Huang Mei sneered. "If you acted like that on Tu Hun Star and the other cultivators saw you, you'd instantly have every last one of them hating you. What kind of place is this, anyway? You're putting on airs like some nouveau riche landowner. Isn't this a bit too indulgent? Those Hurricane Hall bastards are a pack of bandits. They specialize in preying on lone travelers or weak starfarers. It's just that they ran into you, a tough nut to crack, and got themselves—"
Before Huang Mei could finish, Xu Yi sprang to his feet, abandoning even the soft couch he'd just laid out.
"You've lost your mind, kid? Running outside at a time like this is too dan—"
Before Huang Mei could finish, he fell completely silent.
A vast horde of strange beasts, formed from piles of stark-white bones and shaped like people, animals, and plants, was closing in from every direction.
Fortunately, Xu Yi had reacted quickly. The beast horde's encirclement was still hundreds of yards away. That had been far too close for comfort.
The shock and dread that gripped Xu Yi were far greater than Huang Mei's.
Though he'd hidden in an underground cave, curled beneath the blankets, drinking wine and eating meat, he'd never let down his guard for a moment. His senses had been fully extended the entire time.
Who could've known the beast horde would get within a thousand yards before he noticed? It hit him then: his perception range for these beasts was only a thousand yards.
He leaped out of the cave and kept moving without slowing, rising straight into the air. But many of the beasts had wings and swooped directly at him. He looked up, and the sky was blotted out in every direction.
"Holy shit!"
Xu Yi cried