One Qi Chaoyang

Chapter 173 172: The Lantern Bearer in the Mist
A ball of fire surged from Si Songnian's body, and he leaped up, flying towards the depths of the forest like a cloud of fire.

When he was in the air, he saw the fog in the mountains and forests clearing away, and vaguely he saw a huge snake crawling into the valley.

His Highness Zhou Xing and several other foundation-building monks chased after the white snake.

His Highness Zhou Xing was of course among those pursuing.

Si Songnian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as His Highness was fine, everything would be fine.

At that moment, he was so scared that he almost broke out in a sweat because he thought he had fallen into someone's trap.

Only after he saw Zhou Xing did he feel relieved.

A group of people rushed into the valley in a straight line, and were submerged in the mountain fog in a blink of an eye.

Si Songnian rushed to Zhou Xing with a flash of fire.

Then he said loudly: "Your Highness, don't worry. Let me go over and take a look first."

He chased after him, and the valley ahead became narrower and narrower, but he was not in a hurry because he was worried that he would be lured into chasing too deep, causing the prince behind him to be attacked by others, or he himself to be ambushed.

He was very careful. He paid attention to the front, following the breath of the snake, and paying attention to the movements of His Highness behind him.

He knew that if he could do well, he would certainly be rewarded, and his disciples would need Tiangang Spirit Liquid, spirit stones and other elixirs for their practice.

The prince's footsteps were approaching behind him, a series of messy footsteps breaking through the mist in the mountains. They stopped beside Si Songnian and looked at the cave in the valley.

"Okay, here, very good, Master Si has made a great contribution." Zhou Xing said happily.

The entrance to the cave was extremely smooth, and it was obvious that a large snake had been constantly entering and exiting the cave, with snake scales falling at the entrance.

"Your Highness, I have a way to make it difficult for this white snake to stay in this cave." Someone beside Zhou Xing said.

This man is good at spells.

"Okay, then please ask Taoist Yuan to cast a spell to let this white snake come out." Zhou Xing laughed.

Among his group, the only strong man who could really fight head-on was Si Songnian, who had extremely profound skills in the Red Flame Sword.

The others each have their own unique magic. This man is called Yuan Jiuquan, also known as Yuan Gu Master. His Gu curses are sinister and vicious.

After Zhou Xing said this, he picked up the white snake scale on the ground, then took out a piece of cloth from his Qiankun bag and spread the cloth on the ground. There were many gems on it.

But upon closer inspection, I found that those were not gems, but bugs that looked like gems.

Those gem-like insects were inlaid one by one on a piece of silk cloth, and on the cloth there were strange runes connecting each insect together.

And in the very middle, there is a pattern similar to an altar.

He placed the snake scale on the altar pattern in the middle.

Then he took out two more things from the treasure bag.

A dark-colored puppet and a human-skin rattle.

He placed the puppet on the sacrificial cloth. The puppet's eyes were extremely strange, dark and eerie.

Yuan Jiuquan sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, then opened them again, and shook the rattle in his hand.

As the rattle shook, there seemed to be light in one of the eyes of the rag doll lying on the cloth, as if the deepest resentment in its body was awakened.

The soul of a girl is imprisoned inside this doll.

That girl had a talent for raising insects since she was young and was called the Insect Girl. After she was killed by him, he captured her soul and then used secret techniques to refine it into a cursed doll.

The skin of the rattle is the girl's skin. When it is shaken, the cursed doll floats up and comes to the center of the cursed insect cloth, emitting black air.

The insects on the cursed insect cloth emitted a strange light, and the light gathered on her body. The cursed doll actually raised its hand and made a strange sound from its mouth.

A little bit of light fell on the scales below.

He knew very well that the snake would feel like it was bitten by insects all over after being hit by his spell. It would not be able to endure it at all and would definitely run away.

He shook the rattle again and again, and the strange light on the cloth gathered on the white scales.

In the cave, there was a huge roar of a beast, and the snake was as loud as a beast.

Zhou Xing smiled and thought to himself that he had made the right decision by inviting these people. Although some of them were not good in head-on combat, they were quite good in the art of hiding behind the scenes.

