Chapter 710: Where Is He?
Many people present were seeing a lord-level duonao beast for the first time. Its body was more than sixteen meters long, shaped like a giant rhinoceros, and as powerful as a mountain. When it ran, it was like a locomotive, shaking the earth and mountains alike.
There was even a shield-shaped bone plate growing from its forehead. Whether it rammed a tree or a boulder, one strike was enough to shatter it.
This Giant Thunderclap Beast might not have been larger than the duonao beasts behind it, but its entire body was suffused with crimson flame and lightning. Countless balls of electricity burst apart around it every moment, creating an astonishing sight.
Crystals of all sizes were also scattered across its skin, each a different color, as though they had grown straight out of its body.
This herd of beasts ran in a mass, colliding with one another as dust and mud billowed behind them. Their momentum was truly unstoppable. Even the experienced garrison soldiers could only flee before them. Who would dare step forward to block them?
Two unlucky fellows with short legs demonstrated the rule for everyone on the spot: whoever was slow died!
The army behind the Giant Thunderclap Beast was not limited to its own kind.
So-called “lords” could usually command the other duonao beasts within their territories.
The last time, when the nothing beast leader had gathered a beast tide to attack the Giant Thunderclap Beast’s nest, it had seized an opportunity. After laying eggs, the Giant Thunderclap Beast had not allowed any duonao beast near its nest, including its own subjects. Therefore, when the nest was attacked, it had received no response from those under its rule.
Now, things were different. Its eggs were all gone, and the Giant Thunderclap Beast no longer had any offspring to protect.
State Preceptor Qing Yang also noticed that the Giant Thunderclap Beast’s eyes were bloodshot, white foam spilling from the corners of its mouth, while its heavy breathing rang like thunder.
She immediately identified that it was in a state of violent fury.
Who could have angered it so easily and lured it into the Storm Gate?
The first thing she thought of was the Mount Xu invader. They really did seem capable of doing such a thing.
But the duonao beast herd led by the Giant Thunderclap Beast was extremely fast. In at most a few more breaths, it would crash into the crowd.
Several soldiers had already died, either trampled into mud or flung into the water, while the rest scattered like frightened birds and beasts.
State Preceptor Qing Yang and Baizhantian had no time to think carefully and could only move aside.
Lingxu City had dealt with duonao beasts for several hundred years and knew these hulking creatures were at their most terrifying when gathered in a herd. But as long as the herd was divided up before being attacked, the danger the beasts posed would drop significantly.
Baizhantian was impatient with these uninvited guests, but amid such chaos, where could it even pursue the invader?[1]
Besides, its outer shell had already begun to deteriorate. It did not want to expend any extra effort.
State Preceptor Qing Yang suddenly said, “Into the water.”
Duonao beasts could not float or move across water. Deep water would only slow their advance. Besides, water sources were scarce in the Fu Realm, and they disliked water to begin with, so they would naturally avoid heading deeper into the Grass Sea.
Baizhantian nodded and was about to dart toward the deep-water area when the water splashed, and the water spirit emerged.
“Found them.”
There were many people in the water, but there was only one giant spider, so it was still quite easy to find.
Before the giant eel had finished speaking, another figure leaped out of the water and slammed heavily onto its body.
Zhu Erniang!
She had indeed been hiding in the lake.
The giant eel had revealed her location in a single sentence, and Zhu Erniang immediately retaliated. She stabbed the giant eel’s eyes blind with her legs, and her mouthparts pierced straight through its skin, injecting venom!
The incident happened so suddenly that to others, it only looked as though the giant spider had leaped onto the eel monster’s head, retracted all eight legs, then sprang off again and landed onshore.
With a crash, water splashed over everyone’s heads and faces, mingling with the eel monster’s shrieking.
The spider immortal’s toxin was not something any random water spirit could withstand.
At that moment, the giant spider opened all eight legs and raced toward shore without looking back.
Baizhantian immediately gave chase.
It rushed past, almost close enough to brush against the Giant Thunderclap Beast’s enormous hoof.
“Don’t...” State Preceptor Qing Yang frowned. With the Grass Sea thrown into such chaos, the giant spider and the invader could have slipped away. Why had it appeared at this precise moment?
No matter how she looked at it, this smelled of conspiracy.
But could she tell Baizhantian not to pursue? In this god’s eyes, there was only the invader. It could not even be bothered to spare the Giant Thunderclap Beast an extra glance.
From the water, she could also see clearly that the Giant Thunderclap Beast had not summoned only these two or three hundred underlings. Behind them, several hundred more duonao beasts were jumping out of the Storm Gate one after another and chasing this way.
The leading effect of this overlord was extremely obvious.
“You stay!” Baizhantian’s voice came from afar, though it had already gone. “That boy is still in the water!”
Although the giant spider’s movements just now had been quick, Baizhantian’s eyesight was astonishing. It had already seen that He Lingchuan was not on the giant spider’s body.
The invader’s still in the water?
At this point, the Giant Thunderclap Beast also came to a halt, sniffing left and searching right as though looking for something. The other duonao beasts also slowed, but their tempers were extremely violent, and they rammed anyone they saw.
The air of the mortal realm made them very uncomfortable.
Seeing this, State Preceptor Qing Yang became even more certain that it had been lured here by someone.
She looked around and saw seven or eight soldiers floundering in the water. These were the clever ones, who knew the Giant Thunderclap Beast disliked deep water.
But only one had his back to her as he swam, and he was very far away, at least four hundred meters away.
He was only a tiny speck in the water. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the surroundings were dim and dark. If not for her sharp eyesight, she might almost have overlooked him.
This person was actually swimming against the direction of the duonao beast herd, heading toward the Storm Gate.
