Chapter 67: Lurking Murderous Intent

To be honest, I was somewhat surprised to see Ayodo again. I had witnessed firsthand how terribly she was tortured last night—any ordinary person would have had to lie in a hospital bed for two or three months. Yet, aside from her pallor, she showed no other signs of injury; even her steps were steady.

But what astonished me even more happened right after. The Eye of the Nether Dragon at my chest grew faintly hot, and a thread of nether energy appeared, intertwining itself with Ayodo.

A nether thread?

Nether threads are always linked to spirits of the dead; with the living, it should be a yang thread. I looked her over carefully—Ayodo didn't seem like a ghost at all.

I kept my suspicions to myself for the moment.

The Miao man leading the way glanced at me, then looked to Hu Xiaoyu, giving her a nod as if they were acquainted.

No one spoke; the atmosphere was strange.

The three Miao men walked ahead, flanking Ayodo, while Hu Xiaoyu and I followed behind.

"Where did this girl come from?" I asked Hu Xiaoyu.

She shot me a glare and replied in a low voice, "Can you get your mind straight? You see a pretty girl and immediately want to flirt—one day you won't even know how you died."

"I'm just asking. Why so serious? Don't tell me you're jealous." I chuckled.

"You think too much," Hu Xiaoyu snorted.

After two hours, we reached the foot of Twin Peaks. Here, civilization faded; all around were towering trees, blocking out the sky.

I looked around, alert; this place radiated danger.

"Left front," Ayodo said, speaking only to direct our path.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, broken only by the crunch of our footsteps on dead leaves and twigs.

A gust of wind swept by, sending leaves swirling up into the air.

Something was off—the trees were so dense, how could there be such a whirlwind?

Hu Xiaoyu and I exchanged a glance, forming a defensive angle, each relying on the other.

The three Miao men ahead drew their knives, positioning themselves protectively around Ayodo, blades outward.

After a while, the wind died down and the leaves settled, but nothing else stirred.

Suddenly, the lead Miao man raised his hand; a shadow shot out from him.

It was a mountain ghost.

Ordinary people would see nothing, but I saw it clearly.

The mountain ghost circled around, then returned into the Miao man's body.

He sighed in relief, made a hand gesture, and continued forward.

The other two Miao men relaxed as well, sheathing their knives.

Just then, my scalp tingled—a warning shot through me. I rolled aside.

A foul wind brushed past me, followed by a scream ahead.

Rolling on the ground, I looked up to see a long, blood-red tongue piercing the neck of one of the Miao men, his blood spraying like a fountain.

I twisted around and gasped—the tongue belonged to a giant toad, taller than a man, its body covered in lumps, its aura thick with demonic energy.

With a flick, the toad retracted its tongue, dragging the Miao man's body toward its gaping maw.

"Mo San!" the lead Miao man cried out in grief and fury, hurling his Miao knife with a flash of cold steel at the toad's tongue.

"Croak!"

The toad screamed in pain, flung the impaled Miao man aside, then leaped high, lunging at the one who had wounded it.

---

Hu Xiaoyu shouted, hurling her jade ring, which expanded mid-air to trap the toad.

The toad landed, its demonic power surging, stretching the ring until its inscriptions flashed with blinding light.

As its controller, Hu Xiaoyu had turned pale.

At that moment, the two remaining Miao men roared and attacked the toad from either side, a mountain ghost landing atop its head.

With a sudden crack, two of the toad’s lumps burst, spraying toxic liquid.

The Miao men abandoned their assault and dodged away.

Where the poison hit the ground, it instantly dissolved a large pit; when it struck a tree, the tree rapidly withered.

"Croak!"

The toad bellowed again, its demonic force exploding, flinging the jade ring aside as its glow faded.

Now, the toad's tongue shot toward Hu Xiaoyu like lightning.

She dodged, tossing out two paper effigies.

The paper figures flashed with ghostly light, rapidly enlarging and pressing down on the toad.

In an instant, the huge toad was flattened under their weight, as if Mount Tai itself bore down on it.

"Li Yan, are you just watching?" Hu Xiaoyu yelled angrily.

I shrugged, stepping into the Nether Ghost Walk, my form flickering as I rushed in.

The Blood Fiend Knife gleamed red, murderous intent coalescing, and I plunged it into the bulging eye of the toad.

The blade sank deep, sending fiendish energy twisting into the toad’s brain.

