Chapter 31
Ge Xiu got up, and pulled the skin of his neck, he couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.
The skin from the lower jaw to the collarbone was hot, as if it had been polished by rough sandpaper, and it caused a faint burning pain with a little movement.
He touched his neck perplexed—there was no wound.
Has he rubbed it while he was asleep?
Before Ge Xiu could think more about it, a gust of the cold wind rushed into the unsealed cave, blowing back the half-length black hair around his forehead and ears, exposing the sharp contours of his jaw line.
He put down his hand and turned his head to look in the direction of the wind.
As if pulled by invisible gravity, Ge Xiu stood up and walked slowly to the entrance of the cave.
He looked down and observed.
Outside the cave, the silent and boundless darkness enveloped him, and the unyielding rock standing under his feet was like an island in the endless dark night, other than it there was nothing but an empty sea of darkness.
…The dark element seemed to be more active than ever.
The dense and viscous wave of elements rippled silently, and there seemed to be something alarming waking up underneath its dark and deep surface.
Ge Xiu stood at the entrance of the cave, the violent wind was whistling in his ears.
He had a strange illusion, as if something in his body was responding to it. A mysterious joy dissolved into his blood, flowed to the limbs with the heartbeat, bringing a feeling of endless strength.
Ge Xiu looked up to the sky.
The blood moon emerged over the tip of the cliff, painting a part of the sky into a hazy dark red. It used to be be crescent shaped like a hook, he haven’t noticed when it started, but it gradually became rounder, like a slowly opening eye, peering coldly on the ground.
He stared at that eye for a long time.
Finally, Ge Xiu withdrew his gaze. In the next second, an elemental wall instantly rose from the ground, and a dense, pitch-black elemental barrier quickly covered the entrance of the cave, blocking the strange bloody moonlight.
——The density that once required his full concentration to create, now only needed a thought.
The increase in strength was too fast.
Ge Xiu looked down at his palm thoughtfully.
Next to the palm was the slender wrist bone, cyan slender blood vessels spread under the pale skin, and faint red bloodstains covered it.
He tried to wipe it off. Couldn’t be wiped off.
Ge Xiu increased his strength. The piece of skin has been rubbed into a light red, but the blood stains haven’t disappeared, and on the contrary, they became more visible and vivid.
He squinted his eyes slightly, raised his palms to be on the same level with his vision, and looked at his wrists carefully.
The red lines were faintly visible, spreading like a mural, extending from his wrists to the sleeves.
Ge Xiu’s thought of something, and the clothes made of dark elements peeled off like snowflakes, and his wrists, forearms, joints, and shoulders were exposed one by one. The flame-like red lines appeared on the pale and thin limbs like a brand, and the vague totem lines were half hidden under the texture of the skin.
He touched it. It didn’t hurt.
After all, it was not yet time for the blood moon to rise high in the sky.
Ge Xiu frowned and stared at his wrist thoughtfully.
The pain he experienced every night was related to the moon, and the lines that gradually emerged from him must also be related to the constantly growing blood moon.
So… what would happen at the full moon?
In any case, it was unlikely to be a good thing.
Ge Xiu lowered his eyes thoughtfully, put down his raised arms, the dark elements gathered again into thin sleeves, and the limbs white like fresh snow were once again swallowed by darkness.
The need to leave the abyss became more and more urgent.
He turned his head and looked into the depths of the cave. From there, the little wolf’s small and even breathing sounded, his wings folded on his back, slightly undulating with the rhythm of his breathing. Obviously he hadn’t grown up enough to take him out of the abyss.
It seems that he could only rely on himself this time.
As if aware of the of the sight landing on him, in the darkness, a pair of brilliant golden beast eyes opened and looked straight at Ge Xiu who was standing at the entrance of the cave.
Ge Xiu was taken aback for a moment, then his lips curled up: “Awake?”
He walked quickly towards the little wolf lying deep in the cave, sat cross-legged in front of the simple fur nest made of animal skins, and then stretched his hand naturally.
Before his fingertips touched the little wolf’s fur, Ge Xiu seemed to suddenly remember something. After a second short period of hesitation, he stopped his extending hand and showed the empty palm to the little wolf, and said:
“Just want to check your wound.”
The little wolf did not move. The golden beast pupils still stared at him fixedly, but he did not put on the hostile attacking posture like before.
After waiting for a few seconds, Ge Xiu relaxed and continued to move his hand forward.
The fingertips touched the smooth and abundant fur on the wolf’s back, then the soft and delicate fluff, and finally the warm and strong muscles and bones.
