Chapter 299: Look to See If You Die

Ji Yuan was slightly surprised by the ox demon's reaction.

Even though Ji Yuan had been to the inn, the ox demon, while not slow, hadn't used any sophisticated escape techniques. There were still many ways to catch up. However, it was also possible that the ox demon misunderstood, thinking Ji Yuan was deliberately waiting there.

"I have been to Yuanqi Inn in the city..."

Hearing Ji Yuan's admission, the ox demon relaxed slightly but still asked,

"Then where did you get this hair from? Was it in the inn?"

Ji Yuan found this question puzzling.

"You don't know that this hair was dropped in the inn?"

To Ji Yuan's surprise, the ox demon immediately retorted with a question of his own.

"Oh, it's good that you got it from the inn. I thought... Hmm, you really don't know whose hair this is?"

They looked at each other in silence for a moment.

Seeing Ji Yuan's calm face and unwavering, pale eyes, the ox demon inexplicably sighed in relief.

"Phew... A human cultivator with such a peaceful demeanor as yours wouldn't lie carelessly. It seems you really haven't seen her, nor do you know her!"

Ji Yuan was still confused by the situation. Although his doubts were significant, he merely frowned.

"Why do you say that? And who are you so wary of?"

At this point, a thought suddenly struck Ji Yuan. The ox demon wasn't riding a demonic wind or using any swift escape techniques; instead, he was moving rapidly close to the ground, concealed by a method more sophisticated than a mere illusion. Ji Yuan looked at the hair in his hand and blurted out,

"You've been moving like this all along. Are you trying to hide from it?"

"If not hiding from her, then who? You?"

The ox demon scoffed, looking Ji Yuan up and down.

"I advise you, quickly discard this ominous hair. That one is not to be trifled with. This hair is like it's alive; the longer it gets, the closer she is. I'm leaving!"

The ox demon pointed to the back of his neck and then prepared to move again. As he passed, Ji Yuan stared intently at the back of his neck, noticing a tuft of fine, dark brown hair growing there, similar in color to the one in Ji Yuan's hand.

It appeared the dark brown hair in Ji Yuan's hand was something the ox demon had pulled directly from his own neck.

"You don't seem like an evil demon full of malevolent energy, so why are you carrying a woman on your shoulder? If you're trying to evade an enemy, wouldn't carrying someone be a burden?"

Ji Yuan stood up and, with a single step, was carried forward by a gentle breeze, appearing in front of the ox demon and blocking his path.

The ox demon dodged to the side and tried to move forward, but Ji Yuan blocked him again. He tried several directions, but it was no use.

"Are you done or not?! So what if you have some cultivation? You're a cultivator, do you understand what a 'celestial trap' is for mortals? They made the first move on me, this old ox. Since they're ill-intentioned, their death would be well-deserved. I'm not eating or killing her; I'll release her later."

"Then why did you abduct her?"

Ji Yuan asked, somewhat surprised.

"I... I'm taking her to teach her a lesson! I'm the victim who was set up; can't I even teach her a lesson? That's outrageous! Don't keep blocking me, or don't blame me if I make a move."

Ji Yuan's eyes grew more suspicious. He couldn't help but scrutinize the ox demon from head to toe. His gaze briefly lingered on the demon's face before being drawn to the tuft of brown hair on the back of its neck, which was now strangely elongating.

The hair's growth was bizarre; not only was it fast, but it also wriggled out from beneath the collar on its own, looking quite terrifying.

"Oh no, I can't suppress it anymore! She must be here!"

The ox demon cried out, then reached back and tore off the long hair from his neck. After casually tossing it by the roadside, he exhaled a puff of greenish mist into his palm, gripped it, and slapped it hard against the back of his neck. Amidst faint flickering auras, the rampant growth of hair on his neck was suppressed.

After a moment of stunned silence, Ji Yuan suddenly sensed something and turned blankly to look in the direction he had come from.

