Qiao San’s mischievous grin vanished, replaced by a cold, iron-hard face brimming with killing intent. His eyes blazed like stars as he drew his sword, stepping back with a chilling gaze. With a single kick, he sent the monstrous bull, spurting blood like an arrow, crashing to the ground!
“Die, you wretched beast! You forced my hand!” Qiao San flicked his wrist, and a dazzling sword blossom bloomed in the night sky, fleeting like an ephemeral flower—gone in an instant. The sharp blade, coiled around his specially made belt, was now revealed.
Unconsciously straightening from a slouched posture into a proud stance, Qiao San was no longer the audacious rogue or the courteous scholar. He had become a wandering swordsman, one with the night and its deadly aura!
“This cursed forest isn’t so terrifying,” Qiao San mused, hands behind his back, gazing at the crimson moon. Yet a haze of confusion clouded his eyes. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think himself invincible and couldn’t help wondering: “Could the legends about this forest be exaggerated?”
“Roar—” A fierce roar shattered Qiao San’s doubts, plunging him once again into extreme danger.
The seemingly lifeless body of the Yaoniu trembled, and then a creature with a bull’s head and a human body emerged before Qiao San, speaking in a human tongue with a surge of killing intent: “Human! I’ll tear you apart and devour you!”
“Ahh!” Now Qiao San understood why the forest was feared. As the monster transformed, the wounds on its chest vanished like spring snow, and even the blood spilled across the ground flew back into its body as if possessed of a spirit.
“Human, do you think mere mortal steel can harm Old Bull? Ha! Ha!” The transformed demon bull indeed looked like a human—not only talkative but also naturally conceited, having acquired the human flaw of arrogance effortlessly.
Although Qiao San revealed a hidden side of himself, he still retained his rascal’s nature. When the demon bull, now snorting flames from its nostrils, charged forward, the previous image of a transcendent master, standing aloof with black hair flying, instantly reverted to his original rogue self.
“Mommy! Time to run—swoosh!” This time, Qiao San fled with even more determination. Employing human martial arts to their fullest, he dashed through the branches without touching the ground, escaping more than ten zhang in a blink.
“Boom—” A fireball crashed onto the spot where Qiao San had just stood. The towering ancient tree burst into flames and collapsed. In an instant, the demon bull crossed over twenty paces, its scorching breath seemingly blowing onto the human’s neck.
“Dang! Dang!” With nowhere left to run, Qiao San steeled himself and charged forward instead of retreating. His sword flashed, landing eighteen strikes on the monster, each wave of sword qi surging like an endless river.
“Gaa! Gaa!” The yao ox felt as if someone were tickling it. Then, shaking its head, its two horns grew enormous, like two towering trees atop its skull.
A sweeping strike of immense power sent a whirlwind roaring through the air. Amid shattered wood and falling leaves, Qiao San was hurled into the sky. Against such overwhelming spiritual power, he, a mere mortal, had no chance of fighting back!
The bull demon sneered proudly, then—turned and fled. Its escape speed far surpassed its earlier chase of Qiao San. No longer the clumsy ox, it now moved more like a cunning fox.
“What?!” Qiao San was shocked again. Lucky to have survived, he nearly burst into tears. Never before had he felt such affection for his own kind—his eyes fell upon a human figure emerging from the mist!
“Brother, help…” Having wandered into the demonic realm, it was already a miracle that someone like Qiao San could still remain standing. Like a drowning man spotting a lifeline, he happily sprinted toward the figure in the fog.
The distance between them rapidly closed, and as the rogue neared, he finally exhaled in relief.
A man—a gaunt middle-aged figure. So wonderful! Not a flickering ghost, nor a beast-headed monster. To Qiao San, the human features of the stranger were incredibly comforting.
“Brother…” Just as Qiao San was about to politely bow, the stranger suddenly raised one hand. Before Qiao San could finish speaking, an invisible force “pulled” him into the stranger’s grasp from over ten feet away.
“Gaa! Gaa! A living human! Perfect!” The stranger laughed joyfully, but his sharp cackle sent Qiao San’s instincts plummeting into dread. “I was just worried about what to give Brother Tiger and Brother Bear as a gift, and here you come right to me, gaa! Gaa!”
It turned out he wasn’t human at all, but a demon far more terrifying than the previous ones—a powerful yaomo who had cultivated a demonic body!
Before the laughter faded, the demon leapt into the air, riding a black cloud envied by all half-demons.
“Ugh… This time I’m done for!” After enduring numerous trials, Qiao San still fell into the demon’s hands. His fate was indeed cruel. His vision darkened, and in sorrow, he was gently struck unconscious by the demon.
※※※※※※※
On the misty border of the Yao realm stood a solitary mountain, towering into the clouds, barren and unique. Midway up the slope, thick with yao energy, lay the monster’s lair.
As a crowd of monsters eagerly awaited, two dark clouds rolled in. At the front flew the burly tiger monster, and behind him, the broad-shouldered bear spirit, each holding a female spirit, descending through the clouds.
“Brother Tiger! Brother Bear! Congratulations! Didn’t expect you to return so late?” said the demon who had captured Qiao San, stepping forward to greet them. No one had anticipated that even capturing two minor woodland ghosts would take so long.
“That damned bear!” the bear spirit cursed his own ancestors without hesitation, lifting the young female ghost in his hand. “I never thought those two little ghosts actually had any power. Especially that seductive witch—I nearly fell for her tricks!”
Ferocious roars echoed through the mountain ranges. The red moon above had vanished unnoticed, and the sky, now filled with dark clouds, made the Yaojie realm especially eerie and terrifying.
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