“West?” Meng Qi felt strange, as if they were also going to travel west, but with their current strength, they would only be snacks for the monsters.
At this time, Zhang Yuanshan and others had finished interrogating the other two minor demons, confirming the previous statements and obtaining intelligence about nearby demons.
“There are no demon creatures within a hundred miles around here. The nearest are the group at Bi Bo Mountain, so they arrived first. Other directions each have several caves of demon kings, who should be rushing here at full speed. Further away, any demon creatures that can see the radiant light in the sky will also gradually come,” Zhang Yuanshan said, having found no direction where the demon creatures were weaker.
The “demon kings” they mentioned were adopted from the minor demons’ terminology and had nothing to do with true great demons or demon kings. After all, “Bi Bo Wang” Bochad reigned supreme within an eight-hundred-mile radius, dominating the region. Meng Qi felt deeply about this: the small demon who once couldn’t even capture ordinary humans had now reached such a level, daring to boast about fighting the Great Sage for eight hundred rounds. Truly, fortunes change with time!
The world changes; time erodes all.
Luo Shengyi was not too worried: “Their target is this temple, the ‘Great Rayin Temple’ plaque. As long as we conceal our presence and traces well, we should be able to avoid the storm smoothly.”
No matter how many demons there were, could they cover the entire vast land? Could they fill every corner within a hundred-mile radius?
Moreover, they weren’t specifically searching for Meng Qi’s group. There wouldn’t be much delay along the way. As long as they hid in secret places and used demon blood and fur to mask their human scent, they could watch the demons pass by and head to this temple.
“I always feel this death mission won’t be this simple,” Jiang Zhiwei murmured softly but said no more. Given the current situation, this was the best choice.
She squatted down to collect the minor demons’ blood and fur, the best substances to mask human scent. Since these were easily obtainable, no one had exchanged for them.
Ruan Yushu frowned slightly, instinctively repulsed by the smelly demon fur, unwilling to smear such substances on herself. However, she wasn’t a fussy person. Understanding the importance of the matter, she muttered a few words to herself before applying the blood and sticking some fur on her body.
Standing close to her, Meng Qi heard clearly what she was grumbling: “Stinky tofu smells bad too, but it’s actually delicious…”
Meng Qi wiped cold sweat from his brow and followed their example to conceal his presence.
Soon, everyone was ready. They took a deep look at the “Great Rayin Temple” plaque on the ground before turning to leave.
Even though this Tathagata might not be the real one, anyone who could claim Buddhahood in the Journey to the West world must be an extremely powerful being. Otherwise, how could he have intimidated the great sages before his parinirvana?
His temple’s plaque wouldn’t be ordinary! Regardless of usage, just exchanging for it would require substantial merit!
However, after examining it for a long time, they found nothing special about the plaque. They could only sigh at their low cultivation level and temporarily abandon it. After all, carrying it might attract demons, possibly even emitting radiant light from time to time. When that happened, how could the demons fail to find them?
A half-step beyond-scenery-level demon could be easily killed by the team’s strength and coordination. But what if two or three came at once? What if Bochad returned in time? What if other beyond-scenery-level demon lords arrived one after another? What if a Law-body demon rushed over from afar on clouds?
Birds die for food, humans die for wealth. Only those who can control their untimely greed can live longer!
Leaving the temple, Meng Qi and others hurried westward, proceeding cautiously to avoid meeting demons coming from the opposite direction.
About an hour and a half later, having traveled far from the temple, the group dared not continue walking, fearing encounters with patrolling or night-hunting demons. They found an uninhabited cave and hid inside—Ruan Yushu’s emerald ring contained food and clean water, and Jiang Zhiwei and others had also prepared accordingly, so they didn’t need to stay near water sources.
Apart from Ge Hua’en and Fu Zhenzhen, Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan took turns keeping watch in pairs while the others seized the time to rest and recover.
That night, several powerful demonic presences passed by, even brushing past the cave. Minor demons were countless. Fortunately, all their targets were the temple, and they paid no attention elsewhere, failing to discover Meng Qi’s group.
At dawn, as sunlight rose from the east, a ray of light entered the cave, bringing brightness and vitality.
“The second day,” Meng Qi sighed, turning to Ge Hua’en. “Divine again for fortune or misfortune; there might have been changes.”
Ge Hua’en nodded, taking out several ancient copper coins and first divining their current fortune or misfortune.
The coins were tossed, flipping in midair before landing with a crisp clinking sound.
Bang!
One copper coin directly shattered!
“Not good!” Ge Hua’en’s eyes narrowed, and he cried out loudly.
The cave ground suddenly cracked, and a reddish snake-like creature emerged. It had no eyes, was as thick as a water barrel, covered in mucus, and opened its mouth wide, swallowing half of Ge Hua’en’s body.
“Earthworm monster!” Meng Qi stepped forward, activating the Eight-Nine Mystical Art and Golden Bell Cover. His left hand reached directly into the giant earthworm’s mouth, prying it open to resist the corrosive effects and prevent Ge Hua’en from being swallowed.
At the same time, his unsheathed “Whisper” directly slashed at the earthworm monster!
Jiang Zhiwei reacted fastest, her long sword thrusting out, slicing sideways and cutting the giant earthworm into two halves.
Pah! The lower half of the earthworm fell to the ground, bounced once, grew a new head, and fled outside, shouting loudly: “Great King, they are here!”
The half still biting Ge Hua’en grew a lower body, splitting into two earthworm monsters.
