Chapter 21 Inviting the Enemy into the Trap

It was already sunset, and the orange light could not penetrate the cover of the dense forest.

Yang Mo's boot soles crushed dry branches, startling a few phosphorescent insects; those faint points of light flickered beside his tense jawline.

"Damn it, you again! Yun Bai!" Yang Mo traveled through the forest with a gloomy face.

He roughly tore away the vines blocking his path; the dew condensed on the leaves dampened his black martial outfit, leaving dark water stains on his shoulders.

Last time in Niwa Village, it was inconvenient for him to reveal his identity, so he only left behind dozens of Magic Mane Wolves. He had thought it was a sure thing, but he hadn't expected this Yun Bai to have been pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, suddenly erupting with power to save the entire squad.

This time, he had meticulously designed a desperate situation, attempting to use his Divine Sense to control Young Master Huang Yue when the latter was on the verge of death and unable to defend himself. He hadn't expected Yun Bai to appear halfway through.

Whenever he thought of Young Master Huang Yue, he felt so frustrated he wanted to curse.

A few days ago at the Chen family banquet, he had clearly seen that playboy's eyes turn crimson from the fire poison in the wine, but when his Divine Sense transformed into a sharp spike to probe the other's crown, it felt like crashing into a ten-thousand-foot ice cliff.

That damned old scoundrel Huang Shouren, how many Restrictions had he placed on his grandson, and how many countermeasures had he left behind? His Divine Sense couldn't even penetrate Young Master Huang Yue's skin, let alone delve into his Sea of Consciousness to cast the enslavement secret art bestowed upon him by the Demon Race.

He and that Demon Race superior had deduced the solution after several simulations. Only when Young Master Huang Yue's heart was unguarded could the Heart Demon seize the opportunity to sneak in and eliminate his Divine Sense and spirituality.

The blood-jade earring on his right earlobe suddenly grew hot, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Thirty zhang behind him, the roar of ancient trees breaking echoed, and the movement of sword light tearing through century-old pines startled a sky full of crows.

Yang Mo's molars ground together with a clacking sound, and his pupils flushed an unnatural scarlet.

"He's catching up!" Yang Mo felt the rumbling sound behind him.

He found it incredible. At first, the other party didn't seem to have any intention of pursuing him, allowing him to flee continuously. He had assumed the other party wanted to play the long game to catch a big fish, so he had even deliberately circled around several nearby hills.

He hadn't expected the other party to completely ignore his ruses; he had circled for a quarter of an hour, yet the other party remained indifferent.

Fortunately, he had already put enough distance between them, and Yang Mo, thinking everything was fine, decided to return to the secret stronghold of the Demon Race.

He hadn't expected the other party to suddenly catch up at this moment! How was this possible? A distance of tens of li—even a Second Realm Cultivator couldn't arrive in the blink of an eye!

Yang Mo turned his head in shock and suspicion, only to discover a Flying Sword crashing toward him with a boom!

He understood in an instant.

He was in the shadows, forced to sneak through deep mountains and old forests to hide his tracks; meanwhile, the other party was in the open, charging recklessly and boldly!

"I did underestimate you." Yang Mo gritted his teeth.

If only his Cultivation Technique hadn't been incomplete and his Physical Body unstable.

"Just you wait." Yang Mo squeezed a cold laugh through his teeth, his right hand touching the beast-head dagger at his waist.

As his hand rose, the blade fell.

"Ah." He forcibly suppressed a low roar.

As the blade cut into his left arm, he heard a beast-like low roar roll from his throat.

A large gash was torn into his left arm.

Dark red blood sprayed onto the dark green moss, which immediately absorbed it greedily, and the ground began to emit an eerie phosphorescent glow.

Five Shadow Demons emerged from the tree shadows; bone spurs grew from their pale fingertips as they tore open the dark purple Demon markings on their abdomens, pouring the gushing black blood onto his wound.

"Escape!" Yang Mo's incantation shook down a few maple leaves. His body transformed into thousands of blood moths, enveloping the scent of rotting leaves as he sank into the shadows of the ground. The blue light of the hand seal remained on the fingertips of his right hand as it dissipated, flickering like fireflies in the twilight.

There was no longer any trace of Yang Mo in the dense forest.

Yun Bai lowered his flying boat, leaped, and plunged into the depths of the dense forest.

A faint, sweet, bloody scent brushed past his nose, his gaze locked tightly onto those few eerie figures ahead.

Yang Mo's escape technique was brilliant, so much so that Yun Bai did not notice anything unusual.

Yun Bai simply stared at the Demon monsters fleeing through the woods.

