Chapter 671: Chapter 273: Mysterious Peach Blossoms in the Enigmatic Stream

This left everyone with several questions in their hearts.

"Dear, what happened?" Xu Binghu lowered his head and asked Lian Ji softly.

"Husband..."

Lian Ji slowly recounted the events of the morning to Xu Binghu, whose expression shifted from calm at first, to anger, and finally to shock as he looked at his son, Xu Ran.

He was stunned for quite a while before a strong voice slowly rose.

"Haha, worthy of being my son, you truly have the bearing of an emperor!!"

Immediately, Xu Binghu gave a thumbs up. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Good son, not only did you protect your mother, but you also safeguarded the entire village."

Xu Ran nodded slowly and didn’t say much. To him, it was just a matter of raising a hand. If King Mountain hadn’t targeted his mother and the Xu Family, he wouldn’t have been so harsh, as his first goal had been to find Xu Binghu and then enhance his cultivation.

At this moment, Xu Ran’s gaze slowly focused on the white jade bone that Xu Binghu brought back, and that faint glow of white jade intrigued him greatly.

"Ran, let me see your immortal-like prowess, after all, as your father, I haven’t seen it yet?"

Xu Binghu was also very curious, knowing from Lian Ji’s description that the scene was extremely shocking, yet he hadn’t seen it for himself, leaving his mind itching to know more!!

Xu Ran remained silent, forming a hand seal with his fingers, as the familiar pale white light rose once more, enveloping him and exuding an aura potent enough to destroy their souls.

As everyone raised their heads along Xu Ran’s body, they saw a pocket-sized flying sword hovering above his head, emitting an aura that dared no one come near!!

Witnessing this scene, Xu Binghu laughed heartily again, his hearty laughter echoing in the Xu Family courtyard, utterly ignorant of others’ expressions.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Three consecutive praises showed just how excited Xu Binghu was, as if he had witnessed a legendary immortal.

"That aura, even seeing it a second time, is still so shocking, especially when it’s on my own son!!"

"I didn’t expect that while we’re still in the martial arts stage, Ran is already delving into immortality!!"

Xu Binghu’s words piqued Xu Ran’s interest, as his fingers formed another hand seal, dispersing the immortal sword above, and letting the white glow on his body fade away, before descending the steps, approaching his father, and asking.

"Dad, you said you saw it a second time? Have you seen it elsewhere? Was it during your disappearance?"

Xu Ran’s series of questions showed how shocked he was!

"Oh? Xu Ran, how did you know I saw it during these days?" Xu Binghu was somewhat puzzled, but from his tone, it was clear that he indeed saw Xu Ran’s aura during his few days of disappearance, though he didn’t expect his son to guess instantly, his smile broadening uncontrollably.

Xu Ran chuckled, saying nothing.

Such matters were easy to guess!

Previously, Xu Binghu’s pattern was straightforward, consisting of two points and a line: hunting snake demons with the guard team and returning home.

With such a two-point and line life, there was always someone nearby. If he saw it during that period, others would have seen it too, but no one did.

It must have been during those few days when he disappeared.

Seeing Xu Ran silent, Xu Binghu shook his head helplessly, thinking this son was too smart, even the term "genius" couldn’t fully describe him, then slowly looked at the white jade bone he brought back and began to speak.

"That day..."

Five days ago.

Xu Binghu and the guard team entered the mountain to hunt snake demons, and as they were preparing to secure the net, someone spoke urgently, pointing in a direction, "Sick Tiger Brother, a snake demon escaped."

Xu Binghu looked towards the direction the person pointed, his brows furrowing, as he thought.

"The snake demon escaping isn’t good news, as snake demons hold grudges. Otherwise, they wouldn’t keep encircling the Great Wilderness Border Village people."

"If this snake demon escaped, who knows what means of revenge it’ll use. It’s best to eradicate this batch entirely."

After pondering, Xu Binghu made a decision and immediately said.

"I’ll go after the escaped snake demon and finish it off; you all head back first."

At this moment, Old Qi spoke out with some concern, "Binghu, going alone isn’t good, right?"

Xu Binghu waved his hand, "I’ll be fine; even if I encounter strong demon beasts, can’t I just flee?"

With those words, he set off in the direction the snake demon fled at a speed the others couldn’t match.

Xu Binghu’s pace was neither fast nor slow, as he lowered his head following the trail left by the fleeing snake demon, soon arriving by a riverbank to find the snake demon standing half its body upright, still covered in some dirt, unable to move into the river.

The scene was genuinely bizarre.

Xu Binghu frowned, noting the dirt on the snake demon was from its escape, indeed the snake demon that fled the encirclement.

Though the snake demon’s behavior was curious, he slowly drew the machete from his waist, and immediately, the surrounding flowers and grass swayed without wind, drifting towards the river.

"Shhhh---"

In the next moment, the snake demon’s head fell beside the river, rolling into the stream, vanishing quickly amid the swift current, leaving behind only the bloodied snake body.

Xu Binghu stepped up to the river, about to collect the demon blood and snake gall from the snake demon.

Yet, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, as if the world had stopped spinning. Even the swift current made no sound, leaving no noise to be heard.

Baffled, Xu Binghu looked at the river, finding it had ceased flowing, with the snake blood dripping from the head now congealed, lingering in the river, refusing to disappear.

"What is happening?" Xu Binghu exclaimed.

Such an uncanny scene, he had never witnessed before.

"Could it be I’ve entered the depths of the Great Mountain?"

Carefully recalling the path pursued in the chase, over and over.

"No, I’m certain I haven’t ventured deep into the mountain, still on the outskirts, and this place, I’ve been with the guard team before!"

After murmuring, suddenly, dozens of peach blossoms flowed from upstream, uninfluenced by the present dormancy of the river, drifting alongside each other downstream.

"These peach blossoms? Why are they moving?"

Again observing the bloodstains from the snake’s head in the water remain unchanged, suspending the halted world unrecovered.

While he pondered, mist began to spread from upstream, enveloping everything, rendering visibility impossible. Only the continuously flowing peach blossoms were visible.

"Why has the Great Mountain suddenly birthed such fog? And why can I not see the surroundings, but see those dozens of peach blossoms?"

The sudden changes raised his vigilance, fearing abrupt incidents around.

With a tight grip on the machete, Xu Binghu focused on alertness.

About a quarter-hour passed, nothing occurred, as things remained unchanged, revealing only those peach blossoms.

"Is it possible that following the peach blossoms is the only way to leave this peculiar place?"

Xu Binghu speculated.

He raised his head to glance around, mist thickening, concealing even his hands before his chest.

Clenching his teeth, Xu Binghu made up his mind, gazing at the nearing disappearing petals, stepping forward, his feet instantly feeling the river’s icy chill, advancing toward the blossoms.