Chapter 283: Just Like a Thousand Years Ago

Thud, thud, thud...

The sound of galloping hooves grew closer.

The officer had returned.

“Sir!”

Even before he arrived, his voice rang out, “The demons in the northern frontier army are furious and have come to fight. Please be careful!”

Just as he finished speaking, a sudden

boom

erupted from behind. It sounded like a whirlwind rising or an explosion of gunpowder.

A wave of intense heat surged from behind.

The officer, startled, turned to look. On the grasslands behind them, flames roared like a river, surging along the ground toward them.

The fire moved with astonishing speed—faster than a galloping horse.

“General Pyro!”

The officer immediately recognized the demon. It had previously used its abilities to ignite fires within Yuanzhi City, even attempting to set the walls ablaze. On one occasion, the flames climbed the walls, burning many officers and soldiers stationed there.

The first time, it was subdued only after a local expert in rain-summoning rituals invoked rain to extinguish the fire. The second time, a divine immortal descended from the heavens, scaring it off.

But the flames seen before were nowhere near as terrifying as the flowing fire resembling a river seen today.

This scene defied logic. If not for having witnessed the demon’s powers firsthand and feeling the intense heat rising behind him, one might have thought it was a hallucination.

“

Hyah

!” In a panic, the officer spurred his horse.

The horse galloped desperately.

Although it was uncommon for a challenging officer to be slain alongside the demons’ duel, he had insulted the northern frontier forces with exceptionally harsh words moments ago. If the demon used this river of fire to burn him alive near the city, no one would be able to protest.

Fortunately, the warhorse, meticulously cared for daily, did not disappoint him. It managed to outrun the approaching flames and race past the Daoist.

The officer, still atop his galloping horse, turned his head to glance at the Daoist.

He couldn’t tell exactly how close the fire was, but his back already felt scorching hot. His horse, as though possessed, ran faster than it ever had, galloping with a frenzied urgency unmatched even during drills. Turning back, he saw the flames clearly reflected on the Daoist’s face, bright and glaring. In the man’s calm eyes, the fiery river seemed to burn as well.

Yet the Daoist’s expression remained serene as ever.

“Wind, rise! Fire, cease!”

With a simple wave of his hand, a wind began to blow.

The flames, which had spread from a river to form a vast lake covering a large expanse of grassland in front of the Daoist, surged forward, attempting to encircle him. The fiery crescent loomed like a burning trap, closing in.

The wind moved against the flames, mirroring the crescent shape.

“Whoosh...”

Wind could fuel fire, but it could also extinguish it.

“Boom!”

At the point where the wind met the flames, the fire flared up dramatically, and the turbulent air created a deep, resonant blast.

From the city walls, the scene was clear. At the very moment of contact, the flowing fire seemed to crash against an invisible wall. Though it surged violently, it was unable to advance. Moments later, large swathes of the fire were pressed down and extinguished by the wind.

It was as if a field of candles had been abruptly snuffed out, shrinking rapidly before vanishing altogether.

Only scorched earth remained, charred black in patches across the grassland.

“This is a Daoist wind-fire technique. When the wind ceases, fire ignites. When the wind rises, fire ceases. Wind can strengthen fire, and fire can generate wind. They are intrinsically linked,” the Daoist said calmly, his gaze fixed on the front.

He added, “Lady Calico, you’ve been practicing fire techniques for a long time. If you were to learn wind-fire techniques, it would be like adding wings to a tiger—or wind to a fire. The understanding gained from mastering wind can deepen your comprehension of fire, and conversely, insight into fire can enhance your mastery of wind.”

His gaze locked onto the distant plains.

Earlier that morning, Advisor Zhang had mentioned this so-called “General Pyro.”

This General Pyro was indeed formidable. Though it couldn’t summon flames powerful enough to engulf an entire city or country, its fire techniques were devastating in their own right, capable of causing extensive casualties among soldiers.

Worse still, it had a remarkable ability to conceal itself. Even when a divine officer from the War Division had descended to confront it, General Pyro had only been scared away, not captured.

