Chapter 276: Wolf Howl
A pair of fiery wings spread across the night sky, flying into the distance like a moving star, illuminating the surrounding view, exceptionally conspicuous.
Nanke stood at the edge of the cliff, silently watching this scene, her small face unusually pale. The injuries left on her by Xu Yourong's feathers had been forcibly suppressed by her, but she could not suppress the anger and unwillingness in her heart.
A clear yet exceptionally fierce phoenix cry burst from her lips, spreading into the distance as if summoning something. The old zither player's expression changed drastically upon hearing it. He reached out to stop her but could not rise due to his injuries, and could only watch helplessly as, in the next moment, Nanke leaped off the cliff.
The young phoenix's clear call echoed through the Garden of Zhou. In the three gardens at the edge of the Garden of Zhou, many human cultivators had gathered. The celestial phenomena from the bloody battle atop Muyu Peak earlier had attracted many eyes, and naturally, they had not missed this phoenix cry.
In the quieter wilderness, some powerful human cultivators at the Tongyou Upper Realm were secretly exploring and seeking treasures. Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong had spent two days and two nights without finding them, and even the Qingyao Thirteen Division's flare warning had failed to reveal their whereabouts. Among them was a three-hundred-year-old Southern rogue cultivator, who was beside an ancient locust tree, following a record from a predecessor's notes, trying to find a powerful artifact left by the Southern Witch Clan in the Garden of Zhou. Suddenly hearing this phoenix cry, he turned his head in shock. His aged face was illuminated by the fiery wings in the night sky, and his somewhat cloudy eyes revealed a look of shock, which then turned into endless greed.
Zhe Xiu carried Qi Jian through the grasslands. His eyes could no longer see, but his hearing remained sharp. When the phoenix cry sounded, he stopped. Qi Jian opened his eyes with difficulty, looked toward the western night sky, and said somewhat dazedly, "Is it Senior Sister Xu? Did she enter the Garden of Zhou too?"
"It should be her," Zhe Xiu confirmed, tilting his ear to listen to the echo of the phoenix cry over the grasslands.
"All these events since the Garden of Zhou opened this year are the demons' conspiracy. Xu Yourong's name must be on their kill list," Qi Jian said weakly. "I wonder which demon they sent to deal with her... but it should be fine."
Xu Yourong and Qiushan Jun were not ordinary young geniuses; their innate bloodlines gave them overwhelming advantages. In a small world like the Garden of Zhou, which had an upper limit, logically, the demons should have no way to deal with Xu Yourong. But thinking of the ambush by the lake and Third Senior Brother's sudden betrayal, Qi Jian was still very worried.
Zhe Xiu thought of the two beauties by the lake—so different in temperament yet seemingly twins—the green glow at their fingertips, and the restless poison deep in his own eyes. He knew they must be Nanke's wings, and said, "Nanke is here. She must be the one fighting Xu Yourong. I just wonder who will win."
Across the entire continent, whether human or demon, the only one at the Tongyou realm who could threaten Xu Yourong was Nanke.
Hearing Nanke's name, Qi Jian's face grew even paler. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Where do we go next?"
Night had fallen, but the sun in the Never-Setting Sun Grassland had not set—if that magical, blurry orb hovering on the horizon could be called the sun. The powerful demon general couple was guarding outside the grassland, so they couldn't leave and could only walk within it. But where should they go? It was said that the Never-Setting Sun Grassland hid terrifying dangers, and anyone who entered could never leave. So, where was the danger?
Zhe Xiu said, "Take out the Water Flowing Vase."
Qi Jian did as told and looked at it in disbelief. "Have we been in here for three hours already?"
That warm, blurry red sun hung on the edge of the grassland, at the boundary between heaven and earth, spinning endlessly. The light never changed, making it easy to lose track of time. But that wasn't the only reason for Qi Jian's shock. Zhe Xiu was badly injured, but his speed had never slowed. In three hours, they should have covered at least a hundred li. Yet the fire atop Muyu Peak earlier was still so clear, and the phoenix cry seemed to be right beside them. When he looked back, the mountain... was still there.
After walking in the grassland for three hours, it felt as if they had only just entered.
Hearing Qi Jian's description, Zhe Xiu lowered his head and was silent for a long time.
This legendary grassland was finally beginning to reveal its eerie and sinister side to these two youths.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the deep grass ahead, as if some beast was moving through it.
The next moment, those sounds vanished completely, but that didn't mean the danger had passed.
Qi Jian felt uneasy, sensing that countless unseen things in the grass were watching them.
Zhe Xiu lowered his head, tilting his ear to listen to the sounds from the grass ahead. His expression grew increasingly grim and troubled.
Having grown up on the snowy plains, hunting demonic beasts for a living, he could clearly identify the sounds: the footsteps of beasts, the low swoop of flight, the grinding of sharp fangs, and even the dripping of saliva. Most terrifying of all, in just a short moment, he had heard at least seven different kinds of demonic beasts, all of them powerful and rare on the snowy plains.
