On Mo Mian’s cue, the party that had been escaping as one suddenly split up, each member leaping to a separate tree while leaving their leader to face the monkey demon alone.
As the remaining four of them leapt onto separate trees, each of them ended up standing directly in front of an array flag that had been planted there beforehand.
There was zero hesitation in their movements.
Channelling essence energy into their palms, the party members simultaneously pressed down on the array flag in front of them.
Weng-!
A faint buzzing sound could be heard as each of the array flags started to give off a faint glow.
This did not only apply to the four flags in their hands.
Hidden all over the forest, array flags that the party had planted the night before started to give off a similar faint glow as well, as though they were all connected through a profound network.
It was rather unfortunate that the dense vegetation in the forest prevented the array flags from truly showing.
Otherwise, it would have created quite a beautiful scene, as though countless stars had suddenly descended upon the area in a dazzling fashion.
Of course, that was not the actual purpose of the array flags.
In fact, the party had deliberately planted the flags in this manner so that they would be hidden from view and not draw too much attention.
The four members of the party did not linger in front of their respective array flags.
After activating the array flags, they immediately leapt back down to regroup with Mo Mian.
The entire process was executed smoothly and swiftly, taking at most one to two breaths in total.
Just like that, the party quickly came back together as one, as though the party members had never left since the very start.
Still, it remained a fact that they did, and the result of doing so quickly showed itself.
Squeal-! Squeal-! Squeal-!
Behind the monkey demon that was angrily pursuing the party, desperate cries could be heard all of a sudden as numerous traps sprang into action.
Wooden pikes that had been crafted out of trees shot out from the ground, impaling several monkeys that had joined the chase. Blood spurted out like a fountain as the monkeys had their bodies pierced through directly. Some of these wooden pikes even skewered multiple monkeys at the same time!
Arrows were fired from within the trees, taking down another group of unsuspecting monkeys. While it was not enough to kill them instantly, the injured monkeys had to stop where they were to nurse their wounds, no longer capable of giving chase.
Dark purple smoke was released from within a small gap in a tree, blinding some monkeys that had wandered too close. Losing their vision also caused them to lose their footing, falling to the ground as they were attempting to swing from tree to tree.
Reinforced nets descended from the canopy overhead, capturing several monkeys at once. These nets were weighed down on all ends, making it impossible for the monkeys to lift them in spite of their abnormal strength.
Group by group, the monkeys that had joined in on the pursuit were incapacitated as they were caught by these traps.
Zhao Yunxiao and the Mystic Cavalry had spent just about the whole of last night preparing for this, and they were finally reaping the fruits of their labour.
This was the main reason why they had chosen not to attack the monkeys’ nest at night when they had the vision advantage – the plan required them to be up and about.
Only then could the monkeys be lured into actively pursuing the party along this premediated path of traps, allowing these traps to display their full effectiveness!
As for their main target – the monkey demon – these traps would hardly have any effect on it in the first place, so the party did not intend to waste their resources on it.
Instead, they aimed to get rid of the numerous monkey monsters, removing them from the equation so that they would not be complicating matters when the party focused on the monkey demon.
The more monkey monsters they could take down this way, the better it would be!
Hearing the desperate cries coming from behind it, the monkey demon finally noticed that something was amiss.
Turning around to see that the other monkeys were in shambles, the monkey demon immediately halted its pursuit of the cultivators.
Snarl-!
The monkey demon roared towards the other monkeys in an attempt to warn them of danger, and the other monkeys instantly stopped their pursuit as well.
To the other monkeys, the monkey demon’s instructions were absolute.
Instead of continuing with the pursuit, the other monkeys quickly turned around and started retreating in the direction of their nest.
“As if we’ll let you escape!” Pu Feixiang yelled as he leapt past the monkey demon to give chase to the other monkeys.
Zhao Yunxiao and Gui Longcan followed his lead, completely ignoring the monkey demon as they headed straight for the retreating monkeys.
Just like that, the hunter and the hunted had reversed their roles!
Snarl-!
The enraged monkey demon roared and was just about to leap at the trio when Mo Mian appeared in front of him.
“Your opponent is me!” Mo Mian declared as he slashed out without hesitation.
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A powerful gust of wind gathered behind him once more, propelling the speed of his sword slash to its very limits.
Surprised by the sheer speed of the slash, the monkey did not have time to defend itself before the sword connected.
Unfortunately, the thick hair on the monkey demon proved to be too strong of a defence once again, and Mo Mian’s sword slash only managed to cause a small wound.
Nevertheless, that was more than enough to completely draw in the monkey demon’s attention.
Snarl-!
The monkey demon no longer bothered with the trio who were leaving. Instead, it leapt at Mo Mian with rage showing in its eyes.
Mo Mian had expected as much, and quickly dodged out of the way.
This quickly turned into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
As the monkey demon kept trying to hit the elusive Mo Mian, the latter had to keep evading its attacks while also staying close enough so that the monkey demon would not lose interest in him.
Mo Mian had already experienced the monkey demon’s strength earlier.
He knew that if he so much as slipped up once and received a direct hit from the monkey demon as a result, things would turn out very ugly for him!
Chu Han understood this as well, which was why he had remained behind to support their party leader.
