Using Someone as a Shield!

Days passed very slowly in the beast enclosure.

The only change was the strange noise behind the hillside, to which Ye An had already grown accustomed.

That evening, Ye An was on his rounds as usual.

Arriving at the boundary between the third and fourth beast pens, Ye An stopped, his gaze falling upon a tree fifty paces outside the fence.

A dark figure thought he was well-hidden, but the evening light slanted in from the west, stretching his silhouette long behind the tree and leaving him just exposed on the right side of the trunk.

"Who's there? Come out!"

The figure behind the tree stirred, then stepped out.

He wore a tight-fitting dark-gray outfit with a black cloth mask over his face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.

He neither spoke nor moved, merely standing in front of the tree and watching Ye An.

Ye An said nothing.

His hands hung at his sides, his right index and middle fingers pressed together and pointing downward.

Suddenly! The man in black drew a short blade from behind his waist, Saber Edge flashing in the twilight.

With a kick of his feet, his entire body lunged forward. His speed was not slow, but his movements were too direct, resembling someone accustomed to head-on brawls.

"Daring to ruin my plans! You're courting death!"

The tip of the blade struck straight for Ye An's chest.

Ye An did not retreat.

He stepped forward, lightening his body as Saber Edge brushed past his chest, and poked a finger against the man's wrist.

The short blade slipped from his grasp, flew out, and drove into the mud.

Before the man in black could change his stance, Ye An's second finger landed just beneath his collarbone.

The man in black emitted a muffled grunt, his entire body stiffening for a single instant before his corpse heavily crashed to the ground, producing a dull thud.

Ye An squatted down and ripped away the man's face cloth.

An ordinary face, completely unremarkable features.

Then he searched the other man's person, finding only an iron Token engraved with a twisted pattern resembling a ball of crushed fire, alongside two carved characters—Heaven Overturning.

Song Qingci stood thirty paces away, followed by Wang Qi and a group of outer disciples just like him.

"What has happened?"

"Reporting to Senior Sister Song, this person was sneaking around the edge of the beast enclosure in very covert attire. Once discovered, he actually attempted to silence me, but I turned the tables and slew him right here."

Song Qingci walked over, lowering her head to glance at the corpse on the ground. Her gaze lingered for a brief moment on the depressions at the man's neck and collarbone before moving away. "People from the Heaven Overturning Cult?"

“This is his Token.”

Song Qingci nodded and did not continue questioning.

Her gaze swept past Ye An and looked toward the dense forest behind the hillside.

Right at that moment, a loud crash erupted from deep within the beast enclosure—the sound of wooden fences being smashed apart.

This was followed by a series of beastly roars and the thunderous sounds of wild charging hooves.

Wang Qi snapped his head up, looking toward the direction of the noise. "What is going on?"

The largest low shed on the high part of the hillside had collapsed on one side.

The Reeves's muntjacs inside scattered in all directions, while wild boars burst through the wooden pillars of the shed, scrambling helter-skelter as they rushed down the mountain.

Yet their movements were quite strange, as if they were fleeing from something.

Something was moving behind the low shed.

First, a hump rose in the ground, as though something beneath the soil was pushing upward.

Then the dirt split open, and a Strange Beast broke through the earth!

It was not a wild boar, nor a Reeves's muntjac, nor any creature raised in this beast enclosure.

Its entire body was covered in dark-gray scales, its four limbs sturdy with claws deeply embedded in the mud, and a curved horn grew from its head, the tip gleaming with a dull light in the twilight.

It straightened its body, shaking off the dirt clinging to its scales. Its gaze swept across the entire beast enclosure before finally halting in one direction—the location of the stream at the foot of the hillside.

It took a stride, preparing to walk down the mountain.

Yet no sooner had it walked ten paces than a figure soared out from the depths of the dense forest.

Moving at extreme speed, the figure landed in front of the Strange Beast, reached out, and gripped the gaps in the scales on the back of its neck.

The Strange Beast struggled for a moment, then emitted a low roar. Unfortunately, the figure flicked his wrist, and a wisp of black mist poured from his palm, drilling straight through the gaps in the beast's scales.

The Strange Beast's struggles grew weaker and weaker until, finally, it was left completely at his mercy, unmoving like an air-deflated skin bag.

The figure straightened his body and hoisted the Strange Beast as though he were carrying a piece of cargo.

He wore a deep-black robe, and his face was also covered with a black cloth, the pair of eyes exposed outside devoid of any ripples.

Then the man in black picked up speed and vanished from the spot in a single turning motion.

Realizing the gravity of the matter, Ye An offered a suggestion: "Senior Sister Song! This affair is of great consequence, I suggest reporting it to the sect first..."

"Shut up!" Song Qingci's voice was as cold as an iron nail. "You lot, follow me in pursuit! Those who don't go will be dealt with according to sect rules afterward!"

Without waiting for anyone to voice opinions, her figure moved like lightning as she headed straight down the hillside.

Why was Song Qingci so urgent?

Whenever everyone encounters ads like "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention to them—just close them and definitely do not scan the code or send text messages!

Because that Strange Beast possessed pure blood and Qi. As long as it was consumed and her vital energy grew sufficient, she would be able to break through the Mid-Meridian Opening and achieve Penetration of all eight meridians! Such temptation made her entirely disregard everything else.

Once I reach the Mid-Meridian Opening! After achieving complete Penetration of all eight meridians... perhaps I can go compete, and at that time I'll still hold a sliver of a chance of entering the Four Halls!

