Chapter 276 Fake Injury Conceals Power

The Five-Tailed Fox Demon's claws stopped three inches from Chen Mu's face.

Her twisted face was filled with satisfaction, and her sharp nails shimmered with an eerie light; just one more inch forward, and she could pierce Chen Mu's throat, ending the life of the enemy whom the Beimang clan hated to the bone.

"Chen Mu!"

She spoke, her voice filled with the joy of imminent revenge.

But the words had barely left her lips when they came to an abrupt halt.

Chen Mu moved.

That right hand hanging at his side—the same hand that had just been bitten until it was a bloody mess, with bones nearly shattered—suddenly shot up, fingers curled into a claw, aiming straight for the fox demon's throat.

The speed was too fast; the fox demon had no time to react.

She only felt a blur before her eyes, and that supposedly ruined hand was right in front of her, its fingertips carrying a fierce gust of wind, striking directly at her vital throat.

"You!"

The Five-Tailed Fox Demon was both shocked and furious, exerting all her strength to dodge to the side, barely managing to avoid the fatal blow.

But no matter how fast she dodged, she could not move faster than Chen Mu's strike, which had already been prepared.

That claw failed to grasp her throat, but in the instant it grazed her, it viciously tore the flesh on the side of her neck, and blood gushed out instantly, splashing all over Chen Mu.

"Awooo!"

The Five-Tailed Demon Fox let out a shrill, miserable scream, her figure retreating violently. Her five tails flailed wildly, flickering with golden-red light. She stumbled back three or four steps before barely managing to stand steady, reaching up to cover her neck as blood gushed out from between her fingers, instantly staining half her body red.

"You... you!"

She widened her eyes, staring fixedly at Chen Mu, her eyes filled with disbelief.

This man had clearly been pierced through the waist by a broken sword, his right hand had clearly been bitten off, he had clearly vomited so much blood, and he was clearly a dying man; how could he possibly still have the strength to counterattack?

Furthermore, that strike's speed, power, and precision were clearly those of someone in their prime!

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but only blood foam welled up in her throat.

The three cat demons were also stunned.

Just moments ago, they had been circling Chen Mu, toying with this dying prey, fantasizing about the pleasure of ripping out his heart and liver later, but now they stood frozen on the spot, shocked by this sudden turn of events.

"How..."

One of the cat demons muttered, but before it could finish speaking, Chen Mu had already moved.

He pushed the Divine Void Step to its limit, his figure leaving trails of afterimages within the temple hall. The soul-slaying blade had been drawn at some unknown moment, its light like a ribbon of silk, carrying the sound of tearing air as it charged straight toward the three cat demons.

The three cat demons finally snapped back to reality, wanting to dodge or counterattack, but it was too late.

Chen Mu was too fast; he was so fast that just as they raised their claws, the blade had already sliced across the neck of the first cat demon.

A cat's head soared into the air, blood gushing like a fountain and splashing onto the shrine. The cat demon hadn't even had time to let out a scream before its corpse collapsed limply.

[Slayed Dao Entry Realm cat demon, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 137 years]

The second cat demon turned to flee, its four paws having just pushed off the ground, when Chen Mu's blade arrived.

The blade pierced in from the back and emerged from the chest, directly impaling its heart.

The cat demon let out a shrill hiss, its four legs kicking frantically a few times before it went still.

[Slayed Dao Entry Realm cat demon, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 111 years]

The third cat demon cub was already trembling all over with fear, prostrating itself on the ground and kowtowing desperately.

"Spare me... spare me... My Lord, spare me..."

Its voice was filled with sobs, its eyes full of terror, with no trace of its earlier arrogance.

Chen Mu did not pay it any heed. He swung the soul-slaying blade horizontally. As the blade passed, that furry head rolled off its neck, tumbling along the ground twice before finally coming to a rest in the shadows of the shrine.

[Slayed cat demon cub, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 72 years]

Three cat demons, three slashes, all within three breaths; blood splattered all over the temple hall.

Chen Mu sheathed his blade, turned around, and walked step by step toward the severely injured Five-Tailed Fox Demon.

His footsteps were slow and steady, stepping into the pool of blood and making soft, pattering sounds.

The Five-Tailed Fox Demon leaned against the edge of the shrine, one hand covering the wound on her neck, the other bracing against the wall behind her, her slit pupils filled with shock and terror.

She watched this blood-drenched man approach step by step, watched that expressionless face and those eyes that were calm to the point of indifference, and her heart felt as if it were about to leap out of her throat.

"You... you..."

She opened her mouth, her voice trembling.

"You were never injured at all... it was all fake... it was all fake!"

Chen Mu merely smiled; he couldn't be bothered to explain to her.

His smile was extremely faint, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly before returning to calm, but to the Five-Tailed Fox Demon, this smile was more terrifying than any threat.

What was this man smiling about? How could he still be smiling!

She did not understand, and she would never understand.

From the very first move of stepping into this temple, Chen Mu had already sensed something was wrong.

The bear paw gloves.

Those gloves, which he had carried all the way from Yunmeng, had felt slightly hot against his chest the moment he stepped through the temple gate.

The heat had come abruptly, yet it was familiar, like some kind of premonition from the unknown.

Flying Bear Dream Entry.

These gloves were, by nature, a Magical Artifact for dream entry. His perception of dream realms was sharper than anyone else's; the moment he stepped into the temple gate and the gloves heated up, he knew something was wrong here.

But he did not make a scene; he simply observed quietly, protecting the clarity of his spirit while playing along with the other party's act.

When Jiang Yuheng grabbed Zhuifeng, he rushed up to draw his blade.

When Jiang Yuheng went mad, he fought with him.

Until Jiang Yuheng was killed by him.

Every step was coordinated flawlessly, every reaction was perfectly timed, as if he were truly being led by the nose by the illusion.

But that System notification sound was late in coming.

After slaying Jiang Yuheng, the System gave no notification, and Chen Mu knew right then that this Jiang Yuheng before him was not real.

If he had truly been from the Demon Suppression Division, even if controlled by a demon, there should have been Lifespan gained upon killing him. But the System remained silent as death, which could only mean one thing: the person before him was merely a phantom within the illusion, or he wasn't dead at all.

He had initially thought that Ling Xiaoning and Qi Huan had also stumbled into the illusion just like him, trapped here and waiting for him to save them.

But the moment Jiang Yuheng fell and Ling Xiaoning rushed up to cheer, Chen Mu's heart turned completely cold.

"Chen Mu, well killed! This dog thing should have died a long time ago!"

Ling Xiaoning was hugging Zhuifeng, his face scrunched up as he laughed.

He was too happy—so happy that he forgot who he was, and forgot how a person with a pure Heart-Nature should react when seeing a peer die.

Although Ling Xiaoning was young, loved to laugh and play, and was sometimes thoughtless, Chen Mu knew him.

That boy would never clap and cheer after a colleague had died. Even if that person was hateful, even if he had just beaten him, he would at most let out a sigh of relief, then quietly hide to the side, not daring to take another look.

But this Ling Xiaoning before him was laughing unscrupulously, laughing in a state of self-forgetfulness.

That was not Ling Xiaoning!

And Qi Huan had also shown no reaction from beginning to end.

That Banner Master of the Demon Archive Division, who had dragged Chen Mu along to drink and reminisce the whole way and had given up his quota for the Marrow Cleansing Pool, now watched as his colleague was killed, yet he only stood not far away, watching all of this expressionlessly. He neither intervened nor spoke; he simply stood there quietly, like an outsider.

That was not Qi Huan.