282: Night Owl Shadow

"Work's done~"

Chen Yu waved her hand grandly, with an aura comparable to a victorious general, swiftly putting the copper pot, stained with chili oil, into her Storage Ring.

Feng Nuo shivered as she pulled up the limp cubs, wanting only to escape this forest swept by demonic music.

"Next stop, our target is the Misty Marsh."

Chen Yu pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a joyful expression of project progression on her face.

"I heard the Loach Demons here have sweet, melodious voices. It's the perfect chance to try out the 'Wangchuan K-Karaoke Treasure' I brought."

"Let's see whose sound waves are superior."

Feng Xi's expression darkened at her words, her claws digging deep into the humus layer. Only her obsession with her official position kept her going.

As Chen Yu led the dispirited Grass Spirit Dog cub group to the next 'cultural wasteland,' the space above Aurora Forest twisted a few times.

"Running like frightened mice, but unfortunately, they're marked by my 'Flower of the Other Shore Guide.' They won't be able to escape, no matter how far they go." Meng Jiang's red lips curved slightly, but her eyes held bone-chilling coldness.

With a flick of her finger, a wisp of spiritual thread suddenly straightened, pointing towards the miasma-filled valley in the southwest.

"You rat hiding in the dark, let me see what kind of demon is peeking at the Prefecture City God's 'artistic creation.'"

No sooner had she spoken than her figure transformed into a green shadow and flew along the thread, leaving only a faint scent of flower of the other shore in the forest.

Netherworld, Jiaotai Palace.

Shang Wan Ning, who should have been reviewing documents, was currently sitting cross-legged on the phoenix couch, watching the excitement in a water mirror.

The mirror showed the square dance scene in Qingmu Plain, clearly even the Grass Spirit Dog cubs' paws cramping up.

Seeing the little loli shout, "'Drunken Man-Eating Flower' ready, go!"

Shang Wan Ning lost her composure, spraying all the spiritual tea she had just drunk onto the carpet. "Amazing! A-Yu's hoarse voice combined with that demonic song, aren't the high-ranking demons going to explode with anger?"

As she was laughing, Old Ancestor Qingmu's vines in the water mirror lashed out at Chen Yu, only to be bounced back by a transparent barrier... Shang Wan Ning's beautiful eyes narrowed, and she tapped the water mirror. The screen 'whooshed' and zoomed out, locking onto several shadows fleeing in a panic.

The scene switched to Sister Meng's perspective of chasing the demons: she raised her jade hand, and the miasma ahead was split open by a sharp blade.

Revealing three crooked, ugly demon scouts in the cave, huddled together and trembling.

"That white-haired girl is too terrifying."

The Bat Demon's voice trembled. "Carrying a poisonous pot, singing and dancing, even Old Ancestor Qingmu was scared stiff. This job is impossible to do."

The Lizard-headed Spirit spat. "Forget it! We were only supposed to watch the Grass Spirit Dogs, who knew a crazy City God would show up?"

"We need more money, at least five times the demon pearls."

The Spider Demon retched. "Boss, will the Lord really give us more money? I just joined, I don't understand these ins and outs."

"Although Lord Ao Ya is tyrannical, he won't exploit the wages of his secret agents."

Meng Jiang, hidden in the shadows of the cave entrance, listened for a few sentences. "You think the money is too little? How about I give you a few bowls of free meng pos soup to taste?"

Her voice was chilling, exploding like thunder.

The three demons jumped in fright, turning around to see a beautiful woman in green standing at the cave entrance, playing with a flower of the other shore in her palm.

"Lady Meng... Lady Meng!" The spirit shrieked and knelt.

As the Bat Demon tried to fly, it was 'slapped' against the cave wall by divine power; the Spider Demon's eight legs flailed wildly, but Sister Meng tapped her foot on the ground.

He sank into the mud, only half his head sticking out and swaying.

"Mercy! I'm just trying to make a living." The Lizard Demon kowtowed like pounding garlic.

"Make a living?"

Meng Jiang walked up to the Spider Demon, her eyes glowing eerily. "Tell me, who are you making a living with, daring to spy on the Prefecture City God dancing?"

