Chapter Sixty-Five: The Local Behemoth Lacks Manners

Shoulder to shoulder, head to tail, the procession stretched for ten miles with no end in sight.

Luo Zu held his breath and withdrew to the side, his mouth agape along with the other “Cave Dwellers” who were keeping watch nearby.

Before them marched a truly massive migration of demonfolk—impossible to count precisely, but at a glance there must have been tens of thousands. Their auras were mixed and manifold, yet carefully submerged; the demonish energy roiled thickly but never dared to surge skyward. Ordinarily, with such a horde on the move, their presence should have been overwhelming, visible from a hundred miles away. Yet now, at a mere thirty or forty miles’ distance, there was nothing to see. They had hidden their auras and moved in silence, perhaps with many burrowing underground as well.

Luo Zu’s mind stalled for a moment, and he instinctively suppressed his own aura before he began to think.

Why would so many demonfolk be migrating at once?

Among them were wolves and tigers, leopards and jackals, oxen and sheep, horses and pigs, insects and plants alike—a bewildering variety. Each demonfolk was enormous; some reached a thousand yards in length, akin to small mountains, yet as they moved, the ground beneath Luo Zu’s feet barely trembled.

Within their ranks, many exuded presences even Luo Zu could not fathom—beings who had clearly surpassed the false immortality stage and reached true immortality.

They had undoubtedly noticed the “Cave Dwellers,” yet for reasons unknown, did not attack or attempt to capture them.

After watching for a while, Luo Zu understood: with the meager flesh of a mere thousand or two “Cave Dwellers,” there was not nearly enough to feed the demonfolk. It was as if a hunting party, passing through the forest, would not bother to catch a few insects.

And so it was with the “Cave Dwellers” in the eyes of these demonfolk.

Still, Luo Zu’s curiosity lingered—where were they going, and why?

But curiosity aside, Luo Zu would not risk investigating further. With his current abilities, any attempt to uncover the truth might well doom the entire tribe.

“How long have you been observing them?” Luo Zu transmitted his question to Ironhead Child, using his formidable spiritual strength.

Ironhead Child was not surprised; whenever Luo Zu joined them for a hunt, he would use this method to avoid startling the prey.

The transmission was bidirectional, so Ironhead Child could reply in his mind: “Chieftain, we found them about an hour ago.”

The time units were Luo Zu’s innovation; time was gauged by the sun’s position in the sky.

When wandering outdoors, the “Cave Dwellers” often watched the sun, both to determine direction and to keep track of time—a simple and effective method.

“An hour already?” Luo Zu mused silently.

He turned again toward the distant horizon—the direction of the demonfolk migration.

Eastward.

Luo Zu recalled the map Tang had given him: in that direction lay one shaman tribe and two demonfolk tribes.

As for the direction from which these demonfolk had come, there was one demonfolk tribe and one shaman tribe…

“Could it be Qiu Zhi and Re?” Luo Zu wondered, uncertainty flickering in his heart.

But as the thought passed, a sudden chill ran through him.

“We need to leave. Now.”

“Understood.”

No one objected. Quietly, the hunting party of eighteen withdrew from the hillside. Back in Luo Village, Luo Zu summoned all his people.

About an hour later, the “Cave Dweller” tribe began their own migration.

“Bring enough provisions—we’re heading to Tigerhead Village.” This was Luo Zu’s command to all.

His urgency came from a fear of yet another battle of immortals. The demonfolk migration was clearly reluctant; their auras suppressed as if fleeing from something.

Luo Zu guessed that they had been driven out by the Re Shaman tribe and might even be pursued by them.

He remembered how, not long ago, the Re Shaman tribe had been hunted in the same way.

He was surprised the demonfolk had managed to keep so many of their number together, unlike the Re Shamans, who had scattered like headless flies.

Perhaps the Re Shaman tribe had also escaped in organized groups, but Luo Zu simply hadn’t encountered them.

Now, faced with this vast migration, and recalling the clash of immortals he had witnessed a year ago, Luo Zu dared not delay. He led his tribe away, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the demonfolk, heading for Tigerhead Village.

Once there, he planned to take everyone on to Salt Spring Village—a hundred kilometers from the demonfolk’s migration route.

Of course, even that distance did not seem wholly safe to Luo Zu.

He was already preparing to move them still farther.

He would keep his people well away from this powder keg.

Meanwhile, he ordered Farseer to keep constant watch on the demonfolk’s movements—lest they suddenly change direction and the “Cave Dwellers” stumble right into them, as if celebrating some ill-fated reunion.

Just as the demonfolk dared not travel openly, Luo Zu forbade his people from marching at a run and stirring up dust clouds—the last thing he wanted was to reveal their position to the demonfolk horde.

What would normally take half an hour now took them two hours, moving at a sluggish pace.

During this time, the demonfolk migration truly did encounter trouble.

They blundered straight into the lair of a local giant beast—a creature so fierce and arrogant that it showed not a trace of fear. Over ten miles long, it collided head-on with the demonfolk.

The beast was savage, but the demonfolk did not yield. One among them stepped forward—seven feet tall, with claws like steel blades, feathers of many colors cloaking its body, the head of a bird, and but a single leg.

Luo Zu couldn’t identify its species, but its ferocity was undeniable. With a sweep of its claws, countless blades of energy flashed, and in just a few strikes, the giant beast was reduced to a torrent of blood and a sprawling skeleton.

Witnessing this, Luo Zu’s breath quickened.

He knew well how formidable that beast was; had he encountered it, he would have had no choice but to flee. Its massive size gathered spiritual energy in such abundance that Luo Zu’s arts would likely have been useless. Only brute strength could prevail—and though Luo Zu’s own body was strong, this beast’s power was overwhelming. With such mass, a single blow could unleash hundreds of thousands of tons of force, enough to make the very earth heave like the sea.

Yet even this beast could not bar the demonfolk’s path; it merely became their meal. Luo Zu felt his strategic retreat had been well justified.

An hour later, Luo Zu gathered the people of Tigerhead Village and led them onward to Salt Spring Village.

Dusk settled, and with nightfall, the primeval wilderness grew ever more terrifying.

As expected, the demonfolk soon collided with a horde of vengeful ghosts and walking corpses.