On the snowy plains, he was the hunter. But here in this grassland of the Garden of Zhou, those beasts seemed to regard him and the Qi Jian on his back as prey. This filled him with intense discomfort and anger, and he knew that staying still was very dangerous.
He raised his head and looked into the depths of the grassland.
His eyes couldn't see, his pupils unable to focus, giving him a detached look. The eerie green had already filled his entire pupils, making him appear terrifying.
Qi Jian leaned on his shoulder, looking at his profile, instinctively feeling a chill of fear, and his body trembled slightly.
"Don't be afraid," Zhe Xiu said expressionlessly.
As the words fell, a series of dense grinding sounds came from within his body—the sound of bones, muscles, and even reconfiguration. Countless coarse wolf bristles sprouted from his cheeks, his knees bent backward again in a strange way, and his teeth gradually lengthened into razor-sharp fangs, protruding from his lips... The demon race's transformation!
With Zhe Xiu's physical transformation, his aura changed abruptly. A cold, ruthless intent spread into the wild grass ahead.
From the depths of the silent grass, sounds arose again, followed by the thud of footsteps, accompanied by arrogant, provocative low growls.
The grassland beasts were extremely sensitive to the wolf clan youth's transformation and reacted immediately.
After transforming, Zhe Xiu's pupils turned bloodshot, and then, mixed with the peacock feather poison, they became a lemon-like yellow.
Though he couldn't see anything, he stared straight ahead as if locking eyes with those beasts.
A howl—utterly cold, utterly powerful, utterly ferocious—burst from his lips and rapidly spread across the grassland!
A slightly chilly wind blew through the grass, bending countless blades, and the faint silhouettes of many beasts could be seen.
Those beasts, hearing the strength and determination to fight to the death in that wolf howl, finally scattered and left, accompanied by more rustling sounds.
Qi Jian leaned on Zhe Xiu's shoulder, genuinely a bit afraid of his current appearance, even though he had been told not to be afraid.
So he held Zhe Xiu tighter, pressing his face closer. He told himself that if he couldn't see, he wouldn't have to be afraid.
Perhaps because of his actions, or the greedy backward glances of the departing beasts, Zhe Xiu's body stiffened, and his voice became unnatural: "We... have to find a way out. Otherwise, the truly powerful beasts will hear the sound and come to investigate."
Qi Jian hummed in agreement, thinking, whatever you say goes.
The wolf clan youth's fierce howl echoed through the Never-Setting Sun Grassland but did not reach beyond it. The Garden of Zhou, as a small world, had many strange and incomprehensible places. Just like the phoenix cry that had resounded through heaven and earth earlier at the foot of Muyu Peak, it hadn't truly reached every corner of the Garden of Zhou, because some places seemed to be worlds within this world.
Beneath the waterfall at the end of the creek was a cold pool, and beyond that pool was a lake, beside which was another world.
The people in that world hadn't heard the phoenix cry. Liang Xiaoxiao and Zhuang Huanyu were no longer in the forest, having gone somewhere unknown. The surface of the lake was calm, but deep within, it seemed to boil, with countless fine bubbles shooting out from the two light wings and then quickly disappearing.
Chen Changsheng was wrapped in the light wings of those two beautiful yet terrifying women. Of course, he couldn't hear the phoenix cry, and even if it reached his ears, it wouldn't have stirred him, because he was already being turned into a bright but lifeless pearl by those wings, like a mosquito trapped in a spider's web, on the verge of death. All his focus was on finding a way to survive.
Where was the way out? If there truly was no path, then he would have to cut one with his sword. The problem was, he no longer had the strength to hold his short sword, let alone cut through these light wings. Was the way out that ethereal yet utterly real sword intent in the lake water? But even if he wanted to follow that sword intent, how could he?
Before being bound by the light wings, he had tried to ignite the lake water outside his Netherworld Palace, but it was meaningless, as laughable as his initial struggles and twitches. His throat was gripped by that demon beauty, his body restrained by that dignified woman. The two light wings brought endless, terrifying pressure, suppressing his last true essence and his slightest movements. He couldn't move a single finger, couldn't even blink, and could only feel the cold lake water brushing against his eyeballs—a truly unpleasant sensation. These two women, after merging, had finally revealed their terrifying power and realm. His breath grew weaker, his mind more dazed. Looking at the two beautiful faces in the lake water illuminated by the light wings, he found them deeply sinister, and thought, is this what death looks like?
At this moment, even his true essence was suppressed by the pressure of the light wings. The only thing he could still mobilize was his spiritual sense. Before death truly arrived, Chen Changsheng would never surrender or give up. Of course, he would try to use his spiritual sense to escape. The problem was that he hadn't cultivated to the sublime realm of killing with thought. No matter how calm, stable, or powerful his spiritual sense was, it couldn't be used in battle.
What could he use his spiritual sense for? Before he could figure that out, his spiritual sense had already fallen upon his short sword.
Silently, several boxes appeared in the world isolated by the light wings.
(Next chapter before 8:30 PM.)