In the original novel, every time Zhou Yixian was caught after swindling people, he would use his earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic or technique) to escape.
However, Zhou Yixian's skills were not proficient enough, and he could not control the place where he appeared after escaping into the ground.
What fell from Xiao Huan's body were techniques such as 'Soul-Collecting Technique' and 'Physiognomy'.
The technique of collecting souls was actually a profound secret technique of ghost arts that Xiao Huan learned when she accidentally fell into a dry well at home as a child.
This shows that Xiao Huan is indeed exceptionally gifted.
As for physiognomy, it refers to the 'rebirth physiognomy' that Xiao Huan currently knows.
After a brief investigation, Li Yao discovered that this physiognomy technique could only be applied to the world of Jade Dynasty.
This is similar to the "Heavenly Cry Scripture," which can only be applied to the world of wind and clouds and is subject to the laws of the world.
In this way, Li Yao obtained various secret techniques from Zhou Yixian and Xiao Huan.
Zhou Yixian and his grandson were completely unaware of this and thought they had gotten a great deal.
Having swindled money from Zhou Yixian, he certainly dared not linger there.
He quickly took Xiao Huan, greeted the shopkeeper, and left Changhe City as fast as he could, fearing that Li Yao would find out and demand the gold back from him.
This little incident with Zhou Yixian quickly passed.
Li Yao certainly wouldn't ask Zhou Yixian for the gold, since he wasn't short of money anyway.
Actually, besides the 'fair trade', he gave Zhou Yixian gold because he saw that Zhou Yixian and Zhou Xiaohuan were not living in good conditions and wanted to help them out.
After resting for one night at Haiyunlou Inn, they had breakfast the next day and then checked out of their room to continue their journey.
Just as they were about to leave the inn, a young woman dressed in a pale yellow dress suddenly rushed into the inn looking flustered.
Chapter 354 The Demonic Cult's Conspiracy
"Help! Help!"
Just as Li Yao and his group were preparing to leave Haiyunlou Inn.
Suddenly, a young woman dressed in a pale yellow dress rushed into the inn in a panic, shouting for help.
Before anyone could react, they saw several fierce-looking, burly men burst into the inn from outside.
Upon seeing this, the diners in the inn's lobby were terrified and scattered in all directions.
The innkeeper and his staff were so frightened that they hid under the counter.
The young woman, terrified, quickly hid behind Li Yao and his group, pleading in fear and trembling, "Please, save me!"
Zhang Xiaofan, Lin Jingyu, and the others, seeing the situation before them, quickly guessed what was going on.
Clearly, these thugs wanted to bully a vulnerable woman.
They were all young, hot-blooded men, and when they encountered such a thing, they were naturally indignant and wanted to stand up for justice.
Li Yao, however, remained calm and watched, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"Stop! Why are you bullying a weak woman?"
Lin Jingyu, being rather impatient, immediately stepped forward and questioned the burly men.
"Hehe, kid, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business, otherwise don't blame us for being impolite."
A burly man with a fierce face looked like a local thug.
"Hmph, we're determined to get involved in this matter today!"
Lin Jingyu raised an eyebrow and shouted with a serious expression.
"court death!"
The burly man, his face contorted in a ferocious grin, waved his hand and, along with the remaining burly men, swarmed forward, charging towards Lin Jingyu.
Unfortunately, these burly men only used rudimentary martial arts skills, and were no match for Lin Jingyu.
With a few loud cracking sounds, the burly men were beaten black and blue by Lin Jingyu, and scattered in all directions, covered in dust and grime.
Lin Jingyu was extremely excited after his chivalrous act.
At this moment, the young woman hiding behind quickly bowed to Lin Jingyu and the others, and said gratefully, "Thank you for your help, young master, and everyone else. I am very grateful."
Lin Jingyu felt a little embarrassed and quickly raised his hand to help, saying, "No need to thank me, it was just a small favor."
Li Yao looked at the young woman and then asked, "Young lady, may I ask your name? Where are you from?"
The young woman slowly straightened up, her expression returning to normal.
Only then did everyone get a clear look at the woman's face.
The woman's black hair cascaded gently over her shoulders, and her eyes were bright and sparkling, shining like stars in the night sky, truly captivating.
At first glance, it seems as if one is so engrossed in it that one never wants to pull oneself out.
