Chapter 72: Chen Yan's Trial

After Gu Qingyi left, Chen Yan immediately flipped over and climbed a large tree nearby, sitting on the trunk several meters above the ground; instantly, his sense of security surged.

It was already night, with cold winds blowing in gusts; the rustling sound of leaves came intermittently from within the Lin Zi. In this atmosphere, the light along the forest path seemed to grow even dimmer.

Chen Yan squinted his eyes, using the Sky Eye Qi-Viewing Art to observe his surroundings, not daring to relax for a single moment.

He felt that within his field of vision, a faint red hue had already spread around him, its color gently surging and moving toward a direction in the mountains—that direction was exactly where Gu Qingyi had pursued.

Clearly, the direction Gu Qingyi chased was correct; she should be able to accomplish the task successfully.

Chen Yan, being cautious by nature, immediately pulled out several talismans.

He first slapped a 【Fortune-Turning Talisman】 onto himself, then slapped a 【Six Yang Righteous Qi Talisman】 onto himself.

With these two talismans, the first could enhance his fortune, while the second could slightly suppress evil and filth.

Finally, he slapped a 【Light-Body Talisman】 onto himself—in case he encountered a powerful enemy, he could escape and run faster.

Sitting on the tree trunk and gazing into the forest, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from far away within the woods.

Chen Yan's hearing was keen; he immediately recognized that this rustling sound must be something rushing toward him. In this season, the ground in the forest was covered with withered leaves and branches; if something walked through, it would make this kind of sound.

He immediately stood up from the tree trunk.

Moments later, he saw a figure stumbling and running out from the forest!

Chen Yan saw clearly and immediately recognized her as an ordinary woman wearing winter clothes; on her head was a ponytail that had become somewhat disheveled, her upper body clad in a down jacket, and her lower body in a pair of jeans.

This woman ran in a wretched state, continuously emitting terrified cries from her mouth. It was the kind of unconscious "Ah! Ah!" sound people make when frightened.

Chen Yan also saw that she ran in such a hurry that she had lost one of the shoes on her feet.

At this moment, in the night forest where malevolent energy was pervasive, such a figure suddenly ran out from the woods; Chen Yan was instantly startled.

However, he then used the Qi-Viewing Art to look at her and saw that her qi was an ordinary gray color; she was indeed an ordinary mortal, but her fortune carried a faint trace of blood-red, portending that she would encounter some bloodshed disaster.

This woman ran out of the forest and arrived at this forest path; suddenly, she stumbled, tripped over a drainage ditch beside the path, lurched forward, and fell to the ground.

Chen Yan pondered briefly, took out a face mask from his pocket and put it on, then jumped down from the tree trunk, landing a few steps in front of this woman.

The woman struggled to climb up with her hands and feet on the ground; looking up and seeing someone before her, she first let out a cry of alarm, then, after clearly seeing Chen Yan's attire, she immediately screamed: "Help! Save me! Help!!"

Seeing the woman stretch out her hand in her struggle, Chen Yan did not approach immediately; instead, he stood in place and pretended to ask in a puzzled tone: "What's wrong with you? What happened?"

The girl's face was covered in gray dust, and there was a bit of blood on her forehead, indicating she had sustained some injuries. Seeing Chen Yan speak and ask, tears and snot immediately poured out of her, and she screamed: "There's a monster! There's a monster inside!"

Chen Yan fixed his gaze on this girl; under the Qi-Viewing Art, this person showed absolutely no abnormalities. Only then did he approach and reach out to pull this girl up from the ground.

"Don't panic; tell me carefully, what kind of monster?" Chen Yan asked.

"I, I..." The girl trembled all over in fear, looking back at the forest behind her with terror; her voice was also intermittent: "Save me quickly! Run, let's run quickly..."

"Is someone in the forest chasing you?"

"No, not a person! Not a person! It's a monster!" The girl seemed on the verge of mental collapse: "Run quickly! Run quickly! There's a monster!"

