Monster Hunt (Part 3)
"How could you not say hello to me, your good sister, after returning from your travels? Well... let me prepare a 'welcome gift' for you..."
She raised her hand nonchalantly, and a powerful wind blade carrying a decaying aura exploded instantly, not only forcing Sang Li, who was attacking fiercely, to retreat several steps, but the aftermath of the explosion also blew He Shu, who had just stabilized his body not far away, away.
She...she is really not Tao Hua, but that shadow demon!
When... when did she quietly replace Tao Hua's identity?
Was it after they descended to the mortal world this time... or before they went to the Peach Banquet? Or even earlier...
Perhaps when the cat demon was being judged in Lingxiao Palace, the severely injured Tao Hua who suddenly appeared was already this shadow demon...
A terrible thought pierced his mind like an icicle—
Then the one being escorted to the Nine Nether Prison by Xuan Tongzi couldn't be...
Realizing this, He Shu instantly felt all his strength drained away, his limbs and bones were cold, and only his heart was beating wildly in his chest.
But he still gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain and dizziness, stretched out his trembling hands, and dragged the seriously injured Heqi behind a thick peach tree with difficulty, and barely found a relatively safe corner to place him.
Then, without hesitation, he gathered most of the immortal power in his body, and quickly formed seals with his hands. Light golden runes flowed out from his fingertips and quickly sank into the void around the hut, laying down a solid halo barrier.
Qingshan must not be affected!
Soon, the golden light from his fingertips quickly became faint and thin due to excessive consumption of strength.
He Shu suddenly bent down and started coughing violently. A fishy and sweet taste instantly surged in his throat, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
His old injury hadn't healed yet, and this was the best he could do right now.
He took a deep look at the small house that was completely covered by the pale golden barrier. His eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the doors and windows and see the green mountains sleeping peacefully inside.
He Shu lowered his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, gripped the longbow tightly in his hand, turned around, and faced the increasingly fierce battle in the air.
The shadow demon laughed again, his voice filled with cruel mockery and ridicule:
"You're so disrespectful and don't know the rules... Then don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll teach you a lesson!"
She grabbed the air with her five fingers, and in an instant, the ground shook violently, and countless spider-web-like cracks appeared. Extraordinarily thick black-brown vines broke out of the ground like awakened giant pythons, and pounced towards them with fangs and claws.
Sang Li tapped her toes lightly and flew backwards nimbly, narrowly avoiding the vines' deadly attacks.
Her face was frosty and her wrist shook rapidly. The bone fan suddenly spun and flew out like a living thing. Bone spurs as sharp as knife blades popped out from the edge, drawing arcs of dark green light containing cold and poisonous substances, and slashed towards the vines that were attacking crazily like lightning.
"Little Sangli, it seems you've learned a lot of 'good things' during your travels..."
The shadow demon exclaimed in exaggerated praise, pretending to open his eyes wide in surprise.
"Tsk tsk tsk, a man who hasn't been seen for three days should be looked at with new eyes! He was able to block so many of my killer moves at once, it's truly rare..."
"Noisy!"
Sang Li shouted coldly, and there was a series of teeth-grinding "chi chi" sounds, and the ferocious vines at the front were cut off neatly by the rotating bone fan.
A sticky dark green liquid spurted out from the fracture, dripping onto the ground and corroding into white smoke.
"nameless--"
Under the tree, He Qi, who had recovered some strength, endured the pain and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"The shadow demon's power will dissipate without light. She must be afraid of darkness. Quickly cast a spell to block out the light and weaken her demonic power!"
However, just as she finished her words, a vine whip hidden in the dark shadows of many vines broke through the air and stabbed towards her throat.
"Being too talkative is not a good habit... Xiao Heqi."
The shadow demon's voice suddenly became extremely cold, filled with undisguised murderous intent.
"Since you want to speak so badly, I'm going to... make you shut that annoying mouth forever!"
At the critical moment, He Shu drew his bow and an arrow infused with the remaining immortal power flew out, just missing the poisonous vine that was taking He Qi's life.
At the same time, he made rapid changes of finger gestures with his left hand and muttered something.
Thick dark clouds quickly gathered from all directions, covering the sky and the sun, making the surrounding area dim in an instant.
"Oh, bullying the weak with the strong, relying on numbers? That's really unfair..."
The shadow demon put away that hair-raising smile, his expression turned completely gloomy, his eyes filled with intense rage and bloodthirsty fury.
"My good plan... is interrupted again and again by you troublemakers... It's really frustrating..."
More vines grew wildly in every corner of the yard. They intertwined and connected with each other, and in an instant they formed a huge net that covered the sky and the earth. It surrounded them with a suffocating feeling of oppression, trying to completely trap and strangle the three people.
Sang Li's eyes flashed and he made a prompt decision.
She spun gracefully, and the emerald-colored skirt bloomed like a sharp flower in the air.
