Swallowing the Bay

Countless black dragonflies enveloped the flying squirrel youth, who still retained a faint consciousness and breath.

The dragonflies quickly coalesced into a pitch-black coffin, flew into the air, and slowly headed towards the Flying Squirrel Clan to find the Gu Master.

The Floating Forest had become a breeding ground for black dragonflies. After Gu Lang, who had taken over Cun She's body, saw off the flying squirrel youth, a commotion arose among the dense swarm of black dragonflies.

"Someone has broken in near Tunni Bay." The voice came from the dark, dense forest.

Judging from the voice, it's a young boy.

Cun She nodded without turning his head, his gaze fixed on the direction of Tunning Bay.

"You should go too, towards the wisteria grove."

The boy's small figure suddenly appeared and then disappeared without a trace.

Tunning Bay was the original site of the Yuwen clan. After the Yuwen clan was destroyed, only two half-grown children remained. As a result, Qiling Mountain was no longer guarded by a demon lord and was divided into Yin and Yang Palaces.

The boy of the two children inherited the position of Lord of the Underworld and is now an adult, residing in the Underworld.

The so-called Yin Palace is nothing more than an ancient building in the swampy hills deep in the Swallowing Ferocity Bay. It has six floors in total, including the underground and above ground, and occupies the spiritual energy of the Qiling Mountain's earth veins, making it an excellent place for cultivation.

Therefore, the five major demon clans each sent their elites to come, firstly to monitor each other, secondly to cultivate their demonic power, and finally, reluctantly to assist the Palace Master in stabilizing the overall situation of Qiling Mountain.

Having learned from Fox Mountain's mistake, Qiling Mountain was determined not to follow in its footsteps and allow the restless Demon Valley to take advantage of the situation.

No one expected that Granny Lizard, the master of the Yin Palace, would be the first to fall into Cun She's hands.

This story begins about two weeks ago.

The morning breeze always carries a hint of chill, especially in the dense forest. This forest is different from others; the tree roots are thick and the branches and leaves are lush. The huge tree roots are enough to dig a treehouse to live in, and the crisscrossing branches and leaves are intertwined and inseparable, so much so that they block out the sky and divide this place in two. This is how the name Floating Forest Traces came about, and it is also the place where the Lizard Hunters live.

As dawn broke and the sky began to lighten, early birds chirped merrily in the branches. But in a moment, with a whoosh, all the birds scattered. Deep in the woods, a slender figure slowly walked toward them.

The woman in front of the treehouse was packing her things when she looked up and saw a figure in the distance, and she was immediately stunned.

"Ashi, Ashi, come quick! Look, isn't that Ashe? Ashe is back!" The woman wiped her hand on her apron, lifted her skirt, and hurriedly went to greet him.

The shattered light shone on the staggering young man, whose eyes were half-open and whose body was covered in wounds. He saw the woman coming towards him, gave a weak smile, closed his eyes, and collapsed to the ground.

"Ashe! Ashe, how did you get hurt like this? Ashe!"

"What happened? Ah She is back?" The middle-aged man who rushed out of the house also hurried over. Seeing the young man lying on the ground, he quickly carried him back inside.

"A-She, what happened to you? Who hurt you like this?"

The room was dimly lit, and even though the sun was high in the sky, there was still a chill in the air.

The woman was Cun She's sister-in-law, named Yan Wu. She was wiping away tears while wiping his forehead to cool him down. His wounds had also been given simple treatment. It looked like he had been bitten by something. The wounds were very shallow and were all superficial. Logically, they shouldn't be like this, but he still hadn't woken up yet, and his body temperature was slowly rising.

The Lizard Hunters have low body temperatures and are very sensitive to heat, so they don't usually get fevers. However, the young man lying on the bed had burning cheeks and his whole body was as hot as a pot of boiling water. When Yan Wu saw that Cun Shi had tried everything but to no avail, she cried and asked, "What should we do? If this continues, A-She will die! What should we do, A-Shi!"

