My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting-Chapter 101 - Surrounded by Demon Dogs, One Man Holds the Inner District! - Part 1

Tie Sha strode over in three swift steps, kicked the man aside, and lifted a corner of the black cloth. Beneath it was a thick, heavy metal crate with only a tiny vent. Peering through that vent was a single, glittering black eye.

“It’s a small demonic beast. Storing it in such a heavy metal container means it must have a fearsome capacity to tear flesh. A trap...meant for me.”

Demonic beasts were hard to catch, but it wasn’t impossible to find live specimens on the black market, especially the kind known for extreme ferocity.

Tie Sha figured that once unleashed, a beast like that would attack anyone it saw.

“Who are you?!” Tie Sha barked at the injured man.“From the Wei Family?”

The man gave no answer, only a crazed laugh. “Tie Sha, you deserve to die. You’re finished!”

Tie Sha snorted. “As if you’re saints.” He frowned, raising his voice so the others could hear, “Be on guard! They’re trying to kill us with demonic beasts—someone’s opening cages!”

Even as he spoke, a distant shriek rang out from the north. It was Ah Si’s voice.

Through the rain-veiled woods, Tie Sha glimpsed a gaunt figure bathed in a faint red aura, brandishing a long blade in a wild defensive dance.

That was Ah Da, stumbling backward as a small, nimble shape flickered in and out of the downpour, launching blisteringly fast attacks. The beast was so quick and elusive that Ah Da could only parry blindly, steel ringing in frantic bursts.

With a roar, Ah Da was forced back several steps. The small demonic beast vanished.

“Sect Master! It’s a rain-shroud mink,” Ah Da rasped. “Ah Si...he got sliced clean in half!”

Tie Sha’s eyes narrowed. Rain-shroud minks were seventh rank demonic beasts, viciously bloodthirsty and most powerful in the rain, where they could blend into the downpour. A terrifying predator...if released in a village on a rainy day, it would leave no survivors in short order.

He glanced at the metal crate. There was likely another rain-shroud mink inside, just waiting to be unleashed. No doubt the enemy had chosen multiple sites to release them. The cost of obtaining even one rain-shroud mink was astronomical, let alone two. But the threat was real.

Tie Sha had no interest in fighting more of them. He quickly realized the situation and turned around, “It’s a trap. Our disciples aren’t here. We retreat!”

Just then, the man behind him lost his head, quite literally. Balancing atop the decapitated corpse, a gray-furred mink stood upright, its forelimbs curved like scythes, slicing the man’s skull into chunks before casting a bloodthirsty glare at Tie Sha. Clearly, it killed indiscriminately, showing no sign of training or control.

Tie Sha gripped his blade and backed away. Old Ding hurried to his side, both retreating step by step. Before their eyes, the gray mink began to fade into the rain, vanishing into the damp air once more.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Back in the inner district, inside the courtyard of Li Yuan’s residence...the four maids—Mei, Lan, Zhu, and Ju—peered curiously at the sky. “What’s with all these fireworks so early in the morning?”

In the kitchen, Auntie Wang was busy cooking, steam rising from the chimney. Freshly steamed buns rested in the bamboo steamer.

Nearby, Nian Nian, Xiao Sheng, and Niu Niu, who had been up early for their morning practice, paused to watch the distant bursts of color overhead. They saw fireworks first inside the inner district, then more in the outlying areas.

At her dressing table, Xue Ning, still in her silk undergarment, sat with one shoulder and a section of her calf exposed, casually tying the sash of her robe. Yan Yu, meanwhile, had been out helping prepare breakfast but quickly returned.

“Husband, there are fireworks outside. Is there some kind of celebration today? I’ve never seen anything like it!” she called out.

“Dearest?” Xue Ning glanced over to see Li Yuan hastily pulling on his clothes, his face grim and ashen.

He’d heard the fireworks too and, by instinct, shifted his viewpoint to an ant he’d planted earlier.

Yesterday, he’d placed a few ants in various spots—one in the Blood Fury Hall, a couple more on the way to Elder Liu’s residence. One ant got knocked off en route, but another made it safely into Elder Liu’s study.

The Blood Fury Hall appeared peaceful, yet in Elder Liu’s study lay two bodies in pools of blood. One was undoubtedly Elder Liu. Though Li Yuan had not been watching around the clock and missed the actual attack, the grisly scene made his skin crawl.

The fact that Elder Liu—a seventh rank expert—had been killed right in the inner district, at the same time fireworks were lighting up the sky, filled him with dread and an odd sense of frenzy.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Yu asked, worry apparent in her eyes. Xue Ning mirrored her concern.

Li Yuan snapped out of it, muttering, “To the cellar.” Then he raised his voice and said, “Yan Yu, Xue Ning, hurry and get dressed. Go down to the cellar as soon as you can!”

Turning to Yan Yu, he barked, “Head straight to the cellar! Don’t ask questions, just go!”

He grabbed the Horse Butcher, slung his horned beast bow over his shoulder, and picked up a quiver of arrows.

Bursting into the courtyard, he shouted, “Auntie Wang, Mei, Lan, and Ju, bring blankets, water, and preserved meat to the cellar! Zhu, take the three kids down there too!”

“Master? What on earth is going on?”

“Young Master Li? This—?”

“Mister...?”