Vast wasteland, desolate and uninhabited.

As far as the eye could see, this desolate yellow land was filled with nothing but weeds, shrubs, and gray-white stones of varying sizes and shapes.

The scorching sun hung high, baking the earth, and the air was thick with yellow dust.

In the hazy yellow world, a frail and petite figure gradually became clear, running desperately forward.

It was a girl of about six or seven years old, wearing a pale yellow silk dress embroidered with light pink plum blossoms. Her dark hair was tied into double buns, and her pair of large, bright eyes were dark and shiny. Beneath her delicate nose was a small, rosy mouth, making her entire face delicate and pretty.

The girl held a palm-sized rattle drum tightly in her right hand.

The rattle drum seemed to be quite old. The drumheads on both sides were somewhat yellowed, with patterns of several green snakes painted on them. The two pellets connected to the ears moved up and down, occasionally hitting the drum surface, producing a few soft sounds.

Although the girl was young, she was quite agile. With a few leaps, she appeared in an open space in front of a clump of weeds as tall as a person.

Perhaps she had run too fast. Her fair forehead was covered with sweat, and a drop of sweat flowed down her left cheek into her tender neck.

She reached out her left hand to wipe it away, her tense, round face flushed red, like a ripe apple, but her steps did not stop at all.

"Monster, where are you running!"

Just then, a stern shout from a man suddenly came from far behind.

The girl's body trembled upon hearing this. Her face turned pale, and she raised her right hand, grasping the rattle drum, and turned it forcefully, moving her lips a few times.

A faint layer of green light immediately appeared on the drum surface. As the pellets struck the drum surface, a soft sound was produced, and a beam of green light flew out from the drum surface, landing on a clump of weeds in front of her.

A layer of green light appeared on the surface of the weeds, but the green light only flashed for a moment and disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

The girl turned the rattle drum several times in succession, and beams of green light flew out from the drum surface as the two pellets fell, landing on the surrounding weeds, causing a burst of undulating green light.

After doing all this, the girl's face turned a few shades paler, but she couldn't afford to rest. She hurriedly plunged into the clump of weeds in front of her.

Not long after the girl's figure disappeared into the clump of weeds, a cloud of dust rose up ten or so feet behind her, and a figure rushed over, appearing in front of the clump of weeds.

The figure was a burly man in his forties with a bushy beard. He was tall and carried a bright, shiny broadsword in one hand, giving him a fierce and menacing look.

His gaze fell on the small footprints left in front of the grass, and with a move, he was about to rush in with his knife.

But at this moment, amidst a flurry of green light in the grass in front of him, five or six green snakes shot out, opening their mouths wide and biting fiercely at the burly man.

The burly man was first stunned, then quickly reached out his left hand to take out a talisman and slapped it on his body. A layer of white light shield emerged, and at the same time, he shook his right arm, and the broadsword in his hand buzzed loudly as he slashed forward.

Swish!

A stream of cold light several feet long shot out from the broadsword. With a flash of green light, three green snakes were instantly cut in half and sent flying. Then, with two "bang bang" sounds, the remaining two green snakes were bounced away by the white light shield on the burly man's body, and with a roll of the burly man's blade, they were also cut into two pieces.

These green snakes were defeated by the burly man in one exchange and revealed their true forms as a few clumps of green weeds.

The burly man snorted and was about to continue rushing into the weeds when his expression suddenly changed, and he stood in place, putting away his broadsword.

Rustling sounds came from behind, and two figures arrived together.

One was a thin and tall young Taoist with a gray robe that looked somewhat tattered and a horsetail whisk in his hand. The other was a short and stocky man with a horse face, a few bruises on his face, and messy hair.

"Are you two Daoists alright?" the burly man turned to look at the two and asked.

"This monster is worthy of being the daughter of a fox demon. She is really cunning. Just now, Qi Daoyou and I chased too eagerly and accidentally fell for her tricks. It's nothing serious. Why did Yan Daoyou stop here? Where is that monster now?" the horse-faced man waved his hand and asked with some confusion.

