Chapter 438 - 221: Beware of an Ambush

Chapter 438: Chapter 221: Beware of an Ambush

Then the Demon Beast Tide disaster in Fenglin Town can be easily resolved."

"A fine plan. Let’s proceed," Shen Qingshuang said. This was usually Shen Qingyao’s line.

"Sigh..." Shen Qingyao sighed softly and took the lead, sneaking down the mountain.

Shen Qingshuang followed behind her at an unhurried pace.

Watching the two sisters sneak away, a faint smile appeared on Chen Cheng’s face.

’Those two. They truly are the peerless Twin Jewels of Linji City. They really do have that air of beauty and brains combined.

At least they’re not some ditzy, naive girls. That’s good enough!’

Chen Cheng headed down the mountain in a different direction. Before long, he was already ahead of the two sisters, Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang.

...

「The next day.」

「In the afternoon.」

On the edge of the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, within a vast forest.

Trees were snapped and broken, dust billowed everywhere, and hundreds of Demon Beasts charged about wildly. Their roars and howls rose and fell in waves.

The Demon Beasts were stampeding vaguely toward three different parts of the forest. With their low Spiritual Wisdom, the beasts acted purely on instinct, even turning to fight and kill each other from time to time.

The momentum of their charge was earth-shattering and utterly terrifying.

In these three locations were the members of the Shen Family’s demon-slaying teams.

Shen Zhiheng led one team, Luo Mingyu led another, and the third was an eight-man squad of Purple-clothed Guards from the Demon Suppression Department, led by Wang Xiongzhang.

The three teams each found a position, lit the Beast-Attracting Incense, and waited nearby.

Normally, lighting the Beast-Attracting Incense would make the Demon Beasts even more frenzied and cause them to gather.

The demon-slaying teams should have retreated immediately.

That was what they had done at first, and the Beast-Attracting Incense had been quite effective, playing a significant role.

But then, for some reason, the incense would lose its effect not long after being lit.

Shen Zhiheng risked going to investigate, only to discover that the incense was being extinguished by someone shortly after being lit.

To be precise, it was being extinguished by the Corpses controlled by the scoundrels of the Black Lotus Sect.

After the demon-slaying teams’ Beast-Attracting Incense was extinguished, someone hiding in the shadows would light more incense in the opposite direction, luring the Demon Beast Tide back the other way.

While the Beast-Attracting Incense was burning, the numerous Demon Beasts would be frenzied and charging wildly, so naturally, the members of the demon-slaying teams didn’t dare investigate.

After this happened several times, the Demon Beast Tide that the teams had worked so hard to lure away from Fenglin Town was drawn back toward it again.

Not only that, but the number of beasts in the tide was also increasing; someone was clearly luring more from other areas.

The Demon Beast Tide disaster had turned into a calamity manipulated by human hands. If they didn’t find a way to stop it, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Seeing the Demon Beast Tide getting closer and closer to Silent Extinction Ridge, they knew that once it reached the flat, open terrain there, with no forest to hinder it, the tide would be completely out of control and would surge into the territory of Fenglin Town.

Left with no other choice, Shen Zhiheng and the others could only choose to light the Beast-Attracting Incense and then wait nearby for an opportunity to kill the disruptive Black Lotus Sect Corpses.

But this was far too dangerous.

With a Demon Beast Tide of over two hundred beasts, including dozens of Tier Two and Tier Three Demon Beasts, the entire demon-slaying contingent would likely be wiped out, devoured by the beasts, if they were to get surrounded.

The orders Shen Zhiheng gave were simply to delay as much as possible, slow the Demon Beast Tide, and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

"They’re coming!"

On a rocky outcrop, several Shen Family Swordsmen held bows and arrows, aiming at the pile of dry branches stacked around the Beast-Attracting Incense below.

The branches had been sprinkled with Silver Phosphorus Powder. They were just waiting for the Black Lotus Sect Corpses to appear before lighting the branches to burn the Corpses to death.

The Beast-Attracting Incense had just been lit when the massive Demon Beast Tide surged toward them.

A Shen Family Swordsman at Muscle Strengthening Realm Perfection gasped involuntarily.

Five Tier Three Demon Beasts, more than ten Tier Two Demon Beasts, and dozens of Tier One Demon Beasts.

Their momentum was no less than that of an army of thousands!

"Watch carefully! Wait for the Corpses to appear before you shoot."

Shen Zhiheng shouted, his expression grave.

"Yes, sir!" the men shouted in reply, but the hands holding their bows couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

One wrong move and they would all die. How could they not be terrified?

The Demon Beasts drew nearer, and three Corpses, covered in black hair several feet long, their sunken eyes glowing with a green light, could be seen mixed in with the horde, also rushing toward the Beast-Attracting Incense.

These Corpses were surprisingly fast.

The Demon Beasts seemed to fear their aura, not only refraining from attacking them but also intentionally keeping some distance.

"Fire!"

Several Demon Beasts had already crossed the pile of dry branches, and the Corpses were finally about to reach it.

At Shen Zhiheng’s command, the men drew their bowstrings, and flaming arrows shot out.

BOOM!

A roaring fire ignited in an instant.

Two of the Corpses were engulfed by the flames. They began to burn, letting out a series of strange howls.

