The voice from outside the door made Young Master Liu's heart clench. Judging by the tone, it had to be an old man.

He quickly stood up and shouted into the house, "Dad! Get up quick! There's a thief in the house!"

He could only rely on his father for help now, but after shouting for a long time, no one emerged.

At that moment, a burst of wild laughter erupted from outside: "Hahahaha, stop shouting! Little fellow, I've cast a nightmare spell on the whole village. Even if you scream until your throat splits, they won't wake up!"

As soon as the voice faded, a figure leaped over the doorway from outside and bounded into the room. Young Master Liu admired the man's ability and observed him covertly.

He appeared to be about the same age as Zhang Enpu, wearing an old-fashioned hat and a long black robe, with a pair of sharp eyes fixed on him.

"Hmph hmph, I never expected my Yin Coffin technique to be seen through by a child, and you just destroyed the ghost I was raising. Hmph hmph, you little spirit have some talent!"

With that, he began to walk toward Young Master Liu.

Young Master Liu backed away while thinking—so this old man before him was the Daoist who tampered with Qian Qing's father's grave. "You're so old, and you still resort to bullying the young!"

Though he spoke those words, his mind was racing to devise a plan.

"You are no ordinary child. To wield the Daoist Heart Method with such proficiency, you must have put in considerable effort. Heh heh!" The old man did not slow his pace.

Young Master Liu quickly turned and darted into the house, ran to the back room, opened the window, and jumped out, fleeing quickly outdoors.

He didn't know where to go; he only knew that delaying was delaying. Young Master Liu ran until he was tired, bent over, and gasped for breath, realizing he had run all the way to the edge of the village.

"Just running like that? Truly shameful!" Hearing the voice behind him, Young Master Liu knew the run had been pointless.

It seemed the only option was to fight him. Young Master Liu gritted his teeth, did not look back, merely squatted down, picked up a small stone, grasped it in his left hand, bit his left middle finger until it bled, and quickly drew a talisman on his right palm. He placed the stone onto the talisman, formed a hand seal with his left hand, and softly chanted, "Borrowing the might of Mount Tai, attacking the essence and dispelling the soul. General Stone, strike!" Then he threw the stone at the old man.

The old man merely waved his hand and flicked the stone aside. Then he smiled faintly and said, "Your control over the Five Elements technique still lacks force. Hmph hmph, in that case, let this humble Daoist exchange techniques with you!"

He suddenly moved his feet beneath him and waved his hand, sending a palm wind toward Young Master Liu. Young Master Liu felt a crushing pressure against his face. He hurriedly crossed his hands, recited an incantation, deflected the palm, and guided it sideways. With a loud "Bang," a cloud of dust erupted from the ground nearby.

Having just deflected that palm, the old man gave Young Master Liu no chance to catch his breath. He suddenly made several strange hand seals, stepped back with his right leg, and struck out with three successive palms.

Young Master Liu closed his eyes to observe the qi. He saw three blades flying toward him. Young Master Liu hastily attacked left and right, using the move he just employed to deflect two streams of blade energy. For the remaining stream, which he couldn't block with his hands, he had no choice but to fall backward. He felt a gust sweep over his head. Touching his head, he found that his fringe hair had been severed.

He thought that if he hadn't dodged this one, he really would have met his end here. Young Master Liu scrambled up and looked at the old man again.

The old man seemed to freeze for a moment, stammering slightly, "Transference... Art! Little ghost! You are one of the Heavenly Master Sect people!"

Hearing him mention the Heavenly Master Sect lineage, Young Master Liu's mind turned. He scoffed, "That's my master! I was just bait to lure you out, and then my master will eliminate you, hmph! Are you scared now?"

After that, Young Master Liu deliberately shouted Zhang Enpu's name a few more times, sneaking glances at the old man's reaction.

The old man truly seemed frightened, retreating a few steps. He looked around, then back at Young Master Liu, appearing uncertain. "Hmph, little ghost, don't try to trick me. If my senior brother were truly here, would he let me beat you like this?"

Young Master Liu smiled, sat up, and crossed his legs on the ground, but inwardly he was utterly shocked. Was this old man Zhang Enpu's junior brother? What exactly was going on?

Young Master Liu closed his eyes to meditate, feigning composure while feeling deeply uncertain. He could only buy time.

