Land Sword Immortal: Eighty Years as the Guardian of the Sword Pavilion

Chapter 85 – The eerie place, three wooden houses

What the hell?!

Wang Jiuyuan's face was a picture of disgust, a nauseating feeling churning inside him.

He was still reeling from the shock.

He had actually felt a fondness for such a beast; it was truly... a complete mess!

It took him a while to regain his composure.

By the time he had calmed down, Meng Fan had already absorbed and refined the Spiritual Essence of the fox demon.

"How did you know that the woman in white was transformed from a fox demon?" Wang Jiuyuan asked Meng Fan, his curiosity piqued.

Everyone had come here together, so why could everyone else see it but not him?

This made him look like a weakling!

Although he did feel somewhat weak here, surely he was a bit stronger than Liu Yanping, right?

"We've encountered fox demons before and know they like to charm others by transforming into humans," Meng Fan casually explained.

"Even so, how could you be so sure that she was a fox demon? And you didn't even test her, just went straight to chopping her in half. What if you had attacked the wrong person?" Wang Jiuyuan still couldn't understand.

Liu Yanping took the initiative to explain, "In this forest, aside from the disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, there are no other humans. Anyone not dressed in the attire of our sect's disciples is definitely not human!"

Wang Jiuyuan thought about it and realized that was indeed the case.

But even so, if it were him, he definitely wouldn't have been so decisive in attacking someone.

After all, attacking a person is not the same as attacking a demon; there's always hesitation.

There was nothing more to say; indecisiveness was a matter of character.

In contrast, Meng Fan and Li Xuerou were indeed more decisive.

As for Liu Yanping, she didn't need to be decisive; she just did whatever she was told.

***

The four continued deeper into the forest.

Before they knew it, more than an hour had passed.

During this time, they had slain over thirty demons.

This included two minotaurs, one three-tailed fox demon, three two-tailed fox demons, and the rest were ordinary bull and fox demons!

It's worth mentioning that whether it was a one-tailed, two-tailed, or three-tailed fox demon, dealing with them was much the same.

In the Demon Realm, these fox demons were greatly suppressed. Once you saw through their charm, they were much easier to kill.

What choice does a mage have when a warrior gets close, especially when the mage is weakened?

None!

"As we get closer to the center of the forest, it's very likely we'll encounter small tribes of demons gathering. We should still be cautious," Meng Fan advised the group.

At this point, the plan set by He Fangyuan started to show its flaws.

The initial idea of surrounding and ambushing from the outside of the forest, defeating them one by one, was sound.

But as they approached the deeper parts of the forest, they should have moved as a group.

This was overlooked by He Fangyuan.

The forest was vast, and everyone had already scattered in all directions. Now, regrouping was extremely difficult.

Unless everyone reached the very center of the forest, which would naturally bring them together.

But that would mean they had already cut through the demon tribes in the forest, eliminating the need to regroup.

However, it was inevitable that He Fangyuan's plan had loopholes.

No one had executed such a "grand" mission before, and coming up with a plan on the fly was already commendable; who could expect it to be flawless?

Fortunately, the battles along the way proved that the demons in the forest weren't very strong, and the Shu Mountain disciples should be able to handle them without much trouble.

"What should we do now? Should we just charge in, or wait here to see if we can regroup with other disciples?" Li Xuerou furrowed her brows, hesitating.

She hadn't had her fill of battle yet, but she could control herself and wouldn't act recklessly.

"I stopped not to ask for your opinions, but to give you a choice.

I've decided to move forward, but if you follow me, there might be danger, and I can't guarantee your safety!

So you choose whether to continue with me or stay here and wait for other disciples from Shu Mountain.

Staying here is certainly safer than moving forward with me!"

Meng Fan looked at the three of them, speaking earnestly.

In fact, he was mainly addressing Wang Jiuyuan, as he knew Liu Yanping and Li Xuerou would definitely follow him.

But Wang Jiuyuan was different; he followed Meng Fan for a sense of security.

So Meng Fan needed to make things clear to Wang Jiuyuan, letting him make his own choice.

"Why are you all looking at me? It's making me uncomfortable!"

Seeing all three pairs of eyes on him, Wang Jiuyuan forced a wry smile and said, "Since you all think I should stay, then I'll stay."

The guy had found a smooth excuse for himself to stay behind.

Meng Fan nodded, "It's good for you to stay and gather more disciples from Shu Mountain. The more you gather, the better, then you can move deeper into the forest."

Wang Jiuyuan's choice was wise, considering his safety was not an issue.

Meng Fan actually thought Wang Jiuyuan's decision was quite good.

If the guy had followed him into the deepest parts of the forest and encountered danger, Meng Fan would definitely save Li Xuerou and Liu Yanping first.

So Meng Fan certainly didn't mind Wang Jiuyuan choosing to stay behind; in fact, he felt relieved to shed a burden.

***

The three continued towards the deepest part of the forest, and soon they would be near the center.

"Meng Fan, brother, look ahead, there's a 'village'," Li Xuerou said excitedly after walking for a while.

Meng Fan had seen it too without her mentioning it.

Calling it a village was a bit of an exaggeration, as it was really too small.

A wooden fence enclosed an area where the trees had been cleared, creating a spacious clearing.

Then there were three wooden huts side by side, with minotaurs guarding the doors!

Three minotaurs.

Not ordinary bull demons, but the more advanced minotaurs!

In addition, there were four or five minotaurs moving around outside the houses.

Counting them, there were eight minotaurs and not a single ordinary bull demon.

"So many minotaurs!" Li Xuerou's eyes lit up, filled with fighting spirit.

"What's there to be excited about? Can you handle so many? Are you going to fight ten at once?" Meng Fan patted Li Xuerou's head with his hand.

As for Liu Yanping, she swallowed hard, feeling the pressure.

She struggled to deal with one minotaur, and now seeing so many at once, frankly, she was a bit panicked.

Meng Fan whispered, "There are minotaurs guarding the entrance to these three huts; there might be even stronger beings inside. Don't take them lightly!"、