Chapter 79: He Wants to Eat Me?

Until the swaying firelight illuminated the high cliff.

Hong Lei's face changed abruptly, but after seeing the cultivation of that group, a trace of suspicion flickered in his eyes.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone.

The thin old man with silver threads draped over his shoulders slowly took a step forward.

Not a single ripple stirred on his withered face.

He simply leapt straight down from the high cliff, his trouser legs rolled up, cloth shoes beneath two bamboo-pole-like calves, landing steadily.

"Form the array!"

Hong Lei's pupils contracted sharply as he drew his saber.

Even without Zhao Kanglin's command, the twenty-some Golden Eagle Captains of the inner camp skillfully took their positions; as their palms flipped, jet-black chains snaked from their sleeves like great pythons, radiating a bone-chilling aura.

The remaining men of the outer camp, meanwhile, struck various poses, each with their own specialty—particularly that aged Jade Liquid Realm old Captain, who had actually pulled out a pair of crescent-moon spikes.

Against such a formation, the Rage Sword Elder's odds of winning were slim indeed.

But his unhurried, composed manner instead stirred an inexplicable unease in Hong Lei.

Just then, a heavy object came hurtling through the night.

When it crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, revealing its outlandish form, everyone fell into a daze.

Zhao Kanglin's neck was twisted behind his body, his head lolling limply, all four limbs broken, his arm bones snapped off and driven into his waist and belly like blades; before death, his face was still blank with bewilderment.

Then, a figure in blue-and-white cloth robes slowly stepped out.

From the round collar, a flat head covered in scales extended out; on either side of its head bulged vertical pupils, and its extremely long mouth opened and closed slightly, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

"A Yangchun River Crocodile-Dragon clansman?"

Hong Lei drew a slow breath, recognizing this highly distinctive demon.

The stench of blood and gore was unbearably sharp even from a great distance.

He looked again at the silver-haired old man ahead: "..."

"The Zhen Mo Si says we collude with demons. This old man has thought it over and over."

The Rage Sword Elder's steps were steady; with each stride, the fury in his eyes diminished by half, while the aura around his body grew vastly stronger.

He held that iron sword—fully five chi long—at an angle, its blade scraping sparks against the ground.

The old man's voice was hoarse: "I had better really be colluding with demons."

The many Captains' faces went deathly still; the reason they could still hold their formation together was not that they were unafraid, but that they had already guessed their own fate.

To have taken care of Vice General Zhao in such a short time, it must be at least a demon at the peak of the Jade Liquid Realm—perhaps even more formidable than the Rage Sword Elder himself.

"Why bother? We are only following orders to guard the mountain, to prevent demons from sneaking through and escaping. As long as you all stay peacefully on the mountain..."

Hong Lei lowered his head with a faint sigh, his voice flat, as if stating a fact: "You colluded with demons. This time, Qingfeng Mountain is truly done for."

A single Zhen Mo General is enough to press Qingfeng Mountain until it can barely breathe; every one of the twelve commanderies of Qingzhou has such an expert stationed within it.

If a second were summoned at any cost, annihilating the sect would be nothing more than a single order from the Commander.

"This old man spent his life slaying demons—yes, partly for fame and fortune, to trade their beast-cores for precious pills—but in the end, my conscience is clear."

"Yet in the end I became their accomplice. How laughable."

"The sword in my hand has kept me company for three hundred years, only to fall under another's control!"

The Rage Sword Elder drew closer and closer, until the momentum about his body nearly surged to its peak: "The Sect Master is muddleheaded and has betrayed us all. Today, with this old man's broken body, I will trade for the lives of you lords, and carve out a path of survival for the innocent disciples of my Qingfeng Mountain."

The fury in his eyes was utterly spent, like a candle guttering in the wind, yet its flame blazed all the more terrifyingly bright.

A pity it still fell a sliver short, unable to reach the true peak.