Young Master Liu slightly opened his eyes to look at the old man. Indeed, the old man was no longer advancing but pacing in the distance.

Just then, the old man seemed to make a decision, muttered something, and casually tossed something toward Young Master Liu. A long sword flew toward him, pointing directly at his chest. Young Master Liu inwardly cried, "It's over!" and closed his eyes, preparing to receive the strike.

But he only felt a gust sweep past. When he opened his eyes again, a person stood before him, clad in gray, very familiar, yet he couldn't recall who immediately.

This person stood with his back to Young Master Liu, facing the old man, and caught the incoming sword. With a sharp "Crack," he snapped the sword in half horizontally.

The old man laughed and said, "Oh! So you've invited a guardian spirit to protect the house. This humble Daoist must take offense then!"

Hearing the old man say that, Young Master Liu took another look at the person before him—long hair, a gray robe. Young Master Liu jolted. Wasn't this the Earth Immortal that Zhang Enpu worshipped?

Could this be the guardian spirit manifesting?

At this, the old man suddenly closed his eyes, chanted for a while, pointed both hands toward Young Master Liu, and a beam of blue light shot out. The guardian spirit before Young Master Liu moved, blocking the blue light. Then, it crouched low, transforming into a long, massive snake that slithered toward the old man.

Seeing the guardian spirit turn into a snake creeping toward him, the old man pulled out a paper-cut object from his person. He tossed the paper-cut onto the ground, and it suddenly transformed into a large bird. With flapping wings, it lunged to peck the snake formed by the guardian spirit. At that moment, the snake seemed afraid, turned slightly, and vanished.

Seeing this, the old man laughed heartily: "Hahahaha! Now, even the gods cannot save you! Give me your life!"

The old man roared, and the great bird swooped down toward Young Master Liu. This bird was taller than Young Master Liu; one peck from it would mean doom. He quickly raised his hands to guard his head and crawled backward, only feeling the great bird pecking at his clothes. Young Master Liu was pinned down and unable to move.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard, like the cry of some wild beast.

Young Master Liu looked up and saw a tiger sprinting toward him from afar at the village entrance, roaring as it ran. There was something white on the tiger's back. Young Master Liu looked closely and recognized Old Master Huang. The great bird on the ground seemed to fear it, retreating from Young Master Liu.

By now, the tiger had rushed to Young Master Liu's side. Old Master Huang jumped down from the tiger's back. Young Master Liu picked up Old Master Huang and happily said, "Second Master, you came to save Young Master! Young Master was being bullied by a bad person—that old demon over there!" As he spoke, Young Master Liu pointed at the old man.

Old Master Huang circled the spot once, and the tiger pounced on the great bird, tearing it apart in a few bites. The great bird turned into several pieces of shredded paper fluttering to the ground. At that moment, the old man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered backward, clearly injured.

The tiger seized the opportunity and pounced, pinning the old man to the ground and tearing at him. After gnawing for a while, it stopped. Young Master Liu thought that even if the old man didn't die, he would be crippled.

When the tiger stepped away, Young Master Liu cautiously approached and peered down. On the ground, there was only a hat and a black long robe; the old man had vanished.

Young Master Liu was puzzled when he heard the old man's voice float down from the sky: "Little ghost, you were lucky today to have the protection of this hundred-year Yellow Great Immortal, narrowly escaping. The next time we meet, you won't be so fortunate! Tell Zhang Enpu, Ma Chun from the Qingwei Sect has paid a visit! Hahahaha!"

After a burst of wild laughter, the voice disappeared.

Young Master Liu sat on the ground, utterly exhausted after all that turmoil. He looked at Old Master Huang, who was standing and looking at him. Young Master Liu stroked its small body and said, "Second Master, thank you. If you hadn't saved me, that old demon would have killed me!"

Young Master Liu stroked Old Master Huang's little head, but the way it looked suggested it had something to say. It wiggled its body and ran backward.

Young Master Liu quickly got up and followed. It was heading toward Zhang Enpu's house.

At the doorway, it glanced at Young Master Liu, darted up the wall a few times, and slipped into the courtyard. But Young Master Liu couldn't climb up; he could only wait outside.

After a while, Old Master Huang crawled out from inside and ran to Young Master Liu, something dangling from its mouth. Young Master Liu saw that it was the purple bead he had placed on the windowsill.