The Spider Demon was scared out of its wits, screaming, "It's the Night Owl Shadow, under Lord Ao Ya, ordered to monitor Grass Spirit Dog Village."

"Night Owl Shadow?"

The flower of the other shore petal between Meng Jiang's fingers froze instantly. "Heh, what a small world."

Those three words were like a key, 'click,' unlocking a bloody memory box sealed for a thousand years.

A cold wind rose from the bottom of Wangchuan River, carrying the wails of her former colleagues' torn souls, rushing directly into Meng Jiang's ears.

"A thousand years ago at Wangchuan Ferry, three thousand ghost messengers patrolled the river, their soul lanterns unextinguished..." Meng Jiang's voice rose, no longer a lazy jest, but sharp as a bone-scraping steel knife.

"You bunch of scumbags slaughtered them all, just to take their soul lantern wicks to refine that useless 'Boundary-Breaking Shuttle.'"

With every word she spoke, the temperature in the cave dropped a degree.

On the half-head of the Spider Demon stuck in the mud, frost visibly spread and condensed.

"Mercy, it's, it's all Lord Ao Ya..." The Bat Demon, embedded in the stone wall, wailed, trying to shift the blame.

"Shut up."

Meng Jiang roared, cutting him off, and grabbed through the air with her jade hand.

"Splat~"

Like being crushed by a million-ton hydraulic press, the Bat Demon didn't even have time to scream. It exploded against the stone wall into a sticky pulp of flesh mixed with shattered bones and fur.

Foul-smelling blood plasma 'hissed' down the cracks in the stone, eerily clear in the cave.

The Lizard Demon's kowtowing stopped abruptly, its soul nearly scattering from fright, and a foul-smelling liquid seeped from its crotch.

Meng Jiang didn't even glance at the 'Bat Can,' her beautiful nails stained with flower of the other shore juice turning towards the half-headed Spider Demon.

"You like to burrow, don't you?" She chuckled a few times.

"How about I help you get some air?"

A white light flashed at her fingertips, and a wisp of Netherworld Qi, as thin as hair, shot straight into the Spider Demon's crown.

"Ergh ah!!!"

The Spider Demon's exposed half-head snapped backward, its eight legs twisting into a tangled mess in the mud.

Tiny bone-cracking sounds came from its joints, as if being dissected inch by inch by a blade.

Its demon body collapsed at a visible speed, and its demonic power hissed out through the mud cracks. Its muscles, once full and bluish-black, gradually withered, and its flesh turned into wisps of gray smoke seeping into the soil... Meng Jiang's gaze turned to the trembling Lizard Demon, her skirt sweeping over the bloody mud, her embroidered shoes making a 'squelching' sound.

Its muscles, once full and bluish-black, gradually withered, and its flesh turned into wisps of gray smoke seeping into the soil... Meng Jiang's gaze turned to the trembling Lizard Demon, her skirt sweeping over the bloody mud, her embroidered shoes making a 'squelching' sound.

"As for you..." Before she finished speaking, a wisp of dark light had already condensed at her fingertips.

The Lizard Demon cried and wailed, roaring in despair: "My Lord, mer—"

"Shhh~"

Meng Jiang raised her index finger, stained with nail polish, to her lips, making a silencing gesture.

Her eyes were so gentle they could drown a demon, but the words she spoke made the Lizard Demon feel as if it had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Don't make a sound. Let me listen carefully, how many pieces can your demon bones be torn into?"

"No! No..."

Her right hand reached in from the collarbone first, so fast that Shang Wan Ning only saw afterimages... gripping the Lizard Demon's shoulder and hip bone.

"Rip!!!"

A teeth-grinding, explosive 'ripping' sound of muscles!

There was no convenience of divine magic; it was purely an extremely brutal physical tearing.

"Slam!" A severed arm hit the cave wall.

"Thud!" Half a torso slammed into a stalactite.

Hot, bloody rain mixed with organ fragments 'splashed' all over the ground.

Meng Jiang stood still, her elegant green robe spotless, only a few drops of warm crimson staining her face.

"Oh la la~ Not fun at all."

"What do you say, Your Majesty~"