Chapter Sixteen: The Art of Luring Prey

After half an hour, Six Ugly once again caught up with the trail of Chang Xiangzhi.

Within sight, Chang Xiangzhi, who had been moving swiftly, suddenly halted. She turned around, and her pupils had become vertical like those of a wildcat, glowing red as her lips parted to reveal four sharp fangs. Her tongue extended, curling twice in the air before retracting, and she clicked it lightly.

Her tongue could sense a powerful demonic force, rapidly approaching from the direction of the original bonfire. The energy was robust and commanding, unmistakably that of a great demon—without even seeing its form, she could judge that a cave master had appeared.

Chang Xiangzhi frowned slightly and glanced ahead. The road was long, the pursuers close; escape was nearly a fantasy now...

A faint sound echoed from the distance. She looked toward it and saw Six Ugly swiftly closing in on a shadowy figure, which staggered twice before collapsing. Six Ugly stepped forward, delivered a few swift blows, and extracted a demon core from the corpse, leaving with fluid ease and not the slightest hesitation.

Chang Xiangzhi was finally surprised. She extended her tongue again for further inquiry and was even more astonished: the pursuers trailing her had dwindled to just one, the rest vanished entirely. Unless something unexpected happened, they must have all been slain by this ape demon!

“Is this luck, or has his strength surpassed my perception, making it impossible to gauge his depth?”

In Chang Xiangzhi’s mind, Six Ugly’s abilities were at most on par with these Zephyr demons. Even if he could defeat them, it would be a noisy, earth-shattering affair. Who would have imagined he could silently slaughter four, so quickly and quietly that it was hard to believe if not witnessed firsthand!

She began to believe she might yet escape alive with Six Ugly’s help.

Turning once more, Chang Xiangzhi raced through the night toward Dog Hill, expending all her energy...

Elsewhere, in a mountain hollow, Six Ugly targeted the last pursuing minor demon—a bug demon that tracked by scent. Unfortunately for it, as the other four minor demons died, it realized Six Ugly’s strength and took to the air, refusing to give Six Ugly any chance for ambush.

The bug demon flew rapidly, tracking Chang Xiangzhi’s scent and ignoring all else, moving straight ahead. Six Ugly, meanwhile, had chosen an excellent spot in advance, hiding in the grass and setting out his Golden Eye automaton, preparing his plan.

An automaton beast with no aura whatsoever was the perfect weapon against such a bug demon.

When the bug demon approached, a burst of firelight suddenly appeared not far ahead, sparkling vividly in the dark night, instantly drawing the bug demon’s attention.

Unlike other demons, bug demons did not react to firelight with fear and avoidance. Instead, they felt an inexplicable urge, desperately wanting to approach it. Even after taking demonic form, this ingrained instinct remained, compelling it to fly toward the flame.

Its caution was high; it first ensured nothing was amiss around the fire before approaching from afar. Dozens of eyes on its cheeks sparkled with bewildering colors as it circled the fire, hovering...

This trance would not last long—a quarter hour at most. Once the firelight satisfied the bug demon’s senses, it would leave, so Six Ugly had little time, but he needed little.

Just as the bug demon’s gaze turned hazy, the cliff beside the fire suddenly twisted, sprouting two legs and kicking the firewood into the air. Countless sparks flew toward the bug demon like rain.

The cliff, of course, was Golden Eye in disguise. As an automaton beast, it could fool the scent-driven bug demon simply by remaining motionless.

The bug demon responded quickly: as the firewood flew, it retreated sharply, putting distance between itself and the animated rock. Normally, not only would the flying wood miss, even Six Ugly’s hand-held crossbow would be unlikely to hit!

Unless...

Naturally, Six Ugly counted on that “unless.”

As the bug demon retreated, its focus wholly drawn to Golden Eye and the bonfire, Six Ugly seized the moment, leaping up and firing his crossbow. Suspended mid-air, he shot three bolts in succession, exhausting the newly fitted demon core. All three bolts struck true!

Every bolt hit the bug demon, knocking it far back and crashing it to the ground. When Six Ugly arrived, the bug demon had been torn in two by the bolts. Green fluid poured from its wounds, its body rapidly shrinking until it became a large, fat moth, dead and gone.

Six Ugly finally breathed easy. All pursuers had been eliminated, and for now, at least, he was safe.

The battle had not lasted long, but its toll was immense. Six Ugly had used every muscle in his body, relying on ambush tactics and the lethal power of his crossbow to slay five Zephyr demons. The intensity rivaled any direct confrontation, perhaps even surpassing it.

He tossed the remains into the Bottle Realm, made some adjustments, then climbed onto Golden Eye’s back, following Chang Xiangzhi’s trail.

The enemy was surely not limited to those slain. While the bodies were hidden, the traces of battle and lingering blood could not be concealed. When the next enemy arrived, it would likely be the cave master of Meishan whom Chang Xiangzhi had mentioned, and their strength would be greater yet. Six Ugly’s only option was to leave some misleading traces to delay pursuit.