The burly man did not speak, but pointed to the clump of weeds as tall as a person in front of him. The small footprints in front of the grass were still clearly visible.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's take advantage of the situation and capture her," the horse-faced man said as he was about to rush into the grass.

"This demon has been escaping like this for a day and a night, and she must be running out of strength soon, but she is good at using wood-attribute illusions. She is like a fish in water in this clump of weeds. It may not be appropriate to chase in rashly," the Taoist Qi said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Are we just going to let her escape like this? This monster is so cunning at such a young age. If she grows up, she will definitely bring disaster to the world," the horse-faced man hesitated slightly, but stopped and said unwillingly.

"We righteous people, it is our duty to eliminate demons and monsters. Since this fox demon has been found by the three of us, we will naturally not let her go back to the mountains," the burly man said with a righteous and awe-inspiring tone.

"Yan Daoyou, by what you mean, it seems that you already have a countermeasure?" the Taoist Qi asked, rolling his eyes.

"This clump of weeds is not small in area. If the three of us blindly chase in like this, although we will eventually be able to capture this demon, I am afraid it will take a lot of effort. I heard that Daoyou Feng recently purchased a Fire Cloud Talisman, and Daoyou Qi's Wind Guiding Technique is superb. With the combination of the two, this clump of weeds will naturally be wiped out, and this demon will have nowhere to hide," the burly man said slowly.

"Fire Cloud Talisman...it's not impossible. But after catching this fox demon, the fur belongs to me. I don't want anything else. How about that?" the horse-faced man pondered for a moment and said.

"No, this fox demon must be captured alive," the burly man shook his head and refused straightforwardly.

"What do you mean, Yan Daoyou? This Fire Cloud Talisman of mine is a mid-level primary grade, and it cost me a lot of money," the horse-faced man's expression darkened, and his voice suddenly turned cold.

"Daoyou Feng, don't be impatient. If I'm not mistaken, Yan Daoyou should be an outer disciple of the Blood Blade Society. Not long ago, the society issued a mission that if you can capture this fox demon alive, you can not only become an inner disciple, but also receive a Bloodfiend Pill and a reward of one thousand spirit stones," the Taoist Qi said, looking at the burly man meaningfully.

"I didn't expect Daoyou Qi to be so well-informed and know so much about our Blood Blade Society. To be honest, if you two can help me capture this fox demon alive, all the spirit stone rewards will be split equally between you two. How about that?" the burly man said to the two without changing his expression.

"Since Daoyou Yan said so, I naturally have no objections," the Taoist Qi casually draped the whisk in his hand over his arm.

"In that case, let's not delay any further. Let's do it," the horse-faced man said, taking out a talisman from his bosom, looking at it with some heartache, throwing it forward, and chanting incantations.

A layer of red light immediately appeared on the surface of the talisman, and then it burst open, turning into a ball of crimson flames, like a fire cloud, pressing down on the weeds below.

Whoosh!

The clump of weeds as tall as a person below immediately burst into flames when touched by the fire cloud.

Seeing this, the Taoist Qi uttered a "Limitless Heavenly Lord" and suddenly flicked the whisk in his hand outward.

In an instant, a "whooshing" sound was made, and several strands of white, misty wind appeared out of thin air, spreading out in a fan shape.

The wind aided the fire, and the fire borrowed the wind's power, spreading rapidly along the weeds like raging waves. Black smoke billowed in the air, and grass ash flew everywhere.

The burly man and the other two stared at the sea of fire in front of them without blinking.

"There!" Suddenly, the Taoist Qi shouted and shot out like an arrow, rushing towards a certain spot in front, the bristles of the whisk flickering with faint green light.

Hearing this, the burly man and the horse-faced man were both invigorated and rushed out, following closely behind the Taoist Qi.

They saw a petite figure suddenly dart out of the grass that was being devoured by the sea of fire twenty or thirty feet ahead. It was none other than the girl who had fled into the weeds earlier.

But at this moment, her pale yellow silk dress was damaged in many places, and her fair face was even blackened by the smoke.

She had hidden in this vast clump of weeds earlier, and to avoid making any noise, she had carefully changed her direction, thinking she could breathe a sigh of relief when she heard no sound coming from behind. She didn't expect the other party to force her to show herself by setting fire.

