Yan Tianhen suddenly realized, “I see. This is the first time I’ve heard of shadow guards having such uses.”
Ji Yunwei glanced at the shadow guards and said, “I’m afraid you can’t get into the deeper parts of the forest like this.”
Yuan One asked, “Why?”
Ji Yunwei explained, “I don’t know if you have ever been in this forest before, but today’s forest is full of roots and branches of trees piled up on the ground. Without mounts, it would not be easy to get there.”
Yuan One answered, “If this is the case, it’s not too bad.”
One of the most common things shadow guards practiced was to conceal their presence. The other was how to maintain their speed in various harsh environments. Last but not least, to assassinate and act as death substitutes.
Yuan One was not too worried about the difficult road.
Ji Yunwei eyed Yuan One, “Even so, you can make your own decision.”
The Ji family also had shadow guards, but their style was very different from the Yuan family’s. Most of the Ji family shadow guards went to the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest to explore and capture demonic beasts, and also to assist in catching and soothing them. Among them, there was absolutely no such task as being the body double for young masters.
Lin Xuanzhi looked at the distance, “Although I haven’t gone deep into the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest yet, I have already felt the scattered Spiritual Qi.”
The Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest was like an independent space. After entering, the aura and vibe were completely different from outside. Somehow, the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest always gave people a dark and gloomy feeling, and it was unclear whether it was the dense trees blocking the sun or because of other reasons that made people uncomfortable.
The only lucky thing was that the spiritual Qi of this Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest was indeed much stronger in here.
Liu Mengchen said, “We’re just at the edge here. If you walk a hundred miles further inside, you’ll feel it deeper.”
Qing Zhu frowned, “Let’s move forward quickly. The Colorful Caterpillar Grass and Icy Heart Water Lotus are not easy to find. They’ll take some time.”
So a line of people and winged unicorns galloped along.
Unicorns ran and sped in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest. In the blink of an eye, they had already run for 300 miles.
Along the way, they didn’t encounter too much danger, but sometimes, there were demonic beasts coming out. However, Lin Xuanzhi and the others didn’t need to fight as Yuan family’s shadow guards handled them instead.
Every tree in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest was as thick as ten people huddled together. Its trunk was high enough that one couldn’t see the top, and the dense leaves overhead covered the light, darkening their surroundings more and more.
Suddenly, Lin Xuanzhi felt an eerie chill.
“Wait a minute.” Lin Xuanzhi grabbed the reins of the horse and stopped at the same spot. He turned around. “There’s something wrong here.”
The others also stopped.
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“I thought we could rush out of this rotten place if we ran faster, but I didn’t expect you to stop.” Qing Zhu said while holding his nose.
Xiao Linfeng also showed an uncomfortable expression, “It really smells bad.”
Yuan Tianwen and the others were at a loss. They didn’t smell anything at all.
Lin Xuanzhi closed his eyes slightly and sniffed, “No, this is not only the smell of something rancid but also some strange aroma. But I can’t say whether it’s more smelly or more fragrant.”
At this time, the forest was filled with fog. Lin Xuanzhi called out, “Everyone, be careful and stand together.” He could not see anything clearly in front of him.
He immediately reached out to pull Yan Tianhen beside him.
However, he was empty-handed.
Lin Xuanzhi’s expression grew fierce and questioned, “Ah Hen, where are you?”
This sound alerted the enemies hiding in the fog, giving them an opportunity.
Someone unknown moved to kill Lin Xuanzhi from behind. Lin Xuanzhi immediately turned and dismounted. He brought out the sword hanging on his waist and blocked the attack. Before he entered the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest, he had replaced Lianlian for Zhige.
Zhige was not drawn out of his sheath, but it was enough for Lin Xuanzhi to save his life with ease.
The sound of fighting rang out around the fog. Lin Xuanzhi found that there were more and more hidden weapons stabbing at him. As he dealt with them, he changed his attack strategy so that he’s not only defending himself.
Lin Xuanzhi’s heart was worried to death for Yan Tianhen. Ignoring the oath that Zhige shouldn’t be drawn out at will, he unsheathed Zhige from its scabbard.
At this moment, everything seemed to tremble. It was as if there were only one person and one sword left between heaven and earth. Shiny and colorful in one moment, it instantly became a cold and solemn death bringer.
The thousands of hidden weapons stopped around Lin Xuanzhi and Zhige and then landed to the ground mercilessly.
Lin Xuanzhi used the first move of the Teal Lotus Nine Styles. His figure was like a gust of wind and was extremely elegant. He pushed his sword toward the direction of the hidden weapons attacking him and ordered “Break!” The fog quickly dissipated.
Lin Xuanzhi held the sword and looked sullenly at the empty dark forest around him. His mood was extremely bad.
He couldn’t see where Ah Hen was, but none of his fellow companions could be found either.
Lin Xuanzhi looked down at the unicorn lying on the ground and saw that it was covered with black poisonous needles. Lin Xuanzhi glanced up at the top and knew where the hidden weapons had come from.
It was a black pine tree of unknown size, but Lin Xuanzhi was sure that before the fog appeared, the pine tree hadn’t been there.
“Since Daoist friends have been spying on us for a long time, why don’t you come out and see us?” Lin Xuanzhi lightly said.
