Chapter Eighteen: The Fierce Beast

  "What to do......" Huo Zhe's tone of asking what to do had become hollow this time. The things they encountered before were fierce, but they still had room to escape. But this time...

  No matter how fast they ran, they couldn't keep up with the beast's strides. They were beneath its feet, like ants.

  "Rooooaaaar!" The giant beast continued to bellow, each roar a storm that could bury everything. It slowly moved forward, every step causing the earth to shake!

  Nalan Xixi's mind suddenly went blank, not because she was afraid, but rather, in her mind, it seemed like something that had been sealed for a long time was about to burst out, and she began to gradually lose control of this body.

  Suddenly! Dugu Han leapt up, rushing towards the giant beast, and Nangong Jin let go of Nalan Xian's hand without hesitation, following closely behind. At this moment, it was no longer a disaster, but a competition.

  Whoever gets it first or... whoever kills it first will be the decisive factor in winning this competition.

  Nalan Xixi unconsciously chased after him, and just as He Xian and the others were about to follow, Nalan Xixi turned her head back. Her face was deathly pale, and she angrily shouted: "Don't follow!"

  He Xian was shocked and stared at Nalan Xixi, stopping in his tracks. In the blink of an eye, Nalan Xixi had vanished.

  Nalan Xixiao quickly caught up with Nangong Jin in front of her, she grabbed his hand, Nangong Jin's body paused, turned around, looked at Nalan Xixiao, and Nalan Xixiao stared at the turning Nangong Jin, stunned...

  He is no longer Nan Gong Jin... At this moment, his cold eyes are a dark red color like blood, and his face is deathly pale, as if he were a puppet being controlled.

  Feeling Nalan Xinnuo's warmth, Nan Gongyin gritted his teeth and struggled with great effort. Suddenly, his face returned to normal. "Xinnuo, quickly... knock me out! That beast has a demonic spell! I can't..."

  He clenched his fists in agony halfway through, unable to control his own sanity...

  Nalan Xixi's palm struck the back of his neck, and Nangong Jin quickly fainted. She anxiously looked ahead, and Dugu Han was still there! He must have also been bewitched by this giant beast's magic!

  He was anxious, behind him, He Xian suddenly pulled Nan Gong Zhen up and carried her on his back. "Princess, let's go!"

  Ahhhhh...

  Suddenly! The giant beast let out another loud roar! The wind and clouds rose, sand and rocks flew everywhere!

  Nalan Xixi suddenly couldn't breathe! A wave of heat surged up from her heart to her throat, and a wave of hot blood spurted out! He Jian saw the situation and exclaimed in shock: "Princess!"

  Nalan Xixi signaled that everything was fine. "Let's go quickly!"

  "But princess you..."

  "Go!" Nalan Xixi's mouth corner was a bright red, this was an order.

  "Boom!" At this moment, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. A loud clap of thunder made Nalan Xiong retreat half a step back.

  Suddenly, the dusty memories burst out of their cage like a flood beast and surged forward. Soul Beast!

  This is the Soul Beast! Those legends are true... those memories are also true... Twenty years ago, two ancient thousand-year-old spirit beasts and two ancient evil soul beasts engaged in a great war.

  In that great war, one of the Soul Beasts was killed in battle, while the other managed to escape by a hair's breadth.

  The body of the Soul Beast is dark and gloomy, with a purple aura surrounding it, giving people an illusion that makes them mistake it for the Ancient Spirit Beast. The most terrifying thing about the Soul Beast is that it can amplify the seven emotions and six desires of humans who are ambitious and greedy to an infinite degree, causing them to lose their minds!

  Nangong Jin was originally greedy; if he weren't greedy, how would he have obtained this world?!

  Dugu Xian... He has always wanted to conquer the world, and this time he came, was precisely to find that spiritual beast. Now that he's encountered it, how could he not be tempted?

  The Bloodthirsty Beast is more intelligent than the Spiritual Beast, as it can think independently! It won't listen to human commands, but it will create illusions, luring humans to bring it to more people, and then... poison all living things!

  "Nuo'er... stop him, Nuo'er!" A familiar voice echoed in her mind, this was Nalan Xixi's mother, and these were the last words she left when she parted with her that year.

  She is not Nalan Xixi, she doesn't know who she really is, nor does she know how many more secrets she has, most importantly, she doesn't care about the fate of the world! However, a stronger sense of mission is secretly surging...

  She began to lose control of her body, her legs started moving forward, heading in the direction that Dugu Han was rushing towards...

  Could it be... that she too has been bewitched?! She struggled to calm herself down, turned her head around and looked at He Xian and Nan Gong Jin who had already disappeared from sight, while her body was rushing forward non-stop!

  The closer she got to the Soul Beast, the more restless the power within her body became, and her blood was like boiling water, churning and leaping in her veins!

  But in an instant, she had already caught up with Dugu Han who was about to approach the Soul-Beast. She leaped forward and blocked Dugu Han's path, and what was astonishing was that Dugu Han was not being charmed by the Soul-Beast!

  His mind was extremely clear at this moment, and his face was as calm as ever. Seeing Nalan Xianyu, he didn't continue forward either, he looked at Nalan Xianyu, without a ripple in his eyes.

