Leng Qingqing’s first experience leaping across rooftops with Leng Jing was far from pleasant. The headquarters of the Shentong Sect was located in an unremarkable little mountain town, filled with a jagged skyline of pavilions and courtyard walls. While Leng Jing moved like a soaring bird, Leng Qingqing was reduced to using all four limbs, scrambling and clawing his way along. One moment he was scaling a high wall, the next he was nearly gnashing his teeth in frustration. After a long stretch of mountain paths and high walls, Leng Jing finally came to a halt on a rooftop, pointing toward a large, dilapidated courtyard in the distance. "That is the Shentong Sect’s headquarters, Withered Leaf Villa."
"Finally... we're here!" Leng Qingqing wheezed through gritted teeth.
Leng Jing masked his face with a cloth and said, "Father, sit here on the wall and wait for me."
"Didn't we say we were going together?" Leng Qingqing asked with a dazed expression.
"Haven't we come here together? I’ll be in and out; it won't take more than fifteen minutes." Leng Jing pressed down on his father's shoulders, making him sit firmly on the wall.
Thus, Leng Qingqing obediently crouched on the wall, watching Leng Jing vanish into Withered Leaf Villa with a few agile leaps.
It was terribly boring. Sitting atop the wall, Leng Qingqing pulled some crispy sweets from his robe and began to snack on them. Waiting for someone was the hardest thing to endure. Once the crispy sweets were gone, he pulled out some hard candies and crunched away. When the candies were finished, Leng Qingqing sighed, resting his chin in his hands as he looked at the sky. The weather was poor tonight; the stars and moon were hidden behind a thick layer of dark clouds.
Just as he was growing weary of stargazing, a strange sensation welled up from within his heart. Something felt off—a chilling breeze seemed to brush against him. However, he didn't pay it much mind and continued to sit there, swinging his legs back and forth.
"Father!" a raspy voice called out from below the wall. Leng Qingqing was overjoyed; Leng Jing was back! He hurried to look down. "Xiao Jing, you’re finally out! Come up quickly! Let’s go home!"
Leng Jing stood in the shadows, leaning against the wall so his features were obscured. He was panting heavily. "You... come down."
"You come up! I don't want to climb this wall again," Leng Qingqing grumbled, unwilling to move.
"Come down! I’ve been stabbed!" As soon as Leng Jing said those words, he collapsed to his knees. Leng Qingqing’s face turned deathly pale.
***
Leng Jing, who had rarely ever been injured, looked extremely unwell. He sat on the ground, leaning his back against the wall and gasping for air. Below the wall was a narrow alleyway. Leng Qingqing, heart aching with worry, pulled away the hand Leng Jing was using to clutch his abdomen. "Xiao Jing, let Father see how bad it is!"
Prying Leng Jing’s fingers away, Leng Qingqing felt around his son's abdomen, but his hand met only intact fabric. Could it be an internal injury? Leng Qingqing attempted to funnel spiritual energy into Leng Jing’s body, only to have it repelled by a surge of potent Dragon Qi. This meant Leng Jing showed no signs of actual injury. What was happening to him?
"Xiao Jing! You’re fine! Don't be afraid!" Leng Qingqing comforted him.
"I’ve already realized it." With Leng Qingqing’s support, Leng Jing stood up, his steps staggering. He gripped Leng Qingqing’s arm tightly, his voice trembling with lingering shock. "Father, I... just now... just now..." It seemed he had suffered a significant psychological blow.
"What did you encounter?" Leng Qingqing asked anxiously.
Leng Jing gritted his teeth. "I entered Withered Leaf Villa, intending to check the Shentong Sect’s archives. But... just as I succeeded, I encountered a man. That man was shrouded in a killing intent so terrifying it made me shudder. He actually made me feel... afraid. My speed couldn't even keep up with the speed of his attacks. Before I could even get close to him, I felt as if I had been pierced by a sharp blade. There was no room for resistance; I could only flee immediately! It’s so strange—the sensation was so real that I truly believed I was heavily wounded, but..."
