Catching Monsters

Chapter 573 Opening the Blind Box
In earlier years, Qiyushan was lush and green with an excellent ecosystem, but for some unknown reason, the trees withered and the animals in the forest fled the place.

The entire mountain gradually turned into a barren mountain, covered with snow all year round, a pure white expanse.

At this moment, halfway up the mountain, around the entrance of a huge cave, many temporary tents have been set up, and many experts of the fox clan have gathered here.

Hu Xinglan, the chieftain of the fox clan, was sitting in front of a tent, his face showing some excitement. After more than half a month of investigation, the fox clan had basically confirmed that the one sleeping deep in the cave was a saint of the demon race.

The reason they were able to find this place was entirely due to the three addresses Yan Jiu had seen in his dream. Soon, Hu Xinglan had someone bring Yan Jiu over.

"Yan Jiu, now that we've found this mountain based on your dream, did your dream offer any guidance on how to revive the Demon Saint?"

Yan Jiu sat down in front of the tent. There was a pot of hot water boiling in front of the tent. Hu Xinglan got up, poured a cup of hot water and handed it to Yan Jiu to help him keep warm.

Yan Jiu took the cup of hot water, took a sip, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I can't know for sure since I was in a dream."

"But since he's in a deep sleep, why don't you just wake him up, clan leader?"

Hu Xinglan chuckled and said, "You have already made a great contribution by helping us find the Demon Saint. I will have someone send you back to the Demon Kingdom to rest for now."

"Yes." Yan Jiu breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this. In fact, finding Qi Yushan was entirely thanks to Yan Jiu.

The fox clan took Yan Jiu on a journey through many high mountains in the northern grasslands, but none of them were the snow-capped mountains in Yan Jiu's dream.

After searching for a long time, we finally found this place.

After Hu Xinglan had his men take Yan Jiu away, an elder from the fox clan named Hu Hengping slowly walked over.

Hu Hengping, in human form, appeared to be around fifty years old, a tall and sturdy man. After approaching Hu Xinglan, he whispered, "Clan leader, are we just going to let that brat Yan Jiu return to the Demon Kingdom like this?"

"What if we need Yan Jiu's life to awaken the Demon Saint?"

"Foolish." Hu Xinglan frowned, glared at Hu Hengping, and said, "Right now, we have no idea which family's demon saint is sleeping here. What if the one here is not our fox clan's demon saint?"

"We still need Yan Jiu to find the resting places of the other two demon saints, so how can we kill him here?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Hengping nodded and repeatedly praised the clan leader for his wisdom. However, he couldn't help but say, "Clan leader, if what you say is true, what if the one sleeping here is a demon saint from the snake or tiger clan? Wouldn't all our hard work to wake him up be for nothing?"

Hu Xinglan certainly understood this principle, but resurrecting the Fox Saint was the goal of the Fox Clan for thousands of years.

Now that the goal is in sight, there is at least a one-in-three chance of awakening the sleeping demon saint.

Even if we take a step back and assume that the awakened one is a demon saint from the snake or tiger clan, having a demon saint who can contend with the dragon saint would definitely be good news for the fox clan.

After thinking it through, Hu Xinglan asked, "Have you figured out how to enter that formation?"

Once you enter the depths of this cave, you can get close to the sleeping demon saint, but the place to enter is protected by a magical barrier.

I wonder if it was set up by the Demon Saint.

Without finding someone knowledgeable in talismans and spells, there's simply no way to go in and awaken the Demon Saint.

Hu Hengping shook his head: "These past few days, all the experts in our fox clan have gone in to examine that talisman. Among our demon clan, there are very few people who understand talismans and spells."

"After all, that's something only humans study."

Just then, a tiger clan expert quickly ran over and said respectfully, "Clan leader, a group of Hu people are approaching Qi Yushan. They will arrive at Qi Yushan in about twenty miles."

"Hu people?" Hu Xinglan frowned upon hearing this and said, "Let our people transform into their true forms and scare them a little."

