5: Escape

“Lu Ming! When did you discover me?” The Yao Beast with Ling Zhi’s face was now filled with both anger and surprise, clearly not expecting Lu Ming to have recognized her.

A red tongue, easily half a meter long, flicked out towards Lu Ming.

It also made a “hissing” sound.

Drops of viscous fluid dripped from the tongue, falling onto the flagstones, like concentrated sulfuric acid, instantly corroding the stone and leaving black marks.

Looking at the monster before him, Lu Ming suppressed his nausea; it was truly disgusting!

If his memory served him correctly, he had just held this monster, and even… even examined its Physical Body.

“Hmph! Just now, when I was pulling you to look for my lord and lady, I felt a callus on the tiger’s mouth area of your hand. Ling Zhi has never Cultivated martial arts, so how could there be such a callus there?”

“I originally suspected whether Ling Zhi was secretly Cultivating martial arts. But then I quickly dismissed it, because, given her personality, there was no reason for her to lie to me.”

“It wasn’t until Liu Chuan died and uttered the word ‘save,’ I guessed it was ‘save me,’ right? At that time, he was looking in your direction.”

“I just never expected that you weren’t human! What kind of monster are you?”

Lu Ming looked at the monster before him, slowly recounting his previous discoveries and conjectures, and then questioned the monster.

Hearing Lu Ming’s question, “Ling Zhi” had no intention of chatting with him. Her half-meter-long tongue instantly extended to two meters, then three meters, shooting towards Lu Ming.

“Hey! I’m talking to you! Why are you licking me? That’s so f*cking disgusting, retract your tongue!” Lu Ming was enraged in his heart. “Ling Zhi” actually ignored him and tried to lick him.

Why do these Yao Beasts never play by the rules?

“Hmph! You’re just trying to stall for time. Although I don’t understand this so-called Protective Aura, from how you looked just now, releasing Protective Aura clearly requires Physical Body strength. You want to stall until you can unleash the next Protective Aura? I won’t let you!”

“Ling Zhi’s” shrill voice was incredibly grating, completely devoid of the pleasantness from their first meeting, and her attacks continued relentlessly.

Lu Ming was somewhat curious, how did “she” manage to extend her tongue so far and still articulate clearly?

Facing “Ling Zhi’s” attack, Lu Ming had no good solution. He could only dodge while defending with the Blade in his hand.

He dared not touch that large tongue, that black-red, vibrant, and disgusting thing that could even corrode flagstones. If it dripped on him, he didn’t even want to imagine.

Fortunately.

This monster only attacked with its tongue and didn’t seem to intend to whip it.

If “she” dared to whip her tongue at him, he was determined to immediately turn and run.

“What kind of monster are you exactly? Also, what happened to Ling Zhi? Where have you hidden my parents?”

This monster wouldn’t let him ask, but he insisted on asking.

He had heard Liu Chuan say earlier that he would be captured along with his parents, so his parents should still be alive, just he didn’t know where.

“Hehe, your parents are naturally still in the courtyard, but don’t even think about saving them. You will be captured along with them, to be used as hostages to force Zhao Bufan into submission.

And your little Ling Zhi has already become my Huapi; you will never see her again. Hahaha…”

Unexpectedly, he actually got an answer, without any concealment.

However, upon hearing this news, Lu Ming’s eyes turned red. From the monster’s mouth, he learned two pieces of information.

Firstly, all the traps he faced tonight seemed to be “their” way of forcing Zhao Bufan into submission. It could be said that all the grievances had nothing to do with his family.

Secondly, Ling Zhi was dead.

What cruel methods!

Ling Zhi, such a lovely little girl, was already dead.

No!

Perhaps Ling Zhi wasn’t lovely at all; the loveliness he perceived might have been entirely faked by the Yao Beast.

Bah! How hateful these Yao Beasts are!

But how did Liu Chuan, a human, ally with the Yao Beasts? What exactly do they want by targeting Zhao Bufan?

Zhao Bufan was his father Lu Daoyuan’s good friend, and he also held the position of Commander Zhao of the Demon Suppression Division.

In his previous life’s memories, Zhao Bufan and his father were very close, but why they were close, he didn’t know.

After all, his former self was a wastrel, only thinking about eating, drinking, and playing every day.

But how to break this situation?

Stall for time?

That’s right, he could only stall for time.

Since they were targeting Commander Zhao Bufan, then Commander Zhao would definitely come!

But then, the monster’s words sent a chill down his spine.

“Don’t think about stalling for time! Zhao Bufan will come, but he definitely won’t be the first to arrive!”

Lu Ming found it very strange how “she” managed to extend her tongue so far and still articulate clearly.

“Is that so? In that case…”

Then, a cold light flashed. “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” Three arcs of light shot out consecutively.

Their target was precisely the opponent’s tongue.

“She” could dodge his Blade, but she couldn’t dodge his Blade Aura.

“Ah!”

With a shrill scream, three sections of the tongue snapped off.

This time, he didn’t aim for other places, only the tongue.

He had noticed that the monster was very dependent on “her” tongue, so he aimed for the tongue with a trial-and-error attitude.

It seemed his luck was good.

As the tongue fell, the monster’s aura instantly weakened.

“Ling Zhi’s” forehead split open, and a ray of light shot out from within, then “Ling Zhi’s” face began to peel off.

The next moment, another cold light flashed.

“Whoosh!”

The fourth Blade Aura shot out, this time aimed precisely at the ray of light that had emerged from the Huapi.

This was a Blade Aura he had deliberately held back, its purpose being to catch the enemy off guard.

With the release of this Blade Aura, the “monster” no longer made any sound.

But a look of surprise and joy appeared on Lu Ming’s face.

[Congratulations on killing a Huapi in the Initial Realm Middle Stage]

[Huapi lifespan 300 years, gained 100 years of lifespan]

[Name: Lu Ming]

[Martial Arts: Subduing Dragon Fist (Ninth Layer), Subduing Dragon Palm (Ninth Layer), Subduing Dragon Blade (Ninth Layer)]

[Current personal lifespan: One month (cannot be further consumed); Available Yao Beast lifespan: 100 years]

Lu Ming didn’t even glance at the Huapi, directly pushed open the courtyard gate, and walked into his parents’ courtyard.

He hadn’t forgotten that his predicament was not yet resolved.

According to the Huapi’s words, the Huapi also had reinforcements, and the Huapi’s reinforcements would definitely arrive before Zhao Bufan.

Whether it was true or not, he had to take his parents and leave here in the shortest possible time.

Soon, Lu Ming found his parents tied up.

Both of them had fainted, probably Liu Chuan had knocked them out, fearing they would run away.

Lu Ming slashed the ropes on them with his Blade and pressed their philtrum.

“Ming’er, how are you…” Lu Daoyuan looked puzzled, but was immediately interrupted by Lu Ming.

“Alright, now is not the time to talk. We are in danger, we must run now.”

“Run?” Su Jingyi also woke up, and as soon as she woke, she heard her son say they needed to run.

Neither of them knew what had happened. Hadn’t Liu Chuan tied them up? How was it that when they opened their eyes, they saw their son?

And their son was telling them to run?

Who could tell them what was happening?

“Yes! Run! Alright, now is not the time to explain. Run first, we can talk on the way!” Lu Ming directly interrupted their questions.

Where was the time to explain to them now? Time was pressing! The Huapi’s reinforcements were about to arrive!

“Uh… okay!”

Although they didn’t know what had happened, seeing their son’s expression, they knew they couldn’t ask too many questions now.

Anyway, it was best to listen to their son; their son would never lie to them.