Chapter 404: Wind Demon Squad

The rumbling sound was the Wind Demon absorbing the Wind of the Meridian and splitting open the Baoshu King's root ball.

A dignified envoy of a nation, heavily guarded by his escort team, now appeared inside the mountain with both legs broken. He looked exactly like a prisoner.

Shi Er believed he couldn't afford to offend the person who abducted the envoy, so he didn't offer help.

He Lingchuan nodded, "You did very well."

It turned out that Fu Shanyue, seeing the battle between the Wind Demon and the root ball escalate, had casually dragged the abducted Chiyan envoy into the mountain before turning to seize an opportunity.

That scoundrel truly never missed an opportunity.

He Lingchuan's eyes darted around.

In fact, wasn't he the same?

Just then, Shi Er suddenly reached out and exclaimed, "Look there, look there!"

He Lingchuan glanced over and saw countless small tornados sweeping along the mountain path ahead, one after another, lined up and coming to claim lives.

Needless to say, although the Wind Demon pursued the captain of the guards, it hadn't forgotten the many enemies behind it, so it had split off this line of small tornados to clear out the remaining enemies.

But having just absorbed the Wind of the Meridian, the small tornados it released, though not large, were exceptionally solid; they hadn't dissipated after traveling over ten li along the mountain path, sucking up living people and carriages into the sky and throwing them down cliffs as they went!

Watching the tornados line up and head towards the Shimen caravan, Shi Er's voice trembled, "My caravan, Brother He, what do we do!"

He Lingchuan didn't reply, driving the goat quickly down the mountain.

Meanwhile, the Shimen caravan.

Seeing the Wind Demon raging on the opposite side of the mountain and the guard team fleeing in disarray, the Shimen caravan naturally stopped, daring not to proceed.

Behind them were many other travelers who couldn't advance or retreat, all stuck on the mountain road. They could only watch the terrifying sight of distant tornados rising into the sky, pointing and discussing animatedly.

It was truly like watching a show with no personal stake.

But soon someone cried out, "What's that!"

"Tornados, tornados are coming our way!"

"Run, everyone, run!"

People in front uniformly ran backward, wishing they had been born with more legs.

The Shimen caravan also saw the tornados rounding the mountain, and it was... an entire line!

Everyone's scalps tingled, and they instinctively wanted to turn around. Fortunately, at that moment, a large-horned goat came bouncing up the steep slope below the mountain path, looking perilous but actually stable. The rider, without waiting for it to stop, said, "Shimen caravan, follow me, I guarantee your lives!"

At that moment, the three words "guarantee your lives" were more effective than any solemn vow. Moreover, Shi Er was also riding on the back of this mountain goat, urging everyone on, "Hurry and follow!"

When they were at a loss, the two of them appearing on this distinctive large-horned goat was a beacon of hope in everyone's eyes.

Everyone followed without a second thought.

The usual path back was actually blocked by the tornados. He Lingchuan, not wanting to be swept into the sky, could only ride the goat along the slanting path, forcing his way around a small section under the cliff, and then jumping over the many stranded carriages on the main road before reaching the crowd.

Thanks to his goat's excellent jumping ability, it traversed treacherous terrain as if on flat ground.

Fortunately, he had clearly seen the terrain from the summit of Wind Demon Mountain, so he now led the crowd, who drove their carriages, towards the mountain hollow to the front left.

"Oh, this, this?" several managers exclaimed, their faces pale with fear as they looked at the tornado columns above the mountain. "This place won't block the wind!"

They weren't running back, but instead going against the wind? If this wind swept over, why wouldn't they be lifted into the sky, just because they were fatter than others?

"It can't lift you!" He Lingchuan waved his hand. "If you don't want to die, run faster!"

At this critical moment, whoever swore confidently became the backbone. Everyone gritted their teeth, stamped their feet, and hardened their hearts, and still listened to him.

Compared to the fleeing, defeated crowd ahead, they were truly going against the flow.

Fortunately, this mountain hollow wasn't small, and most of the Shimen caravan's carriages could fit by squeezing in, but the remaining seven or eight simply wouldn't fit.

"Leave those few!" Shi Er decisively called everyone else inside.

The carriages had barely stopped when the tornados arrived.

He Lingchuan saw the sky behind the caravan suddenly darken and knew the wind had arrived.

He wasn't flustered, taking out three Wind Lion statues from his storage ring and having everyone move them to the triangle of the mountain hollow, which was the outer edge of the group.

As soon as the Wind Lions touched the ground, everyone's clothes stopped fluttering; this mountain hollow became a veritable sanctuary from the wind.

Then, the tornados arrived, their tails sweeping past the crowd, sucking up countless mud and sand. The originally broad mountain slope was visibly eroded at a rapid pace.

Individual tornados were not as strong as the Wind Demon's main body, but their strength lay in their numbers. With over a dozen working together, the sound of the wind was deafening, almost like the roar of the apocalypse.

Except for He Lingchuan, almost all members of the caravan crouched low to the ground, their hands clutching their heads, terrified of being blown away if they stood up.

In reality, how much difference would standing make?

Only He Lingchuan stood in the center of the three Wind Lions, looking up at the tornados.

