“Mmm…
just call me boss and admit you were wrong.
That’s all,” Cassian said calmly.
“Otherwise, you can wait here and see what that centipede does to you.
Pretty sure it’s not as nice as I am.”
“You-”
The girl was fuming, grinding her teeth so hard it was a wonder sparks didn’t fly.
She’d never met someone so shameless in her life!
Seeing the rage on her face, Cassian deliberately glanced at the centipede still hunched over the spirit python, then looked back at her with a little wave.
“Welp, looks like that python is about bled dry.
I’m out.
Goodbye, Beauty-no, scratch that-good riddance.”
“Bo…
Boss…
I was wrong…”
The girl looked like she’d just swallowed a turd, her mood hitting rock bottom.
“What’s that gibberish?” Cassian asked, playing dumb.
“Boss!
I said I was wrong!”
She practically yelled the words out, like she was venting all her pent-up rage.
“Chiirrrp!”
Right on cue, the massive, silver-white centipede stopped sucking blood and swung its monstrous head toward them.
A sharp, grating screech burst from its mouth.
“Oh come the hell on-what are you screaming for, damn bug?!” Cassian cursed.
Then, without another word, hoisted the girl onto his back and bolted.
Behind them, the centipede lunged to life.
All its legs churned up the earth, sending clouds of dust roaring through the ancient forest as it charged full speed after them.
Cassian pushed his strength to the limit, channeling everything into his legs.
But no matter how fast he moved, that thing kept closing the gap.
“It’s catching up!
Hurry!”
The girl shrieked non-stop, her voice shrill and piercing as ever.
“You’re no princess, you’re a damn banshee!
I’d love to toss you back as a snack!” Cassian growled.
He’d only wanted to knock her down a peg, but she was proving herself utterly useless.
“Sir, please, I said I was wrong!
Now shut up and RUN!”
Her tone did a full one-eighty-panic had finally snapped her into begging mode.
Cassian was already drenched in sweat, his feet flying, but it still wasn’t enough.
That centipede was just too fast, and he was wishing for an extra pair of legs.
“ROARR!”
Suddenly, from the shadows of the forest ahead, a hulking bloodstripe leopard appeared-towering like a small mountain and boasting two massive heads.
Four piercing silver eyes locked on Cassian, who was charging straight into its path.
The beast let out a low rumble, sounding…
eager.
Then it charged as well-straight at them, fast as lightning.
“We’re screwed.
This is it.
Death’s knocking,” Cassian muttered.
Cassian had already lost half of his hope, but the moment that bloodstripe leopard appeared ahead, it was gone completely.
Another spirit beast at spiritcore tier two, and just as fierce as the skycrawling centipede chasing from behind.
Out of options, Cassian instinctively tried to dodge sideways, but as soon as he moved, his foot missed the edge-he and the girl on his back plummeted into a deep pit, at least three meters down.
Damp and dark, it looked like a hunter’s old trap.
“Ahhh!
I don’t want to die!
You damn bastard, this is all your fault!”
The girl screeched non-stop, panic written all over her face.
Somehow, even after the fall, she clung to Cassian’s neck like a death grip.
Had he not pried her fingers off just in time, Cassian figured he’d be choked to death by her before the beasts up top even had a chance.
“Rrraugh!”
“Hsssss!”
Just as Cassian felt despair creeping in, roars and screeches rang out from the pit’s opening.
The ground trembled-those two monsters were fighting!
“They’re going at it?
Over food?” Cassian perked up.
He didn’t rush to climb out.
Safer to wait it out, let them tear each other apart.
“You scum, if I die, I’ll haunt you till the end of time!”
“Then die quiet.”
*****
Roughly half an hour later, the growls faded and the ground stilled.
Darkness had swallowed the forest, broken only by distant beast howls echoing from the mountains.
Cassian didn’t wait longer.
He hoisted the girl up and scaled out of the trap.
Back on the surface, he froze.
The massive silver centipede was torn into three bloody chunks, its green bodily fluid soaking the ground, carrying a nauseating stench.
Not far off, the bloodstripe leopard now had only one head left, its neck a mess of flesh and blood.
Wisps of green smoke rose from its body-it had clearly been poisoned by the centipede’s venom.
“What’re you doing?”
The girl expected him to flee immediately.
But Cassian just pulled out a gray sack from his waist, knelt beside the leopard, and started draining its blood into the sack.
“This is good stuff.
Can’t waste it.”
Cassian grinned.
Of course, he wasn’t about to tell her he still owed the Bloodthirst Emperor two hundred kilograms of spirit beast blood.
“Gross!
You’re sick…
smells awful.”
She shot him a disgusted look.
Nothing this guy did ever seemed normal.
Cassian ignored her.
Once the blood was collected, he slung her onto his back again and quickly left the forest.
Just as they passed the mountain ridge-
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!”
Four figures in black dropped from the sky, landing right in front of them.
Four women in identical long black robes.
Their faces were attractive, but what really got Cassian’s attention was the pressure they gave off-strong, dangerous, and impossible to ignore.
These four women were formidable cultivators, their strength shrouded in mystery.
Though they looked young and graceful, their true age was far from what their faces let on.