The wind whispers, the ancient road stretches far and wide, solitary and extending forward.

  Zhouyi Xian and his granddaughter Xiaohuan have left Dead Marsh and headed east for three days.

  At this time of day, they were still walking on the ancient road, only the originally flat wilderness on both sides of the ancient road had been replaced by the gradually increasing hills and forests.

  Xian looked ahead and saw a dilapidated stone pavilion not far away, just in time to feel tired from walking, so she turned her head to Xiaohuan and said: "Let's go over there and take a rest."

  Xiao Huan responded with a "yes" and immediately looked back, her eyes shining with amusement, saying: "Dao Zhang, let's go sit down together!"

  The stray dog Taoist smiled and nodded, originally after leaving the Dead Marshes, he somehow followed Zhou Yixian and Xiao Huan from afar. At first, it made Zhou Yixian a bit uneasy. But a few days ago, after suddenly meeting that middle-aged man who claimed to be Wan Renwang on the road, Xiao Huan had a few words with him, and their relationship became somewhat closer, and they got much closer in these few days, directly following behind them.

  On Monday, Xian walked into the pavilion and saw that Ye Gou had followed Xiao Huan in. He didn't treat Ye Gou with the same courtesy as Xiao Huan, rolling his eyes and saying in a strange tone: "I say, Ye Gou Daozhang, why are you always following us two? We're both poor, there's nothing for you to gain from us."

  The wild dog Daoist glared at Zhou Yixian, retorting: "Smelly old man, you're pretending to be poor again. Don't think I don't know there's something strange in that bamboo pole of yours!"

  Zhou Yixian and Xiao Huan were both stunned. Zhou Yixian immediately jumped up like his buttocks had been burned by fire, his face flushed with anger, and shouted: "Good fellow, I knew you weren't a good person from the start, and now it's clear that you're eyeing my wealth."

  The stray dog glared at him, but before he could speak, Xiao Huan beside him also asked in surprise: "Daozhang, how did you know?"

  Xiao Huan opened his mouth, and the wild dog suddenly lowered his voice, hesitated for a moment, and said to Xiao Huan with a hum: "He never puts down the bamboo pole every day, even when he sleeps, he holds it in his arms. This is okay, but he always touches the bamboo pole uncontrollably after a while. Even an idiot would know that there's something wrong with the bamboo pole."

  Xiao Huan burst out laughing. Zhou Yixian's old face turned red, and he hummed a sound, turning his head away. Suddenly, he felt that this was too embarrassing, so he turned his head back to the wild dog and said angrily: "Even if my bamboo pole has problems, it's not up to you to manage. You'd better say why you've been following us all along?"

  The wild dog was stunned and couldn't say a word for a while.

  On Monday, Xian suddenly became proud, a smile appeared on his face, and he pointed at the wild dog: "Ha, don't think that I don't know, you little thing has been drooling over my wealth and our family's Xiaohuan's beauty, plotting evil all day..."

  "Grandpa!" Xiaohuan's face turned bright red as she loudly called out to Zhou Yixian.

  Xian suddenly came to his senses and said, "It's not right, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it," and muttered, "Is that...so..."

  The wild dog glanced at Xiaohuan secretly, and saw that the girl's face was white and tender, with a hint of shyness, but her bright eyes sparkled like stars. A burst of youthful beauty suddenly came forth. The wild dog suddenly felt a wave of inexplicable self-abasement, and lowered his head.

  Xiao Huan glared at Grandfather Zhou Yixian. She had been wandering the world with Zhou Yixian since childhood, and was naturally more open-minded than ordinary girls. At this moment, she turned her head to say to the wild dog Taoist, "Taoist master, don't listen to my grandfather's nonsense, he's a dog who can't spit out ivory..."

  On Monday, Xian Bo Ran was furious and said: "You dare to scold Grandpa as a dog, that guy is clearly the wild dog!"

  Xiao Huan stuck out her tongue and made a face at the wild dog. The wild dog's mind buzzed with a sound, feeling that his eyes were filled with this beautiful face, and he couldn't bear any other colors, nor did he care about Zhou Yixian's teasing.

  On Monday, Xian turned his head back with a bad temper and said to the wild dog: "Hey, you haven't told us why you want to follow us yet! If you can come up with a good reason, I'll let you follow; if not, heh heh, I'll show you my power!"

  The stray dog slowly withdrew its gaze and remained silent for a long time before saying, "I don't know either."

  "Hah!" Zhou Yixian burst out laughing with disdain all over his face.

