"Still chasing me? Why are these monsters so hell-bent on not letting me go?"
Li Yi sprinted for his life, daring not to stop for even a moment.
He discovered that on the flat ground, these spider-like humanoid monsters seemed to have sped up even more. Continuing like this, he wouldn't stand a chance of leaving the danger zone alive; he would likely be overtaken halfway, and then death would be inevitable.
"What should I do?"
Sweat streamed down Li Yi's forehead as he quickly pondered his options once more.
However, at that moment.
Two figures suddenly darted out onto the nearby street; they appeared to be other cultivators participating in this mission, also running for their lives, for reasons unknown.
One of them seemed to notice Li Yi, hesitated for a moment, then immediately sprinted toward him.
"My name is He Jun; who might you be?" the cultivator shouted loudly.
"He Jun?" Li Yi immediately remembered—he was a Spirit Medium Realm cultivator who had dealt with Brother Tao before.
"I'm Li Yi; Brother Tao has mentioned you to me," he responded.
"Brother Tao? Good to know. Join me, and let's team up to take care of the thing behind us, or none of us will have an easy time. Rest assured, if we hunt down that fierce beast, you'll get a share of the benefits," He Jun said, his figure rapidly closing the distance towards Li Yi again.
Only then did Li Yi notice a fierce beast snarling as it chased after He Jun.
It turned out He Jun was also in danger.
"Li Yi, don't trust him. He doesn't want to team up with you; he wants to use that fierce beast to buy himself some time to escape. One of my colleagues just died because of him. I can't stand it, I'd rather drag him down with me if I'm going to die, so I've been following him, unwilling to sacrifice myself to draw away that fierce beast,"
suddenly said a cultivator from behind He Jun, who seemingly realized he couldn't escape and didn't want Li Yi to follow in their footsteps, thus revealing He Jun's malicious intentions just before his own death.
"What?" Li Yi was shocked.
So that was He Jun's plan, a naturally evil Earth Prisoner.
However.
Li Yi glanced back, noticing that his side seemed slightly more dangerous.
Just as he thought this, a scream echoed around them.
The cultivator was overtaken due to exhaustion, and the fierce beast snapped his neck in an instant; moreover, after killing one person, the beast didn't stop to feed but continued its assault on He Jun.
"You really deserve to die, even at death's door you talk too much," He Jun cursed while fleeing.
But soon He Jun realized, after Li Yi heard the warning, not only did he not turn to run, he continued rushing towards him, making He Jun secretly pleased.
If another unlucky soul could attract the beast, he was sure he could survive and escape the danger zone.
However, He Jun's expression quickly stiffened.
What was that...
From behind Li Yi, a group of grey-black humanoid monsters, each sporting eight arms like spiders, approached at an astonishing speed, looking even more terrifying than the creature chasing He Jun.
"Damn boy, don't come any closer."
He Jun shouted loudly as he abruptly stopped and then quickly changed direction to escape.
"You say something? I can't hear it."
Li Yi quickly closed the distance to He Jun; since the other man had malicious intentions, Li Yi wasn't exactly a saint himself.
Let's see who's more unlucky.
"Get any closer, and I swear I'll make sure you meet your demise with my eye witness," He Jun threatened.
"I'd be chased by two waves of monsters if I die; I could help share some of the danger if I live. If you're not afraid of dying, go ahead and make your move," Li Yi was unfazed, still closing in.
He Jun was furious yet restrained himself from attacking Li Yi, because what Li Yi said was right—another living person here meant more safety.
If he were left alone, the monsters, with no other options, would all attack him.
"Damn you, you rotten kid." He Jun cursed inwardly, their speeds picked up, trying to shake off Li Yi as much as possible.
However, Li Yi's running speed was in no way inferior to his; plus, He Jun's slight delay had rapidly closed the distance between them in moments.
As he neared He Jun, Li Yi could finally see the fierce beast chasing them; it was a starving tiger, its skin hanging off its bones, looking extremely hideous.
Yet this hideous beast had already killed two cultivators and was chasing He Jun without even glancing back.
It was no ordinary tiger; it probably was a tiger that had stepped into cultivation.
Li Yi instinctively made his judgement.
"Get lost, don't come any closer," He Jun, seeing the group of crawling creatures, felt his scalp go numb and couldn't help but curse again.
"Why don't you get lost? You're blocking my escape route," Li Yi retorted unapologetically.
"I think you're tired of living. Offend me, and even if you get out of this danger zone, I'll make sure you can't make it home alive," He Jun threatened again.
