Heaven's Gate Pass, Azure Cliff City.
The city's magic array had been completed. Squads of the Blood Fiend Army and martial artists who had volunteered to stay patrolled the battlements, watching for demon activity.
Clad in bright red battle armor, Li Hongzhuang climbed onto the battlements. She gazed at the horizon outside the pass, her brows tightly knitted.
"It's been two days. Why hasn't that child come back yet..."
Worry filled her heart.
Though the Demon Suppression Division had issued warrants for those three Demon Kings, and they had most likely fled their lairs, there was no guarantee they weren't lurking nearby, where Li Hao might run into them.
An ocean of blood lay between them, and the land outside the pass was demon territory, fraught with danger.
"Li Ye."
After pondering for a long while, Li Hongzhuang suddenly spoke, summoning her deputy.
She planned to dispatch an elite rider to scout the three Demon Kings' lairs.
A middle-aged deputy walked toward her at her call, but just then, cries of alarm rang out in the distance.
The deputy and Li Hongzhuang instinctively tensed. Both looked toward the cries, then followed the soldiers' gazes toward the eastern side outside the pass.
A black speck had appeared in the blue sky over there. It gradually grew larger, flying toward them like a floating hill.
"A demon attack?"
Li Hongzhuang's expression shifted slightly. She took several steps forward, pressed her palm against the brick parapet, and stared into the distance.
As she focused her gaze and made out the shape of that dark silhouette, her solemn expression froze.
"H-Hao?"
Whoosh!
Li Hao flew swiftly toward the pass. Behind him, numerous demon corpses were bound and dragged along by the Fishing Line, floating below his feet like kites and pulling the line taut.