Prisoners

Name: Lynx Spirit (Blue) Race: Yokai Level: 4

Strength: 6

Agility: 17

Physical condition: 6

Spirit: 11

Intelligence: 7

Life: 60

Mana: 110

Equipment: Fist Blade, Tough Leather Armor Skills: Swift Flash - White (Advanced): Short-range rapid dash; Dark Eye - Azure (Intermediate): Gazes into the target's soul; eye contact can induce hypnosis. Evaluation: A solitary and enigmatic wilderness hunter, silent and stealthy, his movements shrouded in mystery. "Whoosh~"

The lynx cruelly licked the blood from its claws, then vanished into the forest in a flash.

The two adventurers, as if facing a formidable enemy, cautiously assumed a defensive stance, back to back.

Several minutes passed, and all that could be heard was the rustling of leaves, but there was still no sign of the enemy.

This lynx spirit inherited the hunting skills of felines; it is like the most patient assassin, applying pressure from the shadows to force its prey to reveal its weaknesses.

In a fleeting moment, an adventurer instinctively looked up at the treetops and met a pair of dark eyes.

In a daze, I felt my eyelids getting heavy and my whole body feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

The next moment, the Sheli Spirit leaped lightly and landed gracefully in front of him.

Sharp claws slowly emerged and were placed on the chest of the unsuspecting adventurer.

The adventurer awoke from a throbbing, painful stupor, only to be horrified to see the terrifying cat demon reaching its claws into his chest.

He opened his mouth to cry out, and just as he made a dodging motion, the sharp pain in his chest drained all his strength from his body.

The last thing he saw was the beating heart in the cat demon's hand.

"Something's not right—" Meng Yunxu suddenly stopped in his tracks. The five-person team also stopped, cautiously observing their surroundings.

"What's wrong?" Qi Changhao cautiously hid in the middle of the group, a privilege befitting a mage.

"How long has it been since our people last reported?" he asked, his face grim.

As per the rules, the adventure team splits into multiple groups after entering an unfamiliar area.

Five small teams of three people each were scattered around the main team of five.

Each team is about 100 to 200 meters apart and reports to the main team every 30 minutes. The five teams take turns reporting, and someone comes to report approximately every 6 minutes.

This complex and rigorous organizational structure is a lesson learned through blood and tears by explorers of the Spirit Realm, designed to prevent them from being wiped out silently by some insurmountable and bizarre force.

Qi Changhao's expression changed, and he immediately released a spell, forming a magical eye woven from magic power, which flew towards the missing team.

A hint of envy flashed in Meng Yunxu's eyes. The spellcaster's abilities were diverse, enabling him to effectively deal with various emergencies.

Although spellcasters in the East and West have different professions, as long as they can solve the conversion between magic runes and seal script, they can learn spells from each other and make up for each other's weaknesses.

This Spell Eye is a modified version of the "Arcane Eye" from the West, which was translated into Daoist terminology and became a standard feature for Eastern spellcasters.

He passed through the mist and saw the adventurers who had died tragically.

"Oh no! Team Three is finished—" Qi Changhao's face turned deathly pale. At this moment, he was once again awakened to the fear of being dominated by the Spirit Realm.

"Changhao, what happened?" Seeing his pale face, Meng Yunxu suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding.

The terror and eeriness of the Spirit Realm are best understood by those who live within it.

"Who is it?" an adventurer shouted sharply.

Everyone instinctively looked over, only to see a shadow flash by at the edge of the mist.

"Thank goodness!" Standing on the ground at the entrance of Azure Cloud Cave Abode, Li Yingqiu looked thankfully at the disheveled and uneasy Meng Yunxu and his group. She had rushed over as soon as she received the message talisman. "Luckily it was just a bunch of worthless trash, otherwise I would have been in serious trouble!"

Duan Wei was the man she hired, which resulted in foreign enemies invading her territory.

"Is this what you relied on to find this place? Wayfinding Compass, huh~ quite a few good things." She picked up a worn-out compass and examined it.

"Li Yingqiu, you're not the so-called lord, are you?" Meng Yunxu looked at her in a disheveled state. His hands were tied behind his back, and his weapons and armor had been confiscated, yet a sense of security welled up within him. "What do you plan to do with us?"

Qi Changhao huddled dejectedly in the crowd, still immersed in the fierce battle that had just taken place.

The group arrived full of confidence, never imagining they would nearly be wiped out before even meeting the main enemy, and even only survived thanks to a pre-existing enemy.

"That person is not someone you can imagine," Li Yingqiu said dismissively. "Tell me, how did you notice me?"

Meng Yunxu grinned, and seeing Yang Hui raising his fist and glaring at him threateningly, he quickly explained, "It's that spirit-patterned sword you sold last time that caught the attention of a big shot in our city!"

"A big shot? How big?" Yang Hui pressed bluntly.

"I don't know, I'm just a nobody, I'm not qualified to know these things—" Meng Yunxu saw Yang Hui raise his fist again and quickly begged for mercy, "Don't hit me, I really don't know. I just received a mission from the Night Watchers to send someone to find out from Sister Qiu who the weapon refiner behind it all is."

Li Yingqiu's heart skipped a beat. She had considered many possibilities before, but she never expected that this was where the secret had been revealed.

"Is it possible that I got it from a lottery draw in the treasure chest?" she asked coldly.

"Impossible! That important figure said that this sword was forged in no more than a month!" Meng Yunxu shook his head.

After saying that, he looked at Li Yingqiu cautiously. "Sister Qiu, that's all I know. What are you going to do with us?"

Li Yingqiu snapped out of her daze, "Where did you get that Spirit Realm Beacon?"

"I bought it through the black market, through Dujiao San's connections," he replied. "This guy has connections; he can often get his hands on rare and valuable items that are hard to find on the market."

"Lock them in the cave and deal with them when the adults return!" Li Yingqiu shook her head.

"Sister Qiu, please let this brother go?" Meng Yunxu struggled, but was easily dragged away by the demon soldiers. "We're all neighbors, just let me go like a fart..."

Li Yingqiu remained unmoved, and the group of seven was soon locked inside the cave.

"That Meng Yunxu guy is really unlucky—" Yang Hui's tone was filled with barely suppressed schadenfreude, "He just happened to run into a fleeing lynx spirit."

There were 20 people when they arrived, but only 7 survived.

If the demon soldiers patrolling the mountain hadn't arrived in time, even the remaining seven people would have been tortured to death.

Thinking of this, he cautiously glanced at the bound lynx, its brown fur stained with messy, dried blood.

Although he obtained the Daoist profession through the help of the Dharma Seed, it was still early, and he couldn't guarantee that he could definitely deal with this cat demon, especially in the mountain forest, which was the cat demon's home ground.

"Keep a close eye on them, don't let them escape." She swept her gaze across the crowd, her eyes landing on Duan Wei. "Especially you, Awei, this is your chance to redeem yourself."

"Sister Yingqiu, don't worry!" Duan Wei nodded firmly.