What is the queen's egg? The bird demon stammered and couldn't say it out. Finally, he was so anxious that he looked up and made a bird cry. His claws, which had not yet turned into human hands, stumbled in the air and drew a circle, expressing his meaning with difficulty - you are the queen's egg.

Shuikeng thought that this name was an extreme insult to her youth and beauty, so she stood up like a teapot, and cursed: "Yes, an egg has grown so big, your king must be upset, right? He has been thinking about me for so many years, and he sent you to kill me as soon as Fuyao Mountain was opened. You are really sincere... But are all the people in your demon valley dead? Why don't you send someone powerful? Do you look down on me?"

Cheng Qian silently took a half step back to avoid her bombardment, and couldn't help but feel deeply confused - who did she learn this set of perfect standard of shrewish scolding from?

For once in her life, the puddle was able to be eloquent. The bird demon was dumbfounded and speechless. She shrank back and looked at her with a sad face, her gray eyes filled with tears.

The aggressive puddle didn't expect this reaction and immediately said in surprise: "Hey, I just said a few words, why are you crying?"

Even if the demon king had a disability in his brain, he would not send a crying assassin to assassinate him. Cheng Qian saw that the demon cultivator's bird claws seemed to be stained with red mud, so he used the scabbard of the frost blade to pick up the bird claws, squinted his eyes and looked at it for a moment, and confirmed that it was on the wall of the guest room in Fuyao Mountain.

Cheng Qian asked, "What are you doing in the guest room?"

The bird demon hurriedly made a lot of noises and gestures, but when he saw that no one could understand his bird language, he anxiously stretched out his claws to grab the hem of the puddle.

Han Yuan slapped his claws away and said, "Just speak properly and stop using your hands."

The bird demon rolled and crawled to his feet, pointed in a direction, took two tentative steps, and when he saw that no one was going to hit him this time, he boldly straightened up and led the way.

This beast was quite honest. He had no intention of taking the opportunity to escape. He led the way very seriously, and would stop every two steps to wait for them.

The three people followed in confusion, and the bird demon took them directly to the guest room where Tang Zhen had stayed before he left. He pointed at the guest room and spoke a lot of bird language, but when he found that he couldn't understand, he scratched the wall with his claws in anxiety.

Puddle: “…”

She began to be less eager to go to the Demon Valley to lead the entire tribe, because she felt that these people seemed a little stupid.

Cheng Qian suddenly thought and asked, "The person who lived here has left - but do you recognize him?"

The bird demon nodded repeatedly.

Cheng Qian asked again: "Did he leave in a hurry because he saw you?"

The bird demon continued to nod.

"Nonsense," Cheng Qian grabbed the bird demon's neck, which was thinner than that of an ordinary person, and easily pressed him against the low wall, saying coldly, "Can you scare him away? If you really knew something you shouldn't know, he would have killed you long ago. How could he let you fly around?"

Tang Zhen’s betrayal was like a sharp knife stabbing into his heart, and Cheng Qian’s words were filled with unspeakable murderous intent.

Han Yuan and Shuikeng were both stunned.

Shuikeng asked in confusion, "Wait, what do you want to silence? Isn't it Senior Tang who lives here?"

The bird demon was nearly strangled to death by Cheng Qian. He struggled for a while with his fur standing on end, and finally pulled a wooden sign out of his neck pitifully. His tongue was pinched out, and his throat made a hoarse sound. With a red face and thick neck, he stuffed the wooden sign into Cheng Qian's hand.

The wooden sign contained a faint power of a talisman. Cheng Qian was still filled with murderous intent. He reached out expressionlessly and tore off the wooden sign, then threw the bird demon aside.

There was a red crane carved on the front of the wooden sign. The carving was done with exquisite skill, and the bird's graceful body appeared clear in every detail...but it was obvious that the carving was not of a puddle, but rather an adult red crane.

On the back is a delicate talisman that remains fresh over time and glows softly in the night.

Han Yuan: "What?"

"A puppet talisman," Cheng Qian examined it carefully and said, "It has not been used yet."

