Daytime passed quickly, and soon it was night.
Zanxing flipped through the documents brought by the maid several times, but there was no useful information. The shark demon case files of Li’er Country read like a fairy tale, perhaps even less exaggerated than what was found in fiction, it seemed like they were almost praising the former monarch to the heavens.
Meng Ying and Mu Cengxiao had not returned yet. In the evening, Mu Cengxiao had sent another message via a transmission scroll. They had followed the Thousand-Mile Demon Toad to a mountain where dense demonic energy was detected. Upon reaching a cave entrance, the demonic energy disappeared. The disciples of the sect went into the cave together, following the clues provided by the toad to find the monster’s lair. It seemed they wouldn’t be back tonight.
Tian Fangfang and Men Dong were still outside. They were headed to a household deep in the mangroves, which was extremely difficult to find. The victim’s family consisted only of an eighty-year-old mother, who was now incapable of coherent speech and struggled to answer questions. It was estimated that by the time they returned with any information, it would be late into the night.
Gu Baiying was in the next room. He didn’t care for Zanxing’s presence, and she had no intention of approaching him either. She sat at the table, gazing at the flickering lamplight, feeling a bit dazed.
Another night passed, leaving only four days until the secret realm opened. The people in the sect were all busy hunting for the shark demon—a plotline that didn’t exist in ‘At the Summit of the Nine Heavens’.
After arriving in Li’er Country, she had never actively tried to change the storyline, but why did the plot still change?
The red marks on her palms hadn’t changed at all, but there was also no movement from the Xiao Yuan Pearl in her heart. The Xiao Yuan Pearl seemed dead as well. Zanxing couldn’t help but wonder if the all-powerful golden finger, which was clearly present in the original story, only worked briefly in life-or-death situations for her.
Not everyone deserved to be the protagonist.
Lost in these thoughts, Zanxing fell asleep unknowingly.
In the deep night, with the world silent, the night breeze slapped against the window, gently pushing it open a crack.
The wind slipped in through the gap, extinguishing the lamp on the table, plunging the room into darkness.
A dark figure crept in through the window crack, like flowing water, slowly climbing over the window frame and dropping to the ground. Guided by the faint moonlight, it gradually approached the figure hunched over the table.
The air seemed to chill, and the chirping of insects in the courtyard had disappeared, leaving only a deathly silence.
The elongated shadow spread across the ground like thin paper or a long rope, landing on the edge of the table. It then began to climb upward along the table leg, enveloping the entire table in darkness, as if it were about to devour it.
The tentacle-like shadow stopped above the person on the table, and a beam of moonlight cast on the wall revealed the silhouette of a sharp, skinny claw, eerily and silently reaching toward the person on the table.
Awooo—
The sharp, hoarse cry of a white cat exploded beside her, breaking the silence of the night sky. Zanxing’s eyes shot open, instinctively drawing the floral-patterned staff from her waist. With a loud bang, the window seemed to be pushed open forcefully, and a blurry figure swept past the window as if it were an illusion.
“Martial Uncle!” Zanxing grabbed the staff and ran out. Just as she stepped out, she saw Gu Baiying rushing out from the next room, chasing after the chilling wind.
Zanxing’s steps halted.
There were also people awakened in the neighboring courtyard. Shortly after, several palace maids walked over, asking Zanxing what had happened.
Zanxing shook her head, brushing them off with a few words before they left. After a while, she saw Gu Baiying returning with a silver spear in hand.
“Martial Uncle!” Zanxing approached him, asking, “Did you catch it?”
Gu Baiying shook his head, his expression somewhat stern.
The two fell silent for a moment. Gu Baiying glanced at her and said, “Come inside, let’s talk.”
Zanxing followed Gu Baiying into the room. Gu Baiying sat down at the table, furrowing his brow as he asked, “What happened just now?”
“I was waiting for Senior Brother Tian and the others to return, and I fell asleep while waiting. Then…” she paused, “I felt like someone entered my room. I really wanted to see who it was, but I couldn’t wake up.” It was like being held by a nightmare, yet she could clearly sense that feeling of being watched, like being wrapped by a cold, damp snake from head to toe.
“I really wanted to open my eyes and take a look, but I couldn’t move my body at all. Later, when Mimi called out, I found that I could move again.” Zanxing looked at Gu Baiying. “Martial Uncle, did you lose track of the creature? Was it very powerful?”
The disciples of the Taiyan Sect always praised Gu Baiying, and Zanxing never doubted his cultivation. But if Gu Baiying couldn’t catch the opponent, was the opponent exceptionally formidable?
Gu Baiying’s gaze turned slightly cold. “I didn’t sense any demonic energy.”
“Not a demon?” Zanxing was taken aback. “Then was it a human? But if it was a human, Martial Uncle, how did you lose track of them?”
For a cultivator to be outmatched even by an ordinary person would be quite embarrassing if word got out.
“Yang Zanxing, do you have the nerve to speak to me?” Gu Baiying was furious. “As a direct disciple of Xuan Lingzi, you were chased by a monster with no ability to fight back. If it weren’t for Silver Moon Lion waking you up in time, our Taiyan Sect would have had a disciple killed by a monster before even entering the secret realm!”
Zanxing: “…”
Mimi timely let out a cry, affectionately rubbing against Gu Baiying’s boots, as if strongly agreeing with his words. Zanxing thought to herself, this little white-eyed wolf, despite being fed so many qi-boosting pills, how could it turn against her like this?
She wanted to say something, but when she raised her hand, she found it was damp. Lowering her head, she saw a puddle of water on the table that she hadn’t noticed before. Not only on the table, but also on the floor from the window to the table, there was a long, wet trail, like the imprint left by some aquatic creature crawling over.
Zanxing couldn’t help but shiver, whispering, “Could it really be a shark demon?”
But if it was indeed a shark demon, what about the creature that Tan Tianxin and the others were chasing? Did this shark demon have the ability to clone itself? Or were there actually two monsters?
Gu Baiying stared closely at the water stains on the table, paused for a moment, then reached out to touch the water. After a while, he withdrew his hand and shook his head. “There’s no demonic energy.”
“That’s impossible, right?” Zanxing was astonished. “That black shadow just now, it didn’t look human at all.”
Just then, voices came from outside: “Junior Sister, Senior Uncle!”
The two turned around to see Men Dong and Tian Fangfang walking in.
They were both still covered in dew from the night, and Tian Fangfang asked, “It’s so late, why aren’t you two asleep yet?”
“We were waiting for you,” Zanxing stood up. “Did you have any gains today?”
Men Dong: “None.”
Tian Fangfang: “Some.”
Gu Baiying impatiently asked, “So did you or didn’t you?”
Tian Fangfang cleared his throat. “We did, but it seems like it’s not very useful.”