"Awooo!"
"Ahwooo!"
Du Ke's howls echoed far into the night, and the stench of fox in the air grew heavier and heavier.
The smell was so strong that Du Ke folded his ears back into "airplane ears," curled his lips to reveal his fangs.
But the people from the Qingxuan Sect were completely oblivious to the fox stench. They remained vigilant against any dangers lurking in the dark night, while also paying close attention to the loudly barking Du Ke.
Exotic beasts had always been rare and elusive wonders. Although some had compiled records of all the exotic beasts under heaven, the fantastical creatures described rarely appeared before people's eyes.
Now, this northern spirit dog had suddenly started howling frantically for no apparent reason. In the eyes of the Qingxuan Sect disciples, there was no doubt that he was warning them about something.
And what was he warning them about?
Naturally, it was the danger lurking in the dark night.
The Qingxuan Sect leader tightened his grip on the long sword in his hand, fully focused on guarding his surroundings.
At this moment, Du Ke also turned his gaze towards the foggy, pitch-black night. The place where the Qingxuan Sect had chosen to camp was a clearing in the woods. After simply clearing away some vines and weeds on the ground, it made for a decent campsite.
But now, they couldn't see clearly what was in the dense woods surrounding the camp, obscured by the heavy fog.
What's more, as time passed, the fog grew thicker and thicker, gradually expanding its coverage area.
As the fog spread, the Qingxuan Sect disciples felt as if they were on a ship slowly and silently sinking, helplessly watching the fog edge closer and closer towards them.
"Add more firewood to make the fire burn brighter!"
The Qingxuan Sect leader barked without even turning his head. Immediately, someone threw more chopped firewood into the bonfire to strengthen the flames.
"Tee hee hee.....hee hee hee......."
Suddenly, a string of shrill laughs sounded from within the fog. The laughter seemed to come from the horizon one second, then right next to their ears the next, as if someone had nestled their head on their shoulder, breathing cool air on their earlobes while cackling strangely.
As soon as the creepy laughter started, Du Ke noticed many Qingxuan Sect disciples starting to shiver involuntarily.
Although their expressions remained taut, not revealing anything out of the ordinary, their slightly trembling legs had given them away.
"What is that thing!"
The Qingxuan Sect leader roared furiously, his voice booming like spring thunder that left everyone's ears ringing.
"Hee hee....tee hee hee hee....."
The creepy laughter was completely unaffected, continuing to drift around the campsite, putting the Qingxuan Sect disciples further on edge.
"Still daring to play such tricks!"
In the split second the laughter stopped, the Qingxuan Sect leader struck out with his palm. With a howling gust of wind from his palm strike, the fog was blasted away. Several large trees at the edge of the woods were smashed on the spot.
Amidst the flying wood chips, some of the wood chips instantly caught fire.
Clearly, his martial arts skills ran deep!
However, the fog they had just dispersed quickly gathered together again, more aggressively surging towards the camp this time.
"The lone goose returns~~~"
"~~But does not see the coming of winter or passing of autumn~~"
"My dear one goes far away~~"
"~~Oblivious to the bitter winds and rains!!"
.....
Sorrowful, desolate singing sounded from within the fog, enveloping the camp. As the singing started, many people shivered involuntarily, and some even broke out in goosebumps on their exposed skin.
After all, hearing such sorrowful, lingering singing in the dead of night deep in the mountains was pretty creepy no matter who you were.
Even Du Ke couldn't handle it. The fur on his tail stood on end like a feather duster that refused to settle down for a long time.
"This won't do. It's too bizarre!"
Du Ke swallowed and walked towards the crowd.
"I feel something bad is about to happen. I've got to stay close to the dog in case something comes up and I can't get to him in time!"
Du Ke trotted over to the side of the girl Ling'er. Just after the cat had settled in, he noticed the red-sleeved elder of the Qingxuan Sect take out an egg-sized pellet from his sleeve.
The pitch-black surface of the pellet gave no hint of light. It was covered in meshes and gave Du Ke an inexplicable sense of horror.
"Go!"
After holding the pellet for just a few breaths, the Qingxuan Sect leader flipped his palm and flicked his wrist to hurl it away.
The pellet disappeared into the fog. The next second, alarm bells started blaring wildly in Du Ke's mind. He immediately flattened himself belly-down against the ground.
Just as Du Ke had hunkered down, a flash of red light quickly blinked in the fog. The light rapidly expanded into a fiery wheel the size of a car tire.
As soon as the fire wheel formed, it exploded in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!!!
Amidst the earth-shaking deafening blast, the piercing sound waves and shockwaves and heat blasted away the fog. Du Ke also heard the sound of many trees toppling.
"What is that thing?"
Du Ke goggled at the scorched wasteland stretching out before them. He didn't know how many trees had been blown to smithereens, leaving behind a 3-foot wide and 1-meter deep giant crater in the ground.