  Xiao Huan looked at the wild dog Dao Ren with great interest and said: "Dao Zhang, what's wrong? You can't be without a home to return to, can you?"

  The stray dog let out a wry smile and said, "You're right." For some reason, he seemed particularly willing to talk in front of this girl. Once he started speaking, he inexplicably continued: "I was strange from childhood, and after birth, my parents took me as a monster and abandoned me in the wilderness, leaving me to fend for myself..."

  "Ah!" Xiaohuan covered her mouth with her hand, shocked. Zhou Yixian, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and looked disbelieving.

  The stray dog Taoist continued: "Later, I was found by a pack of wild dogs. They didn't eat me, but instead brought food to feed me. So when I came of age, I took the name Wild Dog."

  Zhouyi Xian let out a cold laugh beside her, but Xiaohuan's face was focused, nodding slightly.

  The wild dog didn't pay attention to Zhou Yixian, but smiled at Xiao Huan and said: "So I never had a home since childhood. If you must say it, the dog's den is my home. Later, a senior of the previous generation of Lianxue Hall met me by chance and took pity on me, taking me in as a disciple and teaching me Taoist techniques. From then on, I considered Lianxue Hall to be my home."

  Xian Leng sneered on Monday: "Then you should go back to Lianxuetang, why are you still wandering around outside all day?"

  The wild dog's head hung low, his face gloomy, and after a long while, he said: "Lianxuetang has been destroyed by the Guiwang Sect, and the leader is that Gui Li you've seen before."

  "What?" Zhou Yixian and Xiao Huan were both shocked at the same time. The internal struggle within the Demon Sect was fierce and cruel, but it was not publicly announced outside, so Zhou Yixian and others did not know about the Ghost King Sect's annexation of Lianxue Hall. However, although they were both shocked, their reactions were different.

  On Monday, Xian furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking of something. After a while, he shook his head and sighed, saying: "What a pity! In the past when the ruthless old man was around, how powerful was Lianxuetang? Alas..."

  Xiao Huan didn't think that much, but after being shocked, he suddenly remembered something and said: "Was it Gui Li who led people to destroy you? Then why are you still following him?"

  The stray dog's mouth twitched slightly as he slowly recounted the events in simple terms.

  Xiao Huan hummed after hearing this and said to Zhou Yixian: "Those old men are really too spineless."

  Zhou Xian glared at her and said, "You're still young, what do you know about having backbone or not? If it's a matter of life and death, not everyone has that kind of backbone."

  The little ringed mouth cornered and said: "Isn't this wild dog Daozhang refusing to surrender even in death?"

  Xian looked at the wild dog with a glance, nodded and said: "I didn't expect you to have this kind of bone quality before. However, in these years, that ghostly fierce number called Blood Son has killed countless people, why did he let you go?"

  The stray dog shook his head and said, "I don't know either."

  Monday Fairy was lost in thought, her eyes seemed to have a deep thinking color, and the usual playful smile had gradually disappeared. The wild dog Taoist saw Monday Fairy suddenly showing this kind of expression, which was very different from the past, and he couldn't help but pause for a moment, but just as Xiao Huan opened his mouth to speak, his attention was drawn over there.

  Xiao Huan looked at him with a pair of eyes, and said in a low voice: "Then you follow him all day like this, don't you feel uncomfortable in your heart? He destroyed the Lianxue Hall that treated you with great kindness, you must hate him very much?"

  The wild dog was stunned for a moment, then fell silent. After a while, he slowly shook his head and said in a daze, "I don't know either. Originally, I hated this person to the extreme, but over the past few days, I've been thinking that it's actually useless to blame him. Even if it wasn't him, it wouldn't be the Ghost King Sect, the Ten Thousand Poison Sect and the Harmony Faction would have done the same thing, the Ghost King Sect just took a step ahead."

  "Hmm?" Xiao Huan didn't speak, but Zhou Yi Xian was the first to let out a soft, surprised voice. He looked up and down at Ye Quan again, with a hint of reevaluation: "You actually thought of this layer, I underestimated you."

  The stray dog glanced at Zhou Yixian with a look of disdain, clearly uninterested in his praise. Zhou Yixian was not pleased, but he just chuckled and didn't get angry.

  The wild dog looked at Xiaohuan with a glance, and saw that her bright eyes were like water, with a hint of movement in them, as if they were flowing. It was really moving, and he didn't know why, but he didn't dare to look more, lowered his head and said: "That day when I came out of the Dead Swamp, my heart was extremely annoyed, spending the whole day among those people at the Ghost King Sect, especially occasionally seeing old men like Lao Da, just right, saw you guys, I don't know how I followed up."