Ge Xiu pulled away the fur, and fumbled from the top of his head to the end of his back—the healing speed of the wounds on the little wolf made him a little surprised. Most of the hideous and torn wounds have healed at this moment, with only uneven blood scabs, hidden under the thick fur, remaining, it was clear that they were no longer life-threatening.
And…
Has he grown a little bit?
Ge Xiu tilted his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the little wolf curled up on the fur nest, a little uncertain.
The wound examination was obviously completed, but Ge Xiu had no intention of retracting his hand.
The little wolf raised his eyelids, and his golden vertical pupils coldly swept across the young man sitting in front of him, and then he withdrew his gaze.
He was laying curled up, his back undulated smoothly with breathing, and not even the fur on the tip of its tail has moved. The calm unmoving posture like a sculpture was surprisingly tolerant.
As a result, with the victim’s indulgence, Ge Xiu became bolder and bolder.
He buried his palms deeply into the thick fur of the little wolf, stroked with his five fingers with the direction of hair growth, stroked its well-defined side ribs, twisted the soft velvety fluff under thick fur, and then reached out eagerly to his pointed ears. The little wolf quickly reacted and wanted to back away but he still didn’t escape Ge Xiu’s fast eyesight and was quickly caught.
Seeing that his pet finally no longer resisted him so much, Ge Xiu was in a very happy mood.
He grabbed the ear and rubbed the small piece of thin skin covered with fluff with his fingertips with interest. The velvet-like and warm texture was really addictive to the touch.
The little wolf went stiff, his limbs were tense, and he continued to maintain the awkward posture from before. The pair of golden vertical pupils was round, seeming a little incredulous, and he looked like he was trying his best to suppress the urge to turn around and flee.
His ears were shaking frequently, and the delicate hairs on the ears scratched Ge Xiu’s palm, and then his ears leaned back against his head, as if trying to get away from the spiteful hands, but they were still caught by the other persistently.
Little wolf raised his eyes, bared his fangs, and glanced warningly at Ge Xiu who was sitting next to him.
But the beast’s pupils flickered, unexpectedly without much deterrence.
Ge Xiu touched the warm sharp ear last time, and finally withdrew his hand contentedly.
At the moment when he let go of the little wolf, he backed away seamlessly, and rested his head on his paws far away from the other. Golden eyes watched Ge Xiu vigilantly, as if he was guarding against him making another move.
Ge Xiu laughed uncontrollably, and a carefree and pleased expression overflowed from the corners of his eyebrows and his eyes.
He habitually bent his legs and hugged them to his chest, resting his chin on his knees, and suddenly asked casually: “Do you want to leave this place?”
The little wolf’s eyes darkened slightly and he stared at him unwaveringly.
There were still reminiscence of a smile on Ge Xiu’s lips, and the previous almost innocent childishness became a difficult to understand and unpredictable look almost instantly.
He tilted his head thoughtfully and said, “Something big is going to happen here.”
However, in the next second, the smile on the boy’s lips deepened again, and he became carefree again: “However, even if nothing was going to happen, we still need to leave, right? After all, it’s getting boring down here.”
Ge Xiu laid on his back, spreading his limbs completely disregarding his image, and lamented:
“And ah…I haven’t eaten candy for such a long time… Do you think there will be sugar above there? It’s some kind of round, sweet, hard stuff…”
Then, he frowned, as if thinking of an extremely difficult philosophical question: “But speaking of it, can you eat candy? It is said that dogs cannot eat chocolate, but you should not be a wolf species? After all, you have wings…”
Ge Xiu muttered to himself in the dark.
Elinor still maintained his previous posture.
He quietly stared at the young man in front of him, the golden eyes that belonged only to the beasts were shining with a little red light, they looked deep and unpredictable.
To leave.
The seal in Calvary was only for dark creatures, and had no binding effect on species from the other camp that strayed into it. It was completely possible to leave as long as they found the right way.
Although he was corroded by the dark elements, he still hadn’t completely fallen.
But this human…
Elinor wasn’t even sure what kind of creature he belonged to.
As a result, a question that he has been ignored by him for a long time surfaced again – what if he couldn’t leave?
Elinor lowered his eyes and licked his paw.
After this regular torture was over, Ge Xiu began to prepare to leave the abyss. According to his current strength and physical strength, the threat posed by the steep and high cliffs was far less than before, and the increasing control over the dark elements also made his hunting at the bottom of the abyss more handy, so in just two days, he packed all the necessary items. By this time, Elinor’s injury has also basically completely healed.
Everything was ready.
Ge Xiu and Elinor came to the previously selected location and began to climb.
