Chapter 256: Evil Spirit Li Ruohai, a Familiar Demon
The wind howled and the rain poured down.
A group of knights were galloping on their horses in the wind and rain. The raindrops as big as beans hit their faces and caused pain. Both the man and the horse could hardly open their eyes.
But no one dared to slow down even a little.
Even though his eyes could only be squinted into a line and his vision was blurry, he still kicked the horse's belly desperately to urge it to go faster.
Hiss!
Suddenly, a horse's front hoof stepped into a mud pit, and as mud splashed everywhere, the horse's hoof broke with a click.
The horse let out a mournful cry, and its huge body flew into the air due to inertia, then fell headfirst to the ground with a loud bang, slid several feet away, twitched twice, and remained motionless.
With just this one blow, the horse broke its neck.
Fortunately, the knight on horseback reacted very quickly. When the horse stumbled, he stepped on the stirrups with both feet, flew up, swept away sideways, and landed steadily.
After landing, the knight looked back at his silent horse, and a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes.
But he had no time to reminisce about the warhorse that had accompanied him for many years. He drew out his long sword with a clang and roared resolutely:
"You go!"
He held the long sword in his hand, took big steps, and rushed towards the black fog that was rapidly chasing him from behind.
It was a thick fog as dark as ink, flying close to the ground, swift as a galloping horse, tumbling and twisting like a ferocious monster.
This team of knights galloping in the wind and rain were being chased by the black fog and had to flee for their lives in the heavy rain.
And at this moment.
The knight who lost his mount did not choose to jump onto his companion's horse and ride together with any of his companions.
Because doing so would only slow down their companion's horse and cause both of them to die together.
He chose to rush towards the black fog, using his own life to buy his companions some more... perhaps just a tiny bit of time to escape.
The companions did not slow down their horses.
No one even turned around to look at him.
Everyone is moving on.
But this does not mean that they feel at ease or even secretly happy that someone is covering their retreat.
There was a trace of grief and anger in the eyes of every knight who was running away.
Some knights had twitching cheeks, clenched teeth, and hot tears overflowed from the corners of their eyes, which quickly merged into the cold rain on their faces.
The knight who fell off his horse held his long sword down, facing the black fog, and walked with his back to the cavalry.
The distance between the two sides quickly widened.
Soon, the knight rushed into the black fog.
There were sounds of metal clashing, roars, and the sound of sharp blades entering flesh.
But after just three or two breaths, all the sounds stopped abruptly.
The black fog only blocked their way for three or two breaths before they continued forward, chasing the cavalry.
After the black fog passed, the knight intercepted its position, leaving almost no trace.
There were no bodies and no blood.
Only a broken blade stuck upside down in the mud tells of a brave warrior who once sacrificed his life here.
The cavalry was still galloping in the rain.
But riding a horse in the rain, the cold wind and rain not only make people exhausted, but also quickly take away the horse's physical strength.
No matter how hard they whipped the horses, their speed would inevitably slow down.
The black fog at the rear maintained a constant speed, following closely behind the cavalry.
As the cavalry slowed down, the black fog got closer and closer to them.
"Leave four."
Someone in the cavalry spoke in a low voice.
The voice was calm, seemingly indifferent.
The four knights at the rear of the cavalry jumped off their horses without hesitation, drew their swords, stood in a row, and turned to face the swirling and twisting black fog that was flying towards them.
No one turned to look at them.
The cavalry, with less than ten men remaining, gathered the four empty horses and continued to gallop without stopping.
But the four knights had no complaints.
Thunder roared again and lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating their iron-like faces.
kill!
The four knights roared like thunder, holding their long swords backwards, and rushed towards the swirling black fog.
As they disappeared into the black fog.
The exciting sound of metal clashing, the furious roars and growls, and the creepy sound of chopping bones and breaking flesh once again rang out from the black fog.
After only seven or eight breaths, all the sounds stopped again.
The black fog flew forward again. There was still no corpse or bloodstain left on the spot. Only a few pieces of weapon fragments fell into the mud and were soon submerged by the rain.
"Master..."
Someone in the cavalry ahead yelled:
"You can't run away anymore, go back and fight that monster!"
“Can’t stop.”
The calm and indifferent voice said lightly:
"We sacrificed dozens of our brothers and finally managed to lure the demon away. How can we just let it go in one go? Keep going and lure it as far away as possible."
"But……"
“No buts.” The calm and indifferent voice said in a low voice, “Liu Xuande brought more than 5,000 people with him… If we don’t hold out a little longer and let that demon go back… I’m afraid that so many people will not survive.”
