“Quite clever.”

Yuan Ming muttered to himself, following the direction of the footprints and using his supernatural power, “Far Travel,” to release all three Soul Crows to search for the whereabouts of Tu Ya and her daughter.

The speed of the Soul Crows was faster than that of horses, and there were no obstacles in the air. They quickly found the trace of Tu Ya and her daughter. The two of them were hurriedly fleeing along a mountain path.

Tu Ya’s mother seemed to have injured her leg and was limping, unable to walk fast at all.

Moreover, perhaps due to their panic, the two of them did not escape towards the outside of the mountain, but instead headed deeper into the Qingao Mountain.

Yuan Ming’s expression relaxed slightly as he continued to chase after them.

…

On a thorny path leading deep into Qingao Mountain, Tu Ya was helping her mother walk slowly.

Tu Ya’s mother was just an ordinary village woman who had no idea where to go. All she wanted at this moment was to protect her daughter and stay away from those murderous demons.

“Ah!” Tu Ya exclaimed in surprise as she tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground.

Tu Ya’s mother hurriedly turned around to help her daughter up. At that moment, a figure jumped out of the forest ahead with a rustling sound.

“Don’t… don’t come any closer!”

Tu Ya’s mother shouted in fear, holding her daughter in her arms and collapsing to the ground.

“You don’t need to be afraid, I have no intention of harming you!” the figure said, and it was Yuan Ming.

“What do you want?” Tu Ya’s mother recognized Yuan Ming, but her terrified expression did not diminish in the slightest.

“Follow me, I’ll take you to a safe place,” Yuan Ming urgently said.

Tu Ya’s mother looked at Yuan Ming fearfully, not speaking or moving.

Yuan Ming was taken aback, then understood that he was also a murderous demon in the eyes of the two of them.

“Do you want to save yourself and your daughter?” He coughed and asked again as gently as possible.

Tu Ya’s mother either saw that Yuan Ming had no ill intentions or was too scared, and nodded subconsciously.

“Then follow me, I’ll take you to a safe place,” Yuan Ming said.

“Who are you? Why do you want to help us?” Tu Ya’s mother hesitated for a moment and asked.

“There’s no time to explain now, if you want to survive, come with me,” Yuan Ming said, walking towards the outside of Qingao Mountain.

Tu Ya’s mother hesitated, not knowing whether or not to listen to the person in front of her.

Although Yuan Ming had helped them before, she could tell that it was Yuan Ming’s companions who had destroyed the Miao Flower Village.

If they stayed here and encountered other murderous demons, as orphans and a widow, it would be extremely difficult for them to survive.

Tu Ya’s mother quickly made up her mind and pulled Tu Ya along to follow.

Yuan Ming stopped in his tracks and then turned back.

“What… what are you going to do?” Tu Ya’s mother showed a nervous expression again.

“You’re too slow,” Yuan Ming said without further explanation, grabbing the two of them and using Shadowless Steps to swiftly move forward.

Tu Ya and her mother only felt the wind whistling past their ears, and everything in their vision quickly retreated. Before they could react, they found themselves at a three-way intersection in the northwest of the Miao Flower Village.

One of the roads was quite spacious, enough for two carriages to pass side by side, winding towards the distance.

When Yuan Ming came to the Miao Flower Village, he had walked on this road. There was a town about twenty miles ahead, located on a major transportation route, and it was quite large.

The Biluo Cave only targeted small remote tribes and would not attack prosperous towns.

Yuan Ming put down Tu Ya and her mother and told them the location of the town.

“…Once you reach there, you’ll be safe. This road is a trade route, and you won’t encounter any enemies. You can rest assured,” Yuan Ming said finally.

“Thank you. Aren’t you coming with us?” Tu Ya’s mother felt slightly relieved and asked.

Yuan Ming shook his head. He had defied the orders of the Biluo Cave by attacking Hu Zha and the others. If he couldn’t eliminate Hu Huo and Kun Tu, even if he managed to escape, he would face endless pursuit from the Biluo Cave. Helping Tu Ya and her mother to this extent was already the limit.

“Go quickly, it’s getting late…” he said.

Before he finished speaking, a breeze blew in from the distance, sweeping through the trees and forests.

Yuan Ming frowned. The breeze seemed to carry the aura of some fierce beasts.

He quickly controlled the three Soul Crows to investigate nearby, and his expression changed slightly. He took out the White Ape Skin and transformed into the form of a white ape.

After Yuan Ming had finished all this, a figure suddenly leaped out of the nearby forest with a rustling sound. It was Ha Gong in his human form.

Tu Ya trembled when she saw this monster, and Tu Ya’s mother also showed a fearful expression, completely unaware that the monster in front of her was Ha Gong.

“You two, step back,” Yuan Ming summoned the Black Toad and said in a deep voice.

Tu Ya’s mother had experienced drastic changes and was no longer as timid and fragile as before. She hurriedly protected her daughter and fled to the side.

Ha Gong ignored Tu Ya and her mother, his blood-red eyes fixed on Yuan Ming as he roared and pounced.

Yuan Ming quickly made a hand seal. Five wooden spikes emerged from the ground in front of Ha Gong, aiming for his abdomen, but Ha Gong agilely dodged them.

Yuan Ming had already experienced the speed of the human form of a Xianxia monster. Taking advantage of Ha Gong’s evasion, he flicked his finger.

