Within the thick smoke, we could hear shrill howls echoing—intermixed with Lin Feng's muffled grunts. It sounded like something had caught him. Clattering and crashing came from within—clearly a fight had broken out, and Lin Feng didn't seem to have the upper hand.
Taking the chance, Po Jun and I slumped against the cave wall to catch our breath. Though the suffocation had only lasted a short while, everything around me still looked a little hazy. Luckily, my vision cleared after a moment. Through the haze, I saw Lin Feng—and a creature, deep crimson from head to toe.
It was a Bloodshade Fiend.
Wasn't this supposed to be the lowest-level Bloodshade Fiend? But this one blazed red like the heart of a sunset, far redder than the one I had seen in Xiao Sanda's memories. Lin Feng was pinned beneath the beast, desperately holding back its gaping maw to keep it from tearing out his throat.
Though Po Jun and I were safe for now, we knew time wasn't on our side. No matter who won that fight, the loser—or maybe both—would spell trouble for us.
"Lazi! Get over here and help!" Po Jun was already at the cave entrance. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood-mixed saliva at the Soul-Devouring Wolf Smoke blocking the exit. The yellow smoke thinned slightly, but quickly returned to its former density.
Unfazed, Po Jun kept spitting blood, one mouthful after another. Each spit thinned the smoke a little more, but if he hesitated for even a second, the yellow haze thickened again.
At this rate, unless we poured out nearly a liter of blood, we'd never be able to thin the smoke enough to get out. Po Jun had no time to speak. While spraying blood, he gave me a look—urging me to join him.
Without hesitation, I bit through my own tongue and spat a mouthful toward the smoke. Just as I prepared to spit again, a shriek tore through the air behind me, followed by a gust of wind. Something flew just past the back of my head.
Our nerves were already taut as bowstrings. The instant we sensed the incoming danger, Po Jun and I both leapt aside, clearing the entrance.
A crimson blur shot past us, trailing wisps of yellow smoke. The Soul-Devouring Wolf Smoke was disrupted, the entrance visibly clearer. Po Jun hesitated but didn't follow the figure out.
It was definitely the Bloodshade Fiend that flew out—but how? Just moments ago, it had Lin Feng pinned. How had things reversed so quickly that Lin Feng could throw it from the cave?
Then Lin Feng staggered toward us.
His body was covered in bite marks. Strangely, though, not a single wound bled. We didn't stop to wonder. I raised my short sword; Po Jun readied his baton. Just then, another roar echoed from outside—the Bloodshade Fiend was back.
It re-entered the cave, yellow smoke clinging to its body. Its back was scorched raw from the smoke—skin and flesh burned to paste, dripping with yellow pus.
Whatever grudge it had against Lin Feng, it didn't even glance at Po Jun or me. With a bloodcurdling screech, the beast hurled itself at Lin Feng again. They crashed together and rolled, tumbling deeper into the inner chamber.
Their struggle had forced the Soul-Devouring Wolf Smoke at the entrance to thin dramatically. It was barely visible to the naked eye now. Po Jun and I locked eyes—and made a break for it.
The moment we crossed the threshold, a searing pain spread across my skin, like acid had been dumped on me. But once we made it into the rain outside, the burning eased. My clothes, though, had been corroded to tatters, clinging to me like a shredded net.
Suddenly, a loud boom came from the cave, followed by a pained howl from the Bloodshade Fiend. A thick surge of death aura blasted out of the entrance.
We had already begun fleeing down the mountain trail when the cave behind us erupted. Running and fumbling, I grabbed the communicator at my waist and shouted into it—but no reply came. No idea if Sun Fatty and the others had received it.
We'd scrambled about a hundred meters down when Po Jun—running ahead—suddenly cried out. He grabbed me, trying to halt our momentum, but we both tumbled forward. We rolled several times before a tree stopped us.
As soon as he got up, Po Jun pulled me to my feet and turned to run back up the mountain. "No way down—Lin Feng laid a trap!"
That's when I noticed something was wrong with his posture. In the panic, I hadn't looked closely, but now I saw it. Where we'd fallen, a patch of dry grass concealed several sharpened animal bones—each tipped with a faint green glow.
"You can't go around it?" I asked, eyeing the trap. "We can just avoid touching them."
Po Jun's expression darkened. He forced a bitter smile. "Too late." He leaned against a tree and lifted his foot.
There was a hole punched clean through the sole of his boot. Blood was oozing from within.
That's why he'd stopped me—he'd already triggered the trap.
"These are all covered with Illusory Veils," he said, grimacing. "If I hadn't triggered it, we'd never have noticed."