Some people roared in unwillingness, but no one suggested turning back and fighting.
All the knights gritted their teeth and continued to flee with fire in their eyes.
And before they knew it, the black fog was less than a hundred feet away from them.
At this moment, a rider suddenly shouted, "Master, there is someone ahead!"
Boom!
A black horse suddenly accelerated and rushed to the front of the cavalry. The knight on the horse looked intently, his sharp eyes piercing through the wind and rain, and saw two people standing under a hill more than a hundred feet ahead.
One of the two men was a young man wearing brocade clothes and a jade belt, with a golden crown on his hair, he was tall and straight, with a handsome face.
One was a slender and graceful woman wearing a gorgeous long skirt, embroidered armor, a long whip around her waist, and a veil on her face.
Although it is difficult to see the woman's true appearance, just looking at her eyes that seem to contain the deep night sky and the bright stars gives people an indescribable charm, making people firmly believe that under her veil, there must be a peerless face hidden.
She stood gracefully in the wind and rain, holding an oil-paper umbrella with her slender white hands to shield the young man from the rain.
Most of her body was exposed to the wind and rain.
But when the rain fell on her, it was like encountering an invisible air shield, and it slid away diagonally before it reached her.
The woman seemed to be untouched by the rain; not even a hair of hers got wet.
It was windy and rainy in the wilderness.
A young man in gorgeous clothes and a stunningly beautiful woman.
Such a combination, such a location, and such a timing, all exude an air of weirdness.
so……
Are they human or demon?
As the cavalry galloped, they got closer and closer to the man and woman standing at the foot of the hill.
The leading knight stared at the man and woman who should not be there, and his right hand unconsciously clenched the two-meter-long spear hanging on the saddle.
The man and woman also looked at them quietly , with a hint of curiosity in their eyes.
But soon, they shifted their gaze and looked behind the cavalry, at the black fog that was getting closer and closer.
When they look away.
The leading knight's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and his powerful spiritual perception even made him feel a subtle sense of security.
Safety?
Why do I feel this way?
Just as they were wondering, someone in the cavalry suddenly shouted at the couple:
"Go, there's a demon!"
"It's too late..." a rider sighed.
At this moment, the leading knight saw the young man in gorgeous clothes suddenly smile, flicked his sleeves lightly, and a green light shot out.
The leading knight was startled and unconsciously clenched his spear again.
But the green light did not come towards them, but fell into the black fog behind them.
Immediately afterwards, earth-shaking roars, roars, crashes, and piercing sounds like steel twisting and cracking came from the black fog behind.
The ground shook violently, as if it had turned into the heaving surface of the sea.
The already exhausted war horses under the riders finally found it difficult to keep their balance. They neighed and staggered, swaying as if they might be knocked down at any time.
The riders were shocked and tried their best to steady their horses, but they could no longer let their horses gallop.
One rider looked back at the black fog, his pupils shrank, and he said in a trembling voice:
"What is that?"
All the knights, including the leading knight, looked back upon hearing what was said, and saw that the black fog that had swallowed up dozens of their brothers had been torn into pieces.
A giant green-scaled python that was nearly twenty meters long, with a gorgeous fleshy crown on its head and thorns on its back, was twisting and biting in the black fog, spewing out a blazing white cold current.
From time to time, a silver-white skeleton, as if made of steel, would be thrown out from the black fog and shattered before it hit the ground.
"Demons, demons fighting among themselves? "
One of the riders swallowed his saliva and spoke with difficulty.
The leading knight suddenly turned around and looked at the couple at the foot of the hill.
As if noticing his gaze, the young man in fancy clothes withdrew his gaze from the giant green-scaled python and nodded and smiled at him.
This smile is reassuring.
The leading knight took a deep breath and suddenly spoke:
"Li Ruohai, the leader of the Evil Sect, may I ask your name, sir?"
The leader of the evil sect, the "evil spirit" Li Ruohai?
Ni Kun looked at the middle-aged man on the black horse, who was holding a two-meter-long red spear, with a straight back and an extremely handsome face, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
This is Dongsheng Shenzhou.
It is a fragment of the world that has been completely captured by the extraterritorial demons and used as a place for the demons' trials.
In terms of nature, it is similar to the trial grounds of the immortal sects in the fairy tale novels of the previous life.
If this is the case, how could people from the reincarnation world accidentally come here?
Master Xuanzang never told me about this, it's really unreliable.