  The stray dog suddenly seemed to think of something, quickly raised his head and said to Xiaohuan: "But I absolutely have no intention of harming you, I don't know how myself, probably just walk around casually. If... if you're not willing, I'll leave now."

  Xiao Huan smiled slightly and said, "It doesn't matter! I'm easy-going. Why don't you come with us from now on? Anyway, the world is so big, it seems like you don't have anywhere to go either."

  Xian jumped in fright on Monday and pulled Xiao Huan down to lower her voice, saying: "Clumsy girl, what are you doing bringing this guy along with us?"

  Xiao Huan gave her grandfather a glance and said, "What's with this guy and that guy? People have names, you know. Besides, he didn't mean any harm, he just wanted to walk with us, what's there to be afraid of?"

  On Monday, Xian Nu said: "You don't know how high the sky is and how thick the earth is. He's a notorious figure in the demonic sect. I heard that he used to..."

  On Monday, Xian suddenly stopped talking, and Xiao Huan stared at him, saying: "What happened to him before? You'd better tell me what you've heard about his heinous crimes!"

  On Monday, Xian scratched his head and thought for half a day before saying hesitantly: "It seems like I haven't heard him do anything..."

  Xiao Huan burst out laughing and was about to turn around when Zhou Yi Xian suddenly grabbed Xiao Huan's arm, saying: "But having this person follow us around is never a good thing, what's the point of that?"

  Xiao Huan said faintly, "It seems that last night when we passed by the wilderness ridge, a wild boar suddenly ran out from the side of the road. Grandfather, you actually hid far away, and it was this Taoist priest who rushed up to chase the wild boar away. Otherwise, I, a weak woman, would have had to face that big wild boar alone."

  On Monday, Xian's face turned red and said: "I'm an old man with a weak body, how can I stop a big wild boar? Besides, do you think you're a weak woman? Let alone a wild boar, even if a tiger came...".

  Xiao Huan suddenly coughed, and Zhou Yixian stopped talking.

  Xiao Huan turned her head and smiled at the wild dog sitting on one side, saying: "Dao Zhang, please take care of me more in the future."

  The stray dog hastily got up and said: "N-nothing happened, if there's any hard work, just let me do it."

  Xian let out a distant hum on Monday.

  Just then, a cold and calm voice came from outside the pavilion, saying: "So you've run to this place."

  The wild dog's owner was shocked and turned his head to see that the little ring beside him had already exclaimed, "Ah! It's you!"

  Outside the stone pavilion, on the ancient road above, a young man stood with an expressionless face, and a grey-haired monkey perched on his shoulder - it was Gui Li.

  It was early autumn at this time. Although it was noon, the sun did not shine as fiercely as in summer, and a gentle breeze blew from outside the stone pavilion from time to time.

  The atmosphere in the stone pavilion suddenly fell silent with the arrival of Gui Li, an uninvited guest.

  The wild dog Taoist sat on the side with a red and white face, his eyes staring at the ground, looking somewhat tense. Gui Li, however, still stood expressionless on the other side, not even glancing at the wild dog Taoist, but instead gazing at Zhou Yi Xian.

  Xiao Huan looked at the wild dog Dao Ren, then looked at Gui Li, and after a while, carefully said: "Hmm, Zhang... Young Master Gui Li, how did you come here?"

  The ghost glared at her and said: "I'm here to find your grandfather."

  Xian was taken aback on Monday and said, "Looking for me?"

  The ghost nodded and said: "Yes, I'd like to ask a question of senior."

  Xiao Huan put down his guard, secretly smiled at the wild dog to reassure him, and then turned to Gui Li with great interest: "Ah! You're such a formidable person, what do you want to ask my grandfather?"

  Just as she was speaking, she suddenly saw a small grey ghost on Gui's shoulder, with a pair of gleaming eyes staring at her and grinning. She couldn't help but feel a sudden affection for it and laughed: "Ha! I'm the one who gave you that ice sugar gourd to eat the other day! Do you still remember me?"

  "Squeak, squeak." Little Gray the monkey let out a burst of cries, nodding repeatedly, and suddenly leapt from Gui Li's shoulders into Xiao Huan's arms. It seemed that this monkey had a very good impression of the candied hawthorn from back then.

