Chapter 169: Hunter and Prey

Lu Xingzhou glared at A Nuo; this kid was utterly black-hearted.

"Regardless of where this water came from, it can't be corpse water. Whose corpse water could be purified like this?" Lu Xingzhou stepped forward and patted Sheng Yuanyao's back: "Don't listen to A Nuo's nonsense. Am I the master, or is she the master?"

Sheng Yuanyao nearly lost her strength, fell backward, and gritted her teeth: "Lu A Nuo, just you wait!"

A Nuo turned his head to look at the sky.

"I don't know if you should scold me or thank me. Look at what posture you're in now?"

Sheng Yuanyao seemed not to notice that her posture was unconsciously leaning against Lu Xingzhou's chest; she still feigned weakness, clutching her chest and panting: "Since there are bones underground, do you plan to dig them up?"

Lu Xingzhou also seemed not to notice that he was currently holding the melon-girl on his lap; he was still deep in thought: "No need to dig. Since this water is related to the bones below, we can simply follow the water downward to make contact."

A Nuo's eyes darted back and forth between their faces; it was hard to say whether the two truly hadn't noticed or were pretending not to know.

Female brother? Pfft.

Sheng Yuanyao said: "Is it deep? My breath-holding ability isn't very long..."

"We won't enter the water. The situation below is unknown; rashly diving in is very dangerous." Lu Xingzhou summoned his Soul Banner, and several yin spirits zipped into the water.

What the yin spirits saw was what the master saw; Lu Xingzhou, holding Sheng Yuanyao, had already immersed his mind in controlling the spirits.

Sheng Yuanyao secretly glanced at him; seeing his mind had shifted elsewhere, she hesitated for a moment on whether to stand up.

Catching a glimpse of A Nuo's disdainful expression, Sheng Yuanyao ground her teeth and beckoned to A Nuo: "Come here."

A Nuo refused: "You just want to pinch me. If you have the guts, come over and pinch me yourself. Are you willing to stand up?"

Sheng Yuanyao gritted her teeth: "I vomited until I lost my strength!"

The moment her words fell, a scorpion jumped out of the sand beside her and snapped its claw at her ankle.

Sheng Yuanyao, who claimed to have lost her strength, kicked up her foot and sent the scorpion flying a hundred thousand miles away.

A Nuo: "..."

Sheng Yuanyao's eyes wandered: "I am guarding your master."

A Nuo was too lazy to deal with her; when the master controls spirits, it counts as dividing attention, so guarding is indeed needed, but one doesn't need to guard while sitting in someone's lap...

I wonder what the master is seeing? Why does he seem so serious?

Lu Xingzhou's yin spirits followed the water downward; not long after, they entered the wet soil. Since yin spirits can move through soil, he simply continued probing downward and saw the oracle bones.

They must be the bones of a giant turtle or soft-shelled turtle; what lay before his eyes was only a small part. Lu Xingzhou simply released more yin spirits to probe horizontally.

The more he probed, the more startled he became; a rough estimate suggested these oracle bones covered nearly half a li in circumference, which could be described as gigantic.

What startled Lu Xingzhou most was not the size; a massive demon beast was nothing rare. The true trouble was that, with Lu Xingzhou's sensitivity from practicing the evil ghost yin spirit method, he somewhat suspected this turtle hadn't died completely...

This water felt like a water-element technique used by the turtle, condensing all water elements in the sand and soil to aggregate, providing nutrients for its undying state. Even the plants in the oasis giving a lifeless feeling was due to the water being drained away.

One could say the formation of this desert was half due to another fire source and half due to this turtle absorbing water elements; the two working together turned an entire region into a desert.

Congratulations, the water Sheng Yuanyao drank earlier was fine; it was condensed from pure water elements.

However, since this condensation was meant to sustain the survival of the bones underground, logically there shouldn't be such an exposed oasis... It might imply a plea for help, or it might imply fishing.

From the demon beast's perspective, the possibility of fishing seemed higher; whenever a living creature came here to fetch water, it would be devoured by some means.

It was likely now too weak to move; with a living person right there, it couldn't move... Or perhaps this massive creature buried deep underground caused a natural sluggishness in reaction; by the time it reacted, the person was already gone.

If it's the former, it means there's a loophole to exploit; if it's the latter, it means delaying further will bring danger.

Should we take a gamble?

Lu Xingzhou considered for a few seconds and reached a conclusion: "Let's go, leave this place immediately."

A Nuo had cooperated with the master for so many years; upon hearing the master's words, he didn't even need to think, and shot away instantly.