The more State Preceptor Qing Yang looked at the back of his head, the more suspicious he seemed.
This was intuition. It did not require proof or reasoning.
She focused, and the details of this person swiftly enlarged in her vision. The armor plate on his left arm was missing, and there was a large tear in his sleeve. Yes, earlier, a soldier had been knocked into the water by a duonao beast, and his arm armor had fallen off. It was probably this fellow.
Was this man hiding among the troops just now? Did he lead the Giant Thunderclap Beast here?
Silently, she stepped over the waves in pursuit. Azure light shimmered faintly beneath her feet, keeping her from sinking into the lake.
The man seemed to have eyes on the back of his head as well. The instant she set off, he plunged underwater, as though he had just finished taking a breath.
By the time State Preceptor Qing Yang arrived, only rippling waves remained.
The Grass Sea garrison that the duonao beast herd had scattered was regrouping in front of the Storm Gate. Many soldiers climbed out of the water and returned to formation, still dripping wet.
The invader should not have mixed into the army. That would be throwing himself into a net. When the troops reorganized, an unfamiliar face would be very conspicuous.
Moreover, State Preceptor Qing Yang did not see any soldier who had come ashore missing the left arm plate.
Suddenly, she heard a strange sound in the distance and immediately turned to look.
About thirty meters from the shore, there were several sandbars, likewise covered with bleak grass and dense low trees. The disturbance caused by the duonao beasts was all onshore and did not affect the sandbars. Yet now, several birds in the woods had been startled and flew up with flapping wings. What State Preceptor Qing Yang heard was their unhappy shrieking.
What startled them?
State Preceptor Qing Yang immediately turned and rushed toward the sandbar.
She had a powerful premonition that her target was likely there.
Sure enough, after jumping past a fir tree, she saw a person standing ahead. His light leather armor was dripping wet, and he wore that mask on his face.
The man stood perfectly straight, half of him hidden in the shadows of the trees. Calm and unhurried, he said, “State Preceptor Qing Yang!”
At last, she had caught him. State Preceptor Qing Yang secretly exhaled and stepped forward, reaching out to grab him!
No matter what the other party said, she would capture him first out of respect.
This fellow’s crimes were far too great. He had to be taken down immediately.
When she attacked, she had already predicted his counterattack, so this move concealed several follow-ups. Any one of them would leave him suffering badly.
The fact that this man dared to stop was the greatest mistake of his life.
Unexpectedly, he neither dodged nor evaded. He suddenly raised both hands high and shouted, “I surrender!”
Then she struck him in the chest with her staff, knocking him backward until he staggered and sat down.
Fortunately, State Preceptor Qing Yang restrained her strength at the last moment. Otherwise, the heavy result would have been instant death, and the light result would have been being crippled.
State Preceptor Qing Yang swept her gaze over him, planted her staff on the ground, and drew a circle around him. “This restriction is called Marked Ground Prison. If you try to leave the circle, you will batter yourself bloody.”
Within the mark on the ground, faint azure light indeed flowed.
The man raised both hands. “I said I surrender, so I won’t struggle.”
State Preceptor Qing Yang ignored him. She activated her movement technique and circled the sandbar in the blink of an eye.
The sandbar was not large, only three or four thousand square meters, overgrown with branches and vines. State Preceptor Qing Yang was unwilling to give up, searching every nook and cranny, startling countless gulls and egrets, but she saw not even half a human shadow.
On this sandbar, there was only the single prisoner who had surrendered without resistance.
So close. She had been so close!
She was unwilling to accept it!
State Preceptor Qing Yang punched a tree. With a crack, the little tree did not even have a chance to break in half; the entire thing turned to powder.
When she returned, the prisoner was still obediently inside the circle, unmoving.
Suppressing her anger, State Preceptor Qing Yang said, “Take off the mask!”
The man lifted his hand halfway. Before he touched the mask, he lowered it again and suddenly said, “State Preceptor Qing Yang, there is something I would like to ask.”
State Preceptor Qing Yang struck her staff against a large rock nearby. She did not seem to use much force, but the stone suddenly collapsed, turning into a pile of sand.
“Take off the mask.”
Looking at her face and listening to her voice, she was clearly already on the verge of erupting. The man had no choice but to reach up and remove the mask, revealing a young face.
State Preceptor Qing Yang’s gaze seemed as though it wanted to burn a hole through his face. “You are not him.”
“Him” meant the invader—the chief culprit who had thrown all of Mount Xu into chaos, and also the key to her redeeming herself through merit.
The prisoner asked curiously, “How did you know?”
State Preceptor Qing Yang naturally did not answer. This prisoner’s arm armor was intact. Though he wore the lava mask, he was not the true target she was looking for.
Once she confirmed this, her heart sank straight to the bottom.
Damn it. That fellow got away in the end!
“Are you his accomplice? Where is he?” Is this a trick of making noise in the east while striking in the west?
At least she had captured someone alive. Hopefully, she could extract some useful clues.
The prisoner laughed again. His smile was somewhat strange, because his facial muscles were stiff. “Gone. Already gone. You won’t catch him.”
His tone was dry as well. “I want to ask, do you have a flute made from heavenly centipede bone?”
Heavenly centipede bone? State Preceptor Qing Yang’s gaze sharpened. “How do you know that?”
Had this man personally seen her wear and play it, or had he learned of it from Xi Yunhe’s painting? If it was the latter, then at the very least, he must have seen the portrait Xi Yunhe had painted of her.
That was one of the pieces of evidence in the elixir of youth case. There were all kinds of rumors outside, but how many people had actually seen it?
The prisoner stared straight at her, a trace of nervousness hidden beneath his voice. “I want to know where that bone flute came from.”
1. And we’re back to referring to the god as it. ☜