Chapter 280 - An Ox With A Goatee

When Ji Yao opened his eyes he was expecting to be met with Rui Fei's handsome face leaning closer to steal a kiss but instead he was met with the same eerie forest. This time he had changed positions.

Instead of being surrounded by nightmarish insect-like creatures crawling all over the place while trying to sniff him out he now stood on a cleared path that stretched a great distance. The chill feeling in his body amplified as he gazed further down the path brimming with an ominous air.

He wanted to go back where he came from but for some reason, he felt an insurmountable amount of pressure on his aether which meant he wasn't going anywhere. Whatever was running the show in this forest was preventing him from leaving.

When he turned to the forest on either side he was struck by a sudden bone-chilling aura stronger than when he was facing the clear path. From that alone, it was easy to tell which route he was supposed to take. There was only one way to go and that way was forward.

He tightened the grip on the hilt of his sword as his hand was clammy from the sweat in his palms. Overwhelmed by a great sense of dread he took a step forward. The sound of his heartbeat in his ears was outrageously heightened with each step he took.

As though gaining approval from the overlord of this place, there was barely any clash back when he took a step forward.

But if he so much as stepped in another direction other than going forward he would bear the full might of the creature lurking in the woods. After walking for quite a distance the path began to change drastically.

The already dying trees and moss gradually appeared rotten the more he walked. The smell of death lingered at the tip of his tongue. He almost choked from the smell. Holding up his arm to his nose he walked forward hoping things would get better but things only got worse.

The trees had mould and stringy disgusting fluid covering them. On the roots were nodes covered in the only flourishing moss on the ground. If this was any other time Ji Yao would have been trying to analyze this current anomaly and find out why this moss in this entire forest would be growing so well.

Well, it seemed he didn't have to investigate because two minutes later he tripped on one of those nodes cracking the surface for one to see what was inside. Ji Yao almost retched at the sight. The stomach churning smell of putrefaction stung his eyes.

Inside was a skull with bits of flesh left and fluids that were hard to explain. In case of sensitive readers let's just end the descriptors there. Ji Yao took a casual glance at these multiple nodes scattered everywhere and his heart sank. If only he knew that this was just a drop in the ocean.

Trying very hard to suppress the nauseous feeling he walked at a much faster pace but things only got worse from then on. The trees whose branches overgrew and provided shade to the clear path became thicker and thicker.

On their branches were strips of rotting flesh. It was like someone took the human flesh and hung it on the branches to make beef jerky but forgot to put salt resulting in this vomit-inducing scene. Ji Yao's disgust now surpassed his fear. He wanted nothing but to bash the skull of the creature for making him see this mess.

His feeling of disgust reached a new height when one of the flesh bits hanging on the branches had rotted to the point of breaking down tissue which resulted in a small chunk of it falling on Ji Yao's cheeks.

This neat freak who hadn't suffered such a grievance despite being in countless fights was beyond upset. It's funny how when his peeve kicked in fear was forced to pack its luggage and evacuate. Ji Yao angrily wiped away the blood with a handkerchief.

He scrubbed away the stain like he was afraid to catch some kind of ailment from the rotten flesh. After scrubbing the blood clean he finally took a step forward only for a rain of rotten flesh to fall along the entire path.

With a face full of black lines Ji Yao stood there gritting his teeth. His once spotless robe was now riddled with bloodstains and bits of flesh stuck on the fabric. Even though this was just in a keystone he was still mad as hell.

Shaking off the disgusting things on his body he held up his blade preparing to cut off these foul smelling branches. But unfortunately, this territory wasn't his and he was being suppressed at every turn. Just like a flashlight that suddenly switches off at the climax of a horror scene the flames on his sword simply vanished and everything descended into darkness.

You would think surely this young master would cower and leave everything to fate but he didn't. The disgusting trees decorated in rotting flesh like a sick twisted Christmas tree made him so pissed off that he didn't care that his aether was out of commission.

In large strides, he walked forward eager to meet the filthy creature at the end of the path. After a short distance, the path became narrower making it fairly difficult for him to avoid stepping on the human skull moss nodes.

He felt an intense shiver down his spine as he walked closer and finally reached the end of the path but his irritation overshadowed his fear. This wasn't actually the end of the forest but the centre of it based on the arrangement.

In the middle of the open circle surrounded by much greener trees than before was an ugly creature with bones of both human and animal scattered at its feet.

The creature was new to Ji Yao. For a person who had read countless books, this had to be from Niuq otherwise he would have easily identified it.

It resembled an ox with a skull for a face and on its head, it had four curled jagged horns with gold plated armour. Its fur was straw-like draped all over its body just like musk ox but unlike its doppelganger, it was nothing pleasant to look at.

Its nose was flared in either direction and its eyes glowed a deep red colour with its long slithering tongue licking the blood off its face. Its teeth were nothing like that of a herbivore but a carnivore meant to tear flesh off prey.

On its chin was a long curly goatee like it seem confused as to whether it wanted to be a billy goat or bull.. On its forehead, it had a strange symbol that Ji Yao had a hard time making out.