The Demon Lord Is Carrying My Child - Chapter 37

Only after Chen Li saw Mei Wuhen did his anxious expression relax slightly. Both of them asked in unison, “Are you alright?”

The ornaments in Mei Wuhen’s hair swayed, and though the dim candlelight flickered across her face, it could not hide her peerless elegance at this moment. She said, “I am fine.”

Chen Li lowered his gaze. “I am fine as well.”

Chen Li did not dare let his eyes linger on Mei Wuhen, and only then did he notice the Skeleton King. For such a large figure, the Skeleton King had actually been completely ignored by him.

“This… who is this?” Chen Li pointed at the Skeleton King. His hand moved faster than his brain; by the time he realized it, his hand had already reached out to grab Mei Wuhen.

“He has been controlled by my charm technique; he is the king of this place.” Mei Wuhen looked nonchalantly at Chen Li’s hand grasping her—actually, he was holding her sleeve. Chen Li had not touched her skin. A hint of an intriguing smile appeared in her eyes.

Chen Li released his grip as if he had been burned by fire.

Wu Huo approached, looking bewildered. “Eldest Senior Brother, you and her… do you two know each other?”

Even though Wu Huo was confused, he could still sense the ambiguous atmosphere between them.

“This is Mei Wuhen.” Chen Li then pointed at Wu Huo. “This is my Seventh Junior Brother, Wu Huo.”

“Mei Wuhen… the world-famous Mei Wuhen?” Wu Huo looked at the person outside the prison cell; she truly lived up to the world’s praise.

“Hello there, Seventh Junior Brother,” Mei Wuhen said with a faint smile.

Just as they were enjoying the joy of their reunion, Zhi Ming, who had been sitting in the corner, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at them and sneered, “Look behind you.”

Mei Wuhen turned around and saw the Skeleton King’s face becoming extremely distorted. Surprisingly, his entire human skin was beginning to peel off.

Leaning against the prison bars, Mei Wuhen thought to herself that things were going south. Even with her charm technique, she could only bewilder his mind for a moment. Now that he was regaining clarity, he appeared to be a very troublesome opponent.

Chen Li and the others were trapped inside the cell. This prison was very strange; as long as they were inside, they could not use any techniques. Their internal power and cultivation were completely nullified, so Chen Li and Wu Huo could only watch helplessly at everything happening outside.

The Skeleton King’s entire arm lunged directly toward Mei Wuhen’s heart, seemingly intending to gouge it out. Mei Wuhen lunged to the side to dodge, but her eyes were dazzled by something shiny at his waist.

Mei Wuhen looked closely and saw a key it should be the key to this prison cell.

Since Mei Wuhen saw it, Chen Li naturally saw it too. Understanding what Mei Wuhen intended to do, he cautioned her uneasily, “Be careful, his cultivation is above yours.”

Mei Wuhen nodded. She pulled the hairpin from her head and stabbed forward. This was a genuine skeleton, and it was far harder than those low-level lackeys. Mei Wuhen repeatedly struck obstacles and was nearly exhausted, yet she could not get within half a step of the Skeleton King’s waist.

Mei Wuhen was panting for breath, and Chen Li watched with growing anxiety. After a brief thought, he threw his sword out. “Aim for the joints where the bones connect!”

Mei Wuhen had just shredded the skeleton’s sleeves almost entirely; at this moment, the skeleton’s arms were just two lonely bone frames, devoid of skin or flesh.

Mei Wuhen immediately understood. She picked up Chen Li’s sword and forcefully pried apart the skeleton’s joints, gaining a brief moment of time to successfully snatch the key from his waist.

Just as Mei Wuhen threw herself toward the prison door, the skeleton had already caught up. At this point, his entire human skin had fallen away, leaving a skeleton that shimmered with a cold light.

Mei Wuhen tossed the key to Chen Li, but she was still accidentally slashed on the shoulder by the skeleton. Her hand lost its strength, and the sword fell from her grip.

Mei Wuhen had not been injured for many years; the pain was piercing. She clutched her shoulder, having nowhere left to retreat, and could only watch as that hand reached down to strike her.

At the critical moment, Chen Li suddenly severed that hand with a single sword strike. He pulled Mei Wuhen behind him, holding his sword and looking at the skeleton before him with a cold gaze.

While the situation on their side was dire, Ji Shutao’s group was fretting because they could not find the entrance.

Just a moment ago, Qian Feng blinked, and the fortress before her eyes vanished completely, leaving only a single path. When she blinked again, the fortress returned.

Qian Feng’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on her; she was certain there was another space here. However, finding an entrance in such a large fortress was easier said than done.

The three of them had only finished searching one side and were already suffering from a massive headache, not to mention the other side was still waiting for them.

Ji Shutao simply lay down on the ground and said irritably, “Which idiot designed this mechanism?”

“The person who designed such a mechanism is no idiot.” Qian Feng pointed ahead of them, where a path completely out of place with the fortress had appeared.

Zhuang Yi reached out a hand to Ji Shutao, who used her strength to stand up and brushed the dust off her clothes. “Did I sit on this one too?”

If that were the case, Ji Shutao thought, her luck must be overflowing today hitting the mark wherever she pointed.

Just as Ji Shutao was secretly pleased, Qian Feng threw cold water on her. “No.”

The upward curve of Ji Shutao’s mouth froze. “Then what happened?”

Qian Feng patted the tree stump behind her.

“How interesting. Installing mechanisms on chairs and tree stumps.”