He picked up the exhausted He Shu with one hand and the injured He Qi with the other. He pushed off the ground with both feet, and a pair of butterfly wings surrounded by breeze and light spread out behind him. He found a gap in the vine net that was about to close, and rushed out with the two of them.
"not good!"
She seemed to have noticed something and without hesitation threw the two of them onto a relatively flat ground.
"She doesn't want to fight to the death, but wants to take the opportunity to escape!"
Sang Li reacted quickly. She saw through the shadow demon's intention, and flapped her butterfly wings rapidly. The light around her body became brighter, and she turned into a green light. Following the breath emitted by the shadow demon, she quickly flew towards the distant mountains and soon disappeared among the dense forests.
He Shu rolled a few times on the ground, and after recovering from the impact of the landing, he stabilized his body, immediately staggered to his feet, rushed to He Qi and helped her up:
"Are you okay?"
“Cough cough cough——”
Heqi coughed violently and managed to catch her breath. She spat out the remaining blood in her mouth and sat up with the help of Heshu. She could not hide the worry between her brows.
"My injury is nothing... The most important thing now is Tao Hua..."
"…If from the beginning…"
She didn't continue speaking, but looked up at the dark clouds that were gradually dissipating, muttering:
"Where is the real Tao Hua?"
He Shu was carefully treating He Qi's internal injuries as he used his slowly recovering immortal energy. He frowned in thought and suddenly remembered what Sang Li had said earlier:
"Heqi! Sang Li... that butterfly demon just mentioned that Emperor Xuanyue successfully hunted down the shadow demon not long ago and personally escorted it to the Nine Netherworld Prison..."
As he spoke, he slowly withdrew his healing hand, his expression becoming extremely solemn:
"Do you think... the 'Shadow Demon' captured by the Emperor is... the real Tao Hua?"
“It’s very likely!”
He Qi heard this and stood up suddenly, regardless of her unhealed injuries. She tightly grasped the long sword at her waist, with a determined light in her eyes.
"I've sent an urgent message to the heavenly troops that have been hunting down the Shadow Demon in the mortal realm. This time, she'll be sure to die!"
The white crane wings behind her suddenly spread out, and she gathered all her magical power and made a move to fly.
"It's still difficult to contact the Emperor. The situation is critical. I need to go to the Nine Nether Prison to confirm..."
He Shu immediately followed, his tone anxious:
"Heqi, you——"
But he paused after taking half a step, looking back at the hut worriedly. He cast another sleight of hand on the barrier to ensure that even mortals would not be able to discover the unconscious Qingshan. Then he turned back and said:
"I'll go with you."
——
At the bottom of the Nine Netherworld Prison, there was dead silence.
The air was stagnant, filled with a cold and gloomy energy that could almost penetrate into the bone marrow, making people's spirits stiff.
The cold black iron cages were lined up in a row, extending all the way to the invisible darkness at the end of the sight.
It is not suitable to stay in this prison for a long time, so there are no guards. There are only countless twisted and wriggling shadows locked in cages. They struggle silently, and occasionally let out a dull groan of metal rubbing against the stone wall, adding a bit of death.
He Shu was concentrating on avoiding the pool of blood on the ground that had formed at some unknown time. However, He Qi beside him seemed to have suddenly discovered something and rushed forward.
"Peach painting——"
She pounced in front of a lifeless figure hanging in the air with chains, head drooping, and her fingertips flashed rapidly, as if trying to help her untie the heavy restraints.
"Don't...don't waste your energy..."
A weak voice sounded softly, and the man slowly raised his head, revealing a pale yet extremely familiar face under his loose hair.
"Where is Emperor Xuanyue?"
He Shu followed closely behind and asked anxiously,
"The shadow demon has been exposed. You don't need to cover up for her anymore."
Tao Hua raised the corner of her mouth into an extremely bitter smile and lowered her head weakly.
After a while, she replied in a voice so low that it was almost inaudible:
"The Emperor... probably went back to Heaven to report..."
He Shu frowned upon hearing this and murmured in disbelief:
"That old mandrill, didn't even see through your identity-swap trick?"
"Oh……"
Tao Hua squeezed out a slight sneer from her throat.
"Sometimes, being too familiar... can actually lower your guard... The Emperor is too arrogant..."
She paused, then suddenly asked in a low voice, with a hint of worry in her voice:
"Since it has been exposed... then where is Huaiguang now?"
"The Heavenly Soldiers have gone after—"
Heqi was the first to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by a cold female voice that gradually became clearer as it approached from a distance. The shrill voice was particularly eerie in the dead silence of the prison:
"My dear Haruhi is really unexpected...does she want to see me so much?"
He Qi's eyes flashed, and the long sword flew out of its sheath as he wished. A sword light as clear as ice slashed without hesitation towards the depths of darkness where the voice came from.
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