Chapter 259: The Cat‑faced Man

Crossing the great mountain, the other side is a mountain valley; the valley is filled with miasma, one side a damp swamp, the other a dry grassland littered with volcanic rocks and grass piles.

The swamp is full of carriage-sized lizards; the Lizard King, like an ancient primordial beast, sits cross-legged in a mud pit piled with bones.

On the other side of the dry grassland stand fire foxes as tall as a person, walking upright; the Fox King wears a white cloak and sits human‑like on a tiger‑skin chair.

Whether fox or lizard, they are far more spiritual and far more terrifying than the poisonous creatures elsewhere.

Especially the Fox King, whose gaze toward the crowd is more human than human.

This made the disciples of all sects feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts.

Meanwhile, Heng Xian stood at the midpoint between the swamp and the dry grassland below the slope, looking back up.

He Bizi frowned slightly: "This Cat‑faced Man is indeed cunning, actually running to this kind of place!"

Jiang Ru Yan laughed: "I'm curious, what will he do this time? Where else can he flee?"

Ye Hong Xue and Yu Qiu Yi, along with a few others, exchanged glances, feeling an inexplicable bad premonition, but since the arrow is nocked they had to shoot; stepping forward, they said: "Cat‑faced Man, you do have some quick wit, but that trick won't work now—I advise you to come up obediently and surrender!"

"I don't even know how to write 'surrender'!"

Heng Xian's earlier panic vanished; he plopped down on the rock behind him, saying, "I'm right here—claiming high cultivation, come try to catch me if you can!"

He Bizi and Xiao Yu Jian exchanged a glance, then without a word flashed, turning into two afterimages that lunged left and right.

However, their move released the mighty aura of Primordial Dan cultivators, like a fuse, instantly enraging the watching lizard and fire fox swarms, which began to howl incessantly.

Meanwhile, the Fox King's eyes slowly turned blood‑red, and he let out a sharp whistle to the sky.

"Chirp‑chirp…"

In an instant, countless lizards swarmed from the left to flank the disciples of the great sects.

The fire foxes covering the hills and fields likewise swarmed from the right.

The two great monster clans actually obeyed the Fox King's command.

"This…"

The sect disciples stared at each other, speechless.

Yet the leaders—Jiang Ru Yan, Yu Qiu Yi, Niu Wan Li and their group—were all watching He Bizi and Xiao Yu Jian seize the Cat‑faced Man.

At this moment the two were already above the Cat‑faced Man.

At the critical moment, the Cat‑faced Man strangely jumped off the rock, bouncing, and ran toward the lizard swarm.

"You can't escape!"

He Bizi manipulated the Golden Wheel, his aura like a rainbow, readying to strike.

Xiao Yu Jian also formed a seal with his right hand, controlling two flying swords that glided along the ground like earth dragons, swiftly approaching the Cat‑faced Man.

Who would have thought that at that very moment the Cat‑faced Man leapt up, dove headfirst into the gaping maw of a giant lizard, which promptly gulped him down without hesitation.

"Uh…"

He Bizi and Xiao Yu Jian forced themselves to halt, glanced at each other, and were somewhat bewildered.

Behind them, Yu Qiu Yi, Jiang Ru Yan and the others were startled, immediately looking toward the lizard that had swallowed the Cat‑faced Man, but there were too many lizards; in the blink of an eye they couldn't tell which one it was, leaving them collectively dazed.

It happened too suddenly for anyone to comprehend in a short time!

"Cat‑faced Man… is that it?"

Ye Hong Xue found it hard to believe; after all, this guy had given off an air of holding a pearl of wisdom all along, and now he's just been eaten?

Liu Yu was also confused: "What the hell is this damned Cat‑faced Man up to? Is he really dead?"

Jiang Ru Yan looked around as the lizards and fire foxes slowly closed in, shouting to He Bizi and Xiao Yu Jian: "We're about to be surrounded—Junior Brothers He and Xiao, forget the Cat‑faced Man, retreat!"

Yu Qiu Yi also turned back and said: "Leave this place!"

Over two hundred sect disciples prepared to fly away.

However, only a group of Primordial Dan cultivators and some Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level disciples managed to leap into the air, while the vast majority of lower‑rank disciples turned pale, staggered, and could not circulate their cultivation.

