The Flower Of The High Mountain Turns Into A Cat And Is Picked Up By A Human Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“Wife? Wife?!”

Fang Wenfei woke up in the middle of the night to find the room bathed in black and red, nearly scaring the soul out of him. He quickly reached for his wife beside him, but his hand met empty air.

He saw the room door, which had been opened sometime earlier. Shouting, he got out of bed to look for her, only to find the door open and his wife gone.

He saw the light pouring in from the doorway. Through the doorframe, the sky outside was blood-red, a terrifying, apocalyptic scene that made his legs turn to jelly. But after several deep breaths, he rushed out of the house and into the street.

Outside, many people he knew were dragging their stiff bodies in a daze.

“Sister Wang? Have you seen my wife?”

“Brother Zhang?”

“An Zhao?”

“What, what is wrong with all of you?”

His voice trembled, and his legs shook. Fang Wenfei finally spotted his wife not far away.

He hurried toward her, but a hand reached out from nowhere and grabbed the back of his collar.

Then came a second hand, and a third.

Fang Wenfei let out a heart-wrenching scream.

All the while, his wife merely stared blankly at the blood moon in the sky.

Fang Wenfei’s vision shifted from the hellish environment to a multitude of unfocused, pitch-black pupils.

Soon, the controlled people released him and scattered. Only the man, whose eyes had also become vacant, remained, joining the moon-worshiping sacrifice.

“The time isn’t right yet. Why would the Eye Worm start the sacrifice early? Is it insane? Starting two days early means the resulting object won’t be fully matured—it will just be an embryo!”

At the Bureau, an elderly man whose eyes were bleeding slammed his hand on the table, unable to calm down.

Director Fang used a tissue to wipe the blood from his eyes.

There was one other person in the small conference room. When he looked up, a sharp coldness flashed in his eyes. His short, coarse hair was half-gray, and though he was under fifty, he already looked quite aged.

“How are the devices and formations coming along?”

Director Fang replied, “Time was too short. We only… finished half of the setup.”

“Activate them immediately. Send all junior cadres into the city for rescue. Save as many people as possible. The rest should proceed according to plan.”

“Yes.”

When the Eye Worm, regardless of the cost, prematurely initiated the sacrifice and controlled a large population for offering, its own location was no longer a secret, exposed by divination.

The branch office dispatched ten Captain-level combatants to form a small team, supported by several auxiliary units, to eliminate the enemy.

If this operation succeeded, even with the sacrifice underway, the crisis could be resolved as long as the Eye Worm died quickly enough.

Flying in the aircraft, everyone could see the tragedy unfolding on the ground. Countless heads were pressed together, their eyes vacant as they stared at the red moon. Everything was shrouded in a bloody hue, like a realm of ghosts.

Those dark pupils were clearly set in the heads of the people on the ground, yet when the Captains looked down, they appeared vividly in their minds.

“Yue Qin… stop looking.”

Deng Luo offered a reminder, snapping Yue Qin’s slightly distracted consciousness back.

“Thank you.”

Yue Qin thanked him.

The atmosphere inside the helicopter was silent and oppressive.

Everyone’s mental defenses had been shattered by this sudden, overwhelming disaster. They had thought everything could be resolved systematically, but they had been caught completely off guard.

Those people on the ground were human.

Now, they had become sacrificial fodder.

Vast spiritual essence surged like a tide toward the center of the altar, matching the Eye Worm’s location identified through divination.

Deng Luo glanced around. His colleagues were stiff as statues, and illuminated by the red light, they all looked like funerary portraits.

“Look on the bright side. As long as we can kill the Eye Worm, the sacrifice will naturally stop.”

Hearing this, the atmosphere became less frigid and gained a bit of fighting spirit.

“This time, success is the only option. Behind us are the millions of people in Qu Ying. Even if we have to sacrifice our lives, we must drag that worm out and kill it—the sooner, the better!”

The wind howled, churned by the rotor blades.

They arrived in a vast, desolate area. Low-lying vegetation spread out like hair. As the helicopter descended, the ‘hair’ surged, creating a living, powerful swell.

The Captains jumped to the ground and, guided by the compass, reached the target location.

“There must be other entrances.”

Before long, they found a fissure hidden among the distant rocks, traversing the uneven gap between the two sides.

Narrow at first, it soon opened up.

A natural underground cave had been converted into a hiding place for the demonic entity. Dripping water splashed, the sound echoing through the winding cavern.

Yuan Zhiyi clutched his backpack, anxiously surveying the surroundings.

Light was scarce; only the beams from their tactical flashlights pierced the darkness.

Everyone held compasses, talismans, and various refined magical artifacts. While maintaining vigilance, they also recorded the environment.

Surprisingly, they encountered no attacks. Instead, they saw many torn clothes and severed limbs along the way, bearing signs of gnawing.

Walking step by step, the bodies they saw became more numerous and more intact.

Corpses of people who had perished at some unknown time lay in the dark corners, their faces incomplete from being chewed, stained with blood and mud.

Anger gradually coiled in everyone’s hearts.

The surrounding space widened, and a faint red glow cast an ominous backdrop over the area.

The sound of footsteps grew louder. Everyone’s fingers tightened unconsciously around their compasses, their breathing suppressed and heavy.

When they reached a certain proximity, a wind blew toward them.

But where could wind come from underground?

It was clearly the spiritual essence being extracted from the people of Qu Ying, surging continuously.

Yuan Zhiyi hugged his backpack tighter.

Turning the final corner, their vision shifted, and a massive, excavated cavern appeared before them.

The altar was constructed of stone blocks, covered with dense, intricate patterns drawn with unknown materials—a terrifying sight.

Their feet stepped on something wet and sticky. As the flashlight beams swept over it, everyone’s faces grew grim.

