As soon as Tan Xiao opened the door, Kong Xuan popped out, no longer wanting to stay in the suitcase. He folded his arms and asked angrily, "Have you never seen a bird before?"

"I was just being polite. The old man said it was a nationally protected species," Tan Xiao hypocritically argued.

He recalled that when he was compiling Kong Xuan's entry, he had looked up information that said peacocks were proud of their tails and had a jealous nature. Praising other birds in front of him would definitely upset the peacock's pride.

Back when Tan Xiao didn't recognize Kong Xuan, he had already hurt Kong Xuan's feelings badly enough.

"What's a nationally protected species?" Kong Xuan had no idea what that meant, and he felt that Tan Xiao's previous praise was very sincere.

"It means the degree of rarity, a national first-class protected animal," Tan Xiao said, then realized he shouldn't expand on this topic. "Of course, green peacocks are also nationally protected."

"Who decided that? Humans? How are black and white ones rare, on par with green peacocks?" Kong Xuan fired off three questions in a row, seemingly not believing that anyone would love black and white over the five colors.

"Tan Xiao, have you arrived..." Liu Qingquan emerged from the ground. Seeing the "tense" scene with Kong Xuan looking aggressive, he closed his mouth and slowly sank back down, trying to pretend he had never appeared.

"Teacher Liu is here!" Tan Xiao took a step forward, grabbed Liu Qingquan, and pulled him up like a radish.

Kong Xuan coldly looked at Liu Qingquan.

Liu Qingquan: "..."

Ah, why drag me into this war?

"Teacher Liu, we're taking a taxi this afternoon, right?" Tan Xiao directly changed the subject. "I checked the map and online posts. After reaching the shore, we still need to drive for an hour or two into the middle of the lake."

"Yes, okay, let's go!" Liu Qingquan didn't want to say more.

In the end, he only said three words, but Liu Qingquan was also given a sideways glance by the great god Kong Xuan.

Wronged to death. You two are arguing, yet when I appear, you glare at me instead of him. Where's the logic in that? Can't you cherish the deceased working Old Liu a little? Didn't we agree that the dead should be respected?

Liu Qingquan also asked three questions of death in his heart.

It's just that compared to Kong Xuan's three questions of death, there was a clear difference in tone.

At noon, they casually ate some takeout at the hotel. In the afternoon, Tan Xiao used his backpack to carry his gear and took a taxi, telling the driver that he wanted to go to the mysterious rune site that had recently gone viral online. The driver was thrilled to hear this, knowing he would make a lot of money.

"Are you some kind of live streamer? You'll need to bring a drone. Recently, many local live streamers have been broadcasting from there. The popularity isn't as high now, and they've all gone to watch birds," the driver enthusiastically recommended.

"How many days are you staying in Yunmeng? Alone? Why don't you hire my car? I'll take you to see the ruins, then tomorrow I'll drive you to see the birds. I'll give you a full itinerary to explore Yunmeng thoroughly."

Watch birds, watch birds. Tan Xiao glanced at Kong Xuan. He and Liu Qingquan were both sitting in the car, it's just that the driver couldn't see them. "Ahem, no more watching, not very interested."

The driver tried twice to no avail and gave up. But on the way, when he saw tourists with backpacks who seemed to be trying to take taxis, his mind became active again.

He lowered the car window and asked where they were going. Hearing they were also going to the scenic area, he asked Tan Xiao, "Young man, can we give this person a ride? I'll reduce your fare a little."

He figured that since Tan Xiao was alone anyway, wouldn't it be good if he could take another order along the way?

"No thanks, driver." Tan Xiao refused. Where would they sit if another person got in, on Teacher Liu's lap?

He's not happy to have a companion. The driver drove on dejectedly. Further ahead, he saw someone else. This time, the person was not far from their route. "What about this one, can we pick them up? They're not far."

"No, driver. I've hired your whole car," Tan Xiao firmly said. Anyway, the journey was long today, so he decided to book the entire car.

"Why?" The driver glanced at Tan Xiao through the rearview mirror, thinking he didn't want to share the ride with others.

Tan Xiao said faintly, "It's too crowded."

Driver: "..."

What a joke...

The driver also understood how determined Tan Xiao was. Alright then.

However, he did notice from the rearview mirror that Tan Xiao's backpack was always placed on his lap and he refused to put it on the seat beside him... as if it was really a bit crowded.

The driver was startled by his own thoughts and quickly chanted in his heart, "Nothing there, nothing there."

The car drove to the dried-up waters of Yunmeng Marsh. From the shore, it took another hour or so to drive on the exposed, cracked riverbed to reach the area seen online.

Just as the driver said, the place was now very desolate, with hardly anyone coming to see the commotion anymore.

