Chapter 864: No Chase?

Qingque inhaled a breath of cold air, lowered the hand she had tucked behind her head, and quickened her steps.

She cannot linger in this area for long.

In the sealed zone, a stray demon‑shadow could appear at any moment; although she currently has no injuries, she tried several times just now but couldn't use that Wall-Passing ability again, meaning her only life‑saving trump card is still on CD, so if she meets an enemy she'll have to rely on her two legs to run.

And her two legs have already been running in the corridor of the Dan Ding Office for more than half an hour, and now they are still trembling.

She jogged around a corner.

Then she stopped abruptly.

Five pairs, six pairs, a total of six demon‑shadows stood about twenty steps away at the other end of the alley.

Their husks were a dull gray‑green, the skin cracked into irregular patterns, and the fissures glowed a dark red, like lava half‑cooled.

Some had an extra eyeball on their chest, some had fingers turned into slender tendrils, some had semi‑transparent gray cysts bulging on their backs.

They were crowded together, heads down, scraping the ground with mutated claws, probably the wreckage of a Cloud Cavalry soldier's gear left from the earlier battle, or some crushed cargo.

Then, without any warning, one of the demon‑shadows lifted its head.

It had no eyes; where the eye sockets should be were two hollow pits, yet Qingque could clearly feel that its gaze crossed the twenty‑step distance and landed steadily on her face.

One, two, three, four demon‑shadows simultaneously turned their heads toward her.

Their gazes collided head‑on in the dim evening light.

Big eye staring at small eye, big eye staring at small eye, still big eye staring at small eye.

Qingque's blood dropped from normal temperature to freezing point in an instant.

Her pupils constricted sharply, her mouth opened, breathing halted, and every muscle in her body entered Maximum Alert State at the same moment.

She spun sharply; the bare soles of her feet made a sudden braking friction sound on the stone slab, her skirt flared a cyan arc as she turned, and her ponytail snapped up on both shoulders then fell back.

Run!

Run for her life.

All the negativity on her body she tossed to the back of her mind.

Now she had only one thought: run, the farther the better, run out of this sealed zone, run back to where people are, run back to Tai Bu Si, even if Master Fu Xuan scolds her for three days and three nights she'll accept it, as long as she isn't left alone here facing a horde of demon‑shadows.

After running about fifty steps, her ears suddenly caught an odd signal.

Quiet.

Too quiet behind her.

In theory, demon‑shadows make a roar when chasing, a wail, a spine‑tingling shriek.

But now, there was no sound behind her.

Only her own heavy breathing and the distant iron sign creaking in the wind.

Qingque's steps slowed.

From full‑speed sprint to a jog.

From a jog to a hesitant halt.

Her body still held the forward‑leaning posture ready to accelerate, but her neck involuntarily twisted backward.

No one.

Qingque frowned slightly, then turned around and carefully walked back.

When she reached the corner she stopped, pressed her body against the wall, stuck out half a head, and peered into the alley with one eye.

Those few demon‑shadows were still where they were.

They still crowded together, heads down, scraping the ground with mutated claws.

One demon‑shadow yawned; if that pose could be called a yawn, its jaw opened to an angle no normal human could achieve, revealing a gray‑green mouth cavity and several uneven sharp teeth, then it closed and kept scraping.

Not a single one looked toward her.

Even the one that had just locked eyes with her, the one with two hollow pits where eyes should be, now turned its face the other way, its whole demeanor screaming "no interest at all".

Qingque's mouth opened.

Closed, then opened again.

"…What the heck?"

Her voice echoed in the empty alley, startling herself into a slight neck twitch.

Yet those demon‑shadows still showed no reaction.

She stuck her whole head out from the wall corner, widened her eyes, and carefully re‑examined that group of demon‑shadows.

They were indeed there, indeed demon‑shadows, gray‑green cracked skin, mutated twisted bodies, extra eyeballs and tendrils.

But their attitude toward her, compared to the "attack on sight" aggression, was ten‑thousand‑plus li away.

No, it was literally ten‑thousand‑plus li in the opposite direction.

"We just made eye contact—"

She lowered her voice to mutter, her brows knit, "How come… are you all bad at eye contact? Did the mutation also degrade your vision? Do demon‑shadows get nearsighted?"

Just as Qingque was puzzling over it, a sound came from behind her.

Footsteps, chaotic and heavy, mixed with roars and shrill screams, came from the direction she had just run past, growing nearer.

Qingque spun sharply; indeed, at the other end of the alley she'd come from, several demon‑shadows appeared, moving toward her.

Their gait was crooked; some dragged a mutated leg scraping the ground, some held their heads at abnormal angles on their shoulders, muttering incomprehensible gurgles.

Qingque looked left and right.

Left: a wall, a bit high, impossible to climb.

Right: a wall, higher, impossible to climb.

Behind: those demon‑shadows still hunched, scraping.

Ahead: several crooked demon‑shadows closing in.

She stood in the middle of the alley, sandwiched by two waves of demon‑shadow bodies in a dead end, with no way out!

"Damn."

She took a deep breath, opened her right hand, palm up.

Something in the air trembled lightly, a strand of blue light slipped through her fingers, then coalesced, and a Thus Item: Thus Item: Thus Item: Diyuanqiongyupai appeared in her palm.

The card's body was warm and smooth, its edges rounded, and its surface bore patterns she knew beyond familiarity.

She weighed the card in her palm, feeling its weight and temperature exactly as usual.

"It's okay."

Qingque let out a light breath, twirling the card once between her fingers.

At least the card still works.

As long as the card works, she retains some combat ability.

Though the experience of sparring three hundred rounds with Shuhuo in a dream was vague, the card's feel had already been etched into her muscle Memory.

She flexed her wrist, stared at the approaching demon‑shadow bodies ahead, and her heartbeat quickened.

They're close.

The lead demon‑shadow body had already moved to about fifteen steps away from her.

Its face bore three eyes, two in normal positions and one standing upright in the center of its forehead, the pupils a murky dark yellow.

The forehead eye turned toward her, its pupil focusing for about half a second.

Qingque's fingers tightened around the card.

It's coming.