Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

"Crow Brother, save me!"

At the sight of Black Feather, Zhang Yuan felt as though he had grabbed hold of a lifeline and could not help shouting aloud!

He was in grave danger now. The only thing that could possibly save his life was likely this feather of the Crow Spirit.

Black Feather did not disappoint Zhang Yuan. It abruptly veered and shot toward the right.

It was as swift as an arrow loosed from the bow!

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Yuan activated the Third Host he had just contained—the Golden Grasshopper.

The extraordinary ability bestowed by the Golden Grasshopper was precisely what he needed most right now!

The next moment, a strange force flooded into Zhang Yuan's body.

The blood and qi within him ignited. The muscles in his legs abruptly contracted and tightened, and thick tendons bulged beneath his skin!

Driven by this force, Zhang Yuan sheathed his long blade, broke into a run, and chased after Black Feather ahead.

At that moment, Zhang Yuan discovered that his body had become much lighter, and his sprinting speed suddenly surged.

As it was his first time receiving an extraordinary ability that doubled his agility, he nearly lost his balance from unfamiliarity, stumbling and almost falling to the ground.

But he forcibly steadied himself, jogged a few steps, and accelerated again.

At this critical juncture between life and death, Zhang Yuan unleashed his full potential. After running barely a hundred paces, he had basically adapted to the doubled-agility state.

His steps became more nimble and swift, and in the blink of an eye, he caught up to Black Feather ahead.

By then, Black Feather had already flown into a patch of black mist.

The black mist was not especially dense.

Black Feather, shooting forward like a sharp blade, silently sliced through the "curtain" before it, carving out a broad, straight passage!

Zhang Yuan's eyes lit up, and he charged in without a second thought.

Black Feather cleared the way ahead while he pursued close behind, maintaining a distance of around ten feet!

But Black Feather did not fly in a straight line the entire time. It suddenly changed direction again.

Zhang Yuan had to keep up while also making sure not to follow the wrong direction and plunge headlong into the boundless black mist.

Under such circumstances, the extraordinary ability of doubled agility made his pursuit lighter and swifter with every step.

It felt as though his entire body was about to take flight!

After several turns and changes in direction, Zhang Yuan gradually saw the pattern.

Black Feather's pathfinding possessed a spirit; it was by no means darting about at random.

The directions it chose should have been areas where the black mist was relatively thin.

Yet as time passed, wisps of white smoke began to rise from the edges of Black Feather.

Specks of black flame actually ignited upon it!

Zhang Yuan quickly realized that it was burning its own power.

That realization weighed heavily on his heart.

In the blink of an eye, the flames engulfed the entire crow feather. Like a streak of black light, it flew resolutely toward its end!

Zhang Yuan could do nothing but race after it.

Within the death labyrinth shrouded in black mist, he searched for that sliver of life!

After holding on for a hundred breaths, the last shaft of the feather burned away, and the crow feather that bore his hope of survival silently vanished.

Just as Zhang Yuan's heart sank once more, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

Warm, brilliant light rushed toward him, as though the endless black mist had been cast behind him in an instant.

Only then did Zhang Yuan realize that he had escaped the death labyrinth!

But he did not relax because of it, much less stop running. He continued to sprint at full speed.

The farther he ran, the better!

Before long, Zhang Yuan saw a village in the distance that was familiar beyond measure.

Chen Family Village!

This meant that he had successfully escaped Thousand Peak Mountain.

Yet Zhang Yuan felt not the slightest joy at having survived a calamity, because he saw the boundless black mist rapidly spreading toward Chen Family Village. It would not be long before it swallowed the village whole!

The strange entity controlling the black mist was clearly not satisfied with killing the villagers repairing the road.

It wanted to destroy the village too!

Zhang Yuan heard the clamor of bronze gongs coming from Chen Family Village, urgent, panicked, and completely without rhythm.

He also saw a faint glow shining from the ancestral hall at the center of the village.

It had been passed down through generations that the ancestral hall could protect the villagers from the harassment of strange entities.

Zhang Yuan had lived in Chen Family Village for fifteen years. He had never encountered a strange entity before, and his days had been quite peaceful and tranquil.

The ancestral hall deserved much of the credit.

But Zhang Yuan did not believe that the ancestral hall of Chen Family Village could still withstand the surging black mist now.

Or rather, the strange entity behind it!

Even the City God Statue worshipped by tens of thousands could not resist it. How much power could an ancestral hall serving merely a few hundred people possess?

Seeing that Chen Family Village was about to become hell as well, Zhang Yuan could only sigh, then race toward County Town.

There was nothing he could do either. It was already good enough if he could protect himself!

Zhang Yuan did not know whether the black mist, after devouring Chen Family Village, would continue on to strike County Town.

But whether that would happen or not, he had to go to County Town.

Because his mother was there!

What Zhang Yuan had not expected was this.

When he emerged from the familiar trail, he unexpectedly ran into a group of people hurrying along at the fork in the road.

Zhang Yuan froze—enemies truly did meet on a narrow road!

Chen Deping, Chen Yuanwai, the Chen Family's Young Master and his two younger brothers, the Weasel-faced Advisor, guards and servants...

There were a dozen or so people altogether.

None of them carried any luggage.

Yet every one of them looked tense and terrified, like stray dogs with nowhere to go!

"It's you!"

Since the encounter had come so suddenly, the two sides were very close.

The Chen Family members saw Zhang Yuan as well.

The Chen Family's Young Master recognized Zhang Yuan at once and immediately growled, "You're still not dead?"

He looked as though he bore Zhang Yuan a hatred as deep as the sea!

Chen Yuanwai's gaze turned icy. "Kill him."

He did not care what grievance there was between Zhang Yuan and his son. Anyone blocking his path had to die!

Two servants rushed at Zhang Yuan with savage grins.

The two men were powerfully built and worked together with perfect coordination, closing in on Zhang Yuan from both sides.

They intended to seize Zhang Yuan, then strangle him alive!

Yet the two vicious-looking servants never imagined that what awaited them would be a flash of snow-bright blade light.

It was the radiance of the long blade Zhang Yuan had just drawn!

Zhang Yuan had never learned true blade techniques. The only moves he knew had been secretly learned from Hunter Gao. They had the form but not the secrets, and only through day-after-day practice had he grasped a few traces of skill.

It could not be considered real martial arts.

And the long blade in his hand had originally belonged to Hunter Gao.

It was not the Firewood Knife Zhang Yuan was most accustomed to.

But after he activated the Jade Mantis, his Second Host, everything changed drastically.

The level 2 Jade Mantis granted Zhang Yuan the extraordinary ability of Intermediate Blade Technique Proficiency.

With a casual slash, two large heads soared into the sky.

Blood gushed from their severed necks, spraying several feet high!

The next moment, the heads rolled to the ground.

The two servants stared wide-eyed in death, their mouths hanging open as though voicing soundless wails.

What a fine blade. What a fast blade!