Intimidation

Zhang Ping ran wildly through the woods, but because it was already dark and the surrounding trees were tall and foliage dense, visibility was very low.

She dared not light a fire, much less use any light, for fear of being discovered by the pursuers behind her, so she could only keep running forward with her head down.

Little did she know that her escape had led her into the territory of other Soul Beasts.

A one-eyed Netherworld Wolf silently gazes at its prey that has invaded its territory, appreciating the bounty of nature.

Its body, over 1.6 meters tall, almost completely blended into the night, except for one bright green eye that emitted a terrifying light, inspiring awe in those who beheld it.

Its body brushed past the grass without making a sound, quickly but silently chasing after Zhang Ping.

The hunt has begun.

After running for a while, Zhang Ping finally couldn't hold on any longer and was forced to stop.

She bent over, panting heavily, her heart pounding, and her head feeling unwell due to lack of oxygen.

As the effects of the adrenaline wore off, an overwhelming sense of fatigue washed over Zhang Ping, causing her to sway and nearly fall to the ground.

This was the moment when she was at her most exhausted.

Just then, the hunter in the darkness seized the opportunity and leaped out from behind his prey, like a dark shadow looming over Zhang Ping was too oblivious to notice.

The poor girl was about to die.

Suddenly, a tiny silver light flashed, passing silently through the air, like lightning striking a void.

Its angle was extremely tricky, entering through the left ear of the Netherworld Wolf and going straight into its brain.

The Netherworld Wolf's eyes rolled back instantly, and it collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if all its strength had been drained, startling Zhang Ping.

She quickly turned around and discovered a huge gray wolf convulsing on the ground.

It's not dead yet.

--"rustling"

A figure appeared as if floating out of the grass.

Zhang Ping was startled at first and subconsciously took a step back, but she quickly recognized the person who had come.

"Zhou You?"

Zhou You remained silent, but silently manifested his Martial Soul [Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella] and approached her.

Zhang Ping's unease reached its peak. She stepped back again, and the things she had been pondering suddenly surfaced in her mind: those doubts, those inconsistencies that were hard to explain.

'What does he want to do?' Zhang Ping wondered, filled with fear.

Zhou You remained expressionless. Yue Guang filtered through the sparse branches and leaves, casting a pale halo around him, making him appear like the Grim Reaper.

--"choke"!

Zhang Ping's heart skipped a beat, and she was horrified to find that Zhou You had drawn his Umbrella Sword and was moving even closer.

'He wants to kill me?' Zhang Ping couldn't help but wonder. 'Why?'

'Did he know I discovered his secret, so he wanted to kill me to silence me?'

Driven by fear, Zhang Ping covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. She retreated again and again until her back hit a giant tree, leaving her with nowhere to go.

She had run too fast and too hastily, and her fear had exhausted her strength. At this moment, Zhang Ping could no longer muster any strength to escape.

Zhang Ping was filled with despair. She wanted to beg for mercy, but she didn't know what she could do to save her life, so she could only start talking nonsense.

"I know nothing."

I didn't say anything.

I didn't see the rabbit.

I don't know why you're going to the battlefield.

I have no doubts about you.

"Please, please let me go, waaaah, I don't want to die..."

Just then, Zhou You slowly raised his Umbrella Sword. Under the Yue Guang, the blade looked like a silver line, and in Zhang Ping's eyes, it even had a dangerous beauty.

She closed her eyes, awaiting the arrival of that final moment.

A silver light fell.

--"puff"!

Blood splattered, and the warm scent of blood spread, staining the surroundings with an indelible stench of blood.

A few seconds later, a white Soul Ring floated out from the wolf's corpse and drifted towards Zhou You without his summons.

This time, Zhou You did not refuse. Instead, he wrapped his hands in a layer of Qi, reached out and grabbed it, holding the Soul Ring in his hand as if it were a real object.

If it doesn't absorb Soul Ring, this thing can exist in the environment for about an hour before being decomposed by nature.

The energy, along with other information or matter, will be dispersed back into this world.

However, before that, Zhou You had at least an hour to study it.

Soul Rings are objects constructed purely of energy and are generally inaccessible by direct contact, but can be touched using Soul Power.

As the murderer of this Soul Beast, the Soul Ring will have a strong desire to merge into the Soul Master's body. However, as everyone knows, Soul Masters who have not reached the maximum level cannot absorb Soul Rings, otherwise ominous things will happen.

It's hard to say whether this characteristic of Soul Rings is a form of revenge bestowed by Soul Beasts before their death, a way of locking onto the murderer.

Therefore, to ensure complete safety, the Qi attached to Zhou You's hands was constructed using Spell Formula called [Escape Light], which possesses excellent exclusivity. The energy in the Soul Ring is firmly isolated outside the skin, making it difficult for it to penetrate.

Only then did Zhou You have time to look at Zhang Ping was leaning against a big tree, with her eyes closed, looking like she was waiting to die.

She was so still at that moment that she seemed like a real dead person, leaving Zhou You speechless.

After a long while, Zhang Ping finally realized that she was still alive and opened her eyes shakily.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Zhou You dissecting the corpse of the Netherworld Wolf, and the foul smell of blood almost filled her nostrils.

But Zhang Ping still took a deep drag, and a strange sense of happiness rose within her.

Ah, this is what it feels like to be alive.

Zhou You focused intently on the dissection for a while and finally determined that this Soul Beast did not have a [Soul Core].

The physical structure of the Netherworld Wolf seems to be not much different from that of an ordinary wolf, except that its bones, tendons, muscles, and the functions of its various organs are more powerful.

Nourished by Soul Power, these flesh and blood have relatively high nutritional value; in modern terms, they have high energy density.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any professional tools with him, otherwise he really wanted to cut off a piece of flesh to taste what real Soul Beast was like.

At this moment, Zhang Ping had regained some strength and was carefully standing up.

"You." Zhou You suddenly spoke.

Zhang Ping froze, too afraid to move.

Zhou You stood up, shook the blood off his hands, Air-Splitting Palm a flick of his palm, the stubborn bloodstains instantly detached from his skin, restoring his hands to their smoothness.

He turned his head and looked at Zhang Ping with a cold gaze, making the latter very nervous.

"You saw nothing about what happened before, you know nothing about it, don't ask, and don't even think about it, understand?"

Zhang Ping nodded vigorously, her face showing an expression of relief at surviving a disaster.

With the tear stains on her face, she gave off a pitiful, tearful look, like a pear blossom in the rain.

Zhou You felt a rare pang of guilt; he admitted that he had been deliberately trying to scare her.

The main problem was that he revealed too many flaws in front of Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow, and it was unclear how much Zhang Ping herself knew.

It seems that Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow knew everything, and she probably knew it too.

This is tricky. We can't really kill her, can we? We can only scare her a little; that will at least work for a while.

At this moment, a vast surge of Soul Power emanated from the battlefield once again. Zhou You sensed that two extremely powerful but unfamiliar Soul Powers had appeared.

He knew that this drama was finally coming to an end.