Arriving at the scene, Tan Xiao discovered that these patterns, when viewed on-site, only had some slight unevenness. If not for an aerial view, it would be difficult to notice anything unusual while standing among them.

"Let me tell you, this section has collapsed. It used to be the courtyard of the dragon palace," the driver also got out of the car, smoking a cigarette as he spoke.

Tan Xiao casually said, "Really?"

"Well, if you're a live streamer, then it's true," the driver said. "If you're purely exploring secrets, I'll tell you, don't bother. This is man-made. Don't listen to the online claims about ancient tombs. Think about it, this used to be the center of Yunmeng Marsh. Who would build an ancient tomb underwater?"

Tan Xiao smiled without saying anything.

After looking for a while longer, Tan Xiao said, "Driver, you can go rest in the car if you have nothing to do. I'll walk around here and come over later."

"Alright, call me when you want to leave. Don't take too long." The pattern was several hundred meters long and wide. The driver saw Tan Xiao walking along the pattern into the distance.

Liu Qingquan sensed the aura of this place. He took out a mirror and drew symbols in the air above the mirror's surface, trying to restore the scene.

But the scene was empty, with only traces of lake water erosion.

"Drawing water from afar, such control ability, it must be an aquatic race," Liu Qingquan tried to trace the source again, but his strength was exhausted. It was beyond his ability.

He could sense that the other party's cultivation surpassed his own, making it difficult to track. That's why they also had trouble finding the other party's identity through WeChat.

Just like if he wanted to calculate Kong Xuan's fate now, he definitely wouldn't be able to.

Tan Xiao squatted down and used the tools he brought to dig open the soil. "Kong Xuan, look at this soil. Do you remember the geography lesson..."

Kong Xuan was so alert that he almost jumped up. He felt that Tan Xiao looked like he was about to give him a test question!

"Just take a look," Tan Xiao said helplessly.

Kong Xuan carefully approached and suddenly remembered that he had also observed the soil in Qiyun Ridge with Tan Xiao. He tentatively said, "The soil in this pattern contains snails, has a lighter color and softer texture, different from the original sedimentary soil?"

Tan Xiao clapped hard, the knowledge had left some traces after washing over the brain.

Kong Xuan couldn't help but smile, it's just geographical knowledge after all!

"That actually just shows it's not some 'ruins'. The other party brought in new soil by diverting water, forming these runes. It's likely from the water area where they currently live..."

It's all dried up here, it can't be where they reside, it's just a place to post notices.

Liu Qingquan stroked his chin, his eyes lit up and said, "Spirit Master classmate, since there are snails inside, can you summon their souls and ask where their hometown is?"

Tan Xiao nodded, "Makes some sense. Although this fellow is good at concealing its whereabouts, it can't hide the snails. Let's see which specific water area it lived in before."

Yunmeng Marsh is vast, it's impossible to conduct a carpet search. Otherwise, how did the Bureau 404 discover this pattern before and then shelve it.

However, compared to summoning souls, Tan Xiao had a better method.

Tan Xiao picked up a few snails from the soil and walked to the riverbed. Although it was dry, there were still some puddles. He squatted down.

"You want to use the Pai Sect technique?" Kong Xuan saw and said, the Pai Sect techniques basically can't do without water. Tan Xiao fetching water most likely meant he was going to use a Pai Sect technique, it's just that Kong Xuan couldn't think of what Tan Xiao was going to use for a while.

Liu Qingquan was equally curious. He didn't even know that Tan Xiao had learned Pai Sect techniques before. Liu Qingquan himself was an orthodox monk, he had only heard of Pai Sect techniques, after all it was a niche.

Tan Xiao was seen throwing the snails into the puddle, chanting a spell: "Sending a dragon must make the dragon go into the water, sending a tiger must make the tiger return to the mountain. Sending a ghost still requires the ghost to go out the door..."

He pointed his fingers on the water surface to write talismans, and commanded: "Rise!"

The snails were seen slowly standing upright at the bottom of the puddle, slowly vibrating and spinning in place, their butts seeming to be searching for a direction.

Kong Xuan: "..."

Liu Qingquan: "..."

Liu Qingquan was in a mess, "Could it be that the Spirit Master is going to... drive the corpse?"

"Yes," Tan Xiao said matter-of-factly, "Rather than summoning its soul, painstakingly communicating with it, and then going to an unfamiliar place to find that water area, it's better to summon the soul to drive the corpse and let it lead the way itself."

"...Good, makes sense, but it works with just the shell left?!" It's just that it was also the first time in Liu Qingquan's life to drive the corpse for a snail, making it return to its hometown.

This is probably also the only snail in the world that has been driven as a corpse, if successful this time it would be the snail returning home.