“It should be because someone brought the third stone up the mountain previously. I think the person left with the stone soon after we arrived. The aura I felt was just the remnant aura left behind.” The little heart became increasingly upset.

“I’m in Grade 11. The juniors from Grade 10 came to Mount Da Wan before us. Do you think the owner of the stone is one of those juniors?” Chi Jiao made a bold conjecture.

The little heart concurred. But Chi Jiao quickly realized that something was not right. “If that’s the case, why didn’t you notice anything in school?”

“This aura is very difficult to detect. I’m still very weak now. The aura only lingers on for about two days. The Grade 10 students left the school a few days ago. The aura would have disappeared by then. Of course, I won’t detect anything!” The little heart said matter-of-factly.

Chi Jiao nodded in understanding. “I see. Looks like there’s nothing we can do now. Let’s go down the mountain.”

Chi Jiao was about to leave when she suddenly heard a dog barking.

“Woof, woof, woof, woof!” The urgent barking attracted her attention.

“Where is the barking coming from?” Chi Jiao was about to investigate when the barking stopped abruptly.

Chi Jiao waited for a few minutes. After confirming that there was no longer any barking, she didn’t dare to linger on. She quickly turned to leave.

Meanwhile, in a small wooden house a few hundred meters away from Chi Jiao.

The small wooden house was dilapidated. A fat man was pressing a large black dog down, covering its mouth to prevent it from making a sound.

The black dog was in extreme pain. It looked at the man in horror as it writhed.

Lit by the moonlight, this large black dog actually had a special pair of golden eyes. It was obvious that it was different from ordinary dogs.

When the man saw the large black dog struggling, he clicked his tongue impatiently and threatened, “Who asked you to bark? Do you want to die?”

Hearing the man’s threat, the large black dog whimpered twice before closing its jaws and stopping struggling.

The man didn’t feel sorry for the large black dog at all. He bound the dog’s mouth tightly.

After doing all of this, the man finally let go of the dog.

The large black dog didn’t like to wear the muzzle. It was very uncomfortable. It raised its paw and used its claws to pull at it.

“Don’t move. I’ll kill you if you attract anyone’s attention!” The man berated.

The large black dog appeared to understand. It kept whimpering.

“As you barked just now, I’ll punish you with no food for a day. I’m warning you, stay here obediently. Otherwise, you know very well what the consequences will be.” The man slapped the large black dog.

The man didn’t use a lot of strength, but the large black dog felt very aggrieved. It watched as the man turned around and left the wooden house, locking the door behind him.

Walking out of the grove and onto the main road, the man lit a cigarette.

The light from the lighter illuminated the man’s chubby face. It was Da Liu!

He lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.

Da Liu liked the feeling of his lungs filled with tobacco smoke. He slowly exhaled the smoke and took another puff, the cigarette in his hand flickering.

After smoking, Da Liu casually threw the cigarette butt onto the ground and stepped on it a few times. After confirming that it had been extinguished, he finally walked up the mountain.