"RUN!", shouted Jìang XiángShèn panicked. He didn't think about anything else, just grabbed Dì Xié Liàng's hand and fled in fear. His only thought was to escape the danger that approached them anonymously.
They both fled, running haphazardly, with Jìang XiángShèn dragging Dì Xié Liàng as if he was weightless. Jìang XiángShèn was so flustered in fear that he couldn't even think about what he was running from, why he trusted his sight that could only see fog and colours, nor why he, a slender, thin, non-exercising guy who seems to can't even lift 50 pounds of rice, dragging another guy who is tall, thick, 2 times his own body weight and could throw farther than he could run, as if he was going for an everyday morning 5k run.
And whilst Jìang XiángShèn was panicked to point of being stupid, Dì Xié Liàng was running with Jìang XiángShèn, staring behind them in disbelief.
Even though the fog was thick and it was hard to see anything, he could point out a blur outline of something extremely huge chasing them behind.
And how did he know that it was huge?
Because they were way ahead of that thing, but Dì Xié Liàng could still see its foggy outline.
A layer of sweat flowed down Dì Xié Liàng's foreheJìang XiángShènad.
'Is this the God-tier Snake Beast this cultivator was talking about?', he thought to himself after calming down imperceptible.
'If this is indeed a God-tier beast, then...', Dì Xié Liàng's eyes flashed with a dark killing intent.
He began to question whether this God-tier beast would be the key to breaking through to his limits and becoming a Deity. Dì Xié Liàng looked forward calmly, seeming unperturbed, not like someone running for his life, but his mind was moving fast. Thinking of the best way to separate from Jìang XiángShèn so that he could use his secret dark arts cultivation and kill this creature.
Jìang XiángShèn was sweating badly. He didn't know why, but he felt terror from deep within his bones, and it's not from the thing chasing them.
Jìang XiángShèn was able to defer this feeling. As someone who known to be impassive, he doesn't understand emotions and feelings. To him, the world where he's from is boring, pale and grey. Completely monotonous. He became a writer solely because it was a job lacking in human interaction. If he didn't need to talk to anyone, he wouldn't have to.
From as long as he could remember, he was being told that he was a cold and heartless person, so that's what he classified himself as. Someone unknown to human relationships, and didn't see the point of them. Medical doctors categorized it as him closing off himself because of witnessing the gruesome death of his parents, then facing the constant rejection of relatives to being thrown into an orphanage.
But Jìang XiángShèn didn't think so. Although those people said that he was indeed the dead husband and wife's child, he felt no connection to them at all. He didn't know why, but deep down, he knew that those people wo died weren't his parents. He couldn't even remember what they looked like, and he had no memories of their time as a family. He was someone who just seemed to drift apart from everything else in the world, so he let it stayed that way.
But now, he could feel the distinct difference of fear and terror in his bones. He knew that thing behind them scared him, he could tell it was dangerous and was definitely not something to trifle with, but the terror he felt, it was totally different. Like a deadly predator in hiding, secretly stalking it's prey. Waiting for the opportune time to strike a fatal and deadly blow. Completely terrifying.
Jìang XiángShèn squeezed Dì Xié Liàng's hand tightly, determined to get them safe and away from whatever it was that is discreetly stalking them.
Dì Xié Liàng felt the tight pinch of his hand, and his mind was brought back to the fact that his hand was still being held by the cultivator in front of him. A light flashed across his eyes, imperceptibly, and he stared at the back of Jìang XiángShèn's head fixedly.
"What's wrong?", he asked in a low tone. His voice almost lost over the deafening hissing and loud clicking rustle and crunch of the dead leaves and branches, from the creature behind them.
"What's wrong?! Obviously something is chasing us!", Jìang XiángShèn cursed loudly, but his voice small under the thunderous sounds the thing makes.
Jìang XiángShèn really wanted to hit Dì Xié Liàng right now. 'Clearly i'm trying to save our lives, but he's looking as if we're talking a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon!'.
"Listen, I don't know what, but something really dangerous is following us!", Jìang XiángShèn tried to shout to make his voice more audible.
"What do you mean?", Dì Xié Liàng asked calmly. He had already spread his awareness about 10 miles (52 lǐ) around them, and he hadn't sense anything following them.
Jìang XiángShèn glanced behind him briefly, wanting to see how far they were away from the creature, and his eyes widened when he saw a faint but huge outline which was surrounded by think brown-black light. He turned his head around quickly, a thought flashing through his mind but before he could ponder, or even answer Dì Xié Liàng, he saw a dense path ahead that was too thick full of trees for that huge thing behind them to chase them through. Holding Dì Xié Liàng's hand tightly as if he received a gift from the heavens, he rushed sharply to the left and straight into the cluster of strange looking trees, going a few more distance before stopping.
After catching his breath, he answered Dì Xié Liàng's previous question that he didn't have time to before, "I meant something more deadly. Something more dangerous than that creature that was following us. I don't know if it still is, but I felt an ominous premonition. Like the feeling of death". Jìang XiángShèn shivered slightly as he recalled the feeling.
Dì Xié Liàng looked at him as he said this, feeling slightly surprised. That Killing intent, it was short and brief, and he had sent it out to scare the creature, but only those above High-level would be able to sense it. His eyes darkened as a thought came to him.
"I think that creature just now was God-Tier Horn-Tailed Scorpion", Jìang XiángShèn said out of no where.
This time, Dì Xié Liàng stared at him with visible surprise. "How do you know that?", he asked, his voice laced with suspicion and vigilance.
"Because of it's colours", he gave an answer that totally perplexed Dì Xié Liàng.
"Colours?", He asked, the confusion evident in his voice.
Jìang XiángShèn looked at him intently. "Yes. Didn't you see it? That creatures colours were a very dark brown-black. Based on what I have observed, the darker the colour of dark creatures, the more powerful they are. So I could tell that it was above Deity level. And for a creature above Deity level to be in the territory of a God-tier snake Beast, the only adversary I could think of was the God-tier Horn-Tailed Scorpion whose territory is southwest from here", Jìang XiángShèn answered honestly.
"You know a lot", Dì Xié Liàng affirmed succintly.
"I read a lot", Jìang XiángShèn chuckled slightly.
"Anyways, follow me. We can't go that way anymore. That beast would be that way, so we can only make a detour", Jìang XiángShèn said, walking forward. When suddenly, a hole opened up beneath him, and he vanished. Jìang XiángShèn and the hole disappearing together, like they were never their in the first place.