Ji Mo was startled.
Turning around, Song Zhenwei's old face was right in front of him.
He felt a bit flustered.
He already knew last time that Song Zhenwei's true identity was the Dean of Langya Academy.
And he was caught red-handed searching for the Dragon's Lair within the academy, which was quite awkward.
"Mr. Ji, are you looking for the Dragon's Lair? I'll take you there right away."
Song Zhenwei grinned, his face full of flattery.
Ji Mo felt something was off. Wasn't the location of the Dragon's Lair supposed to be a major secret? Why did this old man seem eager to take him there?
"Dean, do you know where the Dragon's Lair is?" Ji Mo asked.
"Yes, yes, it's right beneath my house."
Song Zhenwei chuckled and led Ji Mo towards his residence.
Ji Mo was skeptical, finding it hard to believe that what he had searched for everywhere was found so easily.
The two arrived at Song Zhenwei's residence and walked up to a rockery.
On the rockery, two large, bold characters written in vibrant red were extremely conspicuous: Dragon's Lair!
Ji Mo stared blankly at the characters, his mouth twitching.
He had thought the Dragon's Lair was some top-secret place, only to find it marked so openly. He felt foolish for searching everywhere.
Just then, the Multipurpose Snake, hidden in Ji Mo's embrace, writhed wildly, clearly indicating that this was the location of the Dragon's Lair.
"The Dragon's Lair is right below here."
Song Zhenwei tapped the rockery, and a wave of energy rippled outwards, as if dispelling a restriction.
Immediately, a portal of light appeared out of thin air.
"This is the entrance to the Dragon's Lair. Shall we go in?"
Song Zhenwei led Ji Mo into the portal, and their figures vanished.
Ji Mo only saw a blinding white light. After a few breaths, he arrived in a peculiar space.
It was a massive underground cavern. The surrounding rocks shimmered with faint rays of light, illuminating the entire cave.
On the ground, giant dragon claw marks were visible everywhere, proving that dragons had once resided here.
Boom...
Not far away, a pillar of lava suddenly erupted, spewing molten rock like a burst of fireworks.
The temperature here was very high, indicating it was deep underground. The spiritual energy within the cave was extremely dense, making it a sacred place for cultivators.
Ji Mo looked around curiously and quickly asked, "Where is the Dragon Transformation Pool? And the Dragon Saliva Liquid?"
He had come specifically for the Dragon Saliva Liquid, and it would be best if he could find it.
"So Mr. Ji came for the Dragon Saliva Liquid. However, there is no Dragon Saliva Liquid here. This is just an abandoned cave by the dragons; they didn't leave any good treasures, let alone Dragon Saliva Liquid," Song Zhenwei said. "The spiritual energy here is quite dense. If Mr. Ji likes it, I'll gift it to you as a place for cultivation."
This place was originally Song Zhenwei's secluded cultivation spot, but to please Ji Mo, he was willing to give it up.
"What do I want with this darn place?"
Ji Mo's expression was grim. He hadn't expected it to be a fruitless endeavor after all.
He had searched hard for the Dragon Saliva Liquid, only to find nothing.
"Darn place?"
Song Zhenwei was about to retort, this was the Dragon's Lair, a sacred place for cultivation.
But then he thought of Ji Mo's courtyard, which was like a fairyland, and his face immediately turned bitter. Compared to that, this place was indeed a darn place.
Ji Mo was unwilling and searched all over the cave, finding nothing of value.
It seemed he had been fooled by that old scoundrel Lu Wukai. What ancient Dragon's Lair, filled with countless rare treasures? Turns out there was nothing.
The two left and reappeared in front of the rockery.
For some reason, the Multipurpose Snake writhed again, then directly leaped out of Ji Mo's embrace, flew onto the rockery, and coiled around a protruding stone.
"Multipurpose Snake!"
Song Zhenwei, with his extensive knowledge, immediately recognized the little green snake.
This was a rare beast that could find natural treasures and was only interested in valuables. Could that stone have a problem?
Song Zhenwei's heart pounded, his eyes gleaming.
"What Multipurpose Snake? It's useless."
Ji Mo grabbed the Multipurpose Snake back, shook his head dejectedly, and left.
Song Zhenwei, however, touched the stone where the Multipurpose Snake had coiled, examining it carefully to see if it was a valuable treasure.
He soon looked disappointed, realizing it was just an ordinary stone with nothing special about it.
"The Multipurpose Snake is not living up to its name."
Song Zhenwei cursed and also left.
"Why did the old man take Ji Mo into the Dragon's Lair?"
Song Weixi's figure appeared in the distance, her face full of confusion.
She couldn't understand why Song Zhenwei always treated Ji Mo with special consideration, even taking him into such an important place as the Dragon's Lair.
Suddenly.
A faint light flickered on the rockery.
Song Weixi noticed it, flashed forward, and arrived in front of the rockery.
She stared at an ordinary stone, certain that the light was emanating from it.
"Strange, why would an ordinary stone emit light?"
Song Weixi frowned and couldn't help but reach out her delicate hand to touch the stone.
Abruptly, the void distorted.
Song Weixi's figure vanished into thin air.
...
At Lu Wukai's place.
Ji Mo recounted the situation of the Dragon's Lair he had seen to Lu Wukai, word for word.
All that effort had yielded nothing, which was truly exasperating.
"That shouldn't be. If it were an abandoned Dragon's Lair, it wouldn't be deliberately recorded on the dragon scale."
Lu Wukai found it hard to accept.
He had searched for over a decade and was unwilling to accept such a result.
"There must be a mistake."
Lu Wukai took out the small scale again and infused it with spiritual power.
A map appeared.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the map, calculating, falling into a frenzy.
"Old Lu, let it go. Be more open-minded. What is meant to be will be, and what is not, cannot be forced," Ji Mo comforted him.
However, Lu Wukai was lost in his own world, not hearing Ji Mo's words.
Crack!
For some reason, the dragon scale inexplicably cracked and shattered into several pieces.
The map also completely dissipated.
"I understand now. It's not the real Dragon's Lair, but a fake one. What you saw must be a fake Dragon's Lair. Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, let alone dragons."
Lu Wukai laughed wildly, as if he had figured it out.
Then, looking at the fragments of the dragon scale in his hand, he was filled with confusion and muttered, "The dragon scale is broken. Someone must have entered the real Dragon's Lair ahead of us. It's over, we've been outmaneuvered."
Ji Mo didn't believe him, thinking Lu Wukai had gone mad.
...
Song Weixi had disappeared.
As soon as this news spread, it caused a stir in Langya Academy.
What was most unbelievable was that Song Weixi had not left the academy; she had vanished as if evaporated into thin air, disappearing inexplicably.
Some students had seen Song Weixi last speaking with that villain Ji Mo, and they seemed to have parted on bad terms.
Rumors then spread like wildfire, with people believing Song Weixi's disappearance was related to Ji Mo. And at this moment, Ji Mo had also left the academy, suspecting him of fleeing due to guilt. Suddenly, the blame fell upon him, and Ji Mo became a suspect in Song Weixi's disappearance.