The Portal of Wonderland

The huge black snake twisted its body. Then, it shot forward like a black arrow, and followed after the black-robed man at an alarming speed.

Shi Mu ran towards the entrance to the valley; as fast as he could. His entire body was covered with a faint layer of blue light. It was because of the Body-Lifting charm that he had chosen to use at this critical point.

He had become extremely fast under the effect of the Body-Lifting charm. In fact, he left a string of black after-images as he shuttled through the buildings.

Bai Yu Xiu and the other people were dozens of feet behind him. Moreover, they weren’t as fast as Shi Mu. So, the gap between them continued to grow.

The expression on Shi Mu’s face didn’t loosen even a little. He felt that he was being chased by a violently surging murderous aura at a very high speed.

He felt a little agitated. He regretted that he hadn’t prepared a few more Fireball Paper-Charms beforehand. He could’ve used them to delay the black-cloaked man a little more, and all of them would’ve been able to escape together.

The barbarian soldiers realized that these four people were trying to escape, and tried to stop them. But, these ordinary barbarian soldiers couldn’t touch even their shadows.

‘Whiz!’

Suddenly, a black silhouette leapt from the internal layer of the stronghold. It took a quick turn in air, and landed on the ground.

It was Shi Mu.

A meaningful look flashed across his eyes as he looked towards the left.

He noticed that the cliff was just a short distance away from where he stood. The four of them had crossed the mountains to reach the same cliff. Their ropes were still supposed to be there. He could easily climb-up the mountain peak if he seized this opportunity. Then, he could safely escape from the valley.

This thought flashed through his mind like an electric current. Then, his body moved into action. But, he didn’t rush towards the cliff to his left side. Instead, he dashed towards the entrance to the valley.

A series of air-piercing sounds rang out after a couple of seconds.

Three persons’ silhouette also rushed out from the internal layer of the stronghold. They were Bai Yu Xiu and the other two members of the team.

The Taoist youth and the dark-skinned youth had an anxious expression on their faces. They looked pale with fear. They didn’t think much, and directly dashed towards the edge of the cliff.

However, Bai Yu Xiu’s eyes flashed with a thoughtful look. A gleam of hesitation appeared in his eyes. But, he still followed the other two members of the team. He rushed towards the cliff in an attempt to take advantage of the ropes.

A person’s figure arrived at the same spot with a gust of wind after a short while. It was the black-cloaked barbarian man.

“Oh, they have chosen different paths to escape,” the man spoke in a surprised tone. Then, he looked towards the entrance to the mountain-valley. After that, his gaze turned in the direction of the cliff.

“Go… the person over there will become a delicious supper for you.” The man thought of something. Then, he pointed his finger towards the entrance to the valley.

‘Whiz!’

The black snake followed his order, and whizzed past him. It dashed towards the entrance to the valley.

The black robed man’s face revealed a sneer.

This black snake was an ancient psychic beast. He had captured it in his homeland. It was raised according to an ancient barbarian method. It had an extremely sensitive sense of smell. Its astonishing strength couldn’t be underestimated either. It wasn’t as powerful as a Xian Tian level powerhouse. However, it could be placed on par with a Hou Tian warrior of the advanced stage.

These four people had dared to play tricks on him. How could he allow these human kids to slip away like this?

The black-robed man’s silhouette moved as this thought crossed his mind. Then, he started to chase after Bai Yu Xiu and the others at an incredibly fast speed.

*** ***

At the mountain valley entrance…

The tactical scenario made for a lopsided situation as more and more Totem warriors started to participate in the battle.

The disciples who had been feigning the attack had been compelled to withdraw. The barbarian soldiers had seized this chance to besiege the human disciples. As a result, the human warriors had been isolated from each other. Then, more and more casualties started to take place.

Ke held a long jasper wand in her hand as she stood in the dense woods outside the valley. Dozens of vine canes emerged from the ground as she mumbled something. Each of these canes had a torch clung onto it. They swayed and advanced towards the entrance to the valley.

However, Ke’s complexion looked pale. She had summoned several vine canes at the same time. So, it had consumed a significant amount of her magic power. A few beads of sweat shimmered on the tip of her nose.

