When the gate was about to open, the first blacker noticed it and laughed loudly.
He lifted a glass of wine and drank from it once, then again. The more he drank, the louder his laughter became.
Gu Yanshu stood inside the chamber and said, "Qu Yaoyang. Lan Wege. Qiu Weiran. He Mulin. Yu Chang. Leave."
The five disciples moved at once.
No one asked why.
They knew the moment had already turned.
They left the chamber and stood outside the doorway, waiting.
The first blacker stayed inside with Gu Yanshu.
The gate had only opened a little.
Then it stopped.
The first blacker looked at the door and smiled wider.
He took another sip of wine and said, "I control this chamber. If I want it to stop, it stops. If I want it to shake, it shakes. If I want it to close, it closes."
He laughed again.
"I won."
Gu Yanshu did not move.
The first blacker lifted his glass again, still grinning.
"This was easy. I never thought you would be this easy."
Then the door opened again.
The second blacker walked in with another glass of wine in his hand.
He sat beside the first blacker and set the new glass down near him.
The two of them focused on drinking while the chamber settled around them.
That was the opening Gu Yanshu needed.
He stepped backward.
The door was still half open.
He slipped through it and closed it carefully behind him.
No loud movement.
No rush.
He returned to the disciples waiting outside.
Qu Yaoyang looked at him first.
"I escaped."
The others looked at him too.
Yu Chang let out a breath.
"We saw you come out."
He Mulin frowned.
"Did they touch you?"
Gu Yanshu shook his head.
"No."
He had barely finished speaking when a huge voice tore through the chamber behind them.
The second blacker was out.
The sound came next like a second impact.
The chamber wall broke open.
The second blacker stepped through with the glass still in his hand.
He did not throw it away.
He smashed the ground with his leg.
The explosion hit the road hard.
Dust flew.
Stone cracked.
The group moved at once.
They dodged the shock line and pulled back from the strike radius.
The second blacker stood there and repeated the same word again.
Then his body expanded.
He grew larger.
Stronger.
Higher.
Seventeen meters tall.
His frame filled the road with a crushing pressure.
This time he did not run from place to place.
He struck the same point again and again.
Each hit pressed the same ground deeper.
Each impact left a heavier mark.
He stayed locked in one zone, hammering the same area with pure force.
Gu Yanshu moved the group out of the town before the second blacker could trap them in the blast radius.
They reached another town later.
The streets there were quieter.
The buildings stood closer together.
Gu Yanshu walked into a shop and bought tea.
The others followed him in silence.
He drank it slowly while they moved again through the town.
Yu Chang looked at the cup in his hand.
"Why did you buy tea?"
Gu Yanshu answered, "For energy."
Yu Chang nodded.
"As you wish, Lord."
They continued walking.
After a while, they left the town and entered the next one.
Gu Yanshu finished the tea.
Then he threw the glass to the ground and walked past it.
The glass did not stay broken.
It regenerated and returned to his shoulder.
He paused.
The object shifted.
When his fingers touched the base of it, he felt something inside.
A dragon.
Not visible at first.
Small.
Half a meter.
His form looked more like a bat than a dragon, with wings on both legs and human-like eyes.
He sat on Gu Yanshu's shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"Who are you?"
The small dragon lifted his chin.
"I do not have the rules to tell that to a stranger."
Gu Yanshu grabbed him and threw him to the ground.
The ground thudded.
The dragon rolled once and then stood up again, smiling.
"That is definitely bullying."
His expression turned sharp.
He kicked at Gu Yanshu with tiny legs, fast and angry, like an ant trying to strike a giant.
Gu Yanshu raised a barrier.
The attack hit it and stopped.
He did not counter.
He only watched.
The little dragon stared at him from the other side of the barrier, then folded his small arms.
"Why did you not hit back?"
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"You are speaking first. That means you want something."
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"You are quick."
Gu Yanshu said nothing.
The dragon looked him over from head to toe, then gave a small sound that was half laugh and half sigh.
"Fine. I will say enough."
The barrier around him stayed in place.
The disciples had already regrouped around Gu Yanshu, watching the tiny creature with varying levels of suspicion.
Qu Yaoyang's eyes stayed fixed on the dragon's wings.
Lan Wege watched his breathing.
Qiu Weiran studied the dragon's mouth and claws.
He Mulin stood ready in case the creature tried to move again.
Yu Chang kept to the side but did not look away.
The dragon noticed all of them.
Then he smiled again.
"Too many eyes."
Gu Yanshu asked, "Why are you on my shoulder?"
The dragon folded one wing against his body.
"I was in the glass."
That answer was too short.
