Mo Chuan slowly approached the statue, pondering the narrator's words.
The first idea was to follow the known clue that "this haunted house has a problem," which meant all information provided by the other party should be considered false, including the new information just given.
But that clearly wasn't quite right.
Because based on other known information, the clues from King Wuguan had a certain degree of truth reflected in the haunted house – for example, the village outside was clearly the former Huaihua Town, and the pair of dragon horns on the statue were likely related to the dragon bones from the dragon falling incident or the "Deer Fairy."
So, he adopted the second idea: the narrator's words provided useful information.
Should he destroy this statue now?
Or should he truly try to listen to the statue's whispers?
Explore the truth? Gain hints?
Actually, the answer was already obvious – smashing the statue was likely the way to get reliable information.
Mo Chuan clasped the statue with both hands, just about to lift it and smash it, when the statue flashed a red light, causing a stinging sensation in Mo Chuan's hand.
A long-lost pain… Before Mo Chuan could react, the statue slipped from his grasp, ultimately falling straight to the ground and shattering.
Amidst a cloud of blood-red smoke, Mo Chuan instinctively tried to hold his breath, but it was too late – Mo Chuan's vision went black, and he collapsed onto the ground.
As if sensing the disturbance in the temple, Guo Dahai emerged from a hidden door after a long while, his expression blank. With a wave of his hand, he gestured for two listless men to carry Mo Chuan's body away. The scholar and Old Huang, who had been chatting earlier, seemed to be under a spell, rising from their chairs with vacant expressions. The owner of the haunted house also expressionlessly hung a "Temporarily Closed" sign on the door before turning and entering the haunted house.
…
"Hiss… My head hurts… Where… Where am I?"
Mo Chuan slowly opened his eyes. After adjusting to the rather strong light, he tried to sit up, only to discover an embarrassing fact – he could barely move anything.
"No… What if this is King Wuguan's lair or the gathering place of that cult? I must figure out my location first…"
Mo Chuan's voice grew fainter because he realized his perspective was starting to involuntarily flip, as if the owner of this perspective was twisting their head dozens of degrees.
"Wait a minute… Could it be…" Mo Chuan furrowed his brow, observing the surroundings from his current vantage point, and spoke with disbelief, "This isn't my body… I'm just watching someone's memory?"
The surroundings were walls built of stacked stones, with moss and some weeds mixed in. The dimness and dampness of the environment indicated that this place was likely not far from a water source or a pool.
Suddenly, a sound of something falling into water was heard. The owner of the perspective raised their head, seemingly starting to walk outwards.
As the owner opened the stone chamber with a claw, Mo Chuan basically guessed the owner of the memory – most likely the single-horned or double-horned dragon from the Yingkou Dragon Falling Incident.
But did this have anything to do with King Wuguan?
Was he really the Dragon King?
As the owner's perspective gradually shifted, Mo Chuan finally determined his location: an unnamed river, and the water level was likely not low.
Moreover, Mo Chuan also vaguely saw what had fallen into the water earlier – a man with somewhat disheveled clothes. From his silhouette alone, his features were unclear.
The owner of the perspective swam upstream and finally nudged the fallen person ashore with its dragon snout, its upper body emerging from the water at the same time.
Outside, a bright moon hung in the night sky. In the moonlight's reflection, Mo Chuan finally saw the appearance of the owner of the perspective: a small dragon with white whiskers and silver scales, its light blue eyes as clear as lake water, and two white dragon horns like deer antlers growing on its head.
Seeing that the fallen person seemed to be fine, the little white dragon let out a gentle dragon's cry and slowly retreated into the river.
After entering the water, the little white dragon was blocked by a black single-horned little dragon before it could swim back to its cave.
The two dragons let out dragon cries, seemingly communicating, but Mo Chuan surprisingly understood: kuAiδugg
"You went to save those humans again? What did Mom teach you?"
"But he fell into the water," the white dragon said nonchalantly. "He was in danger and needed to be saved."
"Humans are best at deceiving us! Their clever and cunning disguises can easily lead you into their traps. When the other party nets you, you'll have nowhere to cry!"
The little black dragon was clearly not the first time facing the little white dragon's perfunctory replies. Angrily, he coiled his body around the large rock in front of the little white dragon's cave, trying to stop the little white dragon from ignoring and being perfunctory towards him.
"This is very dangerous! I'm going to tell Mom!"
"You mind your own business!"
"You'll be caught by humans!"
"I will not ignore the disappearance of life. I am the river god of this river, and this is my responsibility."
Finally, the little black dragon, unable to convince the rational yet stubborn little white dragon, sighed helplessly and turned to leave.
Time seemed to be passing.
After a while (or so Mo Chuan thought), another splashing sound was heard in the water.
The little white dragon still poked its body out to save someone, only to find that what had fallen was a stone.
Just as the little white dragon was about to leave in confusion, a man's shout came from the bank: "Lord Dragon God, please come out. Thank you for saving my life. I, Guo Dahai, have come specifically to thank you."
The little white dragon was startled by the words. After a brief hesitation and Guo Dahai's urging, it finally extended its upper body above the river's surface.
From Mo Chuan's perspective, Guo Dahai saw the little white dragon as if it were a true deity. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, muttering, "Thank you, Lord Dragon God, for your help. Without you, my worthless life would have ended here!"
As if feeling it wasn't pious enough, Guo Dahai offered some small fish and shrimp, as well as some freshly picked corn and fruits.
The little white dragon symbolically ate the small fish and shrimp, then nodded at Guo Dahai and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, in the shadows, the little black dragon, who had witnessed everything, left the water without a word.
…
Over the next month, the man named Guo Dahai visited several times, each time bringing field vegetables and fruits, and telling the little white dragon about the outside world.
The little white dragon only ate a little each time; it was more interested in learning about the world Guo Dahai described – as the river god, the little white dragon could not leave this river casually.
The little black dragon also grew increasingly intolerant of Guo Dahai's deception of the little white dragon. She had personally witnessed Guo Dahai hiding a harpoon in a place the little white dragon could not see, but whether it was due to insufficient distance or Guo Dahai's own reasons, he had never used it.
The little black dragon told the little white dragon, who was half-believing, half-doubting. She only maintained a greater distance from Guo Dahai but did not sever ties with him.
Until one day…