The morning mist had yet to fully disperse over the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and the damp air carried the mingled scents of rotting leaves and earth. A rather slight figure stumbled through the dense forest, his labored breathing strikingly clear in the silence.
Xiao Yan braced himself against a thick ancient tree and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. His chest heaved violently, as though he might collapse at any moment. Branches had already torn several rents in his coarse cloth clothing, which was covered in mud and bits of grass. Only his pitch-black eyes concealed a trace of almost imperceptible calm beneath his outward panic.
"Whew... these bastards really do haunt me like restless ghosts." He cursed under his breath, his voice carrying just the right measure of fear and anger.
Not far behind him, several sets of hurried footsteps followed his trail, accompanied by coarse shouts. "That trash won't get far! The family head ordered us to drag him back and tear him into ten thousand pieces!"
"Hmph, he's nothing but Dou Qi Third Stage trash. If this terrain weren't so complicated, we'd have caught him ages ago!"
"Move faster! If he escapes the mountains, we'll have hell to pay when we get back!"
His pursuers were remnants of the Mo Family's forces. The Dou Ling expert they had sent yesterday had inexplicably disappeared—with Xiao Yan supposedly "knowing nothing" about it, he had casually tossed that Dou Ling into the turbulent void, leaving only a few scraps of clothing mauled by magical beasts as "evidence." Yet the Mo Family clearly refused to let the matter rest. They had dispatched three skilled Dou Shi, determined to capture and kill the Xiao Clan's worthless son who had "destroyed the Mo Family's reputation."
Xiao Yan glanced back in "panic," catching sight of several dark figures flashing between the trees. He immediately shuddered in fright, turned, and stumbled onward. His steps seemed utterly disordered, but each one landed precisely where the fallen leaves were thickest, muffling his movements as much as possible while he cleverly used the tree trunks to block his pursuers' view.
This was the "way of survival" he had worked out over the past few days—he had to display the frailty befitting someone at the Dou Qi Third Stage while secretly ensuring that he always held the initiative.
Bang!
A rotten old tree snapped apart behind him with a crash, sending splinters flying. Evidently, his pursuers had lost patience and begun using dou qi to destroy the trees blocking their path. One of them called out with mocking cruelty, "Xiao Yan, you little piece of trash, stop running! Surrender obediently, and we might give you a quick death!"
Xiao Yan stumbled, as though fear had turned his legs to jelly, and nearly fell. He looked around in "despair," his gaze finally settling on a dense thicket of thorns. Without the slightest hesitation, he hurled himself into it, allowing the sharp thorns to slash his skin and leave streaks of blood.
Riiip—
The sound of cloth snagging on thorns was harsh and grating. Coupled with Xiao Yan's deliberately exaggerated cries of pain, it actually startled his pursuers into pausing.
"Has that trash gone mad? He actually crawled into the thorns?"
"Hmph, he's only struggling on his deathbed. Third Brother, circle around to the left. Second Brother, come with me and block him from the front. Don't let him escape!"
The pursuers' voices gradually separated in two directions. Xiao Yan lay flat in the thorn thicket, holding his breath as he sensed two distinct auras approaching. His soul power had already spread silently like an invisible net, taking in every movement within a hundred meters.
Such was the terrifying power of an emperor realm soul. Even deliberately suppressed, with only an insignificant sliver of its strength in use, it was enough to leave these Dou Shi with nowhere to hide.
He noticed a black brocade pouch hanging at the waist of a tall, thin Mo Family member. Faint energy fluctuations radiated from it. The instant his soul power entered, he "saw" its contents—a neatly folded sheet of hide bearing several lines written in special ink. It was a letter connecting the Mo Family with a certain faction in Black Rock City.
The letter's contents were straightforward. In essence, the Mo Family planned to join forces with the faction in Black Rock City three months later and strike at the Xiao Clan's businesses in Wutan City while the Xiao Clan's old patriarch was in seclusion, avenging the humiliation Xiao Yan had brought upon them when he broke off his engagement.
The Mo Family... Black Rock City... Xiao Yan sneered inwardly. Did these prancing clowns really think they could shake the Xiao Clan? If not for the system's restrictions, he could reduce those factions to ashes with a flick of his finger.
There was no hurry for now, though. Keeping them around might provide targets for a later "cleanup," allowing him to complete the system's hidden missions along the way.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the left. The Mo Family member taking the detour was already close to circling ahead of him.
A cold gleam flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes, but he remained prone on the ground. Only his right hand moved, quietly finding a sharp shard of stone.
"Found him! The trash is right here!" Excitement filled the tall, thin member's voice. He pushed aside the thorns and reached for the back of Xiao Yan's collar.
Just as his hand was about to touch Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan abruptly rolled sideways and slashed forward with the stone shard in "panic."
Slash!
The shard did not injure the man, but it happened to slice open the brocade pouch at his waist. The hide letter immediately slipped through the tear and fluttered into the thorns.
"You're asking for death!" The tall, thin member flew into a rage and kicked at Xiao Yan.
As though frightened senseless, Xiao Yan curled up and shrank backward, just barely avoiding the kick. At the same time, he "accidentally" nudged the hide letter deeper into the thicket, where several thick thorn branches caught it firmly.
