Human-Faced Owls

Even as they spoke, the vision before everyone suddenly darkened. With piercing screeches, the flock of human-faced owls swooped straight toward Ge Yuan, clearly provoked by his attempt to steal the spirit herb. Among them was one slightly smaller in build, yet its speed far exceeded that of its peers. Its plumage was like shafts cast from dark iron, incredibly rigid and hard. With a flap of its wings, the human-faced owl turned into a black streak and appeared above Ge Yuan's head in an instant, its speed astonishing. Sharp bird talons gleamed with chilling light as they snatched toward Ge Yuan's skull. The terrifying aura that suddenly erupted from this human-faced owl gave even Qin Sang a start—it was actually at the late Demon Spirit stage! Apart from this one, the other human-faced owls were far weaker. Only one was at the early Demon Spirit stage, while the rest were small demons of the Mortal Demon stage. No wonder Luo Xingnan and the others had been unable to gain the upper hand. Facing a great demon of the late Demon Spirit stage, merely surviving without dying beneath its talons was already quite a feat. What was more, someone seemed to be missing. There were only four: Luo Xingnan, Yunyouzi, Shangguan Lifeng, and the scholar in white. The old man surnamed Gong wasn't there! Ge Yuan himself was even more terrified. The power of this human-faced owl was truly horrifying, two full realms above his own. Even under normal circumstances, escaping with his life from this human-faced owl would have been arduous. To make matters worse, he had just been knocked flying by the jade fork thrown by Luo Xingnan, leaving him in a wretched state with his breath in disarray. *Whoosh!* The human-faced owl spread its wings, demonic power wrapping around gale winds to pin Ge Yuan firmly to the ground, effortlessly crushing any thought he had of fleeing. Ge Yuan was beside himself with horror, on the brink of losing his life to the demonic bird's talons. In this dire moment, fortunate for him, Yunyouzi reacted with swift eyes and hands, abruptly hurling a yellow bronze ring. *Swish, swish...* The bronze ring unleashed a thick yellow light, then split midair into dozens of identical phantoms, every single one striking home upon the human-faced owl. To everyone's surprise, struck by the bronze ring, the human-faced owl's figure actually stumbled. It let out an enraged roar. The other human-faced owls seemed to know the terror of the bronze ring, screeching in alarm and falling back one after another. Ge Yuan finally found an opening. Rolling over, he scrambled up from the ground, turned into an escape light, and fled for his life without looking back. Qin Sang narrowed his eyes and observed that the formation of Yunyouzi's party of four had not broken; every one of them was wielding an identical yellow bronze ring. This was a set of restriction implements! Understanding dawned on Qin Sang. So that was it. No wonder they hadn't seemed particularly panicked when confronting a great demon of the late Demon Spirit stage. Relying on this set of restriction implements was the only reason they had the power to fight back. Otherwise, they would likely have followed in Sheng Yuanzi's footsteps long ago. "What do you think you're doing?!" Luo Xingnan glared fiercely at Yunyouzi, furious that he had acted on his own to save someone. Yunyouzi's expression remained calm. "Fellow Daoist Luo, the lull in the outer formation is about to pass, and time is running short. An extra pair of hands means that much more strength. Suppressing this beast as quickly as possible and freeing up people to gather the herbs is the real priority!" At the same time, Yunyouzi's voice transmission sounded in Qin Sang's ear, letting him know that the old man surnamed Gong was already dead. Just like Ge Yuan, he had triggered a restriction while attempting to gather a herb, alerting the human-faced owls. However, the old man surnamed Gong had been down on his luck. Being the human-faced owls' first target, his skull had been pierced through by talons, leaving him dead without even the chance to strike back. The others had been terrified by the sight. Not daring to fight separately, they had hurriedly gathered together to resist the onslaught of the demon beasts as one. Only when Yunyouzi took out this set of restriction implements called the Golden Ring Formation did they barely manage to hold their ground and withstand the assault of the human-faced owls. Yet even with the aid of this Golden Ring Formation, killing the human-faced owl was virtually impossible, and time would not permit them to remain locked in prolonged combat. The only thing they could do was harness the power of the restriction implements, find a way to trap the human-faced owls, spare people to seize the spirit herbs, and then flee! Luo Xingnan gave a cold snort, implicitly accepting Yunyouzi's explanation. He urged his bronze ring to project countless phantoms to continue battering the human-faced owl. At the same time, he wiped a hand across the ring, separating two duplicates and tossing one each to Qin Sang and Ge Yuan, commanding in a tone that brooked no argument, "Join forces with them to hold back these demon birds. I will go out and gather the herbs!" "Hold on!" Yunyouzi spoke up to stop Luo Xingnan. "Fellow Daoist Luo, the beasts are formidable. Without you anchoring the formation, I fear it will be difficult to suppress them. In my view, for safety's sake, it would be better to have Daoist Qingfeng gather the herbs, and then we can divide them equally right here on the spot." Luo Xingnan's face stiffened as he suddenly realized something was amiss. His gaze swept between Qin Sang, Ge Yuan, and Yunyouzi. Luo Xingnan's expression darkened with mounting rage, and he cursed aloud, "Old bastard, they're your men?!" "Hardly anyone's men. This old Daoist is merely acquainted with the two of them," Yunyouzi replied placidly. "Good! Very good!" Luo Xingnan laughed out of sheer fury, shouting praise twice before saying in an exceedingly grim tone, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind! I admit I've been had today! Old bastard, you have quite the nerve plotting against me! Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?!" "Fellow Daoist Luo exaggerates!" Yunyouzi showed not the slightest fear under Luo Xingnan's murderous glare. He looked toward Shangguan Lifeng and the scholar in white. "Everyone here risked entering this place for the sake of treasure. Unlike Yu Kong, we bear no deep-seated enmity toward Fellow Daoist Luo, nor did this old Daoist ever intend any harm against you, so how can you speak of plots? According to my observations, though most of the spirit herbs on the mountain have been ruined by these beasts, seven have survived. The protective restrictions guarding them are formidable enough that these beasts dare not charge in recklessly. There are only six of us, more than enough for each to receive one herb, just as Fellow Daoist Luo previously promised. Why then are you so infuriated when I bring up an equal division again? Could it be... Fellow Daoist Luo's previous promises were merely empty words?" "You..." Confronted by Yunyouzi's piercing question that struck directly at the heart of the matter, Luo Xingnan's face froze completely, his eyes blazing with shock and fury. Giving Luo Xingnan no chance to speak, Yunyouzi bypassed Shangguan Lifeng and addressed the scholar in white. "Fellow Daoist, what do you think?" The scholar in white glanced at Luo Xingnan and Shangguan Lifeng. Under the pressure of Luo Xingnan's piercing stare, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "I believe what Fellow Daoist Yunyouzi says is not without reason." As he spoke, the scholar in white instinctively moved closer to Yunyouzi. Still, Yunyouzi did not wish to push Luo Xingnan too far and drive him to madness. He promptly added, "Breaking the restrictions will take some effort, and Daoist Qingfeng may struggle to manage alone. Why doesn't Fellow Daoist Luo designate another person? With two working together, it should pose no problem. Furthermore, that we could arrive here is entirely thanks to Fellow Daoist Luo's planning and leadership. Out of the seven herbs, it is only right that Fellow Daoist Luo takes two. What do you all think?" With the old man surnamed Gong dead, Luo Xingnan's only remaining confidant was Shangguan Lifeng; Yunyouzi was all but saying it outright. Apart from Luo Xingnan, even if the others harbored greed, they had no standing to demand more. They immediately nodded in agreement.