Chapter 38: Got It and Run! Target: The Great River

In an instant, a strike that caught them completely off guard.

It made the little mouse so frightened that every hair on its body stood on end, just as it was coming to its senses and about to struggle and scream.

Suddenly its nose twitched, as if it had caught a familiar scent.

The moment its little anthropomorphic eyes lit up with joy, it stopped struggling and obediently stayed still in the claw.

Of course, even if it had wanted to scream and struggle, it wouldn't have been able to.

After securing the objective of this trip, Baichuan first cast a cautious glance toward the three of them, and seeing that he hadn't drawn their attention.

Only then did he carefully cradle the small wooden box and the mouse against his front with both claws, and silently turn his back on them to leave.

It's worth mentioning that Baichuan's environment simulation—in other words, his stealth ability—doesn't turn his entire body transparent; rather, it works by altering his own coloration to mimic the surrounding environment, thereby creating a visual blind spot.

Therefore, in this situation, as long as Baichuan uses his own body to shield the small wooden box and that mouse, keeping them from being exposed beyond the range his body covers, he can make them disappear along with him.

After all, when all is said and done, their bodies have always been right there—it's just that you can't see them and subconsciously overlook them.

And so, just like that.

Baichuan carefully carried the most important treasure of this trip all the way out of the center of this incident.

He had only just gotten a little distance away, and after determining they shouldn't be able to notice any movement over here, Baichuan immediately kicked his speed into high gear, his entire serpentine body shooting out like an arrow, fleeing toward the great river.

After all, although he had secretly picked up a bargain and made a killing, that didn't mean they wouldn't catch on.

Moreover, Baichuan guessed that the speed at which they caught on should be extremely fast.

So, if not now, when?

Baichuan, who had been a human in his previous life, knew all too well just how terrifying humans were.

His old lair from before was absolutely off-limits for a return; perhaps staying underground could cut off their search, but Baichuan didn't dare gamble on it.

After all, in this vast forest, the other party had managed to find a tiny mouse; when the time came, even if they couldn't find him directly, they could still track the mouse and follow it back to him.

Maybe at this point he could just abandon that mouse.

But he also wanted this model of the Ice Silkworm; he didn't dare eat it—who knew whether his body could withstand the Ice Silkworm's power—and if he killed it, he feared it might launch a desperate counterattack at death's door.

Although Zhang Dadan had said that this thing wouldn't have any power to resist against this mouse, could his words really be trusted completely? Even a cornered rabbit bites; anyone who believes them completely is truly the biggest fool of all.

Baichuan didn't dare gamble his own life on it.

After all, when all was said and done, this was also his first encounter with a supernatural power like Ice Frost.

So for now, the mouse couldn't be abandoned—at the very least, he wouldn't give it up until the scan was successful.

Therefore, if he wanted the Ice Silkworm's power, he absolutely couldn't abandon that mouse.

Of course, besides that, his old lair was also a bit of a problem, because the artificial traces left by intelligent beings inside were too obvious.

If they discovered it, then what they wanted probably wouldn't be limited to just the Ice Silkworm—he feared he himself would also become a target.

So under the current circumstances, he had only one choice: run!

The farther the better; it was best not to stay in this mountain range.

Because from his earlier observations, it was clear that those few were all people of high standing in human society; if such people couldn't find their target later, they might send a large group to conduct a carpet search.

Then no matter how vast the mountain range was, he probably wouldn't necessarily be able to hide from them.

And running also had to be done with technique; running on land left tracks that were too obvious—setting aside the issue of speed, his stamina alone might not be able to sustain it, let alone the problems of scent trails and the like.

Therefore, he had only one choice: enter the water, get into the great river and follow the current to get far away as quickly as possible; if he could reach the ocean, all the better, for then he could completely erase his tracks.

After all, compared to the land, the ocean was the truly vast and boundless expanse; no matter how extensive humanity's exploration on land became, it couldn't touch the ocean in the slightest.

And this would give him ample Time to grow.

……

While one side was fleeing, at the same time, on the other side.

By now, the battle between the three had already reached its most intense moment.

At present, Zhang Dadan's entire body was bulging with muscles, and black patterns like living things covered his whole body, constantly emitting a faint blood-colored glow, as if providing his flesh with a steady stream of powerful strength.

A fist sheathed in a massive golden armor swung wildly—smashing, sweeping.

Every strike sent the atmosphere roaring.

On the other side, She Po had somehow employed a secret art; the green bamboo viper that had been on her back had actually transformed into one of her arms.

A serpentine arm, incredibly agile, able to extend or retract at will, and laden with deadly venom.

Every one of her strikes was fiendishly cunning, aiming at either the lower or upper vital points; once bitten, the area would turn black and foul-smelling.

Compared to the other two who had become somewhat inhuman, that handsome young man Zhou Zhen was relatively normal.

A slender right hand glowed with a soft light; looking closely, it was utterly bloodless, having none of the texture of human flesh and blood, resembling flawless white jade in its delicate beauty.

He gripped a blade with a straight body, a curved tip, shaped like a wild goose feather, and ceaselessly slashed and hacked with it.

With every slash, a layer of transparent ripples would ripple out around the blade—that was the air being rapidly compressed and distorted.

But just then, as the three fought on, they inadvertently drew closer to where the Ice Silkworm had been, and She Po's eyes swept over, and she suddenly cried out in alarm:

"No good, the Ice Silkworm is gone!"

"What?!"

The moment those words fell, the combatants couldn't help but pause, each warily retreating to guard against a sneak attack, yet their gazes turned toward where the Ice Silkworm had been.

One look was enough to discover that the Ice Silkworm and that mouse had long since vanished.

"Where's my Ice Silkworm? Did one of you secretly take it?"

Seeing this, Zhang Dadan went a little berserk; he hadn't broken through normally, and because he had swallowed the Martial Stone, coupled with devouring countless lives, his rationality had already begun to fray.

If he couldn't get the Ice Silkworm now, to use its extreme cold to clear his head, and then supplemented with the Ice Silkworm's blood to wash away the impure Spirit generated from devouring lives, he would eventually go mad.

He had clearly already been pressing these two, and as long as he kept grinding them down, it wouldn't be long before he could take them both down.

At that point, he could use these corpses brimming with the essence of power, together with the Ice Silkworm, to completely break through to Seven Limits and defect to the Demonic Sect.

The plan had been proceeding smoothly exactly as he had envisioned, but now……

Just who was it?!

Just who was sabotaging his plan?!

He first let out a wild shout, but fortunately he still had some bottom card for daring to act this way, then seemed to recall something.

He took out a Compass-like object from his side waist and looked at it, only then slightly exhaling a small breath of relief.

Now that the Ice Silkworm was no longer suppressed by that rat, it would immediately struggle, and whoever took it, regardless of their purpose, as long as they didn't want trouble, would surely bring along that dead rat.

And he could follow the rat's trail and chase after them.

But he couldn't drag this out any longer, lest the Ice Silkworm be lost with the passage of time overnight.

He had best go chase it back now, though it was a pity to waste all that flesh and blood he'd finally managed to trap.

Fortunately, his remaining rationality could still let him distinguish the priorities.

He glared fiercely at the two of them, bared his lips to expose his gums and said: "I'll let you off this time, but next time we meet, you're dead for sure."

Having said that, he rushed swiftly toward the distance.

(End of this chapter)