The girl's small face was tense, and her expression was full of panic. Without saying a word, she ran wildly forward, seemingly in a state of confusion, coughing non-stop.

But before she could escape far, she felt a cool breeze behind her, and dense strands of green silk emerged, rolling towards her back.

Almost at the same time, a "hissing" sound came from above her head, and a black net about ten feet in size fell down.

Despair appeared in the girl's eyes, but then, her gaze fell on a small, somewhat withered tree ten or so feet ahead. Her eyes lit up slightly, and she bit the tip of her tongue fiercely.

"Got her!"

The horse-faced man was the slowest, but when he saw the girl who had been blocked by the burly man and the Taoist Qi, a look of great joy appeared on his face.

Large swaths of green silk stretched across several feet and rolled backward, binding the girl tightly, while the black net above also fell down.

But at this moment, the girl's immobile figure flickered with green light and collapsed, turning into a withered tree.

"Wood Escape!" The burly man and the Taoist Qi landed, their faces sinking as they watched the changes before them.

"There!" The horse-faced man hurriedly pointed not far ahead.

They saw a withered tree blur and transform into a girl holding a rattle drum, looking back before turning around and fleeing.

"Chase!"

Perhaps because of using Wood Escape, the girl's face was devoid of blood, and her steps became unsteady. She stumbled as she ran, her speed greatly reduced, and the distance between her and the three men behind her was rapidly decreasing.

"Ouch!"

The girl cried out in surprise, accidentally tripped over a stone under her feet, and lunged forward, hitting a gray-white boulder about ten feet high in front of her before falling heavily to the ground.

"Keep running!"

The burly man and the other two slowed down when they saw this, slowly surrounding her in a triangular formation. The horse-faced man even licked his lips and said with a sinister smile.

The three had worked together to chase this girl for almost a day and a night, and had suffered many losses along the way. At this moment, they were naturally resentful, especially the horse-faced man, who had spent a Fire Cloud Talisman.

The girl's body was already petite and exquisite. Now, with the three men approaching step by step, she curled up even tighter against the boulder behind her, but her eyes were filled with hatred.

Seeing the expression on the girl's face, the three naturally didn't care. Instead, the horse-faced man took a step forward, raised a hand, and said gloomily:

"Although we can't kill you, we will teach you a good lesson today, you monster!"

At this moment, an unexpected scene occurred.

A "crack" sound was heard!

The surface of the ten-foot-high boulder that the girl was leaning against cracked with countless tiny cracks with a crisp sound. Many small stones fell down, scattering on the girl's body and hair, making her shiver.

"Huh?"

Seeing this, the horse-faced man let out a soft exclamation. He held his raised right hand in mid-air. The burly man and the other two also shifted their attention from the girl and looked at the boulder behind her.

"Crackle"

Under the gaze of the burly man and the other two, the cracks on the surface of the boulder spread rapidly like a spider web, and many stone fragments peeled off the boulder, falling to the ground.

"Ah"

The girl obviously didn't expect the boulder behind her to undergo such a change. She closed her eyes in fright, covered her head with her hands, and didn't dare to move.

With a "boom," the boulder finally shattered into pieces in a loud noise. Large stones scattered in all directions, landing on the ground and stirring up a cloud of yellow dust.

The burly man and the other two were all startled and retreated a few steps with caution, but their eyes were still fixed on the direction of the boulder.

"This...what is this?" The horse-faced man's expression changed and he cried out in astonishment.

Through the settling dust, it could be seen that the original boulder had disappeared, replaced by the figure of an unusually tall man.

The man was wearing a green shirt, and his hair and face were covered with a layer of gray-white lime, as if he had been inside the boulder before. His face was ordinary, his skin was slightly dark, and his eyes stared straight ahead, looking somewhat dull, but he was a head taller than the burly man.

This sudden scene left the girl and the burly man and the other two dumbfounded.

(Mortal's Journey: Immortal World has officially begun serialization! Today, Wang Yu will hold a press conference for Mortal's Journey: Immortal World in Beijing, so I am especially updating three chapters to celebrate. I hope you Daoists will like and support it!)