On top of the altar, a single figure stood.

When he turned around, they saw the rugged face of a man.

It was not meant as an insult, but the first impression everyone had upon seeing that face was—it looked like a dog’s face.

Without a word, everyone quickly sprang into action.

A hundred talismans emerged from their backpacks, trailing golden threads, instantly exploding like a shower of golden fireworks, surrounding the massive altar completely.

The golden light illuminated the cave, and it also lit up the man’s face, which now seemed to be a yellowish dog’s face.

However, against an already activated sacrifice, ordinary methods were useless.

The dog-faced man needed no elaborate movements; with just a glance, the invisible spiritual essence turned into a breeze, brushing past the talismans. The talismans were immediately tainted and rendered ineffective, falling to the ground as useless yellow paper.

In a flash, bells chimed, and lightning flashed around a wooden staff. The ten Captains each used their own methods, rushing toward the altar.

“Boom—”

Silver-white electric light violently struck the altar but was blocked by an invisible barrier.

The crisp ringing of the bells created sound waves, but the invisible ripples were all kept outside.

As soon as the talismans were activated, their energy was swallowed by the omnipresent spiritual essence in the air, turning them into waste paper.

Any method was useless against the sheer power of human spiritual essence.

With every move they made, the enemy consumed the lives of hundreds, even thousands, of humans for counter-attack. This gave the team the illusion that the more they attacked, the faster their fellow humans’ lives were consumed.

“How… how can this be?”

“Damn it!”

“How the hell are we supposed to fight this?!”

Yuan Zhiyi threw the wildly spinning, useless compass back into his bag, pulled out a handgun, and chambered a round. The gunshots were more intense than any thunder, continuously pounding against the invisible barrier.

“This thing is more useful than talismans!”

Soon, the mystical battle devolved into a modern gunfight. This chaotic and absurd scene made the demon hiding in the shadows let out a mocking laugh.

“Useless things. They’re just wasting spiritual essence.”

Brother He emerged from the darkness, holding a Flower Fox in his arms.

The fox let out a soft “woof-whine.” Although the gunfire was still intense, its sound could not be ignored by anyone.

The Captains felt a sense of oppression.

It was the deterrent force of a truly top-tier Great Demon.

“Yingying—”

Following a delicate, whining cry, the cadres felt a sharp pain in their palms. The guns in their hands actually sprouted coarse, multicolored, steel-needle-like hairs.

“What?”

“An accomplice of the Eye Worm?”

“Everyone, be careful!”

“It’s very dangerous!”

Unable to use their guns, the Captains retrieved their magical artifacts again, standing ready for battle.

“I am very angry.”

Brother He said, “I want to kill, to kill!”

Before the Bureau arrived, Brother He had already launched an attack on the altar. The reason was simple: the sacrifice had started at the wrong time, and the resulting treasure could not fully form—it was practically half-wasted!

No matter how furious or enraged he was, or even though he had physically fought, Brother He could not simply abandon the embryo that was within reach. This was the only successful sacrifice in nearly a decade. With the Bureau’s relentless pressure, their survival environment would only worsen, and they could not miss any opportunity to accumulate the foundation for ascension.

Brother He stood guard, feeling wronged and furious. No matter how he questioned it, the Eye Worm acted as if it hadn’t heard, silently proceeding with the immature sacrifice.

This was also why he hadn’t immediately attacked when the Bureau personnel arrived.

The plan was irrevocably flawed, and yet he was forced to act as a bodyguard. It truly infuriated him.

After the battle was over and the embryo was secured, he intended to crush that worm inch by inch.

The Flower Fox leaped down, its narrow eyes looking increasingly human-like.

Tiger whiskers appeared on Brother He’s face, and his ordinary-looking hands exuded a sharpness capable of breaking stone and cutting metal.

“Why are the people the Bureau sends always so useless? They can’t even break a barrier.”

He muttered to himself, completely disregarding the cadres’ increasingly cautious movements and tight formation, and casually walked into the center.

The Flower Fox let out a timely, whining cry that sounded like mocking laughter.

Without giving the cadres time to react, Brother He’s body blurred. Following a loud bang, a small crater was left where he had stood. He instantly appeared beside one of the Captains, his five fingers forming a claw. He easily tore through the protective talisman, ripped through layers of outer clothing, and blood splattered.

In just one strike, a seasoned Captain-level combatant was incapacitated.

In fact, that claw should have been fatal, but the special soft armor worn underneath absorbed most of the force, saving his life.

Brother He’s eyes flashed with contemptuous and merciless light. He reappeared instantly next to Yuan Zhiyi.

Yuan Zhiyi had no time to resist!

The Great Demon had learned its lesson and did not aim for the chest, but for the purpose of snapping his neck.

“Yuan—”

“No—”

Yuan Zhiyi, however, showed no fear of impending death. On the contrary, he didn’t even make any defensive moves. Instead, he loosened the grip on his bag, allowing the contents inside to move freely!

A white shadow flashed out of the backpack and collided heavily with the demon’s claw!

A startling gust of wind scattered, followed by a muffled impact.

A white cat crouched on Yuan Zhiyi’s shoulder, having blocked the strike, and then swiftly pounced on the Tiger Demon!

The Tiger Demon’s movement was interrupted by this sudden surprise, and it was immediately forced to receive a blow overflowing with moonlight!

Bai Chendeng transformed into human form in mid-air. A cool, brilliant silver light condensed on his fingertips, like a fleeting moon shadow, and slammed directly into that claw!

“Brother He!”

The fox cried out in alarm, simultaneously looking at the young man who had landed and stood firm.

His porcelain-white skin shimmered with silver light, exuding an otherworldly purity and brilliance, like something suspended high in the sky.

Familiar, yet strange.

It was him.