Not Taking the Bait

"What a bunch of unreliable bastards!" Fu Liushan let out an irritable sigh. Could it be that he truly couldn't escape this calamity? Three years ago when he left the mountains, an old charlatan had read his fortune, claiming that his horoscope clashed with the Grand Duke Jupiter this year and that he should steer clear of mountain forests. Fu Liushan hadn't paid the slightest heed. He was a mountain guardian; how could he possibly not enter the mountains? Thinking back now, had there actually been a grain of truth to it? Just as these thoughts drifted through his mind, the bell suddenly stopped ringing. That didn't mean the danger had passed—it meant the main guest had arrived! At some point, the chirping of insects in the mountain forest had vanished. The leaves hung as still as carvings, and even the wind seemed to have ceased flowing. It was a suffocating silence. He Lingchuan pressed his collar; the divine bone necklace was growing hotter and hotter. From that alone, he knew the black-armored man was drawing near. *Swish!* The brush rustled, and a dark silhouette bolted out, fast as an arrow loosed from a bowstring. The small tree it brushed past had barely begun to sway when the shadow was already right in front of He Lingchuan. *So fast!* Fu Liushan, watching from inside the stone platform, didn't dare blink. *Don't let that guy surnamed He fail to last even a single exchange!* With a colossal bang, not only did the two sides clash, but one of them was sent flying straight back. Fu Liushan's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe that the one knocked flying like a leather ball was actually the black-armored leader! Nor was the blow struck by the man surnamed He, but by an enormous figure that had materialized out of thin air— A colossal berserk ape! This giant ape was tall and burly, gripping a massive purple-gold staff in its hands. It was this very staff that had just dealt the black-armored leader a devastating blow. Not only was the black-armored man caught completely off guard, but Fu Liushan was also thoroughly dumbfounded. *Wait a minute, did that little monkey from earlier turn into this?* He Lingchuan gritted his teeth and hissed at the ghost ape, "Who told you to knock him out of the circle?" "Huh?" "If you knock him out of the white circle, how are we supposed to seal him?" During tough fights, he particularly missed Auntie. This monkey was fierce enough, but it barely used its head. *Ah, forgot.* The ghost ape scratched the back of its head, baring its teeth in an apologetic grimace. The black-armored leader snapped two large trees in succession, then scrambled up as if completely unfazed, uttering a low, guttural rasp at He Lingchuan: "Return my heart scale!" Compared to when it had first broken the seal, the crimson glow in its eyes burned even brighter. Having watched it battle through the enemy ranks, He Lingchuan knew it had grown stronger, fueled by the joy of slaughter and its opponents' terror. The creature truly could sense the treasure he had hidden away. He Lingchuan took the scale wrapped in chamois leather from his breast and waved it. "Come and get it yourself." The bait was set; now to see if the fish would bite. The black-armored leader took several strides forward, then suddenly looked down at the ground and deliberately stopped outside the white circle. It still remembered this seal. He Lingchuan glanced toward the stone platform and raised his middle finger at Fu Liushan. *That unreliable prick.* Didn't he say the Luosheng Armor's host would be muddle-headed right after breaking free? But the black-armored leader didn't look stupid at all! Fu Liushan sucked in a sharp breath. What he had said earlier was merely his ancestors' deduction—what did it have to do with him? His ancestors had never fought the black-armored leader either; this whole situation was like a maiden mounting the bridal sedan—the very first time. *So the black-armored man actually has a brain? That makes this even harder to fight.* The black-armored leader let out a low chuckle, then abruptly turned on his heel and strode away, vanishing into the forest within two steps with a rustle of leaves. It actually... ran away? It actually knew enough to flee? He Lingchuan felt somewhat helpless. "After him." The creature seemed to know they would definitely give chase. Now that it had seen through the trap, the stone platform formation was useless. He Lingchuan and the berserk ape charged into the woods. Fu Liushan wrung his hands in frustration at the sight. Beyond the sealing array, he had prepared other arrangements here as well. With the black-armored leader running off like that, all his hard work had gone down the drain. *Sigh, what miserable luck this year.