Chapter 538: An Unfamiliar Aura

Han Li's guest room was fairly spacious, about the size of two ordinary rooms, divided into an inner and an outer chamber.

The inner chamber was the bedroom, with a bed for resting, while the outer chamber held a redwood table and a green-gray cushion.

On the table were some spirit fruits of mediocre quality, but their aroma was sweet and enticing.

As soon as he entered the room, a golden light flashed on Han Li's hand, and the ring quickly transformed into a golden beetle. It fluttered its wings, flew off his finger, landed on the cushion, and immediately turned into a delicate little girl in a red short jacket.

Having taken human form, the Golden Child's gaze immediately locked onto the spirit fruits on the table. One hand shot out like lightning, and when it retracted, it held an oval spirit fruit covered in golden granules. She took a bite, and a fruity fragrance instantly filled the entire room.

"Uncle, why didn't you let me show myself earlier? I got along quite well with that fellow named Shi," she mumbled indistinctly while chewing the fruit.

"That person's aura resembles that of a demon, but it's somewhat different. Even without using my True Vision, I couldn't see through him. Yet he already saw that you had transformed into a ring on my hand, but still asked knowingly. It's quite puzzling," Han Li said thoughtfully.

"Uncle, do you mean he has ill intentions?" the Golden Child stopped and asked doubtfully.

"It's not clear yet, but when traveling away from home, it's best to avoid trouble if possible," Han Li said with a smile.

"If he really does have ill intentions, that would be good. Then we could..." The Golden Child suddenly chuckled slyly, showing a mischievous expression.

Han Li was speechless at this.

He was about to lecture the Golden Child, telling her not to stir up trouble, when he suddenly paused, his expression changing slightly.

"What's wrong, Uncle?" The Golden Child was familiar with this gesture of Han Li's and knew something had happened, so she quickly asked.

"Just now, it seemed like a very powerful aura locked onto this ferry, but it disappeared in an instant. Did you sense it?" Han Li frowned and asked.

"This..." Before the Golden Child could finish, Han Li interrupted her.

"It's back." Han Li pressed down with one hand in the air and said.

Hearing this, the Golden Child held her breath and focused, but only caught a faint trace.

"Xiao Bai, did you feel it?" she asked hesitantly.

The white jade pendant hanging at Han Li's waist remained motionless, without a sound.

"If you don't get a beating for three days, you want to rebel, huh? How dare you pretend not to hear when this fairy asks you a question?" The Golden Child immediately put her hands on her hips and said angrily.

"Boss, I didn't mean to stay silent. I was afraid of embarrassing you. Actually, I sensed it the first time," the white jade Pixiu glowed and spoke.

"So you're saying you're stronger than me?" The Golden Child raised an eyebrow.

"No, no. I was born in the Wildlands, so I'm naturally more sensitive to the auras of Wildlands creatures," the white jade Pixiu quickly explained.

"Can you identify the source of this aura?" Han Li's heart stirred as he asked.

"Although I was born in the Wildlands, I was captured by beast-hunting cultivators shortly after birth and passed through various immortal domains before ending up with Gong Shujiu. He was the one who told me I was a Wildlands true spirit. So I don't know much about the Wildlands; I can only detect but not identify this aura," the white jade Pixiu continued to explain.

Just as Han Li was about to speak, that faint aura once again enveloped the ferry.

"Stay here," he instructed the Golden Child, then flashed out of the room and headed straight for the bow deck.

Upon reaching the deck, Han Li found only a few passengers, about twenty or so, gathered in small groups chatting, all looking relaxed, clearly unaware of the aura.

At the other end of the deck, he saw a familiar purple figure—Shi Chuankong was standing there.

At that moment, his expression was somewhat strange as he looked around.

When he saw Han Li, he was startled at first, then curled his lips into a knowing smile.

Han Li nodded politely in return, then turned and went back into the cabin.