Wang Qi and the others froze for a moment before hurriedly following along in helplessness.

Ye An's heart turned cold. What could their group of Body Tempering Martial Artists possibly accomplish by going?

Song Qingci intended to use their sacrifices to pave the way for her own success!

The light in the dense forest was much dimmer than in the beast enclosure.

The tree canopy blocked the last trace of twilight, leaving only scattered beams of light leaking occasionally through the gaps in the branches and leaves to cast mottled shadows on the ground.

Ye An stayed completely at the very rear of the group, and before long, the sounds of fighting drifted over from ahead.

A man wearing the inner disciple attire of the Four Symbols Sect was locked in combat with a man in black.

That man was around thirty years of age, of medium build, with steady palm techniques; every strike he threw carried a cohesive and unyielding force.

The man in black was still hauling the Strange Beast, fighting with one hand, and his speed was noticeably much slower. He was entangled by this senior brother and unable to break free.

Song Qingci swept in from the side, a silver-white sword tip tracing an arc in the twilight to aim straight for the back of the man in black's neck.

The man in black had no choice but to let go, dropping the Strange Beast onto the ground. He crossed his palms, and the dark-red mist in his palms swelled abruptly, forming a wall-like barrier that blocked Song Qingci's sword.

Song Qingci flicked her wrist, her sword tip tapping against that mass of dark-red mist like a dragonfly skimming water. It bounced off, withdrew, and immediately thrust forward again from another angle.

Her swordsmanship was fast and versatile, every strike probing the edges of that mist and continuously searching for an opportunity.

Caught in the middle between the two, the man in black had to cope with Song Qingci's sword while fending off the senior brother's palm techniques, causing his movements to grow increasingly sluggish.

His expression beneath his face mask could not be seen, but his breathing had already grown heavy.

He suddenly let out a low shout, slamming both palms fiercely against the ground. That dark-red mist spread outward along the earth like a layer of thin blood water blanketing the mud beneath their feet.

Song Qingci retreated two steps, avoiding that mass of mist.

The senior brother also retracted his palms, pulling back to stand beside a tree. "Careful, his cultivation art specifically devours vital energy and blood."

"If you get touched by that Qi, your vital energy will drain away!"

Seizing the gap from this retreat, the man in black pulled a black medicinal pill from his bosom, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed and swallowed it.

His body shuddered violently, and the dim light within his eyes flared a bit brighter.

The dark-red mist re-condensed, growing thicker and denser than before as it crawled up his arms, and the next second it lunged toward Song Qingci.

This time his speed was nearly half again as fast as before. With his five fingers pressed together, the mass of mist in his palm condensed into a dark-red spike that shot straight for Song Qingci's face.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing, seven or eight dark figures simultaneously burst out from the dense forest.

They wore the same dark-gray tight-fitting outfits as the previous scout, masked, and uniformly wielding short blades.

The moment they landed, without a fraction of a pause, they directly swarmed around Wang Qi, Zhang Shun, Ye An, and the others.

A dark figure lunged at Ye An with a blade. The man moved swiftly, the trajectory of Saber Edge barely visible in the shadows as it thrust from the side with a clear target directly at Ye An's ribs.

Ye An stepped to the left, yet one person persistently chased after Ye An.

Still attempting to swing a blade at Ye An, Saber Edge slashed horizontally, passing almost flush against Ye An's waistline.

Ye An poked a finger against the blade-wielding wrist.

The short blade spun away as it flew out.

Ye An's second finger followed closely behind, landing in the depression between his shoulder and neck.

This dark figure stiffened, his entire body softening as if his tendons and bones had been extracted, and he collapsed onto the ground.

In the center of the clearing, Song Qingci and the senior brother were still jointly attacking the man in black.

Suddenly, the man in black slammed both palms fiercely against the ground, and that dark-red mist detonated violently as if ignited by something.

Song Qingci's sword was blasted away, spinning as it embedded itself in the mud.

The senior brother's palm force was shattered, and his entire body flew backward through the air, crashing into a tree before sliding down, heavily wounded and unable to rise.

Song Qingci rolled twice on the ground, a large mouthful of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"Blood Prison Sky-Rending Palm... You are Night Owl!!"

Song Qingci flipped over and stood up, staggering as she ran toward Ye An and the others.

Her face was covered in blood, half her hair had come loose, and her voice was shrill and urgent: "Stop him for me! I will surely repay you with heavy wealth afterward!"

The very instant Song Qingci finished speaking, Ye An understood; she intended to use them as shields to buy herself time to escape.

Without hesitation, Ye An channeled his Internal Energy into his legs, driving the Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada movement technique as he streaked away in another direction.

Wang Qi stood in place, reacting too slowly before Song Qingci grabbed him by the back of his collar.

Then she hurled him backward like tossing a Shi.

Wang Qi flew through the air, crashing toward Night Owl.

Night Owl was delayed by half a step due to this obstruction, and by the time he looked up again, Song Qingci was already gone.

His chest was still heaving violently, his breathing heavy. The dark-red mist had completely dispersed, and his hands hung at his sides with beads of blood dripping from between his fingers.

He glanced at the Strange Beast on the ground; his objective had already been achieved.

Continuing to entangle himself here would only make escaping harder and harder.

The next second, he hesitated no longer, his figure vanishing from the spot.

Whenever everyone encounters ads like "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention to them—just close them and definitely do not scan the code or send text messages!