Chapter 28
Looking at the jumping pointer on the demon-catching compass, Lin Queli’s mind went blank. His first instinct was to throw the compass away.
Fortunately, he reacted in time, quickly clutched the precious five-point integral again, and looked around nervously and warily.
But the surroundings were still silent.
Lin Queli swallowed hard.
Could this compass be broken? After all, it hadn’t moved all day. Now it was moving, but it was just spinning 360 degrees, not pointing him in any direction.
But this abnormality also made him feel creepy.
I should go back…
Swoosh—!
It happened in an instant. The next moment, Lin Queli saw the world spin before him, and when he came to, he had been thrown to the ground for some reason.
Lin Queli scrambled to his feet and saw that thick and thin tree roots had broken out of the ground, coming at him fiercely. They had even knocked over his donkey, which was why he had fallen.
Lin Queli didn’t have time to worry about anything else and immediately used a spell on the tree roots that were about to entangle the donkey.
“Run! Run quickly!”
He didn’t know if the donkey understood human language, but it was also terrified and ran away, kicking its heels.
Without the donkey, all the tree roots came at Lin Queli.
Just as Lin Queli was about to raise his hand, the prayer beads on his wrist suddenly flashed with a golden light. A fierce wind sent the flying tree roots flying!
The tree roots seemed to be intimidated by the spiritual energy of the golden light and actually turned to retract back into the ground.
Now that he had finally found a trace, Lin Queli naturally couldn’t let it run away. He used a spell and chased after the tree roots.
Lin Queli ran wildly through the forest. With the speed of the spell, he couldn’t see the surroundings clearly at all, only knowing that he was going deeper and deeper into the forest.
This tree root had countless “tree hearts” scattered everywhere. Only by uprooting them one by one could the tree demon be completely killed. Lin Queli could feel the increasingly abundant demonic energy. He had already entered the tree demon’s territory here, and there were tree roots everywhere.
The prayer beads on his wrist were shining brightly. He didn’t know if there were any tree hearts around here…
“Help…”
Lin Queli’s thoughts were interrupted by a cry of distress. He paused and saw an ancient tree on the side, wrapped in layers of tree roots and vines, making it almost impossible to see the trunk itself. And the tree roots were coiled around the branches, forming a cocoon-like hanging shape.
What shocked Lin Queli was that there were people wrapped in the “cocoons”! And there were two of them…!
Blood dripped from the cracks in the cocoons. The tree roots were devouring the people inside.
Lin Queli didn’t have time to chase anymore. He quickly stopped and used a spell to burn the “cocoons.”
After the cocoons were destroyed, Lin Queli saw a man and a woman covered in wounds. They looked similar and were about the same age as Lin Queli.
“Th-thank you…” The girl looked up and saw Lin Queli, but she was startled. “The-the aura of the Myriad Sword Sect! Why would you save us!”
It seemed that the girl was more afraid of Lin Queli than the tree demon. She struggled to back away. “D-don’t kill us…”
“A’Lin, look carefully!” The boy hugged the girl and comforted her, “That’s our clansman! Feel carefully, smell it. The aura of the Myriad Sword Sect comes from the magical tool, but his soul is the same as ours!”
A’Lin trembled and closed her eyes. A moment later, she breathed a sigh of relief. “R-really! A’Yu, a clansman has come to save us!”
Lin Queli’s eyes widened.
What??
Clansman?
No way…
After discovering that the two were demons, Lin Queli was a little scared at first. After all, the demons he knew were all cruel, especially since he had just witnessed what the demons had done in Zhaoming Village.
But the two before him were really harmless. Was it because they were injured? Or was it because they thought he was their clansman?
Lin Queli coughed dryly. “What are you doing here?”
A’Lin’s eyes were red. “We were attacked by the tree demon. Our companions were all captured. Only my brother and I managed to escape…”
She looked at Lin Queli with pleading eyes. “Can you help us save our companions?”
Lin Queli was in a difficult position. “I…”
He found it difficult to refuse their request, especially since they didn’t look like bad people. At this moment, they were kneeling before him, covered in wounds, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Maybe… maybe not all demons are bad people?
But as a disciple of the Myriad Sword Sect, and on this trip to please Helan Xue, to go and help the Demon Clan was too… too outrageous.
A’Yu hugged his sister and comforted her, “The tree heart is very dangerous, and the tree demon’s power is strong. This person may not be able to defeat it… It wouldn’t be good if we became a burden.”
Hmm?!
Lin Queli was delighted. “Your companions were captured and taken to the tree heart? You know how to get there?”
Seeing the two nod, Lin Queli was extremely happy. Good, good, good, this way I don’t have to struggle!
I have a reason to save them. After all, I’m looking for the tree heart!
“I’ll help you!”
So, Lin Queli went deeper into the bamboo forest under the guidance of the two.
On the way, Lin Queli healed their wounds. Fortunately, they only had superficial injuries.
A’Yu said, “We are from the Tiandi tribe. What about you? What tribe are you from?”
“Huh?” Lin Queli blinked.
He thought for a moment and then understood.
According to the System’s explanation, besides the unintelligent demons, the Demon Clan was divided into two types: evil cultivators and natural-born demons, who were divided into tribes.