Gu Yanshu kept his tone steady.
"Why were you in the glass?"
The dragon's expression changed a little.
"I was carried."
"By who?"
"By someone who does not need to answer you."
Gu Yanshu's gaze remained flat.
"That answer is useless."
The dragon let out a small laugh.
"It is still an answer."
He Mulin stepped forward half a step.
"Lord, he is trying to test you again."
Gu Yanshu did not take his eyes off the dragon.
"I know."
The dragon's mouth twitched.
"You know a lot."
Gu Yanshu said, "Not enough."
That made the dragon pause.
Then he smiled wider, like he had found what he wanted.
"There. That one."
Qiu Weiran narrowed his eyes.
"What one?"
The dragon looked at Gu Yanshu.
"That line. Not enough."
He lifted one claw and pointed at Gu Yanshu.
"You know the shape of the problem."
Gu Yanshu said, "Then speak in full."
The dragon's wings twitched once.
"Fine."
He looked toward the road ahead, then back at Gu Yanshu.
"I am called the Dragon King."
The disciples shifted at once.
Yu Chang's eyes widened slightly.
Qu Yaoyang's expression sharpened.
Lan Wege remained still, but his attention deepened.
He Mulin watched the dragon more closely now.
Qiu Weiran said nothing.
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"The Dragon King fits a body this small?"
The dragon looked offended.
"This body is not the problem."
He stretched one wing outward.
"It is compressed."
Gu Yanshu nodded once.
"So are you."
The dragon stared at him for a breath.
Then laughed softly.
"You really do not change your words."
Gu Yanshu asked, "Why are you following me?"
The Dragon King lifted his tiny chin and looked straight at him.
"Because the route is moving again."
That stopped the group.
He Mulin's gaze sharpened.
"The route?"
The dragon nodded.
"The lower route. The city route. The one under the streets. It is not finished yet."
Qiu Weiran's expression changed.
"The gate below the city."
"Yes."
The dragon turned one small circle on the ground, then faced them again.
"There is a return point. Something is trying to use it."
Gu Yanshu watched him.
"Who?"
The dragon's answer came slower this time.
"The first blacker is only one part."
Qu Yaoyang's eyes narrowed.
"What else?"
The dragon looked toward the city behind them.
"The one who set the ledger."
The disciples all stayed still.
Gu Yanshu's face remained calm.
"The ledger was set by someone else."
The Dragon King nodded.
"Yes."
"Who?"
The dragon's wings settled closer to his body.
"I do not know the face. I know the trail."
He looked at the tea cup remnants on the ground, then at Gu Yanshu's shoulder where the glass had once sat.
"Something was carried here in a small form, then placed into the chamber. The route reacted."
Yu Chang frowned.
"The glass regenerated for no reason?"
The dragon tilted his head.
"It was not for no reason."
Gu Yanshu stared at him.
"Then why?"
The dragon answered quietly.
"Because you were being watched from the moment you entered the lower city."
That made the air feel tighter.
He Mulin looked toward the road ahead.
"By who?"
The dragon turned his gaze to him.
"By the route itself."
Silence followed.
Qiu Weiran spoke first.
"That can't be all."
The dragon's eyes stayed on him.
"It is all you need for now."
Gu Yanshu asked, "What is below the gate?"
The Dragon King did not answer right away.
He folded his claws against his chest and looked serious for the first time.
"When the gate opens fully, it does not only show a room."
The disciples waited.
"It shows what the city kept under its own memory."
Lan Wege's expression tightened.
"So the lower city is a memory layer."
The dragon gave a small nod.
"Yes."
Gu Yanshu held his gaze.
"And the first blacker?"
The dragon's mouth curved.
"He knows the memory layer is moving."
Yu Chang looked uneasy again.
"Then he is still looking for the same thing."
The Dragon King looked at him.
"Now you understand."
He Mulin looked at Gu Yanshu.
"Lord, this is still the same path."
Gu Yanshu nodded.
"Yes."
He turned to the dragon again.
"You spoke about a return point."
The dragon gave a small sound.
"Yes."
"What returns?"
The dragon stared at him for a second before answering.
"Something that was not meant to stay buried."
The disciples went quiet again.
Qu Yaoyang shifted his stance.
"That sounds like a grave."
The dragon's expression changed slightly.
"A grave does not answer when its name is spoken."
Qiu Weiran's eyes narrowed.
"So the lower route can answer."
"It can."
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"What does it want?"
The dragon looked at him for a long moment.
Then said, "It wants the name that was left unread."
The words settled in the air.
Gu Yanshu's expression did not change.
But the others felt the weight in the room shift.
The unread name.
The ledger page.
