The Encounter

Even with someone in tow, Lin Cheng still traveled at a remarkable speed.

In just a few breaths, he had already covered a great distance, drawing ever closer to Beast Taming Mountain.

Suddenly, Lin Cheng's eyes shifted, and he came to a halt.

Elder Zhang Feng had been jostled along the way until his face had gone deathly pale. Seeing that his senior had finally stopped, he let out a heavy, wheezing breath.

He was just about to speak when he saw Lin Cheng staring fixedly in a certain direction.

He frowned slightly.

He seemed to have sensed a trace of his disciple's aura. Could it have been an illusion?

He hurriedly glanced at the array disk and saw that the red dot on it was still some distance away. His mind went blank.

What was going on?

Unable to make sense of it, Lin Cheng decided to investigate, just to be safe. What if Meng Tangtang had escaped on her own?

If that was the case,

there would be no need to make the trip to Beast Taming Mountain.

Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't take long.

He had to go and see. With that thought, Lin Cheng took Elder Zhang Feng and vanished in a flash, leaving behind an afterimage that slowly faded away.

His aura streaked in a certain direction at lightning speed.

"Damn it! Those traitors are about to catch up with us. We're probably done for!"

In the forest, someone gasped violently. A young woman dressed in Beast Taming Mountain's uniform led several fellow disciples as they dodged and weaved through the trees.

Behind them, figure after figure pursued relentlessly.

They were about to catch up.

Their clothes were spattered with blood, and every one of them looked pale and utterly spent.

Whenever they glanced back, their eyes brimmed with undiluted terror and hatred!

"Senior Sister Liu, since we can't escape anyway, why not stay and fight those beasts and traitors to the death?"

A thin boy who looked quite young glared red-eyed and ground out the words through clenched teeth.

A closer look revealed that his back was drenched in blood and one of his arms was missing. He looked as though he could barely hold on.

"Junior Brother Zhang!"

Seeing how feeble the boy had grown, Liu Yanran couldn't bear it, but still gritted her teeth and said, "Hold on a little longer!"

"We can't give up!"

"Why did our friends from Jingyun Sect risk their lives to help us escape? Even if not for ourselves, we have to think of them! Besides, we promised Junior Sister Meng that we'd go to Jingyun Sect and deliver the message. We can't die here!"

Liu Yanran's brows drew together as she spoke bitterly.

Before she left, Junior Sister Meng from Jingyun Sect had given her a personal token and told her to take it to the Library Pavilion at Jingyun Sect and ask a senior for help.

She didn't understand why they were supposed to go to a library instead of seeking out Jingyun Sect's higher-ups. But the situation was urgent, and Liu Yanran hadn't had time to think it through. She had only wanted to hand the token over to Jingyun Sect's leaders.

She hoped they would have a chance to reach Jingyun Sect alive.

Deep down, Liu Yanran had already begun to despair. But when she saw the frightened faces of her junior brothers and sisters, she felt that, as Beast Taming Mountain's senior-most disciple, she couldn't simply collapse.

Otherwise, who would avenge her master and the others?

Liu Yanran had been orphaned as a child and left all alone. Her master had taken her in and cared for her like a granddaughter. She had long regarded her as family and Beast Taming Mountain as her home.

But now, with a traitor among them,

Beast Taming Mountain was already dead in all but name!

The sect's Grand Ancestor had fallen in battle, his head hung before the mountain gate.

The sect's guardian spirit beast had been gravely wounded and imprisoned, treated like a living pool of spirit blood and tortured day and night.

The elders had been struck down one after another, and countless disciples had been killed or wounded.

It had all happened because Zhou Chen, that traitor, had colluded with Yinyang Sect and thrown in his lot with the foreign races!

Whenever Liu Yanran thought of Zhou Chen's seemingly harmless face, her teeth ground with hatred. She wished she could tear him to pieces and devour him alive!

Zhou Chen was her fellow disciple.

He had always acted like a perfect gentleman. Her master probably hadn't imagined that the disciple she had been so proud of could harbor such a wolfish ambition.

Now that she knew the truth, she regretted it so bitterly that her guts must have turned green. She probably wouldn't be able to rest in peace even in death.

"Deliver the message?"

Someone heard her and was too bitter to speak.