  Xiao Huan smiled and opened her eyes, stretching out her hand to catch Xiao Hui. However, as soon as it landed in her hands, it suddenly became heavy, almost unexpectedly so, and she nearly dropped it on the ground. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and added more strength, stabilizing her body and holding Xiao Hui tightly, but a wave of surprise rose up in her heart. In just a few days' time, and looking at Xiao Hui's physique which hadn't grown much bigger, how did its weight suddenly increase by nearly half? It was truly strange!

  Guili looked at Xiaohuan teasing Xiao Hui, chuckling nonstop with a delighted expression, and seemed to have a faint smile in the depths of her eyes, but it disappeared immediately, turning her head to face Zhou Yixian.

  Zhou Yi shrugged and said, "I'm an old man with great knowledge and wisdom. I know everything under the sun. But it's strange that you would ask me for advice. What is it that you want to ask?"

  Gu Li didn't bother to respond to his boasting, and calmly said: "That day in the Dead Marshes, there was a fish-headed monster that ambushed your granddaughter, do you remember?"

  Xian was lost in thought on Monday, and the wild dog Dao Ren and Xiao Huan heard it and looked over at the same time.

  Xiao Huan hugged Xiao Hui and said, "Yes! That monster was so ferocious that if it weren't for Guī Lì Gōngzǐ and Píng Er Jiějie's timely intervention, I would have almost been killed by it."

  The demon king still looked at Zhou Yixian and said: "You said that the monster was one of the 63 alien tribes in Nanjiang, the fish man, right?"

  Xian was silent for a moment on Monday, then said, "Right."

  Ghostly fierce nodded his head and said: "I don't know if senior still remembers anything about this fish people tribe?"

  Xian looked at Gui Li with a glance and said, "Why are you suddenly interested in this?"

  The demon's expression turned solemn, and he nodded after a moment of contemplation. "Since I've asked for your guidance, elder, there's no need to hide anything else from you either. After you left, my subordinates were ambushed by a group of monsters similar to that fish-man, resulting in heavy casualties. That's why I wanted to ask you about it."

  Zhou Yixian's eyebrows furrowed, her body slowly straightened, and a thoughtful expression appeared in her eyes, but she didn't speak. Gui Li also didn't rush, standing quietly beside her. After a while, Zhou Yixian suddenly said: "The people who died at your hands, weren't they killed with extreme cruelty, their corpses hacked into several pieces, a terrible sight to behold?"

  "Ah!" This soft cry was made by Xiaohuan, who looked shocked and surprised on her face.

  The ghost nodded slowly, his eyes gazing deeply at the old man in front of him, saying: "That's right, it is indeed so."

  On Monday, Xian nodded and said: "That can't be wrong. It must be the Fish People Tribe of the 630,000 mountains in southern Xinjiang. This tribe has a strange appearance, born with fish heads and human bodies. According to their legend, they are the descendants of the ancient Fish God and a human woman, so they have always considered themselves the descendants of the Fish God. This tribe is cruel and fond of killing, and they believe that whether it's an animal or a human, after slaughter, only by cutting the corpse into pieces can the ghost be killed at the same time, to avoid future troubles. Therefore, under their hands, neither animals nor humans can keep their bodies intact."

  Suddenly a strange noise came over, and when they looked at each other, Xiaohuan's face was pale, her eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and she felt a little nauseous.

  Xian gently shook her head on Monday and sighed to Xiaohuan: "The world is so big, there are still many more cruel things that you don't know about!"

  Guilian naturally wouldn't be like Xiaohuan, but he also slightly furrowed his brow and said: "How is it that this kind of ferocious foreign tribe has never been heard of before?"

  Monday Xian said faintly, "You've always lived in the Central Plains, so you wouldn't understand these barbaric and exotic tribes. In the 100,000 Great Mountains of the Southern Frontier, everywhere is treacherous waters and mountains, where people eat raw meat and drink blood, completely different from the civilized people of the Central Plains. However, those exotic tribes have always been accustomed to living in their ancestral habitats, and on the roads that connect the Middle Earth with the Southern Frontier, there lies one of the three major orthodox sects, 'Fragrant Incense Valley', where occasionally a few barbarians would run over, but most were killed by the disciples of Fragrant Incense Valley using immortal Taoist magic. So the Central Plains have always been unaware of the detailed situation of the Southern Frontier's exotic tribes. I also only knew a thing or two when I was young and traveling around the world, running to the vicinity of the 100,000 Great Mountains of the Southern Frontier."