The door in the lower chamber.
He Mulin looked at Gu Yanshu.
"The blacker said the page would matter."
Gu Yanshu nodded once.
"Yes."
The dragon took one small step closer.
"Then you should keep moving."
Gu Yanshu asked, "With you?"
The dragon smiled.
"I am already here."
Qu Yaoyuan looked at him.
"You still have not said why."
The dragon's eyes moved over the group again.
Then back to Gu Yanshu.
"Because when the route turns, I want to see whether you keep your footing."
Yu Chang frowned.
"That sounds like a test."
The dragon did not deny it.
"It is."
He Mulin glanced at Gu Yanshu.
"Lord, he is not giving us a full answer."
Gu Yanshu looked at the Dragon King.
"Then give one useful answer."
The dragon's smile sharpened.
"Fine."
He lifted one claw and pointed down the street.
"Follow the lower line of the town. Do not take the upper road. The upper road already has eyes on it."
Lan Wege's gaze sharpened.
"The same bait pattern again."
The dragon nodded.
"Yes."
Qiu Weiran asked, "Who is watching?"
The Dragon King looked at him.
"A mouth that speaks in the wrong chamber."
That answer stopped everyone.
Gu Yanshu looked at the dragon.
"What mouth?"
The dragon did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at the tea cup remains on the ground.
Then at the empty space beside Gu Yanshu.
Then at the shoulder where the glass had once rested.
He spoke very quietly.
"The one that leaves things behind without being seen."
The others felt the silence after that.
Yu Chang glanced around the street.
"The cup… the shoulder… the glass…"
He Mulin looked at the small dragon.
"You are saying the route touched him through the cup."
The Dragon King nodded once.
"Yes."
Gu Yanshu's eyes narrowed.
The cup had regenerated.
Returned to his shoulder.
Held something inside.
Now the dragon had appeared.
That meant the object had been more than a container.
The Dragon King saw the change in Gu Yanshu's expression and smiled again.
"You are thinking properly now."
Gu Yanshu asked, "What was inside the glass?"
The dragon looked up at him.
"A piece of the route."
The disciples all went still.
Qu Yaoyang's voice lowered.
"That was a trap."
The dragon did not answer.
He only looked at Gu Yanshu.
"You threw it away."
Gu Yanshu stayed silent.
The dragon continued, "Then it came back to you."
Yu Chang's face changed.
"So it chose him."
The dragon's small eyes stayed steady.
"Yes."
He Mulin looked toward the street ahead.
"The route is active."
Lan Wege looked at the dragon.
"And it is watching the group."
The dragon nodded.
"Yes."
Gu Yanshu held his gaze.
"Then keep speaking."
The dragon looked at him for a breath.
Then said, "The next chamber will not open for force."
Qu Yaoyuan's expression sharpened.
"What opens it?"
The dragon turned his head toward the city road.
"A name."
The same word returned again.
Not the one from the ledger.
Not the first blacker's trigger.
A different one.
The disciples looked at Gu Yanshu.
He understood the shape of the answer.
The lower route was waiting for a name.
The ledger had one unread.
The gate had one return point.
Now the dragon had added a third thread.
Gu Yanshu looked at the small creature.
"You know what name it is."
The Dragon King smiled without answering.
Then the street behind them made a faint sound.
Not loud.
Just enough for all of them to turn.
Far down the road, near the edge of the next town, a shadow moved once across the wall.
Too fast to see clearly.
The shape was high.
Tall.
Then it was gone.
Yu Chang drew in a short breath.
"What was that?"
No one answered at once.
The Dragon King turned his head slowly toward the road.
Then his face changed.
Just a little.
"Now that is early."
He Mulin's hand moved toward his weapon.
"Who is it?"
The dragon did not answer.
The shadow had already vanished.
The road ahead was empty again.
Gu Yanshu looked toward the same place.
The movement had been seen.
Not enough.
Just enough to matter.
The Dragon King stepped backward once and folded his wings tighter around his body.
"The route is already changing."
Qiu Weiran looked at him sharply.
"Then we move now."
The dragon nodded.
"Yes."
Gu Yanshu looked at the road.
Then at the dragon.
Then at the disciples around him.
The lower city had not finished speaking.
The first blacker was still part of the path.
The unread name still mattered.
And something else had just shown itself far ahead.
He said one word.
"Go."
The group moved forward together.
The Dragon King remained near Gu Yanshu's shoulder, watching the road ahead with narrowed eyes as the tea cup on the ground gave one tiny sound behind them, and inside the broken glass something dark shifted once, like it was still trying to decide whether to stay hidden or follow.While the dragon stood at Gu Yanshu's shoulder, Gu Yanshu saw a finger calling himself, "Hi, I am back everyone, everyone, I am back to make you happy."
