17 The Shadow of the Ambush

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Ye Lu looked at the Ghost Scholar with a gaze full of astonishment once again. It had only been a short while, yet the Ghost’s culinary skills had improved by leaps and bounds. How to put it? Intelligent and capable people learn everything quickly.

Ye Lu felt deeply moved by this. The Ghost Scholar often said he lacked talent, but in reality, apart from his awakened talent, his mind was far sharper than that of ordinary people.

“That’s fine then,” the Ghost Scholar said as usual, nodding calmly.

“Finish your evening meal before sleeping,” the Ghost Scholar lifted his eyes to Ye Lu, reminding him. He didn’t trust his Taoist master at all. How long had he awakened his talent? Along the way, he’d been guiding them; even the Son of Mount Tai wouldn’t use his talent so recklessly. When he saw him earlier, his Taoist master was nearly immortal but looked weak and hollow; after some rest, his complexion had improved considerably.

“No problem, the strange energy has mostly recovered,” Ye Lu shook his head, indicating no need. To prevent the Ghost Scholar from continuing to persuade him, he sat back down first and waved his hand dismissively.

Fine, the attitude was clear; the Ghost Scholar knew there was no use persuading further.

So he gave up.

“Besides, tonight is our first night in this village; I’ll keep watch,” Ye Lu said slowly, looking at the Ghost Scholar and revealing his intention.

The Ghost Scholar paused, also raising his eyes to Ye Lu, as if trying to discern the true meaning behind his words.

Unfortunately, Ye Lu closed his eyes to rest right after speaking, unwilling to reveal a hint.

“What about the village over there…” The Ghost Scholar frowned, thinking of the escort team. Had Ye Lu said anything? Perhaps some unexpected event might happen tonight.

Ye Lu didn’t even lift his eyelids as he replied, “Don’t worry, Helan and the others are all very sharp. They sensed something was wrong from the start. The water and vegetables in this village are indeed fine, and we all need those. Let’s come in first; you can observe later.”

“There will probably be the most guard personnel tonight,” Ye Lu said with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

It seemed he had overthought it. Indeed, his Taoist master was not careless. The Ghost Scholar immediately understood he had worried unnecessarily. Since everything was within the group’s expectations, he didn’t bother thinking further. As the evening meal finished, he went ahead and returned to the carriage to sleep.

Oh, and tonight the Mischievous One also raised his hand to say he would keep watch.

The Ghost Scholar rolled his eyes and ignored it, letting them be.

That night.

Ye Lu and the Mischievous One kept watch together, laying a layer of dry grass on the ground. They guarded a section of the convoy. When the guards saw the two of them come out, they only glanced from afar and paid no further attention.

The night was bathed in just the right moonlight.

After entering this forest, the moon became visible again. The pure moonlight falling on everyone gave a slight chill. Because of this, Ye Lu and the Mischievous One didn’t feel uncomfortable keeping watch. They sipped water occasionally as Ye Lu quietly watched the Mischievous One gesturing across from him.

“You’re asking how I am?” Ye Lu observed him for a long time. The Mischievous One didn’t like to speak; he muttered sounds indistinctly while gesturing. Only Ye Lu, knowing him well, could understand the meaning behind his movements, slowly interpreting it.

The Mischievous One nodded.

Ye Lu smiled and said, “Very good.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like what you think. The previous weakness after using talent was because the earth veins of those worlds weren’t strong. Just communicating with them consumed a lot of my energy. This world’s earth veins are different; they’re very powerful,” Ye Lu noticed the Mischievous One’s solemn expression and genuine concern, so he explained. In fact, the earth veins helped replenish much of his strange energy, allowing him to recover quickly.

“All right, let’s take a nap first,” Ye Lu saw the Ghost Scholar preparing to say something and waved him off, signaling to stop for now.

The Mischievous One puffed his cheeks, somewhat displeased but without arguing. He crossed his arms and obeyed Ye Lu, taking a nap.

Under the moonlight, the tall and slender Mischievous One leaned against a large rock, closing his eyes to rest. At a glance, he even seemed obedient.

Ye Lu stared into the campfire before him, occasionally poking it with a stick. Sparks from the resin crackled softly. The night deepened.

In the village’s depths, a lurking shadow slowly emerged. Its slender tendrils clutched the ground firmly as it sensed everything in the village through the earth.

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Today, the hunting ground had new prey, and the scent was very enticing.

The shadow slowly extended its tendrils, waiting silently. It was unclear how long passed before it sensed the hunting ground gradually quieting down. It moved.

The Mischievous One opened his eyes instantly, sharply looking toward a dark corner.

Something was there.

Within the darkness, a large shape faintly revealed itself, slowly exposing its head under the moonlight.

The two of them took this chance to fully observe its appearance.

It was a bizarre, vine-like strange entity.

Its pale roots and jet-black vines were speckled with white spots; some black areas were tinged faintly with blood-red, almost exuding a faint metallic scent of blood.

At the base of the vine’s root system, a pained human face suddenly appeared, two streams of blood tears falling, as if wailing in agony.

But this was not the main point.

