Chapter 49 No Way Out At this moment, darkness was already falling over the Demon Realm…

The sky over the Demon Realm was already getting dark, but the Demon Realm seemed even more chaotic and unrestrained at night. The theaters along the streets were brightly lit, and bursts of music and singing could be heard from inside.

On the road, there are either drunkards staggering about, or shifty-eyed thieves who specifically target intoxicated people, sneaking up to them and stealing their money.

There were also some people arguing and fighting, but the people around them not only did not stop them, but even looked on with interest, obviously watching the show.

However, none of this has anything to do with Jiang Zhihe and his group.

At this moment, he was leading Teng Shao to the location of the secret passage.

The two avoided almost all the demons, and the few they encountered in remote corners were easily knocked unconscious by them.

If it were before, Teng Shao would have chosen to kill all the witnesses, since only the dead can keep secrets forever.

However, it seems that he has changed a lot in the time he has spent with Gu Xiaozhu and the others.

Soon, Jiang Zhihe led Teng Shao to a secluded forest, where they could see skeletons lying carelessly on the muddy ground from time to time.

"This really is a good place to dump a body," Jiang Zhihe sighed as he looked at the mangled skeleton that had reappeared in his field of vision.

Teng Shao simply shrugged and remained silent.

The two walked on until the last abandoned temple came into view.

Much of the red paint on the temple's surface had faded, and the dilapidated walls seemed ready to collapse at the slightest touch. Stepping inside, there was a huge Buddha statue in the center, but its head was missing, and many parts of its body were missing, adding an inexplicable sense of unease.

Teng Shao looked around and suddenly chuckled, "You're really something to find a place like this."

Jiang Zhihe shook his head, looking at the other person with a hint of mockery: "No, no, no, this place wasn't discovered by me first, it was you."

Sensing the questioning look in Teng Shao's eyes, Jiang Zhihe continued, "In our past lives, we also came to the Demon Realm to help you reclaim your position as Demon Lord. However, something unexpected happened along the way, and we were hunted down and forced to separate."

"When we found you again, it was right here. And you had treated most of your injuries yourself. This secret passage was the one you told us about when we found you."

As he spoke, he walked behind the Buddha statue.

Reaching out, I felt around somewhere beneath the Buddha statue's pedestal for a moment. With a soft "click," the massive, incomplete Buddha statue began to move slowly.

The dust was kicked up, causing both of them to frown and wave their hands, trying to disperse the dust around them.

Before long, an underground passage that the two of them could pass through appeared before them.

Jiang Zhihe nodded slightly: "Shall we go?"

After saying that, he took the lead and went down into the underground passage. Teng Shao watched for a moment, then sighed and followed.

… …

The secret passage was pitch black. If it weren't for the luminous pearl in Jiang Zhihe's hand that emitted a faint glow, the two of them might not have even been able to see the stairs beneath their feet.

Teng Shao also had one, which Jiang Zhihe had taken out of his storage bag and given to him. He continued walking behind, holding up the luminous pearl in his hand, trying to see his surroundings clearly.

The stairs soon disappeared, replaced by a narrow and long passage.

The passage was extremely narrow, making it impossible for the two to walk side by side; they could only move one in front of the other. The passage was also very quiet, with only the sound of their steady footsteps echoing in their ears.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Zhihe, who was in front, suddenly smiled.

Teng Shao, standing behind, frowned: "What are you laughing at?"

Jiang Zhihe: "No, I just suddenly thought of a rather old-fashioned ghost story. Do you want to hear it?"

Teng Shao raised an eyebrow slightly: "Speak."

Since I'm just killing time anyway, I might as well listen.

Jiang Zhihe cleared his throat and then began his story: "Once upon a time, there was a man who was walking alone on a dark night road. All around him was silent, and he could only hear the echo of his own footsteps."

"At first nothing happened, but soon he realized something was wrong."

"He was horrified to discover that there was more than one set of footsteps. As soon as he moved, the footsteps behind him followed him; as soon as he stopped, the footsteps behind him also stopped."

"The two footsteps were very close, which is why he didn't notice them at first."

Jiang Zhihe paused, his tone gradually becoming deep and sinister, trying to create a terrifying atmosphere: "That person didn't dare to turn around, so he quickened his pace, trying to shake off that thing behind him that he didn't know whether it was a person or a ghost."

"But as his pace quickened, the footsteps behind him also quickened!"

As he said this, he even took two quick steps forward, the crisp sound of his footsteps echoing in the narrow, dark passage: "Look! Just like this..."

"Da da da—"

Before Jiang Zhihe could finish speaking, a series of footsteps sounded from behind.

His expression froze instantly.

He silently glanced at Teng Shao, only to be met with a glare from the latter.

He had been standing still since Jiang Zhihe started running. So it was obvious that the footsteps weren't his.