No one was there, just three persons looking at each other.
Then, when they heard that noise, they looked with excitement at the finger.
After that sound spread, a large crowd formed, seventy-nine people gathered together.
Then the singer said, "New song, I will call this the tap of all the history. Everything is magnificent. Everything is magnificent. No, no, no. Animals that only the thing what is not magnificent. Every human, every death, everything is created by the world is the world what it is. There was no existence of first. It was going to do such things. There would be no if it did not exist. We could never see how magnificent is this world is. If the world wasn't magnificent, we would still live, still we die. Dying is into magnificent. Sometimes it can cause problems, confusion, and depression. That's why we need to all stay happy. Our main character continues his life."
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"I said, who are you?"
The singer smiled brightly.
"I am the yopop singer."
The crowd started cheering louder.
The clapping grew stronger.
More people gathered around them.
The singer straightened his back and raised one finger.
"The second song. A new song. It's called Ambitions are magnificent. Just achieve it."
His voice became soft and smooth.
"Ambitions are magnificent. How, you may ask? Because ambitions that make you reach for a goal, they are absolute magnificence. You can see if you support justice or evil. If you choose those things, everything should be good. Leah, sometimes people dream about... vision that is still not your goal. Scary, terrifying, everything is terrifying if there is something. Skimmy it. Ah, yes—"
He stopped singing at the same moment his mouth opened for another line.
Gu Yanshu raised his voice.
"He is manipulating you. Come back to your normal form."
The crowd turned angrily toward Gu Yanshu.
Gu Yanshu did not look away.
"If you will beat me, beat me. If you do not understand, let me explain this."
He stepped forward half a pace.
"This guy wants you to be happy. He wants to be the best singer ever because in Area 917 there are bigger singers than him. He wants to be better than them. He wants more people to know him. He wants his name to spread through the whole world like the other singers."
The crowd stayed in place.
Gu Yanshu kept going.
"He is jealous of the other singers. He hates you all, but only because he wants popularity. He sings every day. Every single day. He does not miss even one. He keeps singing at the same time, the same time, again and again. Understand me. He wants to be better than the other singers. He is dangerous."
The singer's smile stiffened.
Gu Yanshu's eyes stayed on the crowd.
"He hates all of you, but he wants to keep you happy so you make him more popular than usual."
The words hit.
The crowd changed.
Their faces hardened.
Then they rushed the singer.
Hands struck him from every side.
Punch after punch.
The singer's voice broke into panic.
"No, it is not, it is not like that. Look here, that is not my reality. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Ah! Ah! Mommy! Daddy! Help me!"
The crowd kept shouting.
"You are not better than other singers."
"You are not better than that."
"You lied to us."
"You used us."
The singer tried to raise his hands and speak again, but every time he opened his mouth, another punch landed.
Gu Yanshu turned away before the crowd could gather around him too tightly.
He walked out of the crush with a calm pace.
The dragon stayed hidden.
Gu Yanshu tucked the small body inside his shirt so the others could not see it from a distance.
The dragon shifted once against his chest.
Then went still.
Gu Yanshu entered the shop.
The shopkeeper looked up.
"Do you have any chicken?"
The shopkeeper nodded.
"Sure. I have two chickens, but I will not kill them here. I do not have a knife yet. I have a hammer, but that would ruin the meat. So sure, that will be seventy-five money."
Gu Yanshu paid.
The shopkeeper handed over the chickens.
Gu Yanshu took them and moved back outside.
The weakest disciple looked at the two birds and then at Gu Yanshu.
"Why did you buy two chickens?"
Gu Yanshu held the chickens carefully.
"You know, these chickens, white hens, white hens on their hand and everything, are stronger than beast materials in some ways. Do not forget, we are making a sect. When I was three, my stuff was destroyed. And you see the white-white things on their bodies. That is called feathers. If they are combined with beast materials, our stuff will become even stronger. It cannot be damaged so easily."
He looked at the birds again.
"We need feathers from these chickens."
The weakest disciple stayed quiet.
Gu Yanshu continued, "We need a private place to kill them because chicken killing in this town is like a crime. That is why the shopkeeper said he does not have a knife, but he has a hammer, and he does not want to reuse it. He saw a knife once. Then he started calculating. Then he finally had an idea, and that was crime. So he cannot kill them here."
He shifted the chickens in his hand.
"I need to take them to a private place. Maybe I need to buy a house and kill those chickens in it. Or we will go to another town, but I do not know which direction is another town."
He walked slowly.
