Chapter 258 - 187: Thousand Hands Exorcism

Never mind. I’d better go back and find the Sect Leader to discuss issuing a Demon Slaying Order for Zou Feng.

Meanwhile, Zou Feng continued to wander deep within the Forest Sea until night fell.

In the past, he never would have dared to venture so deep into such a bizarre area.

But now, his skill had made him bold, and venturing deep into the Forest Sea to evade the coming pursuit was the safest option.

However, after running at full speed for so long, Zou Feng was exhausted. And with night having fallen, he had to stop and rest.

By now, Bian Yixia no longer needed Zou Feng to carry her and could keep up on her own.

After stopping, the two leaped onto a treetop, took some elixirs, and sat in meditation to recover.

Once he had finally recovered some strength, Zou Feng began to mentally review the previous battle.

’It might have seemed like killing Yuwen Boxi was effortless, but that wasn’t the case.’

’After all, Yuwen Boxi was ultimately just careless; he didn’t truly see me as an opponent capable of taking his life.’

’And Kang Shixiang, who came after, was clearly more troublesome.’

’Thankfully, I thought of that "Return the Item to Its Original Owner" move and used a Combined Skill with Bian Yixia. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been easy to escape his pursuit.’

"Now we’ve really gone and offended the entire Great Yan Royal Family..." Bian Yixia said suddenly. She, of course, knew that Yuwen Zheng’s fiancée was Princess Zhuque.

"If we’ve offended them, we’ve offended them. Worst case, we’ll just move the whole Hongxing Gang to the Southern Border," Zou Feng said casually.

At the same time, he opened the List of Gods again to see if any new enemies had made the list.

And when he looked, he indeed found something new.

The name "Gongsun Ye" had appeared.

Zou Feng, of course, knew that Gongsun was one of the surnames of the Great Yan Royal Family.

’Speak of the devil. A member of the Royal Family really is on the list now.’

’Then again, Yuwen Zheng and Yuwen Boxi haven’t been dead for long. Did the news really travel that fast?’

"Miss, is there someone in the Great Yan Royal Family named Gongsun Ye?"

Bian Yixia nodded. "Gongsun Ye? You mean that Old Sixth, the Sixth Prince?"

’Uh, so it really is him. I killed his son-in-law and his son-in-law’s father, and damaged the Royal Family’s reputation. It’s only natural he’d want to kill me.’

’But if Gongsun Ye already wants me dead, why hasn’t Yuwen Zheng’s fiancée, Princess Zhuque, appeared on the list yet?’

’Before, I could have explained it away by saying she didn’t know who killed her fiancé.’

’But now that even her father, the Sixth Prince, knows, there’s no reason Princess Zhuque should still be in the dark.’

’Especially with her at the Third Grade Realm, she should have immediately had the urge to avenge her fiancé.’

But he couldn’t explain the List of Gods to Bian Yixia, so naturally he couldn’t discuss this question with her.

Having not seen each other for a long time, the two had plenty of other things to talk about.

Besides, traveling at night deep within Qifeng Mountain was extremely unsafe. It was better to just keep resting and chat for a while to soothe the ache of their separation.

Also, if things went smoothly, Bian Yixia would soon be following him to the Hongxing Gang’s current stronghold on Qifeng Mountain.

When that time came, she would inevitably meet Tian Yun.

’Rather than having her suddenly find out that Tian Yun and I are involved when they meet, making things awkward, it’s better to just be upfront about it now.’

Originally, Zou Feng wouldn’t have cared about such things. After all, though his relationship with Bian Yixia was deep, it had always leaned more toward a sibling-like bond and had never developed into romance.

But during the hostage exchange earlier, Bian Yixia had suddenly given him a "sloth hug," and the look in her eyes had been different from before, making Zou Feng realize something was off.

’I saw her as a sister, but she wants to...’

’But Zou Feng didn’t dwell on it too much. If Tian Yun’s feelings for him were love at first sight, then Yixia’s were the kind that had grown over time.’

’To forcefully reject Bian Yixia’s affection... Zou Feng couldn’t bring himself to do it, and there was no need to.’

"Miss, there’s something I need to tell you..."

"Mm, go ahead!"

Suddenly noticing Zou Feng’s solemn expression, Bian Yixia had a feeling this was no small matter.

Zou Feng coughed. "You know Master Tian of the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall, right?"

