make a move. He had only approached to speak with the giant after a sudden intuition.

Seeing Taoist Yan Song descend from the sky without any sign of aggression, the giant didn’t dare to hide anything and briefly explained his situation.

The giant had been injured once during Magical Combat. After reverting to his original form, he had come to Guangwu County to recover. As it happened, a kind young girl found him, carried him home, and took him in.

Her family had no adults, only a few orphaned youths. They scraped by doing laundry and other odd jobs. Though life was hard, they had not fallen into despair and still held onto hope.

Once the giant recovered, he was so grateful for the girl’s kindness and moved by the group’s compassion and friendship that he didn’t leave. He stayed with them, teaching them how to build their strength and helping them improve their lives day by day.

But before they could enjoy even a year of this better life, the Ink Flood Dragon descended upon Guangwu County. Not daring to linger and test his luck, the giant had used his Magical Power to whisk them all away in a swift escape.

The old Daoists all looked at the girl who seemed to be the leader of the youths. Her lovely face radiated sincerity and kindness.

"Not bad, not bad. They are all good children," Taoist Yan Ling said, smiling and stroking his beard. He turned to Taoist Yan Song. "Did you tell him about Daluo Palace?"

Taoist Yan Song nodded. "I invited them to be our guests. Whether they choose to stay or leave afterward is up to them."

Then, all eyes focused on the young woman in white, their gazes shifting between her and Yunyang.

Yunyang looked completely baffled, glancing from the group to the young woman and back again.

The young woman pointed to herself. "Aren’t you going to introduce me?" she said to Yunyang.

Yunyang’s eyes were wide with innocent confusion. "But I don’t know who you are."

"Hmph!" The young woman pouted and offered a salute with the air of a seasoned wanderer. "I am Hu Yufei, from Guangwu County in Bai Shi Prefecture. It is my great honor to meet such esteemed masters today!"

"Hu Yufei?" Yunyang’s eyes lit up. "Are you a fox spirit?"

"I am *not* a fox spirit!" Hu Yufei shot back instantly. Clearly, the term "fox spirit" was no compliment in this world.

"Then why is your surname Hu?" Yunyang asked.

"Who says all fox spirits have to be named Hu!" Hu Yufei retorted, pointing to the giant. "Why don’t you ask him his name?"

The giant replied, "My name is He. My true form is a Black-faced Raccoon Dog."

Hu Yufei was speechless.

Just then, Taoist Qingyuan suddenly said, "It’s finished eating."

Everyone turned in unison. In Guangwu County, no more people were being drawn into the black cloud. The cloud itself began to slowly contract, eventually shrinking into a mass several hundred meters across before drifting away.

Just as it began to drift off, two sharp glints of light seemed to flash from within the cloud, sweeping a glance in their direction before vanishing in an instant.

"It saw us."

"But it doesn’t seem to care."

Yunyang watched the black cloud drift away and vanish over the horizon, leaving behind a shattered county town where perhaps only ten or twenty percent of the population remained. He gritted his teeth. "It didn’t devour the entire city’s population, did it?"

Taoist Yan Song shook his head. "I can sense that some are still left."

Taoist Yan Ling tugged at his beard. "Is this its way of leaving seeds for a future harvest?"

Taoist Ming Yu sighed. "In any case, it will take decades for Guangwu County to recover its Vitality."

Taoist Jing Feng watched the black cloud disappear into the distance, a dark light flashing in his eyes. Without another word, he turned to leave. "Immeasurable Cave has been taken care of, and there’s no longer any need to investigate Guangwu County. It’s time to head back."

"Immeasurable Cave?" Hu Yufei jumped, startled. She hurried after Yunyang. "You took care of Immeasurable Cave? The Master of the Immeasurable Cave is a Flying Poisonous Zombie, a very powerful one! Did you kill him?"

The Black-faced Raccoon Dog, He Feng, couldn’t help but glance at Taoist Yan Song.

When the old Daoist had descended from the sky earlier, the faint trace of his aura he’d revealed—an ethereal yet immense Magical Power—had completely awed him. It was a clear sign of his profound Dao Practice and immense power.

He Feng suspected it was Taoist Yan Song who had killed the Master of the Immeasurable Cave.

Yunyang didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Hu Yufei with curiosity. "Why are you following us?"

Hu Yufei faltered for a moment, then replied, "You invited Uncle He to be a guest. Can’t I come as a guest, too?"

Yunyang sized her up from head to toe and said bluntly, "We invited Brother He to be our guest because we want to invite him to join Daluo Palace."

Hu Yufei pointed at herself. "I’m a Spirit Monarch, too. Don’t you want to invite me?"

Yunyang shook his head. "You’re too weak."

Hu Yufei stomped her foot in anger. "I have a century of Dao Practice! And I just helped you kill that Enchanting Corpse! How am I weak?"

Yunyang shook his head again. "Your combat skills are too weak."

The old Daoists chuckled at his words. ’If his Innate Qi hadn’t been activated,’ they thought, ’he might have been slapped to death by this young woman with his Eight Immortals Swordsmanship alone.’

Taoist Ming Yu laughed. "Miss Hu, why don’t you come with us as well? There’s another little fox spirit at Daluo Palace. She’s kind and lovely; perhaps you two will become friends."

"I told you, I’m not a fox spirit!" Hu Yufei insisted.

"Then what kind of Fairy are you?" Yunyang asked.

"First, you tell me where this Daluo Palace of yours is." Hu Yufei fell into step beside Yunyang, circling him playfully. "I haven’t heard of any new masters emerging in Bai Shi Prefecture. Guangwu County is just north of Changping Prefecture... are you Changping Prefecture People?"

The situation in Changping Prefecture wasn’t a secret, so Yunyang nodded. "Our Daluo Palace calls the shots in Changping Prefecture now."

"Wow! That’s pretty amazing," Hu Yufei exclaimed. "I’ve visited Changping Prefecture before! On the road, I ran into a big bear demon that tried to catch me, but I got away."

"A big bear demon? It wasn’t one of the Demons from Three Extremes Mountain, was it?"

"Yes, yes, that’s it! A Demon from Three Extremes Mountain!"

"Ah, then that’s settled. The Demons of Three Extremes Mountain have been almost completely wiped out."

"Almost? So there are still some left?"

"Some are. The Third King, the Yellow Dog King, is now a Guardian Star Official of Daluo Palace."

"Huh?"

"So, as I was saying, Daluo Palace is very powerful. It’s not a place you can just waltz into."

"Are you looking down on me? I’m very strong, too!"

Their lighthearted chatter scattered on the wind as the group gradually vanished into the mountain forest.