Feng Lingtian did not turn around.
He continued walking forward, neither speeding up nor slowing down, maintaining his previous pace.
The flapping of wings behind him did not sound again, but he could feel that gaze still lingering on his back, sticky like an invisible membrane, clinging to the back of his neck, impossible to shake off.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the passageway widened again. The cliff walls on both sides receded, and the dark red light overhead was brighter than before.
Feng Lingtian stopped and glanced at the surrounding terrain—ahead was a relatively flat rock platform, much wider than the previous section of the road, suitable for high-speed movement, but also suitable for being attacked from the air by something.
As he was thinking, a series of fine, grinding sounds came from above—like claws scraping against rock, sharp, repetitive, and coming from multiple directions simultaneously.
Feng Lingtian looked up—on the rock wall above the passage, there were countless dark red creatures hanging upside down; they were swarms of bats.
On the rock face closest to him were five bats that were noticeably larger, with wingspans of nearly half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), their claws gripping the crevices in the rock, hanging upside down without moving.
Their eyes were dark gold, reflecting slightly in the dark red light, and were all locked on his direction.
Scattered around them were more smaller bats, with lighter-colored wing membranes and more restless movements, barely managing to remain still under the intimidation of the larger bats.
Feng Lingtian quickly glanced around—there were five large bats and about a dozen small bats, scattered in different positions on the rock wall, occupying the space above the passage and blocking himself on this rock platform.
Upon seeing this, Feng Lingtian quickly deduced in his mind that what he was seeing was a mother bat with her young.
Tang San killed male bats on the Hell Road. Those bats were responsible for attacking and patrolling, while the female bats usually guarded the nest, responsible for breeding and protection.
After Tang San eliminated the male bats, the remaining female bats did not leave Hell Road, but stayed in the area with their young.
Having lost their mates and with their territory exposed to intruders, they were instinctively pushed to their limits, becoming more ferocious and alert than male bats.
Feng Lingtian did not rush to make a move. Instead, he stood still and scanned the surrounding rock structure with his peripheral vision, looking for a route to quickly retreat or counterattack.
His fingers twitched slightly, and a thin blade of wind materialized at his fingertips, hidden on the side of his palm.
The female bat has sharper eyesight than the male, and he didn't want to be awakened by their calls before he was ready.
He waited a few moments, confirming that the female bats were merely staring at him and showed no intention of attacking immediately—they were assessing whether this intruder was as dangerous as the previous blue-haired one.
Feng Lingtian used those few breaths to memorize the surrounding terrain: there was a recessed rock crevice on the left, which could temporarily shelter him from aerial attacks; there was a protruding stone pillar on the right, which could be used as cover for a quick turn.
Feng Lingtian quickly made a judgment. He adjusted his breathing and took half a step back. It was this half step that broke the mother bat's hesitation.
A sharp screech came from the mouth of the nearest female bat, like a needle piercing the eardrum, followed by a second and a third.
As the mother bat cried out, the baby bats were also activated, releasing their claws from the rock face and swarming over in dense numbers.
Feng Lingtian didn't look at the baby bats; the moment the mother bat made her call, he had already pinpointed her location—the closest one was swooping down towards him.
Feng Lingtian sidestepped, and the wind blade slashed in from the side the instant the mother bat passed by, precisely cutting through the root of her left wing membrane.
The mother bat crashed to the ground, struggling to flap her wings, but having lost one wing membrane, she could no longer fly. At the same moment, two other mother bats blocked her escape routes on both sides, rapidly approaching her. A swarm of baby bats also descended from above, obstructing her view.
Feng Lingtian ignored the bats; although their attacks were dense, they lacked power, leaving only shallow marks on his shoulders and back. The real threat was the two female bats that were directly sandwiching him.
In the last half-breath, Feng Lingtian lowered his center of gravity and slid out from between the two female bats. As he flipped over, a wind blade slashed out, striking one of the bats in the abdomen. The female bat's momentum was interrupted, and it rolled twice on the stone platform before regaining its balance.
The remaining three female bats became more cautious. Instead of attacking simultaneously, they spread out to block his movement.
The swarm of baby bats circled around them, disrupting Feng Lingtian's vision and preventing him from simultaneously pinpointing the location of all the mother bats.
Feng Lingtian constantly adjusted his position while moving at high speed, preventing any female bat from locking onto his path.
Wind Blade was expending even more energy under the suppression of Hell Road, and he could feel his movements beginning to slow down slightly, but he did not stop.
As the third female bat swooped down from above, he didn't retreat. Instead, he charged forward, using his shoulder to deflect its claw attack, while a wind blade sliced into its throat from below. The female bat tumbled twice in the air before crashing onto the stone platform.
The remaining two female bats hovered in mid-air, emitting low whistling sounds, as if calling for something. Feng Lingtian didn't wait; he attacked one of them, a wind blade slicing across her neck to regain his balance. He then turned to look at the last female bat.
The last one neither retreated nor fled. Instead, it spread its wings toward Feng Lingtian and let out a piercing screech, as if calling for something.
Without hesitation, Feng Lingtian's wind blade precisely sliced through the mother bat's throat. She let out a final, mournful cry and finally fell to the ground. The baby bats, having lost their mother's command, began to circle wildly in the air, disoriented.
Feng Lingtian stood in the center of the rock platform, adjusting his breathing, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings. The young bats that had lost their mother had left more than a dozen shallow bloodstains on his body, and were now scattering in all directions in a panic.
Feng Lingtian did not give chase. Instead, he stood still and waited until he was sure there was no further movement around him before turning around and continuing forward into the passage, disappearing into the depths of the dark red light.
But what Feng Lingtian Feng Lingtian didn't notice was that with each cry of the mother bat, a subtle ripple would appear in the sea of blood beneath his feet, as if something was responding to the bat...