He limped a few steps and pointed left. "I remember Old Qiu was wandering that way. If we can find him, we'll have a chance."
I helped Po Jun to his feet and asked, "Dajun, are you sure Old Qiu has nothing to do with this? Back in the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, he and Lin Feng were so close they might as well have shared a pair of pants."
After everything that had just happened, both Po Jun and I were jumpy and paranoid. He gave me a glance, paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and turned in a new direction. "Let's go find Yang Xiao and Yang Jun. No matter what, those two are clean. We'll have them escort us down the mountain to report to Director Gao."
The Two Yangs were originally in charge of support, but after the rain started, the Bureau's field agents were withdrawn from the mountain. To prevent the Bloodshade Fiend from escaping during the chaos, Sun Fatty reassigned the two of them to the far side of the mountain, near where it connected to another range. As long as we found them, Po Jun and I would at least be out of immediate danger.
Getting to their position, though, meant circling around the mountain's summit. I supported Po Jun, steering wide of the cave where everything had gone down. Luckily, the rain was coming down harder and harder. It covered our tracks well enough that even if Lin Feng managed to deal with the Bloodshade Fiend and gave chase, it'd be hard for him to find us.
Just as we were about to reach the summit, Po Jun suddenly lurched, vomiting a huge puddle of yellow-green bile. His eyes rolled back, and he shoved me away before collapsing, writhing in spasms. In moments, his face turned green—bright as spinach—and foamy green froth bubbled from his lips.
I'd already felt earlier that the injury he took couldn't have been as simple as a pierced boot sole. But Po Jun had kept his composure, and we were rushing to find the Two Yangs—so I hadn't pushed it.
I grabbed his head and pried open his eyelids. His eyeballs looked like they were coated in green wax. His whole body had turned a murky jade hue and was beginning to swell.
I'd never heard of any kind of spell that caused symptoms like this. Desperate, I resorted to the only method I could think of—exorcism-style. I bit down hard on my tongue, reopened the wound that had only just stopped bleeding, and spat a mouthful of blood and saliva onto Po Jun's head.
It was a clean shot—covered his whole face. But nothing changed. His condition didn't improve at all.
I was hesitating about whether to spit another mouthful when a cold voice sounded behind me.
"You could bleed yourself dry—it won't save him."
Hearing that voice, my heart jumped violently. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. After a brief pause, the voice came again.
"Didn't think you two would still dare climb higher. I thought you'd be looking for Qiu Bulao and the others. I've been wasting my time crisscrossing this mountain trying to find you."
While he was still talking, I quietly pulled the baton from Po Jun's belt. Without turning, I hurled it backward toward the sound and drew my short sword in one smooth motion.
Lin Feng stood behind me—almost completely naked. His body was slashed all over, bleeding profusely at a glance. But on closer inspection, none of the blood was actually coming from his wounds.
He didn't dodge. The baton struck him and clattered to the ground. He gave a chilling smile. "Still not giving up? Do you need to end up like Wang Ziheng—shattered to pieces—before you'll be satisfied?"
As he spoke, he slowly stepped toward me. That's when I noticed he was holding a crossbow in one hand and Po Jun's short sword in the other.
I had wanted to drag Po Jun with me, but he was dead weight—completely immobile. I had no choice but to retreat alone.
I backed up several steps and said to Lin Feng, "Yang Xiao and Yang Jun are just up ahead. If you've got the guts, make your move now. I'm dead either way—but I'll drag you down with me!"
Then I shouted at the top of my lungs into the open air:"It's Lin Feng! Lin Feng killed Old Yi! Lin Feng killed Wang Ziheng! The Heavenly Principle Diagram is in Lin Feng's hands! Yang Xiao! That karmic retribution your wife took during her last reincarnation—that was him too!"
Lin Feng didn't interrupt—just watched me coldly. Only after I finished shouting did he reply in a slow drawl, "Save your breath. Those two sheep are with Qiu Bulao and the others on the other side of the mountain—playing tag with the Bloodshade Fiend."
"Bloodshade Fiend?" I stared at him. "You lured it to them?"
Lin Feng gave a cruel laugh. "Who told you there's only one Bloodshade Fiend?"
As he said this, he took a few more steps toward me. For every step he advanced, I took one back to maintain distance.
"I've always been curious," he said, suddenly stopping. "Why was Wu Rendi so interested in you? More than the Two Yangs, even. From what I see, you're nothing special—good eyes, sure, but otherwise, you're not as capable as Po Jun or Wang Ziheng. Even if you share his bloodline, Wu Rendi's attention was... excessive."