279 Wolf Howl

Two wings of fire spread out in the night, flying far off into the distance.They were exceptionally striking, reminiscent of a moving star illuminating itssurroundings. Nanke stood at the edge of the cliff and silently viewed the scene, her faceabnormally pale. She had forcefully suppressed the injuries left behind bythose numerous feathers, but no matter how she tried, she could not suppressthose feelings of anger and unwillingness in her heart.  An elegant and yet exceptionally ruthless peacock cry emerged from her lips,resounding into the distance, as if was calling something. Upon hearing this,the zither-playing old man suddenly changed his expression. He wanted to extendhis hand to stop her, but because of his injuries, he could not get up. Hecould only look on helplessly as in the next moment, Nanke leaped off the cliff. The clear cry of the young phoenix rang out through the Garden of Zhou. In thethree gardens at the edge of the Garden of Zhou, many human cultivators hadgathered. Previously when that bloody battle at the peak of Sunset Valley hadbrought about many anomalies in heaven and earth, many people had turned theirgazes towards Sunset Valley. Naturally, they had also not missed the cry of thephoenix. In the quiet and dark mountains, there were still several upper level EtherealOpening human experts searching for treasures in the gloom. Chen Changsheng andXu Yourong had searched for them for two days and nights, and yet had stillbeen unable to find them. The warning fireworks of the Thirteen Divisions ofRadiant Green could not make them reveal their tracks. Amongst the cultivatorswas a three-hundred-year-old loose cultivator from the south. At the moment, hewas by an ancient scholartree. Based on records from the past, he was searchingfor a powerful magical artifact left behind by the southern shaman tribe. Whenhe heard the sudden cry of the phoenix, he turned around in amazement, hiselderly appearance illuminated in the light of those wings of fire. Withinthose turbid eyes of his appeared an expression of shock, which turned intoboundless greed. --- With Qi Jian on his back, Zhexiu continued to walk through the plain. His eyescould no longer see, but his hearing was still effective. When the phoenix cryrang out, he stopped. Qi Jian's eyes opened with some difficulty and lookedwest. He said with some perplexity, "Is that Senior Xu? She also entered theGarden of Zhou?" "It should be her." Zhexiu's ears listened to the echoes of that phoenix cryand confirmed. All these things that had happened after the Garden of Zhou opened were a partof the demon plot. Of the targets that the demons had drawn up to kill, XuYourong was definitely amongst them. Qi Jian said weakly, "I don't know who thedemons sent to oppose her, but… it should be okay." Xu Yourong and Qiushan Jun were not ordinary young geniuses. Their innatetalent was overwhelmingly dominant. In this miniature world of the Garden ofZhou where there was an upper limit, logically the demons should be unable toseize Xu Yourong. But when thinking about the assassination attempt at thelakeside and Third Brother's sudden betrayal, Qi Jian could not help but bevery worried. Zhexiu thought about those two women at the lakeside who had completelydifferent features and yet seemed like they had been born as twins. Perhaps itwas because of their fingertips suffused with green, or because of the poisonthat still restlessly stirred within his eyes, but he knew that those two weredefinitely Nanke's two wings. He said, "Nanke has come. The one that Xu Yourongis fighting is definitely her. It's just that I don't know who won and wholost." In all of the continent, amongst all Ethereal Opening cultivators, human ordemon, the only one that could threaten Xu Yourong was Nanke. Hearing the name Nanke, Qi Jian's face paled even more. After a long moment ofsilence, Qi Jian said, "So where are we going next?" It was already night, but the sun of the Plains of the Unsetting Sun had notset—if that mystical and indistinct sphere of light suspended over the horizoncould be considered a sun. The powerful Demon General couple stood guard at theedge of the plain, so they could not leave. They could only walk around in thisplain. Then, where should they go? Everyone said that the Plains of theUnsetting Sun concealed many vicious and frightening dangers. At the veryleast, anyone that entered had never come out. Then where were the dangershidden? Zhexiu said, "Take out the Flowing Water Bottle." Qi Jian took out the Flowing Water Bottle and said in disbelief, "We'vealready spent six hours in here?" The warm and red yet indistinct sun hung over the edge of the plain. At theline that divided heaven and earth, it continuously revolved. The light that itemitted did not change, so it was easy to lose track of time. However, whatshocked Qi Jian was not only this. Although Zhexiu was heavily injured, he hadnot yet decreased his speed. In six hours, they could travel at least a hundredli, and yet they could clearly see the fire that arose from the summit ofSunset Valley. The cry of the phoenix was also like it had sounded out right bytheir ears. Now when they turned back, the mountain...was still there. Although they had walked through the plain for six hours, it still seemed likethey had just entered. Hearing what Qi Jian had said, Zhexiu lowered his head in thought for a verylong time. To the two youths, the legendary plain was finally beginning to reveal itsstrange and sinister side. Suddenly, a rustling sound arose from deep within the grass in front of them,as if some beast was just then traveling through. In the next moment, the sound disappeared, but this did not mean the dangerhad passed. Qi Jian was somewhat uneasy, feeling that within the grass, there were alwaysmany things gazing at them. Zhexiu lowered his head and inclined his face, listening to the sounds comingfrom the grass. As he did so, his face grew increasingly grave, as well asunsightly. He had grown up on the snowy plains and hunted monsters for a living. So hecould very clearly tell that these noises were the sounds of monsters walkingor flying low, or the grinding of their fearsomely sharp teeth, and