After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Lin Zhixu chuckled softly.

"Why aren't you laughing? Is it not funny?"

Li Hanshan: "..."

The black aura surged suddenly, then slowly receded.

After a long pause, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through his back teeth: "So many years have passed, I didn't expect him to have improved so much."

The black mist surrounding Li Hanshan churned in mid-air for a while before returning to normal.

Lin Zhixu leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed, his tone tinged with schadenfreude: "What, even the mighty Demon Lord can misjudge things? I thought you were scheming everything."

Li Hanshan sneered, "What are you so smug about? Don't forget, you're still in my hands. The stronger he is, the more valuable you become."

Lin Zhixu didn't refute, but just gave a half-smile and said "Oh".

Li Hanshan was annoyed by his unyielding attitude and snorted angrily: "I suddenly realized that since Yu Linzhou can sense my spying through my restrictions, it means that this place is not completely impenetrable."

Lin Zhixu didn't show it on his face, but something stirred in his heart.

He had noticed it just now; Yu Linzhou's gesture didn't seem like a casual act.

It was more as if they had sensed something and used the opportunity of shattering the light barrier to lock onto the location of this place.

It's just unknown how much he was able to capture in that instant.

Li Hanshan had obviously thought of this as well.

He began to re-examine the cave where Lin Zhixu was imprisoned.

Black runes faintly flowed on the surrounding stone walls; they were the sealing array he had set up.

Just now, after being provoked by Yu Linzhou, there seemed to be a few extremely fine cracks in the array patterns, which could not be detected at all without careful observation.

Li Hanshan drifted to the cave entrance, releasing black energy that reinforced the entire cave once again.

He then turned back, his tone indifferent: "I originally intended to keep you for a few more days to slowly temper your temperament, but it seems I'll have to find another place."

Lin Zhixu's heart sank slightly.

After Li Hanshan finished speaking, a wisp of black energy swirled around him, and Lin Zhixu felt a blur before his eyes as he was swept away by a powerful force.

The wind whistled past his ears. He struggled to open his eyes and could only see the dark forest and blurry lights.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he landed on solid ground again, he was in another palace built of rock.

The stone palace was dimly lit, with dark black rock walls on all sides, and a few lamps with eerie green flames embedded in them, making people's faces look pale and bluish.

The air here was even colder and the demonic energy was even heavier, almost making his chest feel suffocated.

As soon as Lin Zhixu stood firm, he heard a chorus of salutes rising from all around him.

"Your Excellency!"

He then discovered that there were five or six demonic cultivators in the hall.

Li Hanshan hovered above the main hall, his voice cold and stern: "Keep a close eye on him. If he gets away, none of you will survive."

"yes!"

Li Hanshan left after he finished speaking.

The atmosphere inside the stone hall immediately relaxed.

The demonic cultivators were noticeably less tense than before, and their postures relaxed. One of them even stretched.

But soon, their attention was all focused on Lin Zhixu.

These demonic cultivators looked no different from humans, except for some differences in the details.

Some had short horns on their foreheads, some had blood-red pupils, and some had very pale blue skin.

They surrounded Lin Zhixu, as if they were looking at some rare object.

A burly man with black horns spoke first, his voice rough: "Hey, you're human, right? Why did the Lord bring back a human? Is the Lord hungry? But he's so skinny, he probably doesn't taste good, does he?"

A tall, thin man next to him immediately glared at him: "Shut up. Humans are fragile. What if you frighten him? The Lord has his reasons for having us watch over him. Can you take responsibility if he really dies?"

The burly man pursed his lips and fell silent, but his large, copper-bell-sized eyes continued to scan Lin Zhixu, his gaze undisguised and filled with disdain.

After all, in their eyes, most humans are weak and not even worth as much as wild animals by the roadside.

Just then, a man with an effeminate face pushed through the crowd and slowly walked around to Lin Zhixu's front.

He was fair-skinned with narrow eyes, and his smile carried a hint of wickedness.

He stretched out his pale finger and, from an inch's distance, vaguely traced the outline of Lin Zhixu's face, his tone flippant: "This human is really good-looking. Fine skin, fine bone structure. If only I could have this body."

Lin Zhixu didn't move, but glanced at him indifferently.

The effeminate man became even more excited, clicked his tongue, and said to his companion beside him, "Look at those eyes, how alluring they are. So cool and aloof, really captivating."

The people next to him rolled their eyes and cursed in unison.

"abnormal!"

The effeminate man moved closer and closer, as if he were sniffing something.

Lin Zhixu frowned and turned his head away.

The effeminate man said displeasedly, "What are you hiding for? Now that you're here, you'd better behave. The Lord only said he wouldn't let you die, but he didn't say we couldn't touch you. If you don't obey, I'll skin you alive."

Lin Zhixu looked at him, then suddenly smirked, "You'd better remember this: I was personally brought back by your Lord. If I lose even a single hair, I'll complain to your Lord. I doubt your Lord will listen to your explanations."

The effeminate man's smile froze for a moment.

A haughty female demon beside him said coldly, "Alright, Agu, stop fooling around. The Lord just left, and you're already trying to cause trouble? Do you have a death wish?"

"Exactly, you may not want to live, but we certainly do."

The effeminate man called Agu snorted coldly.

"Alright, for the sake of the Lord. But you'd better stay under the Lord's protection, otherwise, if you fall into my hands one day, I won't be so polite."

Lin Zhixu felt gloomy.

If I get the chance in the future, I'll kill you first.

……

After obtaining a clue, Yu Linzhou followed the faint, almost imperceptible aura without hesitation.

However, its aura was so faint that it was lost amidst the spiritual energy and miasma covering the mountains and fields.

He walked and stopped frequently, closing his eyes at several crossroads and sensing the direction for a long time before he barely managed to stay on course.

The wind grew colder and colder, and the sky grew darker and darker.

We finally found the cave.

The cave entrance was extremely well hidden, covered with withered vines and scattered rocks, so that even a passerby might not notice it.

Yu Linzhou stood in front of the cave, his palm surging with spiritual energy, and without hesitation, he blasted towards the barrier.

Amidst a tremendous roar, rocks crumbled, black mist scattered, and the runes on the barrier suddenly lit up before quickly dimming and finally shattering into ashes.

He stepped over the rubble and went inside. The cave was empty, with only some faded array patterns remaining on the stone walls.

His face darkened completely.

He arrived too late.

"Come out," he suddenly said, his voice echoing in the cave.