"I have to somehow kill those chickens. And these chickens are very rare in the east. It is almost impossible to find chickens, even in forest. We are right now in the east, and in the west it is much easier to find chickens. Also in the west it is easy to find more animals and wild animals like those, but in the east it is hard. It is almost impossible to find animals here. We will find a lot of wolves in the east, but we will not find even one wolf on the west. That guy might find a chicken in the east, or he might travel, or he was born in the west and came to the east with those two chickens."
The weakest disciple nodded.
"As you wish, Lord."
The crowd behind them still shouted and pushed the singer around.
His voice had already lost its smooth shape.
Gu Yanshu did not look back.
He only kept walking with the chickens and the hidden dragon, while the disciples followed him through the town streets toward a quieter place.
The dragon inside his shirt shifted and spoke in a low voice.
"You made them angry fast."
Gu Yanshu replied, "He made it easy."
The dragon gave a small hum.
"That singer was weak."
Gu Yanshu walked on.
"He was loud."
"That is also weak."
Gu Yanshu did not answer.
He kept moving through the town.
The road ahead opened into a narrower lane, then widened again near a row of closed buildings.
He Mulin looked at the chickens in Gu Yanshu's arms.
"We still need a place to handle them."
Gu Yanshu nodded.
"Yes."
Qiu Weiran looked at the surroundings.
"This town has too many eyes."
Lan Wege followed the rooftops with his gaze.
"Then we leave before the eyes become trouble."
Yu Chang looked at the chickens and then at the dragon inside Gu Yanshu's shirt.
"That thing still has not shown his name."
The dragon's voice came out through the cloth.
"I am still thinking about whether I should tell you."
Qu Yaoyang glanced at Gu Yanshu.
"He talks too much for a small creature."
The dragon replied at once.
"You talk too much for a large one."
Qu Yaoyang stayed silent.
Gu Yanshu kept walking.
The streets quieted again as they left the louder center of the town behind.
A few people looked in their direction, then turned away.
No one came close.
No one stopped them.
The chickens stayed quiet in Gu Yanshu's hands.
The hidden dragon stayed still inside his shirt.
The group moved out of the town and reached the road leading onward.
The route stretched farther east.
The ground was flatter here.
The wind moved more freely.
Gu Yanshu looked ahead once, then at the others.
"We do not stop until we find a place that can hold them."
He Mulin nodded.
"As you wish."
The weakest disciple walked a step behind the others, then looked up at Gu Yanshu again.
"The singer was strange."
Gu Yanshu answered, "Yes."
The weakest disciple frowned.
"He made a crowd that fast."
"Yes."
"That means his voice was affecting them."
"Yes."
The weakest disciple looked ahead.
"Then your explanation was correct."
Gu Yanshu said nothing for a moment.
Then replied, "He wanted popularity. That was enough. People like that always show the same shape."
The dragon moved slightly under the shirt.
"You talk about singers the same way you talk about chambers."
Gu Yanshu replied, "They both want attention."
The dragon gave a faint sound that could have been amusement.
"That is a very dry way to speak."
Gu Yanshu kept walking.
"It is accurate."
The dragon stayed quiet after that.
The road carried them farther from the town and into a quieter stretch where the buildings spread apart.
A small house stood on the side of the road, half empty, with no one near it.
Gu Yanshu stopped and looked at it.
He Mulin noticed first.
"That place is vacant."
Qiu Weiran looked around the line of homes.
"No one is watching it closely."
Lan Wege checked the windows and the roofline.
"It is isolated enough."
Yu Chang stepped closer.
"Is this where we do it?"
Gu Yanshu looked at the house.
"No. Not yet."
The weakest disciple blinked.
"We still need another place?"
Gu Yanshu looked at the chickens.
"Not a place. A better place."
He moved on.
The group followed again.
The dragon shifted under his shirt.
"You are fussy."
Gu Yanshu answered, "I am careful."
The dragon stayed quiet.
The road curved slightly and led them toward a low rise beyond the town edge.
The air there felt cleaner.
Fewer people.
Fewer buildings.
More open ground.
Gu Yanshu stopped near a line of old trees.
This area had no shopkeepers nearby, no crowd, no singer, no one watching from the windows.
That was enough.
He Mulin looked around once.
"This is better."
Qiu Weiran nodded.
"It is."
Lan Wege scanned the ground.
"No one nearby."
Yu Chang looked relieved.
"Then we can finally stop."
Gu Yanshu looked at the chickens.
Then at the open ground.
"Yes."
The dragon inside his shirt moved again.
"Now what?"
Gu Yanshu lowered the chickens carefully to the ground beside him.