At this time, in the mountains and forests, the insects seemed to be awakened by some mysterious force, and they were extremely restless.

While in the cave, a huge snake rushed out from the other side of the mountain.

"Ha ha……"

Zhou Xing laughed loudly and said, "Master Yuan, you have great magic."

After saying that, he and Si Songnian rushed over. They chased all the way towards the depths of the mountains. When the snake first rushed out of the cave, its body was huge and grayish-white, but after entering the forest, its body quickly shrank.

There was no sound for a moment.

However, Zhou Xing took out a compass, which was a monster-hunting compass.

The pointer on it turned quickly and finally pointed in a certain direction. Si Songnian also looked at it and immediately went in that direction. In the midst of the scattered evil spirit, he couldn't tell where the big white snake had gone.

"there……"

The two men vaguely saw a small white snake in front of them, swimming quickly in the forest. It was like a fish in the water, not swimming on the ground, but moving through the void. The forest was dense and the snake was very small. Si Songnian and Zhou Xing could not catch up with it for a while.

Zhou Xing said, "Follow it closely. It is injured during its tribulation and cannot run far or fast. We should just follow it and drag it to death."

"Yes, Your Highness, we are not in a hurry." Si Songnian said.

He had rich experience in chasing and escaping, and knew that there was no need to be so hasty. He had to give the other party hope of escape, so that the other party would run desperately until he was exhausted and could not move, and would not be able to resist even if he wanted to.

Climbed over one mountain after another.

There are many monsters in Panshe Mountain, which was originally the place where a monster king who had formed an inner elixir was born.

But the Jindan demon king left later, and this place can be said to be ownerless. However, the demon king's departure did not mean that he gave up this place, but he was gone for a while, and no one could be sure whether he would come back in the future, so humans would not come to occupy this place, so there were many demons in this mountain.

Of course, humans often go into the mountains to hunt monsters, but they always come in secretly. Because of the large number of people, it will inevitably put huge pressure on the monsters in the mountains, making them think that humans want to kill them all, so a war between humans and monsters will occur.

The imperial court doesn't want to see this happen.

This time, the white demon in the mountain failed to survive the tribulation, so the demons in the entire Panshe Mountain were inevitably in panic. The snake roamed in the mountains and forests trying not to make any noise, but the people chasing it made quite a bit of noise.

Because Si Songnian needed to make this noise to intimidate the white snake and make it escape.

After passing another mountain, we reached the depths of the mountains.

A deep ravine suddenly appeared in front of us, and a white shadow instantly dived into the ravine.

Si Songnian frowned. He didn't like water because water magic would restrain his fire magic.

Of course, he was not very afraid, because he combined his fire magic with sword skills. Although the flames could not burn him, he could kill with the sword.

At this time, Zhou Xing also caught up with it. Looking at the deep ravine, he frowned and said, "If it escapes into here, it will be troublesome. But it doesn't matter. One of the people I brought has made a gourd of poison. If we pour it into this deep ravine, it will definitely not be able to hide."

"Your Highness has a far-sighted vision and a thorough plan. Your future is limitless." Si Songnian said half sincerely and half to flatter.

He really thought that the Forty-third Prince was good.

However, he looked at the mountain with caution from time to time and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. There are only some small monsters in the mountain now. There is no need to worry. This deep ravine does not lead to other places."

Zhou Xing smiled, looking at the deep stream and pond, and said, "Wait to harvest the dragon blood, and then collect the cat demon's true blood, which will be enough to gather the power to open up the Purple Mansion. After I open the mansion, I will definitely not forget the contribution of Master Si today."

However, they waited for a while, but the several foundation-building cultivators behind them still did not catch up. Among them, the cultivator he was waiting for, who had refined a gourd of deadly poison, showed no sign of catching up at all.

Zhou Xing couldn't help but look back, only to see that the road behind him was shrouded in fog, obscuring the future path. His heart sank and he sensed a hint of danger.

His eyes stared into the fog where they came from, and he felt that there might be something in there.

At this moment, a loud splash suddenly came from the deep ravine.

He turned around immediately, only to see a huge snake rising from the deep ravine, bringing up a huge wave. The snake was huge, but as it twisted, it turned into a slender white snake. A pair of strange arms stretched out from under the skin that was tightly attached to the snake's body.

