Demon

Zhang Jian swept his gaze around the little temple, only to see that the dozen or so sturdy soldiers by the fire had not been disturbed. Even the two men standing watch knew nothing.

"Did either of you hear anything?"

Zhang Jian asked directly.

Hearing Zhang Jian's voice, the two sturdy soldiers hurriedly rose to their feet.

"Young Master, what sound?"

One of the young soldiers looked somewhat startled. He was the same young man who had bickered with Hu Shan earlier. Zhang Jian remembered the others calling him Little Xie.

Seeing the other soldiers wake one after another, Zhang Jian frowned and waved a hand, puzzlement in his eyes.

He had heard that piercing phoenix cry clearly. There was no mistaking it.

Zhang Jian recalled the story Zhang Yi had told.

Legend had it that within Fengyang Commandery lay an ancient feng shui formation known as Twin Phoenix Arrival. A male and female phoenix had descended upon the Twin Phoenix Mountain Range to nurture the earth veins, and every so often, Fengyang Commandery would produce a noble maiden blessed with all the spiritual beauty of mountains and rivers.

That feng shui formation might well be somewhere around Phoenix Nest Mountain.

Perhaps it had also bred something astonishing within.

A treasure? Or some other terrifying thing?

Thoughts flickered in his eyes as he glanced toward the depths of the mountain range. He had no intention of going exploring now.

Sometimes, having a little less curiosity was better.

With his current cultivation, any treasure connected to phoenixes was surely beyond his use. There was no need to take such a risk.

And if there really was a phoenix inside, who knew what kind of temper it had? If it happened to be ill-tempered, would he not be asking for trouble?

Besides, Zhang Jian had sensed something strange in that phoenix cry.

"Screech!"

Almost in the next instant, Zhang Jian heard the phoenix cry again.

The cry grew ever sharper, carrying a trace of eerie chill and urgency.

"Young Master, it seems something is..."

Little Xie raised his head and nervously glanced at the pitch-black mountain, instinctively edging closer to Hu Shan beside him.

"I think I felt it too!"

Several other sturdy soldiers also looked around nervously.

Zhang Jian looked speechlessly at the dozen or so men. How did they look like they had heard anything?

This was more like the power of suggestion.

Zhang Jian raised his spiritual eyes and looked out. His innate spiritual sense detected an eruption of dense, frigid spiritual energy from the mountain's foothills, like a geyser bursting forth.

Even the air trembled violently.

To his innate spiritual sense, it was as though a "spiritual energy earthquake" had occurred at the foothills. Its aftershocks swept toward him, making him feel threads of chill.

It gave Zhang Jian a sense of foreboding.

After some thought, he took seven or eight yellow talismans from his hand and passed them to Hu Shan, Little Xie, and the others.

"You few, stick these talismans around the temple. Remember, if anything unexpected happens, hold fast to your minds and do not wander about!"

"Young Master?"

Hu Shan, the old soldier, faintly sensed danger and could not help looking over. Zhang Jian waved a hand, telling them only to remain calm.

Faced with something this bizarre, he was not entirely confident either.

After the two phoenix cries, the small temple at the foot of the mountain suddenly seemed to become extraordinarily quiet. Zhang Jian noticed that even the chirping of insects had vanished without a trace. This hush made one's heart seem as though it had skipped a beat.

Zhang Jian looked at the sturdy soldiers, each tightly gripping a blade or sword, then looked down at his own hands. Having nothing in his hands seemed to leave him short of a little security.

But when he glanced at the thick stack of Thunder-Summoning Talismans in his sleeve, some of that sense of security returned.

With a slight shift of thought, his gaze turned toward the depths of the forest. After just one look, a faint smile appeared in his eyes instead.

The other sturdy soldiers, however, faced the situation as if confronting a great enemy.

Rustling footsteps emerged from the forest in the dark night, accompanied by a flicker of firelight approaching from afar.

Soon, figures emerged from the darkness: a man and a woman who appeared to be husband and wife. At their head was a man holding a long saber. He was broad and powerfully built, with a dark reddish face, though the circles beneath his eyes were somewhat deep.

Behind him was a woman with her head lowered. Her figure was rather graceful, but her head was wrapped in a scarf, and she said nothing as she kept her gaze down.

When the saber-wielding man saw everyone in the temple, and saw that they wore armor and held blades, he immediately became wary. Still, he cupped his fists and called out loudly.

"Friends, are you men of the government?"

After a slight pause, he added, "My wife and I missed the place where we meant to stay for the night. Seeing firelight in this little temple, we presumptuously came to trouble you. We only seek a place out of the wind to stay the night and mean no harm. If you friends can make room for us, my wife and I would be deeply grateful!"

The sturdy soldiers turned their eyes toward Zhang Jian.

They all quietly breathed sighs of relief. As long as they were people, it was fine.

What was known was far better than what was unknown.

Zhang Jian slowly rose to his feet. His bright, piercing gaze fell upon the couple, and he frowned.

Then his eyes settled on the woman. For some reason, the moment he saw her, his spiritual sense felt a strange familiarity.

His spiritual sense caught a faint scent, so faint it was nearly undetectable.

Beyond that, there was much else that was suspicious.

After considering it, he said flatly,

"Forgive me, but there is limited room in this temple, and it is inconvenient. The two of you should seek shelter elsewhere."

Though it was somewhat unfeeling, Zhang Jian still refused outright for the sake of his own safety.

At this, the saber-wielder frowned and said in a deep voice,

"This young sir, though there are many of you, there should still be room in the temple. My wife and I have traveled through the night for a long while and are truly weary. We ask only for a place out of the wind and will not disturb anyone! Meeting by chance on the road, can we not make friends?"

Though he looked fierce, he was quite sincere.

Seeing his plea, Zhang Jian hesitated slightly. He stepped toward the saber-wielder and his wife.

As he drew close, a strange look surfaced in the saber-wielder's eyes.

The woman had raised her head by then. Her headscarf slowly slipped down, revealing a lovely face of breathtaking beauty. With the pitiful delicacy of a respectable married woman, she was as alluring as an elf of the dark night beneath the dim darkness.

"Demon?"

Zhang Jian abruptly halted. At last, he had grasped that trace of wrongness in his heart.

It was not because they were traveling at night.

In the martial world, it was not especially strange for some martial artists to travel after dark.

What deeply unsettled him was that familiar scent.

The scent on this woman was extremely similar to that of the two goshawks.

And beneath it lay an even more nauseating stench of blood, much like the smell on the two demon corpses he had previously struck dead with lightning.

Taken together, it was not difficult for Zhang Jian to conclude that she was not human. And she was still flirting and striking poses at him, making her seem even less like anything respectable.

This was not racial discrimination.

The instant Zhang Jian uttered that word, he immediately felt the environment before him change.

Before his eyes seemed to be a peerless beauty casting flirtatious glances at him, as though saying, Anything is possible!

Yet six Thunder-Summoning Talismans flew from his hand in an instant!