"This is bad, Yan Fei!"

Ji Yuan couldn't be bothered to waste more words on the ox demon. Since the demon seemed preoccupied, Ji Yuan instantly appeared right in front of him.

The Qing Teng Sword's qi radiated from his back, a sharp hum filling the air. Under its piercing edge, the ox demon's illusionary art shattered instantly. Ji Yuan, with a flick of his sleeve, took the woman from the ox demon's shoulder while the latter was caught off guard.

Without stopping, Ji Yuan then circled around the ox demon and rushed back along the path he had come, enveloped by a swift breeze like a swimming dragon, moving with incredible speed.

"Bastard! You, a cultivator, are snatching women!"

The ox demon raged behind him, hot white steam puffing from his nostrils. Ji Yuan merely glanced back at him as he sped away, too lazy to waste words, not even pausing his steps.

This ox demon was not inherently evil and carried little malevolent energy. Furthermore, his cultivation was not shallow. A fight with him would be troublesome. The crucial point was that without using a killing blow, he likely couldn't be subdued, but using one would almost certainly kill him. With Yan Fei possibly in trouble, Ji Yuan naturally prioritized returning.

"You, you, you, you..."

The ox demon saw that Ji Yuan was completely ignoring him and had instantly vanished far away. In his fury, he wanted to give chase but hesitated, touching the back of his neck. This hesitation meant that by the time he reacted again, Ji Yuan's figure was almost out of sight.

Ten li northeast of Nandao County, Yan Fei was currently engaged in a fight.

Four strange figures surrounded Yan Fei. With long nails and gaunt faces, they were sluggish in appearance but not slow, leaping and flailing as they attacked him.

Yan Fei moved swiftly, his long sword swirling and slashing in his hand. Fierce killing intent permeated the air as he unleashed six or seven strikes at once.

"Clang, clang, clang..." "Thud, thud, thud..."

After parrying the claw attacks of two of the strange figures, Yan Fei inflicted several deep, bone-visible cuts on one of them. However, the opponent seemed impervious to pain and continued to attack Yan Fei despite the injuries, even attempting to grapple him directly.

Yan Fei pivoted on his foot, leaping back some four or five zhang, showering the air with a flurry of sword shadows as he moved.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

"Are you human or ghost? Why are you attacking me?"

Yan Fei asked, but before he could catch his breath, his opponents attacked again. He had no time to recover and could only raise his sword to meet them once more.

These strange figures were incredibly fast and impervious to pain. Yan Fei was initially forced into a very difficult position, but now he had adapted to their encirclement. Seeing that their combat skills were disorganized and their reactions sluggish, he became more at ease.

After a graceful leap and somersault using his Qinggong, Yan Fei spun in mid-air and swung his sword, decapitating two of the strange figures.

The two headless bodies swayed for a moment before collapsing to the ground.

'Good, they can die!'

Seeing the bodies fall, Yan Fei felt greatly relieved. Two were dead, making the remaining two much easier to handle.

Just as he was thinking this, a peculiar scent suddenly wafted into his nostrils, immediately blurring his vision. Yan Fei's years of experience in combat in the martial world had instilled in him a conditioned reflex.

At that instant, his footwork erupted, and he leaped sideways using his Qinggong. But while still in mid-air, he felt a rope entangle his waist, pulling his body in another direction.

Simultaneously with the shift in his position, before his eyes could even register, Yan Fei had already swung his sword forward. But the blade felt as if it struck highly resilient leather; it simply could not cut through.

It was then that Yan Fei looked down and saw what had coiled around his waist.

'Hair!?'

While Yan Fei was still in shock and confusion, a pleasant, melodious female voice drifted to him.

"Before I could catch that old ox, I ended up catching a thorny little pretty boy like you first! Hahahahaha..."

On a large locust tree at the edge of the woods a short distance away, a woman was seated. Her hair was terrifyingly long, and one strand had stretched out to coil around Yan Fei, quickly dragging him towards her.