Seeing that the situation was under control, Zhao Yunxiao and the other two outer disciples let out a sigh of relief and proceeded to chase after the other monkeys.
They completely ignored those that had been incapacitated by their traps, passing them right by to reach those that were trying to escape.
Gui Longcan waved his hand, and two yellow rays of light shot towards Zhao Yunxiao and Pu Feixiang.
As the ray of light dissipated after hitting him, Zhao Yunxiao immediately felt that everything he was holding seemed to have become lighter.
A boost to physical strength?
Perfect!
Zhao Yunxiao smiled in satisfaction before throwing out another two daggers, aimed at two of the escaping monkeys.
The two daggers cut through the air and reached their targets in the blink of an eye.
Pierce-! Pierce-!
The escaping monkey never saw the daggers coming from behind. They were caught completely off guard as the daggers buried themselves in the back of their heads.
“Haha! Good aim!” Pu Feixiang laughed boisterously as he arrived before the closest group of escaping monkeys.
Perhaps having realised that they would not be getting away, the group of monkeys simultaneously turned around and bared their fangs in menace.
The monkeys’ muscles bulged, and they swiped out with their claws without hesitation.
That confirmed their suspicions.
Just like the two monkeys that the party had met before discovering the nest, this group of monkeys had all mutated into monkey monsters as well!
Yet Pu Feixiang was not intimidated in spite of this.
He swung his spear straight at the group of monkey monsters, wanting to take them all down with a single grand sweeping attack.
Bang-!
The heavy spear slammed into the side of the nearest monkey but did not stop, continuing on its trajectory as it swept through the group of monkey monsters.
One...
Two...
Three...
Four...
In a single arc, Pu Feixiang’s spear swept through five monkey monsters, sending them flying in various directions!
However, there were more than five monkey monsters in the group.
The two remaining monkeys leapt at Pu Feixiang, unafraid of the earlier display of strength by the latter.
It seemed to be the right move on their part as well, considering the fact that Pu Feixiang had just ended his attack and would struggle to pull his spear back in time.
However, Pu Feixiang was not worried.
In fact, he did not even bother putting up a defence, understanding that there was no need for him to act.
Pierce-! Pierce-!
From behind him, two daggers flew through the air and struck the two monkey monsters right in the forehead.
Squeal-! Squeal-!
The two monkey monsters cried out in pain and fell back to the ground, squirming around for a few moments before finally falling motionless.
It was not planned, but their carcasses somehow ended up falling right beside the other two monkey monsters that had been taken out from behind by Zhao Yunxiao earlier.
“Nicely done!” Pu Feixiang praised before chasing after the five monkey monsters that had been sent flying by his spear.
Had they been normal monkeys, the heavy impact from the spear would have killed them instantly.
However, these monkey monsters were much tougher. They would only be injured and not die from just that, so there was still a need to deliver the final blow.
“Don’t get too excited!” Gui Longcan chided as he hurriedly chased after Pu Feixiang.
Zhao Yunxiao was right behind Gui Longcan as well.
But at this moment, he suddenly felt his spatial pouch tremble.
Hmm?
He had never seen the spatial pouch act this way ever since he obtained it back at the Origin Lake Sect.
Did that crazy serpent Cha scam him with an inferior quality item after all?
It almost felt like the spatial pouch was losing control over the space within and was about to explode.
If that were to happen, he would be considered lucky if his stored items did not end up getting destroyed along with the collapsed space!
Zhao Yunxiao sent a wisp of essence energy into the spatial pouch, and was shocked to see what was going on inside.
Everything was as usual, except for one thing.
The Heaven’s Descent Bowl that he had also gotten from Cha was going on a crazy rampage all of a sudden, flying around and repeatedly slamming itself against the borders of the space without restraint!
What the hell was going on?!
He never knew that this pretty looking ceramic bowl could move on its own, not to mention go on a fierce rampage like this!
And even if it could, it had never done so up until now.
So, just what on earth could be making it do so all of a sudden?!
The Heaven’s Descent Bowl looked ever so harmless, but the damage that it was causing right now was immense.
If it were to continue ramming the borders of the separate space like that, it would only be a matter of time before the separate space fell apart!
“Damn it!” Zhao Yunxiao cursed under his breath.
Zhao Yunxiao had planned to take his time studying this item and did not want to expose it in front of others as much as possible, but he had no other choice now.
With a flick of his wrist, he secretly retrieved the Heaven’s Descent Bowl from his spatial pouch while trying to angle his body such that the other members of the party would not see it.
At the same time, he held onto it as tightly as he could, afraid that it would continue its rampage after leaving the separate space.
Thankfully, that was not the case.
The moment the Heaven’s Descent Bowl left his spatial pouch, it immediately ceased all movements, looking no different from an ordinary ceramic bowl, just like in the past.
Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow in confusion.
What on earth was happening with this stupid bowl?
But just as he was wondering what he should do next, Zhao Yunxiao suddenly sensed something strange.
He immediately investigated with his spiritual sense, and was just in time to spot a trace of invisible matter flowing out from the four monkey monsters’ carcasses and into the Heaven’s Descent Bowl.
This trace of invisible matter entered the mouth of the bowl and instantly disappeared without a trace, as though it had never existed in the first place.