But the third one rushed through a gap created when a Demon Beast in front of it had scattered the dry branches.

When the Demon Beasts reached the Beast-Attracting Incense, they would only gather around it, greedily inhaling its scent.

But this Corpse was different. It went straight for the incense, its hairy arm swinging fiercely, creating a vicious gust of wind that smashed the incense stick and put it out.

"Sigh!" Shen Zhiheng let out a long sigh and casually tossed a Fire Stick, striking the dry branches beneath the extinguished incense.

The branches instantly caught fire, and the last Corpse was also set ablaze.

The Demon Beasts had now noticed the presence of the men on the outcrop. Several beasts adept at climbing began to scramble up the rock face toward them, roaring.

"Withdraw!"

Shen Zhiheng shouted, brandished his longsword, and charged downward.

Wherever his Sword Momentum passed, Demon Beasts were cut down and forced back!

The other Shen Family Swordsmen also brandished their blades and followed close behind him.

They had planned their escape route long ago. Once off the outcrop, they would flee into the dense forest in the distance by leaping through the treetops.

"ROAR!"

Suddenly, a Tier Three Saber-Toothed Leopard Demon leaped out from a large tree.

Shen Zhiheng didn’t dare to be careless. He slashed out fiercely with his longsword, his Frost Snow Sword Stance condensing into a heavy, ice-cold ripple that struck the Leopard Demon’s forehead.

BOOM!

This sharp sword strike only managed to knock the Leopard Demon back. Shen Zhiheng himself was also thrown back several dozen feet.

"The rest of you, retreat first! Don’t worry about me!" Shen Zhiheng shouted, once again brandishing his longsword and charging the Leopard Demon.

But with Demon Beasts all around, how could they possibly retreat? They were quickly surrounded.

Fortunately, the spot they had chosen had tall trees. Using the trees for cover, they could barely hold on.

...

Meanwhile, Luo Mingyu’s team was in a slightly better situation. They had successfully burned the two Corpses that appeared, and their Beast-Attracting Incense remained lit.

However, when they tried to retreat, they were still surrounded by a large number of Demon Beasts and bogged down in a bitter fight.

...

As for Wang Xiongzhang’s eight-man squad of Purple-clothed Guards, they lit their bonfire the moment they saw the horde of beasts charging from a distance and fled in a panic.

But by doing this, the flames masked the scent of the Beast-Attracting Incense, causing all the Demon Beasts to charge after them instead.

Under Wang Xiongzhang’s leadership, the eight men could only run for their lives.

Even so, they were still nearly surrounded by the Demon Beasts.

Fortunately, the eight of them were fast enough. Just as they were about to be caught, the Demon Beasts suddenly abandoned them and charged off in another direction.

The Black Lotus Sect scoundrels hiding in the shadows had lit another stick of Beast-Attracting Incense in the opposite direction!

...

"Those people from the Shen Family’s demon-slaying teams, daring to wait by the Beast-Attracting Incense... they’re just courting death!"

"Look at those fires. I reckon our Corpses have been lost there."

"No matter. Once we kill these people from the Shen Family, we’ll get plenty of rewards, more than enough to make up for the loss of the Corpses."

After lighting the Beast-Attracting Incense, the two black-clothed figures wearing conical hats prepared to leave.

Just then, two sharp streams of Sword Momentum, wrapped in heavy, ice-cold ripples, shot toward their faces.

"Not good!"

The two black-clothed figures’ faces fell. They hurriedly drew the long sabers from their waists and swung to meet the attack.

But the two streams of Sword Momentum were incomparably swift. Although the black-clothed figures were at Muscle Strengthening Realm Perfection, they clearly had not cultivated Saber Momentum. How could they possibly block a surprise attack from Sword Momentum?

Before they could even execute their blade techniques, they were struck squarely by the Sword Momentum, beheaded, and killed on the spot.

The attackers were none other than Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang, who had been hiding their tracks and sneaking over.

With a wave of her longsword, Shen Qingyao sent out a chilling stream of Sword Momentum, easily slicing through the Beast-Attracting Incense and extinguishing it.

Shen Qingshuang, meanwhile, ripped open the clothes of one of the black-clothed figures, revealing a black, lotus-shaped mark on his chest.

"So it really is the scoundrels from the Black Lotus Sect causing trouble from behind the scenes!" Shen Qingshuang snorted coldly.

Shen Qingyao leaped to the top of a large tree, surveyed her surroundings, then flew back down. She pointed to a nearby mountain peak and said:

"The Demon Beast Tide was originally heading for us, but now it seems to have turned toward that peak.

It seems there are more Black Lotus Sect scoundrels over there."

"Let’s go!" Shen Qingshuang said, quickly dashing toward the peak.

That peak wasn’t far from Silent Extinction Ridge. If the Demon Beast Tide reached it and someone on the ridge lit a Beast-Attracting Incense, the tide would enter Silent Extinction Ridge and be completely out of control.

The situation was urgent. She clearly couldn’t be bothered with concealing her aura or hiding her tracks anymore.

"Be careful of an ambush," Shen Qingyao reminded her as she quickly followed.

"Mm," Shen Qingshuang replied with rare solemnity.