The wind swept forward, as if guided by the Daoist’s hand. It traced the contours of the grassland—the dips and rises, the crags and deep pits, and even the scorched, broken remnants of vegetation left in its wake.

Naturally, it also revealed the demon lurking in the distance.

“Fire!” the Daoist commanded, forming a hand seal and thrusting it forward.

“Boom!”

A streak of light shot skyward, transforming into a towering column of flame that spiraled upward like a dragon and surged toward the distance.

This method of using one’s own techniques against them was a deliberate insult. The demon, small in stature and hidden far away, saw the fiery dragon streaking toward it and naturally became enraged.

But as a fellow practitioner of fire techniques, it immediately sensed the astonishing spiritual energy and the pure, overwhelming yang qi contained within the flames. In that moment, a pang of fear struck its heart—it knew it couldn’t withstand such an attack.

Its fury was now mingled with terror.

Seeing the fiery dragon hurtling directly at it, the demon couldn’t understand how it had been detected. It had no choice but to turn and flee in a panic.

Yet the fire, driven by the wind, grew stronger, and the wind-fire dragon chased relentlessly. How could it possibly outrun such a force?

“Boom...”

The flames struck something, exploding with a resounding roar.

The surging fire outlined the demon’s form—a small creature. In mere moments, the flames forced it to reveal its true appearance.

“Awoo! Awoo!”

It let out a couple of pitiful cries as it struggled in the fire, but soon, it collapsed to the ground. The flames dissipated in the distance, leaving nothing but silence.

The calico cat craned her neck to look.

“It’s a dog!”

“Would you kindly bring it over for me?” Song You requested.

“Alright!” The calico cat dashed forward and soon returned, carrying a half-charred corpse in her mouth.

“It’s already roasted...” she remarked, gently placing it at the Daoist’s feet.

“It’s a fox,” Song You said, glancing down expressionlessly.

Foxes weren’t inherently strong creatures. While they were clever, they were also timid. Even after becoming demons, most fox demons weren’t skilled in combat, relying primarily on their magic.

This particular foreign fox demon’s techniques were crude and primitive, clearly uninfluenced by the orthodox cultivation practices of the Central Plains. Still, to have cultivated to this level was a rare feat.

Who knew how many humans it had devoured?

Song You pressed his lips together, just about to turn around and ask the sharp-tongued officer to issue another challenge, when a sudden

buzzing

sound caught his attention.

The calico cat heard it as well.

She had been staring down at the half-roasted fox, but her ears twitched at the noise. Instantly, she lifted her head and looked forward.

A massive hornet was flying toward them.

The hornet was round and plump, at least the size of an egg, with a dirt-yellow body and buzzing wings that filled the air with a droning sound.

This one flew in the lead, followed by a large swarm.

Earlier that morning, Lady Calico vaguely recalled Advisor Zhang mentioning a demon related to hornets or something similar. However, her spirits had been low at the time, and she couldn’t quite remember if she had truly heard it or just dreamt it.

Regardless, the clever and perceptive Lady Calico immediately recognized that something was amiss.

Her eyes narrowed with vigilance, and without hesitation, she opened her mouth.

“Whoosh...”

A large burst of flame spewed forth.

Gifted and diligent, Lady Calico had been practicing fire techniques for over four years and was now extraordinarily proficient. Her flames were not only searingly hot but also imbued with pure yang energy.

The fire scorched the leading hornets, and they instantly dropped to the ground.

But more hornets swarmed forward, diving toward them at speed.

Undeterred, Lady Calico inhaled deeply and spewed another stream of flames. She swept her head from side to side, ensuring no part of the advancing swarm escaped her fiery breath.

Any hornets touched by the flames plummeted to the ground.

Soon, the entire swarm was incinerated.

It wasn’t until no more hornets appeared that the man and the cat realized something unusual: all the fallen “hornets” on the ground were actually walnuts.

Surprised, Lady Calico cautiously approached to investigate. She widened her eyes and leaned in close, prodding one of the walnuts lightly with her paw—so fast it looked like she had slapped it. However, the moment her paw made contact, the walnut instantly swelled.

