Chapter 514: Chapter 506 Infant Demon

“Don’t worry, if we can’t enter the city tonight, we can just ask to stay at someone’s house for the night. At most, we’ll pay a little extra silver money, and they’re sure to agree.”

Qin Niu wasn’t really afraid.

If they truly encountered a demon, it would be the demon’s misfortune.

“Master, there seems to be a house up ahead.”

Xiao Qing pulled aside the curtain on the left side of the carriage, pointing at a house by the roadside in front of them.

The population was rather sparse in this area.

It was quite rare to see a village of more than a dozen households gathered together; more commonly, one would see these scattered individual homes.

Qin Niu quickly brought the carriage in front of this house.

The front gate was tightly shut, and the courtyard door was also closed.

Even the windows were tightly latched.

“Anyone home?”

Qin Niu called out from outside. Although there were different dialects in different places, the official language throughout the Hundred-Tempering Immortal Sect’s territory was uniform.

There was no language barrier in communication.

There was no response from inside the house.

“We are travelers on the road, could we stay at your home for the night? I can pay double the money.”

Qin Niu called out again.

Still, there was no response, but he knew there were people inside.

A moment ago, when they were still far off, he had seen someone enter and quickly close the door.

Since the other party was unwilling to open the door, Qin Niu couldn’t force his way in and had to continue driving the carriage forward.

Along the way, the households they encountered had all closed their doors and windows early, and local people were no longer visible from outside.

Under the influence of this atmosphere, Wang Wanyan became even more frightened.

“Wan Yan, don’t be afraid. We shouldn’t be so unlucky as to encounter a demon. And even if we do, at worst we’ll just have to fight it out.” Qin Niu dared to travel the jianghu, naturally possessing a certain strength.

If any random demon could eat him, then he wouldn’t need to attend the Water and Land Dharma Assembly.

The experts who participated in the assembly were even more formidable than demons.

The carriage sped along the road, with only the sounds of the rolling wheels, the hoofbeats of the two horses, and their heavy breathing to be heard.

The sky gradually darkened, and the entire land was enveloped in blackness.

Qin Niu sat on the shaft of the carriage, gripping the handle of the Ink Blade tightly, ready for any possible fierce battle.

As long as they didn’t encounter any particularly terrifying demons, he wasn’t afraid.

In this thinly populated region, especially at night with lush trees and hills all around, it indeed gave one the creeps.

The carriage entered a grove of oak trees.

“Hiss!”

Both horses suddenly reared up without warning, coming to a halt.

Qin Niu tensed up in quiet vigilance.

Only Green Ox following behind the carriage appeared carefree, truly fearing neither heaven nor earth.

“Gua! Waa, waa!”

The sudden crying of a baby ahead gave all three of them a big scare.

Xiao Qing and Wang Wanyan, terrified, clung to each other, huddled inside the carriage.

Both were Innate Realm experts with no lack of equipment, but faced with this eerie situation, they were no different from ordinary people, completely dominated by fear.

“It looks like there’s a baby in the middle of the road up ahead!”

After taking a closer look, Qin Niu said to the two inside the carriage.

They could faintly see a plump baby lying in the middle of the road, probably no more than four or five months old, unable to even crawl.

The baby lay there, waving its limbs and crying nonstop.

“Most likely some heartless parents abandoned their child here. I’ll go check!”

Upon hearing it was a baby and possibly an abandoned one, Wang Wanyan’s fear instantly dissipated by more than half. Naturally kind-hearted and without thinking further, she wanted to get out of the carriage to check on the baby’s condition.

“Don’t get out of the carriage, I find the emergence of this child rather peculiar. If it is indeed an abandoned infant, why would it be left in the woods? This region is sparsely populated, rife with wild beasts that can be found anywhere, and with nightfall upon us, it’s the prime hunting time for these animals.”

“It’s strange enough that the child hasn’t been harmed by any beasts.”

“You all stay in the carriage, I’ll go take a look.”

