Chapter 3: Audacious Fiend, I Could Tell at a Glance You Are No Mortal!

If he could just offload the cargo, even though they were packhorses, they were still fine steeds; surely, it wouldn't take long to return to that gentleman. Once there, he would naturally have a way to deal with this thing! Thinking of this, his hands moved ever more quickly.

It was at this moment that a hand reached out from the side and gripped his wrist tightly.

"You..."

Old San looked up and saw a familiar face, though he could not recall the name, looking at him with a smile.

"What is it? Are you trying to go back and find that storyteller?"

This sentence made Old San's heart leap into his throat, yet he forced himself to remain calm. "What nonsense are you spouting! Why would I want to look for that babbler?"

But his forced composure was riddled with flaws, and the other party saw right through it all. "Oh, not going back to find the storyteller? Then why are you unloading the cargo? Isn't it just so you can ride the horse faster?"

As these words fell, Old San’s face turned deathly pale. How could he not have realized that the thing would see through his intentions? Moreover, the face of the creature gripping his wrist was becoming increasingly unfamiliar.

The others around him naturally noticed the commotion. Their initial confusion slowly morphed into sheer terror.

"You... who are you? When did you sneak in?"

Hearing this, the thing—its features now completely alien—gripped Old San’s hand and twisted its head one hundred and eighty degrees to face the speaker. With an expression that looked utterly horrific to any human, it smiled: "Sixth Brother, have you forgotten me? Didn't you just share some dried meat with me? Tsk tsk, it tasted much better than raw, cold horse meat!"

"Ah?!"

The man addressed as Sixth Brother was so frightened he scrambled backward. He eventually tripped over something and fell in a pathetic heap. In his panic, he couldn't even stand up, only pointing at the creature and shouting: "You... you... you’ve been following us the whole way?!"

The increasingly strange face stretched and distorted into a monstrous shape that was decidedly not human. Even in the middle of the day, meeting such a thing would be enough to scare the soul out of one’s body, let alone in a mountain forest in the dead of night.

"That's right, I've been following you the whole way. If it weren't for that meddlesome blabbermouth, you probably wouldn't have realized it until I’d eaten every last one of you!"

The long-faced monster twisted its head back to its original position, staring with sinister malice at Old San, who had been the first to react. The sight nearly made Old San faint from terror. The rest of the horse caravan watched, anxious and terrified. They wanted to step forward, but their feet felt rooted to the ground, their legs trembling uncontrollably. They wanted to flee, but they couldn't bear to leave their companion to his fate. Caught between staying and running, they were in an agonizing dilemma.

Fortunately, at that moment, the man who had previously called Old San "Third Brother" suddenly found a burst of courage he had never possessed in his life. Grabbing a burlap sack he had picked up from somewhere, he lunged at the long-faced monster. He jumped, threw the sack, and kicked—not only covering the monster's head but also knocking it away from Old San.

Seeing Old San freed, the man let out a loud shout and rushed forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the monster to restrain it, hoping to call his companions to come and hack the demon to death. But before he could get close, the monster erupted with unnatural strength, tearing the sack to shreds and kicking the man away. After rolling several times on the ground, the man, realizing this was no foe a human could defeat, spat out a mouthful of blood and screamed: "Run, Third Brother, run!"

That cry shattered the hesitation of the group. Every one of them turned and bolted in the direction they had come. Cargo, horses—none of it mattered in the face of their own lives. Driven by sheer terror, the horse caravan burst into a speed they had never reached before.

Old San, supporting the injured man as they fled, glanced back and saw the creature had not yet pursued them. He hurriedly shouted: "Quick, run! That thing must be eating our packhorses. Once it's finished with them, it will come for us! Quick, we must get to that gentleman!"

In the desolate wilderness, their only hope was the storyteller. But as they ran, one man suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Third Brother, I remember there is a tea shed nearby where those people were resting. What if...?"

He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood what he meant. Because they had been running blindly, they were in the wild woods rather than on the official road. However, as men who spent their lives on the road, they could roughly judge their location based on experience and memory. They knew the main road was nearby, and on that road was a tea shed housing who knew how many people. If they headed there, perhaps the creature would abandon them and turn toward the shed where there were more people to eat. At the very least, so many people might delay it for a while. It was a perfect way to sacrifice others to save themselves.

The moment the words left his mouth, Old San glared and cursed him back: "Damn you! We are the ones who invited this disaster; how dare you have the gall to drag others into it!"

