The earth dragon's turning was a specialty of Shuling Mountain, occurring from time to time. Xin Xiu and the others had witnessed it on the day they left the basin. At that time, she was taken by her master to Secluded Bamboo Mountain and directly observed the treacherous terrain that imprisoned the earth dragon.
But why had she never had the desire to explore that area? It wasn't because the place looked dangerous, but because she heard that there were no restrictions or guards there, and disciples could freely go and look.
Xin Xiu: Sorry, I don't want to go anymore.
A place wide open for anyone to play in, what's there to explore?
The Second probably really had nowhere else to go, which was why he thought of that place. Xin Xiu rode her motorcycle to pick up The Second, only to discover that seeing the earth dragon was just a pretext; this guy just wanted to drive.
Xin Xiu understood that the young man wanted to drive, but his driving skills were so poor that letting him drive might result in broken legs. He was already a one-armed hero; if he broke his legs too, he couldn't even be a sidekick. Therefore, she mercilessly refused him and told him to be content as a passenger.
"I couldn't see the dragon clearly last time. This time, I want to get a better look," The Second seemed quite excited.
Without turning her head, Xin Xiu asked him, "You've actually been to see it by yourself already, haven't you?"
The Second scratched his head, "Haha, yeah, I went to look, but after walking for a long time without seeing the earth dragon appear, I had to go back. Big sis, just drive the bike straight into that cloud. We can look down from above, and we'll definitely be able to see the dragon."
Xin Xiu wanted to do that too, but when she flew to the cloud layer below the Cloud Realm, the motorcycle automatically descended. Looking at the flock of birds following her flying motorcycle, they all automatically avoided this area. Xin Xiu guessed that flying was probably prohibited in the airspace above this domain.
The Second was disappointed: "What a pity. Do we have to walk in? We'll probably be in darkness before we reach the innermost part."
Xin Xiu: "Walk? You're underestimating my motorcycle."
Just because it could fly didn't mean they should ignore that it was originally a vehicle meant for ground travel. Her motorcycle was designed for both air and land use. The master had made her motorcycle with super large wheels, capable of mountain riding. Moreover, even if it couldn't fly high into the sky, it could still hover a bit. On flat ground, it could ride close to the surface, and on bumpy terrain, it could function as a hovering magnetic motorcycle.
The Second was the first to witness the motorcycle's true colors, excitedly standing on the back seat and repeatedly saying, "This bike is even more fun to ride on the ground!"
When a large rock blocked their path ahead, Xin Xiu simply lifted the front of the bike and leaped over it. The Second fell in love with the thrilling sensation of speeding, encouraging her to find roads with lots of loose stones. The two of them were like playing a real-life Mario game, occasionally turning, occasionally jumping up, all the way riding the motorcycle into the treacherous mountains.
Because of the thick cloud layer above, the ground below rarely saw daylight, and the light was dim, as if it were always a gloomy, damp, overcast day. Moreover, the mountains here were not as lush and green as the mountains outside. They were mostly exposed sand and stone, with only occasional tufts of wild grass growing in the crevices, and even those weren't green.
Such a depressing place was indeed worthy of being a prison.
Xin Xiu didn't know much about this imprisoned earth dragon, but The Second knew a bit more than her. As they drove along the boring road, he casually chatted with her: "It happened a long time ago. They say this earth dragon once caused a great flood, washing away good fields and villages on both banks of the river, causing continuous rain for several months, and triggering widespread flooding in many places. It also ate many people."
"I heard that back then, many cultivators in the immortal world wanted to capture it, but only the Founding Master succeeded. But although it was caught, it couldn't be killed, so there was no choice but to imprison it here."
"Master says it's an evil dragon, not the same as the auspicious dragons we've heard about before. Evil dragons are born to eat people. Big sis, where do you think those auspicious dragons are?"
Xin Xiu: "When you succeed in your cultivation in the future and can travel around, you'll definitely be able to find auspicious dragons. Surely there's more than just this one dragon left in the world."
The Second: "Yeah, I'm sure I can find them. I even want to raise dragons, preferably two!"
