Time passed, and soon it was afternoon.
Looking from afar, one could already see the township located in the distance.
"We're almost there, at most another half an hour or so, we'll rest in the town tonight..."
Huang Quan's face broke into a smile. He held a pipe in one hand and rubbed his body with the other, pulling out a small oval black pellet. He flicked it towards Big Yellow, who was frolicking behind the carriage.
At this moment, Big Yellow was lifting his hind leg beside a large tree by the official road, marking his territory.
He had walked such a long distance, and he could be said to have marked territory almost the entire way, but he still didn't tire of it. Every few miles, he would do this.
Just then, with a splat, Big Yellow's forehead was hit hard by something.
This caused him to pause, and he immediately sat down on the ground with a thump.
"Ouch—"
A mournful howl immediately sounded. Big Yellow tucked his tail and darted into the carriage behind like flying.
Only his head was visible, constantly scanning the surroundings, his soybean-like eyes filled with terror.
After looking for a while, he found nothing. A humanized look of suspicion appeared on his dog face.
Then, emboldened, he crawled out of the carriage, carefully approached the big tree from earlier, and sniffed the ground. He quickly found the thing that had attacked him; it was naturally a cracked black dirt pellet. He leaned closer to smell it, and a look of disgust immediately appeared on his dog face.
Finally, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly looked up at Huang Quan, who was watching him from the carriage ahead.
"Hahaha... silly dog..."
Huang Quan couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter, holding his belly.
He had long discovered that this yellow-haired stray dog had considerable intelligence but was extremely timid, so he often teased him along the way. Each time, the result brought him joy.
"Woof woof woof..."
Big Yellow immediately understood, his fur bristled, and he bared his white teeth, barking wildly at Huang Quan, but he didn't dare to approach. After barking for a while, he obediently returned to the carriage behind.
Lin Sheng was already used to this scene.
Although Huang Quan was not young, he was completely restless and would find something to do from time to time.
He shook his head slightly. There was still some time before they arrived, so he decided to cultivate for a while longer.
"Woof..."
Just then, Big Yellow's barking sounded again from inside the carriage.
The sound was much more urgent than before.
Lin Sheng frowned slightly, just about to scold him.
But he saw Big Yellow leap out of the carriage, directly coming to his side, trembling like a sieve, and occasionally barking wildly towards the back.
Seeing Big Yellow's appearance, Lin Sheng frowned, feeling that something was wrong.
Big Yellow's appearance clearly wasn't due to anger, but rather fright.
He turned back to look behind, and Huang Quan, who was beside him, also seemed to sense something. He had just taken out a small book to read for a while, but now he had closed it and put it in his Pregnant, stood up, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the bushes behind.
"Lin Sheng, there seems to be something going on behind us."
Huang Quan spoke to remind him. Lin Sheng's gaze was also fixed on the bushes behind. Focusing his vision, he could vaguely see a strong figure rapidly approaching.
At the same time, the sense of unease that had been lingering in his heart had now soared to its peak.
As the strong figure rapidly approached, Lin Sheng immediately saw the black fine scales covering its body and the wisps of black mist surrounding its surface.
He felt that this scene seemed somewhat familiar. Soon, his pupils constricted, and his face instantly changed color. He immediately shouted sternly at Lao Zhou and Wang Dehai, who were driving the carriages.
"Drive immediately, leave now, don't stop!!"
Although Wang Dehai and Lao Zhou were somewhat confused, they immediately followed Lin Sheng's instructions, frantically whipping the horses. With the horses neighing, the carriages quickly sped away, raising dust.
However, although the carriages were fast, they were much slower compared to the strong figure moving through the bushes. The distance between them was still rapidly shortening.
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng immediately shouted again.
"Go to the left side, into the woods!!"
"Yes!"
The vegetation in the woods on both sides was dense, clearly not suitable for carriages to travel through. However, Lao Zhou and the other man understood that Lin Sheng had a reason for asking them to do this. They gritted their teeth, immediately changed direction, and drove the carriages into the forest.
The carriages were very bumpy, but their speed didn't decrease too much, and they quickly deviated from the official road.
Lin Sheng kept staring behind him. When he saw that the strong figure did not run towards the town along the official road but turned in the same direction as them to pursue, his face became increasingly grim.
Watching the opponent getting closer and closer, it was clear that they would be caught up to soon. He swept his gaze over the two carriages, a fierce light flashing in his eyes.