Han Yuan: "Puppet Talisman? How useful can a puppet talisman be?"

The puppet talisman can share a fatal injury with its master and save lives at critical moments, but it itself is not aggressive. Why would Tang Zhen be afraid of this thing?

If this kind of mixed-feathered bird with poor cultivation cannot be killed in one shot, can't we try again?

Cheng Qian was confused at first, but suddenly, a guess flashed through his mind.

Cheng Qian asked tentatively: "Was this carved by the person living inside?"

Usually a puppet talisman can only be used once, with one exception - as long as the talisman itself has not expired, the person who carved the talisman cannot harm the person carrying the talisman in any way.

The bird demon nodded desperately.

Why would a bird demon that sneaked out from a cave in the back mountain in the middle of the night have Tang Zhen's talisman on it?

What kind of weird hobby does Master Tang have?

Han Yuan poked the bird demon with his toes: "Is this yours?"

The big-tongued bird demon puffed out his chest and said in a sonorous voice: "The queen's!"

Han Yuan's expression changed subtly after hearing this. He turned to Shuikeng and said, "Although I don't know what's going on, I'm afraid you have a new cheap father."

Puddle was at a loss, looking this and that.

The bird demon always wanted to get closer to the puddle, but was pitifully stopped by Cheng Qian's Frost Blade Sword. He gestured and took out a box from his arms. Inside the box was an object wrapped in several layers of brocade. After peeling off the layers, a half-foot long fiery red feather was revealed.

The bird demon held the feather in both hands, stretched out his arm carefully and handed it to the puddle, with unspeakable expectation in his gray eyes.

Shuikeng was stunned for a moment, and involuntarily reached out to take it. Something on the feather pierced her finger, and a drop of blood flowed down and instantly merged into the ball of fire.

A long and clear bird cry suddenly sounded in the air, and then a cloud of mist rose from nowhere, fell to the ground and spread out, and a phantom that seemed real appeared in front of several people.

Everyone's attention was first caught by a female demon. She was wearing a brocade robe that trailed on the ground. She looked elegant and graceful, and there was no trace of demonic aura on her face. Although the man standing shoulder to shoulder with her could be considered dignified, he was obviously overshadowed by her dazzling glory.

The two of them were dressed well together, seemingly a couple, but there was a distance between them, which gave a feeling of "cold respect for each other".

The bird demon pointed at the two big demons in the phantom and said with gestures: "King, Queen..."

Han Yuan looked at the Demon Queen in surprise, then looked at the puddle. He had no idea that this little sister dressed like a country chicken was actually the Demon Queen's biological daughter.

There was another person behind the Demon King and the Demon Queen, who seemed to be here as a guest or to watch the ceremony, and stood aside as if it had nothing to do with him.

Cheng Qian was startled and asked in a low voice: "Is that the Grandmaster?"

The bird demon glanced at Tong Ru and made a respectful gesture.

In the front of the phantom was an old man. No one knew how old he was. The wrinkles on his face were so vivid that they could kill a fly. He was painted with colorful oil paints. In his skinny hands, he held a few pieces of old tortoise shells. He knelt on the ground and muttered something in a daze. He closed his eyes for a long time, and then he opened his eyes as if he had heard enough of the heavenly voice. His face was full of dejection. He sighed and spoke in human language, "The emperor has decreed that there will be a disaster on earth and a demon will be sent down. The demon will be born in response to the disaster and will be born in blood. It will seize the power of the demon king and cause chaos."

The demon king heard this and his face turned extremely ugly. He asked, "Where is the demon?"

The old man opened his crow mouth and said, "Born in the belly of the demon queen."

After he said this, the old man began to twitch all over, and fell to the ground and died. He really turned into a big crow on the spot and talked himself to death.

He kicked his legs and it was all over. Nothing happened, but it caused a big disaster.

A phantom flashed before my eyes, and I saw the demon king holding a sword in his hand. There was a little child under the sword, dead.

The child looked like an ordinary mortal child of five or six years old, and his eyebrows resembled the demon king somewhat.

