878 Giving A Wide Berth (1/2)
Za, za, za. Dang!
Hundreds of feet away, the young man and the rest of the team watched the city gate close right in front of them, which followed by the activation of the formation. In the face of the formation that contained a sense of death, the black-scaled horses slowed down their paces and gradually stopped moving forward.
In an instant, the hopeful and joyful look was frozen on the people's faces. They were overwhelmed by an enormous feeling of despair and sorrow. Although they had already got used to miserable situations, they could not help feeling hopeless at the moment due to such an unexpected setback.
Woo, woo, woo!
A mysterious sound was heard from their backs suddenly. It sounded like the howl of a wolf, or the sorrowful weep of a person. Coming one after another, the howls were so loud to the point of shaking the clouds.
The young man turned his head and looked to the horizon. In the early morning light, he saw the dark clouds merging together with the black fog, covering half of the sky.
The fog seemed to be made up of countless particles of smoke and dust. However, as the fog drifted a hundred miles nearer, the young man and the rest of the team could take a clearer look at it. Apparently, the fog was made up of numerous huge-sized demons and evil spirits. Some of them had terrifying blood-red eyes, some had their tongues sticking out that hung in front of their chests, some had bulging stomachs that made it difficult to see their heads and feet, some were just a lump of rotten flesh that was cluttered with hands and feet, some were naked with their breasts looking like a pair of sacks, and some had wings on their back that seemed to be strong enough to carry a lake.
Right under them, countless Nine-Nether soldiers were marching toward the Pingle City. Some were dragon-headed horses that spew black flames along the way, some were greenish-black creatures with three heads and six arms, some were having smoke-like bodies that looked elusive, and some had their mouths wide-open with shredded meats hanging on their tusks.
The Nine-Nether creatures were all over the mountains and fields, blotting out the sky and covering the sun. It was as though every single grass and tree had turned into a Nine-Nether soldier. The young man could imagine the horrible-looking drooling faces coming near to them in just a short while. He seemed to be able to smell the bloody foul odor from them already.
Woo… The panic-stricken young man heard a cry of grief. The black-scaled horse that he was riding was frightened by the terrifying scene and aura, so it knelt on the ground with limply legs. All the other horses in the team had also knelt down one after another, and none of them dared to move an inch.
”We're in deep trouble…” looking at the demon crowd, the young man had limply hands and legs. He had lost the will to fight because they were doomed to die anyway.
The demons did not even need to attack - a spittle from each of them was enough to drown the whole team to death!
It was until then that they young man truly understood the ideas of horror and insignificance described in many drama scripts and novels. He could feel the extreme horror brought by the demos, and the insignificance of himself when facing the huge crowd of demons.
”There's no way for us to survive…” Many children on the carriages had been fear-stricken to the point that they forgot to cry.
”There's no way for them to survive…” On top of the city wall, the people of Exterior Realm and Orifices-Point Activation Stage who witnessed this scene sighed with pity. They were feeling sympathetic toward the people outside the city gate. However, if the demons made their ways into the city, they themselves, their families and friends would be waiting for death in despair, just like those people.
The crowd of demons was a nightmare for everyone who had experienced it. Unfortunately, if they were lucky enough to not die miserably, they would often experience several demon crowds in their lives. Therefore, following an emotional eruption, they would be stuck in depression, and often end up being numb.
The mayor of the Pingle City, Baozhen was standing on the wall above the city gate and looking at the demon crowd in the distance. Silently, he was estimating the intensity of the demon crowd's attack this time around.
During the last attack, Baozhen was injured badly, thereby stucking in the realm of the seventh level of Heaven. Nevertheless, he was still one of the strongest martial artists in Pingle City.
”He's coming too?” suddenly, the face of Baozhen turned pale as if he had a serious loss of blood. With a serious expression as though he was confronted by a formidable enemy, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the furthest point of the demon crowd!
At first glance, it looked like a hill. But after a careful look, Baozhen found that the grayish-white rocks were actually muscles, whereas the flowing river under the soil was a stream of blood. The blood was greenish-black in color, thereby looking extremely strange.
The summit was his head, and the two deep cracks were his eyes. In spite of the ravines, the skin on his race seemed to be quite elastic.
Boom, boom, boom!
As the hill made of flesh moved forward step by step, the earth shook repeatedly as if an earthquake had occurred.
”The Roushan Demon!” a person of Exterior Realm next to Baozhen blurted out.