Before Sheng Yuanyao could react, Lu Xingzhou was already holding her and driving the wheelchair to fly straight out; Sheng Yuanyao instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

Until they had gone very far, there was still no movement from that side; Sheng Yuanyao asked curiously: "What's wrong?"

"The demon beast below isn't completely dead. In normal times, I might gamble to see if I can exploit a loophole, but now the environment is dangerous, and someone is watching us; it's inappropriate to do such things that trap ourselves in peril." Lu Xingzhou picked a bulging sand dune to hide behind and whispered: "Don't make a sound; now we are the hunters."

Sheng Yuanyao's heart stirred, and she understood Lu Xingzhou's meaning.

If someone was secretly following to cause trouble, seeing them survey and stay at that oasis for so long, they would certainly follow to survey as well.

Then they would instead change from hunters into their prey.

Seeing A Nuo already clinging to the sand dune with one eye poking out to watch the drama, Sheng Yuanyao couldn't resist either; she finally left the warm human-shaped sofa, climbed over to A Nuo's side, and watched shoulder to shoulder.

A Nuo glanced at her sideways with great disdain; Sheng Yuanyao grabbed A Nuo's head and pushed it down.

In their silent pantomime, not long after, two figures from the distance whooshed into view at the oasis.

One was Daoist Xuan Qing, the other Chen Yu.

"It's really there." Sheng Yuanyao's face was as black as a pot bottom: "I must report this!"

Lu Xingzhou said leisurely: "Report what? They haven't done anything yet; is it a crime to follow us and exploit a loophole?"

Sheng Yuanyao said: "Then what do you plan to do?"

"Lu is from the Demonic Path and has never been a good thing... They probably saw me working low-key and honestly studying in the capital and truly thought I was honest." Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "If I could choose, I only want to be the defendant."

Sheng Yuanyao: "..."

Over there, Xuan Qing was saying: "Lu Xingzhou and the others observed here for half an incense stick... but the plants here have no medicinal properties; they even have a bit of a lifeless aura."

Chen Yu said: "So he left without taking anything; we don't need to investigate either. Let's go directly; if we delay, we might lose them."

Xuan Qing hesitated somewhat: "Just because Lu Xingzhou didn't discover anything doesn't mean we can't. Are you truly willing to be suppressed by Lu Xingzhou in everything, not even trying to prove you have better insight than him?"

Chen Yu silently shook his head: "Know what is primary and what is secondary; do not lose the big for the small. Let's go."

He was equally jealous of Lu Xingzhou, jealous to death. But he was much more steady than Xuan Qing; his temperament was clearly shown during the initial enrollment assessment; he only refined three pills, ensuring they were of superior quality.

His choice was undoubtedly correct.

But unfortunately, he encountered Lu Xingzhou.

Just as the word "go" left his lips, Lu Xingzhou's yin spirit hidden underground fiercely slapped the turtle's head.

"Roar!" A furious roar finally came from the depths underground. The next moment, a sandstorm whipped wildly, the earth shook and mountains trembled; the entire oasis instantly collapsed and vanished, buried under a sky-covering storm of wild sand.

Daoist Xuan Qing and Chen Yu leaped up in shock as a massive turtle shell, half a li in diameter, roared open from beneath the swirling sandstorm and slammed directly at the two figures in midair.

"Damn it!" Daoist Xuan Qing, terrified, tried to flee, but his body suddenly froze.

In the distance, Sheng Yuanyao watched with her own eyes as the talisman in Lu Xingzhou's hand burned away—it was a Slowing Talisman.

"Bang!" Daoist Xuan Qing didn't even have time to react; the turtle shell struck him squarely, smashing his entire body into a lump of mush, which then crashed down into the sand and dust with a thud.

He died without even knowing why he had died.

Sheng Yuanyao: "..."

Who would have thought that with nothing done at all, Daoist Xuan Qing, who had always been highly regarded, would already be dead here? The Demon-Suppressing Bureau personnel secretly following and protecting Daoist Xuan Qing were unable to reach him in time; the cause of Daoist Xuan Qing's death they could report would still be that he died at the hands of the desert turtle-tortoise...

Chen Yu's strength far exceeded Daoist Xuan Qing's; though the Slowing Technique took effect on him, he broke free with incredible speed, flashed his figure, and immediately left the range of the falling turtle shell, fleeing like a madman.

He was also decisive; knowing he absolutely could not engage in a prolonged fight here, otherwise, with Lu Xingzhou and Lu Nuonuo sneaking up behind him, he would surely die!