This scene needs no explanation, everyone understood it - the old crow only said that there was a celestial demon, and that the celestial demon was born by the Demon Queen, but did not say whether it was already born or would be born in the future. The Demon King thought that the calamity would befall his own child. He heard that the celestial demon would take away his magic power, so he decided to believe it rather than not, and killed his own child for the sake of "righteousness".

The Demon Queen rushed in and saw this scene. She turned hostile to the Demon King and fought to the death with him. Unfortunately, she failed to defeat the Demon King and left the valley injured. When she left, only a small gray bird the size of a palm followed her.

The bird demon pointed at the dusty, flat-haired beast that fell behind the demon queen and introduced shyly, "Me."

No one paid any attention to him. No one cared about an ugly sparrow.

Then, the phantom turned again, and the Demon Queen took off her cumbersome clothes and dressed like an ordinary woman, hurriedly leading people up to Fuyao Mountain.

She was with a young girl who looked a little dull and a seriously injured man.

They were all acquaintances - the woman was Tang Wanqiu, and the injured was Tang Zhen.

A huge fang was sticking out from Tang Zhen's chest, and half of his body was charred black, but his handsome and gentle features could still be seen.

Han Yuan asked in confusion: "Which old story is this?"

Cheng Qian said, "Tang Zhen said that when he was young, he and his junior sister Tang Wanqiu were in danger while traveling outside. It was our master who rescued them. It should be this time."

Before Cheng Qian finished speaking, he saw a young man who was doing something with his trouser legs rolled up at the entrance of Fuyao Mountain in the illusion. He looked up. Upon seeing this man, Cheng Qian's breathing involuntarily stagnated and he was stunned.

Master...

Han Muchun still looked the same as in the portrait, but his temperament had already taken on the wretched prototype of the old weasel. He casually put the hoe in his hand on his shoulder and saw the demon queen from a distance. He did not use a respectful title, but called her by her name, "Hongyun, what wind brings you here?"

As he spoke, Han Muchun glanced at Tang Zhen and Tang Wanqiu. When Tang Wanqiu met his eyes, she was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head uncomfortably, not daring to say a word.

The Demon Queen said, "He was injured by Taowu because of me. Where is your master? Hurry up, I need him to save my life."

"The vicious beast Taowu?" Han Muchun's expression slightly straightened, and then he threw the hoe he had just used to dig something in the ground into the air, stepped on it without any hesitation and flew into the sky, saying, "Follow me."

Cheng Qian looked at Han Muchun greedily. Even when he was flying, his trouser legs that were higher on one side than the other and covered in mud did not give him any immortal qualities.

But he still couldn't see enough.

Only when the group of people disappeared from sight did Cheng Qian look away with a somewhat dejected look.

The bird demon gestured towards the courtyard where Tang Zhen had lived, and patted his chest with his fist as if in admiration.

Han Yuan guessed, "Your queen was injured by the demon king. She left the demon valley and encountered the vicious beast Taowu on the way. Ah, I see. In the demon beast clan, the strong are respected, and it is common for the strong to devour the weak. The vicious beast saw that her cultivation was damaged and wanted to take advantage of the situation, right?"

Cheng Qian came back to his senses: "So Tang Zhen's so-called injury was not because he was 'ignorant of the height of heaven and earth' as ​​he said, but because he was trying to save people - to save the Demon Queen?"

The bird demon nodded vigorously again. He raised his two bird claws, unskillfully transformed them into human hands, and twisted his two slightly deformed thumbs together and nodded.

Han Yuan lazily replied, "I understand this. They hooked up with each other while recovering from their injuries..."

Cheng Qian glanced at him and told him to shut up.

Han Yuan turned around and saw Shuikeng's dazed look. He rolled his eyes and silently swallowed back his disrespectful words.

Tang Zhen had not been sucked into the Soul-Devouring Lamp at that time, and he did not have the kind of tired and dead air around him. He had a pair of eyes as quiet as spring water. Even though his cultivation was not high at that time, he was knowledgeable and a modest gentleman. Even a human would be attracted to him involuntarily, let alone a demon who had never seen a decent man.

