CHAPTER 85: CHAPTER 84: CROSSING THE RIVER AT NIGHT

"That Gray Fox is indeed a cautious fellow, quite sensitive to changes in the situation."

"Yun Ding City is indeed ten thousand miles away, and indeed, the Human Cultivators couldn’t possibly attack here so soon, but there will definitely be many from the Demon Race affected and migrating westward. Some demons are just passing by, leaving some bribe money, which won’t matter much. But the fear is that some quite powerful Great Demons, unable to defeat the Human Race, might instead seize the territories of other Great Demons."

"I guess, that’s what the Gray Fox means by a turbulent autumn, right."

"Additionally, that Cyan Wolf overly trusts in the strength of the Snow Mountain Great Ape King. If it were me, I would definitely make plans on two fronts."

Under the riverbank, although Wang Wu was still in seclusion, he heard the conversation among the demons clearly and quite agreed with what the Gray Fox said.

"Before this, South Mountain, North Mountain, Xijiang, along with a Black Mountain, four Great Demons ruled this region, with good relations, looking out for each other, and coupled with the name of the thousand-year-old demon, the Snow Mountain Great Ape King, this area was fairly stable. But now with the King of Xijiang gone as a flood dragon, many covetous ones might emerge in this region."

"With disputes starting, war would become inevitable. Although I am a mere Little Demon, it seems difficult to preserve myself amidst such a tide."

"Perhaps I should also prepare in advance, like heading to the other side of the river?"

Once Wang Wu had this thought, it quickly grew unstoppable.

It’s indeed because he’s quite infamous on this side of the river, burdened with several major cases.

As long as he shows up and is discovered, the consequences would be catastrophic.

The Gray Fox under the South Mountain King is well-informed; it could see through his bloodline at a glance, which is the first major crisis that would explode upon contact.

The Black Spider Captain is the second major crisis. Once discovered alive by the Black Beetle or Black Mountain Sparrow, the information would get out, absolutely prompting the Black Spider Captain to hunt him to the ends of the earth.

The Big Mountain Cat, Little Wild Boar, Little Black Bear, and Night Owl count as the third major crisis because in their perception, Wang Wu has already died without a trace, and now you suddenly appear lively, doesn’t that show a problem?

Any encounter with any of these three crises spells trouble; this also means his activity space is shrinking, making him more reluctant to act. As time goes on and the number of actions increases, the margin for error gets smaller. Sooner or later, he would perish due to one of these crises.

"Then there’s nothing to hesitate about; taking advantage of the King of Xijiang transforming and taking away most of the Water Demons, and while the West River Water Race was heavily struck by the Big Head Water Thieves, I must cross this river tonight to relocate to the other side, where movement gives life!"

After making the decision, Wang Wu felt a great relief; what he had set up in the valley prior held no attachment anymore, and away he went!

The time swiftly came to evening; after several days of continuous rain, it finally stopped, but the dense fog on the river did not clear, making it an excellent opportunity to stealthily cross the river.

Wang Wu did not hesitate; he slowly adjusted his body, leaving the riverbank with slight movements. Under the Level 10 Danger Perception, he found nothing unusual, so he occasionally sped up a bit, withdrawing from Level 10 Passive Concealment, and everything seemed safe.

Of course, as he neared the deep-water area, he ceased doing that, slowing his actions and maintaining Level 10 Passive Concealment as much as possible.

After progressing about a hundred meters like this, he could no longer see the riverbank behind nor the opposite bank as the fog was too thick.

However, he never worried about losing his way since the river smoothly flowed downward, and he consistently sensed and confirmed the upstream direction.

Soon, though, he encountered a problem; the nearer he got to the river’s midpoint, the faster the water flowed. Although it wasn’t dramatic, if he wanted to sustain Level 10 Passive Concealment while moving forward, it became impossible.

"Fine, I’ll just quickly cross the river!"

Wang Wu made his choice; he had to cross the river before daybreak, otherwise tomorrow, when the sun rises and clears the fog, leaving the entire river surface exposed, he would have nowhere to hide.

Immediately, he slightly increased his pace, careful not to create too much splash.

Thus, he quickly swam another three to four hundred meters, smoothly passing the river center, with barely two to three hundred meters left, he could even see the vague silhouette of the opposite riverbank cliff.

Wang Wu felt slightly relaxed.

But at this moment, he suddenly saw two blood-red lanterns light up on the right side of the riverbank ahead, incredibly eerie with the fog failing to obscure their glow, and these blood-red lanterns were shining directly at him.

Almost instantly, Wang Wu felt a complex and indescribable wave of sensations rising within him, besides the feeling of his scalp tingling, as if caught with his pants down.

Yet the very next second, all these feelings vanished entirely; simultaneously, his internal reserve of idle Spiritual Qi decreased by a full 30 points.

What’s going on?

Startled, Wang Wu immediately halted his movements, letting the current carry him downward, and after three seconds, he entered Level 10 Passive Concealment.

Only then did lines of information slowly emerge.

"You have been discovered, and an unknown hostile target used Reconnaissance Divine Techniques/Talent on you, attempting to lock onto you."

