Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 42 The Mysterious Fog and the Ominous Swamp: The Paper Mouse Warns Us

The moment I stepped into Yunmengze, the hustle and bustle of the market behind me abruptly ceased, leaving only a suffocating silence.

The surrounding area was filled with grayish-white miasma, and visibility was less than ten feet.

The ground beneath your feet is soft and muddy; if you're not careful, you could easily step into a bottomless swamp.

The withered trees stretched towards the sky like ghostly claws, and occasionally an unknown strange bird would let out a mournful cry, sending chills down one's spine.

"Be careful, everyone, keep the antidote in your mouths."

Tie Niu walked at the front, his giant axe gleaming with an earthy yellow light. Every step he took was extremely steady, carving a path through the mud.

Li Chengjun and Liu Ruyan, the Daoist couple, stood guard on either side, each holding a magical artifact in their hands, their expressions wary.

Gu Yan walked at the back, seemingly strolling leisurely, but in reality, his fingers trembled slightly inside his sleeve.

Several tiny gray paper mice, no bigger than a thumb, were darting swiftly through the grass, taking in every rustle of grass within a hundred feet.

This is an even more covert reconnaissance method than the paper sparrow: the ground listening mouse.

"Fellow Daoist Gou, where are your paper sparrows? Why haven't they flown away?"

Liu Ruyan glanced back at Gu Yan, whose hands were empty, her tone tinged with doubt.

Gu Yan gave a wry smile and pointed to the ceiling: "The fog is too thick, and there's poisonous miasma too. The paper sparrows can't fly. But don't worry, I have another way."

Liu Ruyan pursed her lips, clearly not trusting his old-fashioned methods.

Just then, Gu Yan's brow twitched suddenly.

Through the Earth-Listening Rat's vision, he saw that fifty feet to his left, the swamp was churning strangely, as if some enormous creature was lurking there.

"stop!"

Gu Yan gave a low shout.

"What's wrong?" Tie Niu immediately stopped and turned around to ask.

"Fifty feet to the left front, something's coming. It's moving very fast!" Gu Yan spoke extremely quickly.

Li Chengjun frowned: "Why didn't I feel anything? My spirit detection disk didn't react either."

He held a compass-like magical artifact in his hand, its pointer remaining perfectly still.

"Trust me this once." Gu Yan stared in that direction, his eyes unusually serious.

Tie Niu glanced at Gu Yan, and his intuition as a seasoned veteran led him to choose to believe him.

He shouted, "Form ranks! Defend!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the mud on the left side suddenly exploded.

"Splash!"

A giant python, as thick as a water bucket and covered in black scales, soared into the sky, opened its blood-red maw, and lunged at the crowd with a foul stench.

The speed was so fast that if they had been a moment later, everyone would have been caught off guard.

"You beast! Prepare to die!"

Iron Ox, who was prepared, roared and his muscles bulged. He swung his giant axe down with the force of splitting mountains.

"clang!"

The axe blade struck the snake's scales, sending sparks flying. The giant python, in pain, swung its massive tail across the snake.

"rise!"

Li Chengjun and Liu Ruyan also reacted. The two cooperated perfectly. One of them raised a bronze shield to block the snake's tail, while the other controlled three flying swords to pierce the snake's eyes.

In an instant, mud and water splashed, and spells roared.

Although the black-scaled python had thick skin and flesh, it quickly fell into a disadvantageous position under the well-prepared attack of the four.

Gu Yan did not attack directly, but instead kept throwing out several seemingly useless yellow talismans.

These talismans ignited upon landing, turning into clumps of sticky, gelatinous substance that greatly restricted the giant python's movement speed.

"Excellent tactic!"

Tie Niu gave a thumbs up, and in the instant the giant python was trapped, he chopped it down in its vital spot with his axe.

"Pfft."

Blood gushed out, the huge snake head rolled to the side, and the snake's body was still writhing wildly in the mud.

The battle is over.

All three were panting heavily. The battle they had just fought, though it seemed tough, was anything but.

If it weren't for Gu Yan's advance warning, the consequences of being ambushed by this Qi Refining Level 8 demonic beast would have been unimaginable.

"Brother Gou, thanks a lot just now!"

Tie Niu wiped the mud off his face and patted Gu Yan's shoulder hard this time, genuinely.

The way Li Chengjun and Liu Ruyan looked at Gu Yan changed, showing more respect and apology.

"Just luck, nothing but luck."

Gu Yan remained humble as he squatted down to examine the dead snake.

He groped the snake for a while, but his brows furrowed more and more.

"What's wrong? Is this snake meat poisonous?" Li Chengjun asked.

"The meat isn't poisonous, but something's not right."

Gu Yan pointed to a deep, old wound on the snake's tail that exposed the bone: "This wound is new, and it was inflicted by some kind of weapon with barbs. This beast wasn't here to hunt; it was fleeing for its life."

"Run for your life?"

Upon hearing this, the three of them all changed their expressions.

For a black-scaled python at the eighth level of Qi Refining to flee for its life, how terrifying must the thing chasing it be?

"and……"

Gu Yan plucked a smear of red powder from between the snake scales, smelled it, and said, "This is beast-attracting powder. Someone deliberately drove it this way."

The air froze instantly.

Tie Niu gripped his giant axe tightly, his eyes scanning the surroundings warily: "You mean, someone wants to use us as pawns?"

"Or maybe they want to see what we're made of."

Gu Yan stood up, dusted off his hands, and spoke calmly, but his fingers inside his sleeve had already gripped a golden talisman.

That was his most treasured Golden Armor Warrior Talisman.

"Since you're here, why hide?"

Gu Yan suddenly spoke loudly to the mist on his right.

Just as Tie Niu thought Gu Yan was bluffing, a chilling laugh came from the mist.

"Hehehe, I didn't expect there to be a knowledgeable guy among this group of rogue cultivators."

As the mist dissipated, three figures dressed in blood-red robes slowly emerged.

The leader was a bald, burly man with a blood scorpion tattooed on his face. He carried a blood-red chain hook with barbs, the very weapon that had wounded the Black Scale Python.

"An outer disciple of the Blood River Sect!"

Liu Ruyan gasped in surprise, her face turning deathly pale.

The Blood River Sect has an extremely bad reputation in the cultivation world. They are notorious for their bloodthirstiness, and if you encounter them, you can forget about getting away with it.

"Since you recognize the grandfathers, then you should be sensible."

The bald, burly man licked his lips, his greedy gaze sweeping over Liu Ruyan: "Kill all the men, take the women. As for that snake, consider it your greeting gift to your grandfather."

Tie Niu stepped forward, blocking the group, and whispered, "Brother Gou, lead them to retreat first. I'll cover the rear!"

Gu Yan glanced at Tie Niu's broad back and a slight thought crossed his mind.

This big, clumsy guy is actually quite loyal.

"Retreat? Where to retreat to?"

Gu Yan shook his head, a strange smile playing on his lips.

He slowly took a step forward and stood beside Tie Niu.

"Since these fellow Daoists wish to exchange gifts, I happen to have a generous gift here. I wonder if you are able to accept it?"

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Yan suddenly flicked his sleeve.

"Whoosh!"

The white paper money fell like snowflakes, instantly enveloping the three Blood River Sect disciples.

This is not ordinary paper money; it is money to buy one's life.

Each piece of paper money has a strange smiling face drawn on it.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

The bald, burly man was horrified to discover that the paper money stuck to his body was frantically devouring his protective blood energy!

"Let's do it!"

Gu Yan gave a cold shout.

This time, it was no longer a test, but a hunt.