At night, Shen Luo sat alone in front of the window of the guest room. There was a dim oil lamp on the table next to the window. There was a purple talisman paper and three green talisman papers on the table.
On the purple talisman paper were the runes of the Broken Armor Talisman, and on the three green frost talismans were the Thunder Talisman. They were all drawn by Shen Luo on the way to Yuzhou.
The Thunder Talisman was still okay. Although the success rate was not high, it consumed the green frost paper. However, the Broken Armor Talisman consumed the more precious Purple Cloud Paper.
Even though Shen Luo had the experience of drawing talismans in his dreams and had practiced thousands of times on white paper and yellow talisman paper, when he really drew it, he still used up all the purple cloud paper that he had bought with his savings before he finally succeeded in drawing this talisman.
He stared at the sky covered by dark clouds outside the window. He could only see a blurry light hidden in the clouds. The sinkhole below was dark and he could not see anything clearly.
According to the travel records, the blue-eyed golden toad was a descendant of the Moon Palace's Jade Toad. It was born with the ability to absorb the moon through the cultivation of the Full Moon. Therefore, it accumulated extremely pure moon essence in its body.
However, this creature was timid and cautious. It hibernated underground all year round. It was difficult for ordinary cultivators to find it.
Only during the rainy season, the sky was covered by dark clouds for a long time. The moonlight could not shine on the ground and the golden toad could not absorb the moon essence. Therefore, it would fall into a dormant period during this period.
When the rainy season was over, there would be a sudden thunder. At that time, the golden toad would wake up again and boldly leave its hiding place. It would expose itself to the moonlight to replenish the moon essence that it had consumed previously.
This was the best time to catch it. If he missed it, he would have to wait for at least another year.
This was one of the important reasons why Shen Luo decided to look for this creature first.
After looking for a moment, Shen Luo put the talisman paper on the table into his sleeve and blew out the oil lamp on the table. He returned to his bed and sat cross-legged to continue his cultivation. Although his cultivation speed was not fast, he could not stop.
…
The next morning, Shen Luo opened the window and looked at the sky covered by dark clouds. He frowned for a moment. Suddenly, he supported himself on the table by the window with one hand and jumped out of the window with a nimble flip. He flew out of the window and landed outside.
Outside his window was the cliff of the sinkhole. There was no place to land, and his body fell directly into the sinkhole.
It wasn't until he had fallen more than ten feet that he grabbed onto a protruding rock with one hand and hung himself on the cliff.
Shen Luo turned around and saw a row of towering ancient trees about a hundred feet away from him.
He then loosened his grip on the stone wall and kicked off the cliff with all his might. His body flipped in a semicircle in the air and silently landed on the top of an ancient tree not far away.
After approaching, he stretched out his arm and grabbed the top of an ancient tree to slightly cushion the fall. Then, he slid nimbly down the branch below. After a few repetitions, he landed steadily on the ground.
After landing, he was not in a hurry to move. Instead, he took out a Mountain Crossing Talisman from his sleeve and shook it around. After seeing that there was nothing wrong with it, he put it back into his arms.
The sinkhole in the morning was quite quiet. In addition to the sound of insects, there was only the rustling sound of the wind passing through the forest.
Shen Luo remembered that the place to catch the Golden Toad was mentioned in the travelogue. It was next to a crescent-shaped lake in the center of the sinkhole. He did not stop and went straight through the dense forest to the center.
Walking in the dense forest, Shen Luo found that the temperature at the bottom of the sinkhole was much lower than outside. There was a thin layer of frost on the branches and leaves beside the road.
He picked a leaf and rubbed it gently. The frost on it immediately melted.
Shen Luo frowned slightly. He threw away the leaf in his hand, put his hands in his sleeves, and walked forward slowly.
His attitude was relaxed. He looked left and right along the way. It seemed that he was really here for sightseeing.
Not long after, he came to the center of the sinkhole and saw the crescent-shaped lake in the distance.
The water of the lake was clear and the color was dark green, reflecting the clouds in the sky.
And beside the lake, there was a familiar figure who was bending down to scoop up a handful of water from the lake and bring it to his mouth to take a sip.
"Brother Ao …" Shen Luo whispered and walked quickly to the man.
"Brother Shen, good morning." Ao Hong, who was standing by the lake, was not surprised at all. He straightened up and greeted Shen Luo with a smile.
But when he looked at Shen Luo, his eyes seemed to have passed him and looked at the dense forest further behind.
Shen Luo noticed something, but still pretended that he did not notice anything.
In fact, when he had picked the leaf earlier, he had already noticed that someone was secretly following him.
He exchanged a few pleasantries with Ao Hong. The two of them walked side by side, chatting as they walked toward the other side of the sinkhole.
The cliff on the other side of the sinkhole was protruding and concave. From a distance, it looked like a naturally formed roof covered in glossy green moss.
Shen Luo looked from afar and saw that there were three ropes hanging down from the cliff. There were three figures hanging from the ropes, and each of them had a large bamboo basket tied to their waists, hanging from the protruding rocks of the cliff.
These three were the Swallow Collectors that Shen Luo had seen in the inn's main hall yesterday. Only the veiled woman was missing.
The three of them landed on the cliff together, adjusting their postures and positions. They skillfully peeled off the sparkling white bird's nests that were shaped like bowls.
Shen Luo and Ao Hong stopped at the foot of the cliff and looked up at the three people's movements.
The short-bearded old man among the three seemed to have sensed something. He looked down at the two people at the foot of the cliff and greeted them with a smile, "The two young masters are so elegant, coming down here to enjoy the scenery so early in the morning."
"Watching you skillfully pick bird's nests is also very pleasing to the eye," Shen Luo said with a smile.
After all, they were not really familiar with each other. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shen Luo and Ao Hong said goodbye and left.
After returning to the inn from the stone stairs on the cliff, Ao Hong went back to his room first. Shen Luo ate breakfast in the main hall before going back.
After returning to his room, Shen Luo sat back at the table. He was about to close the window and start meditating when he suddenly saw a two-finger-wide slip of paper from the corner of his eye.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at the paper. There were eight large words written on it: "Do not covet the Golden Toad. I fear it will harm your life."
Shen Luo raised his eyebrows and showed a hesitant look.
This sentence seemed to be a reminder, but also a threat. He couldn't figure out who had left it.
"Could it be Ao Hong? Today, he saw me going to the Giant Pit to search. He wanted to stop me but couldn't say it clearly. So, he left a letter to warn me? "Shen Luo was puzzled. He shook his head and pondered.
He didn't touch it with his hand. He just waved his hand and the paper flew into the air and was crushed by a stream of water.
"Could it be the masked woman? She should be the one who secretly followed me in the forest, but why did she leave a letter for me? "Shen Luo rubbed his chin and thought again.
After a long time, he couldn't figure out the reason, so he could only give up.
In short, no matter who it was, whether it was a kind persuasion or a malicious warning, he couldn't give up.
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