"What's going on?" the Primordial Dan experts halted mid‑air and looked down.

The lower‑rank disciples' faces were grim as they helped each other, saying, "Our blood and qi are churning, heads spinning…"

"We can't circulate our cultivation!"

Yu Qiu Yi immediately formed a seal with her right hand, traced it in the air, her expression changing: "Miasma?"

"No!" Jiang Ru Yan pointed toward the depths of the fox den: "It should be the Fox King's illusion technique."

Everyone looked over and saw the cloaked Fox King tilt his head back, spewing twisting gray mist that rapidly spread toward them.

Niu Wan Li glanced at the now‑encircled peaks and said in a low voice: "The Fox King is too strange; we can't stay on the ground—each of us take a few and try to flee through the air!"

A group of Primordial Dan experts immediately landed, unleashing spiritual power to wrap each one around two or three lower‑rank disciples.

However, there were over two hundred lower‑rank disciples; the Primordial Dan experts plus the Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level disciples could at most escort sixty or seventy people.

Making two trips would already be too late!

The over one hundred remaining lower‑rank disciples staggered, yet with a strong will to survive, they struggled while desperately pleading:

"Senior Brother, don't abandon us!"

"Senior Sister, save me!"

"Chirp‑chirp…"

The fire foxes and giant lizards from the hills, fields, and valley had arrived, their ferocious, terrifying, strange faces now clearly visible.

Seeing this, Niu Wan Li immediately released the three Condensing Qi disciples he had been holding, shouting: "We can't get away—kill them!"

The Primordial Dan experts, feeling somewhat helpless, each set down the lower‑rank disciples they were holding, placed the lower‑rank disciples behind them, and manipulated their magical implements to bombard the encroaching monsters.

"Whoosh…"

The countless upright fire foxes, when within three zhang, desperately spewed flames.

Meanwhile, the lizards, relying on their thick skin and flesh, lunged forward to bite and tear.

The Primordial Dan experts of all sects unleashed all their methods, magical treasures and implements flying everywhere as they bombarded the enemy.

Ye Hongxue attacked while casting spells, frowning as they said: "I feel like today we're not the ones capturing Mao Lian Nan; instead, Mao Lian Nan is setting a trap for us?"

Beside them, He Bizi said: "This person is arrogantly overconfident, already eaten by the lizard; better not mention it!"

Boom—

The flying magic treasures and implements were like a meat grinder, one side blocking the fire foxes' Five Elements fire, the other side slaughtering the lizards, outright keeping the two kinds of monsters beyond three zhang.

Soon, the lizards' corpses piled up more and more, and the fire foxes also collapsed one after another.

Ao—

In the distance, the angry roars of the Lizard King and the Fox King finally came lunging over.

The Lizard King's hill-like body heaved, hurling stones and trees at the crowd; its ten-something-zhang-long iron tail swatted away a whole line of big trees, also kicking up a fishy wind as it came crashing down with a rumble.

The Fox King cooperated, brandishing a goose-feather fan; with a fierce swing, smoke and fire intertwined, an evil wind arose, making everyone's body scorching hot and unable to open their eyes.

Block the two beast kings!

Yu Qiuyi shouted a rebuke.

All around, eight Primordial Dan Realm cultivators instantly split up, four going toward the Lizard King and four rushing toward the Fox King.

Boom boom boom—

In a moment, the whole valley was filled with flying sand and rocks, bloody rain and stench, even the light grew dim.

Just then, among the lizard herd, one lizard suddenly turned and ran deep into the swamp fox den.

A lone figure stood out conspicuously.

Jiang Ruyan, who was protecting the low-ranking disciples on the ground, widened their eyes: "That is..."

Ye Hongxue beside them also looked over, frowning slightly: "This lizard is off; why is it running back to the fox den?"

As soon as their words fell, the lizard's belly split open with a seam, it fell on its back and died, and a blood-covered figure crawled out of its belly, faintly glowing with gold, unmistakably the armored 'Mao Lian Nan'.

"Mao Lian Nan"...

Ye Hongxue and Jiang Ruyan's faces changed dramatically.

(End of chapter)