"Of course I do. Why bring her up all of a sudden... Don’t tell me you slept with her?" Bian Yixia asked in a joking tone.

Women from gang backgrounds were just that direct, holding nothing back.

Zou Feng laughed awkwardly. "Uh... we had mutual feelings, so it just... happened naturally..."

Bian Yixia hadn’t expected her joke to turn out to be true, and the smile on her face froze.

After a brief silence, she spoke again. "Did you two... get married?"

Zou Feng waved his hand. "No, nothing like that!"

An even more shocked expression appeared in Bian Yixia’s eyes. "You’re not married!?"

This wasn’t Bian Yixia overreacting. After all, Tian Yun was the former number one master of Yuan Guang County, a woman Dedicated to Martial Dao who had never been in a romantic relationship.

’At her age, how could she suddenly have such a change of heart, and even skip getting married...?’

The news left Bian Yixia unsettled for a long time, and a sour feeling definitely bloomed in her heart.

No matter how open-minded she was, she couldn’t avoid the thought, ’But I was here first.’

The atmosphere fell silent again. Zou Feng was about to say something more when a sudden warning flared in his mind.

’Something’s wrong!’

His eyes sharpened. Zou Feng flung out his hand, launching a First-level Poison Fury Fire Lotus Seal to his right.

It was the middle of the night, and the surroundings were pitch-black, but as Zou Feng’s palm strike landed, the Fire Lotus exploded, its light illuminating a massive body.

"A spider!?"

Bian Yixia also saw the massive figure clearly in the firelight.

It was a Giant Spider the size of a water vat.

However, the Giant Spider’s strength was far less terrifying than its ferocious appearance; Zou Feng’s single palm strike had blown it to pieces.

"Miss, be careful! I’m afraid we’ve wandered into a place we shouldn’t have!"

Zou Feng stood up, on full alert.

’That single, unimpressive Giant Spider wouldn’t have been enough to trigger that warning in my mind.’

’Unless... there were hundreds or even thousands of them...’

Zou Feng had always had a special sense for powerful venomous creatures, so he could faintly perceive that besides the swarming Giant Spiders, there was likely an even more powerful presence that could emerge at any moment.

But he had no time for further thought. A constant RUSTLING and SKITTERING sound came from all around as an unknown number of Giant Spiders closed in.

Fortunately, after his earlier recovery, Zou Feng was back at his peak, which gave him more than enough confidence.

The next moment, the closest batch of Giant Spiders launched themselves into the air, pouncing toward Zou Feng and Bian Yixia in a wave that blotted out the sky.

As is well known, spiders that don’t spin webs have an exceptionally ferocious pounce.

Thus, the whistling sound of the pouncing Giant Spiders alone formed terrifying waves of noise that threatened to drown the two of them.

Faced with such a dense assault, even Bian Yixia began to panic; this was even more terrifying than a volley of arrows on a battlefield.

In response, Zou Feng made a split-second decision. He instantly settled into a Horse Stance, clasped his palms together before him in a ready posture, and took a deep breath.

Great Universal Hand, Chaotic Stance—Thousand Hands Exorcism.

As he blurred into motion, the afterimages he left behind made it seem as if Zou Feng had transformed into a multi-headed, multi-armed monster.

Coupled with the frenzy of palm strikes he unleashed, it truly looked as if he possessed a thousand hands, all striking out at once.

In an instant, the surroundings were lit up as bright as day by the fiery explosions.

Bian Yixia was quick-witted enough that while Zou Feng was still in the wind-up for his attack, she clung to the tree trunk directly beneath him, allowing him to unleash his full power without restraint.

The number of Giant Spiders was absurdly large, but Zou Feng’s "Thousand Hands Exorcism" was even more terrifying.

In just a short while, everything in a radius around him—the Giant Spiders and the towering ancient trees alike—was blown away, quickly clearing out a large, empty space. All that remained was a rain of severed limbs and splintered wood.

At that very moment, having heard the commotion, Gongsun Jinghong leaped to the top of the highest nearby tree and gazed out at the scene.

To Gongsun Jinghong, this Palm Strike Storm that had erupted in the dead of night was like a brilliant fireworks display, leaving her mesmerized.

After all, she was well aware that this commotion was most likely caused by the man who had killed her fiancé—the very target of her pursuit.

"Impressive indeed..."