Yes, he is the Roushan Demon - the one who had injured me severely during the last attack of demon crowd! Baozhen clenched his hands into a fist, and he looked into the eyes of the Roushan Demon in the void.
Crack. As their Qi Ji crashed into each other, a lot of sparks were bursting out.
Baozhen remained still. His aura was as calm as a vast ocean without waves.
Learning from the lesson last time, Baozhen had decided to hold fast to the defense and waited patiently for internal strife among the demons as they had never worked together. By then, it would be the best timing to drive them back to the Nine Nether!
As for the Roushan Demon, Baozhen had no idea of how to defeat him. He, being as powerful as a Guru of the Ninth level of Heaven, had been the mainstay of the last dozen demon crowds.
As the humans did not know how the demons addressed him, they had been referring him as the Roushan Demon. Although he appeared to be heavy and huge, he was a good user of demonic magic who was extremely talented and thereby hard to be defeated.
With the help of the formation, Baozhen cut off the entangled Qi Ji, and dispersed his spirit into every corner of the Pingle City. He wanted to be wary of the possible accidents that might be caused by the upcoming battle with the demons.
Given the fact that the Roushan Demon had already appeared in the first wave of attack, the demon crowd this time around must be very hard to dealt with. In fact, a demon crowd of this level had not even occurred in the last five hundred years!
”Fortunately, the crack isn't large enough for the truly powerful Evil Gods and Demonic Lords to pass through. Otherwise, the human race doesn't even have the slightest chance to survive…” Baozhen sighed.
Just then, the farmers - dragging along their wives and children - came down from the carriages and rushed to the city gate. However, they dared not touch the forbidden enchantment. The only thing they could do was to kowtow repeatedly and plead the people inside the city to open the gate.
Dub, dub, dub. The foreheads of the adults and children were already bleeding, but the people standing on top of the city wall were not moved at all.
To protect the people inside the city, they had no choice but to be cruel!
Dub, dub, dub. The people continued to kowtow. Just then, a hoarse and trembling voice came to their ears, ”All of you, run up the hill. Whether you can survive, it depends on your luck. I'll stay here and bring up the rear.”
The people turned their heads in shock and saw the young man pulling out his sword. Standing behind all of them, his eyes were red and his legs were trembling, but his back was straight without bending even a little.
Bringing up the rear? When the young man finished speaking, he looked back at the demon crowd and showed a bitter smile. Being attacked by a huge amount of demons like this, he would be like a tiny stone falling into the ocean, perhaps not even leaving a ripple.
I hope I can at least attract some of the demons' attention!
Holding a sword, the young man was standing in an unyielding manner outside the city. Slowly, he was surrounded by many companions. All of them had a tanned skin and a determined expression.
The demons were getting closer and closer. Along with a chill that ran up their spines and made them feel limply, the young man and his companions had been sunk in various illusions.
The young man closed his eyes and tried to get rid of the illusion. A few scenes had come to his mind - his mother who was always working around the stove; his father who was coughing all the time but never stopped urging him to practice martial arts; and his sister who always looked at him with admiration. These scenes had given him a warm and relaxed feeling, but sadly, he could no longer see them anymore.
”I'm going to die soon. Please, live a good life after I'm gone…” mumbled the young man in a low voice. With red eyes, he felt like turning around and kowtowing three times to the direction of the Pingle City in order to pay a debt of gratitude to his parents.
Just then, his vision blurred for a second, and six people had appeared in front of him. The foremost person was an old-looking man dressed in a green robes.
Just before the city gate closed, Meng Qi and his teammates had rushed out of the city at a lightning speed. Qin Shuanglian was following behind them closely. Qin Shuanghua, who was deeply attached to her elder sister as they had been living together for many years, had also followed them.
Once again, Qin Shuanghua was confronted with the crowd of demons. Nonetheless, this time around, it was even more horrible as she was not protected by the forbidden enchantment and the city walls anymore. The overwhelming number of demons - along with the aura so strong that it could shake the earth - had made her feel a deep despair.
They are unbeatable enemies!
”Why… why do you come out?” Qin Shuanghua could not help asking, feeling as though her heart was held tight by a demon's hand.
At the same time, she was feeling a little sad after thinking about her ancestors and master who did not flinch from such a terrifying demon crowd. At the end, they had died with honor. They were just like the morning sun of the human race!
”If we don't, how are we going to find the cracks of Nine Nether and seal them?” Meng Qi answered casually.
Seal them? Are they really going to seal the cracks of the Nine Nether? Qin Shuanghua was lost in thoughts.