Chen Yan pulled the girl toward the outside of the forest path; the girl stumbled, walking crookedly. Chen Yan saw that one of the girl's feet, having lost her shoe, had a torn sock, with faint traces of blood visible.

"Did you call the police?"

"No, I, I lost my phone." The girl cried.

"Tell me, what exactly did you encounter?"

"A monster, just a monster, one that eats people."

"Then how did you run out?"

The girl suddenly burst into loud weeping: "My dog, my dog saved me... It bit my dog to death..."

After crying for a couple of moments, probably exhausted from running too long in the forest, combined with the cold weather, hypothermia, lack of oxygen, and the shock she had suffered, the girl's eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

"..." Chen Yan looked at this Miss speechlessly, then dragged her under a tree, just about to take out his phone to contact Gu Qingyi...

Suddenly, Chen Yan felt every hair on his body stand on end!

With the power of the 【Fortune-Turning Talisman】 and the heightened sensitivity of his body nurtured by Yuan Qi, Chen Yan possessed keen perception of any danger.

At this moment, he felt a cold, sinister aura approaching from behind; it felt like a chill rising from his spine up to the back of his head, making his whole body involuntarily shiver.

In his ears, he also heard a coarse and heavy panting sound faintly coming from behind.

He quickly drew in a breath and cast the 【Escape Technique】; his figure suddenly surged forward! At the same time, he felt a gust of wind slash past the back of his head...

Chen Yan directly leaped a distance of five meters before twisting his body to look back; he saw that at the place where he had originally stood, a deep cut several centimeters deep had been made into the trunk of a large tree!

And a monster stood there, shoulders hunched and head bowed, panting heavily with a "huff, huff" sound.

This thing appeared humanoid, but its clothes were tattered, its hair disheveled, and it looked gray and dull.

Its body shape was like a human's, but its arms seemed a full segment longer than normal, almost hanging down to the knees; the skin on its hands was wrinkled like dried chicken claws, yet its fingertips were sharp as hooks.

Because its head was bowed, its hair covered its face, but amidst the messy hair, it could be faintly seen that this thing was lifting its eyelids, staring straight at him with a pair of crimson eyeballs.

A huge, blood-filled mouth, its lips covered with residual fresh blood, even bits of flesh!

Chen Yan only glanced at it before he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Under the Qi-Viewing Art, he felt that this monster was surrounded by dense malevolent energy, seemingly carrying a strong smell of blood and rot, almost making it difficult for Chen Yan to breathe smoothly.

Seeing this thing facing him, Chen Yan felt his adrenaline surge wildly; for a moment, he forgot to be afraid, instead gritting his teeth and staring fiercely at the opponent, pulling two 【Six Yang Righteous Qi Talismans】 from his pocket, holding one in each hand.

This talisman was also a talisman art Chen Yan had just learned in the past two days; it consumed a considerable amount of Yuan Qi and was not easy to master. He had successfully drawn only three in total; he had already slapped one onto himself earlier, leaving only two now.

"Hungry... hungry..."

The monster murmured these words in a low voice; Chen Yan's heart stirred... This thing could actually speak human language?

He slowly retreated with his feet until he reached a large tree, leaning his back against it.

Suddenly, his vision blurred, and the monster's figure vanished instantly.

Chen Yan hesitated not at all and immediately made the fastest possible response—although he had not clearly seen the monster's movement, his reaction at this moment was the wisest: he directly used the 【Escape Technique】 to move himself away!

If you can't see clearly, it doesn't matter; hide first!

Seeing Chen Yan fly away again, the monster had already darted to the place where he had previously stood; its clawed hands split apart with a "crack, crack" sound, and the large tree trunk at that original location instantly shattered into pieces and crashed down with a boom.

Chen Yan cursed bitterly in his heart: Such immense destructive power?!

Gu Xiaoniang also said the monster wouldn't be too powerful and that my cultivation could handle it?

