Chapter 498: Heavenly Fire Meteor

Pei Mianman quickly supported him. "Ah Zu, don't be fooled by him. Even with the previous group from the Demonic Cult, it's impossible for her to be injured this badly. Zhu Xiechixin and his people must have arrived, which is why she's in such a state. With those people from the capital there, how could Chu Chuyan be in trouble?"

Zu An finally collected himself. He had witnessed Chu Chuyan use a forbidden life technique in the secret realm, allowing her to fight a ninth-rank Kun Eater when she was only fifth-rank. Now that she was seventh-rank, if it truly came down to life or death, even the Mosquito Daoist might not easily kill her after she unleashed that forbidden art.

However, he hadn't sensed any aura of a forbidden art being cast from her side the entire time, proving that Chuyan hadn't been pushed to the brink of death.

With this realization, he completely relaxed. He glared at the Mosquito Daoist and cursed, "You dead mosquito, I can't believe you're such a liar. You scared your daddy half to death!"

The Mosquito Daoist flew into a rage. "You brat, what did you just say?!"

She had dominated the world for so many years; when had she ever been insulted like this by a junior?

Rage points from Mosquito Daoist +999!

Just as she was about to step forward and teach him a profound lesson, a strange, bright red bird seemed to appear before her eyes.

The strange bird flapped its wings in front of her, then opened its pointed beak, emitting a peculiar sound wave.

The Mosquito Daoist shrieked, hastily covering her ears, but the sound was not blocked in the slightest.

Being a master of sound-based techniques herself, she immediately understood that this was no ordinary sound wave; it was an attack on the soul.

She quickly gathered her thoughts and circulated her vital energy to defend herself.

On the other side, Pei Mianman, seeing the Mosquito Daoist's pained reaction, looked eager to act. Zu An quickly grabbed her and ran. "What are you waiting for?! Don't you want to run while we have the chance?!"

His Hundred Cries skill primarily targeted the spiritual level. It was remarkably effective for defending against others' spiritual attacks, but its offensive capabilities against an opponent were not necessarily as good.

After all, the cultivation gap between him and the Mosquito Daoist was simply too vast.

Although the Mosquito Daoist had been caught off guard, Hundred Cries could at best delay her for a short while and was incapable of inflicting significant substantial damage.

As for taking the opportunity to approach and kill her, that was wishful thinking. While her spiritual state was severely affected, she hadn't lost control. She could naturally counter his attacks if he tried.

If the gap between them hadn't been so immense, he might have risked it. But with such a chasm in their cultivation levels, risking it was pointless, so he immediately pulled Pei Mianman and ran deeper into the forest.

Seeing the direction they fled, the Mosquito Daoist roared in fury, "I'm going to kill you both!"

She wanted to pursue them, but her head throbbed violently, forcing her to kneel on the ground, clutching her head tightly.

However, she wasn't overly concerned. The opponent's skill surely had a time limit; once its effect wore off, she would catch up to them immediately.

Both of them were wounded, and the scent of their blood would linger in the air. No matter where they fled, they couldn't escape her grasp.

Zu An, who was still fleeing, was clearly aware of this problem. The Mosquito Daoist had caught up to them repeatedly, so it was clear that another escape attempt would likely lead to the same outcome.

Both had sustained severe injuries, with bloodstains on their bodies and clothes. Even if their wounds fully healed and they washed and changed clothes, the scent of blood would likely persist.

After all, having frequently watched nature documentaries, he'd heard that sharks could detect a single drop of blood diluted a thousand times from several kilometers away. Therefore, the sense of smell of these demon tribes couldn't be judged by normal standards.

"Where do we run now?" Pei Mianman asked, full of worry.

Zu An thought for a moment. "Let's go back and meet up with that Zhu Xiechixin you mentioned. The Mosquito Daoist suffered so many injuries earlier, likely caused by him. If that's the case, we should be safe with him."

"But that's only temporary safety; we'll still be dead if we return to the capital," Pei Mianman said, looking at him skeptically. "Are you sure you're not just trying to see Chuyan?"