So, before leaving, Six Ugly took out the porcelain vial gifted by Tu Zhu, pinched off a bit of the powder inside, crushed it, and scattered it in the air.

Far ahead, Chang Xiangzhi paused again. She could sense that the nearest pursuers had been wiped out entirely, elevating her opinion of Six Ugly another notch. Though his strength was lacking, his insight was exceptional, and he possessed methods she could not have imagined. He had easily dispatched five Zephyr demons without the slightest chaos.

Two hours after Six Ugly and Chang Xiangzhi departed, a burly demon stood at the site where the first minor demon was slain, frowning at the bloodstains. Four minor demons hovered around him, trembling with fear.

He was one of the Twenty-Nine Valleys’ lords, once a demon, now a monster—Leopard Demon Splendid!

Splendid now looked very different from when Chang Xiangzhi had last seen him: clad in a long robe, with a half armor over his chest, cloud shoes on his feet, a longsword in hand, and a general’s cap atop his head. Two long pheasant feathers fluttered in the wind, dazzling and flamboyant.

He turned to the leopard demons behind him and sneered, “Is this the extent of your Zephyr skills? Five Zephyrs in pursuit, not only failing to catch the quarry but losing their lives as well. Calling you useless would be generous; such incompetence, you’re barely fit to tend the fires, let alone lead a mountain!”

The one who had just returned to report lowered his head and cautiously replied, “My lord, there were other minor demons, not just the demoness.”

Splendid pointed at the ground and laughed, “Even if there were, they’d be at most sixth or seventh rank, just Zephyrs. Five against one—if you couldn’t win, you shouldn’t all be dead! Don’t tell me you encountered a monster; even so, you should have escaped, not ended like this.”

With such words, the four Zephyrs could only mumble, unable to respond.

Splendid sneered, then finally said, “Enough talk. Pursue at once, pairs of two. Chase this bold ape first. If you encounter the enemy, don’t engage—howl for me, I’ll tear him apart myself!”

One Zephyr was startled and advised, “My lord, we still have to capture the demoness. Shouldn’t we—”

“Is that a problem?” Splendid cut him off, arrogant. “Whether first or last, what difference does it make?”

The four Zephyrs had no choice but to nod and begin searching eastward.

Splendid followed behind them for a while, then his expression changed. He gazed east, and at the same time, three Zephyrs looked up suddenly, faces uncertain. After a pause, one said,

“My lord, this... this seems to be the scent of human spiritual medicine!”

“Not only is it spiritual medicine, it’s an extremely rare kind,” Splendid’s features twisted, fangs protruding, a faint layer of fur growing on his face as he grinned fiercely. “I know this scent well—it’s made by those so-called qi cultivators, highly effective... Who’d have thought, who’d have thought, that humans would get involved here!”

“Qi cultivators?” The Zephyrs were shocked, exchanging glances. One mustered the courage to ask, “Cave master, should we call for reinforcements? This is too strange—it could be a trap!”

“You think it’s a trap?” Splendid snorted, haughtily. “Human qi cultivators may be formidable, but without magical treasures, they aren’t necessarily my equals. Why fear them?”

With that, Splendid waved his claws and barked, “Go, pursue with all your might!”

Splendid was not merely brave but cunning. Though he spoke boldly, he did not act rashly; instead, he slowed his pace, traveling with the four Zephyrs, never advancing alone. The meaning was clear: if the humans were easy to handle, he would feast as he said, but if they proved formidable or this was indeed a trap, the four Zephyrs would serve as shields, buying him time to escape.

This, in fact, was Six Ugly’s aim...

With the four Zephyrs in tow, their speed was inevitably reduced, matching that of Six Ugly and Chang Xiangzhi. By dawn, the distance between the two groups had not closed but grown wider.

Six Ugly calculated quietly. Chang Xiangzhi’s speed and his own far exceeded expectations, perhaps thanks to Golden Eye, though he had not expected Chang Xiangzhi to be so swift. If they continued at this rate, they might reach Dog Hill in a day, saving half a day’s time.

Neither he nor Chang Xiangzhi rested.

Similarly, Splendid and the Zephyrs did not rest, nor did they use demon arts. Out of caution, Splendid conserved his power, keeping it stored within until he faced qi cultivators.

Yet the more they chased, the more uneasy Splendid felt...

When night fell again, Splendid finally realized the problem—demons fleeing for extended periods was reasonable, but for humans to possess such stamina was impossible.

If they were not running but using magic or artifacts, why were there no traces along the way? No surges of spiritual energy, not even the faintest sign of magic—how could that be explained?

Splendid’s expression darkened. He said nothing, but suddenly unleashed his demon arts, summoning a fierce wind and, with the four Zephyrs, swept forward in a storm of sand and stones!

A black gale roared like waves, rushing over the mountain peaks, startling the birds and alerting Six Ugly and Chang Xiangzhi ahead to the unusual disturbance...