"You ant, what big words," a voice like muffled thunder sounded above their heads.
With a rumbling sound, a huge head rose from the mountain range and peered at them. Bloodshot, murky eyes as big as lanterns stared at them with a fierce air. The earth dragon was actually so close to them, and just moments ago, it had been lying among the mountain ridges, its body covered with rock moss. Its dark purple dragon body looked just like part of the black mountain range, making it impossible for Xin Xiu and The Second to detect its presence.
The Second, whose courage was as big as the sky, showed no fear towards this suddenly appearing earth dragon. He even retorted: "You're the one with big words. What did you eat? It stinks!"
When the earth dragon spoke, a gust of fishy wind blew in their faces, extremely unpleasant.
The earth dragon was enraged by The Second's blunt truth, angrily opening its mouth to bite at Xin Xiu and The Second. With a crunch, it bit the motorcycle along with a circle of earth around it into its mouth.
Xin Xiu knew clearly that since her senior brothers and sisters all said this place was freely accessible, it meant there definitely wouldn't be any danger. But when that enormous dragon mouth bit down, she still couldn't help but feel her heart race. Three seconds later, she opened her eyes to find they were still riding the motorcycle in the same spot, with just a circle of earth missing around them.
As she had guessed, the earth dragon's intimidating bite hadn't caused them any harm at all.
They and this earth dragon seemed to be in two different worlds, able to see each other but unable to touch. No wonder the Founding Master dared to let disciples come and look; he had set up a dragon exhibition showcase.
The Second became even more emboldened now. "Dragon, you're just trying to scare us, aren't you? Hahaha, you can't scare us!"
Not seeing the two people scared out of their wits, the earth dragon angrily raised its tail high and swung it at them. The dragon tail passed through their bodies and slammed heavily on the ground, sending countless rock fragments flying.
"Damn you, you damned little insects!" The earth dragon lost its temper and started thrashing about, causing the mountains to shake and the earth to move.
The Second shouted to the sky: "Dragon, I heard you ate a lot of people. Is that true?"
The earth dragon crashed around the mountain ridges, alternating between weird laughter and loud curses: "Eat! Eat people! I want to eat people!"
The Second: "..."
He stood on the motorcycle, holding onto Xin Xiu's shoulder, and asked her in a low voice: "Big sis, is this earth dragon a bit... mentally unstable?"
Xin Xiu analyzed rationally: "It probably is. Being confined for too long does that to you. Plus, it's so dark here. Staying for a long time easily leads to psychological issues."
The two watched the earth dragon go crazy for a while, then saw it flop back into the mountain range and become still again.
"Sigh, it's really not interesting. No wonder senior brothers and sisters don't like coming here," The Second said, somewhat disappointed. Having seen this not-at-all beautiful dragon, they turned the bike around and headed back.
The Second was quiet for barely a moment before he started talking again: "I was also locked up by people before. Being confined feels awful."
Xin Xiu: "Oh? What happened?"
The Second shrugged, "I don't really know what happened. They said I did something wrong. Although I'm not sure, if they say so, then I guess that's how it is."
"I see this dragon being confined here is quite boring too. Maybe I'll come to see it occasionally in the future."
Xin Xiu: "Are you sure you're not coming to provoke it?" The Second's habit of saying whatever he wanted, regardless of the situation and only caring about his own amusement, could literally anger someone to death if they had a slightly worse temper.
The Second vowed earnestly: "I just want to ask where its hometown is, and if it has any dragon brothers or sisters!"
And then go to their lair and take them all at once? Xin Xiu could almost picture The Second stealing dragon eggs.
"Get off, get off. I'll let you do whatever you want, just don't lose your life in the process."
After sending off The Second with his head full of summoning divine dragons, The Third came along.
"Big sis, didn't you say last time that riding a motorcycle in a skirt was inconvenient and you wanted pants? I asked senior brother, and he said Jin Se's silkworms have spun silk. We can go ask Jin Se to help make clothes."
Xin Xiu: As expected of The Third, still remembering this. He's so thoughtful.