Handle it my ass!

One swipe from that thing, and I wouldn't be able to hold it!

The great tree crashed down, its crown actually just managing to envelop the monster within. Chen Yan saw it clearly and immediately cast the Escape Technique, lunging forward.

"Decree: Bind!!!"

With a mouthful of Primordial Qi held inside, the sound of this Decree burst forth from beneath his tongue! Under the effect of the Primordial Qi, the voice of the Decree seemed to vaguely carry wind and thunder.

The monster, already entangled by the fallen tree crown, stiffened its body at that moment and instantly froze in place, unable to move.

Chen Yan had already swept to its side, reaching out with incredible speed; channeling Primordial Qi into his hand, he slapped a 【Six Yang Righteousness Talisman】 onto the monster's shoulder!

The monster's body shuddered, throwing its head back to let out a wail; the Binding Art was actually wavering. Chen Yan, however, swiftly stepped to its back, waved his hand again, and slapped another 【Six Yang Righteousness Talisman】 onto the monster's back.

With both talismans slapped out, Chen Yan immediately retreated at high speed, using the Escape Technique to flash ten meters away, standing where the girl had fainted.

Watching that monster, after having two talismans slapped onto it, a ball of black flame burned; the talisman paper instantly turned to ash, while the monster howled in pain continuously, and black malevolent qi began to flow and leak from the spots on its shoulder and back.

As the monster struggled, Chen Yan dared not hesitate; he grabbed the fainted girl from the ground, hoisted her onto his shoulder, turned around, and ran!

Leaping continuously beneath his feet, yet after only five seconds, a roar was heard from behind; the monster had already swung its claws, the Binding Art had failed, and the tree crown covering it had been torn apart by it in a few swipes.

Seeing a figure sweep forward, chasing right behind him.

Chen Yan had already pulled out his phone; his feet didn't stop, but with one hand he pressed WeChat, quickly raising the phone and shouting to send a voice message.

"Gu Qingyi!! The monster is chasing me!!"

Turning his head again, he saw that monster; although it stumbled as it ran, leaning left and right, its speed beneath its feet was extremely fast! In just a few breaths, it had closed the distance with him.

Chen Yan's heart tightened—this monster's running speed is faster than my Escape Technique?!

He looked ahead along the forest path... the road was naturally flat, and he quickly made a judgment: on flat terrain, this monster's speed would be faster than his own, and it would catch up very soon!

With this judgment, Chen Yan gritted his teeth, suddenly twisted his body, and with the girl on his shoulder, dove straight into the woods on the left!

The trees in the forest were very dense; Chen Yan had no choice but to slow his running speed, yet relying on his keen reflexes, he could still dash left and dodge right, avoiding tree after tree. Although the Escape Technique could not be used in such a place dense with obstacles, under the effect of the 【Light Body Talisman】, his running speed remained very fast.

The monster behind was clearly unable to keep up. Having received two talismans from Chen Yan, it seemed seriously injured, running with a stumble, and... it appeared this thing's intelligence wasn't high to begin with.

After charging into the woods, it had barely run a few steps before crashing headlong into a tree; a tree as thick as a bowl broke instantly on the spot.

The monster shook its head and roared, chasing again; after a few more steps, it crashed headlong into another tree as thick as a waist; this time the great tree only snapped but did not fall.

Chen Yan just kept running wildly, watching as the monster behind him was gradually left behind...

After running for about ten-plus minutes, Chen Yan could almost no longer hear the monster's movements behind him, but relying on his Gaze at Qi Art, he could still sense the monster was right behind him, and it seemed able to anchor his position, rushing headlong to catch up.

"Gu Qingyi! If you don't come soon, I'm dead!"

Chen Yan took out his phone and sent another WeChat voice message.

Just at this moment, suddenly his vision ahead widened! One step took him out of the woods, and ahead was actually an open area!

Right ahead was clearly a lake!

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