Dawn was just breaking, and the purple bead emitted a faint purple glow. Old Master Huang held the bead in its mouth, shook its little head forcefully, and flung it. The bead shot out with a "whoosh" and shattered against the wall.

Young Master Liu lamented, "Oh! Second Master, what are you doing?"

But it ignored him, fumbling around in the fragments for a moment. Then, as if it had found something, it picked up a small object with its two little paws and walked over to Young Master Liu.

Young Master Liu reached out and took it. It was a small, white, slightly transparent sphere, like a medicinal pill. Old Master Huang looked at Young Master Liu, who said, "This... Second Master wants me to eat this little pill?"

Old Master Huang spun in place a few times and wagged its tail, indicating that Young Master Liu was correct. Young Master Liu hesitated with the small pill in his hand, then looked at Old Master Huang, and finally popped the little pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

The moment the pill touched his mouth, it seemed to dissolve, turning into liquid that Young Master Liu swallowed.

After a moment, Young Master Liu noticed nothing different.

Then, a voice suddenly reached his ears, "Young Master..."

Young Master Liu looked around. Besides himself and Old Master Huang on the ground, there was no one else. Could he have misheard?

Just as Young Master Liu was feeling doubtful, another voice sounded, "Young Master..."

This time, Young Master Liu heard it clearly—the voice of a young man, and it seemed to be right around him.

Young Master Liu looked around again; there was absolutely no one. He looked down at the ground; only Old Master Huang was staring intently at him. Who else could be calling him? Could it be...?

"That's right, it's Young Master calling you."

Young Master Liu exclaimed in surprise, "Old Master Huang... You... you can talk?"

Old Master Huang on the ground just looked at Young Master Liu, its mouth remaining still, yet the voice sounded again:

"It's not that I can talk; it's that you can now hear me speak."

Young Master Liu was both shocked and delighted, unsure what to say.

He heard Old Master Huang continue, "What you just ate was the Profound Birth Pill (Xuanpin Dan). From now on, you will be able to understand the language of all things. Anything with life, you will understand what it says. Moreover, you will become proficient in the Esoteric Arts (Qimen)!"

Young Master Liu asked, puzzled, "What are the Esoteric Arts?"

Old Master Huang wiggled its body and said, "We'll put that aside for now. Young Master, do you know who that old Daoist was just now?"

Young Master Liu thought for a moment and said, "Judging by what that old demon said, he seemed to be some sort of junior brother of my master. But why would he try to kill me?"

Old Master Huang wiggled its small body and said, "That old Daoist is a sorcerer of the Qingwei Sect. He cast a nightmare spell on everyone in your village. If it isn't broken, they will never wake up."

Hearing Old Master Huang say that, Young Master Liu finally remembered that during the fight with the old demon, he had mentioned casting a nightmare spell on the whole village, which is why no one would wake up, no matter how much he shouted.

Young Master Liu anxiously asked, "Old Master Huang, what should we do? Is there no way to break it?"

Old Master Huang said, "All spells can be broken; don't worry. Do as I say. There is still some time before dawn. You must go to the well at the head of the village before the rooster crows. There is a thousand-year-old turtle in that well. Stand by the well and shout into it: 'Old Master Huang calls you up!' Shout it several times. If it doesn't come up, drain the well dry. It will be frightened and climb out. Once you get the thousand-year-old turtle out, quickly flip it over so its belly faces upward; then it can't escape. Afterward, tap its shell three times on the belly. A small-scale rain will fall over the village, and as soon as this rain falls, the villagers will wake up, and the nightmare spell will be broken!"

Young Master Liu silently memorized what Old Master Huang said. Just as he was about to leave, he heard it say that after finishing everything, he should meet it in the small woods. Young Master Liu agreed and then ran toward the head of the village.

Arriving at the well by the village entrance, Young Master Liu didn't stop to rest. He rushed to the well edge and shouted repeatedly, "Old Master Huang calls you up! Old Master Huang calls you up! Old Master Huang calls you up!"

Young Master Liu shouted three times in a row, but there was no movement. The dark well only echoed his voice.

Seeing that the thousand-year-old turtle really wasn't coming up, Young Master Liu tried to scare it: "Old Master Huang calls you, and you dare not come up! See Old Master Huang cast a spell to drain this well dry! I'll let you die of thirst!"

