Chapter 119: The Mysterious Woman

"Pfft!"

A flash of fiery red light streaked by, and a monster with snow-white skin and a pitch-black horn was cleanly cleaved in two. Chen Yiyan swung his twin axes and glanced behind him.

Ye Zihan had just pulled out a talisman, chanting under his breath. He dodged a massive bird wreathed in black flames that had lunged at him, then slapped his hands onto its head with lightning speed.

"Screech!"

As soon as the talisman touched the creature, pale blue lines burst forth, wrapping around it. The blue threads sizzled against the bird’s black flames, and the creature, previously ferocious and imposing, let out a piercing, miserable shriek.

Under such an attack, the bird’s inherent malice flared, and it struggled violently, attempting to break free from the binding blue lines.

"Hmph! Still trying to resist? Submit!"

With a cold snort, Ye Zihan moved, his palms—blurring into layers of afterimages—striking the bird’s back with brute force.

A dull thud echoed. The struggling bird gave a violent shudder, the black flames on its body shrinking by half, before the blue threads finally pulled it entirely into the talisman.

"Haha! Congratulations, Brother Zihan, on subduing another Tier 6 demon!" Chen Yiyan, having turned back to witness this, laughed in congratulation.

A smile appeared on Ye Zihan’s face as well. The Demon Abyss was a place of perpetual gloom where time could only be judged by feeling; he estimated they had been inside for nearly two days, yet the place showed no sign of ending.

Along the way, they had encountered countless demons. At first, the strongest were only Tier 4, but later, Tier 5 and Tier 6 creatures began to appear. The Tier 3 and 4 demons were as common as weeds; they were so numerous—sometimes in the hundreds or thousands—that Ye Zihan and his companions had no choice but to bite the bullet and skirt around them, barely daring to breathe.

The only saving grace was that these Tier 5 and 6 demons acted alone. Had these high-tier creatures also roamed in packs, Ye Zihan would have turned around and left without a second thought. But against these arrogant, solitary beasts, the group held nothing back, either subduing or slaying them, and they had gained quite a lot on their journey.

"It seems those two are in trouble," Ye Zihan said, gesturing toward two skirmishes not far ahead.

The people involved were Yan Chen and Lin Dong. When they first entered the Demon Abyss, Mo You had been dismissive of the danger, insisting on taking the lead to carve a path, but it had fallen silent the moment they encountered a herd of a thousand Tier 4 Fire-Prison Cattle. Too embarrassed to admit defeat, it had simply shrunk itself down and retreated into Ye Zihan’s sleeve to sleep.

"I’ll lend you a hand!"

Chen Yiyan charged in, twin axes in hand, striking at the two Tier 5 Thousand-Eye Frogs that were tangling with Yan Chen.

The two frogs had been focused entirely on attacking Yan Chen, never expecting an ambush from the rear. One frog dodged Yan Chen’s sword only to collide with Chen Yiyan’s axe, instantly being split in two.

"Damn it! Cowardly!"

The demon, which possessed rudimentary intelligence, roared in low, human-like speech, its bulging eyes glaring at Chen Yiyan until they nearly popped out of their sockets.

"You brought this on yourselves! Die!" Yan Chen shouted. Although these Thousand-Eye Frogs weren't exceptionally strong, they could spew venom that even experts in the Spirit-Condensation Realm feared. Facing two at once had put Yan Chen in a tight spot, but with one eliminated, the pressure on him vanished.

His pent-up frustration flared. He danced his longsword, and a whirlwind of sword blossoms swept over the remaining frog.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

With several dull thuds of steel piercing flesh, Yan Chen shook his arm to dislodge the frog’s carcass from his blade. He then extracted the demon core and tossed it to Ye Zihan; a Tier 5 core was a decent snack for Mo You.

Just as Yan Chen finished, Lin Dong, assisted by Chen Yiyan, also took care of a dozen demonic silk-borers.

"Alright, everyone rest a moment, then we push on," Ye Zihan said, seeing that everyone was unharmed.

"No need. I haven't even warmed up yet! If time and place allowed, I’d have slaughtered those two beasts myself—they’ve made my sword stink!" Yan Chen refused, holding up his Qingfeng sword, which was coated in a foul-smelling liquid.

"Brother Zihan, we haven't been this embarrassed by the obstacles ahead, so I think we’d better get out of this hellhole as soon as possible," Lin Dong and Chen Yiyan agreed.

Ye Zihan considered this for a moment and nodded. "Fine, since everyone is in agreement, let's move out!"

With a unanimous decision, the group continued deeper into the Demon Abyss.

"Whoosh!"

Shortly after they left, a dense fog slowly shrouded the area they had just vacated. A woman with black wings on her back and a red cloak appeared out of thin air.

Her face was one of legendary, devastating beauty, but her arms were a shocking sight. While she had a curvaceous figure, her left arm was abnormally thick, wreathed in wisps of demonic energy that made one’s skin crawl.

"More playthings sent in by those old fossils. Heh heh, it’s been so long since I’ve stretched my limbs. Since I’ve finally awakened, I’ll use you lot to practice..." The woman gave a sweet smile, watching the direction in which Ye Zihan and his companions had departed, letting out a laugh as harsh as glass scraping against glass.

With that, her blood-red cloak swirled, and a fog enveloped her, allowing her to move rapidly in pursuit of the group.

Suddenly, Ye Zihan’s heart skipped a beat. A surge of inexplicable unease rose within him. He couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, but his chest felt suddenly tight, making it hard to breathe.

"What is it, Brother Ye?" Lin Dong, walking on his left, noticed the change immediately and asked with concern.

Hearing this, Chen Yiyan and Yan Chen turned around.

"It’s nothing. I just felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of unease, though I can't say why. I just feel a bit stifled," Ye Zihan admitted.

"Boss, don't tell me you've formed a telepathic link with some old flame? She misses you, you miss her—it all clicks into place?" Mo You floated out from Ye Zihan’s sleeve, grinning cheekily.

"Haha, I think he’s onto something," Yan Chen chimed in with a wicked smile.

"Get lost!" Ye Zihan waved his hand, speechless. Mo You and Yan Chen were becoming increasingly unreliable.

Yet, their bickering broke the heavy silence, and Ye Zihan felt his anxiety subside significantly.