"Lucky bastard!" the tall, thin member cursed, having no mind to retrieve the letter—in his eyes, capturing Xiao Yan took priority. He reached out again, dou qi gathering in his palm, clearly intending to knock Xiao Yan unconscious outright.
A trace of coldness flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes.
At that moment, several piercing beast cries suddenly rang out nearby.
Awooo—
Three rank-one magical beasts, Ironclad Wolves as large as young calves, sprang out from the depths of the forest. Their crimson eyes fixed on the tall, thin member. Evidently, the sounds of fighting and the scent of blood had drawn them over.
"Damn beasts!" The tall, thin member's expression changed. Forced to abandon Xiao Yan for the moment, he turned to fend off the Ironclad Wolves. Rank-one magical beasts were not particularly strong, but their tough hides and thick flesh gave them an advantage. With three attacking together, they actually kept him from breaking free.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Yan scrambled and crawled out the other side of the thorn thicket, continuing his flight deeper into the forest. He even "kindly" turned back and called, "Watch yourself, big brother!"
The "concern" in his voice grated on the tall, thin member's ears worse than mockery. With an angry roar, the man punched one Ironclad Wolf back, his gaze fixed on Xiao Yan's retreating figure. The other two Ironclad Wolves kept him occupied, leaving him unable to give chase.
"You piece of trash! Just you wait!"
Xiao Yan had already disappeared into the depths of the forest, leaving only a distant "threat" behind. "Mo Family scum, come after me if you've got the guts! You think I'm scared of you?"
His voice carried a deliberately feigned show of ferocity masking inner weakness, yet it nearly made the tall, thin member cough blood with rage.
After running for roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, Xiao Yan judged that he had put enough distance between himself and his pursuers. He slowed his steps, found a secluded cave, and slipped inside.
Dense vines concealed the entrance, making it almost impossible to notice anything unusual from outside.
Once inside, Xiao Yan carefully inspected the cave. Only after confirming that there were no signs of magical beasts living there did he lean against the stone wall and slowly breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, that was merely his outward performance. In secret, his soul power had already enveloped the entire cave, and not the slightest rustle could escape his senses.
He raised his arm to examine the thorn cuts, from which blood was slowly seeping. Such tiny injuries did not even count as superficial wounds to him. The body of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng had long since become unimaginably powerful; scratches like these could not even cause him pain. Yet to maintain his "trash" persona, he still took a bottle of the most ordinary healing ointment from inside his clothes and carefully applied it to the wounds, hissing through his teeth as though enduring tremendous agony.
Only after finishing all this did he close his eyes and begin sorting through the information he had just obtained.
"The Mo Family is joining forces with a faction in Black Rock City... making their move in three months..." Xiao Yan tapped his knee lightly with his fingers. "Looks like things aren't peaceful in Wutan City. Still, that's fine. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one."
He was not worried about the Xiao Clan's safety. With him there, never mind a few Dou Shi or Da Dou Shi—even if a Dou Wang came, he could arrange an "accidental" death. What concerned him more was how to use this opportunity to eliminate these potential threats without exposing his strength.
Perhaps I could make these so-called "allies" sink their teeth into one another? A thought flashed through his mind.
Just then, a faint noise came from outside the cave. It was not human footsteps, but the sound of some small creature crawling over fallen leaves.
Xiao Yan opened his eyes, his soul power instantly locking onto the target—a venomous spider the size of a palm, pitch-black all over. It was slowly crawling along the vines toward the entrance, evidently drawn by the presence inside the cave.
This venomous spider was called a Black Widow. Though only a rank-one magical beast, its venom was extremely potent. An ordinary cultivator at the Dou Qi Third Stage would likely die within an hour of being bitten.
As Xiao Yan watched the venomous spider, an almost imperceptible smile curved his lips.
He did not act, merely watching in silence.
When the venomous spider reached the entrance and was about to crawl inside, Xiao Yan suddenly sneezed "offhandedly" in its direction.
"Achoo!"
A current of air so faint as to be almost negligible burst from his mouth and nose. It seemed utterly powerless, yet struck the venomous spider with perfect precision.
The Black Widow's body instantly stiffened. A moment later, as though crushed by an invisible force, it dissolved into a puddle of black fluid that silently seeped into the earth, leaving not the slightest trace.
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose as though nothing had happened. He stood, brushed the dust from his clothes, and made a show of preparing to continue his journey.
"I shouldn't linger here. I need to leave this area as soon as possible, before the Mo Family catches up again." He murmured to himself, his voice full of "worry."
Yet the instant he turned, his gaze swept across the dense forest outside the entrance, and a fathomless gleam flashed in his eyes.
The Mo Family, and that faction in Black Rock City... your deaths aren't far away.
But you'll never know who it was that pushed you into the abyss.
Xiao Yan straightened his clothes, placed a "panic-stricken" expression on his face once more, and carefully parted the vines. Like a bird startled by a bowstring, he stole deeper into the forest.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, casting a long, somewhat bedraggled shadow behind him. Yet in the deepest part of that shadow lurked a pair of eyes capable of overturning the entire Dou Qi Continent, coldly watching this land that would soon be swept by bloody winds and rains of slaughter.
Before you continue