"What should I do? What should I do? How should I know what to do?" Cun Shi paced anxiously around the room. "He has a very strange power inside him, and I... sigh... you stay home and watch over him, I'll go find Granny Lizard to try!"

Yan Wu wiped away her tears and nodded hurriedly, "Then hurry back!"

Granny Lizard was considered the head of a clan and had the bloodline of Yu Wen. Since the Yu Wen lineage was destroyed, the two little children left behind were not able to support Qiling Mountain. It was precisely because Granny Lizard was there that the two little children had the opportunity to grow up.

Granny Lizard could be considered the teacher of those two children. Now that she had barely secured her position as the Lord of the Underworld Palace, she naturally followed suit and moved into the Underworld Palace as well.

It took Cun Shi a lot of effort to find Granny Lizard. After all, they were both from the Lizard Hunter clan. Granny Lizard did not refuse when she heard this and immediately returned to Floating Forest with him.

At noon, the sun was blazing, but a gentle breeze still blew through the Floating Forest, making it very comfortable.

Inside the treehouse, Cun She's body temperature was rising higher and higher, and Yan Wu was also unconsciously getting a fever. Fortunately, Cun Shi quickly brought back Granny Lizard.

The dimly lit room suddenly became inexplicably hot. The young man on the bed was flushed and unconscious. Although Granny Lizard was old, she had a pair of sharp eyes. As soon as she entered the room, Yan Wu immediately felt a strong sense of oppression, which made her subconsciously stand up.

"Grandma, look, my brother... I..."

Cun Shi was so frightened that he was incoherent and didn't even dare to look at the young man on the bed.

Yan Wu also took the opportunity to step aside and retreated behind Cun Shi, her attitude humble and respectful.

"It's alright, you can all go out first." Granny Lizard glanced indifferently at the young man on the bed and waved her hand.

The two looked at each other, not daring to say anything, and then pushed the treehouse out one by one.

In the dim light, Cun She was barely breathing, seemingly on the verge of death. Granny Lizard checked his pulse and her brows furrowed. She had never seen this strange power before, but fortunately, it had not damaged any vital organs, so there was still hope for him.

Granny Lizard paused for a moment, then, without any suspicion, helped the person up, attempting to forcefully dissipate the power with her own demonic energy.

Just as she was about to make her move, Cun She, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes and stabbed the lizard grandmother in the chest with his claw.

“You…” Granny Lizard suddenly opened her eyes wide, only to see that in Cun She’s eerie, blood-red eyes, there seemed to be another person hidden, “…Who is it?”

"Why……"

A faint sigh drifted from the depths of the dense forest in all directions.

After a difficult journey, they finally made their way through the treacherous mountains behind Xujia Town to the vicinity of Tunning Bay. This place should have been guarded by demons, but even as Sheliuying and Kou Huai approached Tunning Bay, they didn't see a single living person.

There wasn't a single living creature, let alone a living person.

Now that they were in an unfamiliar place, Kou Huai no longer dared to boldly send Ah Chong to explore the deeper parts of the area. Ah Chong was his last lifeline, especially now that danger lurked everywhere.

“Other demon tamers serve demons, but you’re an exception.” She Liuying observed him the whole way and couldn’t help but ask.

Kou Huai scratched his head and gave a dry laugh, "I'm rather special, rather special..."

He knew this ruthless man's temper well, so he tried to speak as little as possible and do as much as possible.

The Swallowing Bay is covered with swamps, and the deeper you go, the more swamps there are. Just as Kou Huai was stepping over a pile of dead branches as Ah Chong reminded him, a gust of evil wind suddenly came towards him.

Buzzing—

A vast expanse of dragonflies covered the sky.

"What is this thing?" Kou Huai's eyes widened in surprise, his shoulders slumped, and he was immediately pulled back by She Liuying.

As the black dragonfly swooped down, Kou Huai instinctively slashed out with his sword.

The three waves of hunting energy were unstoppable, blasting a large hole in the swarm of dragonflies. Kou Huai looked up and a dragonfly seized the opportunity to stab him on the shoulder. He hissed and flicked the dragonfly away.