"Due to the influence of night, the opponent’s reconnaissance effect is weakened by five percent."

"Due to the pervasive fog, the opponent’s reconnaissance effect is weakened by five percent."

"Due to both parties being over five hundred meters apart, the opponent’s reconnaissance effect is weakened by five percent."

"Due to you being in the river, the opponent’s reconnaissance effect is weakened by five percent."

"Due to your movement not exceeding the upper limit threshold, the opponent’s reconnaissance effect is weakened by five percent."

"Your Level 10 passive Danger Perception successfully suppressed the opponent’s perception, weakening their reconnaissance effect by fifty percent, and doubling the reconnaissance determination time."

"You entered Level 10 Passive Concealment within three seconds, causing the opponent’s lock-on attempt to fail."

——

"Phew!"

The sound of flapping wings immediately followed, seemingly from some kind of raptor taking off fiercely into the sky.

In a blink, the howling wind swept away the thick mist, revealing a giant eagle with wings spanning over twenty meters flying by. It was none other than the brown giant eagle under the North Mountain King’s command, the Mountain Eagle Captain.

Its two eyes were glowing with a blood-red light, looking like two red lanterns when seen through the mist from afar.

It seemed somewhat agitated, continually flying up and down the river, spiraling around, dispersing the mist.

Yet, even with Wang Wu right under its nose, despite its eyes glaring like furnaces, he was nowhere to be found, let alone any trace of his presence.

"White Fox, are you just going to stand there watching? Use the Mountain Patrol Seal to illuminate!"

In mid-air, the Mountain Eagle Captain couldn’t help but suppress its voice angrily, showing how frustrated it was.

"Calm down, it might just be a little fish. Besides, my Mountain Patrol Seal only works precisely if a mark is branded on the Little Demon ahead of time, logged in the records, registered, and accounted for. Unless you’re letting me take a look first or get hold of that Little Demon’s scale, fur, blood, or even feces and urine to refine and then illuminate for tracking, how can I do anything with just empty words?"

The White Fox Captain lazily poked its head from the eagle’s back and replied.

"Damn it! Why does it seem like I’ve been running into slippery demons recently!"

The Mountain Eagle Captain cursed but still didn’t give up the search, tirelessly circling the river surface for more than thirty laps, dispersing the mist within several miles before stopping.

Meanwhile, Wang Wu was already being gently carried two or three kilometers away by the river water. Honestly, he was quite scared too. Who could have thought that in the dead of night, the Mountain Eagle Captain and the White Fox would come here fishing instead of sleeping?

This wasn’t even the territory of the North Mountain King anymore.

He felt that these two weren’t harboring good intentions, and certainly seemed to have ulterior motives.

As a result, he bumped into them, just his rotten luck.

Were it not for the environment being unfavorable for their reconnaissance Divine Techniques, were it not for having already elevated his Danger Perception to Level 10, he would surely be dead this time.

At this moment, Wang Wu wasn’t worried about landing ashore. He intended to drift another five or six kilometers downriver, regardless of whatever schemes the Mountain Eagle or White Fox might have—it had nothing to do with him.

But right at that moment, without warning, a black strange serpent as thick as an arm suddenly sprang out of the river water and entwined around him.

What the hell!

Wang Wu nearly exploded in rage; was tonight just too unlucky for him? How could there be a snake in this big river?

Despite being highly tense, he was quite seasoned, his psychological resilience honed over time. So he didn’t move at all, maintaining his Level 10 Passive Concealment State.

No matter what, he believed in his talent, confident that his Level 10 Passive Concealment wouldn’t easily be broken.

More likely, he’s just being mistaken for a piece of wood?

After a few seconds, Wang Wu sighed in relief. This was indeed the case. After the black strange serpent wrapped around him, it didn’t do anything else; rather, it looked exhausted as if about to die, its peculiar scales visibly missing four or five pieces, with a faint sweet and bloody scent spreading out.

Was it injured?

Wait, this was definitely not an ordinary Little Demon Snake.

Wang Wu silently observed, seeing that the strange serpent had a small horn growing on its head, its eyes gleaming with a ghostly blue light, exuding an extraordinary aura. Though the serpent’s body wasn’t thick or long, the shape of its scales had a unique and ancient beauty.

Most importantly, there was a thumb-sized blue snake scale on the serpent’s third inch, resembling a beautiful jade, from which an extremely cold aura faintly emanated.

Wang Wu immediately concluded that this blue snake scale must contain a substantial amount of Ice Spiritual Qi.

Goodness, he just intended to cross the river at night, yet stumbled upon such a rare encounter. Is this not the protagonist’s aura?

But just as Wang Wu thought of this, he heard the sound of wings flapping, another giant eagle flew across the river, its immense wings stirring up a gale, blowing the mist away.

Then, he heard the unmistakable voice of the Gray Fox, even if burnt to a crisp.

"Don’t worry, Brother, it can’t run far. The riverbanks are now sealed, and the downstream is blocked by the Big Head Water Thieves; not a single fish will pass through, and not even a rotten log can escape."