In a blink, it had grown to the size of a bowl. In another blink, it had expanded to the size of a plate.

“Crack!”

The walnut, now the size of a plate, split in half.

At the same time, the other walnuts began to swell.

“Crack, crackle...”

The air was filled with the sound of splitting shells as every walnut on the ground cracked in two.

The split halves began to spin rapidly and ascended into the air, whirling like spinning blades or turning fans. The sound they made was reminiscent of the earlier buzzing hornet swarm, only much louder. The deafening hum filled the air around the man and the cat, whipping up a fierce wind.

From the distance, a voice echoed through the sky, “How dare you harm my fox brother!”

The calico cat flinched, instinctively turning to look at the Daoist.

Song You calmly formed another hand seal.

According to what Advisor Zhang had said earlier, this General Walnut possessed two peculiar abilities related to hornets and walnuts.

One type of red hornet could burrow into a person’s body and transform into a walnut lodged in the center of their back. It would sap their strength, causing excruciating pain when exerting force, rendering them unable to fight.

The other type of yellow hornet, when swatted to the ground, would transform into a walnut, swell, and explode into spinning fans that could fly through the air. These could slam into a person, breaking bones or hurling them through the air, or close back together to crush their head into powder.

In past encounters, there had only been a dozen or so of these at most. They seemed to be consumables that couldn’t regenerate. But now, there were far more—hundreds, at least. It seemed the demon had used up all its reserves.

The spinning walnut halves suddenly turned and began hurtling toward Song You.

“Whoosh!”

The calico cat breathed fire once again.

The scorching flames, carrying intense heat, blackened the spinning walnut halves and sent them crashing to the ground.

However, unlike the earlier hornets, which dropped immediately upon being scorched, these walnuts were now the size of plates and required prolonged exposure to the flames before they burned and fell. Despite her best efforts, the calico cat could only incinerate the first wave of walnuts. The rest swarmed forward relentlessly.

Soon, several spinning walnuts whirled out of the fire, their buzzing hum growing louder as they hurtled toward the man and the cat.

The Daoist closed his eyes and chanted softly. Then, opening them, he raised his hand.

A hand seal emanated a burst of green light.

The light enveloped the flying walnut halves, and a hint of green spread across their spinning forms. At first, it was unclear what was happening, but in the blink of an eye, tiny buds sprouted from the walnuts, followed by the blooming of flowers.

Delicate, multicolored flowers of various hues blossomed, their beauty mesmerizing.

At the same time, the walnuts began to slow, their spinning halting completely. One by one, they fell to the ground. Not only that, but they seemed to lose their vitality, withering and blackening as if lifeless.

The flowers, in contrast, grew more vibrant and dazzling.

Moments later, even the flowers wilted, and the walnuts turned brittle like dried bamboo husks, crumbling at the slightest touch.

“Instant Bloom—a method from ancient times,” Song You explained, glancing at the calico cat. “It extracts the opponent's vitality and spiritual resonance to forcefully bloom flowers. Though beautiful, it is both fierce and merciless. Lady Calico, you will need to wait until you’re older to learn this technique.”

“...”

The calico cat simply stared up at him, wide-eyed and dazed.

The soldiers and officers on the city walls wore similar expressions of astonishment.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen demons before, or even witnessed battles against them. In fact, over the past year or two, they had seen quite a few instances of demons being slain outside the city walls. However, watching this Daoist so effortlessly wield various techniques to eliminate these demons—creatures that had previously caused them so much trouble—left them stunned.

Stunned, yet filled with a sense of wonder.

Their thoughts drifted to the events of the past couple of years, and it felt as if they had stumbled into a story from a thousand years ago.

According to storytellers, wars a millennium ago were often like this: demons were commonplace, extraordinary masters appeared frequently, and magical duels unfolded between armies, filled with mystery and awe. But such tales were relegated to legend and myth.

Until a year or two ago, such occurrences were unheard of.

Now, reflecting on it all, it was hard not to feel a sense of surrealism.