* Before running even a hundred paces, He Lingchuan and the berserk ape ground to a halt. Ahead, the trees and tall grass were so dense they whipped against their faces. In a place like this, there was no room to maneuver, making them easy prey for an ambush. Yet just as they halted, several icicles shot out of the thicket with whistling shrieks. He Lingchuan raised his shield to block them, while the berserk ape swung its staff to bat them away. However, one icicle burst against its knee armor. Frost instantly bloomed over the bronze plate, and in less than two breaths, a palm-thick sheet of solid ice formed! Moreover, the ice rapidly crept upward, its biting chill invading everything it touched, whether fur or armor. The berserk ape's movements instantly stiffened, rendering it unable to even lift its leg. Beside them, the mirror shield howled, "Freezing! So freezing!" The shield's surface, having taken an icicle hit, had likewise congealed a thick crust of ice; He Lingchuan could clearly feel the shield grow heavier. The frost tried to spread behind the shield as well, but the mirror firmly held it at bay. This scene felt eerily familiar. Just then, a black snake suddenly darted out of the grass, lunging at He Lingchuan's lower leg. It had been lurking in the tall grass all along, barely seven feet from its enemy, striking explosively only when He Lingchuan was distracted by the icicles. As long as it punched a hole through him, the enemy would be crippled. Yet the moment it leaped, He Lingchuan—as if having eyes in the back of his head—slashed backhanded in a smooth arc. The surrounding grass blades were sheared off in unison, and the black snake took the brunt of the strike. Yet He Lingchuan failed to sever it in two. The black snake produced a metallic clang, wrapping several coils around the blade instead. This wasn't a snake, but a black chain. The tip of the chain was a spiked cone lined with barbs. Earlier, the black-armored leader had used it to pierce the wing membrane of the bat demon puppet in an attempt to scale the aerial mount and fight He Lingchuan to the death. The moment it coiled around Fusheng, the spiked tip struck straight for the back of He Lingchuan's hand, swift and fluid. Quick of eye and deft of hand, He Lingchuan let go and hurled Fusheng a step ahead, aiming directly for the dark figure behind a tree to his left— Guided by the soul-snatching mirror's warning. With a rattle, the chain forcefully yanked Fusheng aside. Simultaneously, the dark figure hurled a spear, which thrust right before He Lingchuan's eyes in an instant. He Lingchuan snapped his torso sideways. The spearhead grazed his waist as it flew past; had he not pulled in his belly with all his might, the spear would have skewered his gut. This black-armored man's reaction speed was on par with his own. According to that unreliable Heavenly Master Fu Liushan, the Luosheng Armor's power was at its weakest right after breaking free from the seal, and would grow increasingly formidable through continuous war and slaughter. Who knew what this armor would be like at its peak? At some point, snow had begun to drift through the air—not heavy goose-feather flakes, but a fine, powdery dusting. As it settled on the body with a faint chill, one's movements instantly stiffened. "Watch out!" the soul-snatching mirror warned at once. "This snow powder has a slowing effect when it falls on someone!" He Lingchuan immediately released his gangqi, keeping the snow powder from getting close. Just as the dark figure hurled the spear, a fierce wind rose behind its head. Fusheng had slipped into the void to escape the chain's entanglement, flying back once more to strike the foe. The dark figure flickered abruptly and vanished from the spot. *Not good.* He Lingchuan felt a spike of alarm. Every time he pulled this trick, it gave his enemies a massive headache; now it was his turn. Without a second thought, he dropped forward, twisting his body halfway as he raised his left hand. Two sleeve arrows shot backward with sharp twangs. Sure enough, the black-armored leader appeared right behind him, raising his hand with another short spear to pierce the nape of his neck. Yet He Lingchuan's dive caused the strike to hit empty air. Just as the black-armored leader was about to plunge the spear downward, He Lingchuan's sleeve arrows arrived, striking his waist with two metallic clinks.