Radiating out from the crater in streaks were more scorched black marks.
Some burning chunks of trees seemed to be recounting what had just transpired.
"An otherworldly version of a hand grenade?"
Du Ke was shaken to the core.
The Qingxuan Sect leader loudly proclaimed, "I wonder if you have witnessed the might of my Ambush Fire Thunder?"
"Sir has plenty more of these things," he continued strongly. "If you do not wish to lose your life, leave quickly."
His commanding words had barely left his mouth when a bloodcurdling scream suddenly sounded from beside the bonfire.
"Ah!!!"
Following the scream, everyone looked over to see a Qingxuan Sect disciple get snatched away into the fog by some unknown thing.
"How dare you cause trouble again!"
The Qingxuan Sect leader threw another Ambush Fire Thunder pellet. The black pellet landed amidst the fog and triggered another violent explosion.
The explosive boom blasted away the fog, but left nothing except a crater in the ground.
Thud!
The heavy sound of something falling jerked everyone's heartstrings.
Looking towards the sound, they saw a corpse with a gaping hole in its chest staring back at them with unblinking eyes.
"Ah! That's Junior Brother Zhuang!"
A Qingxuan Sect disciple screamed. Taking another look, wasn't this the same junior brother who had just been snatched away?
Yet in just a breath or two, this senior brother who had been keeping night watch together with them just moments ago now lay here with his heart gouged out. Twisted in fear, the remnants of terror still showed on his distorted face.
Plop!
Half of a bitten-through human heart suddenly flew out from the fog and landed on the ground, bouncing twice before stopping in front of the Qingxuan Sect leader.
There were visible teeth marks from having taken a bite out of this heart, but only one. Whoever - or whatever - had eaten this human heart clearly didn't think it tasted very good and spat it back out after a single bite.
It seemed extremely finicky and willful, just like a picky, petty diner.
Staring at the half-eaten heart on the ground, the Qingxuan Sect leader gritted his teeth and squeezed out two words from between them.
"Demon beast!!"
"Tee hee hee...."
The shrill creepy laughter sounded again from the woods, accompanied by a sharp, twisted voice.
"Mortal warriors who haven't even tempered their organs really have no flavor at all. Eating them is like chewing rice. "
"Only the hearts and livers of warriors at the Viscera realm or higher taste crispy, tender and juicy!"
"Ah, sublime, simply sublime!"
Hearing these words, everyone shuddered, their countenances changing dramatically.
A demon beast!!
A man-eating demon beast!!
At this moment, staring at that half-eaten human heart, Du Ke only felt his stomach churning and roiling violently.
Although he had remained unaffected witnessing the earlier carnage, looking at this half-eaten human heart now filled him with an inexplicable, bone-deep revulsion.
"Sigh, just those few sentences made me hungry again!"
"Although there's not much prime internal organs and vital energy here, there's plenty of bodies. I won't be picky this time!"
"I wonder who will be next?"
"Hee hee....."
"....Mwahahaha!!!!"
Amidst the horrifying laughter, the Qingxuan Sect leader's expression instantly turned ashen.
At the same time, atop Steaming Cloud Mountain's peak.
A figure dressed in white robes stood aloofly overlooking the peak. One hand held a fish tank the size of a washbasin while the other rested casually behind his back.
No emotions showed on his furry face as he gazed up at the moon hanging in the night sky.
The white-robed figure opened his mouth towards the moon and deeply inhaled.
It wasn't even the time of the full moon, yet the moonlight permeating the air had become distorted. Several strands of moonlight, like ox hair, drilled into the mouth and nose of this figure.
"White Lord!"
A hoarse, unpleasant voice like an iron awl scraping glass sounded from behind the figure in white robes. The figure in white robes said indifferently, "Speak."
"The demon generals have already begun the hunt. Tonight we can wipe out all these mundane warriors in one fell swoop."
"After making preparations for over a month, it's just for a feast like this. Let them enjoy themselves a bit!"
"Yes!"
"But the rules need to be understood."
The figure referred to as the White Lord looked at the fish tank he was holding. Inside the fish tank were two little fish swimming around, but the two little fish seemed unable to see each other, each occupying half the space in the fish tank.
"Our clan is weak, far inferior to the human clan. No matter whether it's a greater demon or lesser demon, any that have attained demonhood must not fight amongst themselves!"
"Look."
"How are the preparations for the Demon Market coming along?"
"The news has already been spread. It won't be long before things open up."
"Mm, I can leave things to you with confidence.
Anyway, I'll have to rely on you to look after things here tonight. Something came up in the city, I need to go take a look!"
"See why the Yun Family isn't properly doing their job as gatekeepers, and instead brought the Su Family of Qingzhou over."