Chapter 384: 382. Being alive is more important than anything else
Along with the sound of a cry, sound waves spread like ripples, dispersing the clouds in the sky.
The clouds cleared away, revealing the Wing Race Demon King that made the cry, perched on the head of the Giant Demon that carried the Qionglou. It blocked the dazzling sunlight like a dark cloud.
It was a black bird.
Like an eagle.
Like a crow.
In short, it resembled everything yet nothing in particular.
It flapped its wings slowly as it descended, with a clear target: the Giant Demon carrying the Qionglou.
"Sect Leader, look at that." Lin Kewu’s eyes flickered with astonishment as he stood on the deck, one hand gripping the ship’s side, the other raising involuntarily to point at the Wing Race Demon King.
"So big."
"It’s almost a hundred zhang, isn’t it?"
Yang Xi and the others stood on the deck, unable to help but marvel.
Both had seen Great Demons of the Divine Profound Realm before, their massive bodies like clouds drifting in from the horizon. But seeing this Wing Race Giant Demon felt like standing at the foot of a mountain.
"Sect Leader, are we sure we’re going straight through?" Lin Kewu wasn’t worried about Warm Ping’s decision being wrong, because the Sect Leader never made muddleheaded decisions, "Sect Leader, you wouldn’t want to help..."
Halfway through his words, seeing Warm Ping not paying attention to him, Lin Kewu had to awkwardly stop talking and quietly observed on his own.
Warm Ping had of course long seen the Mountain Guardian Demon King concealed in the clouds, and was still a bit surprised when it revealed itself. After all, this was his first time seeing a Mountain Suppression Realm Demon King with his own eyes.
For such a level of Demon King, living for at least 300 years, if it targeted some prey, it would be impossible for the prey to escape based on its three hundred years of hunting experience.
"Kun Duo, run!" Obviously, when the Mountain Suppression Realm Giant Demon emerged, Cang Lan lost his previous boldness. He immediately urged the Giant Demon carrying the Qionglou to flee quickly, ignoring everything else.
The Giant Demon flapped its wings violently a few times, swatting away dozens of encroaching Winged Demons, then suddenly tucked its wings and fell like an arrow loosened from a bow, disregarding the safety of the people inside the Qionglou.
"Help!"
"Someone save me."
Inside the Qionglou, cries for help echoed continuously.
But neither Cang Lan nor this Giant Demon named Kun Duo paid any mind to them, compared to what might happen inside the Qionglou, whether they bumped into something or were crushed by some heavy object... these were all unimportant.
"Why is the Demon King out hunting?" Cang Lan’s face looked grim while clutching the Giant Demon’s feathers to dive down. He couldn’t be sure if he could safely leave with these young men and women, all he wished for now was for some of them to survive.
If not all were dead, that was the greatest fortune.
He would have an explanation for the Hundred Sects Alliance, for those Four-star Sects.
"Run?"
Suddenly, the Mountain Guardian Demon King above spoke in human tongue, with a tone that even carried a hint of disdain.
The speed of the Giant Demon carrying the Qionglou plunging down was fast, but after speaking, the pursuing Wing Race Demon King was even faster. If one was an arrow falling, the other was a meteor.
Whoosh—
In just a moment, it was already by their side.
In an instant, three black lights suddenly sliced through the sky, like three sword auras descending, piercing through the Giant Demon’s back that carried the Qionglou, emerging from its abdomen, forcibly halting the plunging body.
"Kun Duo!"
Cang Lan shouted as his Giant Demon companion fell silent.
He expected to escape.
But he hadn’t anticipated not even having the chance to flee.
The massive demon body, along with his shout, broke into two pieces, one carrying the Qionglou to the lake surface, and the other carrying Cang Lan toward an island on the lake.
Falling from a thousand zhang height, he would die even as Half-Step Mountain Suppression.
As for those cultivators at Body Refinement and Profound Realm inside the Qionglou, their chances of surviving were nearly zero. However, the next moment the Mountain Guardian Demon King suddenly swooped down, clutching the segment with the Qionglou.
After grabbing one segment, the Mountain Guardian Demon King didn’t pursue Kun Duo’s upper body but instead sent a swarm of Wing Race Great Demons to swarm over, sharing the demon body among clan members.
Cang Lan, face ashen as he clutched the feathers without letting go, couldn’t spare a hand to fight back, only watching the ground drawing ever closer—death was already pressing against his back at this moment.
He chose to close his eyes.
To embrace death.
It was at that moment of closing eyes that an absurd notion flashed by—if someone could save him, he would consent to anything for the rest of his life—to live is more important than anything.
"Sect Leader, save him?" The flying ship was chasing the falling demon body, Lin Kewu already reaching out his hand. With just a grab during the fall, he could pull Cang Lan onto the flying ship.
"Pull him up." Warm Ping nodded, then looked towards the section of demon body being dragged into the clouds by the Mountain Guardian Demon King.
The lives of those inside the Qionglou were uncertain, nine out of ten would not survive, saving Cang Lan would be good enough. Cang Lan, being convenient, might still be saved.
Suddenly, an angry curse resonated in the clouds.
Cang Lan opened his eyes unwillingly.
"I’ll kill you all."
An expression of anger with a dying breath to drag others down appeared on Cang Lan’s aged face, his two Meridian Gates trembled simultaneously, instantly manifesting hundreds of water arrows in the air.
In the next moment, these water arrows shot densely towards the pursuing Wing Race Great Demons above.
Three or four arrows could kill one Winged Great Demon.
A thousand arrows covered them, instantly causing flocks of Wing Race Great Demons to fall one after another.
"Grab me!" Suddenly, a voice came to Cang Lan’s ear.
He thought he misheard, choosing to ignore.
But when he saw a hand suddenly emerging out of nowhere reaching towards him, Cang Lan’s expression underwent a drastic change—like he’d grab a vine on a cliff, he reached for the hand that was just a segment in sight.
When their hands grasped, Cang Lan was yanked with force by Lin Kewu into the flying ship.
Bang!
Upon entering, Cang Lan smashed against the ship’s side, grasping it firmly to stand up.
"Sect Leader Wen!"
Upon seeing Warm Ping’s face, Cang Lan’s expression turned instantly both surprised and joyous.
Joyous that he was safe.
Surprised that it was the Immortal Sect’s Sect Leader Warm Ping who saved him.
Warm Ping smiled slightly and greeted by raising his head, "City Lord Cang Lan, long time no see."
"Thank you Sect Leader Wen for your life-saving grace." With that, Cang Lan immediately looked outward at the dense flocks of Wing Race Great Demons searching for his trace.
But he was already thousands of meters away from them.
This allowed his once suspended heart to land smoothly, letting out a sigh of relief.
"A hair’s breadth from death."
Bang!
Cang Lan, ignoring the Mountain Suppression dignity, sat like a commoner on the deck.
Thereafter, his gaze swept over Lin Kewu and the others, having seen Lin Kewu before, while Yang Xi and the others were strangers. Despite having no spirits to rise, he greeted the trio.