387: Showing the wolf's feet

Outside the Ninth Mountain Great Camp, the heavy gate creaked open, and a burly man in red armor strode in.

This person was powerfully built, with rugged features, a face like Li Kui, and his heavy footsteps made the snow on the ground tremble with each step.

This person was General Mo Qianyun of the South City Guard!

Behind him followed two Guard Commandants with sabers at their waists!

Mo Qianyun stepped into the Ninth Mountain Great Camp, and Cloud Skyborn and two others walked towards him.

“Cavalry General Yun, Cavalry General Liu, Cavalry General Lu, I, Mo, have already questioned the two city-guarding Guard Commandants of my South City Guard Division who were on duty at the South Gate today, based on the information from your subordinates.”

“It was discovered that Commandant Tong only had a record of leaving the city at that time, but no record of returning. How he was injured and how he returned, I, Mo, am also curious! However, I have sent my soldiers out of the city to search for clues!”

“In addition, I have also brought the two Guard Commandants from my South City Guard Division who were on duty at the South City Gate today!”

The South City Guard, Mo Qianyun, cupped his fists in front of Cloud Skyborn and the two others, then quickly explained the situation in a rough, powerful voice with a solemn look in his eyes.

The two city-guarding Guard Commandants beside him stepped out from the side, bowed slightly to Cloud Skyborn and the two others, and reported with cupped hands:

“Three Piaoji, at one quarter past the hour of Xu today, Commandant Tong of your Ninth Mountain rode an Ao Tian Falcon past the South City, claiming urgent military matters. We opened the city gate Restriction and allowed him passage. At that time… …”

The city-guarding Guard Commandant explained the situation at the time, and Cloud Skyborn’s pupils flickered with divine light upon hearing this. He waved his hand,

“The situation is now known. This has become a point of doubt, General Mo!”

He then looked at Mo Qianyun, “I, Yun, remember that my General once bestowed the Divine Ability True Meaning of the third eye between his brows upon your four generals of the South City Guard Division. I, Yun, would like to ask you for a favor!”

“Just say it!”

… … …

In the Dr. Zhu You, the room where Commandant Tong had just been treated, the candlelight was dim and flickering, casting the vertical bars of the window into distorted shadows, like slender tentacles.

Just then, faint footsteps could be heard from outside, approaching from a distance.

And this room returned to normal. The candlelight stopped flickering, and the distorted shadows on the window disappeared, becoming straight projections.

After a few breaths, the door of this room creaked open, and Cloud Skyborn and several others walked in.

After they entered, there was a soldier in thin armor with a white apron-like garment over it, holding a copper basin and walking out the door.

Upon seeing Cloud Skyborn and the others, the soldier immediately put down the copper basin, bowed low, and lowered his head in a respectful bow, “Piaoji General.”

Cloud Skyborn glanced casually, seeing the copper basin filled with soaked bandages and blood, thinking it was a Dr. Zhu You soldier who had come to treat Tong Shan’s external injuries.

“When you treated Commandant Tong’s external injuries, was there any sign of him waking up?” he asked.

“Reporting to Cavalry General Yun, no!” the soldier replied, his head down, his face hidden in the darkness, making it impossible to see his features.

“You may go!” Cloud Skyborn said, and then walked towards the bed in the dim room, as did Liu Qing and Lu Ming.

And the young soldier picked up the copper basin from the ground and walked out the door with his head down.

Suddenly, a rough voice sounded.

“Stop!”

Only to see Mo Qianyun, the South City Guard, who had been following Cloud Skyborn and the two others, suddenly turn around and stop the young soldier. Golden light flickered from his dark pupils, staring at the young soldier's back, a faint hint of surprise in his eyes.

Cloud Skyborn and the two others in front turned their heads upon hearing the shout. Seeing Mo Qianyun stop the young soldier, they were first puzzled, then their vigilance, honed from constant campaigning, made their brows furrow.

They saw a faint golden light appear in the eyes of this South City Guard Division General, indicating that he must have sensed something unusual. The Qi of the three immediately locked onto the young soldier.

“South City Guard Division Mo wants to ask you something, turn around!” Cloud Skyborn’s eyes flickered as he slowly spoke.

And two zhang away from them, the young soldier holding the copper basin had his back turned, his body trembling slightly, seemingly startled by the several high-ranking military figures.

But the next second, a harsh, grating laugh, like metal rubbing, rang out.

“How interesting, a Dao Seed actually saw through my possession technique!”

“It seems not all of you Ninth Mountain people are useless, aside from that Zhonglang General. You were discovered so quickly.”

As the voice fell, the young soldier’s black shadow, illuminated by the lamplight, became distorted, extending black tentacles that spread across the floor towards the four people.

The four, who had already locked their Qi, their expressions turned cold, and they immediately stomped their feet.

“Bang, bang, bang.”

The floor was repeatedly blasted open, and those black tentacles snapped one by one, splattering in all directions of the room. But the broken black tentacles did not disappear; instead, they transformed into worm-like forms, burrowing into the ground or ceiling, then turning into sticky black masses, quickly staining the entire room from top to bottom, exuding an eerie and terrifying aura, like a giant octopus spraying ink all over the room with its tentacles.

“What are you? How dare you trespass into my Ninth Mountain?”

Cloud Skyborn shouted, his gaze icy.

“Heh heh, ignorant fellows, we are existences that you martial artists cannot touch. What if we trespass? Your Zhonglang General is not here now, and even you yourselves don’t know where he is!”

The other party spoke with a strange accent, sneering.

Then, whispers, noisy, harsh, and eerie, sounded from the black stains all over the room, and quickly, black lines shot out from within, crisscrossing and densely showering Cloud Skyborn and the four others.