Lin Queli said, “I am an evil cultivator, not a natural-born demon.”
He remembered that the original owner was overthrown by the natural-born demon, Elder Jin, later on because of this, who incited the people.
“Ah?” A’Yu moved closer and sniffed. “But your scent… is very pure, very similar to ours.”
Lin Queli blinked.
He thought for a moment and probed, “I am indeed an evil cultivator, unlike Elder Jin. You should know about Elder Jin, right?”
“Jin Chan…” A’Yu frowned. “Anyway, we are not on his side.”
Lin Queli blinked. “Then you follow the Demon Lord?”
“Not really. Whether it’s Elder Jin or the Demon Lord… anyway, they don’t care what us little people are going through… Their power struggles have nothing to do with us.” A’Yu said this with some resentment.
Lin Queli had originally wanted to ask what they had gone through, but then he thought, first, it would be suspicious to ask again, and second, these things… didn’t have much to do with him, who was going to run away at any time.
He just needed to make sure that the situation in the Demon Palace was still in a delicate balance, and that the fire wouldn’t burn him and expose him, so that he couldn’t complete the mission… right?
Lin Queli turned his head and looked around.
The tree heart was farther than he had imagined. Lin Queli didn’t expect them to walk out of the tree demon’s territory and back onto the ancient road.
A’Yu pointed at a mountain peak not far away. “The tree heart is there. This is just a temporary feeding area for the tree demon.”
“Oh…”
“Young Master Lin?!”
Lin Queli heard a familiar voice, and his soul almost flew out.
He turned and saw Qiansui and a few righteous young cultivators walking towards him.
Lin Queli looked at A’Yu and A’Lin nervously.
It’s over, it’s over…
Qiansui followed Lin Queli’s gaze and asked curiously, “Who are these two…?”
…Huh?
A’Yu glanced at Lin Queli and seemed to understand something. “I am A’Yu, and she is my sister, A’Lin. We were saved by fellow Daoist Lin.”
Lin Queli breathed a sigh of relief.
【Host, don’t worry. According to the lore, natural-born demons are not as easily seen through by the Righteous Path as evil cultivators! Otherwise, I would have reminded you long ago~】
Qiansui sensed Lin Queli’s emotions. “What’s wrong?”
Lin Queli cursed himself for not being able to hide his thoughts and scratched his head. “I… I was surprised! Yes, surprised that you guys came?”
“Young Ma… aiya, look at my mouth, I should call you Junior Martial Uncle!” Qiansui stepped forward and patted Lin Queli’s shoulder. “Little Junior Martial Uncle, my master was a little worried that you hadn’t returned to the team so late. He used the jade bracelet to find your aura and asked me to bring you back!”
Lin Queli thought to himself, so that standard-issue jade bracelet from the Myriad Sword Sect has this function…
Lin Queli said coyly, “What about Shizun? Did he give any instructions?”
Qiansui said with a smile, “Grandmaster is still outside setting up a formation, but he must be thinking of you in his heart!”
Bullshit.
Lin Queli pouted.
Helan Xue really hates me now. He doesn’t even care about me!
It’s okay. I’m about to give Helan Xue a shock and save our precarious relationship.
Lin Queli looked at Qiansui. “I can’t go back yet. These two’s companions were captured by the tree demon and taken to the tree heart. I have to go and destroy the tree heart.”
“…!”
“You know where the tree heart is?! Good, good, good… let’s go together!”
Lin Queli looked at A’Lin and A’Yu, then at Qiansui, and only felt… magical.
The identities of these two groups were too awkward…
In the past, the Righteous Path would kill demons on sight, and vice versa, but now they had to go and kill the tree demon together.
This…
Lin Queli silently prayed in his heart that he wouldn’t be exposed next, or else he would really have to pack up and go back to the Mount of Demons on the spot.
“Wow… I was here a few days ago. How come I didn’t find this road?”
Everyone followed A’Yu and A’Lin through the bamboo forest and into a small path. Qiansui said in surprise, “This is too hidden…”
The dense, towering trees around them almost blocked out the moonlight, and the ground was also covered in shrubs and grass.
A’Yu: “We only knew about this place because we were captured here. A’Lin and I were protected by our clansmen and weren’t completely entangled by the tree roots, so we escaped to get reinforcements.”
A’Lin: “Although we were captured again on the way, fortunately we met this… fellow Daoist?”
“Clansmen?” Qiansui asked curiously, “You guys…”
Thump—!
A sound came from the ground.
“Be careful!” A’Yu drew his dagger. “We’re very close…”
Just then, a bird flew through the forest and landed on Qiansui’s shoulder.
Qiansui said with pleasant surprise, “It’s Master! To be safe, I just sent my position to Master and asked him to come and support us…”
Lin Queli’s heart was in his throat.
No… if Shouyang comes, I’ll definitely be exposed! It’s impossible for Shouyang not to see the demonic aura!
Qiansui opened the letter. “Master said… huh?”
Qiansui’s face instantly darkened. He frowned and looked around, then his gaze fell on A’Yu and A’Lin.
“What did Master say? Grandmaster reminded him that there is demonic energy around us…?”
Lin Queli’s suspended heart finally died.