“Lin Xuanzhi, you are really powerful.” A young man in a white cloak fell down from the tree.
The youth’s appearance was enchanting and pure which seemed extremely loveable. However, Lin Xuanzhi could see the nine big fluffy tails swinging behind him, and his heart instantly jumped 12 points of vigilance.
The Nine-Tailed Divine Fox.
Lin Xuanzhi did not expect that as soon as they entered the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest, the Nine-Tailed Fox would find them right away.
It seemed that the Nine-Tailed Fox’s control over the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest was much greater than he imagined.
“I was badly hurt by your demon-binding rope.” Nine-Tailed Fox licked his white and tender fingers and looked at Lin Xuanzhi with narrowed eyes. “If you hadn’t helped Ji Yunwei catch me with a demon-binding rope, I would have taken him far away with me. Where would all these troubles come from?”
Lin Xuanzhi eyed the Nine-Tailed Fox and said, “I heard him say that you have attained the memory of your previous life.”
Nine-Tailed Fox blinked, “That idiot, he says everything outside. Is he not afraid to make me angry?”
Lin Xuanzhi replied, “Have you really recovered them?”
Nine-Tailed Fox laughed, “It seems that not only did I recover, but you also remember a lot of the past, right? But how come I remember in the beginning, you hated Yan Tianhen deeply, didn’t communicate with him when he grew up, and eventually surrounded and killed him with others? How could you change in an instant?”
Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes grew cold.
He glared at Nine-Tailed Fox, “You shouldn’t know so much.”
Nine-Tailed Fox’s eyes flashed a strange light as he spoke, “I was already a soul body at that time, but I couldn’t die completely. As long as I could find the right body, I could still be reborn. At that time, I hated you for killing Ji Yunwei and always wanted to follow you and find a chance to kill you. Therefore, I know most of your things, but I don’t understand why time went back and started again.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s tone was complicated as he replied, “It’s better for you not to understand.”
Nine-Tailed Fox was stunned, “So it’s really related to you.”
Lin Xuanzhi narrowed his eyes, “I have no control over what you want to do with Ji Yunwei, nor will I, but you’d better keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, if you say something you shouldn’t, don’t blame me for being unkind to you.”
Nine-Tailed Fox shook his tail and made a charming gesture. He winked at Lin Xuanzhi and smiled, “Are you afraid that I’m going to hurt you? I see your brother is devoted to you now, but I don’t know if he’ll be as dead set on you if he remembered how you treated him in the previous life—”
Seeing that Lin Xuanzhi’s expression wasn’t good, he quickly went on to say, “However, I am not a meddler either. I promise not to say a word about you and Yan Tianhen. Moreover, I’m now honest with you, which is enough to see my kindness. You allowed me to live again and not disappear. There’s not enough time to show my gratitude to you, so how could I harm you?”
Lin Xuanzhi stared at the Nine-Tailed Fox and asked, “You stopped me to tell me these things?”
Nine-Tailed Fox raised his brow, “Of course not, I created such an illusion, but it’s very exhausting. I just wanted to remind you of something.”
“Speak.”
“These days, I have smoothed away the memory of my previous life. I think some people are very strange– there are many things and time is too short for me to say much. However, there are still a few things that are of utmost importance.”
After a pause, the Nine-Tailed Fox picked up a tail and played with the tip with his fingers as he said idly, “For example, the leader of Sky Peak Sect is rather strange. When I was a soul body, I once sneaked into his room. He always talked to the responsible officials of some aristocratic families about the ‘son of the Divine Devil and the ‘killing order from the Nine Lands to capture the son alive.’ This person must have some connection with the Upper Realm.”
Lin Xuanzhi did not show any emotion, but he had already guessed this in his previous life.
At that time, the leader of Sky Peak Sect ordered the world to hunt down Yan Tianhen on the grounds that Yan Tianhen had killed Leng Jixue and to catch him alive. This was well-known among the people in the Five Continents.
The influence of Sky Peak’s leader was immeasurable. Even if Lin Xuanzhi wanted to spare Yan Tianhen, he could not control it.
Yan Tianhen was captured soon after.
He was imprisoned in Sky Peak Sect’s cell where the most vicious criminals were held. All-day long, he was kept in the dark.
Lin Xuanzhi didn’t care, “I heard about these things in my last life.”
Nine-Tailed Fox smiled, “But there is one thing you never imagined.”
Lin Xuanzhi had a bad feeling.
“After Sky Peak Sect’s leader captured Yan Tianhen, guess what he did to him? He wanted to practice dual cultivation with Yan Tianhen, and even stripped him of his clothes.”
“What?” Lin Xuanzhi was shocked so suddenly. He intensely stared at Nine-Tailed Fox’s face with an expression like he was about to kill someone.
Zhige in his hand almost couldn’t resist rushing out. Even so, the overwhelming killing intent it emitted was enough to make people scared.
Nine-Tailed Fox was startled by Lin Xuanzhi’s sudden change in expression. He looked warily at Zhige and patted his chest. “What are you getting so anxious for? It’s not like I stripped him clean to humiliate him. Don’t use me as a scapegoat to die in his place.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s brain was in a mess. He gritted his teeth and forced words out of his teeth, “Ren Bulin. What else has he done?”
—