They Are Also Just Prey

As the second pair of crimson vertical pupils lit up, Han Yue had already stepped forward.

"Back up!"

Short axes fell into his palms, and three spirit rings—two yellow and one purple—rose almost simultaneously.

The brush on the left violently exploded.

A black shadow lunged close to the ground, moving so fast that it was only a blur.

Han Yue did not dodge.

His first spirit ring lit up, and the surface of the short axes quickly covered itself in a heavy layer of yellow light.

Bang!

The axe blades met the black shadow head-on.

The soil plowed open into a shallow trench behind Han Yue's feet, while the creature was sent violently tumbling backward, snapping two bushes before hitting the ground.

The others finally saw its appearance.

Pitch-black all over, nearly three meters long, with slender limbs and dark-red stripes running down both sides of its spine.

There was still a clear, fresh wound on its left flank.

Han Yue stared at it.

"Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard."

"Approaching a thousand years."

Before his voice faded, the sound of friction between leaves suddenly came from the tree canopy overhead.

Bai Li's already-drawn bowstring suddenly released.

Hum!

The spirit power arrow plunged into the foliage.

A sharp, shrill roar immediately came from above.

A second black shadow leaped down from the canopy.

It was another Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard.

It was slightly smaller in size, but dragged a very long bloody trail along its right rear leg.

Two of them.

Both were spirit beasts approaching a thousand years.

The Short-Spear Youth's hand gripping his spear had already tightened.

The patrol reports stating a maximum of four hundred years for the outer edges of Qingshi Valley were completely untrustworthy here.

"Bai Li, to the right!"

Han Yue blocked in front with his axes held horizontally.

"The three younger ones stay in the back, don't scatter!"

The first Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard only paused for an instant after landing before pouncing again.

Han Yue's second spirit ring lit up at his feet.

The yellow light on the short axes suddenly surged.

Instead of waiting for the shadow leopard to pounce right in front of him, he took the initiative to step forward to meet it.

The axe blades swept horizontally.

Bang!

The Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard took an axe to its front shoulder, its body sent flying sideways to crash heavily against a tree trunk.

Tree leaves fell in a rustle.

That shadow leopard scrambled back up, its shoulder already showing blood.

Yet it didn't even look at Han Yue again, turning to run south.

The Short-Spear Youth froze for a moment.

"It ran?"

No one had time to answer.

Because the other one had already lunged down from the right side.

Bai Li fired two arrows in succession.

The first arrow grazed the shadow leopard's front leg.

The second arrow struck straight into its shoulder.

The shadow leopard felt the pain, its body skewing midway through the air so that the trajectory originally aimed at Bai Li changed accordingly.

Its landing point happened to be the Cyan Feather Hawk Soul Master standing in the rear.

The youth's expression changed drastically.

His martial soul had just possessed him when the shadow leopard had already arrived close by.

The Short-Spear Youth wanted to charge over, but the distance was simply too far to make it in time.

Lu Yuan's yellow spirit ring instantly lit up at his feet.

Piercing Edge!

Yet his spear did not thrust toward the shadow leopard.

The spear rope behind his waist had already hooked onto the tail of the spear.

The Dark Iron Spear flew out of his hand, grazing the Cyan Feather Hawk Soul Master's shoulder to nail itself into the tree trunk behind.

Lu Yuan violently tightened the spear rope.

His body swung horizontally across, utilizing the momentum of Piercing Edge.

"Move!"

He grabbed the Cyan Feather Hawk Soul Master by the shoulder.

The two of them were carried away from their original spot simultaneously by the spear rope.

The Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard's sharp claws brushed past the youth's back.

Rip!

His clothes tore open in a long gash.

No blood was drawn.

The two tumbled into the fallen leaves a few steps away.

The Cyan Feather Hawk Soul Master propped himself up on the ground and raised his head, his face still somewhat pale.

If he had been half a breath slower just then, his back definitely wouldn't have just had a torn piece of clothing.

Lu Yuan's arm ached terribly from the friction of the spear rope, but he had no time to care.

A vast expanse of golden light suddenly lit up ahead.

He turned his head instinctively.

Qian Renxue had already released her martial soul.

Brilliant golden light spread out from behind her.

A angelic phantom bearing six-winged outlines hovered at her back, and two yellow spirit rings slowly rose.

The previously gloomy woods nearby were illuminated to a degree.

That Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard clearly paused for an instant.

Qian Renxue had already moved.

Her first spirit ring lit up.

Golden light rapidly converged onto her right hand.

She did not pursue the one that had already escaped far away, instead heading straight for this injured shadow leopard before her.

The Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard had just turned around when the golden light on her fist already came down.

Bang!

Its head violently skewed to one side, and its body rolled out.

Bai Li's arrow followed closely behind.

Swish!

The arrow nailed into its front leg.

The shadow leopard let out a shrill cry, visibly staggering when it climbed back up.

The Short-Spear Youth stared at the six-winged phantom behind Qian Renxue.

"This is the Six-Winged Angel..."

Yet Qian Renxue did not continue the pursuit.