Fuyao Mountain is vast and sparsely populated. The headmaster Tong Ru is elusive and can be seen for ten days or half a month. Han Muchun is not doing his job and spends his days with flowers, birds, fish and insects. Unless Tang Wanqiu takes the initiative to look for him, he rarely shows up. Only the nominal disciple Jiang Peng will occasionally show up to give some pills... No one will disturb them, which is a good place to secretly develop feelings.

This happened quite naturally.

The demon emperor and empress had a grudge against each other for killing their son, which basically meant they had broken off relations. It was understandable that the demon queen sought another lover, but the terrible thing was that they had a child - and it was this child who fulfilled the calamity predicted by the old crow.

The birth of a celestial demon is ominous. As soon as the demon queen became pregnant, she attracted a heavenly calamity. Dozens of thunderbolts as thick as pillars chased her and struck her, even alarming Tong Ru.

Tong Ru watched coldly for a moment, but finally couldn't bear it and saved her. Fortunately, the demon was not born, and the heavenly calamity she brought about did not necessarily put them and their son to death.

Afterwards, Tang Zhen decided to leave Fuyao Mountain and set out to look for the legendary golden lotus leaves of the Great Snow Mountain for the sake of the Queen Demon and her son.

To the north, crossing the endless grassland, you will enter the ice field that never melts all year round. The ice field is also called the "Far North", where the Xuanwu Hall is located. Further north of the Far North are uninhabited mountains and abysses. Deep in the valley is the Tianchi Beiming Sea, and at the end are the snow-capped mountains that never melt all year round.

The Great Snow Mountain has no fixed location and is not necessarily always in the same place, so it is also called the "Secret Realm of the Great Snow Mountain" and various legends about it are magical.

The secret realm of the Great Snow Mountain, the No Regrets Terrace in the Heart Demon Valley, and the Forget-Sorrow Valley in the Land of the Dead are known as the three most unreachable places in the world.

It is said that there is a golden lotus growing in the heart of the Great Snow Mountain. It only blooms and does not grow leaves at other times. Only when the flower withers and the snow mountain collapses and solidifies again, a thumb-long leaf will grow from the root.

That leaf can reach the source of the Tao and eliminate all the sins in the world.

Tang Zhen had a crazy idea. He wanted to find the golden lotus leaf to help his child, who he was not sure whether it was a son or a daughter, to overcome the calamity.

Tong Ru personally sent Tang Zhen to the foot of Fuyao Mountain and said, "The Golden Lotus Leaf has only been a legend since ancient times. I searched the Nine-story Sutra Tower yesterday, but I didn't see any real record of it. No one knows whether it exists... The Great Snow Mountain Secret Realm is extremely dangerous, and I may not be able to escape unscathed. Will you consider it again?"

Tang Zhen bowed deeply to him and said, "Senior, I believe everything depends on human effort."

The still young Tang Zhen's face did not show as much fatigue and worry as it did later. He seemed unusually determined, and after saying goodbye to Tong Ru, he floated away.

The illusion ended here, and the bird demon stammered: "He, he never came back again."

Han Yuan said, "Junior Sister has been in the egg for more than a hundred years. I remember when we first met Tang Zhen, he said that he was a ghost that was sucked into the Soul Devouring Lamp a hundred years ago. It should have been around that time."

Tang Zhen never came back, and Tang Wanqiu also said goodbye and left on her own.

The Demon Queen tried several times to kill the fetus in her belly, but unfortunately she failed in the end. After escaping the heavenly calamity, she left Fuyao Mountain, returned to the Demon Valley, and went up to Linxiantai alone - they all knew what happened next.

If she had been willing to take the puppet talisman left to her by Tang Zhen with her to Linxiantai, she might not have died.

It's a pity that I couldn't bear to do it.

A hundred years later, the situation changed. Fuyao sent a few ignorant children to bring the soul of Beiming Jun Tongru to break in and bring the celestial demon out before it was stained with blood.

Cheng Qian sighed secretly and thought, what's the point of keeping the things if the person is gone?

When Tong Ru later went up to the No Regrets Stage and challenged heaven for his life despite the wrath of the world, was he also somewhat influenced by Tang Zhen's words "Everything depends on human effort"?

