Ru Lan was certain she had behaved herself on the journey, heading directly to her destination without so much as pausing to admire a blade of grass. Lu Ziyin, on the other hand, was about to claim he had passed through fields of flowers untouched, but the words caught in his throat as a memory suddenly resurfaced.
Not long ago, he had become lost, venturing deep into a misty forest of confusion. The ground was a tangle of thick, serpentine roots, while higher up, vines and tattered spiderwebs hung in disarray. Ancient, gnarled trees blocked his path, obscuring the way forward. He had struggled to find the correct route, all the while remaining wary of the silent, eerie environment.
Later, he had stumbled upon a spirit beast carcass by the roadside, half-rotted and bloody. Its head was likely gone, and vital parts had been scavenged. The severed limbs were ragged, flesh and bone exposed, leaving only a swollen, ball-like torso.
The creature's death was truly gruesome, and it was certainly not the work of a single entity. Lu Ziyin had a fleeting thought at the time: it couldn't have been a group of individuals (or beasts).
He felt no particular inclination to mourn a spirit beast he didn't know. But as he prepared to continue on his way, his foot kicked a hard object. He followed its rolling path and saw a piece of irregularly shaped, transparent yellow crystal.
The memory brought a prickle to Lu Ziyin's scalp. His gentle, water-like eyes held a hint of uncertainty as he pulled the stone, which he had casually pocketed, from his sleeve. "...Is this it?"
Ru Lan leaned closer, her gaze sweeping over the object. Recalling the collective assault from the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders before them, she felt a wave of dread. Her eyes shifted from the yellow crystal to Lu Ziyin. They exchanged a look, both rather speechless.
She said, "Do you think there's any possibility that this yellow stone isn't a stone at all? What if it's actually the pheromone gland embedded in the forehead of the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Mother Spider, the one that attracts the males?"
Lu Ziyin paused, then offered a sincere compliment, "Ru Lan, your eyesight is truly remarkable. You can recognize something like this."
Ru Lan's temple twitched violently at his words. "I wish I were blind, like you. Picking up all sorts of trash. Now we're in big trouble..."
She took a deep breath, but it did nothing to quell her anxiety. She let out a frustrated curse, "Lu you old dog, you've killed me! Stuck with such a mess, they'll definitely think we're all in this together. Whether we throw this stone away or not, they'll see us as the murderers of the mother spider..."
"What tier spirit beast was the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spider? Do you think they'll understand if we try to explain things calmly?" Lu Ziyin's gaze flickered away nervously, as if something particularly interesting had caught his eye.
Ru Lan looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Their mother spider is gone, and they're enraged. You're waving a memento right under their noses. Do you think they'll calmly stand there and listen to your explanation? Besides, can you even explain it clearly? Do you honestly know what monstrous creature killed that mother spider?!"
Ru Lan had a naturally short temper and couldn't feign gentleness. Despite having the approachable appearance of a girl next door.
She berated Lu Ziyin mercilessly. Lu Ziyin, realizing he was in the wrong, surprisingly accepted the scolding without a word. Only at the very end did he add, "Perhaps it wasn't one, but many."
Lu Ziyin speculated that the mangled beast carcass was most likely the "shared wife" mother spider that had driven these Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders to seek revenge with red eyes. Now, these widowed "husbands," in the throes of grief, were blinded by rage and could only be appeased by bloody retribution.
He made a decisive declaration, "Then what are we waiting for? Run!"
Lu Ziyin was truly a coward. The moment he understood the truth of the situation and realized there was no room for negotiation, he decided to flee.
Ru Lan's eyes widened. She saw that the old dog Lu Ziyin had already put some distance between them. His fleeing figure was so decisive and dashing, without a hint of hesitation. She felt she must have had terrible luck in a past life to encounter such an unreliable fellow as Lu Ziyin.
Her face turned as black as if coated in漆. She thought for a moment, but decided not to run in the same direction as him. After all, Lu Ziyin held the yellow crystal. Even if the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders saw her as his accomplice, she would at most be considered an accessory. Why chase the principal offender and focus on the accessory?