  The demon slowly nodded, but the sharp light in his eyes gradually brightened, saying: "In that case, according to what you said earlier, it's still understandable if an occasional alien comes in, but such a large group of aliens entering Zhongyuan silently and getting within ten thousand miles of the deadly swamp near Nanjiang is simply impossible. Unless something went wrong at Fengxiang Valley, which guards the south...

  On Monday, Xian suddenly stretched and lazily said, "That's your business, I'm too lazy to care."

  The demon nodded after a moment of silence and said, "Thank you, senior."

  After he finished speaking, he turned around, but saw Xiao Huan hugging Xiao Hui and teasing it.

  Xiao Huan's eyes glanced over and saw the ghost staring at her, she couldn't help but laugh: "This monkey is so cute! By the way, how did it suddenly get so heavy? And look, there's a deep gray mark on its forehead that just appeared, like an extra eye. Hehe, right, little monkey?"

  As she spoke, Xiaohuan made a face at Xiaohui, who "squeaked" and smiled with her mouth open, wagging her tail back and forth behind her.

  Gui Lie's heart moved slightly. Since that day in the Tian Emperor's treasure trove, Xiao Hui had drunk that mysterious liquid and swallowed that strange stone, he had slept for two days and two nights like a drunkard. After waking up, he didn't see him eat anything, but his weight suddenly increased a lot, and his appearance gradually began to change, his fur becoming more shiny and bright, especially the gray mark on his forehead, which became more and more obvious.

  However, apart from these, Xiao Hui didn't have any other changes and was still playful and fond of food. At first, Gui Li was a bit worried, but seeing that Xiao Hui wasn't unusual in any way, she gradually put her mind at ease.

  At this moment, Gui Li paused for a moment and shifted his gaze to the Wild Dog Taoist. The Wild Dog Taoist looked at him with some fear in his eyes.

  The demon's voice was cold and detached: "Do you plan on following them from now on?"

  The stray dog nodded silently for a moment and said, "Yes."

  Guili Dao said: "Do you still remember what I told you before? Those old men will come to find you at any time."

  The wild dog's face was gloomy, but after glancing at the little ring, he said: "I know, I don't care either. They're the ones who betrayed me, do they still have the face to see me?"

  Gui Li glanced at Xiao Huan intentionally or unintentionally, then withdrew his gaze and said, "Since you want it that way, suit yourself."

  The wild dog was taken aback, raised its head, and seemed to be unable to believe that Gui Li was so easy-going. However, Gui Li ignored him and walked over to Xiao Hui, greeting her with a nod. Xiao Hui suddenly darted out of Xiao Huan's arms and jumped onto Gui Li's shoulders in two quick leaps.

  Xiao Huan was taken aback and seemed reluctant, saying: "You're leaving now?"

  The demon nodded slightly, bowed to Zhou Yixian, and immediately a green light rose from under his feet. In an instant, he transformed into a dazzling green light that shot straight up into the sky, disappearing beyond the horizon in no time.

  As the ghostly figure vanished, Ye Gou Dao Ren suddenly let out a breath, as if the ghost's presence had exerted an invisible pressure that made him feel suffocated.

  Xiaohuan saw it with her own eyes, just wanting to laugh at him a few times, when she suddenly heard the sound of wind behind her, and another soft voice echoed from behind: "Sister, we meet again."

  Xiao Huan was taken aback for a moment, and before she could turn around, she burst out laughing, saying: "Bottle sister."

  Turning back, it was indeed Jinpinger, with her countless charms and unparalleled beauty, standing behind him with a smile, no one knew when she appeared.

  The wild dog Taoist was after all a demonic cultivator, and he felt somewhat intimidated by Jin Bao'er, his expression slightly unnatural. But Xiaohuan and Jin Bao'er were actually quite close, and upon seeing her, she was overjoyed, laughing nonstop as she pulled her along.

  Jin Bier, like an elder sister, affectionately patted Xiao Huan's head and then gazed up at the sky with a hint of intentionality, saying: "Little Sister Huan, I came to find you all today because I actually wanted to ask your grandfather a few questions."

  Xiao Huan, Zhou Yi Xian, including stray dogs, are all stunned.

  Jin Ping'er faintly turned to Zhou Yixian and said: "Regarding the fish people of the southern border, I still have a few questions to ask you!"

  Zhou Yi was taken aback, furrowing his brow, while Jin Ping'er's gaze had already drifted lightly towards the horizon before he even asked the question.

  All that can be seen is a faint light flashing between the white clouds in the high sky, gradually moving southward.