A smoke bomb shot out and hit in front of Ha Gong.

With a loud bang, a large gray smoke rose up, obscuring Ha Gong’s vision.

Ha Gong roared in anger, and his right leg emitted a strong green light, instantly becoming thicker. He stomped on the ground with force.

With a muffled bang, a deep pit was stomped into the ground, and a fierce wind mixed with green light swept over, blowing away most of the nearby smoke.

At this moment, a black crow flew towards Ha Gong’s face, only a foot away from his body.

However, Ha Gong seemed to have foreseen it and easily dodged it.

Yuan Ming looked surprised, unable to understand why Ha Gong’s eyes seemed to be able to see through the smoke.

“Roar!”

Ha Gong opened his blood-filled mouth wide and let out a roar-like howl.

The air within a radius of ten zhang suddenly violently churned, creating a huge gust of wind. Not only did it easily blow away the remaining smoke, but the dust it raised also made it impossible for Yuan Ming to open his eyes.

Taking advantage of this, Ha Gong continued to pounce. His two sharp claws crossed and slashed towards Yuan Ming’s throat.A shadow flashed beside Yuan Ming, and two black crows flew out, swooping towards Ha Gong’s face.

Ha Gong had no time to attack Yuan Ming, he hastily dodged again, avoiding one crow, but ultimately failed to dodge the second one.

The black crow fiercely collided with his forehead, penetrating and entering his sea of consciousness.

The soul crow turned into a phantom state, colliding with Ha Gong’s soul, and exploded with a “bang”.

Ha Gong’s body trembled violently, he fell to the ground, his limbs convulsing and trembling, unable to get up.

Yuan Ming’s face also turned a bit pale, but his actions were not affected, he urged his mind.

The ground beside Ha Gong cracked open, a purple-black demon vine shot out from it, rapidly entwining his body, forming a wooden vine cage in a few breaths.

Ha Gong’s body was still convulsing, without any resistance, he was firmly imprisoned by the purple vine cage.

Yuan Ming’s expression slightly relaxed, the wooden cage formed by the purple-black demon vine was indestructible. From the previous battle, Ha Gong did not have the ability to use fire attribute attacks, he could not break free.

Tu Ya and her mother sighed in relief when they saw the monster being subdued.

“Mother, this brother is so powerful, Tu Ya wants to be like him in the future.” Tu Ya was not as scared as before, her eyes shining as she watched the fight.

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Tu Ya’s mother quickly covered her mouth, not letting her talk nonsense.

Tu Ya was not afraid at all, her round eyes staring at Yuan Ming’s back.

Yuan Ming naturally heard the movement behind him, but he didn’t care, he waved his hand to recall the remaining two soul crows, and sat down to recuperate.

What he had just used was the “Soul Collision” ability he obtained after his soul transformed. The soul crow entered the enemy’s sea of consciousness and self-destructed for a mutual destruction attack.

The power of “Soul Collision” was terrifying. Slightly weaker enemies would directly have their souls scattered; same-level beings would also suffer severe soul damage, their consciousness would be confused for a short time, and their bodies would lose the ability to act, just like Ha Gong at the moment.

The attack power of “Soul Collision” was so strong, correspondingly, the burden was also considerable. With his current soul power, he could only condense three soul crows and perform “Soul Collision” three times.

Moreover, “Soul Collision” was different from ordinary soul power techniques. Once it was used, all soul power would explode and dissipate in the enemy’s sea of consciousness, and not a bit could be recovered.

Soul power was different from mana, it was quite difficult to recover, even with the Death Moon method, it would take about seven days to recover a third of the soul power.

“The cost is so high, it seems that I can’t use Soul Collision casually.” Yuan Ming thought to himself, slightly recuperating, his complexion recovered.

The lost soul power could not be quickly recovered, it could only be slowly restored.

He got up and went to Ha Gong’s side. Ha Gong had already awakened from the “Soul Collision” state. Although his body was imprisoned, his mouth could still move. He roared at Yuan Ming incessantly, his blood-red eyes full of bloodthirsty light.

Yuan Ming looked at the frenzied Ha Gong in front of him, somewhat silent.

He had searched for information about human ghouls and the fur technique in the Hidden Pavilion, but unfortunately, he found nothing. The Bi Luo Cave seemed to deliberately hide everything about the fur technique, and the method of refining the fur technique was not stored in the Hidden Pavilion.

For Ha Gong, who had transformed into a human ghoul, he currently had no way to help him recover.

Since Ha Gong appeared here, Hu Huo and others would probably come soon, and he didn’t have much time left.

“Do I really have to kill Ha Gong?” Yuan Ming clenched his fist.

“Sir… Should we kill this monster quickly and leave here?” Tu Ya’s mother saw Yuan Ming staring at the disgusting monster in a daze, and couldn’t help but speak.

Yuan Ming’s body shook slightly, and he turned to look at the woman.

“Sir… Did I say something wrong?” Tu Ya’s mother was startled by his gaze.

Yuan Ming withdrew his gaze, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes.

If Tu Ya’s mother knew that the monster in front of her was her husband, I wonder what she would feel.

Upon hearing the woman’s voice, Ha Gong’s roar suddenly paused, and the blood light in his eyes dimmed a lot.

Yuan Ming looked surprised, he glanced at Tu Ya’s mother, a thoughtful look appeared on his face, and he had a vague guess in his heart.

(End of the chapter)