"Human flesh smell? This is my authentic body scent. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand."
I muttered to myself, but my palm was drenched with sweat. The sound from outside the cave was faint, but like a snake, it crept in through the crevice and spat out a message in my ear. There is only one Fireball talisman left, seriously injured and falling into the realm, a head-on confrontation is equivalent to losing one's head.
I took a deep breath, stuffed the Fireball talisman into my sleeve, and stealthily grabbed a piece of crushed stone with my fingertip - when it really started, I threw the stone to disturb the enemy first and then looked for an opportunity to run away.
The footsteps stopped, the vines at the entrance of the cave were pushed aside, and the moonlight slanted, casting a tall, thin shadow, a black robe dragging, yet unable to hide the sweet and sour smell of blood. He poked his head out, his nostrils twitching as if smelling a plate of freshly cooked braised pork.
"It smells so good." He sighed, with a laugh in his voice, "Little brother, borrow a fire?"
Borrow your sister! I almost blurted it out, but I held it in my breath, gathered all the chaotic energy, let the demonic energy flow on the surface of my body, and pretended to be a native demon cultivator. Showing up at this moment is like self-destruction.
The man in the black robe waited for a moment, heard nothing, and walked in on his own, as light as a cat. The campfire reflected half of his face - thin, pale, but his lips strangely red, as if he had just drunk blood. The most striking feature was his eyes, vertical, amber, glowing with a man-eating light in the firelight.
My heart was pounding, my fingertip stones were burning hot, but I dared not move. The other's breath, at least in the late stage of foundation building, even higher.
"Not coming out?" The man in the black robe raised his eyebrows and suddenly grinned, revealing two sharp tiger teeth. "Then I'll find it myself."
He raised his hand, his five fingers clenched, and a wisp of dark demonic energy gushed out from the palm, twisting in the air like a living creature, splitting into several thin snakes and darting through the hole. One of them swam straight towards the crevice where I was hiding!
All my hair stood up, and as I saw the demonic energy about to touch the corner of my clothes, I was about to throw out the fireball talisman --
Whoosh!
With a sudden burst of sound, a bone nail was fired from outside the cave, precisely in front of the black-robed man's foot, its tail quivered and made a faint hum. A dark red flame was entwined on the bone nail, flickering but giving off a terrifying pressure.
The man in the black robe changed his expression, suddenly withdrew his hand, and the demonic energy was instantly retracted. He turned back, his voice cold: "Who?"
At the entrance, the moonlight was blocked by a tall figure. The man was dressed in a black tight-fitting suit, covered with a silver-patterned mask, revealing only a pair of indifferent eyes, and had a wolf-tailed cloak over his shoulders. Rain slid down the cloak without touching a speck of dust.
"Black Wind Ridge, no private hunting." The masked man's voice was deep and unquestionable, "Get out."
The black-robed man's pupils constricted as if he recognized the other person's identity, his face changing with a smile, and finally he sneered: "So it's you... All right, I'll give you face today." He turned back, gave me a meaningful glance in the direction I was hiding, licked his lips, "Little mouse, don't let me smell the fragrance again next time."
As he finished speaking, he shook and turned into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing into the rain curtain.
I let out a long breath but dared not relax, looking warily at the masked man. The latter did not look at me, but raised his hand, and the dark red flame on the bone pin went out with a "puff" and turned into a wisp of smoke. He turned, as if he were about to leave.
"Wait!" I couldn't help speaking, my voice hoarse, "Thank you for coming to my rescue."
The masked man paused slightly, turned his head, and looked faintly over the crevice where I was hiding: "No need. I'm not doing it for you."
"Then why did you act?" " I pressed, but a bizarre thought emerged in my mind - could it be another trouble caused by the "contract of the Dao"?
The masked man was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and threw a small domino: "Take it with you and it will keep you safe for three days. After three days, you will be blessed."
I caught the dominoes, which felt cold, with a dark flame engraved on the front and a small "Su" on the back.
My pupils constricted abruptly - Su? The Queen of the Demon world, Su Mei 'er?
The masked man turned and strode away, his figure quickly vanishing into the depths of the rain curtain, leaving only a light word that crept into my ears with the wind --
"Black Wind Ridge does not keep idle people. If you want to live, bring out your value."
I clenched the dominoes, my fingertips turning white from the force. The dark flames on the dominoes were not wet at all in the rain; instead, they were slightly hot, like a beating heart.
"Value?" I repeated in a low voice, the corners of my mouth rising slowly, "then let you see the value of the primordial spirit."
The sound of the rain subsided, but the footprints of the masked man were quickly swallowed up by the muddy water as if they had never appeared. I looked down at the dominoes - the dark flame flickered beneath my finger as if it were breathing. Su Mei 'er... Queen of the Demon World, Su Mei 'er.
In my mind flashed the seductive look of her in a purple dress, with a smile at the corners of her eyes, and a bad premonition arose in my heart: This sister is coming to me, there must be no good thing.
But at the moment, the mire of the Black Wind Ridge is almost swallowing me up. To survive, I can only hold onto my thigh first. I put away the dominoes, trampled out the campfire, and by the light of the blood moon, sneaked in the opposite direction of the masked man's departure - since he had given the dominoes, he would not come back to hunt me in the short term. Let's leave the place of trouble first.
After half a stick of incense, I entered a tilted cave, with vines hanging at the entrance like a natural curtain. The inside was dry, with a faint, sweet smell, the lingering scent of the beast, but nowhere to be found. I let out a sigh of relief, sat cross-legged and forced myself into breathing.
The demonic energy and the chaotic energy were still biting each other, the meridians seemed to be repeatedly punctured by countless fine needles, and the cultivation remained firmly at the foundation level, not the slightest increase. I tried to guide the demonic energy into the dantian, but was rejected by the chaotic energy. The two refused to give in and almost spat blood again.