The wound felt a sharp pain followed by a tingling sensation.

poisonous?

Before Kou Huai could think, he swung his sword at the swarm of dragonflies again. The dragonflies gathered and scattered in a flash, but the sword flashed like lightning, suddenly piercing through the dragonflies and rushing towards Kou Huai.

Kou Huai's pupils suddenly contracted. Before he could dodge, another arrow followed closely behind. The attacker paused, then immediately swung his sword in a backhand strike.

Bang!

Two forces exploded in mid-air. The newcomer had a cold and stern look; he was a young man in green.

His sword was like a snake's shadow. After missing his target, he changed his target without expression and split the black dragonfly in two to attack Kou Huai and She Liuying.

Kou Huai knew a little about the demons living next door. This boy was silent and ruthless, clearly from the Bow-Clad Clan. Moreover, the eerie black dragonfly also exuded a strange and sinister aura.

"Uncle-Master!"

Kou Huai took out three fire-chasing stones from his pocket and threw them at the boy.

Bang bang bang!

The Firestone exploded, and black dragonflies fluttered down to the ground. The boy hesitated for a moment, and then a Stream of Shadows pierced his right hand, which was holding a sword.

She intended to capture one alive, but despite being injured, her figure quickly disappeared into the black dragonfly.

The black dragonflies, however, gathered in ever larger numbers. Kou Huai was the first to shake off the dragonflies chasing him, and circled around them from the side, shouting, "Uncle-Master, over here!"

Upon hearing this, Sheliuying pulled back the Divine Annihilation Staff, clutching a bag of poison powder given to him by Xu Jinnian in his palm, and shot it out with a whoosh.

Bang!

The poisonous powder exploded and scattered everywhere.

A large number of black dragonflies immediately fell to the ground, and Jet Shadow safely passed through the encirclement of black dragonflies and caught up with Kou Huai.

"Uncle Xu is truly amazing; this medicinal powder is quite useful," Kou Huai exclaimed.

Stream Shadow noticed the dark blood flowing from his shoulder and frowned, asking, "Are you poisoned?"

Kou Huai didn't take it seriously. "It's alright, I've already taken the antidote, I won't die."

After saying that, he looked up and suddenly saw a lot of people at the end of the swamp.

Deep within the Swallow Bay, a group of Lizard Hunters live in the swamps. They have hard armor on their skin, prefer damp and cold climates, and their tribe is large. Some of them also live in the Floating Forest.

In addition to the Lizard Hunters, Tunning Bay also has a Yin Palace, so it has always been heavily guarded.

Inside the swamp, five or six men swayed unsteadily, their eyes filled with pain, and a black dragonfly was perched on each of their heads.

Kou Huai and She Liuying were startled as soon as they approached. These past few days, she had been carrying dry firewood in her arms, passing by the two of them as if she didn't see them, and letting out incoherent wails.

"Kill me, please, please..."

"Let me die, let me..."

"Ah...ah ah..."

Kou Huai and She Liuying exchanged a glance. Kou Huai carefully tripped one of them and realized that these people had no offensive power at all and looked like ordinary demons.

The man on the ground convulsed, stiffly got up, and slowly picked up the firewood.

Kou Huai drew his short knife and severed the black dragonfly on the man's head with a single stroke. Black blood splattered, and the man let out a shrill scream. He desperately tried to grab the severed dragonfly limbs from his head and pulled them out. Blood splattered again, and he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"Dead?" Kou Huai waited for a while before cautiously approaching. After confirming the death, he muttered to himself, "Really dead."

As they spoke, Shooting Shadow continued to walk deeper into the area.

Because besides the five or six people here, there are many more demons inside who are controlled by dragonflies.

They hadn't gone far when they saw thick smoke billowing in the distance.

The original location of the Yin Palace was transformed into a giant demon-refining furnace, and one by one, the demons controlled by the black dragonflies willingly walked into the furnace.

"What is this?" Kou Huai stared in disbelief.