Just when Ye Chen and Zhu Shan had finished their dinner of roasted rabbit and settled down beside the campfire to rest for the night, a loud explosion suddenly echoed through the forest.

BOOM!

The ground trembled faintly.

An eerie scream followed immediately after.

The sound was sharp, distorted, and inhuman. It was like countless nails scraping across glass while someone wailed in agony at the same time.

"What the—?"

Ye Chen was about to curse from being startled awake, but the moment she turned toward Zhu Shan, her words stopped midway.

Zhu Shan’s expression had completely changed. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The usually relaxed middle-aged man now looked extremely solemn as he stared in the direction of the sound. His brows were tightly furrowed, and there was even faint disbelief in his eyes.

"Is it that thing...?" he muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Ye Chen looked confused.

Zhu Shan did not explain immediately. Instead, he stood up and grabbed his blade beside the campfire.

"Little Ling," he spoke in an unusually serious tone, "follow closely behind me. Don’t stray too far, no matter what happens."

Ye Chen blinked in surprise.

This was the first time she had seen Zhu Shan being this cautious.

"Dangerous?" she asked instinctively.

Zhu Shan merely nodded grimly.

Ye Chen did not continue asking questions. Honestly, even if she wanted to run away now, she had no idea where to go in this endless forest. Until she safely reached the White Moon Sect, she still needed Zhu Shan as her guide.

The two quickly moved toward the source of the disturbance.

As they got closer, the eerie screams became clearer.

The surrounding forest also gradually changed.

The night wind turned colder.

The atmosphere became heavy and oppressive. Even the chirping insects had disappeared completely, leaving behind only dead silence and those horrifying screams echoing through the darkness.

Ye Chen frowned slightly.

For some reason, the hair on her arms stood up involuntarily.

Soon, the battlefield finally entered their view.

What appeared before them was a chaotic and terrifying scene.

Two young figures, one male and one female, dressed in black robes, were fighting against a grotesque humanoid creature.

It was a hideous monster with a twisted, deformed body.

Its limbs bent at unnatural angles, as though its bones had been forcibly broken and reattached incorrectly. Its skin was grayish-black like rotting flesh, while black veins bulged grotesquely across its body.

Most horrifying of all were its eyes.

Two glowing crimson eyes stared at the surroundings with maddened malice.

The moment Ye Chen saw it, her scalp tingled.

"What the hell is that..."

Zhu Shan’s face instantly turned ashen.

"Grade One Pishacha..."

"Pishacha...?" Ye Chen muttered blankly.

Her worldview was getting overturned one thing after another.

First, those strange corpse monsters inside the tomb.

Then, cultivators.

Now, some horrifying ghost creature straight out of a horror movie.

’What exactly is wrong with this world...?’

Meanwhile, Zhu Shan’s expression suddenly changed again after recognising the identities of the young man and woman fighting the creature.

"Oh, no..." His pupils shrank slightly. "It’s Young Lord Wu Lao and Miss Shen Xing!"

Without hesitation, he turned toward Ye Chen.

"Little Ling, hide yourself nearby. Don’t expose yourself, no matter what happens. I’m going to help them."

Before Ye Chen could even respond, Zhu Shan had already rushed toward the battlefield.

Ye Chen narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Young Lord..."

She quietly repeated the title under her breath while hiding herself behind a thick tree nearby. At the same time, she carefully found a position where she could still observe the battle clearly.

Her instincts told her this was not a simple situation.

At that moment—

"Crescent Split Kick!"

A sharp shout rang out.

The young woman in black robes suddenly accelerated forward, deliberately drawing the Pishacha’s attention. At the same time, the handsome young man behind it gathered spiritual energy into his right leg.

White light condensed violently around his kick.

Boom!

His attack landed directly on the Pishacha’s side.

The monster released a shrill scream as half of its grotesque body exploded apart under the impact.

"Amazing, Wu Lao!"

Shen Xing’s beautiful eyes lit up immediately despite the injuries covering her body. Her voice was filled with unconcealed admiration as she looked at the young man before her.

Wu Lao landed steadily on the ground and gave a confident smile.

"Just watch me finish it off, Shen Xing."

His tone carried the confidence of a genius disciple.

Unfortunately—

The next moment, Shen Xing’s expression changed drastically.

"Watch out! Wu Lao!"

Wu Lao instinctively turned his head.

But it was too late.

The half-destroyed Pishacha suddenly stopped moving.

Its glowing crimson eyes flickered violently.

Then its grotesque mouth stretched open unnaturally wide.

SCREEEEEEECH—!!

A horrifying scream exploded from its throat.

Unlike before, this attack carried no physical force.

It was a mental shockwave.

The sound directly pierced into the ears and invaded the brain like invisible needles.

Wu Lao’s expression changed instantly.

’Damn it!’

He had no time to defend himself.

The terrifying sound attack struck his mind head-on.

His vision blurred violently.

An unbearable pain exploded inside his head as if his brain were being torn apart alive.

"Urgh—!"

Wu Lao staggered backwards.

The next second, his eyes lost focus completely.

His body collapsed heavily onto the ground, unconscious.

"Wu Lao!"

Shen Xing’s face turned pale.

Even though she had covered her ears in time, the residual mental shockwave still sent her flying backwards violently.

Bang!

She crashed hard against a tree, coughing up blood.

But Shen Xing ignored her injuries completely.

Because she saw it.

The dying Pishacha was crawling toward the unconscious Wu Lao.

Its twisted body dragged itself across the ground while its glowing eyes burned with murderous intent.

It wanted to kill him before dying.

"No...!"

Shen Xing’s eyes widened in horror.

Without hesitation, she rushed forward desperately.

"Wu Lao!!"

Too bad—

She was too slow.

The Pishacha had already reached Wu Lao’s unconscious body.

****

[A.N: Read Author’s Thoughts!]