They seemed to pause deliberately, assessing this group.

In the past, they wouldn't attack people or fields near Wind Lions; but today...

Hmm, this group of people looked harmless today and posed no threat. The tornados didn't linger long and swirled away to pursue the frantic prey ahead.

The caravan members, shaken, gradually composed themselves, and only after lying low for a long time did they raise their heads, realizing the tornados had gone far away.

Just now the group was clearly at its base, yet they were completely unharmed!

From everyone's perspective, Young Master He's silhouette appeared so tall and grand!

It gave them a complete sense of security.

A manager stammered, "Young Master He, are we... are we safe?"

He Lingchuan patted the Wind Lion's large head, "It's fine now, everyone get up."

Everyone stood on the mountain road, looking left and right, and couldn't help but shiver. There were no living people on the road anymore, except for the Shimen caravan itself.

At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky gradually dispersed. He Lingchuan pointed to the sky, "If you wait for the sky to clear and the sun to rise before moving forward, you'll most likely be fine."

"Where are you going?" Shi Er now saw him as a calming presence and felt anxious without him.

"To settle accounts with someone. See you up ahead." Throwing down these words, He Lingchuan leaped two zhang on his mountain goat, and in a blink, was among the towering mountains. "Don't worry, the Wind Demon won't reappear for a while."

When the Wind Demon finished with the guard captain and returned, it found that the remaining guard members had already escaped to halfway up the mountain, and it was furious.

After all, the guard team had vital energy protecting their bodies, and that line of small tornados couldn't compare to the Wind Demon's main body, so only twenty-odd people were lost, and the rest ultimately escaped.

There were no forests but stone forests in the chase area; the ground had been eroded by glaciers for years, plowed with countless pits. The stone forest was uneven, and the terrain was far less open than the mountain top.

Furthermore, lacking the howling north wind as a continuous supplement, the Wind Demon pursued for over a hundred zhang and found it indeed difficult to exert its power.

These people also advanced scattered, some simply hiding in underground caves. It took great effort to catch just one or two.

After a stalemate of half an hour, the Wind Demon had to retreat sullenly.

Another main reason was that it itself was actually very heavily wounded.

Every attack from the guard team carried vital energy. The vital energy of the Baoshu Kingdom was so powerful that a wild monster like it could barely withstand it. If not for the howling winds at the mountaintop being its ideal battleground, and if not for the timely replenishment from the Wind of the Meridian, it would have been the one fleeing in disarray after exhausting its strength, facing repeated attacks from three hundred guards.

Furthermore, was the root ball, cultivated using the Baoshu King's spiritual seed, so easily broken free from?

The power of the Wind of the Meridian was mostly depleted by then.

What it should do now was to quickly return to the wind cave beneath the Ethereal Sect ruins to lick its wounds and recover its vital energy.

The Wind Demon had battled the guards for so long; what caravan on the main road would dare to remain? Those who could turn back did, preferring to return to Black Stone Fort and wait a few more days until the main road there was repaired before setting off again. Others moved far away, retreating to a safe distance, watching the wind monster return to Wind Demon Mountain.

Of course, most people had lost their lives.

Up and down the mountain, corpses paved the way.

Shi Er remembered He Lingchuan's words, and when the dark clouds in the sky dispersed and sunlight once again filled the world, he led the caravan forward.

Indeed, the journey was peaceful, and nothing happened.

If one didn't look at the corpses and carriage wreckage hanging everywhere on both sides of the road and on the cliffs, the road seemed to have returned to normal.

As for He Lingchuan, he found a large rock for cover. Observing that no one was around, he quietly extracted all the root ball fragments from his storage ring from behind the rock to avoid any complications.

Indeed, he found the spiritual seed.

Probably because its demonic power was exhausted, the object was no longer dazzling gold and imposing but had reverted to the appearance of a pale yellow seed, wrapped in a hard shell with faint speckles on it.

If he hadn't personally seen the treant hand it to Prime Minister Tang, He Lingchuan would have thought it was a bird's egg. He squeezed it again, feeling it was a bit brittle; if he applied a little more force, he might have crushed it directly, which wouldn't meet the divine bone necklace's requirements.

He quietly brought the object closer to the divine bone, which then emitted a red light, absorbing it without hesitation.

Even the massive remains of Zhu Erniang were effortlessly swallowed by the divine bone necklace, so He Lingchuan didn't think this was any big deal.

Now he understood, the divine bone necklace's needs were the Great Square Kettle's needs.

What did this divine artifact want with a tree seed?

The remaining root fragments, He Lingchuan didn't waste, giving them all to the Soul-Capturing Mirror.

"Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh!" The mirror let out a joyous cry.

During the Baoshu King's birthday celebration, it had wished for just one branch.

Who would have thought its wish would come true so quickly, and the amount would be several times greater?

The master truly gave too much!

Meanwhile, a powerful roar echoed from White Cloud Mountain.

The sound wasn't earth-shattering, but it instantly spread throughout Fufeng City, causing all living beings' vital energy and blood to churn, making them feel deeply uncomfortable.

Regardless of gender, age, human, or demon, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and tremblingly looked north.