A flash of blade light, the escaping one was vertically split, convulsing briefly before being unable to perform the previous resurrection trick again!
Great King? They? Meng Qi had no time to be smug about his cultural knowledge, his scalp tingled, and his heart tightened.
Had this earthworm monster secretly followed them from the temple?
Although it hadn’t transformed, it possessed innate earth-moving ability, explaining why Meng Qi hadn’t discovered it!
Although Bi Bo Pond was far away, hadn’t Bochad finished visiting his family a few days ago and started returning?
Otherwise, with his power, he couldn’t have arrived within a single night!
Or maybe it was another cave’s demon king? However, being able to rank first, it was likely a beyond-scenery-level demon!
Meng Qi pulled out his hand without hesitation and drew out the Zishang.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to let Jiang Zhiwei use it, but he himself wasn’t the master of Zishang. He could barely use it after communicating with it for half a year. Letting Jiang Zhiwei use it wouldn’t work either.
Fu Zhenzhen and Qi Zhengyan rushed forward, one going to rescue Ge Hua’en, while the other swung his dragon-patterned crimson-gold sword diagonally, turning snow and ice into sword qi to chase the escaping earthworm monster.
Dragon Weiyi, the earthworm monster trembled and prostrated itself on the ground, allowing the sword energy to strike its body, slicing it into several segments, each of which froze into ice.
“Waaah! How dare you kill my brother, the King of Bi Bo!” A monstrous figure with a fish’s head and a human body stood atop the emerald waves, its roar echoing like crashing waves through the air.
Its skin was pitch black, covered in fish scales, with bulging eyes and no lower lip. Its head was enormous, large enough to match three normal demon heads. It held a steel fork in each hand, with countless waves swirling around them.
On its feet were the Lotus Fiber Cloud-Treading Boots, clad in the Golden Chainmail Armor, and wearing the Phoenix-Winged Purple Gold Helmet, mimicking the Great Sage to perfection. Yet, its overly dark skin and disproportionately large head rendered its appearance awkward and laughable.
Bochad, like a celestial deity in the sky, did not descend with the waves. He thrust his steel fork directly downward, and an emerald wave morphed into the shape of the fork, surging fiercely toward the depths.
This wave weighed more than a thousand jin, collapsing surrounding airflows, denting the ground, and locking onto everyone from afar.
Meng Qi channeled his true energy, fully exerting himself to slash with Zishang.
Purple-red sword qi pierced the air, causing the ground to crack in response. Nearby trees shed leaves in neat slices.
Puh!
The waves scattered, the purple-red light dissipated, the sword energy sliced through the emerald waves, shattering the tip of the “steel fork,” yet it too dispersed, unable to halt the ensuing tide.
A sword light blazed, eclipsing all brilliance around it. Between heaven and earth, only this solitary sword remained—like a silken ribbon stretching across the sky, or a celestial rainbow descending from beyond.
Pah!
Jiang Zhiwei struck the emerald waves, and time seemed to pause for an instant.
The waves completely dissipated, and Jiang Zhiwei flew backward, spitting blood, severely injured.
Seeing Bochad preparing to strike again with another fork, Fu Zhenzhen abandoned rescuing Ge Hua’en, instead aiming her demon-revealing mirror at Bochad.
Bochad’s reflection in the mirror stood motionless like a stone statue, the steel fork halfway lowered. Even the emerald waves supporting its feet began to retreat.
At this height, Zhang Yuanshan and others couldn’t attack, and ordinary projectiles would certainly be ineffective. Therefore, without hesitation, Ruan Yushu took out a demon-piercing arrow and forcefully launched it.
A crimson-red light, chasing demon qi, struck Bochad before the demon-revealing mirror’s effect vanished.
The demonic aura swirling around it quickly ignited, turning into droplets of fiery rain that cascaded down, setting ablaze the weeds and streams.
The golden chainmail was breached, the black fish scales were pierced, and a large wound appeared on Bochad’s chest and abdomen, exposing his internal organs.
Bochad screamed in pain, its body still sluggish, not yet fully recovering from the demon-revealing mirror’s effects.
Meng Qi poured his spirit entirely into Zishang, his head throbbing painfully, blood flowing from his eyes and nose, as he slashed again.
Purple-red sword qi leaped, splitting high-altitude clouds one after another, silencing the wind.
Zheng!
A metallic clashing sound erupted as the purple-red sword qi pierced through that large wound into Bochad’s body, penetrating straight through, with residual sword qi ravaging its internal organs.
“Ahh!” Bochad screamed painfully, its sharp voice drilling into everyone’s ears, causing their heads to ache.
Waves surged, wrapping it and flying upward, fleeing in disarray.
Even so, it wasn’t killed?
Beyond-scenery-level demons were truly terrifying!
Meng Qi’s team exerted all their strength, yet they only succeeded in inflicting serious injuries on Bochad. If it had any hidden healing elixirs, it could recover within two or three days and return to hunt them down again!
“Leave here first!” Already exposed, they naturally couldn’t stay. Meng Qi grabbed the severely injured Jiang Zhiwei, carrying her on his back, enduring his throbbing head pain, continuing westward.
Zhang Yuanshan carried Ge Hua’en, while Qi Zhengyan, Ruan Yushu, and others followed closely behind.
Ge Hua’en and Jiang Zhiwei were severely injured. Fu Zhenzhen’s “Life-Saving Sutra” energy could only stabilize their conditions. They had to consume their own Da Huan Dan to recover combat effectiveness quickly. Otherwise, in the face of constant dangers, their lives would be at serious risk.
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