……

Jiang Yun and Linglong's group were approaching the snow-covered Qiyu Mountain, where the entire mountain, from the middle to the top, was covered in snow.

"The scenery here is quite nice." Jiang Yun rode on his horse with a relaxed expression, occasionally glancing at the surrounding scenery.

The blue sky, the lush green grass, and the distant snow-capped mountains create a truly breathtaking scene.

Linglong, who was standing next to him, had no interest in this. She rolled her eyes at Jiang Yun and said, "You still have such leisure time."

Heguka, along with his men, cautiously followed Jiang Yun and Linglong.

Heguka was filled with regret as he looked around at his many men, many of whom were badly injured, on horseback.

He took a deep breath, looked at Jiang Yun and Linglong, and couldn't help but say, "You two, my subordinate is seriously injured. I'll continue with you and let them go back to heal."

"They all have wives and children; if they die like this..."

Linglong glanced coldly at Heguka and said, "When you were robbing and killing, did you ever think about the fact that we both have families?"

"Didn't the people you robbed and killed have wives and children?"

"I've already shown kindness by not taking their lives outright."

Heguka wanted to say something like, "It's because of the pressures of life," but his Zhou language skills weren't very strong. After thinking for a long time, he could only say, "We need to eat."

The law of the jungle has always been the rule of survival on the grasslands.

They used to rob others because of their large numbers, but now that they've encountered two tough opponents, Jiang Yun and Linglong, they have no choice but to admit defeat.

Suddenly, a gust of demonic wind swept across the front, and two enormous foxes, taller than a person when they stood up, with red eyes, blocked their path.

Upon seeing this, Heguka and his men's expressions changed drastically; they were terrified and shouted in the Hu language, "Monster!"

"There are monsters."

"run."

Unexpectedly, the Hu people were so frightened that they no longer cared about Linglong and Jiang Yun's threats, and they turned around and ran away on horseback.

Compared to the threats posed by Linglong and Jiang Yun, the monster blocking their path appeared far more terrifying.

Unexpectedly, when Heguka saw his men turn and run away, he shouted loudly in Hu language, "Don't run, all of you come back!"

But his subordinates, who were usually respectful and obedient, were no match for the monster and ran away in a flash.

"They've escaped. Should we bring them back?" Linglong watched as the many Hu people fled and wanted to spur her horse to give chase, but Jiang Yun thought for a moment and shook his head: "It's no use wasting time on them."

But soon, Jiang Yun noticed that Heguka hadn't run away. Although his face was pale with fright, he stubbornly stayed where he was. "Why aren't you running?" Jiang Yun asked, somewhat puzzled.

Heguka said in a deep voice, "I am your prisoner, and according to the rules of the grasslands, I am at your disposal."

Previously, Heguka had been pleading with the two men to release his subordinates and had not signaled them to escape, which was for this very reason.

He's a person who follows the rules.

Jiang Yun rode his horse towards the two fox demons, whose cultivation level should be around the fourth rank.

Seeing Jiang Yun riding over, the two fox demons roared loudly and cast spells, creating gusts of demonic wind in an attempt to scare him away.

Jiang Yun smiled and said, "My name is Jiang Yun. I wonder if Brother Hu Yi is in Qiyushan?"

Upon hearing Hu Yi's name, the two demons exchanged a glance, and one of them slowly asked, "What is your relationship with Lord Hu Yi?"

"Please let them know, Brother Hu Yi should be coming to see me soon."

After listening to Jiang Yun's words, the two foxes whispered among themselves, and one of them stayed behind to watch over the three of them.

The other one quickly turned and ran towards Qi Yushan's direction.

"You recognize these monsters?" Heguka asked in surprise. "What are the identities of the two of you?"

Jiang Yun and Linglong did not answer Heguka's question. Linglong came to Jiang Yun's side and asked in a low voice, "What do you plan to do with this person?"