Ni Kun complained in his heart, but remained calm on the surface and smiled:
"I am Young Master Ni Kun."
He pointed at the giant green-scaled python that tore the black fog into pieces and crushed the silver-white skeletons into pieces, "That's the snake I raised. Master Li, may I ask what's going on with the skeleton in the black fog?"
Domestic snakes?
Who is the origin of this young man who calls himself Ni Kun, who is able to raise such a powerful monster?
Could it be that he is just like those demons that appear from time to time, wreak havoc, and then disappear without a trace?
However, his temperament seems to be completely different from those demons.
Even the aura of the giant green-scaled python was not like that of an ordinary demon, and it did not have that ferocious and bloody feeling.
Li Ruohai was shocked and suspicious.
But he was once a gangster tyrant, and he was very decisive. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but he remained calm and bowed to Ni Kun:
"That demon is a general under the command of Lady White Bone. We have been targeted by it. Dozens of our brothers have died in its hands, and some have even been turned into puppets by it..."
Lady Bones?
White Bone Demon?
That’s an acquaintance…oh no, a familiar monster!
However, Xuanzang set out from Jambudvīpa to Xiniuhezhou to seek Buddhist scriptures.
The White Bone Demon must be a demon from Xiniu Hezhou, how could it appear in Dongsheng Shenzhou?
Ni Kun raised his eyebrows:
"What is the origin of Madam White Bone?"
After hearing what Ni Kun said, Li Ruohai was even more surprised and suspicious. How could he not know about such a famous demon as Madam White Bone?
From out of town?
Or maybe…
Like himself and others, he came from a "different world" and was a newcomer?
While thinking about this, Li Ruohai spoke quickly and said in a deep voice:
“That White Bone Lady is a skeleton that has cultivated into a demon. Our exact origins are unknown. We only know that she is a concubine of a demon and has been catching blood for the demon to cultivate his magic.
"The black fog chasing us is Madam White Bone's general, the Thousand Bones Demon. Its true form is a ball of corpse fog, but it can take all those who are swallowed by it into the corpse fog and turn them into skeleton puppets..."
Just as he said this, another earth-shattering roar came from the place where the green-scaled giant python was fighting with the black fog. The earth shook violently, splashing mud several feet high.
The war horses ridden by Li Ruohai and others were also shaken to the point that their hooves went limp, and they fell to their knees on the ground wailing.
The knights quickly dismounted and calmed their mounts.
Li Ruohai had no choice but to stop talking, jumped off the saddle with his gun in hand, supported the horse's shoulder with one hand, and helped his beloved horse "Ti Ta Yan" to stabilize its body.
At the same time, looking towards the battlefield, he saw that the black fog had completely dissipated. On the ground, there were no less than hundreds of silver-white skeletons scattered all over the place, some of which were broken into pieces, some were twisted beyond their shape, and some were simply frozen into ice crystals. With a light sweep of the giant green-scaled python's tail, they collapsed into ice chips.
Seeing this situation, all the riders were shocked. Even Li Ruohai, who was usually calm and could remain calm even in desperate situations, had a flash of shock in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, the "Thousand-Bone Demon" who had chased them for two or three hundred miles and devoured dozens of their brothers, and seemed invincible, actually died just like that.
Not only were all of its skeleton puppets destroyed, but the corpse mist itself, which was said to be almost impossible to kill, also completely disappeared.
The giant green-scaled python that killed the Thousand Bones Demon looked completely unharmed, without even a single scale falling off.
While they were shocked and astonished, the knights also felt relieved.
Thinking of the dozens of brothers who were swallowed by the black fog, these men who remained calm at the critical moment of life and death, couldn't help but tremble their bodies and sob.
"Don't cry." Li Ruohai whispered, "Don't let your benefactor laugh at you."
After saying this, he put the red spear into the mud beside him, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply to Ni Kun:
"Thank you very much, benefactor, for saving my lives and avenging my brothers!"
The knights also clasped their fists and bowed deeply:
"Thank you very much, benefactor, for saving my lives and avenging my brothers!"
Ni Kun didn't say anything like "it's just a small effort, not worth mentioning".
Li Ruohai and his men lost dozens of their brothers, and to say that it was just a "piece of cake" would be unfair to their sacrifices.
At that moment he said seriously:
"Master Li, there is no need to be so polite. As a human being, if you encounter a demon wreaking havoc on others, you should help them. So, Master Li, why did you get targeted by the Thousand Bones Demon? Did he want to abduct you and feed you to the demon that Madam White Bones serves as blood food?"