Zu An was speechless. "At a time like this, and your imagination is still running wild," he thought. Aloud, he said, "Of course that's not the reason. Didn't I explain it to you before?"

"Alright then," Pei Mianman said, half-believing. "But the Mosquito Daoist is blocking the way back. If we go straight, we might run into her."

"That's why I'm heading in this direction," Zu An replied. "We'll take a big detour back later."

The two agreed and continued to move through the forest.

After a while, a faint buzzing sound subtly emerged in the air again.

"The Mosquito Daoist is catching up again," Pei Mianman said with a worried expression. Every time the Mosquito Daoist was about to appear before, this sound would precede her, suggesting she sent her disciples and blood-winged black mosquitoes in all directions for reconnaissance.

"This fellow is really persistent!" Zu An gritted his teeth, wishing he had a bottle of insect repellent or an electric fly swatter to get rid of her.

Unfortunately, these were just thoughts. Even if he had such items from his previous life, they certainly wouldn't be effective against this refined mosquito demon.

Just then, the surroundings suddenly brightened slightly.

Zu An was surprised. "Is it getting light so quickly?"

The timing felt off. Was time passing incredibly fast because they were being hunted?

"It's not dawn, it's that!" Pei Mianman exclaimed, pointing to the sky.

Zu An looked up and saw what appeared to be an extra shooting star in the sky. However, unlike regular fleeting meteors, this one grew increasingly brighter and larger, descending closer and closer to the ground.

Pei Mianman instinctively clutched Zu An's arm, her voice trembling slightly. "A natural anomaly, this is an ominous sign. Do you think we'll really die here today?"

Zu An found it somewhat amusing. He hadn't expected her, usually so passionate and uninhibited, to have such a timid side. He patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's just a meteorite, a normal astronomical phenomenon."

Thanks to the advanced smartphone cameras and self-media in his previous life, he had witnessed many meteor showers, such as the large meteorite in Russia back then, and another in Qinghai, China...

As he spoke, the already bright meteor suddenly emitted a dazzling white light. It had been quite luminous before, but in that instant, it seemed like a sun. Though it was the middle of the night, for a moment, it felt like daytime, making even distant objects clearly visible.

This daylight effect lasted for roughly half a minute. Following that, the dazzling white light quickly faded, and the bright meteor seemed to break apart, turning into dozens of dark red flames that shot towards different locations.

The sky plunged back into darkness, and silence enveloped their surroundings.

Zu An's eyes lit up. "A natural anomaly surely indicates a rare treasure. Let's go take a look."

Pei Mianman, however, was worried. "We're being hunted right now, our lives are at stake, and you still have the inclination to search for rare treasures?"

Zu An chuckled. "You don't understand this. Even if we tried to escape back now, the Mosquito Daoist would catch up to us very soon, and we wouldn't have time to rendezvous with Zhu Xiechixin and his people. But that meteor in the sky just now caused such a huge commotion; many people within dozens of miles must have seen it, and Zhu Xiechixin's group won't be an exception."

"No one can resist a treasure falling from the sky. They'll surely come to investigate, and their speed is definitely much faster than ours. That way, it's safer than us trying to find them ourselves."

Pei Mianman looked at him in surprise. She had thought he was simply greedy for treasure, but she hadn't realized he had considered everything so thoroughly.

Zu An gave a shy smile. "Don't stare at me like that. Studies show that if you stare at someone for thirty seconds, you'll inevitably fall in love with them."

"Love you, my foot!" Pei Mianman retorted with a laugh, playfully punching him. "Why don't I see you act like this in front of Chuyan?"

Zu An's eyes widened. "Are you implying that I should be more intimate with you in front of Chuyan?"

"Hmph! Dream on," Pei Mianman scoffed, then flustered, she ran ahead.

Zu An smiled and followed her.

The two followed the direction where they remembered the largest meteor falling. After a while, they arrived at a massive crater, dozens of yards in circumference, with scorched earth all around it and lingering flames flickering on the surrounding grass.