The next day.
Mo Chuan and the other four wandered in the dense forest for the entire morning, yet they couldn't find a single demonic beast.
"Seriously, don't these demonic beasts come out to forage during the day?" Zhang Hanshan spat out the blade of grass he was chewing on, saying indignantly.
Mo Chuan silently received the messages from the flock of crows, feeling very strange himself—there wasn't a single demonic beast within a few kilometers of the five of them.
At this moment, sounds of a fox barking came from Mo Fei's backpack. Mo Fei finally remembered the little fox and quickly let him out.
Su Yueqing, biting onto a short-sleeved t-shirt, tumbled onto the ground. A white light flashed, and the white-furred young boy emerged from the shirt, his face flushed as he shouted, "Ugly woman! You almost suffocated me! I must have been unconscious for several hours!"
Just as Su Yueqing finished speaking and was about to throw a punch at Mo Fei, he suddenly realized he was surrounded by people.
"You... who did you call an ugly wo-man?"
A large hand grabbed Su Yueqing by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up.
Su Yueqing then saw the person speaking—Mo Chuan, his eerie green eyes fixed on him, emitting a gaze as if from hell.
"Ah... ah... a ghost!" Su Yueqing was so scared that tears streamed from his eyes. The silver ahoge on his head and his large tail stood on end like a porcupine's quills.
"Alright... Brother, stop scaring him!" Mo Fei looked at Mo Chuan speechlessly and took the nearly scared-out-of-his-wits Su Yueqing from his hands.
"Since you're out, let me ask you, do you know why all the demonic beasts in this forest have disappeared?"
"I... why should I tell you..." Although his tone was a bit timid, and his small face was tear-streaked, he still held onto his dignity (or perhaps not).
"One can of food." Mo Fei said with a fake smile.
"No... no..."
"Two."
"I... I can't..."
"A box of canned food. If you come back to the city with us, I'll treat you to fried chicken."
"Let me see."
For the sake of his canned food, Su Yueqing decisively sold his dignity.
He, with his little ahoge and his tail swaying, ambled through the forest, looking around here and there. The five of them quietly followed behind him.
"Is that... the little fox that charmed Zhang Hanshan yesterday?" He Lanxin asked, crossing her arms.
"Yes, his name is Su Yueqing."
"Demonic beasts that can shapeshift are usually at least sixth-tier, aren't they? What's his situation?" Mo Chuan asked with a frown.
"Actually, some demonic beasts are born with the ability to shapeshift..."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Tang Jingjing. She recalled for a moment and slowly spoke, "I heard it from my grandmother. She said that about fifty years after spiritual energy first recovered, people discovered there were eight 'Sacred Beast Clans' among the demonic beasts. They had pure bloodlines and extremely high intelligence, and could naturally shapeshift. Like human clans, they were distributed in the eight directions of the Dragon Kingdom."
"They are: the Canglang Dragon Clan (Qian) in the East, the Kunlun Tiger Clan (Zhen) in the West, the Cangwu Sparrow Clan (Li) in the South, the Zhenwu Xi Clan (Kan) in the North, the Heizong Bear Clan (Kun) in the Northeast, the Qingchi Eagle Clan (Xun) in the Northwest, the Qingqiu Fox Clan (Dui) in the Southeast, and the Bailin Python Clan (Gen) in the Southwest."
"Later, the demonic beasts fought a war with the demon race. Our human race profited from both sides, and in the end, the demon race and the demonic beasts were both severely weakened."
"Among them, the clans with relatively shallow foundations, like the Heizong Bear Clan, Qingqiu Fox Clan, Bailin Python Clan, and Qingchi Eagle Clan, collapsed. The remaining four clans are what we call the Four Sacred Clans today."
"Therefore, I believe he is a descendant of the Qingqiu Fox Clan. After all, the Qinggao Palace of the Qingqiu Fox Clan was in Jinling back then, which is not far from here for demonic beasts."
