Chapter 406: Mount Fengmo Squad

That booming sound was the result of the Mount Fengmo absorbing the Meridian Divine Wind and tearing apart the root ball of the Treasure Tree King. A dignified envoy of a nation, heavily guarded by a security detail, had somehow appeared in the belly of the mountain with his legs broken; no matter how one looked at it, he was a prisoner.

The Second Master Shi reckoned he could not afford to offend the person capable of abducting him to this place, so he did not attempt a rescue.

He He Lingchuan nodded: "You did the right thing."

It turned out that Fu Fu Shanyue had also seen the battle between the Mount Fengmo and the root ball reaching a fever pitch, so he had conveniently hidden the abducted envoy of the Chi Yan Kingdom in the mountain's belly, turning back to pick up the spoils.

This fellow truly never let any opportunity slip by.

He He Lingchuan rolled his eyes.

In truth, was he not the same?

Just then, Second Master Shi suddenly reached out and exclaimed: "Look there, look there!"

He He Lingchuan swept his gaze over and actually saw countless small tornadoes forming on the mountain road ahead, one after another, lining up along the path to come and harvest lives.

Needless to say, although the Mount Fengmo had pursued the security captain, it had not forgotten that there were still many enemies behind, so it had split off this row of small tornadoes to clear out the remnants.

But having just absorbed the Meridian Divine Wind, the small tornadoes it released, though not large, were exceptionally dense; they had traveled over ten miles of mountain road without falling apart, sucking living people, carts, and horses into the sky and throwing them off cliffs as they went! Seeing the tornadoes lining up toward the direction of the Shimen caravan, Second Master Shi's voice trembled: "My caravan, Brother He, what should we do!"

He He Lingchuan did not answer, driving the sheep quickly down the mountain.

Back to the Shimen caravan.

Seeing the Mount Fengmo raging on the opposite side of the mountain and the security detail being beaten into a panicked retreat, the Shimen caravan naturally stopped, not daring to move forward.

There were many other merchants behind them; unable to advance or retreat, they were all blocked on the mountain road, forced to watch the terrifying scene of tornadoes rising to the sky in the distance, pointing and talking loudly.

Truly, when it doesn't concern oneself, one just watches the show.

But soon, someone cried out: "What is that!"

"Tornadoes, there are tornadoes coming our way!"

"Everyone, run!"

The people in front scrambled backward, wishing their parents had given them two more legs.

The Shimen caravan also saw the tornadoes turning from behind the mountain, and it was... an entire row!

Everyone's scalp went numb, and without a second thought, they turned to flee. Fortunately, at this moment, a large-horned sheep came bouncing up the steep slope below the mountain road; it looked perilous but was actually steady. Before the sheep had even stopped, the rider said: "Shimen caravan, follow me, I guarantee your survival!"

At this moment, the three words "guarantee your survival" were more effective than any solemn vow. Moreover, Second Master Shi was also riding on the back of this rock sheep, urging everyone: "Hurry and follow!"

When they were at their wits' end, the two of them appearing on this iconic large-horned sheep was the ray of light in everyone's hearts.

Everyone followed without a second thought.

The regular path they had just returned from was actually blocked by the tornadoes. He He Lingchuan did not want to be swept into the sky, so he had to ride the sheep along a diagonal path, winding a small circle from beneath the cliff and jumping over the many stalled carriages on the official road before finally catching up to the crowd.

Thanks to his sheep's ability to leap, it traversed the rugged terrain as if it were flat ground.

Fortunately, he had clearly seen the terrain here from the top of the Mount Fengmo mountain. He led the crowd, and the crowd drove their carriages toward the mountain hollow on the front left.

"Ah, this?" Several managers turned pale looking at the tornado columns above the mountain peak, "This doesn't block the wind!"

They weren't fleeing back, but instead heading into the wind? If this wind swept over, why wouldn't they be sent to the sky—just because they were fatter than others? "It can't sweep you up!" He He Lingchuan waved his hand, "If you don't want to die, run faster!"

At this critical moment, whoever spoke with conviction became the backbone. Everyone gritted their teeth, stomped their feet, and took the risk, deciding to listen to him.

Compared to the crowd fleeing in defeat ahead, they were truly the ones moving against the current.

Fortunately, this mountain hollow was not small; most of the Shimen caravan's carriages could squeeze in, but seven or eight could not fit no matter what.

"Forget those few!" Second Master Shi decisively called everyone inside.

The carriages had barely stopped when the tornadoes arrived.

He He Lingchuan saw the sky behind the caravan turn black and knew the wind had arrived.

He did not panic, taking three Wind Lion sculptures from his storage ring and having the crowd move them to the corners of the hollow, which was the outer perimeter of the group.

As soon as the Wind Lions touched the ground, the crowd's clothes stopped fluttering; this hollow had become a sheltered harbor.

Then, the tornadoes arrived, their tails sweeping past the group, sucking up countless sand and mud. The originally thick mountain slope was forced to "slim down" at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A single tornado was not as powerful as the Mount Fengmo's main body, but they won in numbers... a dozen or so wreaking havoc together, the sound of the wind was earth-shattering, almost like a doomsday roar.

Except for He He Lingchuan, all members of the caravan were crouched on the ground, hands covering their heads, fearing they would be blown away if they stood up.

In fact, what difference did standing up make? Only He He Lingchuan stood in the center of the three Wind Lions, looking up at the tornadoes.

They seemed to pause intentionally to evaluate this group.