Looking back, that time when Tang Zhen was on his way to southern Xinjiang and was searching for the Ice Heart Fire, he suddenly stopped. Was he attracted by the movement of Tonghe transforming into a demon bone?

Demons were dancing wildly in front of the Ten Directions Formation. Tang Zhen, a man who had always been good at talking, suddenly attacked Xuan Huang. Was it also because of the long spear that Xuan Huang slashed towards the puddle?

But since he knew it very well and had escaped from the Soul-Eating Lamp a hundred years ago, why did he refuse to show up for all these years?

He had stayed overnight at Fuyao Villa and even at Fuyao Mountain. Shuikeng had even confided her life story to him without any suspicion. Why had he always refused to speak out, and even refused to change his expression after hearing her complaints?

And why did he leave in such a hurry after the bird demon recognized him?

If the bird demon didn't have the puppet talisman that he had carved with his own hands many years ago, would he really have killed the bird demon to silence it as Cheng Qian said?

Shuikeng suddenly turned around and left without saying a word. For the first time in her life, she felt that perhaps she should not have been born.

Cheng Qian swung his sword and slapped away the bird demon who tried to follow him, and winked at Han Yuan: "Go and see her."

Han Yuan frowned and asked, "Then what are you going to do?"

"Go track down the Soul Devouring Lamp." Cheng Qian raised his hand, and a long-burning lamp at the door of the guest room fell into his hand. "Given Tang Zhen's personality, he would not have stayed halfway. He should have been involved in the Soul Devouring Lamp near the Great Snow Mountain, or even in the secret realm of the Great Snow Mountain. I want to go and take a look... By the way, you told me last time that the reason why Jiang Peng entered the ghost world was because of Tian Yanchu?"

Han Yuan: "The source of the Nightmare Walker's information..."

"It may not be true." Cheng Qian said, "That day, the Third Prince listed all the powerful people in the world. In his eyes, even the head of Tianyan was 'not qualified enough'. I always feel that although Tianyan can do this, Jiang Peng's cultivation level and status may not be in their eyes at that time."

Han Yuan raised his eyebrows: "Why do you doubt Tang Zhen?"

Cheng Qian showed a little difficulty on his face, but said nothing - he was not sure whether the current Soul-Devouring Lamp had anything to do with Tang Zhen, so if there was any possibility that Tang Zhen was innocent, he would never express his suspicion out loud.

Tang Zhen is his friend after all.

"Oh, I understand. Loyalty," Han Yuan laughed rather sarcastically, and then said, "Are you planning to go by yourself without even saying hello?"

Cheng Qian: “Yeah.”

Han Yuan raised his eyebrows: "Not telling Senior Brother?"

Cheng Qian said, "He is very long-winded."

"Oh, really?" Han Yuan deliberately dragged out his voice and said, "How dare you leave without saying goodbye?"

Cheng Qian's face froze and he said nothing.

Han Yuan teased, "Little Senior Brother, you are quite courageous."

Cheng Qian was silent for a long time, then he said helplessly: "...I don't dare."

Han Yuan didn't expect him to admit it so frankly. After a moment's silence, he couldn't help but laugh: "I'll go check the puddle. You go to the head brother's room and kneel down to wash your feet."

Cheng Qian returned to Qing'anju with a heavy heart, and saw that the bamboo forest behind the courtyard had completely turned barren.

Far from wanting to seek justice for the bamboo forest, he actually felt somewhat fortunate, hoping that the eldest senior brother would vent all his anger and become more gentle in a while.

Just as he was walking slowly into Qing'anju and hadn't figured out how to phrase it, Yan Zhengming had already noticed something was wrong from his slightly evasive gaze and asked in confusion, "Where have you been?"

Cheng Qian hesitated for a long time and briefly said: "I plan to go to the Great Snow Mountain."

Yan Zhengming didn't know whether he was happy or angry after hearing this, and he didn't say anything for a long time.

Cheng Qian's heart skipped a beat and he thought, "It's over. The bald bamboo forest is useless."