In other words, besides the two of them, there is another person in this secret passage, and this person has been following them closely, even doing the same things as in the ghost stories he told—

They advance at the frequency of their footsteps, so that the footsteps of a third person overlap with that of a certain person, thus making it impossible for them to spot him.

Now it seems that the person's deliberately overlapping footsteps were imitating Jiang Zhihe's, but Jiang Zhihe's sudden forward running was too abrupt, causing the person to not react in time, thus revealing a flaw.

In the dim light, Jiang Zhihe and Teng Shao exchanged a silent glance. Finally, Jiang Zhihe continued, "Like this. And then that person became even more terrified..."

He continued walking forward as usual, with Teng Shao beside him, as if nothing had happened.

The extra footsteps quickly overlapped again, and the two exchanged another glance.

"Can you sense the distance to that person?" Jiang Zhihe suddenly transmitted his voice.

Teng Shao glanced at the person next to him who was still chattering away with some surprise, and then replied with a telepathic message: "I can't sense it. They must have used a technique to conceal their aura."

"Hiss—if I can't sense its location, it'll be hard to catch it." Jiang Zhihe said with some distress.

“Although I can’t sense it, I can hear it,” Teng Shao continued telepathically, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

"If I let him make even the slightest mistake, I can pinpoint his location by the sound of his footsteps."

Jiang Zhihe nodded, then quickened his pace: "Then the man became even more terrified! He immediately started running—"

As he spoke, his footsteps suddenly quickened. Although the third person behind him reacted faster this time, some of his footsteps still didn't overlap.

A sharp glint flashed in Teng Shao's eyes. His ears instantly caught the sound, and in a split second he determined the location of the person behind him. The two swords at his waist shot out instantly and flew towards the rear!

"Aaaaaah!"

A scream rang out, signifying that Teng Shao had succeeded.

Jiang Zhihe strolled over leisurely and saw a man dressed in black lying on the ground with a wound on his calf that almost severed him completely. Crimson blood was flowing out of the wound, and the man's screams were growing weaker and weaker.

Teng Shao flicked the curved sword in his hand and said, "The aura is not authentic; it's a fallen demon."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhihe's eyes immediately darkened. He glanced at the still-bleeding wound, then extended two fingers together. Dark red shards of ice slowly emerged from the man's calf and quickly covered the entire wound. Although the man's screams grew increasingly agonizing in the process, at least the continuous bleeding was stopped.

"Who are you? Why are you following us? How do you know about this secret passage?" After doing all this, Jiang Zhihe asked.

The man in black hugged his knees, staring at him with venomous hatred. He raised his hand shakily, a strange smile creeping across his lips: "Boss... no, I won't let you get away with this..."

"You...none of you...you can't escape! You can't escape, hahahahaha!!!"

After he finished speaking, his breathing stopped abruptly, and then he opened his bloodshot eyes and collapsed to the ground, his body stiff.

Teng Shao frowned and kicked it: "He was cursed, he's dead."

"Tsk." Jiang Zhihe looked at this person, his face no longer showing the ease he had before, but rather a worried and anxious expression.

Teng Shao glanced at him: "Is the situation completely out of control?"

Jiang Zhihe instinctively wanted to say something more lighthearted, but after opening his mouth, he ultimately gave in under Teng Shao's gaze: "Yes..."

He scratched his head anxiously: "Things are completely out of control. I...I don't know what went wrong..."

Looking at him like this, Teng Shao said impatiently, "What? Without 'precognition,' you can't do anything? Are you a baby who hasn't been weaned yet?"

Jiang Zhihe froze. Finally, he slowly lowered his hand, took a deep breath, and smiled bitterly: "...You're right, I might... be relying too much on my memories from my past life..."

After all, he knew how the "plot" would develop, so he could confidently do many things within the scope of the "plot," even do whatever he wanted, without worrying about going too far and being unable to cover up the consequences.

Because he knows, he knows everything, therefore, he controls everything.

But this time, the situation was clearly beyond his control, which made him feel panicked and even at a loss for the first time.

Teng Shao: "Since this person came from the rear, there is a high probability that the entrance to the temple will be guarded. But if we continue forward, once the secret passage is discovered, the guards at the holy site will inevitably be much tighter, and the danger will be more than twice as great as before."

So—forward or backward?

With wolves in front and tigers behind, it seemed that they were facing a dead end.

Jiang Zhihe was silent for a moment, then finally laughed out loud: "We have no choice, do we?"

Teng Shao looked at him for a long time, then laughed: "I knew it, you're a crazy person who's not afraid of death."

Jiang Zhihe pursed his lips: "I said, I'm willing to do anything for Xiaozhu."

Teng Shao shrugged and finally spoke: "So, shall we continue?"

Jiang Zhihe laughed and said, "Of course. After all... we have no way out, do we?" As he spoke, he pointed behind him.

Teng Shaowei sighed, "Yes, there's no turning back."

The moment I joined your ranks, the moment I learned the truth.

I'm now firmly bound to you all, with no way out.