Therefore, she decided to let Lu Ziyin fend for himself, while she would find another way to leave this damp forest teeming with venomous beasts as quickly as possible. They were not far from the coastline in this damp forest. If they could successfully cross this green, damp, and cold forest, they would enter slightly higher mountainous terrain. Continuing over the Black Rock Canyon, they would follow the ridge eastward into a watercourse. On one side was the eastern border, and on the other, winding along inland streams and lakes, was a vast expanse of grassland. Unlike the misty, cold, marshy forest here, the air in that place was clear and bright. Further progress would lead them to the central region of the "Dragon Island Secret Realm."
Everything unfolded as Ru Lan predicted. The Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders were indeed more interested in Lu Ziyin, and the majority pursued him. Seeing that he couldn't escape their net, he transformed his fan into a sword, unleashing a sword strike that carved moon-like patterns and shattered the branches overhead. He leaped up, intending to fly away above the dense forest, but was ensnared by swirling threads that wrapped around his ankles. Finally, with a loud *thump*, he was smashed onto the ground.
However, Lu Ziyin did not panic. He quickly slashed at the spider silk around his ankles with his sword and, bracing himself, sprang up with a fluid movement. He looked forward and saw that Ru Lan's figure had already moved far away without hesitation. He wasn't particularly surprised by this; it would have been surprising if she had stayed to face the danger with him.
He spread his hands, looked at the "yellow crystal" in his palm, and a somewhat wicked smile curved his lips. This expression, on "Lu Ziyin's" face, was quite unsettling.
"Liu Jiang Fusheng, don't blame me... I warned you repeatedly, but you insisted on breaking the taboo." He murmured to himself, then looked directly at the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders closing in. His aura suddenly shifted. The flowing energy around him materialized into weapons, launching countless sharp projectiles that pierced through the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders scattered throughout the forest. At that moment, everything before him seemed to enter a black and white cinematic frame, freezing for an instant. Blood spurted from their abdomens, and they fell to the ground, one by one, dead.
As light and shadow shifted, he turned around. The face that had belonged to "Lu Ziyin" had transformed. The ordinary and unremarkable face, the nondescript physique, was now that of Lang Ci.
Meanwhile, Ru Lan, pursued by a few Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders, was fighting back as she fled. Her feet were in constant motion, but when she saw a familiar figure in the distance, she initially thought her eyes were deceiving her. After rubbing her eyes and staring intently for a long time, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
The person, hearing the commotion, also turned around at the first opportunity. Upon seeing Ru Lan, he also appeared surprised. His gaze shifted to behind her, where he saw the Six-Eyed Blood-Spotted Spiders swinging and chasing her with webs. A smug, gloating expression appeared on his face. With a languid gesture, he tapped his palm with a jade fan. "Didn't you say you would never be with me? How did you end up here?"
"You—"
It was only then that Ru Lan realized something was wrong. She had clearly left Lu Ziyin in the opposite direction, and there was no way he could have arrived here faster than her. Moreover, his expression and words made it seem as if... the "Lu Ziyin" she had encountered earlier might have been a fake!
Ru Lan's expression changed. Had she always felt that the "Lu Ziyin" she faced was somehow not quite right? As she ran, she shouted towards the impassive Lu Ziyin ahead, "Lu Ziyin, something unusual might happen in the Dragon Island Secret Realm this time. I just met someone wearing your face, swindling people out there!"
Lu Ziyin, hearing this out of the blue, paused for a moment.
—
As the "Ghost Infant's" dull gray eyes turned crimson, even its entire listless and desolate expression began to take on a demonic quality. It was like a withered bone covered with a pale, colorless fake skin. Its muscles were stiff and cold, devoid of any expression, and even the movement of its eyeballs was heavy and unnaturally sluggish.
"He" descended from a high peak, clad in dark, billowing robes, looking down at the "spine" of white bones below. Amidst the chilling myriad of bones and the surging crimson sea, a snow-white figure and a crimson shadow kept approaching and receding, the agitated air currents creating ripples.
