The Demon Venerable Is Delicate and Charming (GL) Chapter 42

“Why ask that?” Li Lingjiang lowered her eyelids and did not answer right away.
Yin Wu lifted her shoulder. “I suddenly thought of it, so I asked.”
Tang Wusuo’s luck should also have been included. Omens were often closer to the caster’s own fate, so this question was not strange.
“Then are you afraid? If Tang Wusuo’s words become true, what will you do?” Li Lingjiang was silent for a few seconds before speaking, changing the subject.
Yin Wu laughed softly and gave a thoughtful hum. She jogged to Li Lingjiang’s side. “I respect them. Life and death are fated. It is not good for us to interfere too much.”
Li Lingjiang was reminding her not to create more trouble. It was very easy for them to change one person’s luck, but if they interfered too much, they would be restrained by heavenly law. Life and death had their own fate. They could not forcibly drag someone back from death’s gate. This was not a matter involving the survival of the different clans, so they did not need to meddle.
“Let us go.” Li Lingjiang said no more and continued walking in.
People behind them entered one after another. The messy footsteps instantly filled the small forest.
The road did not look hard to walk, and the calm at first gradually made people relax.
This time, Li Lingjiang walked at the front. The few of them seemed to chat casually, but in truth, they were paying attention to every tiny movement inside.
As soon as they entered, they could feel the air moving much faster. The light also dimmed. Most tree trunks were not thick, but the branches tangled densely overhead. Sometimes they were so low that people had to bend to pass. Li Lingjiang braced a hand against one tree and looked steadily at the not-so-distant front.
She asked, “How long have we been walking?”
Yin Wu also stopped. “A quarter of an hour.”
Everyone stopped. Those who finally realized something was wrong fell silent. They gathered closer together, trying not to be alone.
Wen Si stepped forward. He found a stone from somewhere, weighed it twice in his hand, then immediately threw it hard into the distance. The veins in his neck stood out. He stared forward with expectation.
The stone moved very fast and was thrown high. By all logic, it should have left the forest. But now it kept sinking into endless land, never flying out. About four seconds later, the stone fell to the ground. Without a sound, it quietly merged into the soil.
Wen Si stood straight in shock. He looked toward Ling Xin and the others, his voice light. “Have we fallen into a trap?”
Ling Xin leaned against a tree trunk with his arms crossed. He gave a short, narrow laugh. “Very obvious.”
He clicked his tongue. “Yet we did not notice at first.”
They had sensed something wrong halfway through. This kind of natural illusion had actually prevented so many people from reacting quickly. Every step had been an exploration into the unknown.
Yin Wu stayed beside Li Lingjiang and had not spoken. Her impression of this place had already changed greatly. Too many years had changed this place beyond recognition. Her memory still remained at the beginning, when it could only evolve into an ordinary forest. Now it had evolved to this state.
She kept one hand behind her back and formed a spell seal with one hand. Her movements were very careful, and her eyes stayed fixed on Li Lingjiang. Only when she saw Li Lingjiang twist her head in discomfort did she gently gather the seal in her palm. She walked over and placed her hand on Li Lingjiang’s shoulder.
“My Lord, what is wrong?”
Li Lingjiang withdrew the hand covering her lower abdomen. “Nothing. I suddenly felt a sinking pain in my abdomen. It is much better now.”
The spell seal in Yin Wu’s palm quickly melted into Li Lingjiang’s body and vanished. The young immortal suddenly grew tense. She leaned to Li Lingjiang’s ear and whispered, “My Lord, listen.”
Li Lingjiang’s beast ears stood up. Feng Luan’s ears also lifted. They did not move, but they all tilted their heads together.
The movement hidden underground paused. Then came the cracking sound of something breaking through soil. Clear marks slid across the ground. Without fallen branches or leaves to block them, the things moved without obstruction, crawling forward like snakes. Their dry surfaces gradually became smooth and wet. Sticky liquid gathered dust and mud, making them even harder to see.
Those on the outer ring felt as if something was beneath their feet. The fine itch made them move their ankles. Only when the touch grew stronger did they realize they should check. They lowered their heads and saw countless vines as thin as threads trying to wrap around their ankles.
There were so many that their scalps went numb. With a startled cry, they instinctively stepped on them. The fragile vines cracked. Where no one could see, these vines gradually began tangling together.
“What are these things? So disgusting!”
“Damn it. I will kill it. It almost climbed onto me.”
“When did these things appear?”
“Senior Brother Wen, hurry and leave!”
“Yes, Senior Brother Wen, what do we do now?”
“…”
The vines gathered more and more densely, making people feel nauseated just looking at them. The people who had never seen such thin plants erupted into panic again. They kept retreating toward Li Lingjiang and the others. The outermost people hacked with swords, but once cut, the vines became puddles of green liquid. The scene turned chaotic at once.
Wen Si immediately went to investigate. His face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, “We cannot get out. We are trapped.”
His words were like thunder on flat ground, sending ripples through stagnant water. Someone stammered in panic, “Then what do we do? Will we…”
“If you work hard to live, you will not die.” Yin Wu had walked over at some unknown time.
She cut off those words. From her storage pouch, she took out a spark stone. With one hand, she struck it and threw it in. Sparks rose instantly. The burnt smell and crackling sounds covered all other noise. Fire spread from the center of the vines. They writhed madly and kept retreating. The flames formed a circle.
The vines shrank back very quickly. In only a few seconds, they faded from sight. Just when everyone thought the matter was over, the fire circle burned in the distance. It spread extremely fast, flames burning along the boundary. Like following a fixed track, it surrounded them all.
Many people were confused and looked toward Yin Wu. But she only looked back at Li Lingjiang with wide, helpless eyes, as if she too did not know what to do.
Li Lingjiang walked over and patted Yin Wu’s shoulder. She had just been about to withdraw her hand when the young immortal caught her robe corner. Li Lingjiang did not struggle and let Yin Wu handle it.
Her beast ears had been upright the whole time. Now they bent downward. In the next instant, the flames rose like a curtain. In their sight, the barren forest vanished. Replacing it was a dense, layered forest. The trees were still withered, but they were far more oppressive than before.
And before their eyes were several enormous, thick demon vines that had been waiting for them all along.