They were all gravely wounded. Only Senior Sister Liu Yanran was in slightly better shape, and even she was badly drained.

Their pursuers were closing in step by step. Even if the enemy didn't kill them, whether they could make it out of Beast Taming Mountain's territory alive was another matter.

How could they possibly deliver a message?

At her words, the other disciples sank into despair.

Just then, the pursuers behind them shouted again, their voices mocking and murderous. Everyone went even paler, their bodies trembling.

"Senior Sister Liu, you can't get away. Surrender at once. Make me happy, and maybe I'll spare your lives."

The voice sounded gentle and refined, pleasing to the ear.

Yet everyone from Beast Taming Mountain shuddered as one, their eyes full of terror.

"Zhou Chen! Keep dreaming! You betrayed your fellow disciples and colluded with the foreign races. You'll die a horrible death!"

Liu Yanran would never forget that familiar voice, not until the day she died. It was carved into her bones. Her cool voice seethed with killing intent, chilling the air around them.

"Senior Sister, they say the wise know which way the wind blows."

"Besides, wouldn't it be better if you obediently became my woman? You're making things difficult for me, Junior Brother."

"If our master found out, she'd be heartbroken too. Ah..."

Zhou Chen's voice came again, tinged with a hint of regret and reluctance.

But as he spoke, he placed a heavy emphasis on the words "Senior Sister," "Junior Brother," and "Master."

"Beast! How dare you even mention our master? If she hadn't taken you in, you would've starved or frozen to death in that little mountain village!"

"She treated you like her own child, and this is how you repay her!"

Watching Liu Yanran grow increasingly furious, Zhou Chen wore a sick smile. Paired with his spring-breeze-gentle voice, it was enough to make anyone's blood run cold.

Before they knew it, every escape route had been sealed. Figures appeared one after another, swiftly surrounding Liu Yanran and the others.

"Not good!"

When the Beast Taming Mountain disciples saw that their path was blocked, they panicked.

Liu Yanran cursed herself for her carelessness. She hadn't expected to fall into Zhou Chen's trap after all. His words had enraged her and distracted her.

Still, even if that hadn't happened,

they couldn't have escaped for long in their wounded state. The result would have been much the same.

Now, the most important thing was to find a way out.

Even if they truly couldn't escape, they couldn't let themselves fall into Zhou Chen's hands. Their fate would be worse than death.

"Senior Sister, why have you stopped running?"

"Or have you finally come around and decided to return with your Junior Brother and serve me obediently? How delightful."

Zhou Chen emerged from the crowd, smiling from ear to ear. His cultivation had reached the Eighth Grade Realm, making him no weaker than an ordinary elder of a major sect. With hundreds of elite guards packed around him, Liu Yanran and the others looked even more grim.

"Everyone, get ready to fight to the death!"

Liu Yanran didn't answer Zhou Chen. She simply drew a deep breath and warned her fellow disciples.

The others sharpened their gazes and slowly tightened their grips on their weapons.

"Sorry, Junior Sister Meng. I've failed you. I'm sorry to everyone from Jingyun Sect for all you've done. It seems this message will never reach Jingyun Sect..." Liu Yanran thought to herself.

Just as both sides were poised to strike, on the verge of clashing blades the very next second,

a series of shrill beastly cries suddenly rang out in the distance.

The sounds drew closer and closer.

At first, they came in scattered bursts. In the blink of an eye, they seemed to be right before them.

The cries swelled into an unbroken chorus, rising and falling!

In that instant,

the earth shook violently for dozens of miles around!

Whoosh!

Hundreds of people on both sides abruptly froze, then whipped around to look.

In one direction, a terrifying aura as tangible as a solid mass was hurtling toward them at incredible speed.

With it came a surging tide of beasts, a dreadful wave that seemed to reach from heaven to earth.

Everyone present came from major sects.

Their experience and knowledge were far from ordinary.

But none of them had ever seen such a terrifying spectacle in their lives.

They were instantly scared half to death. Forget pursuit or revenge—at that moment, they all scattered like birds and beasts, as if by unspoken agreement!

Staying alive came first!

"Run!!!"

"Run, hurry, hurry!!!"

Someone shouted, and the already chaotic scene instantly grew even worse.