CHAPTER 625: CHAPTER 624: THE MANTIS STALKS THE CICADA, UNAWARE OF THE ORIOLE BEHIND

Got it, the entire team is polluted and needs to be cleaned up.

The side quest for the Human Support Plan task hangs on task 8, needing to collect 500 bizarre soul fragments. After cutting that Green-eyed Fox, only 121 pieces were completed. Finally, there’s hope!

Jiang Yuan looked at the identification details, hesitant about whether to go straight and kill all the way through, or pretend everything’s fine and probe more circumstances?

Additionally, he’s actually unsure about how to resolve the contracted pet’s obsession. Would mass slaughter work?

"Master, you’ve been through hardships on the way, upon meeting hospitable fellow Daoists, should we rest for a moment?" Hu Zhile’s eyes sparkled with excitement — the visitor turns out to be Hu Jun!

She had a deep impression of this Ninth Elder from the clan, accustomed to scheming and instigating but could adapt flexibly when needed.

Back then, the tribe’s Great Demon was ambitious, wanting to seize this floating world fragment, which was secretly incited by him.

Unexpectedly, the human cultivators holding the huge fragment were deeply rooted and had skilled experts aplenty. They had plenty of spiritual energy for cultivation and replenishment, which was a crushing blow to fox demons whose trump cards were almost exhausted.

The fox demons attempting to seize were slaughtered one by one, except for the old fox Hu Jun, who hid his demonic aura and passed off as a lower realm cultivator.

Back then, he even suggested to the human cultivators that if they were annoyed by too many fox demons, they could discard some. He even recommended giving out some slots, allowing internal strife within the Snow Mountain Fox Race for the human masters’ amusement.

Hu Jun’s constant flattery and servile manner towards the human cultivators were vivid in memory.

Seeing him again today, Hu Zhile sensed his aura had not progressed but weakened instead, hence ready to try.

This was her journey of revenge, and naturally couldn’t always rely on the Venerable Family. She thought the opposite party would surely want to leave this place for a safe Otherworld, using this opportunity to uncover what happened over the years, and where their abandoned couple were.

She wanted the opposite party to also taste the feeling of hope being close yet shattered, to repay them in kind!

"Alright, we’ve come a long way indeed and are a bit tired." Jiang Yuan nodded with a shallow smile, the cryptic words instantly suggest the contracted pet knows this person and wants to probe for clarity.

The opposite party was delighted at the words, a long journey? However long there’s a leader, huh!

Of course, to ensure safety, they must first figure out the opposite party’s world location as a final retreat. Gaining their trust to lead the way would be even better; when reaching the new world, experiencing its bizarre fear, the Fox Race tasted it back then.

But this time, it’s the new world cultivators’ turn to tremble, while I, as the bizarre, shall become the true king!

"May I ask which world the two Daoists come from?" Hu Jun led the way ahead, casually asking, "Treasure hunting in the void, definitely amusing with opportunities and danger coexisting."

"Indeed quite amusing, each outing yields different encounters." Jiang Yuan feared the opposite party might have special means, so to avoid trouble, responded casually while asking back: "Hu Daoist being from Snow Mountain Fox Race, why is this place devoid of snow mountains? Only you alone here?"

As they flew through dense forests and over vast lakes, Hu Zhile faintly heard rustling murmurs mixed in the wind, as if something was secretly peeping.

But upon vigilant examination, she couldn’t see or smell anything, so discreetly signaled the Venerable Family with a gaze.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the bright names under the lake and deep within the forest; he roughly counted about forty peculiar entities were currently ambushed, but they clearly couldn’t be seen like Hu Jun. According to details provided by the system, Hu Jun’s Medicine Pill was likely made from hunting these peculiar entities.

Hence, both parties might likely be at odds.

"Human cultivator aura! It’s human!"

"After so many years, finally awaited!"

"Humph! I always said, non-tribe members have different intentions, you repeatedly refused to listen, obsessed with fox demon appearances and wanting to take some slaves for fun, humph! Foolish! So foolish!"

"Spare the hindsight. Back then, enslaving those mortals couldn’t exploit even slightly deeper spirit stone mines, picking and keeping some cultivators as laborers and female slaves was a decision by the entire Sect."

"Pah! Isn’t it you self-important highlords acting on your own? I said long ago, the Fox Race is insidious and treacherous, capable of treating their own tribe ruthlessly for survival, they aren’t any good guys, who listened? All were staring blankly at those Fox Race beauties."

"Stop bickering, damn it! We’ve found ourselves in such a situation despite having the timing, location, and harmony, isn’t it due to lack of unity? Provoked by fox demon beauty and led to internal strife, still digging up old scores now, done or not?"

"The priority is how to rise by relying on the newly arrived human cultivators!"

"We must devise a way to expose the true face of the fox demons – when cultivators meet the bizarre, they will surely strike hard to kill them all!"

"Are you stupid? Don’t forget, we are also peculiar now!"

"Why rush? As the saying goes: when sandpiper and clam fight, the fisherman wins. Anyway, we must figure out a way to ignite conflict between the newly arrived and the Fox Race; once they are badly hurt, we rise!"

"On such a dwindling fragment, what’s the point of rising again? Our goal is to find a new world to live better and safer."

"A new world, yes, yes! We must trace the newcomer cultivator to their world, and by then, it will be our eerie dominion!"

"The Fox Demons must be thinking the same, we need to come up with a plan quickly..."

...