Even if Ji Shutao racked her brain, she would never have thought of that.

Compared to the fortress earlier, this path was extremely chaotic. Severed branches and leaves of plants could be seen everywhere; it appeared someone had manually carved out a mountain path.

Furthermore, the plants here grew unusually; they were very gaudy and bright.

Qian Feng remained in the lead. She casually picked up a wooden stick and poked at the leaves on the ground. “Truly a gruesome sight.”

Zhuang Yi looked at the leaves on the ground thoughtfully, while only Ji Shutao remained confused. “? What’s wrong?”

“If there were no road here and one had to be cleared, these plants wouldn’t be crushed so thoroughly. One would only need to cut off the parts obstructing the path,” Zhuang Yi’s gaze sharpened. “This only proves one thing… these plants attack people.”

“Attack people?” Ji Shutao’s heart jumped. “Have they become spirits?”

“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as becoming spirits. Let’s go.” Qian Feng tossed the stick away and unsheathed her sword.

No one knew where this path led, and no one knew how many paths were on this mountain.

After walking for half an hour, Zhuang Yi was a bit tired, so they stopped to rest.

Ji Shutao and Qian Feng could go without eating, but Zhuang Yi and the child in her womb could not.

“I want to eat too, I love eating most of all.” Qian Feng swiftly took a piece of rice cake from Ji Shutao’s arms.

“Qian Feng doesn’t just like traveling the world; she also enjoys fine food.” Zhuang Yi smiled and broke the rice cake in half, stuffing one half into her own mouth and the other into Ji Shutao’s.

Ji Shutao’s eyes curved into crescent moons. “So sweet.”

She didn’t typically like sweets, and this rice cake wasn’t sweet either. The only possibility was…

Zhuang Yi looked at her mischievously. “What is sweet?”

“Zhuang Yi is,” Ji Shutao answered promptly. Qian Feng, who was practically dying from their display of affection, was not amused at all.

“I say, if Mount Shimo is only like this, then the legends are a bit of an exaggeration,” Qian Feng said, looking into the distance.

If danger never reveals itself, that is what is truly terrifying; that was exactly what Qian Feng was worried about.

Along the way, they had only encountered the array from the Cangyou Pavilion and that secret chamber. The plants on this road clearly attacked people but had yet to move, which was truly bizarre.

Zhuang Yi understood her thoughts. “In any case, we must not let our guard down.”

Just as Zhuang Yi finished speaking, they heard a sound, as if something was struggling desperately.

The sound was too close to them. Qian Feng and Ji Shutao stood in front of Zhuang Yi. Qian Feng turned her head to Ji Shutao and said, “I’ll go take a look.”

“Be careful.”

Qian Feng walked over slowly and pushed aside the grass that was taller than a person. What appeared before her was a giant cocoon well, “cocoon” might not be accurate, because this thing was massive, about the size of an adult man. It was entirely green, seemingly wrapped in leaves and vines. The cocoon hung from a tree, hidden by the tall wild grass.

Qian Feng didn’t hesitate and sliced the cocoon open. As expected, she watched a person fall out of it.

“Second Senior Brother!!!” Ji Shutao cried out in shock and ran to Cun Ming’s side. “Second Senior Brother, why are you here?”

Cun Ming still felt the world spinning; everywhere he looked were bared fangs and brandished claws of monsters. Hearing his junior sister’s voice, he struggled to focus his mind. “Junior Sister?”

“Yes, yes, it’s me. Second Senior Brother, are you alright?” Ji Shutao hurriedly picked the leaves off him and, together with Qian Feng, helped Cun Ming up.

“I’m fine, Junior Sister. Stay away from those messy vines; they cause hallucinations.” Cun Ming pulled the two of them forward several steps before collapsing onto a large rock to pant for breath.

“I really thought I was going to die. Mount Shimo truly lives up to its reputation.”

After Cun Ming recovered, he explained the situation to Ji Shutao and the others.

After learning that Zhi Ming might be on Mount Shimo, they rushed over. On the way, they were entangled by strange plants. When Cun Ming fought his way out, he looked back to find that Mei Wuhen and Chen Li had vanished.

“That Illusion Vine took advantage of my exhaustion to wrap me up. I feel like I’ve finished watching every horror story in the world.” Cun Ming gave a wry smile, clearly traumatized.

“The fact that it created horror stories for you might be because you aren’t actually afraid of anything, so it had no way to strike at your weaknesses.” Qian Feng glanced at him. There are very few people in this world who fear nothing.

“How is that possible? I was scared to death by that Illusion Vine just now. What a ghostly thing,” Cun Ming said half-jokingly, then asked, “And this is?”

“Second Senior Brother, this is Elder Qian Feng of the Demon Realm. Qian Feng, this is my Second Senior Brother, Cun Ming.”

“I have long heard that Cun Ming of Northern Chen Mountain is the greatest cultivation genius in the world. Seeing you today, it is indeed true.”

Cun Ming was stunned, nearly drowning in the praise. “Thank you.”

“Then which path did Eldest Senior Brother take? They won’t be in trouble, will they?” Ji Shutao pressed.

Cun Ming shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know. This place is intricate and complex. I don’t know which path they took, but this road should be quite far from theirs by now.”

“Not necessarily,” Qian Feng’s voice was steady. “Were these plants cut by you?”

“Yes, but after I cut them, they grew back rapidly, so…” Cun Ming finally realized something was wrong. “In other words, they are on this very road?”

“It is possible.”

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