The Rage Sword Elder's expression grew slightly complex as he raised his sword to point at Shen Yi in the crowd: "You spared my beloved disciple's life, yet I cannot spare yours. I hope Captain will forgive me—I'll be borrowing your head."

"..."

Shen Yi raised his eyes: "Must you borrow it?"

Borrowing silver would be one thing, but how does one come up and immediately want to take someone's head?

Only now did he more or less piece together the situation.

The Zhen Mo Si wasn't wrong—there really were demons on the mountain, and they truly hadn't intended to actually move against Qingfeng Mountain; otherwise they wouldn't have merely had the Captains guard the mountain paths.

The disciples of Qingfeng Mountain weren't wrong either—they simply didn't want to be dragged along to die with the demons, yet had no say in the matter... From the sound of it, even their cultivation was being held under someone's thumb.

All were mayflies on the water, each fighting with all they had for their own future and survival.

Shen Yi's long, slender five fingers settled on the saber hilt, then tightened their grip.

"This old man doesn't have much time left. If I can't take your head, I'll leave it to it instead... Of course, you may try to flee—there's a fair chance."

The Rage Sword Elder frankly acknowledged the young man's strength: he was over three hundred years old, his body withered and spent; even if he used a secret art to squeeze out the last dregs of his life, he could not possibly be a match for this person who had just broken through to Jade Liquid Realm perfection, whose entire body was like a treasure medicine of heaven and earth.

But likewise, the other party could not possibly be a match for this thousand-year-old Crocodile-Dragon.

Hearing this, Hong Lei turned his head in surprise to look sideways.

He had assumed everyone was merely waiting to die, wanting only to fight with everything they had and perish a little more gracefully—he hadn't expected that Shen Yi still had strength to spare, so much so that even this old man admitted he was outmatched.

In the span of those few brief exchanges.

The Crocodile-Dragon had already walked over, a human-like emotion flickering in its bulging eyes: "He was just saying it offhandedly—don't really believe him. There's actually not much of a chance."

It extended a claw and lightly touched its nostril, a hint of heat creeping into its voice, somewhat embarrassed: "You carry the scent of my master's household on you... I've really been trying very hard to hold back... but I still can't wait to chew your flesh and blood to pieces."

As it spoke, thick, transparent saliva dripped from the corners of its flat, long mouth.

"Just like this..."

The Crocodile-Dragon's head trembled, its teeth grinding ceaselessly; greed surged ever more violently in its eyes, as if beholding the rarest delicacy in all the world.

It longed to crush the other against itself, to taste in small bites, to swallow every last thread of flesh and blood, making it part of its own body.

A pleasant surprise! A pleasant surprise!

It had left the Yangchun River this time upon hearing that Sixth Master had been trapped by the Zhen Mo Si; its master's household was anxious, so it had been sent here to scout for news.

Lord Six had not returned to the Jiang He cave residence for a hundred or two hundred years.

The crocodile dragon never expected to rescue the other party from under the Zhen Mo Si; he had merely come to take a casual look, yet he smelled a flavor he had longed for on a mere martial artist.

Thinking of this, he steadied his slightly trembling body and turned his gaze back over there.

Such a precious delicacy, if paired with the terror of impending death, would be even better!

"I really want to eat you right now..."

Under the crocodile dragon's strange and ferocious posture, many Zhen Mo Si Captains felt their skin go numb.

Only the one who slowly drew his sword.

Beneath the messy hair, the lowered eyes, from an angle no one noticed, gradually welled up with emotions similar to the crocodile dragon's.

The same heat, only more restrained.

Shen Yi raised his head, the corners of his lips curling slightly: "That is truly too coincidental."

Enveloped by that piercing gaze, the crocodile dragon suddenly grew much quieter; the burning heat in his eyes rapidly faded, turning into surprise, then shock, and finally all of it transformed into boundless fury!

It was like seeing a fat, tender livestock in a dish suddenly lift its head, baring its fangs at him, along with a greedy gaze.

Even more greedy than himself!

He wants to eat me?!

(End of this chapter)