"Xiao Jing, we have to leave, now!" Leng Qingqing said, pulling him along firmly.
"I can't transform into my true form!" Leng Jing shook his head. "I feel that if I make too much of a disturbance, that man will definitely hunt us down! He’s been chasing me! That guy is simply... it feels like being crushed by a mountain! That thing is definitely not human!"
"Is he nearby right now?!" Leng Qingqing scanned their surroundings. He bit his lip and suddenly hoisted Leng Jing onto his back. He was, after all, a prince of the Snake Clan with a thousand years of cultivation. If his son was too scared to fly, it was his turn to carry him.
In an instant, the air surged. A large white snake with a solemn expression appeared in the dark alley. The white snake used its tail to gently settle his son onto his back, preparing to take to the skies.
"You idiot!!! Didn't I say not to reveal your true form and draw 'his' attention!" Leng Jing shouted in fury.
No sooner had he spoken than the wound on his abdomen suddenly burst open, blood spraying out.
"He’s here..." Leng Jing coughed up blood. He finally understood—as long as that strange man drew near, all the injuries would become real.
"Father! Quick... run!" Leng Jing choked out, clutching the white snake’s neck.
In the next moment, before Leng Qingqing could even process what was happening, he felt as if a violent tide had swept him up. He felt like a snake that had been skinned and thrown into boiling water; his entire body was subjected to immense agony. The pain was so swift, so brief, yet so intense that even dying ten times over wouldn't have hurt this much. He didn't even have the chance to open his eyes before he was completely overwhelmed.
An abyss of suffering! Leng Qingqing was in too much pain to think, his body feeling as though it were being ground into powder inch by inch.
Ultimately, Leng Qingqing was lucky. By the time he could finally catch his breath, his son had dragged him onto a mountain path paved with bluestone. Both lay flat on the ground, pounding the earth in pain. Leng Jing looked up; he didn't even know where he had fled to in his blind panic. Looking around, he realized they had reached the midway point of the mountain town. The entire town was shrouded in a deathly silence—not a single sound could be heard, not even the chirping of insects.
"Xiao Jing, I’m going to die..." Leng Qingqing sprawled on the ground, limbs splayed.
"No, Father, you’re perfectly fine, just like I was. Do you believe me now? We have no chance to fight back; we can only keep running," Leng Jing said. "It’s not a matter of speed. As soon as he gets close, we suffer a horrific attack. But as long as we put distance between us and that guy, all the trauma disappears. We can't do anything except keep running!" Leng Jing said dejectedly. "Could it be that guy was sent from the Wanxiang Tower?"
"I don't know anything! Xiao Jing, I’m dying, I’m dying..." Leng Qingqing began to wail.
"Come with me. I believe that guy’s attacks have a specific range; otherwise, this strange phenomenon wouldn't be happening to our bodies." Leng Jing pulled Leng Qingqing up, and the two stumbled down the mountain path.
***
They ran aimlessly through the deep night, not knowing where the danger was or when it would sweep over them again. Like headless flies, they scaled every wall and ran down every path they saw. They didn't know how long they had been running; Leng Qingqing felt as if it had been a year.
The scenery before them grew increasingly different from the way they had come. The roads and alleys became more enclosed, more narrow.
Yet the feeling of approaching danger did not diminish in the slightest. Leng Qingqing gripped Leng Jing’s hand for dear life. Behind them, the heavy footsteps of that freak seemed to draw closer, step by step.
Looking in all directions, they saw nothing but grey alleys and high walls. Leng Jing suddenly cried out in shock, "We’ve been running for so long, yet all we see are walls. Do the houses here have no front doors?!"
It was true. Thinking back on their flight, they hadn't seen a single main gate.
"There, there! There’s a door!" Leng Qingqing pointed to a set of steps nearby. Sure enough, at the end of the steps stood an iron gate.
"Is that the exit? Is it the exit to this strange barrier or formation?" Leng Jing hesitated. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his abdomen. He reached down and his hand came away covered in blood. "The wound has appeared again!"