Qin Niu said as he leaped down from the carriage, Ink Blade in hand, and approached the infant.

He certainly didn’t possess Wang Wanyan’s feminine compassion; he once slaughtered over three hundred members of the He Family, not sparing women or children.

This child suddenly appeared in the middle of the night and obstructed the road; it was likely not a regular child.

“Master, be careful, this child is not human, it’s a demon!”

The Mirage Insect was the first to issue a warning to Qin Niu.

Its first avatar was almost crippled by Qin Niu’s Green Demon Bee, but after Qin Niu completely subdued it, he not only helped it refine its second avatar but also took it back to Death Valley to recuperate its first avatar.

Currently, the Mirage Insect was the highest-ranked among all of Qin Niu’s insect pets.

With two avatars now, its true combat strength was unclear.

“Evil creature, die!”

Qin Niu held the Ink Blade and reached the baby without a word, his cultivation power fueled the blade as he suddenly attacked.

A ruthless and merciless chop aimed at the infant lying on the ground.

“Gua!”

The infant emitted an extremely piercing cry, and a trail of bloodlight swept toward Qin Niu.

Luckily, Qin Niu had been alerted by the Mirage Insect and was prepared; relying on the agility provided by the Misty Rain Elusive Step, he narrowly dodged the bloodlight attack.

“Die!”

His first chop had not killed the infant on the ground, so he delivered another diagonal chop.

This time, he directly unleashed the dual effects of Critical Chop and Rupture.

The infant on the ground abruptly transformed into a bloodlight and disappeared in a flash.

The infant must have sensed that Qin Niu was no easy opponent, which led it to flee.

“Such incredible speed!”

After two consecutive chops failed to harm the infant, Qin Niu was amazed at the baby’s speed.

Worried about Wang Wanyan and Xiao Qing who were still in the carriage, he dared not pursue the fleeing infant and swiftly retreated back to the carriage.

“Let’s go!”

Qin Niu urged the two Black Mare Horses forward, knowing he must quickly leave this oak forest.

If he delayed, it would be too easy to fall into the creature’s trap.

It was unclear what kind of demon that infant represented; normally, most demons have ferocious appearances with green faces and sharp teeth. Yet, this infant appeared chubby and cute.

It was hard to associate it with a demon.

“Mirage Insect, do you know the origins of that infant?”

Qin Niu humbly sought enlightenment from the Mirage Insect.

Having lived for many years, it knew far more than Qin Niu did.

“It’s likely an Infant Demon. I’ve seen some demonic creatures, but this Infant Demon is very evil. Even from a distance, I could feel its malevolent aura.”

The Mirage Insect was a demon itself, albeit an insect demon.

It had its own background; it once belonged to a powerful Gu Master. Since all Gu Masters were eradicated by the Immortal Masters of the Hundred-Tempering Immortal Sect, the Mirage Insect witnessed the destruction of the Gu Masters. Protected by them, it managed to survive by chance.

“What species is an Infant Demon? Human infants who have cultivated into demons?”

Qin Niu had never heard of such a demon before.

“There are many types of Infant Demons. For example, ginseng that has become sentient may also transform into an Infant Demon. Additionally, dead human infants buried in places with dense yin energy, who died with great resentment and whose bodies don’t rot, may slowly absorb the yin energy from heaven and earth and turn into an Infant Demon, also known as a Corpse Demon, which is a particularly evil type of Infant Demon.”

“And a few demon births may also result in offsprings capable of cultivating into Infant Demons.”

“For instance, among the offspring that Sheep Demons bear, there might be Infant Demons that resemble human babies.”

“There are also Infant Demons naturally nurtured by the forces of nature, such as the Stone Infant, which, upon birth from a stone, immediately becomes a formidable Infant Demon.”

“That Infant Demon we just encountered was incredibly evil, and its ability to spew out blood to attack indicates that it is likely a Corpse Demon.”

The Mirage Insect educated Qin Niu on the origins of Infant Demons.