The next day at the Linghua Pavilion!

"Have you heard? Something major happened at the Qiao family last night!"

"What major thing?"

"The Qiao family's young lady, Qiao Yurou, was caught red-handed in an illicit affair!"

"Huh? That actually happened?!"

"The things going on these past few days are truly absurd!"

"First, the Zhang family head suddenly recovered, becoming full of life and vigor. Then, the Lin family's eldest miss mysteriously disappeared. And now this! Sang Town is probably going to descend into chaos!"

"It shouldn't come to that, right? According to the Zhang family head, though he was in a daze at the time, he saw a fairy, and he's absolutely certain that he was healed by that fairy! If something big really were about to happen, judging by the Zhang family head being healed, it might not necessarily be a bad thing!"

"Hey? You still don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Lately, a bunch of orthodox cultivators have appeared in Sang Town! I heard from my father that it's because a demon from the Soul Hook Hall was gravely injured and went into hiding here in our Sang Town."

"Holy crap! From the Soul Hook Hall?! Then Sang Town really might be in for some unrest!"

"Exactly! So many strange things have happened one after another these past few days! It's very likely the doing of that demon!"

Zhou Che listened to the chatter of a group of young masters and roughly understood what was going on.

After draining the tea in her cup in one gulp, she turned and headed back to her dwelling.

Because of what happened last night, Zhou Che had moved outside of town and was now living in a cave deep in the mountains.

Back inside the cave, Zhou Che walked straight up to a furry lump on the ground and kicked it.

"What the hell, who the f*ck kicked me?! Are you sick?!" Jolted by this inexplicable kick, the furry lump scrambled up from the ground and turned its head, cursing at Zhou Che.

But upon seeing clearly that it was Zhou Che, the anger on its face instantly transformed into fear.

This furry lump was, naturally, the dog Zhou Che had taken with her last night.

"Y-you... what exactly do you want?! My master is He Xi, the Saintess of Xianyun Mountain! If you dare lay a hand on me, she definitely won't let you off!" The dog warned, yet its hind legs subconsciously took a step back.

Looking at this oddly comical and sleazy-looking dog, Zhou Che was not frightened by it. Instead, she asked flatly, "Who your master is doesn't interest me. I just want to know, how can an ordinary dog like you, with no spiritual power fluctuations, speak human words?"

"Big sis, didn't I already say? I grew up on Xianyun Mountain, so I gained sentience. Although I haven't cultivated, I possess the intelligence of a normal person. Isn't it normal that I can talk?"

The dog replied, its tone rather resigned.

However, upon seeing the cold expression on Zhou Che's face, its body involuntarily began to tremble again.

"Sentience?" Zhou Che looked at the other and couldn't help but ponder.

The situation of this ordinary dog was extremely rare, and since Zhou Che had never encountered it before, she wasn't sure if what it said was true.

"They say one's heart dictates one's appearance. Looking at your sleazy and comical face, you clearly don't look like a good thing at a glance. Rather than believing you have sentience, I'm more inclined to suspect you stole and ate some kind of low-grade Dao pill, resulting in the absurdity of an ordinary dog being able to talk," Zhou Che said, a hint of contempt showing in her eyes.

"No, I really do have sentience! This appearance was given by my parents, what can I do about it! My breed is a special local variety from a small region, called a Shiba Inu. Even though I look very absurd, I truly am a good dog that gained sentience through being nourished by spiritual energy!"

Seeing that Zhou Che didn't believe her, the dog started getting anxious and explained the reason to her, vowing to prove that it was a dog with sentience.

"So, you truly are a spirit hound?"

"Of course. Although I haven't started cultivating yet, my aptitude is not something those ordinary spirit beasts can compare to!"

Seeing that Zhou Che finally believed it, a very sleazy smile appeared on the Shiba Inu's face.

Zhou Che, seeing this, forcibly suppressed the urge to slap the other and asked, "Since your master is the Saintess of Xianyun Mountain, why didn't you go with her to the Lin family, but instead went to the Qiao family?"

She had already inquired clearly about the information on the Saintess of Xianyun Mountain.

Xianyun Mountain was a major orthodox sect, an existence on par with the Tiandao Sect.