Then reached into his shirt and pulled the small dragon out.
The dragon stood on his palm and looked around.
"Better."
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"Now you can speak."
The dragon lifted his chin.
"I already did."
"You can say your name."
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"Still no."
Gu Yanshu waited.
The dragon looked at the others.
Then at the chickens.
Then back at Gu Yanshu.
After a moment he gave a short breath.
"You are very stubborn."
Gu Yanshu answered, "So are you."
The dragon's expression changed slightly.
Then he spoke in a lower voice.
"You can call me what you want for now."
Yu Chang looked surprised.
"That is not a name."
The dragon turned toward him.
"It is enough for now."
He Mulin watched the little creature more closely.
"You really came out of a glass."
The dragon stretched one wing a little.
"Yes."
Qu Yaoyang asked, "Why were you in it?"
The dragon looked toward the road they had come from.
"Because someone put me there."
Qiu Weiran's eyes sharpened.
"Who?"
The dragon gave a small smile.
"Now you are asking the right question."
Gu Yanshu looked at him.
"Then answer."
The dragon stayed still for a beat.
Then said, "Later."
The others all turned toward him.
But the dragon only looked at the chickens again.
"Right now, you bought food."
Gu Yanshu said, "Yes."
The dragon gave one small nod.
"That is more interesting than my name at the moment."
Gu Yanshu looked at the open ground.
He had work to do.
The chickens needed to be handled.
The feathers needed to be taken.
The sect materials needed to be built.
The route ahead still had problems.
The lower city still had a gate.
The singer had been exposed.
The first blacker had moved under the city.
The second blacker still existed somewhere beyond that.
And the dragon had already begun to speak like a piece of the route itself.
Gu Yanshu crouched beside the chickens and began preparing them for what came next, while the small dragon stood on his palm and watched him with bright human-like eyes, and somewhere far behind the road they had left, the crowd's shouting from the singer still seemed to hang in the air for a second before fading completely.The dragon's laugh stopped halfway.
He stayed there for a breath, then looked away with a stiff face.
Gu Yanshu watched him.
The small dragon had already said too much.
He had also tried to pull his words back too fast.
The dragon cleared his throat.
"I mean nothing, right? I didn't say anything."
He Mulin looked at him for a second longer.
The dragon's eyes moved back and forth.
That made the group even more certain that he knew something.
Gu Yanshu did not press him again.
He only looked at the dragon for a moment, then turned toward the road ahead.
"Keep moving."
The others followed.
The abandoned place was behind them now.
The feathers had already been taken.
The chickens were no longer in danger.
The dragon stayed hidden again, but he did not sound relaxed.
After a while, the group reached another town.
People there were walking, talking, and laughing in the streets.
The road looked normal.
The shops were open.
The air held food smell, dust smell, and the sound of daily life.
Gu Yanshu walked through it without slowing.
He looked at the people once, then kept going.
The others followed in silence.
Yu Chang glanced around the town and whispered, "It feels normal."
Gu Yanshu answered, "That is why we keep moving."
The dragon stayed quiet under his shirt.
His body had settled again.
Then the town changed.
A shape moved near the street ahead.
Large.
Slow.
Wrong.
A zombie walked across the road nearby.
It was not fully hidden.
It was not fully open either.
Its movement was stiff enough that anyone with a sharp eye would notice it.
But the people around it still acted like nothing was wrong.
Gu Yanshu looked at it once.
Then he kept walking.
He Mulin's eyes sharpened.
"That thing."
Qiu Weiran looked at the zombie shape.
"It is moving badly."
Lan Wege kept his voice low.
"Do we stop?"
Gu Yanshu answered, "No."
Yu Chang looked nervous.
"You do not think it exists?"
Gu Yanshu did not answer right away.
He had already seen enough strange things in Area 917 and below to know one thing.
If he looked at every unfamiliar shape as danger, he would waste too much time.
He had learned from the library.
He had read about wars, rulers, and old power lines.
He had seen how the upper men and the men of power were described.
But he had not seen a book that clearly spoke about zombies in the world.
That was the problem.
If something had no record, then the record around it became more important.
He looked at the zombie again only long enough to memorize the smell.
That same smell had already been near him once.
The dragon spoke from under his shirt.
"What are you thinking?"
Gu Yanshu answered, "The smell is the same."
"The same as what?"
Gu Yanshu kept walking.
"The zombie smell."
The dragon went still.
Then he asked, "Which zombie?"
Gu Yanshu paused a little.
The dragon had been sleeping earlier.
He had not seen the first one.
That meant the dragon could not connect the smell by memory.
He was asking from a blank place.
Gu Yanshu repeated, "The smell that came earlier. It was the same."
