Xue Chang felt no threat from these beasts before him. They were all low level creatures who posed no threat to him.
As a whole, they were only slightly stronger than the group he fought against when he first hunted the bear years ago. Unfortunately for them, he was far stronger now than he was back then.
But, although they growled and screeched wildly at him, none of them made any move against him. This surprised Xue Chang greatly.
It wasn't like intelligent monsters common and could be found anywhere. Yes, demonic beasts were more intelligent than the average wild beast, but they were still beasts nonetheless.
And his surprise didn't end there. The beasts all slowly receded back, splitting their group in half.
"Yong Heng, what is going one?"
Yong Heng, "It seems as if they are forming a path for you. There is no doubt they are being controlled, but it doesn't seem like a magic artifact is at work here."
Yong Heng rubbed his supple chin lightly as his eyes glazed over, "Probably, they were reigned in by force..."
Although he didn't say it, Xue Chang knew what Yong Heng was getting at.
Whatever forced these monsters into submission must've been far greater in strength than them, and if they wanted him to follow the path-
"There is something waiting for me on the other side."
Any other situation he would've reconsidered going, but something told him that what he was looking for was on the other side.
He was sure of it. It was the woman and the demonic beast at the end of this path.
Without hesitation, he charged forward through the path laid out for him.
He wasn't worried about being surrounded, say nothing of his strength but after he successfully practiced thousand armed asura, not even a level four demonic beast could pierce his skin.
He was like a walking boulder. Although his strength only grew slightly since the spell didn't strengthen his muscles, his overall combat prowess grew by leaps and bounds.
He was the type of enemy that didn't even worried about defense and just threw everything into his attack.
Basically the type of enemy no one wanted to deal with. Hell if he met another version of himself he would also run away in fear.
As the dense wall of tree around him began to clear up, he arrived in an unexpected place.
Rather than an empty clearing, a desolate wasteland, bloodied battlefield, or even a cave; Xue Chang found himself facing a cabin in the woods.
The ground surrounding it was covered in an assortment of flowers ranging from roses to things such as lilacs or dandelions which seemed out of place considering it was approaching the winter season.
Even the grass was a vibrant green without a hint of snow or withering.
As he approached closer, he noted the wild sounds of the forest's inhabitants such as birds and beasts started to fade into the background.
Looking at the cabin, Xue Chang was surprised.
The wood was of unknown origins, at least of an origin not of Water Cloud City.
As his eyes shined with power, he was able to see parts of its composition.
The more he looked, the more confused he became. He was positive the logs weren't native to their current territory. So how was it transported here?
Stranger still, the closer he got to the cabin the more he felt an ominous sensation.
Xue Chang looked at the ground beneath him and noticed that despite being surrounded by flowers every step of the way, none of them were ever crushed.
Almost as if these plants held sentience and were avoiding his footsteps.
Such a thought brought shivers down his spine.
Even Yong Heng thought something was off.
"The atmosphere here is bizarre. Xue Chang, keep your guard up."
Xue Chang nodded a little but wasn't too worried. He was too confident in his own powers to be on guard.
Yong Heng knew this but didn't say anything. He felt he didn't need to.
Xue Chang approached the cabin at a slightly quicker pace than before.
If he was in a rush to kill the perpetrators at first, now he just wanted to get out of this inauspicious place as soon as possible.
Just as he finally reached the front door and was open to open it, the door moved in its own to reveal a figure standing in the doorway.
Xue Chang froze as his just blanked.
His outstretched arm paused midair as the all-knowing light in his eyes faded away to reveal only confusion.
"Wanwan?"
"Hello mister!" The little village girl smiled brightly at Xue Chang with a look of pure glee on her face.
Images of the last began to flicker through Xue Chang's head as his memories brought him right back to the day where he found the corpse of this same girl lying there mutilated.
He opened his mouth, as if ready to ask what was happening, yet before a word could escape a 'slit' sound entered into his ears.
Looking down, he found a knife protruding from his stomach, with the handle being held by that same little girl.
Almost instinctively, Xue Chang threw his leg out and kicked her in her abdomen. Causing the girl and the knife to both fly back and clatter onto the ground.
Clutching his stomach tightly, Xue Chang made a frightening discovery as blood kept pooling at his feet.
"I'm not healing!"