She had long felt that wearing a skirt while riding a motorcycle was inconvenient, especially when the wind blew, making the skirt ride up and leaving her legs chilly. She had tried sitting sideways on the motorcycle, but it never felt quite right.
Xin Xiu had never met Senior Sister Jin Se before. She rode with The Third, and using the route map prepared by their senior brother, they followed the directions to find Jin Se's mulberry garden. The entire hillside was planted with mulberry leaves, with colorful terraces layered up the slope.
"Those aren't terraces, they're dyeing pools. The woven fabrics are dyed over there," said a beautiful woman in her thirties who emerged from the mulberry grove. She carried a basket, her long black hair wrapped in a light gauze bun with two wooden hairpins, looking neat and tidy from head to toe.
After Xin Xiu and her companion stated their purpose, the beautiful woman smiled and led them into the garden ahead. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people in the garden - women in their thirties and forties, as well as elderly grandmothers. It looked like an ordinary mortal world fabric shop, except for one young girl who appeared to be in her early teens. She wore brightly colored clothes and was sitting there embroidering, with dozens of needles flying up and down around her, quickly stitching out exquisite and beautiful patterns.
"Master Jin Se, we have visitors," someone called out.
It turned out that this youngest-looking girl was actually the mistress of this place, Jin Se.
"Senior Sister Jin Se, you have so many people here," Xin Xiu chatted casually, feeling quite at ease.
Senior Sister Jin Se was unexpectedly a bit shy, speaking in a soft and gentle voice, "These are all women I've brought back over the years during my travels. Most of them couldn't make a living in their original places, so I brought them back here. At least they can live peacefully in these mountains for the rest of their lives, and they also help me out."
"Are you here to have clothes made? Tell me what kind you want, and when they're ready, I'll call you to come pick them up. Consider it my gift to my newly joined junior sisters."
Xin Xiu could only once again marvel at the simple and honest folk customs of Shuling Mountain, then described the style of clothes she wanted. Leather jackets and pants were just a joke, but comfortable, loose-fitting casual pants were possible.
"What kind of clothes are these?" Senior Sister Jin Se had never heard of such garments and was a bit puzzled.
Xin Xiu drew them for her directly. Out of professional habit, she first drew the model, then the entire outfit as it would look when worn, sketching several sets. Senior Sister Jin Se examined them for a while, then commented, "The style looks a bit strange, but it's very easy to make. However, it seems too simple when made like this. You're such young girls, wearing clothes like this would be too plain. How about making them into culottes?"
Xin Xiu had no choice but to discuss the advantages of modern clothing with this immortal cultivation world's master tailor, and tried to get her senior sister to help make underwear.
The senior sister was surprisingly interested in underwear and asked her to draw several sets.
"This set is nice too, but not as good-looking as the first one."
Under the senior sister's gentle inquiries, Xin Xiu, who had drawn set after set of clothes, felt like she had become a human drawing tool again. Especially that phrase "the first set is still the best" made her instinctively shudder. She had been away from her job for so long, why hadn't her conditioned response improved?
Senior Sister Jin Se, now holding a large stack of clothing designs, said she needed to study them and personally saw them out.
As the two flew halfway back, they encountered Senior Brother Cai Xing and a few others.
"Senior brothers, where are you rushing off to?"
Cai Xing waved to her: "Come quickly, junior sisters. Let's go to the Cloud Pavilion to take a look. I heard Senior Brother Tao Jun has returned and brought back something interesting."
Senior Brother Tao Jun - wasn't he the one they had gossiped about yesterday, the senior brother who had been gone for many years without returning? Xin Xiu's interest in joining the excitement was piqued. She rode her motorcycle, following the flying senior brothers. "What interesting thing did this senior brother bring back?"
Cai Xing replied: "It seems to be some kind of strange creature, with a high nose, deep-set eyes, green eyes, and golden yellow hair."
Xin Xiu was silent.
High nose, deep-set eyes, green eyes, golden yellow hair... This senior brother, could it be that he had captured a foreigner and brought them back?!