The dragon went quiet for a second.
Then he looked troubled.
His small claws tightened against the cloth.
"You are hiding something."
Gu Yanshu answered, "You were sleeping during that time."
The dragon's expression changed.
Then he forced a laugh that came out stiff and broken.
"Hehehe… Ahaha… Ohhaha… Ahaha."
He glanced away.
"I mean nothing, right? Uh, I didn't say anything."
Gu Yanshu watched him.
The dragon had already reacted too strongly.
He Mulin noticed it too.
"This little one knows something."
The dragon snapped his head toward him.
"I know many things."
Qu Yaoyang asked, "Then why are you acting like that?"
The dragon's wings shifted once under the cloth.
"Because I do not like when people ask questions I cannot answer."
Gu Yanshu's voice stayed calm.
"Then answer the one you can."
The dragon looked at him.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he lowered his voice.
"The smell is bad."
Yu Chang blinked.
"That is all?"
The dragon looked offended.
"That is already a lot."
Gu Yanshu kept his eyes on the road ahead.
The zombie smell had returned.
That meant something nearby was tied to the same source.
He had no reason to ignore it now.
The zombie moved farther down the street.
A few people walked past it without stopping.
One woman carried vegetables.
Two men were talking about prices.
Nobody reacted in time.
That made the scene worse.
The zombie was visible.
The town still behaved as if it was ordinary.
Gu Yanshu looked at the creature's movement again.
The shoulders were rigid.
The neck bent in an unnatural angle.
The body did not move like a living person.
It moved like a shape being carried by a command.
He said quietly, "Stay behind me."
The disciples spread out a little.
No one argued.
The dragon stayed silent under the shirt now.
His small body had gone very still.
The zombie turned its head once.
Then stopped.
Gu Yanshu watched it.
The smell returned stronger now.
He knew it.
Cold.
Dead.
The same smell.
The zombie took one step closer.
Then another.
He Mulin's hand moved toward his weapon.
"This is not normal."
Qiu Weiran nodded.
"It is being driven."
Lan Wege kept watching the rooftops and street corners.
"There may be more."
Yu Chang swallowed.
"I hate this smell."
The dragon spoke quietly from under the cloth.
"Then do not let it touch you."
Gu Yanshu nodded once.
The zombie stopped again.
Its mouth opened slightly.
Then its jaw shifted in a slow crackling motion.
The smell thickened for a second.
Gu Yanshu did not move back.
He only looked at the body more closely.
The skin was pale.
The movement was flat.
The eyes looked empty.
Yet the figure still stood.
Still moved.
The dragon in his shirt whispered, "That thing should not be walking."
Gu Yanshu answered, "I know."
The zombie's head turned slightly, as if listening to something far away.
Then it said, in a broken voice, "Return."
The group froze.
Qu Yaoyang's expression tightened.
"It speaks."
The dragon's body stiffened hard.
That reaction was enough to catch Gu Yanshu's attention.
He looked down slightly.
"You know this voice."
The dragon did not answer at once.
His face had gone pale.
Then he muttered, "That is wrong."
Gu Yanshu asked, "What is wrong?"
The dragon stared at the zombie.
Then said, "That voice does not belong to the body."
He Mulin's eyes sharpened.
"So something else is controlling it."
The dragon gave a short nod.
"Yes."
Qiu Weiran looked toward Gu Yanshu.
"Lord, this is the same kind of thing as before."
Gu Yanshu nodded.
"Yes."
The zombie took another step.
Its fingers curled once.
The movement looked stiff, but it carried enough force to hurt if it reached them.
Gu Yanshu drew his sword.
The blade came out clean.
The town around them kept moving, but the space around the group had tightened.
The zombie moved forward.
Gu Yanshu struck it aside with one direct cut.
The body twisted, then jerked back.
He Mulin moved to the left side.
Lan Wege cut off the right.
Qiu Weiran stayed ready behind them.
Yu Chang watched the back line.
Qu Yaoyang guarded the center.
The zombie's body shuddered once.
Then rose again.
The smell spread out for a second.
The dragon flinched.
"That is worse than before."
Gu Yanshu answered, "Yes."
The zombie bent at the waist, then lunged with broken speed.
Gu Yanshu stepped aside and cut low.
The strike hit.
The body staggered, but it did not drop.
The dragon whispered, "Do not let it grab you."
Gu Yanshu nodded slightly.
The zombie turned its head.
Then spoke again.
"Return the name."
That line stopped the group for a moment.
Qiu Weiran looked at Gu Yanshu.
"It is tied to the lower gate."
Gu Yanshu's face stayed steady.
