The sorcery was bizarre, and Jian Lin felt herself being stretched, pieced together, and reassembled within a distorted space.
Before her were all sorts of strange and colorful sights. She struggled to lift her head, and to her side was a long, dark shadow – the Demon Lord.
As for the white streak below her line of sight, there was no doubt it was the High Priest; he had indeed followed them in!
There was no time. She had to think of a way quickly. If the High Priest caught up, not to mention anything else, Tao Niang would be the first to suffer. The High Priest wouldn't care about the life of a demon.
Jian Lin closed her eyes and urgently called out to the system. The system seemed to be affected, its replies intermittent as if the signal was being jammed.
Seeing this situation, Jian Lin's heart sank. If she couldn't contact the system, could she still exchange for what she wanted?
The teleportation speed increased, and Jian Lin saw a spot of light not far away, realizing she was close to the exit.
In a flash, Jian Lin felt herself being squeezed out of the void, spinning and expanding rapidly. Her ears buzzed, and all she saw was a mess of fragmented pieces.
There was no time for her to hesitate. She grabbed the dark figure with one hand and reached out towards the peach blossom hairpin with the other, as if she were strangling Tao Niang's neck.
At the same time, she kicked towards the white figure. She didn't know if she succeeded, but she shouted at the system in her mind, "Teleportation Talisman!"
Then she closed her eyes, picturing the scene outside the demon city, in the bushes where she and the Demon Lord had rested. There were two crooked trees, small scarlet berries growing on the bushes, and a smooth, large round stone the Demon Lord liked to sit on for meditation.
She recalled the details with all her might, afraid the Teleportation Talisman wouldn't recognize it and couldn't teleport them.
Her heart pounded so intensely it almost stopped. Suddenly, a fresh scent of grass and trees reached her, and Jian Lin was so excited she almost cried out. She knew she had succeeded!
The two people and one demon fell onto the grass in a very contorted posture. The Demon Lord, clearly unaccustomed to such embarrassing situations, had a comical expression of bewilderment on his face.
"Listen to me first!" Jian Lin scrambled up, her hands and feet flailing, and said to the Demon Lord and Tao Niang, "In the death prison, the High Priest grabbed my hand and came through with the formation. Tao Niang, your original formation location is no longer safe, and it's not safe now either. Let's go quickly."
The Demon Lord's expression was serious, and he didn't question Jian Lin's words. He looked at Tao Niang and quickly commanded, "Tao Niang, transform into something small, quickly!"
Tao Niang didn't hesitate and immediately turned into a porcelain doll. The Demon Lord reached out, took her, and tucked her into his embrace. With the other hand, he grabbed Jian Lin by the collar, touched the ground with his toes, jumped onto a branch, and used the momentum of the treetops to shoot upwards, directly into the sky.
Jian Lin turned and hugged the Demon Lord's waist. From a distance, she saw a group of black dots flying out from the brightly lit demon city.
"Young Master, the Lin Yu Guards are here," Jian Lin reminded him softly.
"Mm," the Demon Lord responded calmly. "Hold on tight, we're leaving."
A green stream of light flashed, and a formation appeared. The Demon Lord's speed suddenly increased, the points of light before them turning into a line as they rapidly navigated the night sky.
However, the black dots behind them pursued relentlessly, and their size was clearly increasing.
Jian Lin kept a close watch and suddenly realized something was wrong. She quickly reminded the Demon Lord, "It's not just the Lin Yu Guards, but also the High Priest's crow guards. Their speed is clearly faster."
The crow guards could transform into birds, while the Lin Yu Guards had human bodies and bird wings. In terms of pursuit, the crow guards clearly had the advantage.
"It doesn't matter. If they want to court death, I'll meet them!"
As soon as he spoke, the Demon Lord suddenly released Jian Lin, leaving her alone on the flying formation. He turned and charged directly at the crow guards.
Jian Lin was stunned. She couldn't control the flying formation and could only look at the Demon Lord helplessly.
She saw the man holding a long saber, swinging it with fierce momentum, like a bolt of lightning in the dark night, directly cleaving towards the flock of crows.
After several swings, the lightning wove into a large net, presenting a complex interception formation in mid-air.
Then the Demon Lord flew back, boarded the flying formation, and continued to escape. Jian Lin acted as his eyes behind him and happily announced, "We've shaken them off!"
Her joy lasted less than two minutes when the flying formation suddenly shattered. A sharp peck appeared from below. The Demon Lord quickly threw her aside to avoid the attack. Jian Lin fell backward from the sky and saw about six Lin Yu Guards appearing from diagonally in front of her. They cooperated, trapping the Demon Lord while attacking him.
Jian Lin's heart tightened. She recalled the Demon Emperor's greedy words: he wanted to kill the Demon Lord and seize his power to alleviate the pain he inexplicably suffered.
The Lin Yu Guards were his retinue. If the Demon Lord were captured, his fate would likely be dire.
Jian Lin, completely unconcerned about her freefall, reached into her Qiankun bag and took out several explosive pills. She threw them at the Lin Yu Guards with all her demonic energy, estimating the distance and forming hand seals, shouting loudly, "Explode!"
Bang, bang, bang! A series of deafening sounds. The explosive pills detonated in the air, releasing powerful gusts of wind and sparks. Jian Lin gritted her teeth, silently praying, "Hope you don't get blown up!"