"Heh... I never thought that the quiet Chen Yu would be the little boss, far more formidable than Daoist Xuan Qing." Lu Xingzhou slapped his wheelchair: "Let's go too. This turtle-tortoise has swallowed Daoist Xuan Qing's flesh and blood and has grown stronger; its sheer size alone is beyond our ability to handle. Let's leave and continue observing."

"Ob... observe what?" Sheng Yuanyao, still dazed, felt her waist tighten as Lu Xingzhou grabbed her and they began to flee.

"Observe where the flame that the turtle-tortoise is fighting is located; that is the true source forming the desert death zone. Once the turtle-tortoise's vitality recovers briefly, it will surely try to destroy that source..."

Before his words finished, the turtle-tortoise swallowed Daoist Xuan Qing's corpse in one bite, then let out a long, sky-shaking roar. Its massive body soared into the air and sped down toward a seemingly unremarkable spot in the desert.

"Boom!" The half-li-diameter giant turtle shell sliced diagonally into the desert, sending wild sand sweeping and dust storms filling the sky.

Lu Xingzhou held both Sheng Yuanyao and A'nuo in his arms, fiercely activating the wheelchair's shield to resist. The vision blocked by sand so thick one couldn't see a finger's width could not stop the Yin Soul Lu Xingzhou had hidden beside the turtle-tortoise. The information transmitted by the Yin Soul clearly indicated that beneath the desert the turtle-tortoise had torn open lay a cluster of cyan-blue flames, flickering within the sand.

There really is a flame seed!

It seems that once, some Fire Demon or the like died here, leaving behind its residual essence.

Terrifying Water-Element power condensed within the turtle-tortoise's bones and struck the flame seed directly, attempting to destroy it.

This thing is too counter to it; as long as the flame seed remains, it cannot survive in the first layer of the Demon-Suppressing Domain.

"Boom!" Water and fire clashed, energy erupted violently, and the sand dust grew even thicker.

Lu Xingzhou swept his Soul Banner, and the Fire Demon roared out, heading straight for the flame seed's location.

Regardless of whether the turtle-tortoise has enough strength to destroy this demon-fire seed, it is never wrong to seize it first. Such flame seeds are unsuitable for refining pills but are often very suitable for combat, especially as a great nourishment for the Fire Demon of the Soul Banner, making them worth collecting.

But just as Lu Xingzhou's focus was entirely on controlling the Fire Demon to seize the flame, the wheelchair's shield suddenly received an energy impact from behind, causing the shield to shatter. The sandstorm instantly swept over the three of them; Lu Xingzhou could no longer remain seated in his wheelchair, and the three, caught completely off guard, were directly scattered apart.

This was a completely unexpected change, belonging to the "ubiquitous special attacks" within the Demon-Suppressing Domain; the root cause was the chaotic surging of energy from already-dead demons.

They had not experienced this before, but unexpectedly, at the most tense moment, it suddenly struck, and it happened to hit their exact position; it was purely bad luck. Sheng Yuanyao took a mouthful of sand right in her face, looking utterly bewildered.

Everyone says Lu Xingzhou is a person of great fortune; looking at this, how is he any different from those unlucky demons who suffer heavenly retribution? Where is the fortune?

Fortunately, none of the three were ordinary people; this sandstorm caused no harm to anyone, it merely obscured their vision, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

Sheng Yuanyao condensed her spiritual energy to shield her body and rushed swiftly toward Lu Xingzhou; she could not let him out of her sight! As long as she confirmed he was out of her view and unable to report, the enemy's hidden malice would surge toward Lu Xingzhou from all directions!

At the hill they had come from, Wang Wang Yueshen revealed a faint smile; he had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time...

A wisp of sword qi rose silently and quietly, charging straight toward the distant Lu Xingzhou.

"Clang!" The sword qi was suddenly severed. Dugu Miss Qingli stood before him with her sword drawn, speaking coldly: "A Mr. from the Pill Academy also possesses such character, secretly ambushing his own student... I have learned a lot."

Wang Wang Yueshen's expression changed slightly, then he looked around; there was not a single soul in sight.

He also sneered: "Sheng Yuanyao left you here, was it to guard against me? A young lady like you has quite some ideas."

Dugu Miss Qingli said coldly: "She guessed correctly, didn't she?"

"But do you not know that no matter how strong you are, you are only fourth grade, while I am third grade... the gap between the top three grades is not like the gap between ordinary levels that can be easily crossed." Wang Wang Yueshen held his sword, speaking coldly: "The heir of Tian Yao... I absolutely cannot let you go out to report; forgive the offense."

(End of this chapter)