The wind howled, and raindrops as large as pearls fell like a broken string.
"Oh no, it started raining heavily in the middle of the night, soaking me completely."
The hotel's night staff had gone out to buy cigarettes, and the weather had suddenly turned stormy.
He patted the water off his clothes, muttering complaints.
His gaze happened to wander, and he froze.
"Huh? Is something flying in the sky?"
The sky was dark, and he vaguely saw a large object flash across it, comparable in size to the airships he'd seen used for advertising.
The receptionist smiled and patted his shoulder. "It's the cows flying in the sky. Why are they flying? Because you're bragging on the ground."
"No, really, I saw it. It was much bigger than a cow."
"Oh, come on, are you trying to scare me?"
They chatted and laughed, neither of them taking the matter seriously.
*Thump!*
On the eighteenth floor of the hotel, the moment Lin Fan knocked, Wang Xiaoli pulled the door open.
"Are you alright?" Lin Fan asked with concern.
"I couldn't beat it underwater, but on land, I'll make it pay!"
Wang Xiaoli exuded a demonic aura, and killing intent filled her eyes.
"Here," Lin Fan handed her the Chi Pearl.
"Aren't you afraid I'll run off with it?"
Wang Xiaoli felt the Golden Silkworm Gu inside her trying to crawl out.
"At this moment, we can't worry about other things."
"Let's drive away the Black Fish Demon first."
As soon as Lin Fan finished speaking, Wang Xiaoli's mouth widened.
Golden light shot out from her mouth.
Seven Golden Silkworm Gu formed a small circle, flying around Lin Fan affectionately.
"You go too."
Lin Fan opened his left hand, and another Golden Silkworm Gu vibrated its wings, hesitating for a moment before joining the group.
His eyesight was exceptional, and he immediately noticed the differences between the Gu worms.
The Golden Silkworm Gu that flew out from Wang Xiaoli's body were larger, and their golden bodies had some blurred patterns that were not yet discernible in shape.
The Golden Silkworm Gu raised by Zheng Yue were smaller, looking malnourished, and were even ostracized by their peers, keeping a distance from them.
"I'll go lure it away. This Black Fish Demon is outrageously bold!"
After speaking, Wang Xiaoli turned and went back into the room.
She opened the window and, transforming into a cloud of black mist, drifted out.
"Hmph!"
A roar like thunder shook the night.
When Lin Fan chased to the window, the rain outside had quickly lessened, indicating the Black Fish Demon had already left.
"Take me down."
He jumped onto the windowsill and extended one leg.
Looking down from a height of eighteen stories made one's legs go weak.
Four Golden Silkworm Gu each grabbed Lin Fan's collar and sleeves, flapping their wings with all their might.
A strong pulling force came from his body.
"Let's go."
Lin Fan gathered his courage and leaped down.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...*
The wind howled in his ears as his body plummeted at extreme speed, almost scaring his soul out of him.
Although the Golden Silkworm Gu were divine, Lin Fan weighed over 130 pounds. It was a joke for their small bodies to pull him while flying.
*Bang!*
A violent impact from below his feet caused Lin Fan's descent to pause.
*Bang, bang, bang!*
A series of powerful impacts effectively slowed his descent.
The bodies of the Golden Silkworm Gu were incredibly tough. Even when they used their full strength to collide with Lin Fan's feet, they only shook their heads before charging forward again, repeating the action.
The fifty-meter distance was covered in an instant. Lin Fan nervously watched the second-floor balcony.
He wouldn't be able to withstand a fall like this!
In a flash, he spotted a wire extending from somewhere, clinging to the hotel's exterior wall.
"That's it!"
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed. The moment his body passed the wire, he reached out sharply.
Even with his spiritual energy protecting him, his hands and shoulder joints felt a sharp pain.
As he pulled on the wire, it snapped from its nearby anchor point with a crack.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Lin Fan rolled forward, negating the immense inertia.
"That was close."
He looked back at the towering building, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Go!"
Without pausing to congratulate himself, Lin Fan commanded the eight Golden Silkworm Gu and quickly disappeared into the night.
The northern suburbs of Yingkou.
An abandoned car repair shop. The yard was overgrown with weeds, and trees from seeds carried by birds had grown over five meters tall.
*Crash!*
A giant tail swept through the night sky, smashing into the shed of the car repair shop.
Concrete pillars as thick as thighs instantly turned into rubble.
In the pitch-black night, two pairs of glowing green eyes rose higher and higher.
Wang Xiaoli's massive body coiled like a mountain, flicking her forked tongue as she surveyed the strange rain and mist around her.
Black fish, two to three meters long, darted back and forth in the misty rain, occasionally opening their mouths to reveal rows of sharp, white teeth.
"Hmph, you demon, how dare you be so rude!"
"I have never provoked you, yet you come to disturb my cultivation!"
"Do you think Old Hei is easy to bully?"
From the dense rain and mist, a black fish over ten meters long emerged.
The smaller black fish, two to three meters long, dodged in terror. Those who couldn't evade were flung far away like swatting flies, seeing stars before slowly regaining their senses.
Wang Xiaoli stared at the Black Fish Demon, who called himself Old Hei. This fellow had two long whiskers growing from the corners of his mouth, a clear sign of impending dragon transformation.
Hateful!
If she had obtained the Chi Pearl a few years earlier, this stinking fish would never have dared to be so arrogant!
"Are you mute? Why aren't you speaking?"
The Black Fish Demon's rough voice rang out again.
"Eh..."
"You have a Dragon Pearl too!"
"No, the scent is different. Is it the inner core of a hybrid dragon?"
Greed flickered in the Black Fish Demon's fierce, shining eyes.
"You're just a black fish that rolls in the mud all day, yet you dare to speak of hybrid dragons."
Wang Xiaoli sneered. "If a flood dragon were here, would you dare say such a thing?"
The Black Fish Demon chuckled. "If a flood dragon were here, I'd run as fast as I could. But you're just a stinking snake, fit only to warm my bed!"
"Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations, my lord!"
"Take her back as our bandit queen!"
"Long live the King!"
Some of the lesser black fish demons with a bit of cultivation were egging him on, their voices a jumbled mess, more grating than a broken gong.
Wang Xiaoli's two green snake eyes instantly narrowed, filled with killing intent.
The Black Fish Demon, feeling pleased by his followers' flattery, said smugly, "Hand over the flood dragon's inner core, and come back to my cave dwelling to be a servant who warms my bed and massages my legs. Old Hei won't harm you."
"If you refuse, you will surely die today!"
The numerous underlings cheered, bolstering his momentum.
"My lord, I want to taste snake meat!"
"Surrender quickly, or your corpse will be scattered!"
"My lord thinks highly of you, don't be ungrateful!"
The scope of the rain and mist rapidly expanded, and terrifying black fish bared their teeth, encircling Wang Xiaoli in a semicircle.