Suddenly, a person’s shadow flashed from outside the woods, and landed near Ke. It was the same girl from the Tian Yin Sect who shared a good relationship with Ke.

“Hurry up! Let’s withdraw. Time’s almost up,” The girl had a cold and inscrutable expression on her face. She spoke in a sinking voice.

Ke’s expression changed. A trace of hesitation glinted in her eyes as she looked in the direction of the mountain valley.

She had seen an indistinct trace of a red light flicker in that direction. But, it had faded away after being visible for only a couple of seconds.

“The barbarian people are showing-up in large numbers. It will be too late to even regret if we don’t retreat right now…” the other girl urged.

Ke nodded as she heard this. Then, she waved her jasper wand.

Suddenly, the swaying and dancing vine canes got submerged into the ground. Then, they disappeared from sight.

Ke’s body staggered. Her complexion turned as pale as a paper.

The other girl’s eyebrows wrinkled as she saw this. She hastily walked-up to her, and supported her with her hand. Then, both the girls rushed towards the distant place.

Seven or eight human disciples were also fleeing in all directions behind them. They were in the vicinity of the entrance to the valley. Few of them were relatively slower. So, they couldn’t escape and were besieged by the barbarian and Totem Warriors. Then, they were killed by them.

Several Totem Warriors finally realized that the number of their enemies was just a dozen or more. The troops in the dense woods were nothing but a camouflage set-up by their enemy to deceive them. This realization filled them with rage; they started to blaze with anger. They roared and cursed as they chased after the remaining human disciples.

The ordinary barbarian soldiers in the valley also sensed this clever trick. So, they started to brandish their weapons in a crazy manner. They wanted to chase down every single one of the human warriors. But then, a middle-aged barbarian appeared before them; he looked like their leader. He shouted at the top of his voice to stop them, “The enemy has been vanquished. Leave the rest to our Totem Warriors. The remaining people should return to the mountain-valley and calculate our losses.”

The middle-aged man looked in the direction of the mountain-valley. Then, he rushed and led his remaining team towards it.

Suddenly, a young barbarian soldier with a short stature appeared in their line of sight. He was clad in an animal skin. He was coming from the direction in which the barbarian soldiers were heading. He flashed past the middle-aged man in an instant. He then cut through the crowd, and made his way outside the valley.

“You stop right there. Which team do you belong to? Didn’t you hear my orders?” The middle-aged barbarian leader’s complexion darkened. He shouted out with all his might.

The young barbarian acted as if he hadn’t heard anything. He didn’t even slow down. Instead, he continued to move away from the crowd.

“It doesn’t seem right. You’re certainly a human.” The middle aged man’s countenance changed. He shouted out again. His hand moved, and grabbed the long hilted-blade from his waist.

The young barbarian also waved his arm. Suddenly, a streak of black light fled from his hand, and got submerged into the throat of the middle-aged barbarian – like a bolt of lightning. Fresh blood started to gush out of his throat.

The middle-aged barbarian tried hard to pull-out his long blade. But, he fell to the ground before he could succeed.

The young barbarian quickened his pace once again. Then, he stepped out of the valley with a few quick movements. After that, his figure disappeared into the dense woods.

Suddenly, the surrounding barbarian soldiers regained their senses. A few young barbarian leaders shouted angrily to command the team. Then, dozens of soldiers dashed towards the dense woods to track down the youth. But, they didn’t find any sign of him on entering the woods. In fact, even the sound of his footsteps had faded away.

The team leaders were embarrassed. They stood motionless, and looked at each other in dismay.

Suddenly, some of the barbarians felt that something had flashed. Then, a long black shadow whizzed past them, and vanished into the woods.

The barbarians were stupefied. They gazed at the woods, but couldn’t see any shadow. There wasn’t even a single suspicious sound.

*** ***

The youth who had disguised himself as a barbarian, and had escaped out of the valley was none other than Shi Mu.

He was quite tall. Moreover, his skin was bronze in color. So, he resembled a common barbarian man after he wore an animal skin.

He continued to run extremely fast in the forest. He finally came to a halt after he had covered several kilometers.

He exhaled a long breath. Then, he turned around and looked in the direction of the valley. His heart was still gripped by a lingering fear. He had expected that he would bump into a Xian Tian level barbarian at this place.

