The fog deepened.
Yang Jian, Wang Qiu, Lan Yuer, Shi Feng, and the Blood Demon pushed deeper into the Abyssal Bone Marsh, a territory where even the wind feared to whisper. Bones cracked beneath their feet, occasionally twitching—as if remnants of ancient wills were still struggling to reform flesh.
"Stay alert," Yang Jian murmured, hand on his blade's hilt. "Nothing in this place is dead. Only waiting."
The Blood Demon walked ahead without looking back, long black sleeves brushing against the crimson-lit fog. His steps were confident, but his aura was pulled in tightly—as though even he dared not stir the marsh's deeper horrors.
Shi Feng snorted.
"Why follow behind him? He's more likely to stab us in the back than lead us to treasure."
Lan Yuer glared at him.
"And you think loudly provoking him is smart?"
"He already tried to kill half the world," Shi Feng shot back. "What's one more person annoyed at him?"
The Blood Demon's voice drifted, cold and amused.
"I do not kill out of annoyance. I kill out of necessity. And you four are still… useful."
Yang Jian's blade hummed, half-drawn.
"Do not mistake our presence as obedience. The moment you threaten the world again, I—"
"You?" The Blood Demon chuckled softly. "Boy… even at your best, you are not qualified."
A streak of killing intent rippled outward.
But before Yang Jian could answer, the ground shuddered violently.
BOOOOM — !
A section of the swamp ahead exploded upward, showering them in liquid resentment. Shapes slithered through the murk—dark serpents of bone and sinew, their bodies composed of thousands of fused spinal segments.
Wang Qiu immediately raised a talisman.
"Bone Serpents—mid-level marsh guardians!"
The serpents screeched, lunging forward with hollow jaws.
Shi Feng leaped ahead with a roar.
"Finally, something to smash!"
His warhammer crashed down, splintering a serpent into shards.
But two more wrapped around him, trying to crush him in their ribbed coils.
Lan Yuer's icy qi burst outward, freezing one serpent solid.
Yang Jian's blade flashed, slicing clean through the frozen monster.
Wang Qiu burned talismans, forming a protective barrier before Shi Feng could be swallowed whole.
The Blood Demon merely lifted a finger.
A single drop of blood-essence shot out—
—detonating the remaining three serpents like rotten fruit.
Their remains sank into the swamp, dissolving.
Shi Feng wiped sweat from his brow.
"Thanks… I guess."
The Blood Demon didn't reply.
Instead, he gazed toward the horizon—the blood-red mist pulsing like a beating heart.
"The marsh is awakening. These were only its first breaths."
Lan Yuer hugged her arms, shivering.
"There's something watching us."
Wang Qiu nodded grimly.
"When we fought, I felt… a gaze. Deeper than the serpents. Something ancient."
Yang Jian looked toward their unwanted ally.
"Blood Demon. You know more than you're telling."
A faint smile curled the Blood Demon's lips.
"Of course. If you understood what rests in this place… you would not have entered."
Shi Feng scoffed.
"Too late for that."
The Blood Demon's voice grew colder.
"Yes. Far too late."
They resumed their march—though now, each step carried tension sharp enough to cut steel. The cultivators kept distance from one another, wary eyes darting to both marsh and companions.
Because here, in the Abyssal Bone Marsh…
The monster behind you might be more dangerous than the one ahead.