Well, since they have chosen to come out instead of staying in the city, they are certainly not a human spy or a disguised demon.
Meng Qi turned to take a look at the young man and his companions. Then, he said to Jiang Zhiwei, ”Protect them. I'll go to the other side to try out how strong the demons are.”
”M-hm,” Jiang Zhiwei nodded without an objection. Although she wanted to try out the power of her sword by fighting with the demons, Xiao Meng would be a better person to spearhead an attack.
Meng Qi patted his robes, touched his jaw and looked at Ruan Yushu with a smile.
”Play a piece of music to accompany my attack.”
After that, without waiting for Ruan Yushu to reply, Meng Qi clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward the crowd of demons. His body flashed more than a dozen miles away following every step he took. Although he appeared to be so relaxed as if he was walking in a courtyard, he was going nearer to the horizon in just a few breaths.
Ruan Yushu's lips were slightly parted, revealing a row of teeth that was as white as shells. She bit her lower lip slightly and made the Phoenix-Perching Zither float in the air. Both of her hands were pressing on the strings.
”Who is that?”
”What is he going to do?”
The people on the city wall had a puzzled expression on their faces when they noticed a green-robed person walking toward the crowd of demons.
Judging from his proficiency in using the Ground-Shrinking Technique, he must be a powerful martial artist. Was he going to risk his life by putting up a desperate fight with the demons due to the fact that he could not enter the city? Or was he being too confident that he could kill part of the demons and retreat unharmed?
Leader Li, on the other hand, had killed the demon. Being badly wounded and exhausted, he was lying on a stone beside the road and watching the demon crowd coming closer and closer!
Suddenly, he saw a green-robed person appeared in front of him. Before he could react to it, the person waved his left hand lightly that made him fly backward. He felt as though he was drifting in the clouds. For a very long time, he was not touching the ground at all.
Thomp. The next thing he knew was that he was stepping on the ground safely, and his familiar teammates were right in front of him!
What… immediately, he turned around and looked at the direction of the demon crowd.
In front of Meng Qi, there were tens of thousands of demons. It was as though they had covered every inch of land.
Just then, a sound of music played by zither was heard. It sounded soothing at first, but a sense of heaviness was hidden in the music. It felt like the calm before a storm, as if something intense was going to erupt at any time.
Every step taken by Meng Qi was going along the rhythm. In a split second, he had entered the attack area of the demons. All kinds of arrows, axes, scales, horns, and black light soared up and shrouded the sky like a huge buzzing mosquito swarm. Their shadows had covered Meng Qi completely.
Without drawing his blade or defending against the attacks, Meng Qi continued moving forward in a leisurely manner.
Ding-dong, ding-dong. Along with the sounds of clashing, many black arrows landed on the ground. Meng Qi was not hurt at all. Stepping into the demon crowd, he looked as if he was swallowed up by the sea of demons.
The crowd was still rushing toward the Pingle City. The attacks of various weapons, flame, and black mist by the demons was the only sign that showed Meng Qi was alive.
”What on earth is he planning to do?” the people on the city wall were utterly confused. If the green-robed person was planning to kill the demons, he should have launched an attack long ago. If he was aiming high to assassinate the leader of the demons, he had to grab the chance of the leader being unguarded and take action as soon as possible!
The Roushan Demon at the furthest point had two tattooed greasy arms that were hanging down on both sides of his body. His cold grayish-white eyes were looking at the area where the green-robed person was flooded by attacks. Despite feeling a little doubtful, he was not making any moves yet. One of the reasons was that he was curious of what the person wanted to do. After all, judging from the huge number of demons, he was very sure that the person had no chance to survive. Another reason was that he had confidence in his own power. Even if something unexpected happened, he would be able to stop it in time!
The demons were getting closer to the Pingle City after a while. Both Leader Li and the young man could already see the hideous faces of the demons clearly. Apart from feeling anxious, Qin Shuanghua was surprised by the calm expression of the teammates of Meng Qi.
Just then, Meng Qi stopped moving forward. He nodded slightly, feeling that the distance was just right.
Bone knives and black thorns were attacking Meng Qi from all directions, leaving no gaps at all. He ignored all of them and put his right hand into the left sleeve. Slowly, he pulled out an orange-colored long blade that was surrounded by flames.
Suddenly, the mood of the music played by Ruan Yushu changed. It revealed a sense of long-suppressed excitement. As the music pierced through the cloud, a furious storm had come.