Demon Spirit Mountain Range.
Mo Fan and Big Head were frantically fleeing under the cover of night, but even so, they nearly got caught by those cultivators twice.
“We can’t escape. I’ve heard that human cultivators have a magic tool that can track demonic aura. As long as we still have demonic aura, it’ll be hard to escape their pursuit!”
Big Head, the fish demon, leaned against a tree, panting heavily. Although the Godspeed Talisman had greatly boosted his speed, it also drained his stamina immensely.
To shake off the cultivators chasing them, they had already circled dozens of miles around the area several times.
Even Mo Fan, not just Big Head, was now somewhat out of breath.
“Didn’t you just say you wanted to play some cat-and-mouse game?”
“Why is it all just you running now?”
“If you’ve got any tricks up your sleeve, use them! Otherwise, we’re done for today!” Big Head grumbled, clearly frustrated.
“The game started long ago.”
Mo Fan spoke calmly.
“What?”
Big Head was stunned, not quite catching on.
“The cat-and-mouse game. Earlier, they were the cats, and we were the mice.” Mo Fan winked at him.
“…Damn it!”
Big Head cursed under his breath, his head spinning.
“I knew you were unreliable, but not *this* unreliable!”
“And you expect me to follow you back to that lousy Demon Mountain?”
“Keep dreaming!”
“From now on, we part ways. You take your broad road, and I’ll cross my narrow bridge!”
Mo Fan’s teasing thoroughly enraged Big Head, who stormed off in another direction.
“The broad road is easy to walk, but the narrow bridge isn’t. One misstep, and you’ll fall to your death!”
Mo Fan looked at Big Head, a slight smirk on his lips.
Big Head, infuriated by his words, stumbled and nearly fell.
“Even if I fall to my death, that’s my business, and I like it!”
Big Head cursed and stomped off, disappearing in a huff, out of sight, out of mind.
Mo Fan shook his head with a smile, muttering to himself, “Now that we have the mouse, I’ll reluctantly play the cat for once!”
With that, Mo Fan found a particularly sturdy tree nearby, leaped up with a few bounds, and hid himself among the dense foliage above.
It was already night, and with the dark forest environment, his presence would be hard to detect without a careful magical probe.
Once hidden, Mo Fan pushed his Aura Concealment Technique to its limit, completely suppressing his demonic aura.
Soon after, he saw a yellow paper crane hovering down into the forest below.
Along with the crane came several figures—four in total, all dressed like scholars. Their familiar attire reminded Mo Fan of Qin Changsheng.
“These guys are probably from the same place as Qin Changsheng, Great River Academy…”
“Interesting. So the so-called academy is actually a cultivation sect!”
Mo Fan murmured to himself, then watched as the four followed the paper crane in the direction Big Head had gone.
Seeing this, Mo Fan quickly followed.
Big Head’s luck was rotten—at least, that’s what he thought.
Not only had he taken a beating today, but he was also being chased by a group of cultivators, and now he realized he was lost!
Looking at the two distinct notches on a nearby tree trunk, Big Head’s head throbbed.
He had been to this spot twice already!
“Damn it, what kind of cursed place is this? Everything around looks the same…”
Big Head cursed under his breath, but his expression soon froze. He glanced around and quickly buried himself under the fallen leaves on the ground.
No sooner had he hidden than a rustling sound came—the sound of feet crunching on leaves!
Big Head’s heart raced, and then he heard casual chatter.
“Brother Song, how did those two demons suddenly vanish? Where could they have escaped to?”
“Not sure, but there’s no Demon Mountain around here. The nearest, Black Wind Mountain, is over two hundred miles away. Even with Godspeed Talismans, they can’t escape our grasp.”
In the forest, the four disciples of Great River Academy looked at the spot where the paper crane was circling, a hint of mockery on their faces.
They had already figured out that the two demons were likely hiding beneath the leaves.
The four exchanged glances but didn’t act immediately. Instead, they each took out a talisman, activated it with a spell, and quietly set it in motion.
Buzz—
The next moment, the four talismans glowed, linking together to form a transparent, square-shaped light wall.
At that moment, Big Head, still hidden in the leaves, realized something was wrong. No longer bothering to stay hidden, he burst out from the leaves, trying to break through the strange cage.
“Bang!”
“Ah!!”
The moment Big Head touched one of the light walls, he yanked his hand back, letting out a scream.
He looked down at his right hand, now slightly charred. Had he not pulled back in time, his entire finger might have turned to ash.
“You vile creature, did you think you could escape our Talisman Fire Array?!”
The tall young man called “Brother Song” sneered repeatedly.
To him, this demon was utterly foolish, thinking it could hide in the leaves. Did it really believe the disciples of Great River Academy were incompetent?
“Damn you, you dare trap me?!”
“When I get out, I’ll eat you all!”
Big Head roared in fury, his demonic aura surging as black mist poured out, trying to break the so-called Talisman Fire Array.
“Brother Song, this creature is actually a Demon Ding!”
“If we can capture it alive and offer it to the academy, it’ll be a great achievement. Brother Song might even have a shot at the Prodigy List!”
“If Brother Song makes it onto the Prodigy List, don’t forget to look out for us juniors!”
The other three cultivators fawned over him, as if already congratulating Brother Song for entering the Prodigy List.
“The Prodigy List isn’t so easy to get on, but if we can catch these two Demon Dings, there’s a decent chance!”
A glint of ambition flashed in Brother Song’s eyes. Who wouldn’t yearn for the Prodigy List?
“Brother Song, something’s not right!”
Watching the fish demon repeatedly crash against the array, one cultivator frowned slightly.
Brother Song’s expression darkened as he, too, noticed something amiss.
One demon was missing!
They had clearly seen two demons before, but now there was only one!
Brother Song’s face grew grim. After a moment’s thought, he seemed to realize something and said in a low voice, “Everyone, be caref—”
Before he could finish, a whooshing sound cut through the air. One cultivator’s body trembled as an arrowhead pierced through his throat, blood gushing out!
“Brother… urk… urk…”
The cultivator’s eyes widened in agony as he collapsed to the ground.
Swish—
With that cultivator’s death, the talisman in front of him, no longer sustained by mana, burst into flames.
As the talisman burned, the Talisman Fire Array collapsed on its own.
“You lot, all of you, die!”
Big Head lunged out of the array, his demonic aura sweeping toward one of the cultivators.
“You vile creature, courting death!”
The cultivator, enraged, reached into his storage pouch at his waist, pulling out a pen-shaped magic tool. With a flick, a streak of black energy slashed toward Big Head.
Rip—
A piercing sound rang out as a crimson object, like a spear, suddenly appeared from above, stabbing through another cultivator’s spine. With a scream, that cultivator vanished on the spot.
“You vile creature, how dare you act so brazen!”
Brother Song, furious, produced a bamboo slip, chanting under his breath.
Immediately, the dense text on the bamboo slip came to life, crawling off like tiny black insects, flying upward and forming a pitch-black sword that shot straight toward Mo Fan!
