Bai Shuo turned to him, seeing his brows knitted as he scanned the dark surroundings. His gaze was unusually solemn, unknowingly cold and intense.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Shuo’s heart skipped a beat.
“There’s a foul smell here,” Fan Yue said, his voice muffled as he kept a firm grip on her.
“Smell? What smell?” Bai Shuo took a sniff of the air around them. “I don’t smell anything.”
She looked around and, seeing nothing unusual, gently flicked her fingers against Fan Yue’s forehead in a teasing gesture.
“Don’t worry, my good disciple. This place is the Foreign City, remember? Everyone who enters here is reduced to little more than a half-immortal…” She raised a fist confidently. “Even if a monster does show up, it probably wouldn’t be able to beat your master!”
Not to mention, she thought to herself, with you—the biggest “monster” of them all—right by my side, what do I have to fear? As she muttered this, the flute in her hand flickered again, pointing eastward. Without hesitation, she leapt forward.
“It’s A-Zhao! Mumu, come on! We’ve found your senior apprentice!”
Fan Yue’s expression tensed as he prepared to follow, but just then, a gust of foul wind swept by, and a shadowy figure lunged at him.
In that split second, Bai Shuo’s figure had already vanished into the night.
* * *
“A-Zhao!” Bai Shuo called as she followed the shadow’s trail, her bamboo flute trembling in her hand as she leaped from rooftop to rooftop.
Suddenly, the figure she had been chasing vanished. She came to an abrupt stop, realizing too late that she had unknowingly wandered into a dead-end alley.
“Mumu?” She turned, only to find herself alone—Fan Yue was no longer behind her!
A chill ran down her spine as the branches and leaves rustled in the ominous silence of the night. The street was eerily still.
“A-Zhao?” Bai Shuo took a few cautious steps backward, whispering into the darkness.
No one answered her. This can’t be right. The flute had been responding all this time, hadn’t it? But then she realized with horror that the flute in her hand was trembling not out of joy, but… fear!
A cold sweat broke out on Bai Shuo’s forehead as she recalled what A-Zhao had once told her.
“A-Shuo, this bamboo flute was crafted with the energy from my spiritual platform. It can not only sense my presence but also alert you to the presence of evil spirits…”
Just then, a loud thud sounded behind her. Something massive had landed directly behind her. Bai Shuo froze, afraid to turn around. Lowering her gaze, she saw a large shadow standing right there, looming over her. It breathed heavily, its putrid breath chilling her neck.
Bai Shuo’s mind raced as she suddenly swung her qiankun pouch over her shoulder, flinging it behind her. A hundred talismans burst forth from the bag, wrapping around the creature. Without looking back, she leapt into the air.
There was a deafening explosion as the creature roared, tearing through the talismans. One enormous claw shot upward, grabbing her leg mid-air.
Bai Shuo plummeted downward, her body twisting as she fell, and finally, she caught a glimpse of her assailant. Every hair on her body stood on end.
The monstrous figure holding her was nearly six feet tall, its face oozing with blood and pus. Bulging eyes protruded grotesquely, its face unrecognizable as human. It had a massive tail, and four extra limbs jutted out from its sides, one claw clutching her tightly while the others shredded through the remaining talismans.
What kind of ghastly creature is this?
“Mumu! Help!” Bai Shuo finally screamed in terror.
Her shout seemed to provoke the beast further, and its other three claws stretched out toward her, poised to tear her apart.
Oh no, this is the end! Bai Shuo squeezed her eyes shut in fear. But just then, a thunderous roar pierced the air, and instead of being torn apart, Bai Shuo felt herself suddenly thrown upward. When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure charging out of nowhere, wielding a thick staff that smashed into the beast’s arm, severing it clean off.
The creature let out an agonizing howl as blood spurted from its stump. Screeching, it fled into the shadows.
A familiar pair of arms caught Bai Shuo as she fell from the air.
“Master!” Fan Yue’s clothes were soaked in blood, and he clutched her tightly, trembling in fear himself as he held her.
The warmth of his embrace washed over her, calming the terror that had wracked her body. Trembling, she glanced past his shoulder, her eyes wide with shock as she took in the sight of the person who had swung the staff at the monster.
“You… y-you… what are you doing here?”
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