Seeing how convincingly Yang Zhen spoke, Liu Ruoning's heart tightened. She looked where he was looking, but there wasn't a soul in sight, not even the shadow of a ghost. She immediately knew she'd been tricked.
"Junior Brother, you..." Liu Ruoning hurriedly turned back, her mouth hanging wide open and her face full of dismay. In that short time, Yang Zhen had already run over a thousand zhang away.
Watching Yang Zhen scramble along at the foot of the mountain on all fours, Liu Ruoning burst out laughing, then stamped her foot in vexation.
"I wonder what kind of chaos Junior Brother will bring to the Youzhou Continent this time."
Liu Ruoning murmured to herself, gradually becoming lost in thought as she watched Yang Zhen's retreating figure. These past few days, her junior brother had seemed like a different person, a far cry from his former clumsy, taciturn self. The only thing that hadn't changed was that, even though he had reached the Essence Condensation Stage Ninth Layer, his movements were still just as clumsy when he ran.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! This damn mountain path is hard to travel."
Yang Zhen spat out the blades of grass in his mouth and glanced back at the slope. He could no longer make out Liu Ruoning and the others.
True Person Changyue would soon come to the Youzhou Grand Assembly and meet up with Liu Ruoning and the others. With her there, Yang Zhen wouldn't be able to do as he pleased, so it was more convenient to strike out on his own.
Although Yang Zhen had no experience surviving in the mountains and forests, he had watched plenty of wilderness livestreams in his previous life. He could still live quite comfortably for a short while.
Youzhou City was another three to five days away, and Yang Zhen would have to spend those days in the mountains and forests.
The environment on the Youzhou Continent was almost primeval, with a wild, untamed air everywhere. For that very reason, many ingredients were all-natural. Before long, Yang Zhen had gathered a good number of daily necessities, with more salt and Sichuan peppercorns than he could carry. He even found some cumin, which smelled just the same, making Yang Zheng's mouth water nonstop.
The day was sunny and breezy as Yang Zhen made his way slowly through the mountains and forests. Aside from ingredients, he hadn't found any animals along the way. He hadn't even seen a single rabbit hair, and he immediately found it a little strange.
In a situation like this, there was only one possibility: Yang Zhen had entered the territory of a powerful Demon Beast.
At that thought, Yang Zhen's eyes lit up. In his eyes, a powerful Demon Beast was practically no different from a treasure. Aside from the valuable materials all over its body, it might even be guarding some heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Since he was already here and in no hurry, Yang Zhen naturally couldn't just walk past without knowing what was going on. For the next stretch of the journey, he headed wherever the air felt heavy.
As he walked, a thought struck him, and he hurriedly climbed a large tree.
The mountains were full of lush trees and jagged rocks, making it almost too easy for someone to hide.
Boom!
Yang Zhen had just settled into position when an earth-shaking crash rang out.
A terrifying wave of sound swept toward him, setting countless plants and trees rustling, followed closely by a deafening roar.
Baa-!
"Baa?"
Hearing that furious, agitated sound, Yang Zhen nearly fell headfirst out of the tree. Curious, he looked down the mountain and immediately froze.
A gigantic goat-shaped beast was glaring coldly at two groups of people with blood-red eyes. One group wore long black robes and numbered around ten, most of them grim-faced with eerie gazes. The other group was much weaker, with only three people, all women.
The woman leading the three wore a long white dress, its sleeves and skirts whipping wildly amid the beast's roaring. The sword in her hand shone with a deep blue light, clearly no ordinary weapon.
The woman was young, apparently around sixteen or seventeen. With a cold expression, she watched the group in black, her face remaining unchanged even as she faced both the enemies and the beast.
"A three-way standoff!" Yang Zhen clicked his tongue in wonder. Sitting in the tree to watch the tigers fight, he even pulled out a vermilion fruit and ate it with relish.
The goat-shaped beast seemed unwilling to leave the massive rock. Though it raged repeatedly, it merely glared at the two groups with blood-red eyes.
Among the people in black, a man with gold trim on his clothes stepped forward and said coldly to the three women, "Zhen Ping'er, our Black Nightmare Sect has been chasing this Gale Sheep for days, yet you claim you saw it first. Is everyone in your Demonic Sect a common thief?"
Zhen Ping'er's sword suddenly erupted with a brilliant light. She sneered and said, "Lie Hu, if you want to snatch the Gale Sheep, just say so. Since when did the Black Nightmare Sect become so despicable? You want to play the villain and still dress yourselves up in a hat of righteousness?"
Yang Zhen found the exchange entertaining. Zhen Ping'er wore white purer than snow, yet her temperament was like fire, and she had a clear grasp of the situation. She was just to his liking. The next moment, Yang Zhen wanted nothing more than to take that thought back.
Seeing Lie Hu and the others laughing and mocking her, Zhen Ping'er darted forward, sword in hand. Even after the senior sister behind her wrapped her arms around her waist, she kept glaring and struggling desperately, seemingly intent on putting three cuts and six holes in Lie Hu with her sword.
"I'll fight you bastards to the death!"
Boom!
Just then, a terrifying wave of Qi suddenly burst from a masked man among Lie Hu's group. His presence surged like a great wave, terrifying and eerie.
"Foundation Establishment Realm!"
The senior sister desperately holding Zhen Ping'er around the waist cried out, her expression changing drastically. Even Zhen Ping'er quieted down, looking solemnly at the masked man.
A cruel, almost-smile appeared at the corner of the masked man's mouth. In a hoarse voice, he said, "The Gale Sheep is mine, and so are your lives. Since we've run into each other, stay here!"
"Pah! Who the hell do you think you are? So what if you're in the Foundation Establishment Realm? Senior Sister Fang, let go of me! I'll fight this sneering bastard to the death!"
Senior Sister Fang gave a bitter laugh, her expression growing even uglier. She said to the person behind her, "Get Ping'er out of here!"
"What?" Zhen Ping'er stared. "No! If anyone's leaving, it should be you two!"
"At a time like this, you still think you can leave?" The masked man suddenly snorted. The terrifying black-purple wave of Qi pouring from his body swept toward the three women in the blink of an eye.
"Watch out!" Senior Sister Fang cried in alarm. Her sword suddenly erupted with a burst of green light that plunged into the black-purple mist, producing a hissing sound.
Yang Zhen kept shaking his head as he watched. One group was a bunch of sinister oddballs in black robes, while the other was even worse off: there were only three of them to begin with, and they had a reckless fool among them. Even the masked man in the Foundation Establishment Realm used Earth Grade martial techniques that looked flashy but had little destructive power.
Just then, the situation abruptly changed. Zhen Ping'er stopped struggling, and Senior Sister Fang stopped holding her, leaving the Black Nightmare Sect members staring in confusion.
Zhen Ping'er grinned at the masked man and said, "Jie Gang, you fell for it!"
"What?" The masked man called Jie Gang jumped. "How did you know I was Jie... Ghost Gate Vine!"
As soon as Jie Gang spoke, countless purple vines emerged from the ground around them and enveloped Jie Gang and the others in the blink of an eye. Lie Hu was even less fortunate. He was tied up and suspended in midair in an exceptionally bizarre pose, his head and feet pointing downward and his legs jutting toward the sky. His face was flushed red, full of horror.
Even Yang Zhen jumped when he saw the Ghost Gate Vine appear. There was something wicked about that thing.
(End of chapter)