Xianli understood what I meant as well. In the midst of her frantic rush, she immediately condensed a spherical energy mass and blasted it into the hole, which had already been crudely concealed!
Boom!
White flames erupted all the way from the entrance to the depths of the tree hollow. Yet there was no enraged roar from any monster being awakened inside. Instead, a cry of "Ouch!" startled both Xianli and me.
My heart sank, and Xianli's eyes widened as well. Clearly, the human voice had frightened her.
With a whoosh, just as we fled, a shadow shot out of the tree hollow and landed atop the tree, looking down at us.
It was a frail old man around sixty or seventy years old. He was plain-looking, but his movements showed that he was no weakling. He was also carrying a burning beast hide covered in fur, and now he stood atop the tree, hopping mad.
"Who was it? Who blew up your grandpa's nest!?" the old man roared, already turning his gaze toward us as we fled for our lives.
I thought, This is bad. Still, I hurriedly explained, "Senior! We were being pursued by fellow cultivators, so in our desperation, we tried to lure out a fierce beast to help us escape. We never expected this to be Senior's dwelling. We're truly sorry. If Senior suffered any losses, this junior will certainly compensate you in full! Of course, that'll have to wait until this junior escapes danger first!"
"Hm? You're not afraid at a time like this, and you even dare haggle with your grandpa?" The old man chased after us like an owl.
Xianli immediately burst into tears. "Dong Ren! What should we do? Didn't you say it was a beast's lair? How did we blast out