Mortal Mirror

The old man, upon hearing Li Muzhen's words, didn't immediately answer his question but instead said, "Do you know what river this is?"

"What river? Isn't it just an underground river?"

"Hahaha, have you ever heard the phrase 'Hidden Dragon in the Abyss'?"

Li Muzhen, puzzled, said, "What does that have to do with this river?"

"Hmm, it has everything to do with it because this river is called... the 'Trapped Dragon River.'"

"Trapped Dragon River, trapping the dragon inside? But shouldn't dragons be enormous, soaring giants? These two small dragons don't seem very big. Could they be dragon cubs?"

The old man finally glanced at Li Muzhen before saying, "Dragons are transformative, able to be large or small, ascend or conceal themselves. When large, they can swallow clouds and spit mist, soaring above the nine heavens. When small, they can hide their form, concealed within streams, rivers, and waves.

That's why there's 'Flying Dragon in the Sky' and 'Hidden Dragon in the Abyss.'

And within this underground river, a dragon once fell and perished. Its soul is trapped here. Usually, the dragon soul remains hidden, lurking within. But now, it's being attracted by the dragon energy of heaven and earth, so the dragon soul has manifested.

And that dragon energy is my bait. If you don't believe me, look again at the water."

Li Muzhen, momentarily tempted, couldn't resist looking into the water again. To his surprise, there was a large dragon shadow reflected in the water.

Although the dragon shadow only had a vague outline, its domineering aura was very evident.

The yellow dragon soul below, upon seeing this, immediately bit onto the fishing line.

The old man's face lit up with joy, saying, "See, it's hooked, isn't it?"

Li Muzhen ignored the old man, standing there dumbfounded. His eyes filled with doubt and confusion, he then looked at the old man and said, "What's going on? What is that dragon shadow?"

The old man grabbed the small yellow dragon and threw it directly at Li Muzhen, saying, "Why are you asking me? You should be asking yourself.

Young man, if there are things you can't understand, think about them more. I'm very happy to have met you. This may be the first time, but it certainly won't be the last.

Take this little dragon soul with you. Perhaps it can help you in the future.

Remember, what your eyes see may not be real. So, what you see of me right now may just be a wisp of obsession or illusion in your heart."

As soon as he finished speaking, a mysterious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he vanished into thin air, disappearing without a trace.

Li Muzhen was dumbfounded. The old man disappeared as if he had never existed. Could it all have been an illusion?

He looked at his palm. A small dragon was still struggling.

This dragon soul was real, a tangible thing. The little dragon kept twisting, trying to break free from his control. He looked at the little dragon in silence, his brow furrowed.

A tremor arose within him. What was going on? What was that huge dragon shadow? Why did he feel a sense of familiarity?

As he looked at the little dragon, the jade pendant around his neck suddenly emitted a ray of light, enveloping the little dragon. Then, before Li Muzhen could react, it directly sucked the little dragon into it.

Soon, a yellow thread appeared on the pure white dragon-shaped jade pendant. Before this, there was already a green thread, which had manifested after swallowing the dragon soul of the Void Heaven Tablet.

Seeing this scene, Li Muzhen was filled with emotion, not knowing what to say.

In fact, he was beginning to suspect something: what kind of people were his parents? This jade pendant was extraordinary, probably an incredible treasure.

Such a treasure accompanied him, so his parents must have loved him. What reason could have forced them to give him away?

He couldn't understand. Perhaps only the day he met his parents would he know the answer. But alas, in the vast sea of people, finding his parents was like a pipe dream, extremely difficult. Forget it, let fate decide.

But who exactly was that old man? What was his purpose in doing all this? Was it just to give him a dragon soul?

He looked at the water again. The little green dragon had run away, and there was nothing else in the water.

Just as he was pondering, the dragon-shaped jade pendant suddenly emitted a golden light, and then he saw it spit out something. Without thinking, Li Muzhen grabbed the thing in his palm.

He looked down and, oh my, it was a large yellow mud loach about a foot long.

He was puzzled. What was going on? The little dragon was swallowed by the jade pendant, and now he got a mud loach. Could it be that the dragon soul originally resided in the mud loach, and now that the dragon soul had been destroyed, it had returned to its original mud loach form?

Looking at the mud loach, it was completely different from ordinary mud loaches. Its body was golden, even glowing slightly, and its eyes were large and bright, not like a fish but like a clever imp.

It wiggled at Li Muzhen, as if saying, "Great King, let me go!"

Li Muzhen pondered for a moment, thinking that the old man must have had a purpose, and this little mud loach was also extraordinary. So, he should keep this thing with him first and think about it later.

So, without much thought, he casually took out a fish basket from his Qiankun bag and kept the mud loach in it.

The journey ahead was unexpectedly smooth. The old man didn't appear again, but Li Muzhen was filled with thoughts, thinking about many things: his parents, the jade pendant, and what was that blurry dragon shadow that appeared in the water.

Lost in thought, he reached the shore. Without thinking, he jumped off the boat, and then the boat retreated and disappeared into the underground river in the blink of an eye.

Li Muzhen ignored it and continued forward. Soon, he saw a cliff and a stone tablet ahead.

At that moment, Li Ergou came out of the light gate and saw Li Muzhen at a glance. Li Muzhen turned around, their eyes met, and they spoke almost simultaneously, "Li Ergou!"

"Li Muzhen!"

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?" they said again at the same time.

Li Ergou came to Li Muzhen's side and said with a wry smile, "It's a long story. Zhu Zhu and I didn't compete for the lotus seeds, so..."

Li Ergou told Li Muzhen a rough account, naturally glossing over the important details.

After hearing Li Ergou's story, Li Muzhen couldn't help but sigh. He also recounted his own experiences. Of course, he didn't mention the dragon energy in the underground river, only the battle that took place inside the cave. When Li Ergou heard that Li Muzhen had actually obtained a lotus seed, he couldn't help but admire him.

Li Muzhen, with a sigh, took out the lotus seed for Li Ergou to see. After Li Ergou looked at it, he couldn't see anything special about the lotus seed. Perhaps this thing had other uses, but it was definitely not an ordinary object.

After they chatted for a while, they looked at the cliff and the stone tablet standing on top of it.

The stone tablet exuded an aura of vicissitudes, not knowing how many years it had existed. On it were clearly written four incredibly astonishing characters.