He was well aware of the terrifying strength of a Xian Tian warrior. He knew that he couldn’t withstand such an inexplicable strength at his present level.

He continued to look in that direction for a while. He then turned his head, and decided that he shouldn’t linger there any longer.

He turned around. He was about to take a step when a gust of wind attacked him from his right side. A black shadow had darted out of the forest, and had aimed at his neck.

It was the black snake that the black-cloaked man had sent.

Shi Mu’s heart stopped beating for a second. He hurriedly moved aside, and evaded the attack at a lightning speed. He raised his arm at the same time, and shot a punch horizontally.

‘Bang!’ Shi Mu’s punch hit the lower jaw of the snake.

The snake was struck hard by this blow. Its body twisted, and crashed onto the ground. But then, it turned abruptly; as if it wanted to devour Shi Mu’s hand.

Shi Mu was left dumbfounded as he saw this.

Shi Mu had realized that the snake’s scales were extremely tenacious when he had punched it. Moreover, he had displayed the Stone-Breaking Fist that had reached its consummate stage. But still, it had failed to produce any effect on the snake.

Suddenly, an idea flashed across his mind like an electric current. He stomped on the ground. The blue light on his body sparked, and he flew three meters backwards – like a fallen leaf. As a result, he managed to evade the snake’s bite once again.

Fortunately, the Body-Lifting Charm was still effective. So, he was able to move as fast as the snake.

The huge snake’s fierce eyes glared with an ominous glint since it had missed its target twice. It issued a couple of hissing sounds to reveal its agitation. After that, it stopped its offensive attack temporarily.

Shi Mu’s complexion became dignified. ‘Shua!’ He pulled out the black blade from his back, and held it upright in front of him. Then, both of them stared coldly into each other’s eyes.

Shi Mu was fretful in his heart even though there was a composed expression on his face. He was frequently looking in the direction of the valley from the corner of his eye.

He thought that it was possible that the black-cloaked man could pursue the snake and arrive there at any moment.

Fortunately, his fear didn’t come true; he felt nothing unusual approaching from the direction of the valley. This snake seemed to be chasing him alone.

Shi Mu heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that the black-cloaked man had chosen the other way, and had gone after Bai Yu Xiu and the others. Luck seemed to be in Shi Mu’s favor this time.

The black snake became impatient while Shi Mu was lost in thoughts. Its coarse body – looking like a withered tree trunk – sprang-up from the ground. Then, it pounced on its target at an extremely fast speed – like an arrow.

The snake’s head trembled, and it produced a few shadows of its head. It did this so that Shi Mu couldn’t identify its real head.

However, Shi Mu remained motionless. Suddenly, a trace of golden light flashed in his eyes. Then, he issued a loud shout as his blade attacked one of the shadows of the snake’s head.

‘Ping!’ A dull thumping sound was heard as the snake was thrown upside down several feet away. It rolled on the ground for a while. However, it still managed to raise its head.

The scales on the snake’s neck had been shattered into pieces. A wound could also be seen on its neck; fresh blood gushed out from it.

The snake’s eyes revealed a hazy look. It shook its head to get hold of itself. It had apparently received a severe jolt in its head. So, it started to feel dizzy, and eventually lost its consciousness.

Shi Mu’s eyes revealed an unbelievable look. He was extremely sure of the sharpness of his blade. But, his all-out strike had only caused a concussion and a little damage to the snakes’ scales.

The snake’s body was indeed hard.

Shi Mu felt a little surprised. However, he didn’t stop. He seized this opportunity since the snake seemed to be a little delirious. And, he hurriedly dashed towards it.

Meanwhile, the charm characters carved on the surface of his black blade lit-up. Then, a layer of bright flame emerged on its surface. Suddenly, the blade flashed and shot out thirteen red blade-shadows towards the snake.

The snake had regained its consciousness by now. It tried to move aside. But, it didn’t get enough time to dodge the attack. It twisted its body in desperation, and moved backwards. Its huge tail swung in the air, and plummeted down heavily on the red blade-shadows.

‘Ping!’ Another dull thumping sound resounded.

The red blade shadows were routed and dispersed. But, the snake was also sent flying into the air. Then, it heavily bumped against a big tree several meters away.