  "That's not a spirit beast, don't get close to it."

  Having accepted Nalan Xixi's body, and being brought before him by some freak of fate, she should have stopped all this. At this moment, there were only three words in her mind: Stop him.

  "Oh?" Dugu Han didn't rush either. The spirit beast was already in front of him, and for the time being, it couldn't escape. Moreover, he wanted to see what kind of trick this woman had up her sleeve.

  Want to stop him from getting the spiritual beast? Ha, and it shouldn't be for such a childish reason either?

  "This is a Soul-Deceiving Beast, it disguises itself as a Spirit Beast, can bewilder people's minds, and..."

  "Are you bewildering people's minds?" Dugu Han interrupted her. "Then why am I unharmed? How do you know it's a Soul-Confusing Beast and not a Spirit Beast?"

  Nalan Xixi looked at him with a slightly sarcastic smile, but didn't know how to explain.

  Suddenly, Dugu Han pinched her chin, and normally she would have broken his arm with a backhand, but strangely, she didn't make any move, letting him pinch her chin, getting closer and closer.

  His face, which was as beautiful and unblemished as ever, grew larger and larger, his long eyelashes fluttering gently, even fanning out a faint breeze on her face. His eyes were still as calm and clear as ever. "I see, it's you who has been bewitching people's hearts."

  Thud, thud, thud...... Nalan Xinnuo's heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat. Dugu Han's voice was like magic, making her unable to think for an instant, and she actually acknowledged his words just like that.

  Is this... hypnosis?! Narlan Xianuo suddenly woke up! Dugu Han actually knows hypnosis!

  In the 24th century, she often used hypnosis in many missions, but she was busy restoring her killing skills and didn't have time to revisit it, almost getting hypnotized by him just now!

  No wonder he can't be hypnotized by the Soul-Devouring Beast, and people who are good at hypnosis will also counter-hypnotize. Others can't control them, especially masters of hypnosis, no one can do anything about it.

  That demonic beast lived for nearly a thousand years and was unable to enthrall him, it can be seen that his hypnotic skills had reached the pinnacle of perfection.

  But... he had never used hypnosis to control her, making her do anything. On the contrary, it was she who cleverly used him as a bait for the giant crocodile, using him to escape...

  For a moment, Nalan Xiong was disturbed. Dugu Han's cold gaze swept over her, then he walked past her, continuing towards the Soul-Beast. Nalan Xiong suddenly came to herself, turned around and blocked his path once again.

  "You want the world, I'll let him give it to you! You can't do this, once the Soul-Devouring Beast is lured out of here, it will poison all living things!" Nalan Xianyu clenched his fists and shouted.

  "Hah." Dugu Han revealed such a smile for the first time, as if he had heard something hilarious, that kind of hearty laugh. This time, he really did hear something ridiculous. "Let him give me the world?! Nalan Xianyu, are you really stupid or just pretending to be?"

  "Do you know how many people he has killed? Do you know how many people he has killed for this world?! His expression was calm, but his tone was filled with a deep sorrow. "In that war, my three brothers were all killed by him, and even my mother and younger sister who was still in her infancy were not spared!"

  "Hmph, perhaps he still doesn't know? He has killed too many people, no matter how many people are in his eyes like grass, how can he remember that there are so many families broken and people dead because of him?"

  As he spoke, he became even more indifferent. "He can forget, but I won't. Moreover..."

  He raised his eyes, looking at Nalan Xianyu, the indifference in his eyes transformed into a kind of pity that made her suffocate. "Do you think you have the right to control him? This world was taken by him at what cost, you don't understand. And the deep love he has for Nan Gongyan, which makes him willing to give up everything, you also don't understand. What right do you have to unilaterally love him?"

  "So, you want to follow in his footsteps, you want to be as ruthless as he is, you want to trample others like he does, you want to bring ruin and devastation to others' families, and let the world perish?! Nalan Xianuo's eyes turned red, she didn't know where this anger and sorrow came from."

  Looking at Nalan Xixi's appearance, Dugu Han was taken aback. Ah... is he going to repeat the same mistake again?

  However, they were not allowed to continue arguing, and the giant beast suddenly stopped its footsteps from moving forward, and also stopped the warning-like roar.

  Its nose twitched as it sniffed, and each breath caused a small whirlwind.

  It caught a familiar yet infuriating scent... It caught the smell of that night many years ago when it lost its companion, the smell of... a woman.

  Ahhhhh...

  Suddenly! The giant beast let out a loud roar! Its eyes, as big as city gates, suddenly turned bloodshot! It was enraged!

  For a moment, it reversed its usual vigilance and laziness, furiously rushing towards Nalan Xiong, its massive paw, almost the size of a small mountain, lifted up, and the sky above Nalan Xiong's head suddenly darkened...

  Nalan Xixi lifted her head, and in the midst of her astonishment, her body felt light, as Dugu Han pushed her away. Her body flew outward with just the right amount of force from Dugu Han.

  "No——" Her voice was drowned out by the strong gust of wind brought by the beast's palm in the vast sky.

  Dugu Han's figure was instantly buried under the flying sand and rocks and the heavy paws that came crashing down...