We managed to hide in the tallest clock tower in the city, crouching behind the century-old bell, waiting and watching for any changes.

  "You, who are you? How do you know my name?" The white cat shifted back into human form, revealing a handsome young man in a white shirt.

  I remembered that Xuan had suffered serious injuries, so he shouldn′t be able to take human form yet. He just stared at me with his cat eyes, while the puppet-like Zhang Daxia had been so frightened he was almost unconscious, repeatedly drawing crosses on his chest.

  The truth is, I really wanted to rush up and hug Cang Tongkai and kiss him deeply. The intense feeling of reuniting with an old friend in a foreign nd made me want to cry.

  "I... I'm the boss of the restaurant, the tree yaokai, Sha Luo!" I couldn't hold it in any longer and blurted out.

  "Nonsense!" Cang Tongkai decred firmly, "You're not that tree, yaokai! Not only do you look different, but you don′t even have any yaokainic energy!"

  Xuan also confirmed, "Who are you really? Why are you ciming to be Sha Luo? I'll tell you, I know that tree very well."

  "I really am; please believe me." I shook my head helplessly and said to Cang Tongkai, "But I'm not lying. The USB drive you sent me, the one reted to Tu Tu and that girl, and the rge checks, they′re still locked away in the restaurant′s safe."

  Cang Tongkai and Xuan exchanged gnces. The USB drive and the checks were something only they and that tree Yaokai knew about.

  Before we could even begin to interrogate or expin ourselves, a dark swarm of enemies loomed on the horizon. It was a mass darker than any night, and if it were daylight, the sunlight wouldn′t even be able to penetrate through the dense bodies of the skeletal birds. The blue mist grew thicker again, mixing with the rolling clouds, surging forward, carrying them with it, forming an oppressive, sky-blocking force, surrounding the clock tower.

  They were tracking us by the yaokainic energy!

  Inside the ancient clock tower, the mechanical parts moved slowly, creaking with a sound that echoed like the anxious beating of all our hearts.

  "What′s the chance of us getting out of this?" I asked, peering through a gap in the tower.

  "Almost zero," Cang Tongkai and Xuan answered honestly.

  Zhang Daxia began crying again.

  Before we could finish speaking, the skeletal birds suddenly changed their speed, as if teleporting, appearing right outside the clock tower.

  Their sharp beaks and cws began to frantically scrape against the tower′s walls, like a cutting machine tearing the structure into pieces. The parts of the clock that had been blocking them were chewed up and turned into real debris, falling chaotically from the sky.

  We were quickly exposed to their line of sight.

  “You don′t have any yaokainic energy, so they shouldn′t be able to find you,” Cang Tongkai said to Xuan. “Take them and leave. I′ll hold them off here.”

  Xuan shook his head. “There′s no way out. This clock tower is going to colpse soon.”

  Each of the skeletal birds let out excited sounds, eager to feast on us as their next fresh meal.

  Cang Tongkai frowned, revealing his true form, unfurled his wings to protect us, and shouted, “Let′s do this! If you get the chance, escape!”

  I knew for certain that Cang Tongkai couldn′t defeat this entire flock of skeletal birds, no matter how hard he tried. Was tonight the night we were all going to mysteriously perish in this clock tower?

  The skeletal birds rushed toward us in a frenzy, and I could even smell the foul, death-den scent coming from their filthy beaks.

  On the edge of life and death, everyone suddenly heard a low, yet valiant beast's roar. Countless golden beams, like feathers, shot into the clock tower from outside, piercing through the skeletal birds' bodies like a torrential storm. These arrogant yaokais leaped and twisted in a ridiculous, exaggerated manner, screeching and fpping their wings as if they had been burned on their behinds.

  The more they struggled, the brighter the golden threads became, intensifying until, with a few dull sounds, countless skeletal birds were "melted" into a swirling mass of golden liquid in the air. It spread like mist, quickly evaporating into wisps of steam, leaving not even a single feather behind.

  All the noise faded into silence, and the strange scene in the sky was gone, leaving nothing but a clean, tranquil sky.

  The dazzling light made it hard to open my eyes. I forced myself to look outside, and after the misty gas dissipated in the air, the faint outline of a giant red-gold dragon gradually emerged, shifting from solid to ethereal.

  It was it again? The dragon that once helped me escape from the Tarot magical realm of Mu.

  Lost in thought, a familiar sound of clinking metal rang out. A small, golden object flew towards me from where the dragon had disappeared, following a parabolic trajectory.

  Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed it. When I opened my hand, I found the red-gold dragon amulet that Ao Chi had given me, lying quietly in my palm. However, the dragon design carved into it had faded significantly, almost disappearing.

  I had thought that the amulet would go along with the body Mu had taken, lost to someone else. I never expected it to return.

  "What is this?" Cang Tongkai and the others stared at the object that had just saved our lives, especially Zhang Daxia, who seemed ready to burn incense and worship it like a holy relic.

  I didn′t answer. I stood up and suddenly leaned most of my body out of the clock tower, shouting into the pitch-bck night sky, which was still devoid of stars or the moon, "Ao Chi, come out here!"

  It had to be him; it was definitely him!

  The amulet in my hand radiated a warmth, almost like body heat—not mine, but its own.

  Twenty years had passed, and I had never been so certain. That bastard dragon, who left without a word, was so close to me now, just out of reach.

  But there was no response.

  The damned mortal body, the damned cold, the damned exhaustion—anyway, I had fainted. I fell straight out of the clock tower, like a lifeless withered leaf drifting down to the ground. For the first time, I felt as if my body and soul had no weight, as if even the smallest breeze could tear me apart.

  Someone caught me by the waist. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I smelled that familiar scent again. It reminded me of many years ago, when I faced the first colpse of my life. There had been someone, too, who had gently caught me as I sank deeper and deeper.

  Ao Chi... I whispered his name.

  Where the hell did you go?

  I′ve been looking for you...

  I′ve been looking for you...