The moment the Dodder Vine Wraith appeared, both the Mischievous One and Ye Lu grew serious.

This vine-like strange entity’s cultivation level was at the Yellow Fierce rank.

Ye Lu squinted, his expression grave. “No wonder the people of this village fled. There’s such a huge strange entity lurking nearby, watching hungrily. If they hadn’t run, the whole village would likely have been devoured by this thing.”

The Mischievous One said nothing but instinctively stepped in front of Ye Lu. His slender fingers flicked, and a domino appeared in his palm.

Around Ye Lu and the others, a sort of signal appeared. Behind them, various vine-like strange entities of different sizes began to manifest before the fleeing villagers.

“Dodder Vine Wraith?” The Stone Sorcerer immediately recognized the creature, his face grave despite having prepared for this. He hadn’t expected such a troublesome strange entity.

“This kind of strange entity has numerous copies, with strange techniques, and a taste for blood. Never let it get close,” he warned.

“If it gets close, even a Blue Shadow rank sorcerer is helpless. It will seize the prey’s flesh and blood, directly parasitizing them. The consciousness of the parasitized person is controlled and turned into a new copy.”

The Stone Sorcerer quickly recounted all he knew about the Dodder Vine Wraith.

“It fears fire.”

“Besides being difficult to deal with up close, it’s otherwise only hard to kill but not very strong in combat.”

Helan was ready, and the Stone Sorcerer swiftly threw several talismans into the air. The talismans moved with the wind, turning into special strange energy that coated the guards in front, protecting them from the strange erosion.

Helan was very serious; the faint gray light in her hands flickered as she responded to the Stone Sorcerer, “Understood.”

The next moment, countless blue-black vines writhed wildly on the ground like giant constrictor snakes, rushing toward the humans, attempting to suck their flesh and blood.

“Come on!” Helan took the lead, placing both hands on the ground. As the pale gray light neared the earth, countless hard stones leapt up, shredding the vines like a meat grinder.

Then, Helan moved swiftly. Within a few breaths, she appeared before the massive Dodder Vine Wraith, lifting a huge stone hammer and striking down heavily.

The Dodder Vine Wraith sensed something was wrong. This blood meal was too abnormal—perhaps the opponent had given it a hint of danger. It roared, and its pale cyan light flickered. Its vine body became both flexible and tough.

Helan’s lips curled slightly, seemingly unfazed by its movements.

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“Boom!” The hammer struck down heavily. The pale cyan layer enveloping the vine body was utterly useless. The hammer was ordinary, plain, yet it completely ignored the strange energy wrapping the vines, smashing fiercely upon the Dodder Vine Wraith’s body.

Blow after blow.

Helan’s movements never ceased, clearly embodying the principle of striking while the opponent is weak.

Behind her, guards with combat talents used their abilities to defend the fleeing villagers, while those with auxiliary talents threw their energies onto Helan as if freely giving, bolstering her.

Soon, the giant Dodder Vine Wraith became a bloody pulp, its vines smashed until juices spilled out, strange energy dissipating.

Only when there was no movement under the hammer did Helan stop, lowering the hammer and using it to rake through the corpse.

“Oh? Yellow Fierce rank? Not bad.” Helan faintly recognized the creature’s level, speaking calmly.

Behind her, the Stone Sorcerer’s grim expression showed no relief.

Helan turned just in time to see the Stone Sorcerer’s face.

Wait, why that expression from the old man? Helan’s smile stiffened, and she quickly sensed something was wrong.

No surprise—it was far too easy to deal with this strange entity.

Moreover, recalling the Stone Sorcerer’s earlier warning about the creature’s numerous copies.

“This isn’t its main branch?” Helan’s face darkened slowly. She clearly realized something—they’d been tricked.

Wait, if the main branch wasn’t here, where else could it be?

The next second, Helan involuntarily said the thought in her mind: “Lu, you’re in danger!”

“Go find Lu quickly!” The Stone Sorcerer’s anxious voice followed immediately.

Helan’s expression darkened further. She didn’t even have time to speak to the Stone Sorcerer, turning without hesitation to run toward Ye Lu and the ox cart not far away.

Damn it, this strange entity knew how to pick its prey well? Lu and the others were the village’s most talented children.

The Mischievous One moved deftly, leaping through the air, tossing dominoes onto the blue vines. Points of purple lightning exploded, blowing the vines to pieces.

However, the vines’ regeneration was extraordinary.

When one was blown apart, another would grow visibly fast around the vine’s body.

The Mischievous One realized this tactic was ineffective. He flipped another domino, dodged the attacking vines, and flicked the domino at the vine’s body. A sharp light sliced through the Dodder Vine Wraith’s body, revealing black mist writhing within.

The Dodder Vine Wraith emitted a piercing screech, like vines scraping the ground. It tried to heal its body, but lightning flashed, attaching to its wounds and slowly preventing healing.

The Mischievous One landed lightly like a butterfly, the dominoes fluttering in his hand as he frowned.

His power was too weak now, still only at the White Resentment rank, utterly unable to kill this strange entity.