Chapter 426: The Rat-Headed One Intercepts the Path

Having escaped from the hands of Feilian, Chengkai sensibly stayed far away from the three of them.

It was not that Chengkai was afraid of death, but he knew that he was no match for Feilian, nor could he be of any help to Xin Yi and Sangmu.

Remaining there would only be a burden; saving Zhanli was enough.

He remembered that when he was young and traveled with his escort agency master, that female master often told him that one must understand how to "retreat well."

What is meant by "retreat well"?

In the high-altitude lands of the Western Regions, there is a beast. Its form is like a sheep, with the head of a deer and the horns of an ox, called a "Shanji." They often live in groups, feeding on moss and grass.

Every winter, to avoid the wind and snow, the "Shanji" would migrate in groups, coming down from the mountains from high to low.

And this time was precisely a gluttonous feast for fierce beasts like the Cliff Wolf and the Grass Leopard.

In winter, food is naturally scarce, and most herbivorous beasts hide away; the fierce beasts are mostly ravenous, so encountering a migration event is naturally like a fish finding water.

Although the Shanji are herbivorous, their wild nature is manic.

Those with strong physiques can take away half the life of a fierce beast with one thrust of their horns; if it happens by chance, it is not unheard of for their sharp horns to pierce through intestines.

Because of this, whenever they encounter an attack from fierce beasts, the Shanji group will split into two.

The mother beasts and the weak beasts escape, while the strong beasts face the enemy.

Although one cannot say they can always retreat with full strength, the casualties are but a drop in the ocean, and most fierce beasts cannot gain any advantage.

If the weak beasts remained, they would only drag down the strong, so how could the race have flourished until now?

Chengkai acting this way was precisely to allow Xin Yi and Sangmu to focus on facing the enemy.

He had always known his own weight and understood what it meant to do what one is capable of.

After all, this concerned life and death, and could not tolerate a shred of hesitation.

When Zhaoming Zhenren was alive, he often taught Chengkai that as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood.

As long as a person can stay alive, there are things they can do.

And what Chengkai had to do now was to hold back Shanglu.

The Thunder Method he used in his desperation just now was intended to save Zhanli, but he had not expected it to enrage Feilian.

Now that the two were separated, it could be considered an unexpected joy.

A heaven-sent opportunity, how could it be wasted?

He must not let the two reunite, or they would be difficult to deal with.

Chengkai made up his mind and decided to seek out Shanglu.

Even if he could not defeat him, being able to hold him back for a while would be good.

But before Chengkai could get close to Shanglu, he felt a sense of danger approaching and subconsciously rolled to dodge.

Chengkai felt a tremor beneath his feet, and looking back, it was actually Feilian's mount.

This was truly unexpected.

That was a close one!

If he hadn't dodged that, he feared he would have been flattened into a pulp of meat.

Seeing Chengkai dodge, the monster leaped lightly and began to circle him, emitting a piercing sound from its mouth.

Seeing the monster act this way, Chengkai frowned.

Looking at this posture, it was as if they were in a fighting ring.

The monster's long tail moved, whipping over like a lash; Chengkai retreated quickly to dodge, and the tail actually smashed a pit into the ground.

What great strength!

It was fortunate he had dodged, otherwise wouldn't his skin have been torn and flesh mangled?

It seems the strength of this monster is also not to be underestimated.

It is rumored that the mounts of ancient great beings have the ability to traverse the heavens and the earth; could this old thing be the same?

Chengkai had actually guessed correctly.

This monster is called a White-Headed Hou; although it is Feilian's mount, it is also a bona fide member of the Demon Race.

Moreover, this was only its demon body; transforming into a human form was naturally a simple matter.

Perhaps in response to Chengkai's thoughts, the White-Headed Hou's body suddenly twisted, making strange noises incessantly, and before long, it transformed into a woman.

At a first glance, this woman had a sturdy, tall, and burly physique, but her head was strangely small, with two topknots tied on it, thin eyebrows and eyes, and a sharp, monkey-like face. Chengkai was stunned for a moment, then immediately felt a strong urge to laugh; if the situation were not so dire, he might have truly laughed out loud.