Jian Lin didn't care at all that she was about to hit the ground. Her mind was solely focused on blowing up a few of them. Suddenly, a bright red figure rushed towards her – it was Hong Qu!
Hong Qu galloped on all fours, diving towards her rapidly in the air. Just as she was about to hit the ground, Hong Qu caught her and then turned, soaring into the sky.
Jian Lin hugged Hong Qu's neck, nuzzling her fluffy body, laughing with immense joy, "Hong Qu, long time no see!"
Hong Qu glanced at her, said nothing, and focused on rushing towards the Demon Lord.
Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the Lin Yu Guards, Jian Lin used her points to exchange for a large weapon – an oversized fireworks rocket launcher. Her cultivation was insufficient, her magical attacks were weak, so she opted for a solid thermal attack.
"Young Master, be careful!" Jian Lin shouted, pulling the rocket launcher's safety ring and throwing it directly at the black figures entangled in combat.
She wasn't worried about the Demon Lord, believing he could definitely dodge it.
With a thunderous roar, as if from the heavens, the entire world trembled. Hong Qu couldn't withstand the impact of the airflow and rolled away, taking Jian Lin with her.
Jian Lin shielded her eyes with her arms, peering through the gaps at the large ball of fire. One second, two seconds, three seconds. A familiar black shadow flew out and rushed towards her at high speed.
The Demon Lord caught her, bringing with him the scent of scorching gunpowder. Jian Lin grabbed his wrist and anxiously asked, "Young Master, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," the Demon Lord's tone was not good. He lowered his head and glanced at her coldly, "You wait."
Wait for what? Before she could ask, the Demon Lord suddenly accelerated, chasing after Hong Qu, who had been blown further away by the airflow.
In a daze, Jian Lin thought she smelled roasted bird.
After a night of rapid flight, encountering several waves of attacks along the way, they finally arrived in a dense mountain forest at dawn. The Demon Lord found a cave to rest.
The moment they landed, Jian Lin collapsed on the ground, motionless. The aftereffects of flying were still present. Even lying on the ground, she felt the world spinning.
"Young Master, I feel so sick, I want water," Jian Lin tugged at the Demon Lord's robe, pleading for help in pain.
The Demon Lord flicked his robe and sat down, ignoring Jian Lin. Instead, he released Hong Qu from the jade pendant and checked her injuries.
Last night had been dark and chaotic, and Jian Lin had been too preoccupied to notice Hong Qu's injuries. She saw that Hong Qu's bright red fur was scorched black in one spot, and her hind leg seemed to have been cut, leaving a bloody mark.
Jian Lin instinctively thought she had caused it and quickly propped herself up to apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect to injure Hong Qu. I was only thinking that you, Young Master, would definitely escape, and didn't consider her."
"It wasn't you," the Demon Lord glanced at her, his hands busy bandaging Hong Qu's wound. "She was injured by the Lin Yu Guards while protecting me."
So that's how it was. Jian Lin breathed a sigh of relief and continued to lie on the ground, "I thought it was me. I'm useless and only cause trouble."
"Don't be modest. You're far from useless; you're more than enough," the Demon Lord snorted coldly. After presumably finishing bandaging Hong Qu's wound, he stood up, walked over to her, reached out and cupped her chin, lifting her face. "Jian Lin, where did you get that incredibly powerful cannon from last night? And why could you transfer me and Tao Niang without using a formation?"
Jian Lin looked up and gave a silly grin, trying to gloss over it. "Young Master, give me a sip of water, I feel like I'm going to throw up."
The Demon Lord remained still and silent, his eyes fixed on Jian Lin, as if returning to the night she had infiltrated his chambers.
Jian Lin swallowed nervously and defended herself, "Lord Demon Lord, you must believe me. Whatever I do, I do it to save you. I absolutely have no intention of harming you."
"If you don't tell me, I won't believe you," the Demon Lord said coldly. "Jian Musheng, what is your purpose in pretending to be foolish and staying by my side?"
Staying by your side is the purpose! Jian Lin wanted to cry but had no tears, not knowing how to explain.
If she said she had a system, and the system had a mission to capture the Demon Lord, the Demon Lord would surely crush her.
"I, I admire Lord Demon Lord," Jian Lin said through gritted teeth. "I've said it before, I want to marry you and be your wife."
"Jian Musheng, do you think because no woman has ever loved me, I don't know what the look of admiration is like?" The Demon Lord's grip tightened, pinching Jian Lin's chin until it hurt. He leaned closer and said mockingly, "There isn't a trace of love for me in your eyes."
Jian Lin fell silent. She couldn't deny this point.
"Actually, I don't care much about that," the Demon Lord continued. "You just need to tell me where you got those things from. Is it the Guanlan Sect?"
"No, it's not," Jian Lin immediately denied it. She got up and broke free from the Demon Lord's grasp, saying indignantly, "I have a life-and-death feud with the Guanlan Sect. You can doubt anything about me, Lord Demon Lord, but you must never associate me with them."
The Demon Lord stood up and looked down at her. Just as Jian Lin thought he was about to get angry and force her to tell the truth, the Demon Lord suddenly changed his tone.
"There's a small stream outside. If you're thirsty, go find water for yourself."
Jian Lin froze, her heart filled with unease. Was it too easy to let her off the hook so casually?