Apart from Li Yao, all the men present, including Fa Xiang and Fa Shan, were stunned by the woman's captivating beauty.
Even Li Yao, who had seen countless beautiful women, was amazed by the woman's beauty and charm when he saw her face clearly.
The woman spoke in a sweet and gentle voice, "My surname is Jin, and my given name is Qiao'er. I am from Jinjia Village, north of Changhe City."
"Jin Qiao'er?"
Li Yao's heart stirred.
What a coincidence that the name is!
A guess suddenly came to mind.
However, there was no change in his facial expression.
He asked calmly, "Miss Qiao'er, why were those people chasing you just now? What happened?"
With tears in her eyes, Jin Qiao'er sobbed as she recounted:
“Those people are the local bullies in the north of Changhe City. They plunder and extort money.”
"They not only seized our village's fields, but also kidnapped all the young girls in the village."
"I happened to be washing clothes by the river, and that's how I escaped this disaster."
"However, they quickly spotted me and chased after me."
"Fortunately, I met you, which allowed me to escape the clutches of these people."
"But my sisters weren't so lucky..."
"Please, please help me save my sisters."
Hearing Jin Qiao'er's words, Lin Jingyu and the others standing nearby were furious.
Lin Jingyu, in particular, clenched her fists so tightly they cracked, and said indignantly, "These villains are truly despicable! Tell us, where are these villains now? And where are your sisters?"
Jin Qiao'er stopped crying and said with a look of surprise, "That's great! With your help, my sisters are saved."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "I heard those bullies say that they're going to plunder farmland from villages near Jinjia Village tomorrow. I think they're still in Jinjia Village."
"Alright, let's go to Jinjia Village now and wipe out those tyrants!"
Lin Jingyu said excitedly.
However, he then realized that his master was still with him, and he needed his master's approval to proceed.
Therefore, he looked at Li Yao with anticipation.
Li Yao remained calm, glanced at Qi Hao, Fa Xiang, and the others, and asked, "What are your opinions?"
Qi Hao thought for a moment and said, "Upholding justice is an inescapable duty for us cultivators. I agree with Junior Brother Lin's opinion."
Then, he looked at the Dharma image.
Faxiang chanted a Buddhist prayer and said, "What Junior Brother Lin and Senior Brother Qi said is very true, and I agree with them."
Li Yao nodded and said, "Since everyone agrees to go to Jinjia Village, then it's settled."
At this point, he suddenly pressed his stomach, gave an awkward laugh, and said, "Please wait a moment, I need to use the restroom."
After asking the shopkeeper for directions to the outhouse, he hurriedly left.
After arriving at the latrine, he immediately entered the space.
At this moment, Little Fire, Little Gray, Six-Tailed Fox, and Three-Tailed Fox are all cultivating.
Li Yao found Xiao Huo and instructed him, "I have something important for you to do."
Little Fire nodded and said, "Master, please feel free to give any orders!"
Li Yao first briefly recounted what had happened outside, and then said, "I suspect that Jin Qiao'er is a member of the Demonic Sect in disguise. In a moment, I will disguise you as me, and then you will take my place and go to Jin Family Village."
Without much thought, Little Fire replied, "No problem, Master!"
He had followed Li Yao for many years and knew Li Yao very well. He also recognized Zhang Xiaofan, Lin Jingyu, and Wang Ke'er.
Therefore, as long as he speaks as little as possible, there shouldn't be much of a problem if he impersonates Li Yao.
However, Li Yao looked at Xiao Huo's height and felt a little worried.
Although Xiao Huo is a huge fire qilin, after transforming, his height is about the same as that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the only way to increase your height is through the Bone Shrinking Technique."
Bone-shrinking exercises can open up all the joints in the body, which can not only shrink the body size, but also increase the body size.
Just then, Liuwei walked over and said, "No need for all that trouble. Just use our fox clan's transformation technique to make Xiaohuo transform into your appearance."
Chapter 355 The Fisherman Reaps the Benefit
The fox clan has a history spanning thousands of years and is highly skilled in the art of transformation, capable of changing into the appearance of anyone.
Li Yao hadn't expected this.
The art of transformation is not complicated, and since Xiao Huo is also a beast, the art of transformation and the art of change are closely related.