I Am Your Natural Enemy

From Boss Tao, to the Bamboo Forest Demon, and then to the Blue-eyed Lion and the Bone Demon, four-fifths of the task had been completed. Only the last one in Guanzhong County remained.

Wen Yan looked at the badly injured Bone Demon, now wrapped tightly in Pei Tugou’s Blood Rope, then turned his head towards the Bamboo Forest Demon.

”Could you tell that he went out every midnight to devour bones?”

The Bamboo Forest Demon’s expression was complicated, tinged with guilt. ”Supreme Taiyi Savior Heavenly Master... I actually believed that after the great calamity, they would learn their lesson.”

Wen Yan also sighed and said no more.

Wen Yan moved closer to Gan Tang. ”Aunt Gan, I’ve prepared the room for you, but I haven’t seen you come back.”

”I still have other things I need to attend to; I’ll come over when I have time.” Gan Tang smiled gently, reaching out to pat Wen Yan’s back softly and helping him straighten his posture. She still preferred the way Wen Yan had strode over earlier, leading his group with such a fierce aura.

”Alright then, Aunt Gan. Come and visit whenever you’re free. Stay as long as you wish; the little one misses you a lot.”

”As if she would miss me.” Gan Tang glanced at the others. ”Do you want me to accompany you?”

”There’s no need for that. This isn’t something I particularly want to do; I’m just going along to try and persuade that older brother.”

Gan Tang couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t know if others believed him, but she could definitely tell that Wen Yan was just making an excuse. It was just an excuse that others had to believe, whether they truly did or not.

Watching Wen Yan’s expression, which clearly said, ’I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?’, Gan Tang nodded. ”Okay, then I won’t go. You’re right, it’s not suitable for me to interfere openly in this matter. Besides, Guanzhong County isn’t a place I should go to either.”

Seeing Wen Yan’s lineup, Gan Tang figured that dealing with a weakened and scattered Ferocious Beast that hadn’t yet recovered shouldn’t pose a problem, so she abandoned the idea of following them.

Wen Yan hadn’t seen Gan Tang for a long time and really wanted to chat more with her, ideally even coaxing her to come to Virtue City. Unfortunately, it seemed Gan Tang genuinely had important matters to attend to.

He could only take the Bone Demon with him, bid farewell to Gan Tang, and continue to the final stop. Speed was of the essence; he had to settle everything before dawn the next day.

Gan Tang watched Wen Yan depart. She gazed at his retreating figure, sighing internally at how much he had progressed in such a short time.

She returned to Fuyu Mountain, back to the Zombie Cave, and continued reading. Even though she had technically cheated her way into the final room, she still intended to read all the books there. Some of these books were long lost to time, while others were no longer relevant to the current age. The more she read, the more she could discern such things. She also began to understand why her sister had insisted she read so much; for many things, there were no shortcuts to comprehension. You either read ten thousand books or travel ten thousand miles.

「Nightfall. Guanzhong County, edge of Mount Li.」

Prince Zhu, dressed in a plain robe and carrying a black scroll with a copper spindle, arrived at the edge of Mount Li. He stopped precisely at the boundary between the mountain peak and the flat land, refusing to take another step forward.

He placed the scroll on a small pedestal, bowed, retreated three steps, and only then turned to leave.

A few moments later, a chilling wind gusted, and a phalanx of grayish-white, spear-bearing Soldier Terracottas marched silently by. The leading Soldier Terracotta picked up the scroll.

They continued forward and, not long after, vanished into the mountainside like phantoms.

Inside the mountain, where lamps burned brightly, the Soldier Terracotta handed the scroll to another Soldier Terracotta with a tilted topknot. Upon opening and inspecting the scroll, the latter immediately ordered, ”Excluding those on patrol duty, follow me!”

The Soldier Terracotta mounted his warhorse and rode out from the mountainside. Behind him, hundreds of Terracotta Warriors followed, some armed with long halberds and swords, others with shields and Qin Crossbows. These hundreds of uniformly disciplined Soldier Terracottas, carrying the deathly aura of the night, headed off to the side.

After marching for several minutes, they arrived at a straight road adorned with stone sculptures of sheep, horses, and tigers.

The Soldier Terracotta opened the scroll, took out a token, and tossed it into the air. The token shone brilliantly, its light sweeping over the sculptures one by one. Each sculpture touched by the light seemed to become transparent, revealing the various entities suppressed within.

When the light scanned a particular sheep stone sculpture, it revealed that the entity supposedly inside had vanished. The stone sculpture itself had transformed into a Ferocious Beast, its malevolence poorly concealed.

Realizing it was discovered, the stone sculpture swayed slightly and transformed into an Exotic Beast with a tiger’s head and a sheep’s body. It landed on the ground and, without doing anything further, turned and fled.

The Soldier Terracotta on horseback gestured, recalling the token, and watched the fleeing Ferocious Beast with a cold gaze. ”A Ferocious Beast lurks, desecrating Your Majesty’s thoroughfare! By law, it is to be apprehended and its eyes gouged out! All who guard this place shall receive one hundred strokes of the rod. Commanders and above, three hundred strokes of the rod. Those above the rank of Doctor shall be demoted one grade!”

”Crossbows!” he commanded. The hundreds of Terracotta Warriors behind him immediately drew their Qin Crossbows.

The Soldier Terracotta holding the token produced a black cloth scroll. Tearing it apart, it transformed into a ring of dark light that spread out, instantly enveloping the hundreds of warriors.

”Fire!”

Instantly, a dense volley of Crossbow Arrows formed an arrow rain, covering all the Ferocious Beast’s possible paths of retreat from every angle.

The Ferocious Beast didn’t look back, fleeing headlong, each bound covering tens of meters. However, the next moment, Crossbow Arrows wreathed in dark light descended silently from the sky. Only then did these silent arrows suddenly emit sharp, piercing shrieks as their speed skyrocketed in mere moments.