Chapter 44 - A Prowling Demon Beast
The steady rolling hills and pastures predated the magnanimous buildings of the city in the distance. Nature and civilization stood side by side and watched over the lonely road. A road where a certain vehicle rode down the freeway with a speed beyond regulated ones.
The driver only focused on getting to his destination.
Yes, it was for that very reason that creatures that normal men could not see began to raise their heads up, detecting a qi that was foreign. A rich plume of deadly qi surrounded the vehicle and caught the spiritual creatures residing in their homes to stare up in surprise—the dense cloud of qi distracted, repelled but also attracted.
Inhaling the evil qi only reddened the Kui's beast eyes. The ox-like creature reared its horned head and bellowed loudly, its presence scattered the more peaceful ones in nature. Its glowing red eyes fixated on the car in the distance, and it pounding its hoof on the ground—the Kui beast raced down the slopes in its tremendous speed.
Clouds of dust erupted around them as it launched itself towards the vehicle and prepared to stab it with its horns—
"Can you drive any faster or is that the best that you can do?!" the Panda clutched the backrest of the couch, its dark eyes stared at the creature that slammed its head against them.. It could see the Kui Beast perfectly, the one-legged demon hunting after them.
In order to devour Li Yang's qi.
The CEO grunted and stepped down on the accelerator, the vehicle speeding up even further crossing past the limits. He didn't even bother with a reply, a slightly ticked off expression on his face that barely passed road rage.
He had horrible facial expressions.
But as the Panda leered at the demon chasing after them, the creature rushed even faster. A cloud of smoke expelled through its nostrils, the road it left behind was something akin to hell's path. A red ominous sky with terse thick clouds with broken roads struck a contrast to the blue skies and the shining city that they were driving towards.
Caught in two places.
Now this was some entertainment—if the man slowed down any minute then he would be a goner. And despite the gap between the human and spiritual world, the demon would break through it and launch them through the air and cause an accident. System or not, he would die at his current state and used as a stepping stone for the demon's cultivation.
All of this was happening right under the CEO's nose.
The Panda could perhaps reveal this information and yet the man's cultivation levels were too low for him to actually see the creature and much less fight it. And this was the horrible part of being a new cultivator, attracting demons and qi-devouring beasts with no protection nor sensing it.
And yet the Panda would not interrupt or come between the man and the demon.
Save perhaps for its urging of the CEO to move even faster and grow the distance between the beast and them. Somehow the demon was too enraged to even cast much of an attack or it wasn't too high-threat of a creature. It was residing near human lands but not in it. Now the Panda could demolish it with one flick of its finger—paw. But that much interruption was forbidden.
Called as an observer.
The Panda stared at the expression of the CEO's face, he had such a blank one that it was hard to determine that he was annoyed. But the qi around him showed the truth. If anything, it was only a tad worried—one demon was alright, but for others to arrive? The man could have placed a beacon on his car and attracted the same amount of demons as well.
Large chunks of rocks soared through the crimson skies and landed against them, no, the stone broke off in the world's barrier, but even then…
Honk!
A loud beep sounded on the road. A delivery truck soon came from the opposite direction, sending a warning beep to Li Yang. And so it passed towards the ox demon, and thankfully did not reappear underneath the red skies. Only a faint outline of it appeared in the spiritual realm.
The Panda blinked once, the demon disappearing and watched the truck go down the road.
It would be safe, but as for them—the creature lunged and speared its horns into the space. Electricity sparked between them and made the Panda stab its paw at him, "Why are you slowing down?!"
"We're nearly there," he responded. "I'd rather not cause an accident in the city."
The same monotone tone, the still slightly irked look on his face. And yet the man was controlling his temper and his thoughts. He wasn't checking the notifications but the Panda could see it clearly. It had begun earlier, the spike and transformation of his regular qi but now it was finally waning.
[ Evil-Qi Dispelling Talisman Lost Its Efficacy ]
[ Evil Qi Shroud Is Present ]
[ Sanity Is … ]
[ … ]
[ Levels of Evil Qi Is Lowering... ]
"Ptooey!" the Panda made a face at him and rubbed its paw. Humans and their wild aberrations, it was annoying and contagious. In a plane like this, this was no doubt the default. But even with the man's internal condition stabilizing, it did not change their circumstances at all—
Thud.
A loud clang sounded above them.
Li Yang blinked and raised his head, slowing down the car even further before throwing a look at the creature, "What did you do?" his eyes narrowed at him.
"Nothing!" it said. "Bah! Why would I do anything to stop you?" Now the man could sense something or someone crashing on the roof? This was unbelievable! Unless… the Panda checked the back and saw that the Kui Beast was crashing against them. It spared no effort in its assault. So what had—it raised its head and peered past the roof of the car. A long haired young man was standing atop of the CEO's car wielding a saber in hand.
Li Yang stopped the car and parked by the side of the highway. Thoroughly unconvinced of the creature's answer, uncaring and unbeknownst of the attacks happening in the other realm.
The Panda bulged its eyes—and then the sound of sundering erupted in its ears. Sounds of a blade flourished through the air that caught the CEO with a frown.
Red splattered all over the car's rear glass.