Hiding in the darkness to avoid being caught by the eerie Fox Demons and turned into medicine pills, the human eeries whispered, each with bright and greedy eyes looking at Jiang Yuan and Hu Zhile, who were flying on swords in mid-air.

At this moment, their arrival was like a giant stone cast into a calm lake, causing ripples layer by layer.

[Special Mission: The Stork and the Clam Fight, the Fisherman Benefits]

[Years ago, the current world fragment, dominated by the human cultivator sect Kuang Lang Sect, drifted in the void and happened upon the Snow Mountain Fox Race, which also wandered in the void after a world collapse. The mortal slaves of the human cultivators could not satisfy their growing desires, so Kuang Lang Sect took in a batch of Snow Mountain Fox Demons, women as harlots and men as slaves.

After the backstabbing battle of the Ghost Realm, Kuang Lang Sect, a powerhouse full of experts, suffered a severe blow.

Someone soon discovered they had been corrupted into eeries. Under extreme anger, fear, interest, and selfishness intertwining, eerie energy began spreading among the clans. Eventually, all human cultivators became eeries and, leveraging their eerie bodies, launched an attack on the Snow Mountain Fox Race...

After both sides turned into eeries, the Fox Demons once again gained an advantage with their cunning and treachery. After many experiments, they managed to make eerie bodies into medicine pills, which temporarily suppressed the eerie energy within after consumption, used to deceive any encountering cultivators.

They wandered the void for many years and finally hoped for a cultivator from the Otherworld. The human eeries intend to expose the eerie identity of the Fox Demons, benefit as the stork and clam fight, seize the fruits of victory when both sides are severely hurt, and go to the new world as eeries to dominate.

The Fox Demon tribe also wants to gain sympathy through disguise, inciting conflict between you and the human eeries. Please respond cleverly to make both eerie tribes suffer mutual destruction and ultimately annihilate them to receive generous rewards.]

[Mission 1: Arrange to kill ten eeries from each side. Reward: Random Construction Materials Grand Gift Pack +1]

Jiang Yuan quickly scanned through the reasons for the two clans’ strife, then carefully read the task requirements, thinking no wonder there was a ten-hour buff—it’s like running a small dungeon.

Both sides wanted to provoke him into dealing with their old rival, yet the system issued a mission to incite them to fight each other instead; how wickedly entertaining.

This task ought to be called: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind.

"Ah, Snow Mountain..." Hu Jun didn’t expect the other party would seize the clan name to raise questions, and numerous thoughts flashed through his mind instantly.

Inform them that this land was once covered in snow, which melted gradually after the world collapsed, emphasizing that they’re the native inhabitants to lower the others’ vigilance?

Or perhaps tell them his tribe had encountered eeries when they reached this place during their wandering, creating a tragic yet resilient image, and ask them to help eliminate the old enemy?

These human eeries have become cunning, making them increasingly difficult to hunt.

And producing pills to conceal eerie energy requires a large amount of eeries, with the current stock low. Without gaining the other’s trust, they wouldn’t have enough pills to supplement, easily exposing their true identity.

If they’re daring enough to seek treasures in the void, they should have some means to deal with eeries; should he take the risk?

If the other side also feared eeries, he could request to be taken immediately to the Otherworld; if not, he could use some less straightforward methods, like curses or illusions, to extract the location of the Otherworld from them without much difficulty...

Outside, identities are self-fabricated. Hu Jun spontaneously thought of the optimal, logical solution, sighed, and said, "Truth be told, after the collapse of the world where our Snow Mountain Fox Race resided, our entire clan drifted on fragments, only to be unfortunately shattered when crashing into this fragment, with countless deaths and injuries.

When our survivors finally climbed out and saved our lives, we found that the original inhabitants here had all become eeries. In a dilemma, we fought desperately, and it was only through determined struggle that we managed to repel the eeries and barely establish a foothold..."

"Master, it’s too dangerous with eeries present here! We should quickly leave." Hu Zhile knew all too well the old fox’s scheming mind.

Though she detected no strangeness in the other party, he surely wasn’t harboring good intentions. She has to climb the pole to disrupt the old fox’s rhythm, lest the Venerable Family be swayed by his pitiful act.

Jiang Yuan immediately stopped, his expression gravely serious as he said, "Indeed too dangerous. Though we often encounter eeries exploring treasures in the void without dread, there’s nothing worth the risk here if someone already occupies this place. Let’s move elsewhere then. Farewell, Hu Daoist friend, please take care."

With that, he took out a Teleportation Talisman, deliberately flaunting it in front of Hu Jun, pretending to leave.

"Daoist friend! Please stay!" His gaze fixed on the Teleportation Talisman, greed flashed in Hu Jun’s eyes, and he was inwardly elated—having a Teleportation Talisman was excellent!

First, lure him onto this ship; if things can be muddled through, live in peace temporarily. But if push comes to shove, once getting the precise location of the Otherworld, use the Teleportation Talisman to reach directly—what’s there to fear?

"Daoist friend, please don’t worry. Our Snow Mountain Fox Race has some means to deal with eeries. Though remnants remain, they are hidden and won’t threaten you two Daoist friends." Hu Jun hurriedly blocked and explained: "Moreover, there are many treasures here. As cultivators, it is our duty to slay and eliminate eeries. If you two Daoist friends are willing to lend Hu a helping hand to completely eradicate the eeries, I am willing to give treasures with both hands to express my gratitude!"

Jiang Yuan feigned a greedy smile, smoothly putting away the Teleportation Talisman, and retorted, "So, are we to discuss a business deal?"