Chapter 614: Huangquan Evil Spirit (4000 words)_2
At this moment, the Yellow Spring water on the ground suddenly moved. It was like a slick puddle of butter, flowing along the grooves of the ground without soaking into the soil, its destination unknown.
"Where will it flow to?" Xiang Beifei asked, puzzled.
"The evil spirits of the Yellow Spring turn into Yellow Spring water after death, it is said they return to the embrace of the Yellow Spring," Jiang Shan replied in a deep voice.
"Where is the embrace of the Yellow Spring?"
Xiang Beifei's spirits lifted. His purpose here was to find the Source of the Netherworld and use the Stele to deal with the Yellow Spring.
Jiang Shan shook his head, "I don't know. Based on our understanding, these things seek a water source on their own and disappear into it."
This area had several streams. Could it be that the Yellow Spring creatures return to the Source of the Netherworld through underground currents?
Xiang Beifei discreetly waved his hand, and a small speck of breath soil shot out from under his clothes, quietly merging into the pool of Yellow Spring water.
Breath soil was his positioning Divine Artifact, so he should be able to find the Source of the Netherworld this way.
"It seems the evil spirits of the Yellow Spring have awakened. We can't scatter anymore, we need to be careful."
Jiang Shan cautiously scanned the surroundings, searching for traces of other Yellow Spring evil spirits. Seeing no second evil spirit, he commanded everyone to quickly handle the corpse of the great bear.
Originally, they intended to take the bear's entire carcass, but with a Yellow Spring evil spirit appearing, a second might emerge. They simply skinned it, cut out some tender meat, and quickly left the area.
Jiang Shan led the team eastward for about ten miles before stopping at their designated hunting cave.
"We can't go back to that area we were in earlier."
Jiang Shan indicated for the hunters to put their prey into the hunting cave, along with the bone-winged horse from before. After processing it, he seriously said, "There should be quite a few Yellow Spring evil spirits awakening in the forest now. We must pray not to encounter them; if we do, we must run immediately."
"I think we shouldn't run from these Meat-Winged Monsters." Xiang Beifei said.
Jiang Shan furrowed his brow slightly.
"We can't defeat these Yellow Spring evil spirits. It would take at least ten people as strong as Six Bro to kill one," Jiang Chuan said.
"No, Xiao Houzi managed to shoot one dead! It shows that if we seize the opportunity, the Yellow Spring evil spirits aren't invincible."
Next to them, Jiang Song watched with admiration at the bow in Xiang Beifei's hands. He also had a bow, but the difference between Xiao Houzi's shots and his was like night and day.
Jiang Shan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Xiao Houzi, what do you think we should do?"
Everyone looked at Xiao Houzi. Right now, his archery skills were their only hope against the Yellow Spring evil spirits.
"Facing these Yellow Spring evil spirits, we can't just sit and wait for death," Xiang Beifei said. "These Meat-Winged Monsters have weaknesses. They're not as strong as we imagined, and we need to take the initiative to attack!"
"Xiao Houzi, we don't have archery skills like yours. Your archery seems to surpass all of us," Jiang Shan said hesitantly.
Xiang Beifei fiddled with the ordinary-looking bow in his hands and said, "Do you know why I was able to shoot that Meat-Winged Monster dead?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
"Why?" someone asked.
"Before I shot it, I had no idea it was a Yellow Spring evil spirit. In my eyes, it was just a Meat-Winged Monster, no different from an ordinary desolate beast," Xiang Beifei said.
"You thought it was just an ordinary desolate beast?"
All the hunters were shocked because, in their eyes, Yellow Spring evil spirits were very different from other desolate beasts. These evil spirits were immensely powerful, quite intelligent, and even capable of mocking humans verbally.
Definitely not the same as ordinary desolate beasts!
"The more fear you have of it, the more it will cause panic among you, making it impossible to defeat. If you simply regard it as an ugly desolate beast, it won't be as powerful," Xiang Beifei stated.
The Meat-Winged Monsters played the part of Yellow Spring evil spirits to attack humans, creating an illusion in the people of Changpan Valley that these spirits were undefeatable evil beings. At the same time, they impersonated sages to save humans, telling them they alone could defeat the Yellow Spring evil spirits.
