"Bai Ye, what are you doing?" Bomb Cat's voice cut through the air. "If you've dealt with that guy, hurry up and go!"
Bomb Cat's voice brought Bai Ye back to reality. "Coming!" he replied immediately.
Bai Ye swiftly crossed over the corpse of the demonic seed leader and headed towards Bomb Cat and Dun Shan.
Bomb Cat pointed ahead with his hand. "Look, we can see the end! We'll be out of this horde of demonic seeds soon. Keep pushing!"
Bai Ye nodded. "Then I'll do something drastic. You two, back off a bit."
Bomb Cat asked curiously, "Why?"
Bai Ye replied, "This move will definitely cause friendly fire."
"Oh!"
Bomb Cat agreed and immediately retreated two meters.
Bai Ye took a deep breath and walked forward. Simultaneously, a large amount of purple venom appeared on his body, dripping onto the ground continuously.
In the next instant, Bai Ye spread his arms wide and shouted, "Giant of Poison!"
(Giant of Poison: A colossal skeleton-like giant formed from venom, capable of wide-range attacks. Upon contact, it causes corruption by poison, gradually draining life force.)
The venom flowing from Bai Ye surged forward like a tidal wave, churning and surging.
Then…
From the surging venom, numerous poison springs erupted.
In mid-air, under the spray of the poison springs, a massive hollow formed from coalesced venom gradually took shape, standing over ten meters tall. Its mouth opened and closed incessantly, appearing quite ferocious.
Bai Ye took a step forward. "Attack!"
Upon receiving Bai Ye's command, the Giant of Poison raised its colossal foot and stomped forward.
*Bang!*
The Giant of Poison's foot landed, crushing four or five demonic seeds instantly.
However, this was clearly not the true terror of the Giant of Poison.
As Bai Ye advanced, the Giant of Poison strode forward with large steps.
Concurrently, as it moved, the Giant of Poison continuously shed venom.
The venom splattered outwards, landing on the surrounding demonic seeds, which immediately let out wails of agony.
The life force within them was being drained away, or rather, sucked dry by the venom of the Giant of Poison.
Soon, the once ferocious demonic seeds began to wither, one by one.
Their flesh and blood shriveled at a visible rate, leaving only a dry skin clinging to their bodies. Finally…
*Thump, thump, thump!*
One after another, the demonic seeds fell, becoming aged, exhausted, and on the verge of death.
Then…
They gradually lost all signs of life.
Bai Ye looked back at Bomb Cat. "Bomb Cat, sit on Dun Shan's shoulder and let him carry you. Otherwise, if you touch the venom, your life will drain too. But Dun Shan is a mechanical construct; he won't be affected by the venom draining his life."
"Okay!"
Bomb Cat nodded and leaped onto Dun Shan's shoulder.
The scattering venom was indeed chilling, and Bomb Cat felt a pang of fear. If he were to be contaminated, he might well turn into a dead cat.
With the Giant of Poison clearing the path, the demonic seeds ahead became utterly vulnerable.
Although the ability of the poison fruit meant that the life drain took some time, the demonic seeds, upon contact with the venom, did not die immediately.
However, they would weaken due to the loss of life, and even if they didn't die instantly, they would lose their ability to fight and fall to the ground.
About fifteen minutes later, the Giant of Poison shattered, dissolving into a vast expanse of venom that splashed outwards, transforming into a terrifying poisonous rain that assailed the surroundings.
Dun Shan raised his shield, blocking the toxic downpour above Bomb Cat's head to protect him.
As for Bai Ye, this was his own ability, so he naturally felt no fear.
When the Giant of Poison broke apart and became a poisonous rain, the three of them finally cut through the horde of demonic seeds.
Bai Ye looked at Bomb Cat. "Where do we go from here?"
"Keep moving forward," Bomb Cat replied. "About seven or eight li (a traditional Chinese unit of distance) from the Great Wall, there's a small village."
Bai Ye asked, "Is there something wrong with that village?"
Bomb Cat said, "Of course there's something wrong with it. What do you expect to find outside the Great Wall? How could there be a normal village? It's a bandit village!"
Bai Ye questioned, "You mean a village built by bandits? Aren't they known for their swift movements, making them hard to track?"
The so-called bandits were nomadic outlaws, constantly on the move with no fixed abode. All areas beyond the Great Wall were their hunting grounds. Their way of life was to prey on merchant caravans traveling between Chang'an City and the Yunzhong Desert.
Bomb Cat explained, "Bandits are indeed swift, which is why that village is almost uninhabited. It serves as a stronghold for the bandits and a post station for them to relay messages."
Bai Ye nodded. "But what does that have to do with the demonic seeds? Even bandits would run from demonic seeds, wouldn't they?"
"Yes, however, there was unusual activity in that village last night, with a large number of bandits appearing. General Su Lie, upon receiving the news, dispatched a contingent of Great Wall guards to investigate, but they haven't returned since. Then, early this morning, a large number of demonic seeds appeared on the wilderness, quickly congregating and launching an attack on the Great Wall."
"Whether the two incidents are related is uncertain, but the massive appearance of bandits followed by the attack of demonic seeds suggests something suspicious. Since Sister Mulan left the Great Wall to investigate the demonic seed attack, she would naturally head to that bandit village first."
Bai Ye nodded. "Then we should go there too."
With their target set, there was nothing more to discuss. They needed to hurry.
Seven or eight li was not a great distance, but not short either. At Bai Ye's running pace, he could reach it in less than an hour.
However, they had to consider Bomb Cat and Dun Shan.
Bomb Cat was manageable. Bai Ye assessed Bomb Cat's strength and figured his physical attributes were likely not as good as his own. Bomb Cat's primary ability was his bombs, which were incredibly powerful and caused immense destruction.
Even though Bomb Cat's physical attributes might be slightly inferior to Bai Ye's, he wouldn't be a significant drag. The main issue was Dun Shan's slow movement speed.
As a mechanical construct, Dun Shan possessed formidable defense. His ability to single-handedly withstand a barrage of arrows without sustaining any damage was proof of this.
But Dun Shan was clearly a relatively heavy and cumbersome automaton, and his movement speed was noticeably not fast.
Bai Ye had to slow his pace, accompanying Bomb Cat and Dun Shan as they proceeded.
After an unknown period, the bandit village Bomb Cat had mentioned finally appeared before the three of them.
Bai Ye gazed at it and frowned. "That village isn't right. It looks like it's been through a battle."