"Son of Heaven's Will, I've found you."
The "Ghost Infant's" face, which looked long dead, stiff, cold, and ugly, contorted into a malicious killing intent, as if longing for blood.
Liu Jiang Fusheng, with a stern and frigid countenance, was slaughtering the fire qilin that emerged from the sea of flames. He was walking step by step towards White Tower City. The "fangs" extending from above and the "white spires" blocked any attempt to directly enter White Tower City by flying.
The "Ghost Infant" slowly descended from its high perch. It shrugged its shoulders, and the areas where its two severed arms had been let out a sickening cracking sound. First, a tumor grew, then slowly enlarged into flesh buds, and finally, like an inflating balloon, two arms suddenly grew. However, they were fingerless and boneless, like mutated duck feet, wide at the front and narrow at the back, covered in tendons and muscles.
Its demonic crimson eyes contracted and expanded, like a greedy maw constantly whispering, "Devour him, devour him—"
A black hole suddenly appeared above the "Ghost Infant's" head. It sucked "Ghost Infant" in, and in the next second, he appeared in front of Liu Jiang Fusheng.
At first glance, Liu Jiang Fusheng didn't recognize the "Ghost Infant." After all, the "Ghost Infant" now barely resembled a human. It had grown a pair of bizarre and exaggerated arms, coupled with those sinister, blood-stained red eyes, which had truly transformed him from head to toe, even altering his aura and appearance.
The "Ghost Infant" met Liu Jiang Fusheng's inquisitive yet indifferent deer-like eyes, twisted its neck, then its throat bobbed. It opened its mouth, and a hoarse, ear-splitting heavy sound converged, sharp and piercing: "Son of Heaven's Will—"
As this voice sounded, a mysterious voice in Liu Jiang Fusheng's mind also spoke, saying sternly, "It's him—"
Just as Liu Jiang Fusheng was about to ask who this monster was, he heard it say, "It finally caught up. The time has come. It seems I cannot stay long. Liu Jiang Fusheng, you must remember firmly—your destined path!"
Before Liu Jiang Fusheng could react, he felt his consciousness suddenly begin to blur. He didn't know that his eyes had instantly turned a divine and sacred silver hue, seeming to contain myriad stars twinkling brightly.
"Do not impede me!"
"Ghost Infant's body, can you inject divine consciousness, or is it puppet consciousness?"
"You can block it this time, but what about the future?"
"Fate is predetermined."
The two figures collided, flames exploded, and the heavens and earth shook.
—
Gu Junshi looked at the fiery red landscape that reflected the sky like a crimson sunset.
"Sister, what happened?"
She thought to herself, something has indeed happened. The demonic energy in her hand was being pulled, but she firmly suppressed it within her fingers. This demonic energy was no simple matter. It was far purer than the demonic energy on Mu Nanxue. There could only be one explanation. It originated from a Heavenly Demon.
A Heavenly Demon... Did Heavenly Demons still exist in the cultivation world?
She hurried over, and by the time she reached White Tower City, people from various directions who felt the repercussions had also arrived. The mass of light within White Tower City stirred, as if sensing something.
—
"Sister, let me out."
"Out for what?"
"Let me help you. With so many people coming to compete, we should at least have an advantage in numbers."
"Gu Er, do you think they can beat me?"
"What if they all rush us at once?"
"Why would they rush us?"
Sister, do you misunderstand yourself? Your all-black attire and your mysterious aura make you look like a major villain making an entrance. Aren't all those people from reputable sects? As the saying goes, everyone has a duty to eliminate demons and protect the righteous. As Gu Er, who was once from the Void Sect, understands this better than anyone.
"Sister, don't you know your current situation? How can you fight them? Let me!"
"Aren't you afraid your brother-in-law will mistake you for an evil spirit and cut you down with his sword again?"
"Sister, if I can't win, can't I still run?"
In any case, he would not back down. He had to protect his sister, and he had to protect his nephews and nieces.