Because Lu Yuan was already looking toward the Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard that had fled into the distance.

The first one had taken an axe from Han Yue and headed straight south.

After the second one was injured, it too kept moving toward the edge of the valley.

Lu Yuan spoke abruptly.

"Clear the path."

Han Yue turned to look at him.

Lu Yuan offered no explanation, merely stepping aside by one step.

Qian Renxue reacted first, also stepping aside to the flank.

Han Yue stared at the second shadow leopard for two breaths.

"All make way."

The few of them immediately scattered to both sides.

The Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard that had still been staring fixedly at them unexpectedly showed not the slightest hesitation once it discovered a clearing on the southern side.

It dragged its injured hind leg and sprinted out.

When passing near the group, it didn't even turn its head back.

Soon, it vanished among the trees.

The Short-Spear Youth gripped his spear and dazed for a moment.

"Weren't they here to attack us?"

Bai Li had already looked toward the direction where the two shadow leopards had fled.

Han Yue's expression, however, did not relax at all.

"We were blocking their path."

Lu Yuan no longer paid attention to the escaped shadow leopards.

He turned to look at the thick tree from earlier that had retained the hole.

A Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard had four toes on its front paws.

When it lunged just now, he had seen it very clearly.

The scratch marks on the ground were also four.

Yet on the tree trunk beside the Red-Armored Rhinoceros's carcass—

There were only three deep holes.

"Uncle Han."

Han Yue followed his gaze.

"What is it?"

"The ones that killed the Red-Armored Rhinoceros weren't them."

The hand with which Han Yue gripped his short axe tightened slightly.

Bai Li also reacted quickly.

She glanced at the spot where the shadow leopards had fled, then looked back at the three holes on the tree trunk.

"Two spirit beasts approaching a thousand years are also running outward..."

The rest of her words went unsaid.

There was no longer any need.

Han Yue turned around directly.

"Fall back."

This time no one raised any objections.

"Don't go to the camp, return straight to the city."

The group began to retreat southward.

No one left their back entirely to the forest.

Lu Yuan gripped the Dark Iron Spear, his gaze constantly scanning his surroundings.

The gray text above Han Yue's head still hadn't vanished.

[Today, Qingshi Valley]

[Destiny Node: Death]

It still hadn't changed.

The string in Lu Yuan's heart pulled tighter and tighter.

Suddenly.

An extremely shrill roar came from ahead.

It was the second Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard from earlier.

The group turned their heads simultaneously.

A long black shadow flashed past among the tree crowns.

It was moving so fast that its outline was barely visible.

That injured Dark-Patterned Shadow Leopard only managed to scurry forward two steps.

Swish!

Three pitch-black spikes pierced out straight through its chest.

The shadow leopard's body stiffened abruptly.

Four paws clawed several deep marks into the muddy ground.

The next moment.

Three black spikes slowly retracted.

The dark-patterned shadow leopard crashed to the ground.

From the appearance of the spikes to its collapse, not even three breaths passed.

Han Yue suddenly crossed his axe.

"Gather!"

Bai Li had already re-notched her arrow.

Qian Renxue also stepped in front of the youths, her six-winged angel martial soul still not put away.

A fine scraping sound came from above the canopy.

Rustle.

It sounded like something was slowly crawling among the branches and leaves.

A section of black-purple pointed leg poked out from behind the canopy.

Then came the second one.

The third one.

The thick branches were pressed down bit by bit.

A massive and grotesque body slowly crawled down along the tree trunk.

Its eight long legs spread out.

The carapace was black-purple.

Yet the abdomen was covered with a large area of pale white patterns.

As it turned its body, those white patterns gradually pieced themselves together into a distorted human face.

The short-spear youth's breathing paused for a beat.

"Man-Faced Demon Spider..."

Bai Li's arrow tip was already aimed at that pale white face.

Han Yue stared at it for a few breaths.

"This size..."

"Over three thousand years."

Three thousand years.

This was the source of the three holes near the red-armored rhinoceros's carcass.

And only this kind of thing could pierce a thousand-year red-armored rhinoceros in such a short time.

Han Yue slowly blocked the short axe in front of him.

"Listen to my command."

"Bai Li and I will block it."

"Xiaoxue, take them and go."

Qian Renxue did not move, however.

"Its speed is faster than ours."

Han Yue did not look back.

"That's why I'm having you leave first."

The man-faced demon spider's eight spider legs pressed down bit by bit.

Crimson compound eyes swept across the crowd.

Finally, they stopped on Qian Renxue.

The gray in Lu Yuan's field of vision suddenly emerged.

[Qian Renxue]

[Today, Qingshi Valley]

[Fate Node: Severe Injury]

At the same time.

That line of text above Han Yue's head had also not disappeared.

One death.

One severe injury.

Both were right here.

The moment Lu Yuan gripped the dark iron spear tightly, the man-faced demon spider had already vanished from the tree trunk.

It was not a jump.

It was so fast it was as if the entire spirit beast had been erased from the spot.

Han Yue's expression changed abruptly.

"Xiaoxue!"

He lunged fiercely to the side.

"Dodge!"