The toad trembled violently, croaking as its demonic energy burst forth, shattering the two paper effigies pinning it.

Its tongue lashed out at my chest from point-blank range.

A sharp pain shot through me, but at the same moment, a cold light flashed across my body and I was sent flying like a sandbag, crashing into a tree.

Damn it!

I coughed, rubbing my chest and breaking out in cold sweat.

Thankfully, I was wearing a defensive robe bought at great expense from the Ninth Bureau—otherwise, I’d have been done for.

Having delivered its last desperate blow, the toad was finished. The two Miao men dispatched it for good.

"Are you alright?" Hu Xiaoyu ran over and pulled me up, concern in her voice.

"I was just watching, nothing happened," I grumbled, rubbing my chest.

Hu Xiaoyu was a little embarrassed. She reached out and massaged my chest a few times. "Sorry, I panicked."

"Sorry doesn’t cut it—kiss me," I teased shamelessly.

Without a word, Hu Xiaoyu actually kissed the corner of my mouth, then quickly retreated to the slain toad demon.

I followed, pulling my Blood Fiend Knife from its eye and flicking the blood away before sheathing it.

The two Miao men looked at me differently now—among the Miao, strength earns respect.

Hu Xiaoyu split open the toad’s head, searching for its demon core.

Lighting a cigarette, I glanced at Ayodo. Her expression hadn't changed throughout the ordeal.

Sensing my gaze, she met my eyes—her look was cold and numb.

Suddenly, Hu Xiaoyu cheered; she had found a demon core in the toad’s skull.

A fourth-level beast's demon core—quite a treasure.

---

The two Miao men began harvesting the toad's poison glands, another rare commodity.

After finishing with the toad, we pressed onward, burying the dead Miao man where he lay.

Night fell, and mist began to rise in the forest.

"We can’t go any further—more monsters come out at night, and the fog is so thick we can’t even tell directions," Hu Xiaoyu said, frowning.

The Miao men looked to Ayodo, who replied coldly, "The Mountain God's Cave can only be found at night; it’s impossible during the day."

"If you dare lie, you know the consequences," Hu Xiaoyu warned.

"I understand. Believe me or not, but don’t blame me if you fail to find the Mountain God's Cave," Ayodo said calmly.

"Keep moving, stay alert," Hu Xiaoyu ordered.

The lead Miao man released his mountain ghost, proceeding cautiously.

The fog thickened until even with strong lights, one could barely see the person beside.

Worried, I glanced back. If my guess was right, Nightingale was following us.

If she lost track of us, she’d be alone in this perilous forest.

Suppressing my anxiety, I focused on our current situation.

As we walked, a chill ran down my spine.

Something felt wrong.

"Hu Xiaoyu, be careful—it feels like we’ve entered some kind of illusion," I warned her.

She didn’t reply, just moved closer and grabbed my hand.

Her hand was icy. I glanced over—my eyes widened. The hand gripping mine was pale blue, nails black as pitch—it wasn’t a living hand.

My heart lurched, gripping the Blood Fiend Knife tightly.

Suddenly, Hu Xiaoyu turned her head—her face was crawling with maggots, the visage of a corpse.

With a hiss, the corpse lunged at me.

My blade trembled, emitting a piercing cry as I slashed at the corpse.

Yet the knife’s cry cleared my mind—I recoiled in horror, withdrawing the blade and dodging the corpse’s attack.

The next moment, I produced a talisman, activating it. A wave of cold air spread around us.

The Spirit-Clearing Talisman quickly worked; beside me, Hu Xiaoyu also snapped out of her trance, halting her attack.

We had never switched places; it was always each other. The illusion had made us see one another as monsters.

We stared at each other, shaken. This place was truly wicked—we had guarded against everything, yet still fell victim without realizing it.

Just then, a scream erupted ahead.

Hu Xiaoyu and I rushed forward to find the lead Miao man straddling his companion, stabbing him again and again, blood spraying everywhere, his face splattered and wild with madness.

Ayodo stood nearby, watching coldly, as if it had nothing to do with her.

Hu Xiaoyu darted forward, flicking a finger against the Miao man’s brow.

He shuddered, his eyes clearing.

Looking at his mutilated, unrecognizable companion beneath him, he jolted, spun around in disbelief, then knelt before the corpse, letting out a low, anguished howl.

After a while, he rose abruptly, pressing his Miao knife to Ayodo’s throat.