And this He Xi was the disciple of the Head Elder of Xianyun Mountain. At a young age, she had already stepped into the fourth tier of the Middle Attainment Realm, and had even been the Orthodox Champion of the Nine Sects Tournament of the Qian Kingdom the year before last.

Her strength was beyond doubt; she was the strongest among the younger generation of the orthodox path.

"The Lin family's young lady has very high aptitude and has already caught the eye of a certain elder from Xianyun Mountain. So her disappearance is taken very seriously by Xianyun Mountain. And coincidentally, my master cultivates the Mortal World Artistic Conception, needing to comprehend the Dao amidst mortal affairs. So her appearance in Sang Town was purely a coincidence.

But somehow that elder found out about it, so he asked my master to go to the Lin family and help him investigate. However, before that, the Qiao family head had already invited my master. After all, breaking an appointment would have a bad effect on my master's reputation, so I went to the Qiao family in her stead. But who would have thought that when I was desperate to find a toilet, I ran into you!"

The Shiba Inu explained. When it came to the last sentence, a look of resentment surfaced on its face.

But to Zhou Che's ears, her previously calm mood instantly turned to action, her heart immediately set ablaze with anger.

Last night, she had held the dog and run all the way. Probably because she was too tense, she hadn't paid much attention to her own condition, so she hadn't even noticed that it had peed all over her.

Originally, after beating the dog up, her anger had already subsided. But this stupid dog just had to bring up the very thing that should not be mentioned, deliberately touching on it again.

Seeing that Zhou Che's demeanor was off, the Shiba Inu hurriedly spoke in a flattering tone, "Fairy, please don't get angry. I'm just an ordinary dog, I can't withstand your torment! How about this? Anyway, you have no use for me, so you might as well send me back. My master is the Orthodox Champion of this Qian Kingdom. Given her character, she will surely reward you handsomely."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Che immediately kicked the dog, sending it flying two li away.

"I'm not interested in the handsome reward you speak of. But my business is not yet finished, so I can't let you go. But don't worry, I won't harm you. Once I'm done with my affairs, I will certainly set you free."

She wasn't a fool. The dog before her had now clearly seen her face. Coupled with her unexplained presence at the Qiao family, it would be easy to connect her with the strange events of the past few days.

Although the dog hadn't pointed it out directly, she knew it wasn't stupid and had naturally figured everything out.

If she let it go back now, this dog would undoubtedly report all the information to He Xi, which would be inviting disaster upon herself.

After all, the Lin family's young lady had already eloped with her lover, with her help!

When the time came, she would certainly be relentlessly pursued by Xianyun Mountain for having offended them. And if they further investigated and found out she came from the Hehuan Sect, it would inevitably expose her identity as an undercover agent, causing the Tiandao Sect's plan to fall short at the last hurdle!

After hearing Zhou Che's words, the Shiba Inu painfully picked itself up from the ground. "If you're not letting me go, so be it. But did you have to resort to violence!"

Hearing this infuriatingly punchable remark, Zhou Che gave it another kick for good measure.

"Alright, I'm about to start cultivating. Don't disturb me, or I'll make you wish you were dead."

Zhou Che threatened, then sat cross-legged and began cultivating the first technique she had obtained, the Evil Dragon's Four Crossings.

The Shiba Inu, upon hearing this, had grievances but could only hold them in. In its heart, it cursed Zhou Che a thousand times over...

After an unknown amount of time, it, which had been lying on the ground sleeping, suddenly sensed a heart-palpitating sensation nearby. It slowly lifted its head and looked at Zhou Che with bleary eyes.

But that single glance nearly scared its soul out of its body.

Because on Zhou Che's body, a semi-transparent black qi had formed into the shadow of a dragon in midair.

Although it was just an ordinary dog, it was extremely familiar with the spiritual energy of cultivation.

But that heart-palpitating black qi from Zhou Che made it realize just how dire its own situation truly was.

Because just the sheer ferocity of that baleful aura, just watching from the side, was enough to make its heart race with terror.

Without a doubt, the woman before it, though possessing beauty that could topple a city and an aura like that of an immortal, was a member of the demonic path!