"Since that's how you feel, here I come," Li Yi directly led the group of monsters rushing at He Jun.
He Jun, seeing Li Yi really charging over, turned pale with fright; did this kid not fear the fierce animal chasing him?
With no other choice, he had to alter his route, not wanting any part of the horde of monsters following Li Yi.
The two figures crossed paths.
But in that instant, the fierce beast hunting them had switched its prey.
The group of eerie, spider-like creatures chased after He Jun, while the fierce Biao roared and pounced in the direction of Li Yi.
"Fuck you..."
Seeing those monsters flailing several strange arms as they attacked, He Jun started cursing Li Yi's entire family.
"Stop cursing, save your energy to escape."
Li Yi replied, his voice growing fainter before he disappeared at the end of the street.
But he was not faring well either, with the fierce Biao relentlessly chasing him.
Fortunately, there was only one such beast, not as perilous as the earlier crowd of creatures.
Yet it still shouldn't be underestimated.
Li Yi could not handle this beast at that moment, and his stamina was also beginning to lag.
"Even if I shook off the previous monsters, being targeted by this beast still means I can't escape the danger zone. I must find a place to shake this thing off."
That's when it suddenly dawned on Li Yi.
Earlier, when he entered the dangerous zone with Brother Tao, Brother Tao had skirted around an abandoned district, claiming it was haunted.
However, Li Yi saw nothing because he hadn't activated "Spirit Medium."
"I don't have 'Spirit Medium,' and I can't see fierce ghosts, which means I am less likely to be targeted by them. This is an opportunity for me; I can use the peril there to shake off the beast chasing me." Li Yi's gaze flickered as he remembered the time he had worked for Crow in the Ruined District.
Back then, that abandoned building was also haunted, but as an ordinary person who couldn't see ghosts, the probability of being targeted by them was very low.
It was for this reason that Li Yi got the half of the Sword Coin and owned his own incomplete wonders.
Maybe today he could use the same trick again.
With that thought,
Li Yi hesitated no longer and took a shortcut, heading straight for the streets of the abandoned district.
After narrowly dodging the fierce beast's attacks several times, he rushed into the haunted area that Brother Tao had talked about.
Indeed, his plan worked.
When Li Yi dashed onto an empty street, the fierce beast suddenly stopped in its tracks at a crossroads behind him and hesitated to move forward, always reluctant to set foot in this place. In the end, it could only roar unwillingly in the distance, watching its nearly captured prey escape.
Biao is of tiger descent, and tigers were called "Mountain Lords" in ancient times.
Thus, the Biao also possesses the Mountain Lord's ability to inherently see unclean things.
So at this moment, in the malicious eyes of the fierce Biao, the street where Li Yi was located was not empty but crowded with all sorts of people, bustling like a market.
Only, this market was infused with a deadly aura, revealing various ominous and dangerous signs.
Even the Biao, notorious for its fierceness, could only stop in its tracks.
"I guess I should consider myself alive for now."
Seeing that he was temporarily safe, Li Yi instantly relaxed, feeling somewhat exhausted and sat down on the curb to rest.
Recalling the intense dangers of just a moment ago.
In just ten minutes, he didn't know how many times he had narrowly escaped death.
His body's potential had exploded time and again.
This kind of life-and-death experience could significantly speed up a Cultivator's evolution.
Li Yi felt his strength partly recovered after only a brief rest, though his arm was still sore. It seemed to have been injured during the process of falling, but upon checking, he discovered his injuries were even more severe. Several spots on his hand were raw from abrasion, and his back had a bloody gash of unknown origin.
"This is not a place to stay for long; I must leave quickly."
After catching his breath, he started moving again, ready to leave the area quickly.
He now felt surrounded by pitch-dark coldness, and it was extremely silent, not a single sound to be heard.
This abnormal silence made Li Yi feel even more uneasy.
But just as Li Yi hurriedly moved through the streets, suddenly, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes.
Then, a blurry figure appeared in his sight.
The figure was stiff and cold like a Walking Corpse, flashing by in an instant and disappearing without a trace.
"An illusion?" Li Yi shuddered inwardly, a chill washing over him.
No, it wasn't an illusion.
He then saw several figures floating midair and passing by ahead, wearing what seemed to be paper-like funeral robes, their pale faces utterly devoid of blood, clearly not the living.
"Move fast."
Li Yi drew a deep breath, feeling the air itself chilling and an indescribable shudder all over his body.
Yet the further he went, the more ghostly figures appeared in his sight.
At that moment, Li Yi seemed to realize something.
He was seemingly activating "Spirit Medium."