It was truly the first time he had clearly realized what "rat-headed and shifty-eyed" and "thievish eyebrows and rat-like eyes" meant.

Admittedly, using these two terms on a woman was highly inappropriate, yet he truly could not find a more accurate description.

Chengkai could even imagine what Lingxiang would say if she saw her.

Truly, what a wretched appearance.

Of course, making harsh judgments on others' appearances is not the behavior of a person and is truly improper.

Chengkai said "Boundless" and silently recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra twice, which finally steadied his mind.

But the moment the woman opened her mouth, it caused Chengkai to completely break his composure.

"Bold little Daoist, how dare you attack General Feilian, you are truly courting death!"

Looking at that massive build, yet having a voice like a mosquito, and with such an affected, coy posture, it was discordant no matter how one looked at it.

Please... you... bookmark 6... 9... book...!

Although Chengkai had never claimed to be a gentleman, he would not offend a woman, but this time, he truly could not help it.

So Chengkai laughed, laughing unbridledly, like a floodgate opening, unable to stop at all.

The woman did not know if she was angry or ashamed, and she pinched her voice to berate Chengkai: "What a stinking Daoist, how dare you mock me!" Saying this, she took out a whip and lashed it over.

Chengkai subconsciously dodged it, but his laughter did not stop in the slightest, only intermittently apologizing, saying words of rudeness and offense.

What can he do, it really is just that funny.

But his apology was sincere, too.

White-Headed Hou was ashamed into anger, so agitated that the hand gripping the whip began to tremble.

To think Qingmian Hu always said mortals were interesting; interesting my foot! Wasn't he killed by a mortal's hand in the end?

White-Headed Hou unleashed all his intimidation, "coquettishly" charging toward Chengkai.

Chengkai naturally dared not be negligent, but hearing White-Headed Hou's tone, he still couldn't help but want to laugh.

Truly, in this lifetime, he would likely never see anything this amusing again.

But the opponent's strength could not be underestimated; even while laughing, Chengkai had no intention of being perfunctory, for he understood in his heart that if he were the slightest bit careless, he would become a ghost under the opponent's whip.

Gathering his thoughts slightly, Chengkai became serious and calmly dealt with White-Headed Hou's offensive.

Perhaps because his mind was disrupted by Chengkai, White-Headed Hou's attacks always missed, but the more he failed to land a hit, the more impatient he became.

Actually, it wasn't entirely White-Headed Hou's problem.

Chengkai had followed escort missions since he was young and had encountered many desperate outlaws who robbed shipments; back then, he had learned one principle.

If you want to save your life, you must never make useless movements.

Therefore, even though Chengkai looked burly, whether it was his Sword Technique or his Body Movement, they were always crisp and free-spirited, never dragging or sloppy.

Because life, you only have it once.

However, even though White-Headed Hou's moves missed, Chengkai did not gain any advantage.

Although White-Headed Hou could not hit Chengkai, his chaotic and disorganized whip style left Chengkai with nothing to do but dodge, with no power to counterattack.

Going on like this was not a solution.

Even though he had practiced for a few years and had some foundation in martial arts, he was still a mortal of flesh and blood after all, and simply could not compare to the Demon Race.

If this continued to drag on, his physical strength would eventually fail to keep up, and at that time, he would become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, left to be butchered by the opponent.

Furthermore, although Chengkai was managing to cope for the moment, he was still worried about Shanglu's side, fearing that he might make a move, making it truly difficult to settle his mind.

On Shanglu's side, there were only Zhao Wuyang and Zhanli.

Not to mention how Zhanli was—after all, Chengkai didn't really know him—but regardless of Body Movement or cultivation, Zhao Wuyang would certainly be no match for Shanglu, so how could one count on the two of them to entangle him?

Just as things were at this stalemate, a tremor suddenly came from beneath their feet.

Before long, a gust of wind, carrying dust and sand, swirled toward the direction where Liu Xia and Huiwu had disappeared.

Chengkai and White-Headed Hou were both extremely astonished, especially White-Headed Hou.

Having been in the Underworld for so many years, other than hearing that there was wind in the Eight Cold Hells, he had never seen wind rise anywhere else.

Could it be that the Eight Cold Hells had sprung a leak?