"I know why!" Su Yueqing ran to Mo Fei with his short legs, looking up and saying.
"Little Flower told me that those high-tier great beasts felt a dangerous aura rising from the East last night, so they all hid. And when the low-tier small beasts saw the great beasts hiding, they also hid with them."
"To the East of Jibei... Linfen? Dongyue? Penglai? Linzi? There are no large demonic beasts there?" He Lanxin frowned.
"Then can you find those hidden small beasts?" Mo Fei took out a can of food from his waist pouch and dangled it towards Su Yueqing.
"...I don't think so..." Su Yueqing's mouth was stubborn, but his body was honest as he looked at the canned food in Mo Fei's hand.
"If you find a nest, I'll give you one can of food, and it won't count towards the box we discussed earlier."
"Deal!"
Su Yueqing transformed into a silver-white little fox. He first tilted his head and sniffed the air for a moment, then slowly walked towards a large tree hollow.
He peeked into the hollow for a moment, then pointed at the tree hollow and said, "This place should be the territory of snakes or lizards. There are at least three of them."
"Well done..." Mo Fei threw the can to Su Yueqing, then said to Tang Jingjing, "Sister Jingjing, it's up to you now!"
"Okay, we'll have roasted snake meat for lunch today!" Tang Jingjing summoned her Thousand Mechanism Umbrella, and the crimson umbrella face pointed towards the opening of the hole, "Red Lotus Bullet."
As soon as she spoke, several red bombs resembling lotus buds shot out from the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella and rolled into the tree hollow.
A moment later, a loud "boom" echoed from the tree hollow. Blistering heat waves and bright flames with terrifying temperatures rushed from the hole to the entrance, directly hitting the faces of the crowd.
He Lanxin calmly wiped the mud spots off her shoulder, then summoned her Overlord Halberd and said, "Prepare for battle."
The five of them formed a formation and slowly approached the entrance of the hole without choosing a side, preventing them from being caught off guard by an enraged demonic beast.
"Hiss hiss ah—"
In the swirling smoke, a green python, nine meters long, rushed out of the tree hollow. Its entire body was charred black, with smoke rising from its head as it glared with blood-red eyes, scanning everywhere as if searching for the person who threw the bombs.
Its gaze fell upon Su Yueqing, who was struggling to open a can of food on a nearby treetop. It raised its head and hissed, "Were those things thrown by you?"
Su Yueqing was startled and cried out, "I don't know!?"
"You damn little brat, you're still pretending? You're going to get it!"
With a roar, the green python, twisting its barrel-like body, charged out of the tree hollow. Just as its head approached Su Yueqing, He Lanxin, who had been waiting, ordered, "Mo Chuan, Zhang Hanshan, you two go!"
Mo Chuan swung his grappling hook, and the One-Hit Soul Hook directly struck the green python's back. The sharp hook pierced the python's skin and scales, causing it to writhe in pain.
Mo Fei threw the lantern to Zhang Hanshan and said, "Old Zhang, catch! Your turn!" With that, he activated his second q, flying towards the green python, with Zhang Hanshan being pulled along by the lantern behind him.
"Old Zhang! Beat him!" Mo Chuan forcefully swung the chain in his left hand in mid-air, and the lantern carrying Zhang Hanshan was directly flung by Mo Chuan from behind him to the front.
"Mingwang Wrath!" Zhang Hanshan let go of the lantern, his entire body engulfed in fiery red flames, flying towards the green python like a meteor.
"Boom—"
The green python's back had already shed some scales from the Red Lotus Bullet. Therefore, Zhang Hanshan's powerful punch directly broke its spine.
A burning sensation swept through every nerve in its body from its back. The green python instantly lost feeling in its hindquarters. Off-balance, it crashed to the ground.
"Hiss ah—"
Before losing consciousness, the green python stared intently at Su Yueqing, as if saying, "So it was you who led the enemy here?"