Chapter 007: Scales of the Dragon

The body of the dragon is extremely thick; I estimate that it would take three of me to embrace it

This old man, I secretly scorned.

Iron Old Man shouted, "Spirit talisman manifest, Master of Maoshan above, lend me your divine power to assist me in sealing the demon"

At this moment, the master instructed me to begin searching for the snake, and to call him once I found it

The water dragon has awakened

After a considerable amount of time, there was still no response, and the master was just about to put away the talisman.

It was raining, and the muddy ground was extremely slippery. I hurriedly crawled and rolled my way to the side of the water dragon.

Do not be misled by the fact that I was only ten years old at that time; however, after years of traveling extensively, I still possess a considerable amount of strength.

I let out a sound, and I wrapped the rope around the dragon for a full ten or more circles. Then I found a tree that was about as thick as the dragon's body and tied the rope to it. By the time I was exhausted and collapsed on the ground, the talisman of Old Li had also lost its effect

The immediate method, the sound of the dragon character talisman is louder and more resonant, and the echo obtained is also clearer

The master and I spent ten minutes and finally found a pond. The echo came from this pond

It is merely very light, very fine, very faint

Many spells in Maoshan are particularly practical, such as the Binding God Technique and the Five Ghosts Moving Mountains

Tie Laotou led me to a cave, sprinkled a fistful of sulfur on the ground of the cave, kindled a fire with dry branches found inside, and took out some provisions to begin eating

At this moment, Tie Laotou spoke up, "Kid, wait a moment. I will use the Maoshan's Binding Spirit Technique to trap this water dragon, and you can tie it up with a rope for me."

Both the master and I are individuals who have opened the heavenly eye and attained spiritual perception, so we are naturally attuned to such sounds in a profound way

The movements of the water dragon slowed momentarily, and its entire body seemed to spin aimlessly in place, as if it had lost its direction.

I cannot accurately describe my current geographical location; I can only say that I am still near Anhui. However, the map I carry with me has been soaked by the rain, making it difficult to discern the direction

After the master ate some steamed buns, he took out that talisman and activated it once again

The water pool is very deep and pitch black

A faint sound emerged

We also discovered the secret of the water eel's weakness; it turns out there is a roughly three-meter-long tear in its abdomen

The rain continues to fall in a gentle patter, the sky is overcast, and the towering trees obscure any hint of light.

At this moment, Iron Old Man took out the long-prepared earth gun and thirty tranquilizer rounds

Then, the master directly slit open the snake's belly, removed its gallbladder, and placed it in a glass bottle

The water dragon is essentially a living creature, so the tranquilizer darts are effective. However, the water dragon is incredibly powerful; it was only after Iron Old Man fired a full twenty tranquilizer darts that the water dragon finally lost consciousness and floated on the water. It is worth noting that the tranquilizer darts obtained by Iron Old Man can knock out an elephant with just two shots

The same "moo moo ... ..."

The sound of "moo moo..." began to resonate

I encountered the legendary dragon for the first time

I studied with Iron Old Man for three years and have witnessed too many strange occurrences, which has significantly strengthened my mental resilience. However, I was still startled by the sudden emergence of a colossal creature from the water. Just imagine, a creature as tall as a twelve-story building glaring at you in anger; what would you think? At that moment, my thought was that with Iron Old Man around, being more robust than me, he would surely be the first to be devoured by the water monster.

Iron Old Man is indeed well-versed and knowledgeable, but when faced with these ancient demons that have existed for thousands of years, it still requires considerable effort to remove three scales.

Iron Old Man wiped the rainwater off his face and said, "It should be an injured water dragon; otherwise, it wouldn't roar so weakly. Let me draw it out."

Iron Old Man then said this and sprinkled the snake-repelling powder into the water pool, followed by a handful of sulfur

This is unmistakably the sound of a cow mooing

Suddenly, a colossal creature burst forth from the pond, standing upright on the water's surface, with a serpentine body and a tiger-like head, measuring approximately several dozen meters in length. As it emerged from the water, it splashed up a tremendous spray and carried with it a foul, fishy odor

In the midst of speaking, Iron Old Man made his move

I nodded

In July, we arrived in Lingbi County, Anhui, coinciding with the rainy season. A gentle drizzle was falling, with the sound of raindrops pattering. My companion and I found a small inn in the city to stay in. The next day, my companion rented two dilapidated jeeps from a rental shop, and we set off for the mountains and forests outside Lingbi County

The master is beaming with joy, unexpectedly, I truly encountered it.

Looking back now, this happened fourteen years ago. I wonder if that rare water dragon is still there.

The water surface began to calm, but gradually bubbles started to churn.