But after a long time, the thousand-year-old turtle still didn't emerge, not even a sound. Young Master Liu, thinking quickly, moved a large stone from nearby and placed it on the well curb. He shouted into the well, "You old thousand-year-old turtle! Old Master Huang calls you up, and you refuse! Old Master Huang is casting its spell!"

Saying that, he violently pushed the large stone down. With a loud "Plop," water splashed up from the well. The stone must have hit hard. At that moment, a muffled cough sounded from inside the well.

Then an old man's voice was heard: "Oh! Second Master, have mercy! I'm coming up now!"

Young Master Liu felt a surge of secret joy and quickly continued, "Hmph! It's good that you know your place. Hurry up and come out!"

At that, a loud splashing sound erupted from the water, as if someone was swimming inside. Young Master Liu stood by the well edge, trembling slightly with excitement.

After a moment, a grayish little head poked out from the well opening.

Young Master Liu saw it was the head of the thousand-year-old turtle. Its two grayish eyes peered outside the well, and more than half of its body climbed out. Its shell was truly massive, like a large washbasin, but it didn't seem clumsy at all, as its speed climbing forward was quite fast. With its dull gray eyes, it looked around, then asked Young Master Liu, "Where is Old Master Huang?"

Young Master Liu said, "Old Master Huang asked me to check on you."

With that, he leaped and sprang to the side of the thousand-year-old turtle.

The thousand-year-old turtle seemed to realize it had been tricked and quickly started to crawl back, but Young Master Liu had already gripped it tightly. The turtle's strength was immense, almost tearing his hand loose. Young Master Liu used the momentum to flip it over.

It lay on the ground, unable to move, and began to plead with Young Master Liu, "Oh! Little celestial being, let my old turtle go! Oh! I have no feud with you!"

Young Master Liu said to the thousand-year-old turtle, "Old turtle, please forgive me; I just need to use your belly for a moment."

With that, Young Master Liu tapped its belly shell three times. As soon as he finished tapping, he felt something fall from the sky, landing on his face. He reached up to touch it—it was water. It really was raining.

Young Master Liu turned the thousand-year-old turtle over, thanked it, and hurried back toward the village.

He heard the old turtle behind him say, "If you just said you wanted rain, you scared my old shell half to death!"

Young Master Liu ran into the village, facing the first spring rain—the rain he had summoned himself. He didn't care that the rain drenched him from head to toe; he was simply overjoyed, happy not only that he could awaken the villagers but also about the ability he gained after eating the Profound Birth Pill—understanding the language of animals.

When Young Master Liu reached the village, the rooster was just crowing. He didn't go home but ran straight to the small woods, because Old Master Huang had told him to go there after summoning the rain.

Arriving at the small woods, Young Master Liu ran to the tree hollow, but Old Master Huang was nowhere to be seen. Young Master Liu shouted, "Old Master Huang! Old Master Huang! Come out! Young Master is here!"

After shouting for a long time, he heard Old Master Huang say, "Such speed. You summoned the rain; you didn't make things difficult for that thousand-year-old turtle, did you?"

Young Master Liu looked beside him. Old Master Huang was sitting on a large rock, smoking dry tobacco.

"Of course not. After summoning the rain, I thanked it, and it burrowed back into the well," Young Master Liu replied.

Old Master Huang hopped down from the rock and walked up to Young Master Liu: "Young Master, do you know why I asked you to come here?"

Young Master Liu looked confused: "I don't know!"

Old Master Huang circled in place a few times and said, "I have been cultivating for over nine hundred years as a Great Yellow Immortal. That day you saved my life; this was destined karma between us. What I have done is not only to thank you for saving my life but also to tell you what I know!"

Old Master Huang paused and continued, "When I had cultivated for over two hundred years, I saw two Daoists fighting in the mass grave. After watching for a long time, I realized the two Daoists were fighting over a book and a bead. That bead is the Profound Female Pill (Pin Kun Dan) you just consumed."

Hearing this, Young Master Liu was a bit startled and said, "Then... what is that book?"

Old Master Huang looked at Young Master Liu and said, "The Art of Emperors, the Esoteric Art of Shielding and Concealment (Qimen Dunjia)!"