"I haven't decided yet." Jiang Yun shook his head. Initially, Jiang Yun planned to use the Hu people's group as cover to slowly approach Qi Yushan, and then sneak up to investigate the situation.

However, monsters have already appeared before we even get close to Qiyu Mountain, which means this method is no longer feasible.

There was no point in keeping this person around, so Jiang Yun said to Heguka, "You can leave now."

"You're not going to kill me?" Heguka was taken aback.

Jiang Yun calmly said, "I don't enjoy killing as much as you think."

To Jiang Yun's surprise, Heguka refused to leave, saying, "I am willing to follow you two. I don't want to do this plundering forever."

Heguka could tell that these two people were of extraordinary status. If he could use this opportunity to get close to them, it would be a great opportunity for him.

Hearing Heguka's words, Jiang Yun couldn't help but smile and said in a deep voice, "Do you know who we are? You're following us."

Heguka did not reply, but remained in place without making any move.

Seeing that the other party was not leaving, Jiang Yun stopped trying to persuade him. Not long after, he heard Hu Yi's hearty laughter from a distance.

"Hahahahahaha."

"Brother Jiang, what brings you to this godforsaken place?"

Hu Yi, dressed in a black fleece jacket and leather boots, strode towards Jiang Yun.

After Jiang Yun dismounted, Hu Yi gave him a big hug.

Jiang Yun said with a smile, "Brother Hu, don't you know my identity? With so many people from your fox clan gathered at Qiyu Mountain, the imperial court naturally had to send me here to investigate and find out what's going on."

Upon hearing this, Hu Yi turned around and looked at the two foxes behind him, saying, "Alright, you two go and keep watch elsewhere. We don't need to worry about this place."

Upon hearing this, the two foxes bowed to Hu Yi and then hurriedly left.

Hu Yi put his arm around Jiang Yun's shoulder and said, "That's easy. What do you want to know? Your older brother will tell you."

That's why people say Hu Yi is a bit thick-skinned.

He truly considered Jiang Yun a good brother.

"Let's go, let's go up the mountain and sit for a while."

On the way, Hu Yi readily told Jiang Yun about Qi Yushan's discovery of a demon saint.

Upon hearing this news, Jiang Yun already had some guesses in mind, so he didn't show any surprise.

But Linglong's expression was one of shock: Demon Saint!

Jiang Yun said with a smile, "Brother Hu Yi, you're telling me such a confidential matter like this? Aren't you afraid of being punished by the clan elders?"

Hu Yi waved his hand and said, "What kind of secret is this? Even if you send the message to the capital now, what can they do?"

"Soon our fox clan will be able to awaken the demon saint in this mountain."

"However, the elders say that they've encountered a small problem right now. There's a strange incantation inside the cave, so they can't enter for the time being."

"But it just so happens that you're an expert in this area, brother."

"It just so happens that I can go up there and help out."

Hearing Hu Yi's words, Jiang Yun did not refuse, but asked, "Are you sure that the demon saint in this mountain is the demon saint of your fox clan?"

"Who knows? Who cares which one it is? Let's wake them up first."

Jiang Yun was stunned for a moment: "You think this is like opening a blind box..."

At this point, Jiang Yun's heart skipped a beat. If the demon saint inside was from the fox or tiger clan, it would be fine. After all, he and these two clans, even if they weren't particularly close, were at least not enemies.

But if it's a demon saint of the snake clan...

It should be noted that the serpent clan chief was killed by Qu Wushang with a single sword strike at his own wedding.

How could the Serpent Clan Demon Saint not seek revenge for such a grudge?

Seeing Jiang Yun's preoccupied look, Hu Yi chuckled and said, "Hey, if you ask me, Brother Jiang, don't speculate wildly. Let's go into that cave and take a look first."

"Hmm." Jiang Yun nodded upon hearing this, narrowing his eyes slightly. If it was a demon saint from the snake clan inside, he would have to go in even more.

(End of this chapter)