Chapter 266: The Dried Human

He had just fled all night without resting two hours, and now he had to flee again—Liu Liu Xiaolou didn't know what to say.

What made him want to cry was that the Spirit Leopard hadn't been knocked out by the Mílí Incense; instead, it was wildly aroused, its eyes glowing green, letting out a roar like the arrival of spring night, fixated solely on him. If it tackled him, the consequences were unthinkable!

The formation was useless, the Mílí Incense had backfired, and the Three Xuán Swords feared the Thunder Power in the Leopard's tail—Liu Liu Xiaolou's only defense was the Líliú Shield.

Fortunately, the Líliú Shield wasn't made of metal, so it wasn't harmed by the Lei Guang Power flashing on the Leopard's weapon; otherwise, things would have been truly dire.

After fleeing for only half an hour, the emotionally charged Spirit Leopard caught up to him three times—each time he held the Líliú Shield behind him, there came a "bang," and he was thrust five or six zhang away.

Though each impact let him use the force to escape a little further and buy a few precious moments, being repeatedly stabbed from behind, repeatedly slammed by the weapon, Liu Liu Xiaolou was enduring terrible suffering.

After two hours of fleeing, the Líliú Shield had been stabbed over a dozen times; Liu Liu Xiaolou felt his five viscera and six bowels had been jolted out of place, his head spinning, all he wanted was to find a place and vomit violently.

The Spirit Leopard's excitement only grew stronger, showing no sign of fatigue—after Liu Liu Xiaolou was shoved away once more, he lost all control of his body and was directly slammed into the trunk of a massive tree.

"Bang!" The great tree shook three times, shedding a flurry of falling leaves.

His body slid down the trunk, and before his feet even touched the ground, the Spirit Leopard pounced beside him.

Liu Liu Xiaolou was terrified—he had barely turned around when the Leopard's two front paws pinned his arms against the tree, its two emerald-green eyes staring at him, ravenous.

The Spirit Leopard opened its mouth and let out a deep, piercing roar that nearly burst Liu Liu Xiaolou's eardrums; in the "buzzing" aftermath, a tongue a foot long shot out, curling twice across his face, its thick saliva carrying a monstrous stench, thick and overwhelming—Liu Liu Xiaolou could no longer hold back and vomited violently, spewing all over the Leopard's face.

The Leopard's tongue curled again over his face, scooping up the vomit into its mouth, chewed twice, then extended its tongue again to lick Liu Liu Xiaolou.

His stomach was empty now; being licked a few more times didn't matter much—but the most dangerous moment had finally arrived. The Leopard drew its loins back, then thrust forward violently.

"Bang!" It slammed again into the Líliú Shield Liu Liu Xiaolou had hastily raised.

The Leopard twisted its hips and struck from another angle; Liu Liu Xiaolou predicted the direction and maneuvered the Líliú Shield to block again.

Another "Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Bang Bang Bang!"

The clanging echoed through the dense forest, drawing curious wild beasts to gather.

The onlookers included, but were not limited to, squirrels, wild rabbits, foxes, wild dogs, and various birds.

Suddenly, the earth trembled, and the gathered beasts scattered in panic.

This tremor finally jolted the Spirit Leopard out of the spring fever induced by the Mílí Incense—its pupils shrank sharply, its green glow turned blue, and it abandoned chasing Liu Liu Xiaolou, leaping backward instead.

Two vines suddenly shot up from the soil, wrapping around its tail and yanking it into the air.

Lei Guang crackled along the Leopard's long tail, scorching the two vines that held it—but the scorched vines immediately writhed, shedding their charred outer skin to reveal fresh, tender green shoots inside. These new shoots rapidly sprouted more buds, piercing into the Leopard's tail. The Leopard shuddered violently, its body stiffened, and its Lei Guang Power vanished.

New vines erupted from beneath the soil, wrapping around the Leopard's limbs, coiling around the tree trunk, and hoisting it into the air.

Liu Liu Xiaolou had not escaped either—he had been ensnared by the vines even earlier than the Leopard, already hanging from another tree trunk. These vines also sprouted fresh green buds, piercing beneath his skin, spreading a tingling numbness throughout his body, sealing all his meridians.

Liu Liu Xiaolou, at Qi Refining Eighth Layer, had no resistance at all—he hung suspended in midair.

From this angle, he saw more clearly—and it filled him with even greater horror.

All the vines emerging from the soil were, in fact, roots, branches, and shoots of the giant tree beside him, normally hidden underground, only extending to capture prey. Now that all its vines had emerged, they covered nearly two mu—this two-mu area was its hunting ground!

Hanging beneath the trunk, he felt the fine, tender shoots piercing his body, sucking everything within: true qi, blood, flesh, and bone.

The consumption was excruciatingly slow, yet painfully clear—his strength was being drained drop by drop by countless tiny buds; his life force was ebbing away slowly. Unending terror surged into his mind—he could already imagine what he would look like a month or two from now: a dried human corpse, swaying in the wind beneath this tree.

Yet he had no power to stop any of it—not even the ability to light incense, for his true qi could not circulate.

In the corner of his vision, he saw the Spirit Leopard hanging just a few zhang away—its condition was better than his; at least it could still emit faint, mournful howls, and within those howls, there seemed to be a trace of regret.

You beast, do you even feel regret? You've killed me!

Liu Liu Xiaolou silently cursed it in his heart, but could do nothing.

He hung like this for two days—then, suddenly, heavy rain fell at night, thunder roared, lightning streaked across the sky like fire snakes. The Spirit Leopard seemed emboldened by the Thunder Power, or perhaps able to draw strength from it—it suddenly thrashed violently, swinging the vines back and forth, nearly breaking free.

But it was all in vain—more vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around it in several tight coils. The Spirit Leopard finally stopped moving, its throat gurgling as if weeping.

Liu Liu Xiaolou had lost even the strength to cry—the buds piercing his body sucked away everything while secreting a toxin that continuously numbed him. This toxin caused only paralysis, inflicting no direct damage, plunging him into a dazed, half-sleeping state, as if in a trance.

In his foggy consciousness, Liu Liu Xiaolou could no longer perceive anything outside or within his body—his only sensation was a faint, hazy light.

The vines had extended into every meridian, occupying one true qi reservoir after another, turning them into storage pools for the tree spirit's nourishment.

When a cluster of delicate buds probed into the Hand Hand Jueyin Meridian and reached the Daling Point, a flash of green suddenly ignited within the Daling reservoir.

The cluster of buds cautiously extended into the green glow, swaying gently for a long while, as if confirming something, then swiftly retreated—exiting the Daling Point, withdrawing from the Hand Hand Jueyin Meridian, retreating from all meridians, and finally leaving Liu Liu Xiaolou's body entirely.

Liu Liu Xiaolou fell from the air to the ground, jolting him into a grunt as he lay on his back in the muddy earth.

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