"You go first, I will catch up to you."
After speaking, he leaped down from the carriage.
Huang Quan stood on the carriage, his eyes flickering, seemingly deep in thought. Finally, he shook his head slightly and said a sentence to the two drivers.
"Don't go too deep into the woods. Turn back onto the official road in a while, and don't stop in the town..."
After speaking, his figure also disappeared from the official road.
After jumping off the carriage, Lin Sheng did not stop but sped off in another direction.
As he moved at high speed, he did not forget to look back a couple of times. The strong figure pursuing him also chased in the direction he changed to, which confirmed the speculation in his heart.
"As expected..."
He sighed in his heart, not having time to think much. He immediately ran forward at full speed, but the distance between them was still slowly closing.
However, after such a long time, Lin Sheng had stopped. He understood that even if he kept running, he would be caught up by that thing. Instead of expending energy, it was better to conserve it and stay to make a stand.
And...
Lin Sheng turned his head to the side. Huang Quan's figure also appeared behind him.
"That bandit leader was personally dealt with by me, it's impossible for him to be alive again. Lin Sheng, do you know what the thing behind us is?"
Seeing Lin Sheng stop, Huang Quan also stopped, looking at the strong figure getting closer and closer behind them.
Although its appearance had changed greatly, with his eyesight, he recognized it at a glance. The figure pursuing them was precisely Du Long, the bandit leader who had died by his hand.
After seeing the opponent's face, he was also startled. Du Long was dead, so the thing behind them was definitely not Du Long.
"I'm not sure what that thing is, perhaps it's related to that thing on Yangping Mountain."
Lin Sheng said in a deep voice.
He was indeed not certain. When he first saw Du Long, his heart was also shaken, but after seeing Du Long's form and the black mist surrounding his body, he thought of the terrifying Phantom Demon Beast he had encountered before, especially coupled with Big Yellow's frightened reaction, which made him even more certain of this speculation.
"Yangping Mountain!?"
Huang Quan frowned, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes, but the next moment he reacted, a look of surprise appearing on his face.
"You mean the Phantom Demon Beast!!"
"This shouldn't be. With General Long Zilu personally taking action and sealing it with the Blood Demon Grand Formation, that Phantom Demon Beast shouldn't be able to break free... Unless..."
Speaking of this, Huang Quan seemed to have thought of something.
"Could it be that this demon beast has already recovered? But even so, if it wanted to break out of the Blood Demon Grand Formation, it would definitely have to pay a considerable price."
Possibilities flashed through his mind, but there was no time to think further because at this moment, the opponent had approached within a hundred meters of them.
This was a strong man over two meters tall, covered in black fine scales, or perhaps the word monster would be more appropriate to describe him.
At this moment, Du Long's hands and feet were gone, replaced by four sharp claws. Only his head still maintained a human appearance, allowing his identity to be barely recognized.
His pitch-black eyes were devoid of any emotion, black lines twisted on his cheeks, and wisps of black mist surrounded his body, making his appearance extremely bizarre.
"It really is a Phantom Demon Beast. How did this thing get here?"
Huang Quan's face showed a solemn expression, and his words were full of doubt.
One should know that Yangping Mountain is quite far from here, with countless townships and villages along the way. Why did it come to this place?
It is now attached to the bandit leader, so it has clearly been to the bandit camp.
And it is clearly now targeting them.
"Lin Sheng, you need to be careful. Although this thing in front of you is not a complete Phantom Demon Beast, who knows how many living beings it has devoured along the way? You must not be careless."
Huang Quan instructed in a deep voice.
"I understand."
Lin Sheng nodded, his face also full of solemnity.
He also didn't understand why the Phantom Demon Beast would appear here, but he was very clear that if he didn't deal with the opponent, today would definitely not end well.
As the two of them assessed Du Long, the opponent was also assessing the two of them.
His two pitch-black eyes first swept over Huang Quan, finally resting on Lin Sheng's face. Then, his mouth split open, revealing a mouth full of sharp black teeth, as if stained with ink.
The next moment, his figure shot out like a phantom.
Lin Sheng flicked his hand, sending several darts flying. However, the opponent didn't even dodge, completely ignoring them, letting the darts land on his body. The result was just a few sparks, with no effect whatsoever.
And at this moment, Du Long had already closed in, extending his claw directly towards Lin Sheng's heart.
