A Game of Cat and Mouse, What a Boring Fellow
A Game of Cat and Mouse, What a Boring Fellow
Although the Otherworldly Sky Demons had invaded for less than half a year, they had already caused enormous panic and catastrophe in her world.
Many of the older generation had even asserted that the next time the Otherworldly Sky Demons invaded in full force, that would be the moment their world completely fell and was destroyed.
And so, the supreme experts who had reached the Earth Sword Immortal level had all gathered at the great sects, attempting to find a way to break the deadlock.
This campaign to destroy the source of the Sky Demons had also been proposed by the current Sovereign of the Shu Sect, the Yi Sword Immortal, famed for the ability to flatten all with one sword.
Her father was a renowned supreme expert of their world. Faced with such a critical moment, he had naturally taken it upon himself to head for that rift, attempting to stop this calamity.
Unfortunately, months had passed, and there had been no word from her father at all.
The others who had gone with him were likewise like clay oxen sinking into the sea, vanishing without a trace.
After that, she had hidden it from her mother and set foot upon the same path her father had once taken.
If her father had died there, then she would bring his bones back.
Before finding any trace of her father, she could not allow herself to die here.
As these many thoughts returned, the girl’s expression grew somewhat dazed.
In truth, when she had passed through that Space Rift, she had never imagined that on the other side, beyond the terrifying spatial turbulence and various Chaotic Storms, there would be such vast and heavy auras of worlds.
Beneath that crushing pressure, even the battle armor her father had left for her back then could not hold for more than a moment before shattering.
She had not even walked far before she saw that familiar horde of Otherworldly Sky Demons charging toward her.
They came riding bronze warships, vast and terrifying, like towering Devil Mountains traversing through the spatial turbulence.
The various dreadful chaotic currents around them could not hinder them in the slightest.
At that moment, the girl had finally understood in despair that the might of the Otherworldly Sky Demons was not something they could contend with or resist.
Even the so-called invincible Earth Sword Immortals could not move an inch in such a place.
Yet the Otherworldly Sky Demons moved as if on flat ground, wielding all manner of terrifying weapons, destroying heaven and earth.
Faced with such a dreadful group of enemies, how could they possibly resist?
Facing that horde of Otherworldly Sky Demons, she had not fled far before being captured. Heavy shackles were clamped onto her hands and feet, leaving her unable to use even a shred of her cultivation, rendering her no different from an ordinary person.
Afterward, she was locked in a cold, damp cage, where she spent a stretch of dark and fearful days.
Fortunately, she later discovered that a qianbei who had come with her father to destroy the source was actually imprisoned right beside her.
That qianbei was gravely wounded and on the verge of death, yet still dragged his broken body along to tell her some useful information.
The good news was that her father had not been captured by those Otherworldly Sky Demons. At the critical moment, his cultivation had suddenly broken through, and he had fled into the chaotic spatial turbulence, his whereabouts unknown thereafter.
But the bad news was that those Otherworldly Sky Demons were merely a single faction within this vast world they now found themselves in—by no means the entirety of its races. Their might and terror were far beyond anything they could contend with.
Destroying the source? That was nothing but a joke.
What despairing news this was. The true supreme experts had yet to even appear; everything so far had merely been probing.
Otherwise, they could never have repelled that horde of Otherworldly Sky Demons.
Later, that qianbei had burned his broken body with a secret technique, creating chaos to help her escape.
But this escape did not succeed—she was caught halfway.
The only fortunate thing was that her identity as a native had not been exposed, and she was locked up together with another group of local captives who had also tried to flee.
From the mouths of those captives, she gradually learned some things about this world.
This world was incomparably vast and boundless, the center of all heavens, with experts as numerous as trees in a forest, beyond counting. It bordered many worlds, so invasions and conquests of other worlds happened frequently...
The girl’s gaze was utterly calm. She stopped recalling the events of these past days and focused entirely on fleeing for her life.
She knew very well that those so-called Otherworldly Sky Demons were in fact dispatched by the very faction now holding her captive.
The Great Yu Celestial Dynasty—even within this vast and mysterious world, it was a terrifying power of the super-colossus level, with a heritage spanning over ten million years, stretching across numerous epochs.
In the world she had previously lived in, the power with the longest heritage was merely a few hundred thousand years old.
Before such a behemoth, they were as insignificant as ants; there was simply no possibility of comparing the two.
Huu huu huu—
Suddenly, the sound of rushing wind tearing through the air came from behind her. The girl’s expression changed, and she hurriedly darted into a corner behind a bluestone.
Although she currently had no cultivation, her five senses were still extraordinarily sharp, and she could hear the commotion not far away.
Someone was chasing in her direction—and there were quite a few of them.
She quickly suppressed her breathing and stayed perfectly still. Right now she was no different from a mortal; facing a group of Cultivators, she had not the slightest chance of survival.
All she could do now was pray that those people had not detected her trail.
“Eh? I clearly sensed prey in this direction just now. How did it suddenly vanish?”
“Could my senses have been wrong?”
A group of gorgeously dressed young men and women arrived riding fierce beasts, each of them shrouded in treasure-light, clearly extraordinary.
The one who spoke was a man in brocade robes with regular features but a somewhat gloomy expression.
He held a treasure bow in his hand, seemingly just about to draw it and loose an arrow at his prey.
Now, as if seeing the prey had escaped, his face wore a look of surprise as he glanced around.