"Yes."
He looked at the zombie body.
Now he knew this was no random dead body wandering through the town.
It was part of the same path.
The lower gate.
The unread name.
The route.
The smell.
Everything had started folding together again.
The zombie body lunged once more.
Gu Yanshu blocked it.
The impact ran through the sword and into his arm.
Not enough to shake him.
Enough to show that the body still carried weight.
The dragon suddenly spoke, very fast.
"I know that smell."
Gu Yanshu glanced down at him.
"You do?"
The dragon swallowed once.
"Yes. I smelled it before I was in the glass."
The group went quiet.
Yu Chang looked from the zombie to the dragon.
"So the dragon and the zombie are connected."
The dragon did not deny it.
He only kept staring at the body.
His tiny claws had gone tight again.
He Mulin asked, "What does that mean?"
The dragon answered in a low voice.
"It means something under the city has already moved farther than I thought."
Gu Yanshu kept his sword raised.
The zombie body gave a slow twist at the neck.
Then it smiled.
The smile looked wrong on that face.
The lips stretched too far.
The eyes stayed empty.
Gu Yanshu's gaze sharpened.
This was the same kind of wrongness he had felt in the corpse body earlier.
The zombie spoke again, voice cracked and dry.
"Have you seen the route?"
No one answered.
The town around them stayed normal.
People still passed.
No one looked in their direction.
That was the worst part.
Gu Yanshu looked at the body and said, "Who sent you?"
The zombie smiled again.
Then answered with one word.
"Under."
He Mulin's eyes narrowed.
"Under the town again."
Qiu Weiran nodded slowly.
"This keeps pointing downward."
Lan Wege kept his eyes moving across the street.
"There may be a hidden route here too."
The dragon's face had turned more serious now.
"This smell is not natural."
Gu Yanshu looked down at him.
"I know."
The dragon stayed still for a moment.
Then he spoke in a quieter voice.
"That thing smells like the route below."
Gu Yanshu's eyes sharpened.
The route below.
The gate.
The unread name.
The zombie smell.
The dragon's reaction.
The pieces were already starting to line up.
The zombie body moved again.
This time it came from the side.
Gu Yanshu turned with it and slashed low.
The body stumbled back, then jerked forward with the same broken motion.
He Mulin muttered, "It keeps moving after being struck."
Qiu Weiran answered, "Something is pushing it."
Gu Yanshu did not argue.
He could see it too.
The zombie body stopped for one breath.
Then it said again, "Bring the name."
The dragon went rigid in the shirt.
Gu Yanshu noticed.
"You know that word too."
The dragon did not answer immediately.
His face looked tense.
Then he finally said, "I heard something before. A smell. A gate. Movement. I did not know what it meant then."
Yu Chang looked uneasy.
"So the dragon is tied to this before he even met us."
The dragon gave no denial.
That told them enough.
The zombie body lunged again.
Gu Yanshu cut it down and forced the group to step back a little farther down the street.
The creature did not fall.
It only twisted in a broken way and kept moving.
Then the dragon suddenly said, "Wait."
Gu Yanshu did not lower the sword.
"What is it?"
The dragon stared at the zombie.
"I remember the smell now."
Qiu Weiran's expression changed.
"Remember what?"
The dragon's face grew darker.
"A place. Or something like a place. I smelled this before I was in the glass."
The group went still.
He Mulin looked at the dragon.
"So this body and you are connected."
The dragon looked away.
Then nodded once.
Gu Yanshu stared at him for a second.
The smell in the town.
The lower route.
The gate.
The glass.
The dragon.
The corpse body.
The zombie.
Everything was starting to form one chain.
The zombie spoke again, low and broken.
"Return…"
Gu Yanshu looked at it.
Then looked at the dragon.
Then said, "Keep moving."
The group started forward again, passing the zombie body carefully.
The smell stayed behind them for a little while, then thinned.
The dragon remained silent for several breaths.
Then spoke in a much smaller voice.
"You are still not asking the right question."
Gu Yanshu glanced at him.
"Which one is the right one?"
The dragon looked ahead.
"Who placed the smell here."
That made Gu Yanshu stop for a moment.
The others looked at him.
He did not answer at once.
Because that answer could sit under the town, under the route, under the gate, or under the book page with his name on it.
That meant the smell was not the start.
It was the sign.
He looked forward again.
Then said, "Keep moving."
The dragon stayed silent.
The group moved on.
The town remained calm behind them.
Then, far down the road ahead, a shadow crossed the side of a wall for one brief moment before disappearing, and the dragon on Gu Yanshu's shoulder lifted his head so fast that even the smallest movement in the cloth could be felt.