Chapter 277: The Stars Fall from the Sky, Finally Bringing Peace

Suddenly, wild thunder rolled through the valley, accompanied by flashes of lightning and deafening roars, scaring Banxia so much that she nearly shrank her head into her stomach. Yet, to her surprise, the two monsters before her, while strange in appearance, did not seem like vicious beasts, even though their cries were no different from claps of thunder.

Perhaps in response to the thunder in the valley, the two ink qilin let out continuous long howls, their voices like falling thunder, causing such pain in Banxia's ears that she hurriedly covered them tightly and would not let go.

It was precisely these thunderous roars that caused the surrounding demons to instantly become like puppets with severed strings, falling to the ground one after another.

Before long, raindrops began to fall, but strangely, even though it was a cloudless day, it had started to rain.

This rain came suddenly, and Banxia was drenched before she could react. It was also this rain that allowed her to see the situation around her clearly—the demons that had fallen from the roars were being washed away by the rain and turning into ashes, as if they had been scorched.

Banxia was dumbfounded, completely forgetting the torrential downpour, and stared in astonishment at the embers drifting all around, piece by piece, like butterfly wings.

At this moment, the qilin with the dragon tail trotted up to her and lowered its front legs. Banxia finally snapped out of it, though she was puzzled in her heart.

"Are you asking me to ride you?"

Banxia could not believe it; such a powerful Qiuyu, which could well be called a divine beast, would actually let a nobody like her ride it. However, after seeing it look at her, she climbed on, half-doubting and half-believing.

Yet, before she could sit steady, the ink qilin let out a loud roar and then rose to its feet, galloping down toward the foot of the mountain.

This roar was truly impossible to guard against; Banxia had no time to plug her ears and could only hold onto Qiuyu's neck for dear life to prevent herself from falling off.

The wind whistled past her ears, and the ink qilin ran at an extremely fast speed, scaring Banxia into another round of screaming. Even when she saw Xinyi and Hanyang, she didn't have time to open her mouth to call for help before she flashed past them and instantly plunged into the pile of demons.

Liu Xia was leaning against a tree, thinking of catching his breath, when he heard Banxia's scream from the valley. That volume could rival Lingxiang's Sound Transmission Talisman, and it could be heard clearly even amidst the roars of the swarming demons.

It sounded full of vigor, so it seemed she hadn't suffered any injuries.

Liu Xia was caught between laughter and tears.

Thinking back to when they first met, Banxia had always been such a reckless person. Later, when the sect sent disciples down the mountain for training, he had thought she had become much more steady upon seeing her again, but he hadn't expected her to still be like this.

However, what Liu Xia did not expect was that the person he saw when he was a child would actually be Banxia.

Even though it had been a long time and his memory was somewhat blurred, what he saw later in the Long Family's secret chamber made Liu Xia remember. Although he did not know exactly what had happened or what was strange about that array, he was certain that the person he saw in his childhood was definitely Banxia.

Liu Xia smiled, stood up, and looked into the valley, just in time to see Banxia riding a monster as she charged into the pile of demons. This gave him a fright—to be so reckless, wasn't that just throwing her life away?

But how could Banxia be riding a monster? And what on earth was that monster?

Although he was full of doubts, Liu Xia dared not linger any longer and hurriedly set off toward Ding'anju.

Xinyi and Hanyang were hiding halfway up the mountain and saw Liu Xia rushing past, so they hurriedly stopped him.

Although they didn't know what Banxia had done, she had already plunged into the pile of demons. The reason the two of them were hiding here was to figure out a way to rescue her.

"Don't talk about whether you can get into this pile of demons; even if you did, would you be able to come out in one piece?" Hanyang advised, stopping the anxious Liu Xia.

"But we can't just ignore her!" Liu Xia was extremely anxious.

"I didn't say we wouldn't help her; aren't we trying to think of a way?" Although Xinyi tried to persuade him with these words, he had no confidence in his heart either.

Normally, the movements of low-level demons should all be under the command of their leader. Since the Wolf Head was no longer there, why were these demons still clinging to Ding'anju?