In the past, they would not attack people or fields near Wind Lions; but today...

Well, today this group of people seemed to have no hostility and posed no threat. The tornadoes did not linger long before swirling away to chase the prey fleeing frantically ahead.

The caravan members, their souls finally settling, stayed on the ground for a long time before lifting their heads, discovering the tornadoes had already gone far away.

Just moments ago, the group had clearly been right under its feet, yet they were unscathed! From everyone's perspective, Young Master He's back looked so tall, so majestic! It gave people a sense of absolute security.

The manager stammered: "Young Master He, are, are we safe?"

He He Lingchuan patted the Wind Lion's large head: "It's fine, everyone get up."

The crowd stood on the mountain road, looking left and right, unable to help but shiver. There were no living people left on the road—

Except for the Shimen caravan itself.

At this time, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dispersed. He He Lingchuan pointed to the sky: "If you wait for the sky to clear and the sun to rise before moving forward, you should be fine."

"Where are you going?" Second Master Shi now viewed him as a calming pill; he felt panicked whenever he wasn't around.

"To settle scores. We'll meet ahead." Leaving these words behind, He He Lingchuan rode the mountain sheep, leaping two zhang at a time, and in the blink of an eye, he was back among the towering mountains, "Rest assured, the Mount Fengmo won't appear again for a short time."

￥￥￥￥￥

When the Mount Fengmo finished dealing with the security captain and returned, it found that the remaining members of the security detail had already escaped to the mountainside, which made it very annoyed.

The security detail, after all, had primordial energy to protect their bodies, and that row of small tornadoes could not compare to the Mount Fengmo's main body, so they only lost twenty-some people, and the rest eventually escaped.

There were no forests here, but there were stone forests; the surface had been eroded by glaciers for years, plowed into countless pits and holes, and the stone forest was uneven, with terrain far less open than the mountain top.

Lacking the howling north wind as a continuous supplement, the Mount Fengmo chased for over a hundred zhang and found it difficult to exert its power.

These people were also scattering as they advanced, some simply hiding in underground karst caves. It took a great deal of effort to catch one or two.

After a stalemate of two quarters of an hour, the Mount Fengmo had to retreat in low spirits.

Another main reason was that it was actually severely injured itself.

The security detail's attacks each carried primordial energy. The strength of the Treasure Tree Kingdom's primordial energy was something a wild monster like it could hardly withstand. If not for the mountain top where the strong wind howled being the perfect home field for it to exert its power, and if not for the timely replenishment of the Meridian Divine Wind, it would have been the one fleeing in panic after exhausting its strength against the repeated attacks of three hundred guards.

Besides, was a root ball cultivated with the spirit seed of the Treasure Tree King so easily broken free from?

The power of the Meridian Divine Wind had been mostly consumed by then.

Now, what it needed to do was return to the wind tunnel beneath the ruins of the Ethereal Sect as quickly as possible to lick its wounds and recover its vitality.

After the Mount Fengmo had fought the security detail for so long, what caravan on the official road dared to stay? Those who could turn back did so, preferring to return the way they came to Black Stone Stronghold and wait a few more days until the official road there was repaired before setting off; others simply moved far away, retreating to a safe distance to watch this wind monster return to Mount Fengmo Mountain.

Of course, most people had lost their lives.

On the mountain and below, bones paved the road.

Second Master Shi remembered He He Lingchuan's words; when the dark clouds in the sky dispersed and sunlight once again spilled over the world, he led the merchant caravan forward.

Sure enough, the journey was peaceful, and nothing happened.

If one ignored the corpses and wreckage of carts hanging everywhere on the sides of the road and the cliffs, this road seemed to have returned to normal.

As for He He Lingchuan, he also found a giant rock for cover, and seeing no one around, he hid behind the stone and quietly opened all the root ball fragments in his storage ring to avoid further complications.

Sure enough, he found that spirit seed.

Perhaps because its demonic energy was exhausted, this object was no longer flashing with golden light or imposing; it had returned to the appearance of a pale yellow seed, wrapped in a hard shell with faint pockmarks on it.

If he hadn't seen the tree-man hand it to the Tang Kingdom's Prime Minister with his own eyes, He He Lingchuan would have thought it was a bird's egg. He squeezed it again, feeling it was a bit brittle; if he used any more strength, he feared he would crush it directly, which wouldn't meet the requirements of the Divine Bone Necklace.

He quietly brought this thing close to the Divine Bone, and the latter emitted a red light again, unceremoniously absorbing it.

The Divine Bone Necklace had swallowed the massive remains of Mother Zhu without effort, so He He Lingchuan didn't think this was a big deal at all.

Now he understood that the needs of the Divine Bone Necklace were the needs of the Great Square Pot.

What did this divine artifact need a tree seed for? He He Lingchuan did not waste the remaining tree root fragments either, gifting them all to the Soul-Sucking Mirror.

"Ah, this, ah this, ah this, this, this!" The mirror let out a joyful shout.

During the Treasure Tree King's birthday celebration, it had wished for just a single tree branch.

Who would have expected the wish to come true so quickly, and with the portion several times larger?

The master had given far too much!

At the same time, a vigorous roar erupted from White Cloud Mountain.

The sound was not earth-shattering, but it instantly spread throughout the entire Fufeng City, shaking the blood and energy of all living beings, making their hearts feel extremely uncomfortable.

Regardless of gender, age, human or monster, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the north, trembling with fear.

(End of chapter)