The arm looked like a human's arm, but it looked strange and very long. Anyone who saw it could tell it was a monster.

The white snake with two arms fell back into the water and stood up again. Its tail was in the water, but its upper body was standing outside the water. Its cold eyes stared at Si Songnian and Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing instinctively felt the danger. Si Songnian was also a veteran in the world. At this moment, a strong sense of danger surged in his heart.

"Your Highness, something might have happened. I will stop this big snake later and you can find a chance to leave." Si Songnian said, but he didn't hear any answer. He turned his head to look at Zhou Xing, only to find that Zhou Xing was staring at the road he came from.

He also looked in that direction, and there was fog there.

At this time, it was already late at night. Stars appeared in the sky, the moon fell into the woods, and sparse light fell in the woods.

In the dark forest, there was only the rustling sound of the wind. At this moment, he also felt that there might be something in the fog. Zhou Xing had said before that someone was following him, but he had never seen him. He even doubted Zhou Xing's judgment.

Could there really be someone else? At this moment he already believed it in his heart, because given the current situation, he felt that he might have fallen into a trap.

Along the way, he was thinking about not falling into the trap, not being separated from His Highness, and not being separated by others. But even so, he still fell into the trap. He squinted his eyes, and fire flashed in his eyes. People who practice fire magic will have some ability to see through illusions.

Finally, he seemed to see a faint light in the mist of the forest. The light changed from a faint, illusory light to a clearer one as he focused his attention, and the light became more and more intense.

It's a lamp.

He saw clearly.

A man came out holding a lamp.

But he couldn't see the person holding the lamp clearly for a moment. The other person's face was not clear outside the flame. He could only see his hand holding the lamp.

The body seemed to be hidden in darkness.

"His Royal Highness the Prince of the Great Zhou is arresting the rebellious demon in the mountains. No one else is allowed to interfere. Who are you?" Si Songnian asked loudly.

The man holding the lantern ignored him and continued walking forward.

When he walked a certain distance, he stopped. The man's lamp did not seem to be bright, and even his face was not clearly illuminated.

But at this moment, Zhou Xing suddenly laughed and said, "I never thought that someone in this Great Zhou territory would dare to ambush and kill me. Who are you?"

The lamp holder remained silent.

"You are quite courageous. If you are willing to join me, I will give you ten times what the person who invited you gave you." Zhou Xing tempted.

The lamp holder remained silent, standing under the tree with a lamp in his hand, like a ghost.

Zhou Xing's heart tightened a little. The other party didn't say anything, so he couldn't judge what the other party was thinking.

However, he felt that the aura of the other party was not particularly strong, and he was in the same foundation-building stage as himself. If he was really in the foundation-building stage, he would not be afraid at all, so his heart began to relax again.

He couldn't help but say: "You came to kill me, but you are trying to save a snake that failed to pass the tribulation, a cultivator who is building a foundation. I'm afraid it will be a waste of your efforts. If you don't have anyone else, today I will let you know what the Royal Treasure Book is."

Behind him, a low growl was heard, followed by a voice, and it turned out to be the snake that spoke.

"I will kill this Purple Mansion monk first. Do you have the confidence to deal with that prince?"

The snake's transverse bones had actually dissolved and it was able to speak.

Generally speaking, the monsters in the world can only eliminate their transverse bones after they have passed the tribulation and formed the elixir. In human terms, they can only eliminate their transverse bones first if there is some special opportunity.

After hearing this, Zhou Xing looked at the person holding the lantern under the tree. The person holding the lantern still did not speak, but the light in his hand was flickering. At this moment, he saw the other person's face clearly. It was a round face, which did not match the temperament of the person holding the lantern at all.

The flickering light, like a sharp arrow in the darkness, pierced through the void and cut through the darkness. Before he could close his eyes in time, it had already pierced into his eyes. At that moment, he felt as if his eyes were stabbed.

This is burned by flames.

This thought immediately came to his mind, but he did not panic. His eyebrows suddenly cracked, and a fish-like eye appeared from his forehead.

(End of this chapter)