Could it be that the demons had another leader?

It was hard to say. Although he didn't know what had happened to the Wolf Head, he was certain that he was definitely a human, and such low-level demons should, by rights, only take orders from the Demon Race.

That was it, that was it; now it all made sense.

Xinyi couldn't help but look toward the place where the thunder fell; he figured that must be the commotion Lingxiang had caused, and Bai Wuchang should be there as well.

Just as Xinyi was worrying about Lingxiang's safety, the screaming of Banxia in the valley stopped abruptly, and the roars of the demons stopped along with it.

The three of them were filled with curiosity, not knowing what had happened inside. Just as they were about to peek, Banxia's scream came again.

"Why is it a one-time use thing! Yunzhongjun, you really are a menace!"

At this moment, Banxia was waving the Judge's Pen around wildly while crying and complaining about Yunzhongjun.

Just now, the ink qilin had carried Banxia into the pile of demons, but as soon as it touched the Dharma Array laid down by Chengxin Zhenren, it felt as if it had hit a wall, and in an instant, it turned into a puddle of ink and vanished.

Once the ink qilin disappeared, Banxia fell to the ground. The sudden drop caused her to lose her focus for a moment. The surrounding demons also seemed to be startled by this uninvited guest, and they all looked at Banxia, who was sitting on the ground in a daze, without making a sound.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward for a few moments, just like when Banxia's Array Formation was broken in the forest before, only this time, she was the one who started screaming first.

Zhao Wuyang, inside Ding'anju, naturally saw Banxia rushing over. He had just settled Long Qi down when he heard Banxia's scream outside the courtyard. For a moment, he thought he had misheard, but when he came out to look, he saw Banxia sitting at the entrance and shouting.

He really couldn't figure out which nerve in Banxia's brain had gone wrong for her to run into a pile of monsters by herself, but then he thought, it seemed she never had any nerves that were properly connected in the first place.

However, now was not the time to think about such things; the most urgent matter was to save Banxia.

The demons had also regained their senses, one by one baring their bloody mouths and slowly approaching Banxia, just like wild beasts eyeing their prey.

Seeing this, Liu Xia could not care about anything else and moved immediately. However, at this moment, the sky suddenly darkened, and stars filled the firmament, as if it were the dead of night.

This was Zhao Wuyang's handiwork.

Seeing the demons acting aggressively, surrounding Banxia, and looking full of hostility, Zhao Wuyang became anxious. Regardless of his own shallow cultivation, he immediately pinched his fingers to form a seal and began Pacing the Dipper.

But this time, it was vastly different from the situation in the Water Mirror.

Back in Yunmeng Marsh, Zhao Wuyang had forcibly performed Pacing the Dipper, and because of his own shallow cultivation, he became extremely exhausted after the ritual. But this time, he did not feel his internal Spirit Qi being drained; it was as if he had merely performed an ordinary piece of Witchcraft.

In fact, this was all thanks to the Seeking Qi method that Lingxiang had taught him during the time of the Water Mirror. Zhao Wuyang had undergone a session of Seeking Qi training, and although it was forcibly interrupted when he was taken to the cave dwelling of Yaoji Xianzi, he had invisibly acquired an ability: the ability to draw upon the natural forces around him to become his own Spirit Power.

Of course, Zhao Wuyang did not know what had happened to him, nor did he understand the benefits it brought.

That said, although Zhao Wuyang felt it was strange, he did not delve into it, his heart only set on saving Banxia as quickly as possible.

The sun was still there, yet it could not provide the slightest illumination. The sky was like a black curtain, dotted with stars that shone brilliantly.

Zhao Wuyang was afraid that the situation from Yunmeng Marsh would happen again, so this time he did not borrow the power of the Northern Dipper, but the stars.

The starlight streaked across like meteors, falling fiercely and smashing precisely onto the demons, yet it left not the slightest trace on the surroundings, as if what had fallen was merely a beam of light.

In the chaos, the demons scattered and fled, rushing toward the outside of the valley. A moment later, there were no more roars of demons around Ding'anju.