Bai Zhirou said patiently, “I don't want to eat your ox! Summon it out so we can see how it reacts to the village.”
Zhao Ran finally realized his misunderstanding and let out a silly chuckle.
Immediately, a faint light shone from the beast-taming ring on his wrist.
“Moo—”
A massive old yellow ox appeared out of thin air before everyone.
However, before Zhao Ran could even speak—
The old yellow ox's four legs buckled violently. It began to tremble uncontrollably, collapsing onto the ground with a shiver while letting out whimpers of terror.
Everyone knit their brows in deep thought.
Demon beasts were extremely hierarchical regarding bloodlines, with higher bloodlines naturally exuding an innate pressure over lower ones.
Could a demon beast with an exceptionally high bloodline have visited this village?
Just as everyone was lost in thought...
A slightly emaciated old man leaning on a cane walked slowly toward them, supported by a sturdy man.
The old man's cloudy eyes scanned the group, his voice raspy: “You all look unfamiliar. May I ask what brings you to our Daniu Village?”
Gu Changqing took an imperceptible step forward, cupped his hands with a smile, and said, “Greetings, Elder. We are students from the academy in town. Taking advantage of our break, we came into these mountains for an outing and hoped to hunt some wild game to satisfy our appetites.”
The village chief's cloudy eyes lingered briefly on their ethereal demeanor and exquisite clothing, then he nodded: “Ah, young masters from the academy. If you don't mind, you may rest in our village for the night.”
Everyone exchanged glances.
The situation in Daniu Village was more complex than anticipated. Finding a place to stay first would make night investigations much easier, which was the safest approach.
“Then we shall trouble you, Village Chief,” Gu Changqing smiled.
...
The village chief led the group to a quiet, secluded courtyard at the tail end of the village.
The courtyard appeared long abandoned, overgrown with wild weeds.
Pushing open the creaking wooden door, the village chief explained, “This used to be Hunter Zhang's home. A while back, he went into the mountains to hunt and unfortunately fell victim to wild beasts, so it's been vacant ever since. If you young masters don't mind, please make do here for the night.”
Gu Changqing cupped his hands again in thanks, unobtrusively slipping a piece of broken silver from his robes into the chief's hand: “Thank you for the arrangements, Village Chief.”
The village chief waved his hands repeatedly in refusal, but ultimately accepted it “reluctantly.”
A stiff smile cracked across his shriveled old face: “Then please rest up. Later tonight, I'll have someone bring over some food for you all.”
After the village chief departed...
The disciples dispersed from the room, using the courtyard as the center to search the village once more.
However, after searching for a long time, there was still no progress.
No demonic aura, nor any traces of demon beast activity.
They endured until the sun began to set, yielding nothing.
Many disciples began to suspect that perhaps this truly was just a natural disaster and had nothing to do with monsters at all.
In her mind, Jiang Ye watched these boring exploration story lines and yawned repeatedly.
Damn it, I hate these puzzle-solving and map-running quests the most.
He really missed the days when the skip button still existed.
He still preferred skipping through all the dialogue and cutscenes. Even if he suddenly got teleported to an unfamiliar location surrounded by a bunch of unknown NPCs without knowing any of the plot's context, it didn't matter.
He only needed to know one thing:
He was about to start a slaughter.
...
Just as everyone was at their wit's end...
Knock, knock, knock.
The courtyard door was knocked.
Qi Linger reacted lightning-fast, waving her hand to drop the soundproofing formation covering the yard.
Chu Qianfeng stepped forward to pull open the door.
Standing outside was a man dressed in coarse hemp garments.
In his hands, he held a large wooden platter carrying a dozen dry, hard flatbreads and several large bowls of clear water.
The man gave a simple, honest smile, revealing a mouth of yellow teeth: “Young masters, this is the food the chief had me bring over. Our village is poor, so please forgive our humble hospitality.”
As he spoke, he stepped into the room holding the wooden platter and set the food on the table.
The instant he placed down the tray!
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the man's previously honest and simple expression suddenly turned grave.
Using a trembling finger, he quickly dipped it into a bowl of water.
Then, on the dust-covered wooden table, he swiftly wrote four words:
【BEWARE OF DEMONIC SECT】
After writing it, the water traces evaporated rapidly.
The man resumed his dull, honest smile once more, bowing and scraping as he said, “Please rest early, everyone. I'll be taking my leave now.”
With that, the man turned and left in a hurry.
Inside the room, the disciples of Sword Peak exchanged glances, their eyes instantly becoming razor-sharp.
Chu Qianfeng slammed the door shut with a bang.
Qi Linger formed hand seals with both hands.
Buzz!
A Tier Three isolation formation instantly encompassed the entire room.
But that wasn't all. She threw out four formation plates in succession, setting up linked concealment and defensive formations in the four corners of the room, turning the entire space into an iron fortress.
Everyone understood now.
There was no demonic aura because it wasn't a demon beast at work at all!
It was demonic cultivators!
Gu Changqing sneered, sending a voice transmission to everyone: “It seems all the strangeness in Daniu Village is the work of the demonic sect behind the scenes.”
Qi Linger nodded in agreement: “Exactly! If the demonic sect used evil arts to drain the earth qi, then everything makes sense.”
Gu Changqing pondered for a moment, his eyes narrowing: “Since the demonic sect has secretly controlled the village chief and the others, this lodging they arranged definitely has a trap!”
“Junior Sister Qi, your mastery of formations is the highest among us. Search carefully to see if these demonic cultivators set up any underhanded tricks!”
Everyone acted immediately, beginning a carpet search inside the room.
Walls, roof, under the beds...
Yet, they still found nothing.
When everyone turned back in confusion...
They witnessed an outrageous scene.
Qi Linger, a True Disciple of Sword Peak, was currently squatting on the ground.
Holding her crystal-clear treasure tool flying sword in her hands...
She was frantically digging a hole like a gopher?!
Black lines covered everyone's faces.
Chu Qianfeng couldn't hold back any longer and asked via voice transmission: “Junior Sister Qi... what are you doing? Even if you want to dig into the ground, why not just use true qi to blast it open? Why dig by hand?”
Qi Linger rolled her eyes and glared at him as if looking at an idiot, transmitting back: “Are you stupid?!”
“Since the demonic cultivators set an ambush in advance, the trap definitely wouldn't be on the surface! If there's a formation, it's most likely an activation-type killing array! If I use true qi to scan or violently destroy the ground, it'll detonate immediately!”
Realization dawned upon everyone.
“So that's why! Sister Qi's wisdom is profound!”
“As expected of Sword Peak's number one formation expert!”
And so...
In this bizarre atmosphere...
A group of Azure Mystic Sect sword cultivators—ethereal, otherworldly, and possessing the air of immortal adept masters—
All drew their beloved precious swords.
Sticking their rear ends in the air, they dug into the dirt beneath the room like a pack of hardworking miners.
If an outsider saw this scene, their jaw would surely drop to the floor.
Finally, hard work paid off.
After a ke, Qi Linger noticed something unusual. She carefully cleared away the soil.
A formation emitting an eerie, blood-red glow was exposed before everyone's eyes!
Gu Changqing drew in a sharp breath and asked via voice transmission, “Junior Sister Qi, can you resolve this formation?”
Qi Linger looked at it closely for a moment, a smug smile tugging at the corners of her mouth: “Piece of cake.”
“Though it's a Tier Three Peak array, the person who set it clearly lacks skill.”
“Watch me give these demonic scumbags a little taste of Sword Peak's special shock.”
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