Their movements were quiet and swift, like two black shadows walking climbing onto the vertical rock wall.
Everything went smoothly.
Suddenly, the blood-coloured moonlight was covered suddenly, and there seemed to be something like a black shadow flying across the sky quickly, sweeping over them in the cold and quiet air current.
Ge Xiu swiftly behind a protruding rock and skilfully mobilized and condensed the dark elements, covering himself and the little wolf tightly, without a trace of breath.
This place was very close to the top of the cliff. The deep and dark abyss was like a huge bloody mouth of a monster lying under their feet, quietly waiting for the arrival of the victims.
Ge Xiu glanced into the sky from his point of view restricted by the rocks, and saw the half-round blood moon that was already close to an ellipse hanging on the tip of the cliff, shining on the ground below. Under the scarlet moonlight, there was a dark shadow, passing by the top of the narrow abyss, the air current moved by the huge bone wings sounded like a shrill whizz that broke through the air, and the flowing dark elements swirled up from the bottom of the abyss, bringing a terrifying and unspeakable sense of danger.
Although it was only a shadow passing by at high speed, he was still able to recognize the sharp curved long horns on its body and the huge bone wings that opened to block the moonlight.
It was a demon.
Ge Xiu’s eyes darkened slightly. He didn’t know much about demons. Since most of the monsters in the abyss were low-level dark creatures, the relevant information he could obtain from them was also pitiful. What he knew was that the demons were the most loyal followers and fanatical fans of the Dark God. They were few in number, their hierarchy was harsh and ruthless, and they rarely took the initiative to leave their territory.
He couldn’t figure out the reason for the other party’s patrol, so he cautiously pressed his back against the cold rock wall. The dense dark element covered his body temperature, heartbeat and other life movements to almost zero, as he waited quietly.
However, in the next second, the demon who was flying in circles and patrolling in the air suddenly turned his head, his face directly facing Ge Xiu’s hiding place.
The far distance and the boundless darkness made Ge Xiu unable to see the other person’s expression, but at that moment, his heart rang alarm bells loudly, and his cells and nerves in his whole body were clamouring about the danger – Ge Xiu no time to think, he instinctively flashed to the side, the rock that had covered his body shape exploded on near his cheek, the shrapnel-like gravel was blocked by the elemental shield condensed from intuition. Large and small pieces of stones rubbed against him and fell down into the bottomless dark abyss, sound of them falling completely swallowed.
As soon as the demon’s bone wings were retracted, it dived straight down!
Ge Xiu dodged the opponent’s attack with difficulty, he jumped on the nearly vertical rock wall, looking for a new foothold, while casting a spell to counterattack in the small gap between. The purple pupils of the demon glowed with a strange bloodthirsty look in the dark, as it used his indestructible bone wings to swing away from the opponent’s attack, as easily as knocking down a child’s toy. It stared at Ge Xiu’s exposed skin during the battle, and its greedy gaze tightly locked onto the barely visible red lines on the pale complexion, that whispered to him something in an ancient and complex language.
There was a strange melodic rhythm in the foreign language, and the words and sentences were spelled like singing, as if praising and complimenting him.
It was a pity that Ge Xiu didn’t understand the advanced demon language.
Even so, he seized this fleeting opportunity, and a venom-soaked arrow pierced through the air under his control, puncturing the protective layer of the demon’s bone wing at a tricky angle, and it was able to rub against its cheekbones.
The corrosive sound of “zizi” sounded.
The demon wiped side of its face with its sharp-nailed hands, and deep purple blood dripped down him from its dark nails and pale fingers. His expression became gloomy and seemed to have lost his patience. His wings flapped and he reached out his hand to grab Ge Xiu.
Like a strike of lightning, a gray shadow flashed through the darkness and rushed straight to the outstretched arm of the demon!
The sharp teeth easily penetrated the magic armour covering its arm. The demon let out a sharp scream, caught off guard, his purple pupils was burning with anger, and he raised his other hand and caught the wing of little wolf behind him fiercely, and then pulled down, his sharp fingertips forcibly cut through the little wolf’s wings tearing a large wound.
The little wolf didn’t let out a sound, and locked his sight on the demon tightly with a pair of red-gold vertical pupils. The sharp fangs bit into the opponent’s arm, and pulled abruptly, a big piece of flesh was torn off, and the dark purple blood tickled down. The little wolf spit out the flesh, his body turned around, and his sharp claws instantly left a few deep bloody holes on the back of the other’s hand.
The strong smell of blood spread in the night sky, and the smell of rust filled the air, occupying all the senses.
