Chapter 160: Chapter 123: Harvest on New Year’s Eve_2
The arrow pierced through his forehead, nailing him to the spot!
"Constable Zhang!"
The remaining five, their eyes bursting with rage, roared loudly.
"Who is it! Who’s there?!"
The last surviving constable, surnamed Wang, had watched his comrades die before his very eyes, his heart roaring with waves of horror and doubt.
ROAR!
But it faced the Year Beast, which had already turned, roaring as it charged toward the remaining five of them.
"Run! Scatter and run!" Constable Wang shouted, already bolting like an arrow released from its bow into the thick forest. "If even one of us can escape, report back to the Incense Altar! The Incense Master will surely uncover the truth and avenge our fallen brethren!"
The other four also burst forth with the greatest speed of their lives, fleeing wildly in various directions.
The Year Beast, watching the five scatter, bared its teeth and let out a roar, its eyes dead set on Constable Wang. One of its young had been killed by this very human with a single strike.
ROAR!!
The roar shook the mountains. Ignoring the other Demon People, it pounced directly toward Constable Wang.
Chen Ku held his bow on the mid-mountain. Watching the five Demon People scatter, he didn’t panic. Instead, he leaped upward toward a more open vantage point and, on his way, loosed another arrow backward.
A Demon Person threading through the dense forest, revealing just a side profile, was struck in the thigh by an arrow. He screamed and flew backward. Chen Ku fired two more arrows in quick succession. The Demon Person rolled to dodge one, but the third arrow still hit him in the chest.
[Diagram Master kills Bad Guy Tang, obtaining a First Realm Evil Qi...]
Chen Ku listened to the reminder from the Transformation Diagram.
Sighing to himself, he thought, My archery skills are still not superb enough. When that group was in the open, I could draw and shoot continuously with decent accuracy, but once they were determined to enter the dense forest, with all its obstacles, my accuracy suffered greatly. If it were Instructor Chai, I fear each arrow would hit right between the eyes.
Chen Ku, holding his bow, descended into the forest. He pursued them, using seven arrows to shoot down two more Demon People. He sniffed the air. Only two remained: one in the Inner Qi Realm and the other, the Mystic Barrier Realm Demon Person, being chased by the Great Year Beast. They were fleeing in completely opposite directions.
Without hesitation, Chen Ku continued to pursue the Inner Qi Realm Demon Person first. His killing order had been carefully considered. Since he had made his move today, he would not let a single Demon Person escape. Besides, the Evil Qi they transformed into after death was useful; each Inner Qi Realm Demon Person was worth a bounty of one thousand to two thousand taels of Silver, while Mystic Barrier Realm ones were worth three thousand to five thousand taels. And as for the Great Year Beast, he intended to claim it entirely. He was acting as the fisherman, waiting for the Great Year Beast to further wear down that Mystic Barrier Realm Demon Person before he went in for the harvest.
Before long, following the scent, Chen Ku caught up with the last Inner Qi Realm Demon Person in the forest and shot him dead. He then sensed that the Mystic Barrier Realm Demon Person and the Great Year Beast had chased each other to a distance of three li. Following the scent, he noted the smell of blood was thick on both the man and the Year Beast.
Chen Ku estimated the distance. Even if he rode his Swallow-Treading Horse in pursuit, it might be too late. He couldn’t let the Mystic Barrier Realm Demon Person fall into the jaws of the Year Beast—that was a Second Realm Evil Qi at stake!
"Transform!"
In an instant, Chen Ku shook and transformed. He became a Flower Fox Mink with wings sprouting from its ribs, tucked all his possessions into his Storage Bag, and soared into the sky.
「Several li away.」
BOOM!!
Constable Wang was facing a Third Realm Demon. Despite being jointly suppressed by them earlier and sustaining considerable injuries, the Year Beast’s speed and power still far exceeded that of Constable Wang, a Second Realm Talisman Master. It had caught up with him.
"Beast!" Constable Wang roared, wielding a peach wood saber. The blade, covered in Talisman Paper that fluttered in the wind, emanated red light and flames as he engaged the Year Beast in a fierce battle.
The peach wood saber, though wooden, was extremely sharp due to the Talisman Paper’s enhancement, with flames dancing upon it. As Constable Wang swung it, it burned the air. He found opportunities to leave searing, still-flaming wounds on the Year Beast’s back, front paw, and tail.
However, despite his human agility, which allowed him to capitalize on the Year Beast’s mistakes to inflict wounds, he was facing a Third Realm Year Beast. One mistake was all it would take, and he would have no further chances.
Just then, as Constable Wang slid on his knees, slicing the saber across the Year Beast’s belly, the beast roared. It seized its chance, turning its head to spray a mist of water vapor at the ground nearby.
AH!
Constable Wang’s thigh took the brunt of the vapor. It instantly froze on impact, and he screamed in agony, immobilized on the spot.
SNORT~
Seeing its attack hit Constable Wang, the Year Beast exhaled a cold breath from its nostrils and gave another loud snort. It scraped the ground with its hooves, its eyes flickering with ferocity. It pawed at the ground twice more, and then, with its hefty body, charged at Constable Wang like a giant elephant. The horn on its forehead glinted with icy light.
Just as it seemed Constable Wang was about to be impaled by the charging Year Beast’s horn, he suddenly felt a shadow loom overhead. He looked up to see a strange, ferocious beast with wings sprouting from its ribs, descending like a shooting star. It reached him before the Year Beast could.
Five Blood Claws protruded like swords!
"No! What demon is this...?" Constable Wang could only cry out in terror. Five blood-red streaks filled his vision.
The next moment, with a sound like a Blood Blade slicing through flesh, Constable Wang’s body was ripped apart by the Blood Blade Claws of the Flower Fox Mink.