"Ah!" Leng Qingqing looked at his own arm, which was beginning to show signs of burn marks. "He’s here! He’s close again!"
"Quick!" Leng Jing practically dragged Leng Qingqing toward that solitary large gate with all his might.
Perhaps because the creature was so close, Leng Jing felt a massive suction pulling him backward. Every step felt as if his legs were weighted with a thousand pounds of lead. That short distance exhausted nearly all his strength. When he finally reached the bars of the iron gate, he used his remaining power to hoist Leng Qingqing up and toss him over, then scrambled up himself.
With a thud, both landed on the other side of the iron gate. The terrifying pressure and the mysterious wounds on their bodies gradually vanished.
"He can't get in here?" Leng Qingqing asked in pleasant surprise.
However, this wasn't an exit. To be precise, it was merely a crude vegetable garden enclosed by a wall. The spot where they lay reeked of the fertilizer used in the garden. Leng Jing climbed to his feet. This garden looked dirty and dilapidated; how could it possibly withstand that creature's attack?
The power he had used to flee that creature's attack earlier would normally have allowed him to cover ten thousand miles in an instant, yet under that freak's immense suction, he had barely managed to escape with his life. Had he stayed within the creature's range for a moment longer, he feared he would have been torn to pieces, never to escape for all eternity.
Leng Jing truly couldn't understand why the creature's attack stopped at this vegetable garden, which was only blocked by a single iron gate. Furthermore, who had opened this gate for them to break through the barrier?
"Xiao Jing, let’s just stay here until dawn, okay?" Leng Qingqing said, trembling with fear.
"No. I don't think dawn will ever come to this eerie town. If we don't die, that guy won't stop. Even hiding in this garden is likely only temporary. This is a hint someone has given me," Leng Jing said.
Leng Qingqing didn't dare let go of his hand for a second. Leng Jing stood up and carefully observed the small garden. Suddenly, he seemed to be struck by an inspiration.
"Father! Did you notice the characteristics of this garden!" Leng Jing said with a hint of excitement.
"Characteristics? It’s square, divided into many little plots," Leng Qingqing said, confused.
"Exactly, it’s divided into many little plots." Leng Jing examined the garden meticulously. The owner had divided the plot into a grid, as if preparing to plant different vegetables. It was perfectly square, and including the spot where they stood, there were sixteen squares in total, forming a perfect grid.
"Perhaps this is the hint." Leng Jing pointed excitedly at the plots. "The reason that guy doesn't dare come in is this!"
"Huh? Is he afraid of vegetable patches? Should we put cabbages on our heads to go out?" Leng Qingqing asked, moved.
"No. I think the one who gave us the hint wants to tell us that this is the form of the freak's attack—a square formation. The reason he doesn't dare enter is that he’s afraid of revealing the dead angles in his attack grid! He’s a very cautious person. If he came in to attack us and the vegetable plots overlapped with his attack range, then we might have a one-in-sixteen chance of standing in a dead angle. His weakness would be clearly exposed by this garden!" Leng Jing speculated boldly.
"What if the hint means something else?! Xiao Jing, even your barriers were useless against him!" Leng Qingqing shook his head repeatedly.
"It’s true that all my abilities were suppressed before that guy, but I’m still alive, aren't I? I will absolutely not die here!" A look of desperate determination appeared in Leng Jing’s eyes. "I will definitely make sure you leave this place safely, Father!"
***
The freak hunting Leng Jing was a creature that approached without a sound and was immune to all techniques. Leng Jing didn't even know what he looked like. As long as the freak drew near, he would deal a fatal blow within a certain range, but if one could escape that range in a split second, all damage would vanish.
Perhaps to better hunt Leng Jing and his father, the entire mountain town had been turned into a dead city by some kind of barrier, trapping them inside. It was only when they fled into an unexpectedly appearing vegetable garden that they managed to narrowly escape the pursuit.
It was here that Leng Jing believed he had received a hint and began his plan to strike back.
How will Leng Jing break through this mysterious predicament?