The master quickly pulled me, and the two of us rushed out of the cave through the rain. The sounds in the forest at night were mixed, but for the two of us, distinguishing the sounds was still quite easy

Ancient sayings have stated that a viper can transform into a flood dragon, and the flood dragon ascends to the heavens to become a dragon. A dragon can live for a thousand years and grow horns, and if it lives for another ten thousand years, it will develop wings

The creature known as the Jiao has become increasingly rare to see. As I mentioned earlier, due to the prevailing circumstances in the world, it is difficult for such mystical beings to survive. My master suggested that we try our luck in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, my master and I packed our bags and set off. Before we departed, my master purchased three jin of sulfur, snake repellent powder, a two-hundred-meter-long rope, and most importantly, he bought a homemade gun along with thirty tranquilizer darts.

As usual, talismans were summoned, but this time five were summoned at once. The old man threw them, and four talismans flew out, surrounding the water dragon from the north, south, east, and west. The four talismans hovered in mid-air, faintly glowing with a red light, while the last one was held tightly in the old man's hand

The master replied to me that it was originally for hunting. After saying this, he threw the large bag onto my shoulders, claiming it was to train me in carrying weight while on the road

Iron Old Man chanted incantations, and finally, the talisman in his hand suddenly glowed, along with the four spirit talismans beside the dragon.

After speaking, he threw the rope to me. Damn, I was only ten years old, and he expected me to tie up a water dragon that was at least forty meters tall? I silently cursed, damn it.

Thus, according to rumors, the Huai is the predecessor of the Jiao

I, along with the illustrations and books, untied the rope while the water dragon remained unconscious, and we quickly left the place

However, wishes are abundant, while reality is stark.

Night is approaching.

People often ask me why I don't resemble the practitioners shown on television, performing earth escapes or wielding flying swords

I have always held a high regard for the spells of Maoshan, as they are practical

As soon as the master explained, I instantly understood; this is called drawing the dragon out of its cave

Then, due to the rope, it was tightly bound.

Suddenly

This type of viper is now rarely seen. My master and I wandered for most of the day before finally finding a less than one-meter-long viper at the edge of a mountain. By this time, we had already moved nearly one kilometer away from the mainland

Iron Old Man remained remarkably calm. Upon seeing the rushing water serpent, he did not act rashly. Instead, he removed his glasses, revealing his clear and discerning gaze, and simply observed the water serpent, the two of them—one man and one beast—facing each other.

My master and I have been to seven or eight places in succession, and we are nearly twenty kilometers away from the mainland, yet we have received no response. My master seems a bit disheartened and said, "Let's try again tonight. If there is still no response, we will set off for the next place early tomorrow morning."

I saw Iron Old Man take action, and without hesitation, I rushed over immediately

We got off the car about three kilometers outside Lingbi County

Iron Old Man shouted while controlling the talisman, "Kid, move quickly, I can hold on for one minute here"

Thus, we acted separately

Upon seeing Iron Old Man make his move, the Water Dragon immediately let out a roar, its massive mouth wide open, and lunged fiercely at Iron Old Man.

In my line of work, having multiple skills is advantageous. However, many techniques are used in confrontations with others. As itinerant merchants, we adhere to the principle of valuing harmony, and generally do not engage in conflicts with others

Then, with a sudden throw of the talisman, a spell was chanted, and the talisman abruptly halted in mid-air. Subsequently, a strange event occurred; the talisman emitted a sharp cry as if it had come to life, "Moo moo ... ... "

The viper is essentially a type of earth snake, also known as the pit viper. It is a common species of snake found in China

I just want to say, that is nonsense. If those who cultivate could fly, mortals would have known by now

Old Tie quickly took me to start peeling the scales. We removed three pieces very quickly, and this old man peeled off more than ten additional pieces, claiming it was for stock. Indeed, he is a shrewd businessman

Iron Old Head could not help but say with relief: "If it weren't for the fact that this water dragon is in a weakened state, I estimate we would have to exert even more effort this time."

I smiled and said to the master, wearing sunglasses, carrying a large bag, and holding a gun, others might think you are going hunting

The glass bottle also contained cow's blood and a bit of crushed jade.

After crushing the viper's gall in the bottle, Old Iron used a brush to dip into the blood from the bottle and wrote a large dragon character on a piece of blank yellow talisman paper

The essence of the Confounding Spell lies in making the afflicted person feel as if they are trapped in a ghostly wall, where there are clearly no obstacles, yet they find themselves going in circles without making any progress

I looked at my master in confusion. He explained: "The roar of the dragon resembles that of a cow, producing a mooing sound. I intend to use this talisman to lure out a dragon."