Chapter 174: Black Shadow

At this point, the sun had fully set, and few people remained in the marketplace; the three knew that in less than a quarter hour, darkness would be complete.

If they used lightness skill to fly back now, they would just make it to the academy before total darkness fell.

But Pan Yun lowered her gaze, thought for a moment, and decided to walk back.

"I still trust Heaven—if it says the person is on this path, then he's likely still here," Pan Yun said. "We'll search along the way. His disguise technique is excellent—rare and unpredictable."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He agreed, and as they turned back, they paid closer attention to the dense forests on either side of the road.

At this hour, only a few scattered classmates remained on the path; they moved quickly, clearly eager to return to the academy before complete darkness fell.

There were others like Pan Yun and her companions walking slowly, but they were numerous, traveling in groups.

With more people, courage grew; even if night fell, they weren't afraid.

Pan Yun saw them and quickened her pace, following at a steady, unhurried distance.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He hurried to catch up, quietly exhaling in relief—being with others was safer.

The five boys ahead sensed them and turned to glance back.

Because the light was dim, they couldn't make out Pan Yun's face, but they could see the academy's Dao robes they wore, and their silhouettes.

Clearly, they were younger students.

One of the boys immediately slowed his pace, allowing Pan Yun and the others to catch up.

Pan Yun saw this, raised an eyebrow; when they turned, she had intended to approach and greet them, to walk back together—but now she changed her mind.

This distance—neither close nor far—was better. It spared her unnecessary socializing.

Pan Yun didn't like talking.

She was an introverted person.

Night descended; the wind blowing against her skin carried two degrees more chill, the summer heat dissipated, and Pan Yun's restless heart instantly calmed—she couldn't help but smile.

Darkness came abruptly; a shadow fell over them, like a vast cloud obscuring the moon just as it began to show a sliver of light.

A gust of wind passed, and she heard the boys ahead laughing, "This wind feels so good—I told you it's better to walk later, right? The daytime was too scorching, I felt like I'd melt…"

Pan Yun flung the black cat off her shoulder into Seeing Miao Zhen's arms. "Protect them."

Before the words were out, she had already followed the wind and vanished into the dense forest.

Seeing Miao Zhen cried out, "Little Master!"

The boys ahead turned, catching only the fading edge of Pan Yun's robe; they rushed forward, asking, "Little sister, what happened?"

Seeing Miao Zhen glared at them. "Idiots, you didn't even notice one of you is missing!"

The boys froze, looked at each other, and only then realized one was gone—their eyes widened. "Wang Jie? Where's Wang Jie?"

"I—I don't know. He was right here just now. He even talked to me…"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "A black shadow took him. My little master chased after him."

"Then we should go too."

Seeing Miao He blocked them. "Don't go. My little master is extremely powerful. You'd only be a burden. Stay here and wait."

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded. "No one moves."

"You can't just order us not to go! We don't even know what monster took Jie—we have to save him. If you're scared, stay here."

Seeing Miao He still stood in front of them, speaking earnestly: "No. My master said, if you're not good at fighting, stay far away in such situations—just don't hold anyone back. You're first-years, right? You've learned little. You didn't even notice one of you vanished—what use would you be if you went?"

"We're first-years, but how many years has your little master been studying? She looks even younger than us!"

"She's a first-year too, but—"

"Wait," one boy finally realized, studying Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He closely. "I recognize you—you're from Mount Sanqing… the three…"

Seeing Miao Zhen glared. "Three what?"

"... Three Heroes."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Hmph!"

Seeing Miao He: "Hmph!"

"So the one chasing Jie is Pan Yun!" The boys instantly felt more reassured.

They knew Pan Yun.

During entrance exams, her sword skill surpassed Fifth-Year student Zhang Weiyi.

But her most famous feat was severely injuring Fourth-Year students Nong Zhiyi and Dai Yong, then publicly confronting Zhang Yuanzhu and Lin Tangzhu.

Though they hadn't witnessed it themselves, they'd heard the story countless times—they even attended the trial assembly.

Nong Zhiyi and Dai Yong were both in terrible shape.

Dai Yong has since awakened, but he's now somewhat vacant.

Mount Sanqing claims he has the mental capacity of an eight-year-old; most people didn't believe it.

He looked no older than four or five.

But the abbot of Mount Sanqing also said he could still grow after being healed.

She alone crippled two people.

The boys' confidence surged; they now wanted to enter even more. "Let's go help her." Seeing Miao Zhen: "Just don't slow her down."

"We'll just observe. Besides, aren't you curious what took Jie?"

"That thing snatched someone without a sound—it might be even stronger. We shouldn't go," another boy said. "Let's hurry back to the academy and summon the masters."

Seeing Miao Zhen was a level-headed child; after brief thought, she agreed this was better. "We'll return to the academy for reinforcements."

"Just leave Jie and Pan Yun behind? That's not loyal…"

"Don't talk about loyalty—go now." The boys were fired up, but they knew their limits; they didn't even know when or how Jie vanished—charging in would be suicide.

