“The Zhang family has been protecting the Bronze Gate for generations, preventing the demons and monsters sealed inside from escaping. The gate opens briefly at regular intervals, and some creatures have used those moments to break free, engaging the Zhang family in fierce battles.
“The five most powerful creatures to have escaped were originally the Four Divine Beasts—guardian spirits left at the Bronze Gate when the celestial gods and demons made a truce ten thousand years ago.”
Wang Cang Hai was startled. “The Four Divine Beasts? You mean the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise?”
Qilin nodded. “Yes. And their leader—the Qilin Beast.”
Wang Cang Hai hesitated, piecing together his thoughts. “Are you saying… the Ren Mian Niao is actually Vermilion Bird?”
Qilin replied, “Vermilion Bird was the first to be tempted by the mortal world and abandoned its duty as a guardian. After leaving the Bronze Gate, it mated with human owls and gave birth to the Ren Mian Xiao [human-faced owl]. The Ren Mian Xiao later bred with other bird species over the millennia, eventually evolving into the Ren Mian Niao we see today.”
Wang Cang Hai fell silent again.
The Ren Mian Niao’s origins made him wonder about something else—
If the Qilin Beast was once a guardian of the Bronze Gate, could it have any blood connection to the Qilin standing before him?
Could the Qilin Beast have abandoned the Bronze Gate and fallen in love with… a human?
Was that why Qilin bore the birthmark of a qilin and possessed the mysterious power of qilin blood?
Qilin continued, “Earlier, I used echoes to determine that the cave wasn’t very deep. But then the Ren Mian Niao flew out of it. That means, in that instant, a door must have opened on the other end of the cave.”
Wang Cang Hai asked, “Could it have been the Bronze Gate? What’s inside it?”
Qilin shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Just then, a strange cry echoed from the distance.
“Xiao! Xiao!”
The sound was sharp, inhuman, yet the words were clear and spoken in human language.
Qilin’s body trembled violently once again.
“The Ren Mian Niao is coming back.”
Wang Cang Hai asked, “Is that the Ren Mian Niao’s cry? It sounds different from before.”
Qilin clenched the wooden hairpin Dun Di tightly, his mood somber. “Something must have triggered it elsewhere. Whenever it cries like this, it means it is consumed by an overwhelming desire to kill.”
A chill ran down Wang Cang Hai’s spine. “It wants to kill?”
“Yes,” Qilin replied. “It is calling its own name, ‘Xiao Xiao,’ summoning its soul back into its body. But it will never succeed.
“More than two thousand years ago, Zhou Mu used the Four Symbols Soul-Locking Array to imprison the true soul of the Ren Mian Niao, making it a permanent slave to his will. The creature we see now is merely an empty shell, devoid of its own soul. That is why it harbors such deep hatred for humans.”
Zhou Mu… used the Four Symbols Soul-Locking Array to enslave the Ren Mian Niao’s true soul?
Was he truly that powerful?
Before Wang Cang Hai could recover from the shock of this revelation, Qilin had already leaned out of the cave, looking toward Zhang Hai Xing, muttering to himself, “I have to replace Zhang Hai Xing. He has no chance of landing a hit on a Ren Mian Niao in a berserk state. If I don’t take the core position and activate the Golden Crow Demon-Slaying Formation, no one here will survive.”
With that, Qilin raised Dun Di and activated its instant movement ability.
In a flash of light, Wang Cang Hai grabbed onto Qilin’s arm, allowing himself to be pulled along.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them appeared on the ground, standing at the core of the formation.
Qilin’s eyes flared with urgency. “Wan Bao! If you follow me, you’ll die!”
But Wang Cang Hai suddenly smiled.
“If I hadn’t grabbed onto you and followed, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.”
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