Wandering Swordsman |

"Could this high wall hold some special significance? Or is the mummified corpse confined within a hundred meters of the wall by some force, guarding it?" Shen Mo muttered to himself, his mind filled with questions. He knew that the answers to these questions might hold the secrets of the entire Demon Refining Mountain, but he didn't have time to delve into them now. His most urgent task was to find Yue Linglong and Xie Xin and ensure their safety.

Just as Shen Mo was lost in thought, a faint sound suddenly came from ahead. He immediately stopped, held his breath, and listened carefully. The sound seemed to be a low roar, mixed with the sound of trees breaking, as if some huge creature was approaching. Shen Mo's heart pounded. He knew that it was most likely the demon-refining beast that had just fled.

He quickly looked around, searching for a place to hide. Not far away stood a huge ancient tree, its branches and leaves dense enough to conceal a person's figure. Without hesitation, Shen Mo ran towards the tree, nimbly climbed up, and tried to hide his body among the branches and leaves as much as possible, immediately using the Turtle Breathing Technique to conceal his aura.

He then peered through the gaps in the dense foliage to observe the outside world, preparing to deal with any potential crisis at any time.

Soon after, a demon-refining beast slowly came into view. Its appearance was ferocious and terrifying, and each step it took was accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground.

The demon-refining beast seemed to be searching for something, constantly looking around and occasionally letting out a low growl.

Shen Mo knew that if this demonic beast discovered him, he would be in danger. So he forced himself to remain calm and avoid making any noise, suppressing his racing heart.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, each second feeling like an eternity. Finally, after a long search, the monster appeared to lose interest and turned to leave.

Seeing the monster leave, Shen Mo breathed a sigh of relief and slowly climbed down from the tree.

He knew he couldn't stay there any longer and had to leave this dangerous area as soon as possible.

Just as he was about to continue forward, he suddenly heard a faint shout coming from afar, which stirred his heart.

After a moment's thought, he quickly walked in the direction the sound came from. Because in this perilous Demon Refining Mountain, only by uniting all the survivors could there be any hope of survival. Having witnessed the Demon Refining Beast and the dried corpse firsthand, Shen Mo was more convinced of this than ever before.

As the footsteps drew closer, the faint cries for help became clearer. Shen Mo quickened his pace and soon found the source of the sound in a clump of grass—a young man lying in a pool of blood. His clothes were tattered, multiple wounds on his body were bleeding profusely, his face was as pale as paper, and his breathing was rapid and weak.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Shen Mo rushed to the young man's side, knelt down on one knee, and began to examine his injuries. He discovered that the young man's left leg was broken, and there were several deep claw marks on his right arm, clearly caused by an attack from a demon-refining beast. Worse still, he had a penetrating wound in his abdomen, from which blood was gushing out, staining the surrounding grass red.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Shen Mo immediately took out some emergency medicine and bandages from his pocket and began to treat the young man's abdominal wound.

He used his internal energy to temporarily seal the blood vessels near the young man's wound, slowing the bleeding. He then carefully cleaned the wound, applied hemostatic medicine, and finally bandaged it tightly. Next, he treated the young man's leg fracture, finding two tree branches to use as splints to immobilize the broken bones and prevent further displacement.

As his wounds were being treated, the young man slightly opened his eyes and saw Shen Mo's face. A flicker of gratitude and surprise crossed his eyes. The young man said weakly, "You're the captain of the Moon Demon Pavilion!"

"That's right." Shen Mo nodded, his tone calm yet firm. "What's your name? How did you end up here all alone, suffering such serious injuries?"

"My name is Su Ming, and I'm from the Blood Demon Pavilion," the young man said breathlessly, his eyes filled with gratitude. "I was originally with the others, but we encountered the Demon-Refining Beast. To get rid of it, the others deliberately left me behind. During the Demon-Refining Beast's attack, I barely managed to escape here using my family's lightness skill. If I hadn't met you, I probably would have really died here."

Shen Mo carefully examined Su Ming, a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old. Despite his serious injuries, his brows still revealed a stubborn and indomitable spirit. His face was somewhat immature, but his eyes held a maturity and resilience beyond his years.

"Don't speak yet, conserve your energy," Shen Mo comforted him, while continuing to treat Su Ming's wounds. "Once you've rested for a while and recovered somewhat, I'll find a way to get you away."

After treating all the external injuries, Shen Mo gave Su Ming a pill to help him recover his strength and internal injuries. The pill melted instantly in his mouth, and Su Ming felt a warm current slowly flowing into his body, which seemed to alleviate the intense pain he had been experiencing.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, brother!" Su Ming's eyes welled up with tears, which slid down his cheeks. "May I ask how you should address me, brother?"

"You're older than me, just call me Shen Mo." Shen Mo gently patted Su Ming's shoulder.

Although Su Ming was still weak, his gratitude was overflowing. He shook his head and said, "Brother Shen, the debt of saving my life has nothing to do with age. I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life." His voice was weak, but every word was full of sincerity.

......

After a brief exchange, Su Ming regained some of his strength. Shen Mo offered to take Su Ming away from there to find a safe place to rest.

As they proceeded cautiously, they unexpectedly discovered a horrifying scene—several corpses along the way.

The corpses lay scattered on the ground, their postures contorted, clearly indicating extremely gruesome deaths. Some had their heads shattered by some immense force, brains splattered everywhere; others had their chests ripped open, internal organs exposed; still others had their limbs severed, as if they had been viciously mauled by wild beasts. Judging from the marks on their wounds, most had been killed by demon-refining beasts.

"This..." Su Ming's face turned even paler. He recognized these corpses as some of his companions who had abandoned him not long ago. "It seems they ultimately failed to escape the pursuit of the demon beasts."

Shen Mo silently gazed at the corpse before him, his brow furrowed, a deeper understanding of the dangers of the Demon Refining Mountain forming. Every inch of this land seemed to tell a story of death and despair. He gently patted Su Ming's shoulder, comforting him, "Don't think too much. Living is the most important thing."

However, seeing that everyone was dead, Su Ming suddenly remembered something important. He turned to Shen Mo, a determined glint in his eyes: "Brother Shen, I have important news to tell you. Before our group encountered the Demon-Refining Beast, we discovered the location of a totem. We only encountered the Demon-Refining Beast on our way back to deliver the message. Now that I see these people's corpses here, I can confirm that they ran towards the direction of the totem they discovered, so Tu Yuliang and Lü Yan probably don't know the location of that totem yet."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo's heart stirred. If he had a totem as a base, he would have a greater chance of surviving in the Demon Refining Mountain in the days to come.

He immediately asked Su Ming for directions.