They have a tight grip on the human thoughts in Changpan Valley, so much so that when many Hunters first see the wraiths of the Netherworld, their immediate reaction is not to fight, but to flee in panic, hoping for the blessing of the Divine Lord.
Little do they know, whether it's the Divine Lord or the wraiths of the Netherworld, they are all the same kind of Meat-Winged Monster. These monsters imprint the ideas they want to see onto the thoughts of the Human Race, making humans unconsciously grasped by their lifeblood.
Xiang Beifei must make these humans understand the truth about the Meat-Winged Monsters and the Moon God.
The Hunters were also very skeptical, wanting to refute, but unable to find a point of rebuttal, because Xiao Houzi actually managed to kill a Netherworld wraith with a single arrow, giving him the confidence to say these words!
Jiang Shan's mind was racing, due to the loss of the moonprint, he was the one who could most understand Xiang Beifei's words among these people.
In the past, it took ten of him to be a match for a Meat-Winged Monster, but perhaps now it was different?
Perhaps... perhaps he might even be able to kill a Meat-Winged Monster himself?
Jiang Shan tightened his fist: "Xiao Houzi is right, we must try! The Meat-Winged Monsters have been slaughtering us humans, we absolutely cannot sit and wait for death!"
The other Hunters also recalled the various atrocities of the Meat-Winged Monsters in the past, and they harbored an intense hatred for them. Many of their childhood friends and relatives fell at the hands of these monsters, when have they not thought of revenge?
Now, Xiao Houzi's words gave them some motivation.
"That's right, we can't just sit and wait to die, if we run we'll still die, but fighting might give us a slim chance of survival, Xiao Houzi, tell us! How do we fight back?" A Hunter asked loudly.
"It's very simple, pick up your bows and arrows."
Xiang Beifei calmly strung his bow, saying: "Let's hunt those Meat-Winged Monsters that wish to grow up together."
The Meat-Winged Monsters hunted humans as prey, so Xiang Beifei would in turn hunt these arrogant creatures!
——
In the dense forest, a squad of Hunters was desperately running for their lives, this was a group led by Jiang Dahe, their faces filled with terror, many even bearing wounds, their clothes scratched by branches, wounds bleeding profusely, but they couldn't care less about their injuries, only thinking of quickly shaking off those creatures behind them.
Behind these Hunters, three Meat-Winged Monsters were following at a not too rushed pace, they seemed to have targeted this squad, but did not attack immediately, instead choosing their target, as if deciding which human would serve as their first Nether offering.
"Captain, they're catching up!" A Hunter shouted in fear towards Jiang Dahe.
Jiang Dahe's expression was clearly very flustered, but as the leader, he didn't think about running first, instead, he stopped and shouted: "You guys go first! Go! Go! I'll hold them off!"
He grabbed a Hunter at the back, pushing him forward, then turned around and threw the spear in his hand towards one of the Meat-Winged Monsters!
His strength was considered the strongest among this group of Hunters, and the thrown spear made a sharp whistling sound, piercing through a branch, swiftly stabbing towards one of the Meat-Winged Monsters!
However, the Meat-Winged Monster let out a chilling laugh, watching the spear coming straight at it, and extended its wart-covered hand to easily catch the spear.
"This human beast is strong, it's a perfect offering, it's mine."
It extended its long scarlet tongue to lick its lips, then let out a sinister smile, flapping the wings on its back, flipping its whole body over a protruding branch like a piece of paper, then threw the spear back at Jiang Dahe!
Whoosh!
This Meat-Winged Monster's strength was several times greater than Jiang Dahe's, the spear sped faster and fiercer, aiming straight for Jiang Dahe's heart, its attack merciless, leaving no room for escape!
Jiang Dahe saw the spear coming at him, was shocked, immediately dove to the side, he was already very fast, but still didn't completely dodge, the spear "thunked" into his thigh, pinning him to the ground!
"Ah!"
Jiang Dahe let out a painful cry, clutching his leg, he fell to the ground.
"Captain!" The Hunters in front shouted in alarm.
"Go! Don't mind me! Go!" Jiang Dahe gritted his teeth trying to pull the spear out, but the spear had pierced through his thigh, pinned tightly, impossible to extract.
Bang!
The Meat-Winged Monster landed in front of Jiang Dahe, revealing a grim smile: "To still be able to dodge, has some skill, such an offering is even better."