The four boys surrounded Seeing Miao Zhen and Seeing Miao He and sprinted toward the academy.

Meanwhile, Pan Yun followed a black shadow through the forest; just before reaching the mountainside, it abruptly halted, seized the person in its grasp, and turned to flee in another direction.

Pan Yun landed on the branch where it had fallen, turned her head to glance at the spot it had been gazing at, furrowed her brows slightly, then went after the shadow.

Pan Xiaohei was screaming inside her mind, "Too far, too far, I'm going to die—"

But soon, it stopped screaming, and Pan Yun could feel Pan Xiaohei drawing closer to her.

Pan Yun saw the shadow's direction and knew something was wrong; her face darkened as she poured Yuan force into her legs and shot forward at high speed.

!. Read

Wind howled past her ears, trees blurred backward; the shadow shot out of the dense forest with a hiss, and Pan Yun followed right behind, striking its back with a palm while two talismans flew out to block its path.

The shadow halted mid-charge, then turned and charged straight at Pan Yun…

The six youths hurrying toward the Academy suddenly froze, halted by the floating talismans in midair.

Pan Yun clashed with it four or five times in an instant; her hands touched Wenjie several times, but each attempt to snatch him away was blocked.

The youths, seeing the dark mass, screamed, "H-he-he, he's a ghost!"

"Wenjie's unconscious—hurry, hurry, use talismans!"

Though they were Daoist Priests and had studied capturing ghosts and demons, they had never practiced; they fumbled wildly, pulling out talismans without checking which ones, lighting them, and hurling them at the shadow.

Fortunately, they at least knew to activate them before throwing.

Pan Yun flipped away, dodging the incoming talismans; she didn't blame them for their poor aim. As she landed, the shadow, still clutching Wenjie, slammed into her—her legs planted like a compass, her body tracing a half-circle along the ground, then snapping upright as she delivered a powerful palm strike.

Her hand pierced the black mist and struck solid flesh; the shadow was instantly flung away. Pan Yun simultaneously slammed her left hand into its elbow, caught the falling Wenjie, kicked off the ground twice, and retreated over ten steps in an instant, pulling the rescued Wenjie clear of the battle zone.

The youths were still struggling against the flung shadow when Seeing Miao Zhen threw a Lei Fu, formed the hand seals, and chanted a spell—a bolt of lightning split the air and struck the ground beside the shadow.

A crater opened in the earth; the youths gasped "Whoa!" and frantically pulled out their own Lei Fu—but still mid-seal and mid-chant—the shadow shot away with a hiss and vanished into the dark forest.

The youths shouted and rushed to chase after it, but the unknown dense forest loomed like the jaws of a ferocious beast; they all slammed to a halt, too afraid to advance.

Pan Yun laid the unconscious Wenjie on the ground; the youths turned back in a rush, asking anxiously, "Is Wenjie okay?"

Pan Yun felt his neck and said, "He's got a pulse and breath—he's not dead."

"Move aside, let me handle this." Miao He pushed forward, pulled out his needle pouch, felt Wenjie's pulse, then drew a needle and jabbed it into his hand.

Wenjie's body twitched on the spot, then slowly opened his eyes.

In the darkness, the shadow surrounded him tightly, leaving only pairs of glowing eyes—like they would devour him in the next instant.

His lips trembled, "G-ghost… ghost…"

A monstrous ghost with flailing limbs reached out and slapped him, "Wenjie, don't be afraid…"

"Ahh—"

After the terrified scream, all fell silent.

In the darkness, Wenjie ventured, "Xia Wencheng?"

"Who did you think I was?"

Pan Yun had already pulled out a fire starter and lit it.

In the dim glow, the youth Wenjie saw that the figures surrounding him were all his classmates.

Tears burst from his eyes; he threw his arms around them. "I was terrified—a monster grabbed me! Did you see it?"

"We saw it. It took you, then Sister Pan chased it down and rescued you."

Pan Yun nodded slightly at the group, accepting the title of "Sister," and asked, "Miao He, is he alright?"

"He's fine—just knocked out."

Pan Yun: "Good. Let's get back to the Academy quickly."

Xia Wencheng: "Sister Pan, aren't we going to catch that monster?"

"Yes! Leaving it out there will bring disaster to the village!"

Pan Yun: "We'll catch it—but if not for you here, I'd have gone after it right now. But you're here, so your safety matters more."

"I'll take you back to the Academy. The Academy will handle this matter."

In her past life, Pan Yun had reached graduate school and often encountered such incidents during fieldwork—she knew exactly how to handle them.

First, ensure the students' safety; the school deals with the aftermath.

Seeing Miao Zhen and the others still lacked this mindset: "Little Uncle, could Chen Ziwu also be in that shadow's grasp?"

"Someone else is trapped? We're many—why not go in together to rescue them?"

(End of Chapter)