Cloud Skyborn and the others’ expressions turned cold. This fellow knew this information and thus plotted to enter, completely disregarding them.

Feeling the strangeness and difficulty of this thing, the several people roared in anger, their Qi surging out, spiritual light bursting forth, each taking a side, forming Divine Ability with their hands and blasting towards these ghostly things.

“Puff, puff, puff.”

The True Qi of the four surged, blocking the black threads and smashing them, but these things seemed to be alive, breaking apart and then forming new ones, becoming more and more numerous.

At this moment, the South City Guard let out a roar from his throat, and the faint golden light in his eyes suddenly intensified.

The next second, a golden light shot out from his eye, like burning flames, piercing through the black tentacles into nothingness, then striking the black reflection not far away.

This was the Dharma Eye True Meaning bestowed upon them by the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General during the battle of Five Treasures Mountain in the city a few months ago, so that their four South City Guard Divisions could use it when apprehending the remnants.

This Divine Ability True Meaning had been nourished in his eyes, bringing about earth-shattering changes to his eyes over the past few months, which was why he could tell that there was something wrong with this young soldier.

However, this True Meaning could only be used a mere three or four times. For him, it was extremely precious, and he usually saved it whenever possible, as he didn't have many left, but at this moment, he had no choice but to unleash it.

What did that ghostly thing mean just now?

Just as the South City Guard’s thoughts raced, the weakened version of the Dharma Eye golden light crashed onto the distorted figure, piercing a bowl-sized hole through it.

And the figure immediately let out a harsh, strange shriek, unlike anything a human could make. Then, a cold, angry roar sounded:

“What kind of Divine Ability is this that can harm me? No, this is not something a Dao Seed like you can control!”

“Then I’ll let you taste it again!” Mo Qianyun’s eyes widened in anger, and golden light began to tremble again in his dark pupils.

Upon seeing this, the black shadowy figure snorted in anger, and with lightning speed, quickly fled along the floor and out through the crack in the door.

And the black stains spread throughout the room also receded like a tide from the floor, doors, and window cracks.

Soon, the room regained its light, and the yellow candlelight flickered.

At this moment, outside, whistles sounded, and the clanging of armor approached from this direction, suggesting that the commotion here had alarmed the troops in the military camp.

“Bang.”

“Bang.”

“Bang.”

Cloud Skyborn and the others shot out like cannonballs, their eyes flashing with terrifying brilliance, searching for the black shadow’s trace, but found no trace in the darkness outside.

“General Mo?” They turned their gaze to Mo Qianyun.

Mo Qianyun, however, had a somewhat grim expression and transmitted, “The True Meaning bestowed by the Zhonglang General has just been used up. After all, it can only be used a few times. I was just bluffing that thing!”

“This thing’s Divine Ability is a bit strange; it can possess people at will. Its origin is unclear, like a ghost Dao, yet without such heavy Yin Qi.”

“By the way, what did that thing say just now? That Ninth Zhonglang is not in the Ninth Mountain? And you don’t know where Ninth Zhonglang is?”

Mo Qianyun’s eyes were filled with surprise as he looked at Cloud Skyborn and the two others.

He remembered that two days ago, over a hundred Heavenly Gate Devil corpses were displayed in Jinguan City, saying that Ninth Zhonglang had won a battle. At that time, he and the other three South City Guard Divisions had agreed to come and congratulate him and report the recent situation in the city to the Zhonglang General. He remembered that it was Cloud Skyborn and the others who said that Ninth Zhonglang was dealing with the aftermath and asked them to come next time.

Cloud Skyborn and Liu Qing and the others frowned upon hearing this. “The General has indeed encountered a situation. We ourselves cannot explain it clearly for a while. Right now, we must find this fellow. Their origin is strange, and their tone is ill-intentioned. If we don’t find them, there will surely be great trouble. However, sneaking in like this, they must have a motive!”

“We just had an old man arrive in our Ninth Mountain whom the General values greatly. Nothing must happen to him!”

Cloud Skyborn’s tone sharpened.

He was not afraid of someone openly trespassing into the Ninth Mountain, because as a vital area of the Dao Fu Division, the Restrictions of each mountain were strict and powerful; even a Martial God would require great effort to forcibly break in.

However, the strangeness of that thing just now did not trigger a reaction from the hidden Restrictions within the military camp. Was it the thing’s possession technique, or was this thing not of the Devil category?

Just then, a large group of armored soldiers surged in from both sides. They were the patrol troops from the camp below the Ninth Mountain.

“Piaoji General, what happened? We heard a commotion!”

Cloud Skyborn’s face was grim.

“A monster capable of possessing people has run in!”

“Issue an order: at night, apart from the scheduled patrol teams, everyone else is to stay in their respective camps and not leave. Patrol teams are not to disperse. If anyone is found behaving abnormally, apprehend them. Also, all Restrictions within the camp are to be activated!”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The patrol troops, hearing that a monster had intruded into the Ninth Mountain, immediately braced themselves, responded affirmatively, and then quickly withdrew.

Soon, in the cold night, whistles sounded everywhere.

After Cloud Skyborn gave his orders, he and Liu Qing returned to the room they had just left.

The young soldier’s body lay there, lifeless.

Cloud Skyborn quickly strode inside; he actually had a suspicion in his heart.

“Bang.”

He slammed his fist hard on the edge of the bed, bloodshot lines appearing in his eyes.

“Let’s go, we’ll go to the Zhonglang Hall! Nothing can happen there!”

That night, the Ninth Mountain was a bit lively.

Then towards the remaining three people.