"We..." Li Ruohai pondered for a while, and when he was organizing his words, his pupils shrank slightly again.
However, he saw that the giant green-scaled python, which was more than twenty feet long, suddenly shrank in size, and in the blink of an eye it turned into a beautiful girl with a slender body, wearing tight green scale armor, and walked towards Ni Kun in a swaying manner.
Xiaoqing could originally only transform into a ten-foot-long giant python.
But after taking the "Dragon Essence", her cultivation increased dramatically, and the Dragon Essence seemed to have a special stimulating effect on her blood, causing not only her body to grow rapidly in size, but also to transform into a twenty-meter-long green-scaled python. Some characteristics of a dragon appeared on her body, with a row of triangular spines growing on her back and a gorgeous fleshy crown growing on her head.
Even better, her cultivation had completely stabilized. She was no longer like before, where half of her body would turn into a snake's tail when she got excited.
Seeing Xiaoqing transformed into a human form, Li Ruohai was greatly shocked:
"Its transformation is so perfect, without any demonic features on its body, it looks no different from a human... It's nothing like those little demons, some with animal heads and human bodies, some with human heads and animal bodies, some with animal claws and hooves, some with tails behind their hips... This demon's cultivation is probably not inferior to that White Bone Lady! No wonder it was able to kill the Thousand Bone Demon!"
His spiritual perception was very sharp, and he did not sense the slightest bloody and violent aura from the girl who had transformed into a giant green-scaled python. He intuitively felt that this monster was a goblin that did not eat humans.
Ni Kun and the woman holding an umbrella beside him had pure and clear auras, and they didn't seem like bad people. They might even be monks from another world who had just arrived here and were not familiar with the situation here.
But some demons are very good at disguising themselves, and Li Ruohai did not dare to guarantee that his spiritual perception was accurate. The matter involved the lives of thousands of people, and he did not trust his own judgment. How could Li Ruohai dare to easily tell the truth? He pondered and said:
"We are also unlucky. We happened to run into the Thousand Bones Demon who came out to look for food, and were chased all the way here. If it weren't for the timely help from you, I'm afraid we would have been devoured by the Thousand Bones Demon and turned into bone puppets by it..."
Ni Kun had a strong spirit and a clear mind, and he could immediately see that what Li Ruohai said was not entirely true.
But he knew that his and Diao Chan's appearance was strange. In this deserted wilderness, anyone would be nervous if they met people dressed like him and Diao Chan.
What's more, he also raised Xiaoqing, a huge monster whose size alone was enough to scare people to death?
At the moment, he did not care about Li Ruohai's defense and just smiled at him:
"The demon has been eliminated. I wonder what Master Li's next plan is?"
Li Ruohai glanced at the silver-white skulls scattered all over the ground, a hint of sadness flashed across his cold eyes:
"Among those skeleton puppets, there are brothers from my Xieyi Sect. Although we can no longer identify them... we cannot just leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness. Next... we want to collect these corpses first."
Ni Kun nodded and said:
"We still have to hurry on our way. In that case, Master Li, we will say goodbye now and see each other again if we are lucky."
After saying that, he nodded slightly to Li Ruohai and others, then turned and left with Xiaoqing and Diao Chan.
Looking at the backs of Ni Kun and the other two as they walked away, Li Ruohai couldn't help feeling ashamed.
This person was their savior, yet he lied to him. How could he not feel ashamed?
However, compared with the lives of thousands of innocent people, this personal guilt is insignificant.
After watching Ni Kun and the other two disappear into the wind and rain, Li Ruohai called out to the remaining brothers in the sect and asked them to collect the bones scattered on the ground.
"Young Master, Li Ruohai didn't tell the truth." Diao Chan said softly.
"Yeah, I noticed that." Ni Kun said calmly, "But it's normal for us to be suspicious. What's more, Xiaoqing is so scary."
Xiao Qing curled her lips in disdain: "Tsk, they don't even think about it. If I really want to harm them, I can just sweep my tail and they will all be crushed into pulp."
Ni Kun smiled and said, "What if they are not doing this for themselves?"
Diao Chan said: "Sir, what you mean is..."
Ni Kun said: "Although Master Xuanzang provided general information, he was not very clear about many details. We have just arrived and don't even know where we are. We need to find someone to find out.
"Li Ruohai and the others have been in great trouble, and they are very defensive now. Even if we save their lives, they will probably not tell us too much truth for their greater goals.
"So let's secretly follow Li Ruohai and see where they are going. I hope we can find more people..."