As Yan Fei looked, the woman glanced back. Their eyes met, and Yan Fei felt his mind blur again, the peculiar scent in his nostrils growing stronger.

A fierce ghost? A demon?

Various thoughts flashed through Yan Fei's mind. With a sliver of lucidity, he quickly pressed several acupoints on his body and circulated his internal energy to seal his nostrils.

"It's useless, utterly useless, hehehehe...."

Yan Fei forced his *zhenqi* to try and stay conscious, but he still felt drowsy.

"Zheng—"

A resonant sword cry rang out, and to Yan Fei's eyes, there was a blinding flash of silver light.

"Ah..."

The woman's scream reached Yan Fei's ears, and at the same time, the pulling force on his body suddenly eased, causing him to fall.

When Yan Fei landed, he was already steadied by someone. He felt a cool, gentle energy flow into his body from behind, and the drowsiness instantly vanished.

Yan Fei shook his head and looked behind him. It was Ji Yuan standing there.

"Mr. Ji!"

"Mm, you've been enchanted by a demonic evil. Sit down and circulate your energy."

As Ji Yuan spoke, his attention was focused on the woman who had fallen from the locust tree. Compared to the ox demon, this woman clearly exuded a powerful, overwhelming demonic aura.

The Qing Teng Sword itself had less precise control, so when executing weaker or more subtle sword techniques, Ji Yuan always wielded it himself.

The sword strike just now was very restrained because of Yan Fei's close proximity, yet this woman could still sit up and glare at them resentfully. It was quite remarkable.

The fallen woman had just taken a sword hit, dispersing her previous demonic energy. But now, malevolent energy mixed with demonic qi permeated the air. The surrounding light and shadows seemed influenced by the demonic qi, making the night colors appear deeper and heavier, while only her pair of long, narrow eyes glowed eerily.

At this moment, Ji Yuan's left hand, holding the sword, was behind his back, with only a corner of the divine sword's hilt visible. His right hand rested casually at his side, ready to draw the sword at any moment. Though his expression was calm, he was, in fact, paying utmost attention.

Distracted for a moment by Yan Fei, a yellow paper talisman floated out from Ji Yuan's sleeve.

With the command, "Summon the Warrior," an extraordinarily robust golden-armored warrior appeared beside Ji Yuan and bowed to him with cupped hands.

"Your Excellency!"

Ji Yuan gave the warrior a sidelong glance and casually instructed,

"For now, look after Grandmaster Yan."

"By your command!"

The golden-armored warrior slowly straightened up, taking a step to stand in front of Yan Fei, his crimson face devoid of expression.

Ji Yuan was prepared for a fierce battle. If the situation turned unfavorable, he would first exert all his strength to kill the demoness.

However, events took an unexpected turn. Upon seeing Ji Yuan summon the golden-armored warrior, the evil demoness's anger and hatred seemed to clear somewhat.

She carefully observed Ji Yuan, then noticed the divine sword behind him, emitting a faint green glow. The woman froze for a moment, and her expression suddenly changed dramatically.

"Qing Teng Divine Sword! You are Ji Yuan!?"

"Oh?! You actually recognize me?"

Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, observing the woman whose demonic aura seemed to become quite chaotic after his words.

It was at this moment that a cow's bellow accompanied by maniacal laughter came from behind Ji Yuan.

"Hahahahahaha... Strike her while she's down, thank you, Mr. Ji, for your help! Moo—"

A flash of yellow light streaked across the sky, and the phantom of a giant hoof stomped towards the woman's location.

The ground trembled, and dust swirled around the woman's position. Ji Yuan stood motionless in the swirling wind, and the golden-armored warrior, apart from shielding Yan Fei from dust and debris, remained completely unfazed.

The giant hoof continued to stomp repeatedly, and the ox demon's voice roared incessantly.

"Let's see if you die, let's see if you die..."