“Perhaps we sensed wrong. Why don’t we switch directions and search elsewhere?”
Beside the brocade-robed man, another man with a cold, sinister look curled his lips into a mocking smile and asked deliberately.
Seeing this, the others also laughed, wearing cat-and-mouse smiles as they chimed in, “Looks like that prey got away. What a pity. If we’d come a bit earlier, maybe we could have caught it.”
“Truly a pity. Forget it, let’s switch directions and search some more.”
The brocade-robed man also put on a helpless expression, seemingly sighing, and then the group turned their fierce beasts around and left, heading off to search other areas.
The girl remained hidden behind the bluestone the whole time, her entire body taut with extreme tension, holding her breath, drenched in cold sweat, not daring to move a muscle.
Now, hearing the commotion of the group departing, she couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.
But she was very cautious and did not show herself directly. Instead, she continued hiding, planning to wait until it was truly safe before leaving.
After several quarters of an hour, the girl finally felt the danger had passed. The group of young men and women had gone in another direction and had not discovered her trail.
Her whole body nearly slumped down from behind the bluestone, soaked in sweat.
But just as she was about to emerge from behind the bluestone and continue fleeing for her life, a burst of loud laughter suddenly rang out from the other side.
Utterly abrupt, like a thunderclap exploding right where she stood.
Hearing this voice, the girl’s entire body went rigid, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.
Though dirt and grime covered her features, her unease and disbelief were still plainly visible.
But she was no ordinary person either. She quickly composed herself, her gaze becoming incomparably calm and steady as she turned to stare fixedly at the group of young men and women mounted on their fierce beasts.
Beneath her sleeve, her small hand gripped tight a short dagger less than an inch long, like a little kitten about to pounce on its enemy.
“Hahaha, this one really thought we hadn’t noticed her.”
“Simply ridiculous. I just love watching their expressions change from hope to despair. One moment they think they’ve escaped with their lives, the next they’ve fallen into the Nether. Didn’t expect that, did you?”
“Truly delightful.”
“The more despairing you are, the happier we become. Watching prey struggle on the brink of death—it’s simply one of life’s greatest pleasures.”
The brocade-robed man and the others appeared on the girl’s other side atop their fierce beasts, wearing teasing smiles.
They had never left at all. They had merely circled around from another direction and returned to the same spot.
So they had watched every change in the girl’s expression all along—from her initial sigh of relief to her shock and disbelief. This was their favorite thing to do before slaughtering their prey.
After all, with their strength, how could they possibly have failed to detect the girl’s trail?
Yet faced with the merciless mockery and ridicule of the brocade-robed man and his companions,
the girl now displayed extraordinary calm and ferocity. Her dark-tinted eyes did not ripple in the slightest, as if she stood apart from the world, showing none of the fear, terror, or despair the brocade-robed man and his companions had hoped to see.
This expression made the smiles on their faces gradually fade, and the brocade-robed man’s brows furrowed in displeasure.
“What a boring fellow. About to die and she’s actually composed instead.”
The cold-faced man spat in a low voice, equally displeased.
Because the girl had not shown any terror or despair as they wished, let alone begged for mercy.
This suddenly made them feel the whole affair had become dull.
“If you want to live, perhaps you could kneel down and beg us. We might just spare you.”
The brocade-robed man spoke indifferently, his expression lofty, carrying the condescending air of one bestowing charity.
If the girl knelt and begged them now, weeping and wailing to survive, then they could show a tiny hint of willingness to spare her—and then, when she was brimming with hope, kill her.
When it came to tormenting people, they had quite the repertoire.
But once again, the brocade-robed man was disappointed. The girl’s expression remained as unmoved as ever—calm and fierce, as if she might fight them to the death at any moment.
“A boring fellow like this—just kill her. No fun at all.”
“I’ll give you three breaths to run for your life. Once three breaths pass, whether you can escape my arrow will depend on your fate.”
The brocade-robed man spoke indifferently. As his words fell, he began drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. A follower beside him handed him several arrows stained with a faint green tinge—clearly, these arrows were coated in poison.
Even a mere graze breaking the skin could take a Cultivator’s life within a short time.
And during the flight that followed, one would be accompanied by fear and agony, able to do nothing but await the arrival of death.
Hearing the brocade-robed man’s words, the girl’s expression shifted slightly, and she turned and fled toward the swamp behind her.
That place was filled with soaring miasma, all manner of sludge and venomous insects. This group of gorgeously dressed young men and women would surely never chase her in there.
“One... three...”
Sou sou sou—
A mocking curve hung at the corner of the brocade-robed man’s mouth. The moment he finished counting “one,” he didn’t bother continuing—he simply drew his bow and fired in the direction the girl was fleeing.
The arrows tore through the air with terrifying shrieks, like divine rainbows, directly splitting open the vast mire atop the swamp and exposing the dry riverbed beneath.
The ancient trees on both sides exploded under this force. Let alone someone with no cultivation—even a fierce beast with a powerful Physique would be blown apart by a single arrow at this moment, body and soul annihilated.
The others watched this scene with expressions of mockery and pity, quietly waiting for the moment the girl was shot dead.
In their view, there would be no surprises.
“Am I going to die here?”
The girl had never believed the brocade-robed man would keep his word to a captive like her, so she had started fleeing at the very first instant. But her speed was still far inferior to the arrows behind her.
Only this single thought remained in her mind. Her foot stumbled, and her entire body tumbled straight into the swamp muck.