"Bull Rushing Horn!!"
Lin Sheng raised his hand and punched out.
A punch and a claw collided. However, at the moment of impact, there was no muffled sound as expected.
Lin Sheng frowned, feeling as if his punch had hit a sticky liquid, his strength completely absorbed by the opponent. The next moment, his face changed.
He felt that the liquid, which was extremely sticky and harmless a second ago, instantly turned into refined steel, followed by a terrifying burst of Giant Strength.
Crack...
With a cracking sound of bones unable to bear the load, his body flew backward.
At the same time, a brass pipe had silently landed on Du Long's head.
With a muffled crack, Du Long's head immediately shattered, but no blood or brains flowed out, only a mass of black viscous liquid.
This black viscous liquid seemed to have a life of its own, shooting out and connecting with each other, like black chains, tightly binding Huang Quan.
Huang Quan frowned slightly, not showing the slightest panic, only letting out a low shout.
"Spiritual Flood Dragon Transformation!"
As the three words were spoken, the next moment, Huang Quan's shriveled body inflated as if being filled with air, his clothes were directly torn apart, layers of green scales appeared on his skin, and his aged face became younger at a visible speed.
In just the blink of an eye, he transformed from a thin old man of sixty or seventy into a tall and slender handsome middle-aged man, seemingly wearing a green robe.
His cloudy and lifeless pupils blinked, revealing brown vertical pupils.
"Break for me!"
With a hoarse low shout, the black chains binding his body snapped. His hand, covered in green scales, reached out and directly collided with the black demonic claw grabbing towards his neck.
Upon collision, the demonic claw softened like liquid, seemingly trying to repeat the trick it used to send Lin Sheng flying just now.
"Petty trick!"
With a light snort, the green light on Huang Quan's claw intensified, directly enveloping Du Long.
"Mysterious Flood Dragon Gangsha!"
The green light enveloping Du Long surged to its extreme, then quickly contracted. Like chunks of meat entering a grinder, Du Long's body was immediately sliced into countless tiny pieces by the countless green lights.
However, despite suffering such a brutal attack, the black-scaled monster still did not die. Instead, wisps of black mist gathered on the countless fragments, connecting with each other, quickly rejoining the broken body, and re-forming into its original appearance.
"Alas... I knew it wouldn't be that simple!!"
Seeing this scene, Huang Quan couldn't help but sigh. Without waiting for the black-scaled monster to completely reassemble, he attacked again. A wisp of green light shot out, but this time, the black-scaled monster seemed prepared, opening its mouth and spitting out a ball of black mist that collided with the green light.
"You'd best not get close to this thing. This is not something you can handle right now."
Huang Quan said without turning his head. The object of his words was naturally Lin Sheng, who was quickly approaching.
However, Lin Sheng's arrival naturally did not escape the black-scaled monster's attention.
Lin Sheng could clearly feel that the pair of emotionless pitch-black eyes were now fixed on him.
As if stimulated, the black mist around the black-scaled monster surged even faster. A ball of black mist shot out, heading directly towards Lin Sheng.
However, it was blocked by a ball of green light just as it flew halfway.
Roar...
Seeing its attack obstructed, the black-scaled monster immediately let out a strange low growl, stomped the ground, and charged towards Huang Quan, who was blocking its way.
"Come, I'd like to see how much strength this lingering remnant still has!?"
Huang Quan also became angry. He had originally thought that after he showed his strength, the opponent wouldn't fight to the death, but unexpectedly, it was endless.
One person and one monster collided fiercely, both retreating several zhang away.
"You'd better leave here first and go to the nearest town to spread the news about the Phantom Demon Beast..."
"Okay."
Lin Sheng nodded decisively at Huang Quan's suggestion.
Judging from the strength displayed by the black-scaled monster, it had probably surpassed the Blood Transportation Realm, and he was currently unable to contend with it.
And the strength Huang Quan displayed also exceeded his expectations, clearly being more than just Blood Transportation.
Instead of staying here, it was indeed better to spread the news and let experts come to handle it.
After responding, he did not hesitate and turned to leave.
Seeing Lin Sheng leave, the black-scaled monster seemed to become increasingly impatient. The black lines on its cheeks twisted faster and faster.
Immediately, a large amount of black mist, much denser than before, erupted from its body.
"Is it getting serious now?"
Huang Quan's face was solemn. He took a deep breath, and the green light on his body became almost tangible.