Oh, my God, there's something here

"The lone wild goose returns~~~"

"~~Not seeing the coming of winter or the passing of autumn."

"You have gone far away, my lord~~"

"~~Unrecognizing the bitter wind and rain!!"

The melody, miserable and resentful, turns and twists a hundred times, as if to tell all that's in the heart.

If heard in the theater, the audience would surely not stint on silver and gold, rewarding the performance handsomely.

But here, in the depths of the mountains and ancient woods, hearing this singing, it's like when you go to a grave to burn paper money for your ancestors, only to have the coffin lid burst open and the dead come after you - the kind of horror where the boards can barely hold the corpse down.

Creak creak creak.......

Duke's ears twitched as he turned towards the sound. He saw the nearest disciple of Qingxuan Sect, teeth chattering and legs shaking, even giving off a scent of urine.

Judging by the figure and silhouette, it was a young girl.

No wonder there was the stench of urine - she must have been so frightened as to lose control of her bladder.

But even as thoughts raced through Duke's mind, he couldn't help heaving a sigh. He and his dog just wanted to go down the mountain and go home. How did they get caught up in this mess?

First his dog got kidnapped; he finally found it but before he could rescue the dog, they ran into this blood demon here to feast.

Damn luck, it really sucked!

"Ah!!"

Another scream rang out as a disciple was suddenly enveloped by the mist, vanishing before everyone's eyes.

The Qingxuan Sect leader was both shocked and furious - shocked that the monster was using the mist to obscure its form and move unpredictably; not only could they not see it clearly, it was also putting on a show to damage their morale.

He was furious that the monster was acting so brazenly right under his nose, snatching his people away.

Crunch...crunch......

The hair-raising sound of chewing echoed within the mist. Hearing it, everyone unconsciously pictured in their minds a red-eyed monster, holding that recently taken disciple, feasting merrily.

Thump!

Another corpse got tossed out, landing in front of the Qingxuan people.

Its eyes were still open wide in death, its countenance twisted in horror and despair. Its belly was slashed open, the chest cavity completely empty - not a single organ left.

When the glint faded from the dead man's eyes and his corpse stared into the eyes of the Qingxuan people, some could not withstand the pressure and horror, screaming as they voluntarily rushed into the mist.

"Ahh, I have to get away from here, I want to go home!"

The screams had just started when they abruptly ceased, replaced only by the crunch, crunch of chewing.

After a few breaths, another corpse was tossed out.

The Qingxuan Sect leader's face was gloomy, as if water might drip out. Gripping tight the longsword in his left hand, he snapped: "Everyone gather closer to the bonfire and draw swords!"

As he spoke, the Qingxuan leader flung out three more Exploding Fire Bombs, not just one this time but three.

The three Exploding Fire Bombs went towards different spots, plunging into the mist and detonating with a burst of raging flames. The explosion evaporated the mist, obliterating everything within the blast radius.

Just as the mist was torn apart, a female disciple was grabbed by claws emerging from within.

"Ah!"

Just as the girl screamed, the Qingxuan leader swiftly drew his sword. A flash of dazzling sword-light shot forth as he slashed, cutting both the mist-shrouded girl and the mist itself in half.

Unstoppable, the sword-light cleaved through the mist.

At the same time, an enraged bellow issued from within the mist. Clearly the blood beast hiding inside was also injured by that sword slash, while Ziyin admired the ruthlessness of the Qingxuan leader slicing apart his own follower along with the monster claw.

"Mortals. I will feast slowly on your living flesh!"

An enraged roar exploded within the mist, clearing it somewhat to reveal a crimson fox-monster over ten feet tall standing erect like a human. It balanced on reverse-jointed legs, wicked claws covered with gore. Bloodshot eyes fixed unblinkingly on the Qingxuan leader as Ziyin also noticed the sword wound across the monster's chest, slashing deep enough to peel back skin and flesh, exposing white bone and blood gushing like a spring.

Having seen the fox demon injured, the Qingxuan Sect leader let out a long shout.

"My disciples, follow This Seat to slay this monster!"

His voice had scarcely fallen when the fox demon arrived before the leader himself.

