Old Forest Deep in the Mountain
Hailing from a big sect, Hao Yingjun had a plethora of information to share. Discrediting his knowledge and skill solely because he looked lecherous and behaved questionably would be a sorry mistake. He went out of his way to go over the information related to elemental demons an extra time before the mission.
“According to my sect’s secret records, it’s easy to locate the elemental demons’ hiding locations. The wood demons hide in places that stick out in a forest surrounding. Water demons hide where there is running water. It’s hard to find the water demons as they primarily reside in underground rivers. The fire demons are the easiest to find; they can be found wherever the temperature is abnormally high. Owing to their ability to manipulate fire, they won’t behave themselves in forests. When it comes to earth demons, you will have to rely on pure luck. They could be anywhere and run fast. As for metal demons, you’ll need this,” educated Hao Yingjun, showing his team a compass that pointed south. “You will know when metal demons’ dens are nearby when the compass reacts because of their metal attribute.”
“Strange. Why won’t the needle stop? Don’t tell me there’s a metal demon lurking nearby,” remarked Hao Yingjun.
With his eyebrows together, Cheng Yan took the compass, and it suddenly stopped, resulting in him smiling. “Perhaps it’s been too long since you used it.”
Since the needle pointed to the South, Hao Yingjun took Cheng Yan’s word for it.
“Remember to cover your belongings in spiritual energy,” reminded Cheng Yan, informed of everything Hao Yingjun knew. “They, like us, like places were spiritual energy is found in abundance. In spite of also having the ability to absorb spiritual energy, they can’t control it, meaning they can’t control anything we smother with spiritual energy. That will prevent them from manipulating our metal swords of wooden belongings.”
“You really do possess a wealth of knowledge, Brother Cheng Yan,” remarked Hao Yingjun. “That’s also the reason we can battle elemental demons, while ordinary people can’t. You might not know this, but human bodies are actually the product of the five elements. Ordinary humans are but tools for elemental demons. We’re safe thanks to our spiritual energy.”
Mu Yu finally understood where the belittling and admiration behaviours originated from. “Which type is the toughest to fight?”
Mu Yu wasn’t erudite on elemental demons. He had never seen one, and Feng Haochen never mentioned them. There was no guarantee Village Chief’s Bu information was correct when he used them as a means of scaring children.
“Hard to say. As far as I know, the fire demons should be our greatest nemesis since they’re the only type that can fly. Since we can both fly, the playing field is level unlike against other types,” Hao Yingjun opined after deliberation. “Of course, we have to be extra cautious if we’re up against an earth demon given the entire land is their terrain. Metal demons are a rare breed in comparison, but they’re the worst opponent in terms of combat power. As to why that is the case eludes me. If it rains, we won’t even have the will to fight. Fighting water demons in the rain is a nightmare you don’t want any part of. As for wood demons,” adding an undertone to evoke a sense of mystery, he continued, “you probably think they’re the weakest combatants, huh? You’re right, then, because they’re non-combatants. Ordinary wood demons are the least of our worries. Their ability to control trees is a hassle, however, as it provides a healing ability. They can heal injured elemental demons, making them the best healers. As such, it requires tremendous amounts of essence to slay them.
“Ostensibly, elemental demons are also divided into categories. High-level wood demons are a group not even other demons want a piece of, reason being they have the ability to kill their foe instantaneously. They use some sort of ability that drains your life force straight out of you. Fail to defend the psychological attack, and you will perish.”
Hao Yingjung couldn’t imagine the scene, leading to him wearing an odd expression.
Less-educated Hong Yan reacted, “Huh? Are you for real?”
“Don’t worry, Hong Yan. As long as I’m around, no elemental demon will be beyond us,” bragged Hao Yingjun, running his hand through his hair.
“Shut up.”
Grinning, Hao Yingjun continued, “I think it’s a hoax. If they really had that ability, there’d be no point in trying to put up a fight. Like, they’d kill everyone the instant they appeared, wouldn’t they? The war between our races has been raging on for ages. If they could instantly drain our life force, we’d already be extinct.”
Mu Yu was the only one to not consider the claim an exaggeration from fiction. He saw all life as embodiments of potent life forces. As a reference, he was able to sense fiends’ life forces leave their bodies after death despite not being able to see it physically. Similarly, he could also use trees to heal his wounds rapidly.
“Just remember to be careful. We’re deep in the mountains, where trees are ubiquitous. That means the wood demons will be the strongest threats in here. I heard they don’t like to fight because they can’t do much besides swinging tree branches,” emphasised Hao Ying, with a cackle.
The team descended into the silent forest after flying some distance since searching for elemental demons from the sky was a poor approach. That was not to mention the towering trees over twenty metres tall that obscured vision. It was quiet to the point that they could hear their own breaths.
“This is odd. All I see is rocks. I don’t even see an insect or bird,” Xue’er pointed out, vigilantly scrutinising their surroundings. The trees should’ve withered if there were no living creates in there.
Hao Yingjun assumed the vanguard role as he led the team through the trees. Mu Yu brought up the rear and utilised the trees to collect information within a roughly twenty square metres area. He couldn’t communicate with the trees, so interrogating them was out of the question.
“Whoa!” Hao Yingjun jumped back upon hearing a sound up ahead.
“What happened? What happened? Is it them?” Hong Yan was first to panic.
“Where?” Xue’er frantically drew her sword and asked.
“No, no, I just stepped on dog poop,” replied Hao Yingjun, rubbing his shoe up against a rock.
“Don’t overreact, then, nimrod,” fumed Hong Yan.
“You two were the ones who jumped.”
“How can there be dog faeces if there isn’t a living creature around?” questioned Cheng Yan, noticing Hao Yingjun’s footprint where he supposedly stepped on dog faeces. “It’s not dog faeces. It’s a level one fiend wolf’s excrement.”
“I had no idea you were an expert on excrement,” commented Hao Yingjun.
“Hey, you asking to get hit?” blustered Mu Yu.
“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Hao Yingjun wagged his hands as he explained.
Cheng Yan ignored them and inspected the surroundings. “The important thing here is this find is suspicious.”
“There are bird faeces and spider webs. By the looks of it, the webs are new. I don’t see any spiders, having said that,” Mu Yu noted as he moved aside shrubs and found dead flying insects on the webs.
“Maybe they knew I was coming and ran for it?” joked Hao Yingjun.
“Oh, yeah, your shameless would terrify them,” sarcastically responded Hong Yan.
Hao Yingjun shamelessly nodded. “You’re right about that.”
Gu Yitian was too indifferent to provide any input.
Mu Yu stated, “Let’s head further in and see. I saw a small creek from the sky. Let’s find a water source first, but remember to coat the water with your spiritual energy when drinking it.”
The trees blocking the sunlight gave Mu Yu eerie vibes. Besides the smell of fresh greenery, there was another faint scent Mu Yu felt was similar but couldn’t recall where he smelt it before. The others didn’t notice the smell.
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