Few creatures could injure the demon’s skin with strong defence, but today he has chanced upon, one after another, two weak little things that made him like this.
The demon was so enraged, and he said awkwardly in the common language:
“Looking for death!”
The wolf was too small, and he quickly lost the advantage of the surprise attack. The sharp claws of the demon pierced deeply into his fur, the deadly dark elements eroded his flesh. As long as the strength was increased again, his limbs will be torn from the body alive, but the little wolf still said nothing, and started with a fierce look at the enemy in front of him.
At this moment, Ge Xiu harshly shouted: “Jump!”
The little wolf suddenly opened his mouth and bit the tiger’s mouth* of the demon’s hand. The demon loosened his palm from pain, and the wolf plunged into the bottomless abyss.
The demon shook the blood off his hand, although he was still unwilling, but he did not forget his true goal, so he flapped his bone wings and rushed straight towards Ge Xiu not far away.
The thin human teenager clung to the rock wall, his face was almost completely bloodless, and a pair of deep black eyes was glowing with a strange light.
He stared at the demon not far away, and his pale lips curled up in a slight arc silently.
The demon concentrated, before he could react, a beam of extremely destructive elemental darkness struck him, and he swiftly dodged away, the beam of elements exploded on the wall behind him, and without the slightest pause, among the countless falling stones, a huge elemental net struck on his head, and he slammed into the rock wall!
However, such an attack was far from stopping a demon with extremely strong physical fitness. He showed a cruel smile that showed he was sure to win, and easily cut open the net that wrapped around him with his sharp claws. Under his claws, the large net condensed by the elements was as thin and fragile as a piece of paper – at that moment, the liquid wrapped in the elemental net and came pouring down, the scarlet viscous liquid poured the demon right upright, the fresh smell of rust and blood burst into the air instantly.
The demon licked the liquid drawn to his lips-human blood.
Almost at the same time, the scalp-numbing rustling sound was heard from the hole that had just been blasted by the elemental beam of light, like countless hard claw feet sounding in the depths of the rock wall, magnified by the hollow rock wall into a certain unknown. With the weird sound, thousands of scarlet eyes lit up in the darkness of the cave, staring at the delicious food that happened to be delivered to the door with hungry and evil eyes.
The demon was shocked, and he subconsciously prepared to flap his wings and leave, but the other party seemed to be prepared long ago, and the new element net came over and slowed his movements for a moment.
One moment was enough.
Countless huge schistosomes rushed like a river and an ocean, densely wrapping around his body, drowning him in just a few breaths, leaving only the squirming sound of chelated feet that made the back chill.
Ge Xiu exhaled slowly, his arms hung unnaturally to his side, and his cold and pale fingertips trembled slightly due to excessive blood loss. He moved quickly to cast a few spells to seal his wound and prevent them from opening and to prevent excess bloody smell that’d attracting schistosomes.
Here lived the largest swarm of insects in the entire abyss. He has been dragged into its nest once, and they wormed this piece of stone wall into the void to build a nest.
Since being chased just now, he has consciously fled in this direction.
After all, even if a demon couldn’t be killed by this, it more than enough to delay him for a while.
Ge Xiu’s fingers moved slightly, and the dark element net covered underneath slowly rose up.
The little wolf with all four paws tightly grasped the only support, and the injured wings behind him flapped slightly to speed up the ascent.
Ge Xiu put the little wolf down, his breath still a little unstable: “Go.”
They couldn’t stay here for a long time.
The wounded man and the wolf struggled through the stone walls destroyed by the battle, climbing the remaining distance in the fastest speed, and then limped and disappeared to the sharp edge of the cliff.
Ten minutes later, the group of schistosomes squirming and swallowing suddenly exploded. A huge magic attack tore the worms apart, and the schistosomes near the center were completely turned into powder.
The scarred demons appeared in the pool of blood. He looked quite humiliated and embrassed, but the wounds on his body were healing quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He gritted his teeth, his purple eyes flashed with anger.
He thought that the winning ticket was already in hand, but I didn’t expect it to be placed, which caused him to waste a high-level magic crystal—and, to make matters worse, according to the lord’s order, he now had to report the opponent’s whereabouts. Now the credit that could have been monopolized just flew out of his hands.
Although he was unwilling, the lord’s order cannot be disobeyed.
A small sound-transmitting magic circle appeared in front of him after a short recitation of a spell, and the shining purple light illuminated the dark abyss.
The demon lowered his head and reported respectfully in the language of the high level demons:
“My lord, I have found him.”
*basically the inside of his hand, the soft skin between thumb and other fingers