"Today, not one of you will escape!"

The fox demon opened its jaws, baring tiny fangs, as waves of peculiar scent abruptly spread out.

Assailed by this smell, the Qingxuan leader who had been about to fight, stumbled; the longsword slipped from his grasp.

"You poisoned us?!" Shock and anger warred within the sect leader, while Ziyin realized the faint fox smell from before was to blame for the man's sudden weakness.

At that time, the fox demon had already begun, constantly applying psychological pressure and ravaging their mental defenses. If the Qingxuan leader hadn't managed that injuring slash, this fox demon would likely have toyed with them like a cat with mice, torturing all the people until they collapsed, satisfying its own perversities and appetites all the while.

Indeed, some people enjoyed eating their meat raw and alive; clearly this fox fiend was similarly inclined - far too twisted taste.

"I'll start by eating you first, then make a meal of your disciples!"

Once the strange smell spread, many Qingxuan disciples collapsed, their bodies limp and strengthless, unable to summon an ounce of power.

However, Fire Pot remained hale and hearty as was Ziyin. It seemed the smell released by the fox demon had no effect on them.

"You dare!!"

Though his body was numb and weak, the Qingxuan leader squeezed out true qi, lunging fiercely at the fox monster.

Just as the leader pounced, he dropped several dozen chicken-egg sized exploding spheres from his sleeve.

Landing on the ground, the fire bombs immediately sparked the Qingxuan leader to bellow in rage and sorrow: "Ziyin!"

The youth jolted into alertness, straining to support his body in order to help his junior martial sister.

Little Ling'er was already so frightened her legs gave way; she could only let her senior martial brother half drag, half carry her along.

Seeing this, Ziyin could pretend no longer.

No better time than now!

The cat leapt up, smacking a paw squarely onto the crown of youth's head, knocking him backwards; using that recoil, the cat spun in midair, lashing out both legs to kick the girl Ling'er squarely in the chest.

Under the influence of the bewitching scent, weak Ling'er had no way to resist. She was punted three meters away, tumbling several meters before ending facedown, not knowing life or death.

Landing back on the ground, the cat seized the dog's scruff in its jaws and darted madly away.

Who knew if the fox demon would take a fancy to him and the dog after finishing those humans? After all the awful curses from the dog earlier, who knew if there might be retaliation?

Right now, dithering would be fatal!

Cloaked by invisibility, the cat carried off the dog, disappearing swiftly into the vast mist, leaving behind the confounded fox demon and Qingxuan leader staring dumbly at each other.

The sect leader took in the dire state of his daughter, before flinging his arms around the fox demon and releasing an anguished bellow.

"I will take you with me!!"

The next second,

one more qi-charged Exploding Fire Bomb dropped from his sleeve as the external mesh shattered. A massive blast of flame detonated.

Combined with the previous scattered bombs within the blast zone, a series of earth-shaking explosions directly pummeled the quiet of the night.

Boom boom boom boom!!!

Hearing the deafening roars amidst the explosions, even Ziyin was left tongue-tied. This Qingxuan leader actually went so far as to take down the fox demon along with himself!

But a joint death, how wonderful!

Both had perished, so that Qingxuan leader would trouble him no more.

It was even better if the fox demon itself died. One less hindrance to worry over.

"I need to find a place to hide for now. The way things have developed has already exceeded my expectations," the cat thought to itself as it rushed out of a bush that only had branches left.

As soon as the cat rushed out of the bushes, it arrived at a mountain stream in the blink of an eye. After crossing the stream, Du ke had just steadied itself when it heard the crunching sound of chewing.

Looking towards the sound, there was a large white-furred boar sitting on a green rock, voraciously devouring a human hand. Beside the hand were also a few strange hybrid birds that looked like chickens but had scales and feathers.

Du ke looked at that large boar, and the other party also looked back with eyes wide open, seemingly puzzled why the dog was floating in mid-air.

The invisible Du ke looked at this white cat boar that was eating a human hand, and could not help but change direction to flee wildly once more.

Damn it, why is there even a blood demon that eats humans here!

Could it be that there is a blood demon buffet dinner on Steaming Cloud Mountain tonight?!