Mortal Mirror

At this point, trying to open the stone gate was no longer feasible. He looked at the fox and asked, "Can you swim?"

The fox nodded. "Of course. It's not difficult."

Li Ergou said, "Good. We'll go out through this water hole. It leads to the river, and we'll be out soon."

Mei'er didn't hesitate. "Okay, let's go now."

Li Ergou surveyed the cave, and seeing that there was nothing else to take, he didn't hesitate any longer. He took Mei'er and swam into the small pond hole.

At a section of the Bitter Water River, an old fisherman was leisurely fishing on his boat. Suddenly, he felt his fishing line pull sharply downwards. The old fisherman was overjoyed and lifted the line.

Then he cried out, "Oh my god!" and fell onto the boat.

He never dreamed that he would catch two people instead of a fish. But these two people were pale and looked weak and near death.

Li Ergou held onto the fishing line tightly, cursing inwardly, "Damn it!" He never expected that although the pool connected to the river, the journey would be so long.

Swimming and swimming, he couldn't reach the end. If he hadn't practiced the Turtle Breath Technique, he would have died long ago. The fox was even more disoriented from choking on water.

The fisherman, after the initial shock, saw that Li Ergou was wearing a constable's uniform and immediately understood. He helped pull Li Ergou and Mei'er onto the boat, saying, "Officer, what happened to you?"

Li Ergou looked at the fisherman and then at Mei'er, thinking that he couldn't tell him what had just happened.

He could only lie, "Ah, don't mention it. This woman couldn't think straight and jumped into the river. I happened to be passing by and tried to save her, but my swimming skills aren't good. As a result, I almost drowned myself. Thanks to you for saving us."

The fisherman looked at Mei'er's appearance and disapproved in his heart, thinking, 'Saving people? I know what kind of people you constables are. I bet you saw that the woman was pretty and wanted to do something to her. When she refused, you chased her into the river.'

The fisherman concocted a new story in his mind and felt pleased with himself. On the surface, however, he squeezed out an admiring expression and quickly said, "You are truly righteous, officer. I was just doing what anyone would do. Please don't mention it."

Li Ergou thought that the fisherman had good character and felt pleased by the praise. He reached into his pocket and took out a piece of silver, about five taels, and threw it to the fisherman, saying, "I never owe anyone a favor. Take it."

The fisherman thought, 'See? With the nature of these constables, they're giving me money. And they're being so generous. This is definitely hush money. I probably can't refuse, or I might get killed.'

So he could only pretend and forced a smile, saying, "No, no, you mustn't."

But as he spoke, he happily pocketed the silver.

Li Ergou found it amusing, thinking, 'This old man isn't honest.' But he naturally wouldn't say much. Everyone loves money, as long as it's obtained legitimately.

The fisherman happily took Li Ergou and Mei'er ashore, waved goodbye, and then quickly rowed the boat away, afraid that Li Ergou might kill him if he became unhappy. That would be a pointless death, and who would he complain to?

The fisherman rowed the boat to the middle of the river, took out the silver again, and after recovering from the shock, he was overjoyed. But he knew in his heart that only heaven, earth, you, and I knew about this matter. He must not let a third person know, or he would be dead.

He thought for a while, returned home, and decided that if anyone asked, he would say he met a couple doing something they shouldn't be, and they gave him the money to shut him up. Hehe, even though he was old, his mind was as sharp as when he was young. The fisherman felt pleased and rowed away.

Li Ergou put Mei'er on the ground and extended his hand, his index and middle fingers together. Green light emerged from his fingertips, and he tapped Mei'er's forehead with it. The light entered Mei'er's brow.

Mei'er then opened her eyes, her eyes filled with confusion. "Young master, where are we?"

"We're back. You can leave now."

Hearing this, Mei'er's face lit up with joy. She looked around and saw that it was all familiar. She bowed slightly to Li Ergou and said, "Thank you, young master. Mei'er will take her leave now."

Li Ergou nodded. Mei'er didn't think much and quickly left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Li Ergou shook his head slightly, thinking, 'Learn from your mistakes. I must never do this kind of thing again. Fortunately, heaven protected me, or I would have died several times over.'

He didn't hesitate and quickly went to the Ku Shan courtyard.

Fortunately, Shisan and Black Beard were there. The home was as usual. Seeing Li Ergou return, the black cat and black-bearded goat immediately came over, as if asking where he had been.

Li Ergou briefly told the two creatures about his trip, then waved his hand and took out the large snakes from the bronze mirror, throwing them into the courtyard for all the chickens to eat.

The black cat and black-bearded goat were not very interested in the ordinary snake meat.

Li Ergou then waved his hand again, taking out the Snake King and the red Blood Orchid. Because it had become a habit, he immediately copied both items.

At that moment, he began to busy himself, skinning and drawing the tendons of the Snake King. He had to admit that the Snake King's skin and scales were extremely strong. If he made a suit of clothes out of it, it should be able to withstand strong attacks.

Actually, he also wanted to see if the old fox spirit that the Snake King had swallowed was still inside. If she was, he would bury her out of consideration for their acquaintance, so that she could rest in peace.

When he opened it, he was slightly surprised. The Snake King's belly only contained some tattered fur from the old fox. The flesh had been corroded into a viscous liquid.

Seeing this scene, he could only sigh and say, "Old fox, it's not that I'm being inconsiderate, but I can't help you like this."

After all, when the Snake King devoured the old woman, she was in human form, and that scene was clearly visible. So seeing the Snake King's meat, Li Ergou had no desire to eat it at all.

Therefore, after taking the snake skin, he divided the snake meat between the black cat and the black-bearded goat. The two creatures were overjoyed, each taking one and gnawing on it to the side.

There were countless chickens in the courtyard eating the snake meat, especially the third-generation chicks, who were all very energetic.

However, there was one small chicken that looked thin and weak, perhaps sick or something. It didn't go to eat the meat but lay motionless at Li Ergou's feet.

Li Ergou ignored it and took out the Blood Orchid, carefully observing it to see what was different about it.

Just as he was watching, the weak chick on the ground suddenly perked up. Then, taking advantage of Li Ergou's focus, it suddenly leaped up and snatched the Blood Orchid from Li Ergou's hand, swallowing it directly into its stomach.

Li Ergou was annoyed, thinking, 'Are you trying to rebel? You even dare to snatch your master's things. Damn it, if this thing wasn't too small, I would really chop it up and stew it into soup.'

Before Li Ergou could exert his strength, this thing kicked its legs and fell asleep.