Those Demon monsters resembled human females, with slender limbs, their faces shrouded in black mist, blurred and indistinct. Their skin was covered in purple-black Demon markings, as if they were some kind of ancient curse. Low, rumbling hisses emanated from their mouths, accompanied by sharp, shrill screams that made one's hair stand on end.

"These Demon monsters... something is wrong." Yun Bai muttered to himself, the Flying Sword around him trembling slightly. He could feel that the concentration of Devilish Qi on these Demon monsters far exceeded the ordinary.

[Devilish Qi frequency anomaly detected; completely different from ordinary Shadow Demons.]

Xiao Liu's voice rang in Yun Bai's ear, carrying a hint of gravity.

Yun Bai did not respond; his figure flashed as he chased after the Demon monsters. His speed was extremely fast, weaving through the dense forest like a ghost. However, the speed of the Demon monsters was not slow either; they would sometimes disappear into the black mist and sometimes appear in the distance, as if intentionally luring Yun Bai.

"Want to escape?" Yun Bai gave a cold snort, channeled his spiritual power, and his Flying Sword transformed into a bolt of lightning, pointing directly at the back of one of the Demon monsters.

"Roar—" The Demon monster let out a shrill scream, and purple-black blood gushed from the wound. Her body stumbled for a moment, but she quickly regained her balance and continued to flee forward.

Yun Bai's brows furrowed tightly. The vitality of these Demon monsters far exceeded his expectations. He hesitated no longer, channeled his spiritual power with full force, and his speed increased once more.

"These Demon monsters are fleeing toward the south."

"I only let three Demon monsters escape, yet there are at least ten gathered in this forest."

Yun Bai vigilantly maneuvered his Flying Sword to closely circle his body, his Divine Sense constantly probing in all directions.

He did not continue to kill these Demon monsters.

Because under his pursuit, these Demon monsters did not scatter and flee, but were clearly fleeing toward a certain direction with a purpose.

According to the map, heading south would soon lead to the end of this forest.

Further south lay a place Yun Bai could never forget.

It was a long-abandoned small village named Jiuxu Village.

Jiuxu Village was a trial ground for the State Religion.

Half a month ago, Yun Bai had slaughtered a Short-snouted Magic Boar there.

In that life-and-death battle, Yun Bai had risked everything to activate black hole technology, ushering in a turning point in his life.

"How could it be there?" Yun Bai was filled with doubt, "How could it be such a coincidence?"

At the same time, he was worried about a trap, so he slowed his pace and only followed from a distance.

Finally, those Demon monsters stopped in front of a cliff wall.

Yun Bai knew that beyond this cliff wall, not far away, was Jiuxu Village.

The cliff wall was covered with thick vines and looked unremarkable. However, those Demon monsters suddenly turned around, and beneath their black-mist-shrouded faces, they seemed to reveal a trace of an eerie smile.

Before he could react, the figures of those Demon monsters gradually blurred and finally vanished before the cliff wall, as if they had never existed.

"Vanished?" Yun Bai felt a chill in his heart; he walked quickly to the cliff wall and reached out to touch it. As soon as his palm touched the wall, he felt an invisible resistance, as if a layer of Restriction was sealing the cliff wall.

"This is... a Restriction?" Yun Bai's pupils constricted slightly. He tried to slash with his sword, only to find that the blade could not leave any mark on the barrier at all.

Yun Bai stood before the cliff wall, his palm pressed against that invisible barrier, his brows furrowed deeply.

He applied a little force, and with a few cracking sounds, this Restriction seemed to be in disrepair and very brittle.

In the shadows, a pair of faint eyes were watching Yun Bai.

It was the very same pair that had been watching Yun Bai outside the rest camp!

A low, hoarse voice sneered: "That idiot Yang Mo, he can't accomplish anything but ruins everything! However, although he failed to control that Young Master Huang Yue, being able to lure this Yun Bai into the trap is not bad."

"Whether he enters or not is hard to say." Another hoarse voice said.

"Hmph! A hot-blooded Genius who dares to chase all the way here—will he be able to resist not coming in?"

"Hmm, that is true."

If one speaks of grasping the weaknesses of human nature, no one is more adept at it than the Demon Race.

After all, their Old Ancestor, the Heart Demon clan, is a Demon Race born within the human heart.

Just as the owner of these eyes gazed on with anticipation.

Yun Bai... turned around?

"He's actually not curious and just turned around and left? Damn it!"

If Yun Bai just walked away, this meant that his trap hadn't even been used yet, and it would immediately be exposed to the gaze of the State Religion!