397: Chapter 391: An Accomplice?
397: Chapter 391: An Accomplice?
Cousin Jiang Dalong had been following close behind Chen Hai all the while.
He was originally just one or two steps behind Chen Hai.
But now, this guy’s face was blank, his eyes lifeless, and drool was still hanging from the corners of his mouth.
He had stopped following Chen Hai and instead, at an angle, stepped out and with a leap, jumped into the nearby fish pond.
The edge of the fish pond wasn’t overflowing with water, it was mostly sediment and rotten mud.
By the time Chen Hai noticed his cousin, both of his feet were already in the muck.
He seemed completely unaware of everything that was happening.
It was unclear what he had seen, but at that moment, he once again spread his arms wide, continuing to advance towards the middle of the fish pond.
If it weren’t for the restricting mud at his feet, slowing down his pace, he would’ve certainly stepped into the frigid waters of the fish pond by now.
“Dammit, with just a slight lapse of attention, Brother Long has been bewitched again…” While cursing under his breath, Chen Hai immediately reacted.
He had been keeping a very close eye on that Rat Demon leading the way in front!
It was impossible for it to bewitch Cousin Jiang Dalong and trap him in an illusion right under his watch.
Therefore, the being that targeted Jiang Dalong must be someone else.
Logically, to bewitch his cousin to this extent, that entity couldn’t be too far away!
Yet now, after scanning the area, Chen Hai found nothing at all.
When he turned his head back, the leading Rat Demon had also mysteriously disappeared.
The unknown being that had bewitched Jiang Dalong was very likely an accomplice of the Rat Demon.
It made Jiang Dalong jump into the fish pond, perhaps not to take his life, but to create a distraction, draw Chen Hai’s attention, and provide a chance for the Rat Demon to escape.
A Demon Soul’s fleeing speed was incredibly fast.
Because Chen Hai was distracted by the noise of Jiang Dalong jumping into the fish pond and naturally turned his head back, and then turned to look at the Rat Demon leading the way…
The interval of time during which all this happened was less than ten seconds.
In such a short time, the leading Rat Demon could have likely escaped dozens or even hundreds of meters.
At this time, if Chen Hai allowed for Divine Soul departure right away, with his capabilities, there was a chance to recapture the escaping Rat Demon.
Regretfully, that option seemed impractical for Chen Hai at the moment.
After all, too frequent soul departures could progressively weaken the connection between his Divine Soul and Physical Body.
If he was prepared to abandon his Physical Body, focusing solely on Cultivation of Divine Soul, then he wouldn’t mind.
But Chen Hai was intent on a Transcendent Ascension to Sage.
He planned to cultivate to the pinnacle of the Object Controlling Realm, then use his Divine Soul to nourish his Physical Body, letting his spirit and will permeate every cell of his being.
Then, he could achieve a certain sense of immortality of the Physical Body.
Holding such ambitions, naturally, he didn’t want excessive detachment of his Divine Soul from the Physical Body to cause complications when the time came for Ascension to Sage, leading to difficulties in merging the Divine Soul into the Physical Body.
For these reasons, ever since he clearly knew the path of Ascension to Sage he wanted to follow, he seldom allowed for soul departure, opting not to let his Divine Soul roam too far from his Physical Body.
Even previously, when he was prepared to consume the Rat Demon, he merely extended his arm, projecting a small part of his ethereal Divine Soul from his palm.
While he could forcefully seek soul departure to search for traces of the Rat Demon, it wasn’t without complications.
The problem was, he couldn’t just ignore Jiang Dalong who had jumped into the pond.
Now at year-end, the night temperature was hovering around three to four degrees Celsius.
On such a cold night, clad in clothes, if Jiang Dalong truly stepped into the waters of the fish pond…
Chen Hai hesitated for a moment, worrying that if he didn’t rescue him in time, even if his life wasn’t in danger, he’d likely lose a layer of skin.
“Brother Long, wake up…” With only slight hesitation and a helpless expression, Chen Hai also jumped into the muddy fish pond.
Trampling through the mud, he roared and within a few steps, caught up to Jiang Dalong, grabbing his collar.
Then, he quickly placed a Danghui talisman on Jiang Dalong’s body.
“Damn, how did I end up in the mud inside the fish pond!”
“Cousin, was it you who pushed me in?” Instantly revitalized, Jiang Dalong became fully awake.
The mud at his feet had already swallowed up most of his lower legs.
His sneakers were filled with mud, giving him an extremely cold and bone-chilling sensation, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
While cursing under his breath, he hurriedly extracted himself from the mud.
Reaching the edge of the pond, he used his hands and feet to climb back onto the path.
“I told you to stick close to me.
We hadn’t gone far when I heard noises behind us.
I looked back only to see you charging into the fish pond like a fool!”
“Are you accusing me of pushing you?
Do you think I have nothing better to do?”
“Something messed with you and got you confused, don’t you have the faintest clue in your heart?”
Following closely behind Jiang Dalong, Chen Hai also climbed onto the small path by the pond.
Seeing that his expensive sneakers had turned into muddy boots, completely unrecognizable from their original appearance, he too felt annoyed and responded sarcastically.
Frowning slightly, he immediately used the Flame Power.
In a flash of firelight, the cold and wet mud under his feet was baked dry.
He took off his shoes, breaking and emptying them, spending quite some time before finally getting rid of most of the chunks of mud.
Without these mud clumps, his shoes were filthy and shapeless, but wearing them was definitely going to feel a lot more comfortable.
Of course, as he cleared the mud from his own feet, he naturally didn’t forget to help Jiang Dalong by drying the mud under his feet as well.
He might have been complaining, but after all, Jiang Dalong was his close cousin.
“Cousin, I was out of it just now and said a bunch of nonsense without thinking.
Please don’t take it to heart!”
“Right, where did that white-furred rat demon go?
I don’t see it anywhere!”
Having roughly figured out what had happened, Jiang Dalong was incredibly embarrassed.
He apologized to Chen Hai and casually asked him.
“Where else could that rat demon go?”
“While you were confused and jumped into the pond, it took the opportunity to escape when I went to rescue you!”
Crouching and having just finished putting his shoes back on, Chen Hai stood up and brushed off the dust from his body as he casually responded.
“Ah…
it escaped!”
“So all the effort we’ve put in was for nothing since we didn’t catch anything?”
Still crouching and clearing the dry mud from his shoes, Jiang Dalong grumbled with dissatisfaction.
“In front of that Rat Demon, it’s like it’s playing with you as if you’re a vegetable.”
“You’re safe and sound, that’s what matters.
What else are you expecting to gain?”
“If you really feel unsatisfied because you didn’t get a single hair, wait until I catch that white-furred rat, I’ll pluck a few extra and let you keep them!”
Rolling his eyes at Jiang Dalong, Chen Hai curled his lip and spoke.