The moment the last demon stepped out of the cage, all the candles in the room went out in an instant. The bells in the four corners of the room swayed without wind, as if reminding the owner of the basement that something had gone wrong.
Yu Nian quickly flung a pebble in the direction of the bells. With a “bang”, the bells fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Then Yu Nian took out a Qiankun Bag the size of a palm from her backpack and said to the demons,
“The terrain here is complex, with many traps and talismans suppressing demon power in many places. If nearly a hundred of you rush out together, you're likely to be discovered by the demon - catchers.”
She threw the Qiankun Bag on the ground, and it suddenly grew bigger. “You can rest in the Qiankun Bag first. I'll lead you out.”
“Qiankun Bag?” The demons hesitated. This was a Taoist treasure that could hold all things in the world.
Once inside, they could only get out if the owner of the bag released them. For demons, the risk was too great.
While the demons were hesitating, the ginseng spirit took the lead and walked to the bag. He bent down and was about to crawl in when the little flower demon beside him quickly grabbed him. “Don't go in! What if she's just acting and captures us all after we're inside?” As she spoke, she stared warily at Yu Nian.
Before Yu Nian could say anything, the ginseng spirit retorted, “What would she capture us for? To sell us? I'm a hundred - year - old ginseng and I'm not afraid. What are you scared of? Besides, you've all seen Yu Nian's strength just now. If she really wanted to capture us, would she have gone through so much trouble to save us?”
These words left the demons speechless. The ginseng spirit nodded to Yu Nian to express his gratitude, then immediately transformed into his original form and crawled into the Qiankun Bag without hesitation.
Perhaps inspired by the ginseng spirit, the other demons no longer hesitated and crawled into the bag one by one like dumplings.
The fox demon was at the end of the line. It was naturally suspicious. Just before entering the Qiankun Bag, it frowned and glanced at Yu Nian. “Can I trust you?” Without waiting for Yu Nian to answer, it shook its head and crawled into the bag. “Forget it. If you suspect someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't suspect them. What's the harm in entrusting my life to you...”
Yu Nian gave a soft smile. She shrank the Qiankun Bag, put it away carefully, and then gently placed it in her backpack.
Suddenly, only Yuan Ao was left in the originally crowded basement. He had just regained his freedom, excited and scared at the same time. He immediately ran out of the basement.
Yu Nian's eyebrows twitched, and she quickened her steps to chase after him.
I don't know if it was just Yu Nian's illusion, but the scenery outside the basement seemed different from what she had seen before. However, she couldn't quite tell what was wrong.
The smell of blood in the air grew stronger. At the end of the path, there was a blue glow like netherfire, as if guiding people to another world.
Yu Nian sensed something was wrong. She suddenly stopped and shouted at Yuan Ao, “Don't go in!”
But unexpectedly, as soon as her hand touched Yuan Ao, Yuan Ao grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and threw it at Yu Nian.
“I'm free! No one can stop me!”
Feng Chengyuan quickly pulled Yu Nian out of the way. But when they looked up again, Yuan Ao's figure had disappeared at the end. Only his crazy laughter still echoed.
“Are you okay? Let's find a place to rest first.”
Yu Nian shook her head. Staring blankly in the direction where Yuan Ao had gone, she said, “He'll be back in at most three seconds.”
Although Feng Chengyuan was a bit confused, he still started counting for Yu Nian. “One, two...”
“Aaaaah!!!”
Before he could say “three”, a shrill scream came from afar.
A dark figure staggered out of the darkness, howling as it ran. It looked completely crazy.
Under the light of the fire talisman, Yu Nian and Feng Chengyuan finally saw his appearance clearly, and they both couldn't help frowning.
It was indeed Yuan Ao. But when he ran in, he was a perfectly normal person. Now, he was a blood - covered mess!
From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, every inch of Yuan Ao's skin was covered in a sticky red liquid. At first glance, it looked as if he had been skinned, with blood everywhere.
When Yuan Ao reached Yu Nian, he seemed to see a savior. He “plop” fell to his knees on the ground.
“There's really no need for such a grand salute.” Yu Nian was protected behind Feng Chengyuan. She leaned forward and stared at Yuan Ao. “What did you see?”
Yu Nian stared at him for a moment and quickly noticed something was wrong. If a person lost so much blood, they'd probably be dead, let alone able to walk.
But Yuan Ao could not only run and jump, but his voice was also full of energy. This could only mean that this wasn't his own blood.
Yuan Ao's legs were too weak to stand up. The blood couldn't hide his terrified expression. Shaking all over, he pointed behind him. “...Help! There are evil things!”
Feng Chengyuan was a bit surprised. Yuan Ao had been locked up with the demons for so many days. Logically, he should have become brave by now. What on earth did he see to be so scared?
The demons inside the backpack sensed the blood aura on Yuan Ao and started to stir restlessly.
Yu Nian patted the backpack reassuringly. “I'm here. Don't be afraid.”
She controlled the fire talisman and walked a few steps in the direction Yuan Ao was pointing at. There was a soft “hiss” sound, as if some liquid had dripped onto the fire talisman, extinguishing its last bit of light.
The evil aura was so strong.
Yu Nian calmly made a hand gesture. Then she picked up a stack of hell money from the ground, lit it with the talisman fire, and threw it up into the air.
The hell money burned fiercely. The pale - yellow light flickered and danced, scattering in the air like a signal flare. It was as beautiful as a silver - flowered fire tree, mysterious and strange.
Although the hell money was extinguished again in an instant, Yu Nian still managed to see the scenery inside.
This place was connected to a wide natural cave, surrounded by extremely dense forests.
Hanging between the trees were many furry things.
Black fur, stiff limbs, and long, slender tails swaying in the wind...
Forty or fifty black cat corpses were hanging from the trees at different heights. Blood was dripping down, and the stench was so strong that it was hard to breathe.
Even Feng Chengyuan, who was usually calm, couldn't help frowning.
Yuan Ao seemed to be stunned by the sight in front of him. He sat on the ground stupidly and couldn't say a complete sentence for a long time.
Yu Nian remembered the black cat she saw when she first entered the factory. A terrible thought suddenly occurred to her.
“Chengyuan, help me look for a coffin or a human corpse here.”
Yu Nian twirled her wrist and used her spiritual sense to create a large umbrella. It covered her and Feng Chengyuan steadily, blocking all the falling blood rain. Then she strode towards the forest.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Yuan Ao was so scared that his whole body trembled involuntarily. He only had one thought now, which was to leave this ghostly place as soon as possible!
But it was completely dark all around, and Yuan Ao couldn't move at all. So he looked at Yu Nian and Feng Chengyuan with pleading eyes.
But unexpectedly, these two not only didn't retreat but walked right up to the corpses!
Yuan Ao was desperate. He really wanted to ask these two what they had eaten to be so brave!