even thedripping of their saliva on the ground. What was even more frightening thingwas that in a short period of time, he had heard at least seven monster soundsthat belonged to powerful monsters rarely seen on the snowy plains. On the snowy plains, he was the hunter, but in the plains of the Garden ofZhou, the monsters had made him and Qi Jian their prey. This caused him anintense discomfort as well as anger. He knew very well that if he remainedstationary like this, it would be very dangerous. He lifted his head towards the depths of the plains. His eyes could not see and his pupils could not focus, so he seemed very cold.Moreover, the bewitchingly strange green had occupied his entire pupil,creating an extremely frightening sight. Qi Jian was leaning against his shoulder, saw his profile, and subconsciouslyfelt cold and fearful. Qi Jian's body began to tremble. "Don't be afraid." Zhexiu said expressionlessly. As the words fell, a succession of grinding sounds emanated from his body.This was the sound of his bones and muscles grinding and reassembling. Copiouscoarse wolf hairs sprouted from his cheeks, and his knees once again strangelybent backwards. His teeth gradually grew long and pointed, emerging from hislips......this was his demi-human transformation. Along with the transformation of his body, his Qi also suddenly changed. Acold and cruel aura pervaded the path in front of him. The quiet depths of the grass suddenly erupted with noise. This was closelyfollowed by the stamping of feet as well as a haughty and provocative roar. The monsters of the plains were particularly sensitive to this wolf youth'stransformation, and their response was very fast. After Zhexiu transformed, his pupils turned red, mixing with the PeacockPlume's poison, once again producing a lemon-like yellow. He could not see a thing, but he calmly aimed his eyes forward, as if he wasstaring into those monsters' eyes. A cruel, powerful, and ruthless howl burst forth from his lips, spreadingswiftly across the plain. The chilly wind brushed against the grass, and swathes of grass fell flat,allowing the figures of many monsters to faintly be seen. Those monsters heard strength and the resolve to fight to the death withinthat howl. With another set of rustling, they finally scattered. Qi Jian leaned against Zhexiu's shoulder, somewhat afraid of Zhexiu's currentappearance, although Zhexiu had said to not be afraid. Thus, he wrapped his arms tight around Zhexiu and pressed his face closer. Hesaid to himself, this way I can't see it, so I won't be afraid. Perhaps because of his actions, or because of those greedy gazes the monstersaimed back as they left, Zhexiu's body grew somewhat stiff. His voice wassomewhat unnatural. "We… have to think of a way to leave, or else the trulypowerful monsters, upon hearing my howl, will come over to see." Qi Jian assented, thinking to himself, we'll do whatever you say. The wolf youth's wild howl echoed throughout the Plains of the Unsetting Sun,but it did not leave the plains. This miniature world that was the Garden ofZhou had always had many bizarre and inexplicable places. Just like thatphoenix cry that resounded through heaven and earth, not even it had reallybeen transmitted to every nook and cranny of the Garden of Zhou. This wasbecause there were some places that were like a world within a world. At the end of that river, on the other side of that cold pool under thewaterfall was a lake. The lakeshore was another world. The people within that world did not hear the cry of the phoenix. LiangXiaoxiao and Zhuang Huanyu were no longer in the forest, but where they hadgone was a mystery. Deep under the calm surface of the lake, its depths stillseemed to boil. Countless fine bubbles burst forth from between those two wingsof light, then swiftly disappeared. Chen Changsheng had been bound up by the two wings of light of those twobeautiful yet frightening women, so naturally he could not hear the phoenixcry. Even if it had arrived at his ear, he would not have let it affect him inthe slightest. Because at the moment he was quickly being turned by those twowings of light into a very bright yet lifeless pearl. He was like a mosquitocaught in a spider web, about to die at any moment. His heart and soul were allfocused on finding a way to live. Where was his path to live? If there was no way, he would have to use hisdagger to cut a way. The problem was that he currently had no strength to griphis dagger, much less cut through those wings of light. Did his way to live liein that elusive but incomparably real sword intent in the lake? But if hewanted to make the strand of sword intent come to him, how could he do so? Before he was bound up by those wings of light, he had attempted to ignite thewater outside his Ethereal Palace, but it was meaningless. Just like hisinitial struggles and flips, it seemed rather ridiculous. His throat was beingheld by the demon beauty, while his body had been restricted by the dignifiedwoman. Those two wings of light gave a desperately frightening pressure,suppressing the last of his true essence and his every movement. He could noteven move a finger, nor even blink his eyes. He could only feel the chillywater brush against his eyes. It was not a good feeling. These two women,uniting their bodies, finally displayed their terrifying strength andcultivation. His Qi grew increasingly feeble; his mind grew increasingly dim.As he saw the two faces of those women illuminated by the light of the wings,he felt them to be extremely sinister. He thought to himself, is this what thegod of death looks like? At that moment, he who had even his true essence suppressed by those two wingsof light could only move his spiritual sense. Before the moment of death, ChenChangsheng would never surrender. Of course, he would try to use his spiritualsense to escape, but the problem lay in the fact that he had not cultivated tothat masterly realm where he could kill with his mind. No matter how calm andsteady his spiritual sense was, he still could not use it in battle. What could his spiritual sense do? Before he had clearly thought about this,his spiritual sense had already rested on his dagger.