"If I keep going like this, I'll explode sooner or later." I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and smiled wryly. "It seems we'll have to find a safe furnace first to refine the magic energy before we talk about recovery."
No sooner had I thought about it than a noisy footsteps came from outside the cave --
"Search! That guy is nearby! The commander said, live to see the man, die to see the corpse!"
"Hey, I wish he were alive. Only tender meat tastes good!" "
The rough laughter, mingled with the sound of chains dragging on the ground, was approaching quickly. I held my breath, my fingertips picking through the gaps between the vines --
A dozen or so black-armored cultivators, with bone spears on their backs and dark red flames embroidered on their collars, were the same team that had searched the mountain earlier. The leader, a strong man with a single eye, had no concealment of the initial aura of the golden core, and with each step, the mud sank half an inch.
I cursed in my heart: Is the Black Wind Ridge a sieve? Why wave after wave!
"Dominoes..." I clutched the fire dominoes, remembering the masked man's words, "I'll keep you safe for three days," but there were too many of them, and under the pressure of the Golden Elixir, I couldn't even escape with my little spiritual power.
Sweat trickled down my temples, and I quickly weighed it up: To fight? A life-and-death struggle; Run again? Two legs can't keep up with Jin Dan. The only way out - take advantage!
I took a deep breath, pushed aside the vines, strode out of the cave and stood facing the moonlight after the rain.
"Hey, you guys, are you looking for me?
More than ten glances shot in unison, like more than ten knives, instantly locked. The one-eyed burly man was stunned for a moment, grinned his yellowish teeth: "The little mouse of Zhengmeng came out by itself?"
I raised my hand, revealed the dominoes, and the dark flames flickered in the moonlight: "Do you recognize this?"
The burly pupil constricted sharply, and one eye narrowed into a slit: "Black Flame Order? You are the leader!"
"Commander? My heart stirred slightly, but my face remained expressionless: "The commander has ordered that I escort this person myself. You can go back now."
The burly man looked at me suspiciously, his eyes wandering on the torn mark of the alliance on my robe, sneered: "The Black Flame Order is true, but you - on what basis do you get it? Could it be stolen?"
He took a sudden step forward, and the power of the golden pill burst forth like a mountain flood. I felt as if I had been struck by a heavy hammer in my chest, and a mouthful of blood rushed to my throat, but I swallowed it forcefully.
"With me," I lifted my chin, flicked my finger lightly on the dominoes, and the dark flames shot up, "enough?"
The flames flickered, giving off a strange pressure - the aura left by the masked man, of the same origin as the cultivators before me, but more refined. The face of the burly man changed, a flash of wariness flashed in his single eye, but still unwilling: "The Black Flame Order is true, but the commander has an order - live to see people, die to see corpses. Now that you have the token, come with us back to the camp and hand it over in person!"
Back to camp? My heart sank. The masked man's identity is unknown. If I follow them back to the camp, in case the token is of bad origin, I'll be walking myself into a trap.
"What, I dare not?" "If the token is stolen, I'll clean up the house for the commander today!" The burly man stepped forward, his bone spear in hand, and pointed the spearhead straight to my brow.
I grumbled inwardly, but sneered on the face: "Want to do it? All right, but I'll have to ask my brother first if he agrees."
"Brother?" The burly man froze.
I suddenly raised my hand and pointed it to the thick forest behind them. My voice was filled with spiritual power and rolled out: "Brother, come out and show your face!"
The forest was silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the night wind. The cultivators looked at each other and then laughed --
"Brat, bluffing!"
"I see what tricks you have!"
My heart was pounding and my palms were drenched in sweat. The so-called "brother" was nothing but a gamble, a gamble that the masked man didn't go far, a gamble that the breath he left would draw him back --
Whoosh!
With a sudden burst of sound, a bone nail shot out from the thick forest, precisely in front of the strong man's foot, its tail quivered slightly, and dark red flames leapt.
Laughter came to an abrupt halt.
The burly face turned pale in an instant, a flash of terror flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly withdrew his spear: "Yes... It's the commander's confidant! Withdraw!"
More than ten demonic cultivators, without hesitation, turned and ran away, the footsteps quickly faded away, not even daring to look back.
I let out a long breath, my legs went weak and I almost sat down. Deep in the forest, the masked man emerged slowly, the silver-patterned mask glowing cold in the moonlight, and his voice was indifferent: "You owe me again."
I smiled wryly, "It's not a matter of having many debts."
He gave me a glance, a half-smile, and said, "The Black Flame Order is not a talisman; it's a death warrant." To show off with it is to tell the entire Black Wind Ridge - you are my Mochen man."
I raised my eyebrows: "Mochen? Your name?"
He did not answer, but turned and walked deep into the forest, his voice carrying the wind: "The three-day period remains unchanged. Come and see me on the main peak of Black Wind Ridge at the hour of tomorrow. Or -- the token is invalid and you have your own good fortune."
I clenched the dominoes, my knuckles pale, but grinned: "The main peak is the main peak, who fears whom."
Mo Chen's figure quickly vanished into the night as if it had never appeared. I looked up into the distance --
The main peak of the Black Wind Ridge, under the blood moon, was like a huge sword piercing the sky, dark and cold, concealing countless murderous intent.
I took a deep breath, suppressed the surging blood, turned and crept in the opposite direction --
By tomorrow I'll have to be in a state where I can see, or I won't even be able to climb the foot of the mountain, let alone see the queen.
The night wind is howling, but it can't quench the dark flame in the palm.
I lowered my head and whispered, "Su Mei 'er... You'd better really want to work with me, not - treat me like a cauldron."