The man withered instantly but couldn't help muttering: "But my old mother back home..."

Before he could finish, an older man stepped forward and slapped him across the face, shouting: "Stop your blathering! You have parents, don't others? The men of Zhao Village have never produced a spineless dog in eighteen generations! Do you want to tear down the ancestral hall? I tell you, don't even think about it, you cur!"

Once the ancestral hall was mentioned, the man abandoned the thought. They were rough men from the countryside—uneducated and ignorant of etiquette, with many faults—but they possessed a conscience. Otherwise, they would have scattered the moment the creature appeared instead of worrying about their companions' lives.

Still, someone asked: "But what if that thing didn't follow us, but went there instead?"

Old San and the two older men paused. After looking around, they saw the same thought in each other's eyes. Without further ado, Old San pointed to the youngest among them, Little Six, and said: "Little Six, slip over there and warn them. At least give them a chance to prepare. Whether they believe us or not is no longer our concern."

Little Six stammered, but said nothing. He knelt down, kowtowed several times to the elders, and disappeared into the forest without looking back. Everyone knew this was a way to give the youngest a chance to survive. At the very least, he had a better chance than he would staying with them. After all, no one knew if they would make it to the gentleman alive, or if that gentleman truly had the power to save their lives.

After a brief delay, the rest of the caravan continued their frantic flight through the dark. They hadn't run long before they heard a fierce wind behind them, followed by a foul stench and the roar of trees being torn apart. Seeing such a display, they were terrified to the marrow. While they knew this was a foe no human could best, witnessing such an unheard-of spectacle was horrifying to the extreme.

Fortunately, perhaps by the grace of their ancestors, or perhaps because their panic had led them to miscalculate the distance, just as the demonic wind began to howl, they heard a roar erupt from not far ahead: "Bold monster, I can see at a glance that you are not human!"

The caravan members cried out in joy: "It’s that gentleman’s voice!"

What delighted them even more was that the gentleman's voice continued, and each sentence was more heartening than the last. The demonic wind behind them did not stop at the roar; instead, it grew even more violent. Thus, the voice responded: "Trying to pull off petty tricks before an expert? You truly have no idea how high the heavens are!"

The voice was incredibly robust, and the underlying aura of disdain for all things made them feel secure. Even the growing demonic wind seemed to stall in the face of that presence.

"Great! The gentleman has really come to save us!"

With a pillar of support, the caravan members regained their composure. They even felt a surge of curiosity to see the creature's fate. But they knew they were mere mortals, no match for the gentleman or the thing behind them. So, they did not dare slow their pace, yet their hearts were settled. They looked forward to seeing how this gentleman would subdue the mysterious entity.

The demonic wind, pressed down by that thunderous voice, flickered for a moment before its master forced it to surge again, determined to regain the momentum it had lost.

"Hmph, you know not the height of the sky, and you dare to linger here? You clearly have no regard for me!"

"Prepare to capture the demon!"

Once these words were spoken, the caravan members and the master of the demonic wind all subconsciously held their breath, for they knew the real fight was about to begin! They peered forward, afraid to miss a single detail. And the voice did not disappoint. After the command to capture the demon, a thunderous chant rang out:

"Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon! Great Law of the Heavens! World-Honored Ksitigarbha! Prajna Buddhas!"

"Prajna Bama Hum! Prajna Bama Hum! Prajna Bama Hum!"

It was here! Under their intense anticipation, a golden light erupted in the dead of night before them, accompanied by a command:

"Bold monster, I command you to reveal your true form!"

The golden light surged forward like a sharp blade, easily slicing through the demonic wind and striking the figure hidden in the bushes. The caravan members heard a scream, followed by a giant object flying backward out of the brush.

Looking ahead, they saw the short-haired storyteller standing in front of the trees parted by the Buddha-light. His face was solemn, his fingers pressed together like a sword, pointing straight at the spot where the creature had been. Following the direction of his finger, there lay the demon that had been struck down.

In such a wilderness, at such a time, with such thunderous sounds, such golden light, and such a figure—he was truly a savior of great mercy and compassion!

The caravan members dared not delay; they knelt and shouted: "Thank you, Master, for saving our lives!"

"Thank you, Master, for subduing the demon!"

"It is a stroke of great fortune to witness the Master's majesty!"

...

Standing in the clearing before them, Du Yuan maintained his pose, lost in deep confusion.

What... what is going on?