After repeating this three times, the powerful aura finally disappeared and did not return.

But Han Li's tense nerves did not relax in the slightest; instead, as time passed, his vigilance grew day by day.

...

Time flew by, and five months had passed.

Sailing through the sand sea had been eventful but safe, and they were finally nearing the Wildlands Continent.

Early one morning, a chilly wind blew from the Wildlands Continent. Han Li stood at the bow with his hands behind his back, blue light flickering in his eyes. Through the light barrier covering the ship, he could see a hint of emerald green on the distant horizon, seemingly an oasis.

Nearly a hundred people had gathered on the bow deck, all eager to disembark and set foot on the Wildlands Continent.

"Uncle, still worried about that matter?" The Golden Child stood beside Han Li, imitating his posture with hands behind her back, and asked.

"No, I was thinking about how to proceed once we reach the Wildlands Continent... Comparing the map I bought earlier with the route map Jiao San gave me, there are still many discrepancies. I think it's because I didn't truly agree to join the Reincarnation Palace, so the route she gave me isn't the truly safe one—at least not the complete one," Han Li smiled at her and shook his head slightly.

"Uncle, aren't you tired of thinking so much? At worst, we can blaze our own trail!" The Golden Child said cheerfully, unconcerned.

"Look, what's that?"

Just then, a cry of surprise arose from the crowd.

"Look over there, something's coming..." Followed by one exclamation after another.

Han Li looked up and saw a black line on the distant horizon expanding like a tide, spreading toward them. Within that tide, he could clearly see countless strange, pale giant faces.

Behind those giant faces were enormous black bodies, with dense lateral limbs on the sides, and a thick, massive scorpion tail raised high at the rear, ending in a crescent-shaped stinger that gleamed coldly.

"That's... a human-faced scorpion..." Someone finally recognized the creature and screamed.

Among the beasts inhabiting the sand sea, human-faced scorpions were not particularly powerful, but their terror lay in their vast numbers. Once they formed a beast tide that covered the sky, even True Immortal cultivators would find it hard to withstand.

"What's the panic?" Just then, a powerful voice came from the top deck of the ship.

The cultivator from the city lord's mansion responsible for escorting the ship stood by the railing, his gaze calm, appearing unflappable and imposing, instantly quelling the commotion on board.

"It's just a group of human-faced scorpions. This number isn't enough to capsize the ferry. Each of you take care of yourselves and don't fall overboard. If you fall out, the city lord's mansion will not rescue you," the escort officer said coldly.

Hearing this, those who considered themselves weak quickly moved away from the railings, afraid of accidentally falling off. Some simply turned and went back into the cabin.

Han Li ignored the words, his gaze fixed on the black tide.

"Besides the human-faced scorpions, there's something else mixed in," Han Li frowned and said.

The Golden Child also climbed onto the ship's railing, stood on it, squinted, and looked into the distance.

Beneath the dense black shadows, the yellow sand rose and fell, constantly churning, clearly indicating something moving rapidly below.

"Here it comes." Han Li lifted the Golden Child off the railing and said softly.

The black scorpion tide surged in overwhelming force, quickly blocking the ferry's path.

Countless black human-faced scorpions, each the size of a green ox, climbed over each other, stacking up rapidly to form a small black mountain in front of the ferry.

"Eh, something's not right..." The escort officer looked hesitant and muttered.

Such a large-scale scorpion tide was indeed rare in the past, but not unheard of. However, in the past, all the human-faced scorpions would swarm like a tidal wave to attack the ferry. When had they ever been so... orderly?

Before he could figure it out, the ferry slammed heavily into the "black mountain."

A dull thud sounded.

The ferry shook violently, its forward momentum suddenly slowing, and the yellow light barrier on the outside flared brightly.

Then, the various runes engraved on the hull lit up as well. After slowing, the ferry suddenly accelerated, crashing through the small black mountain.

In the air, cracking sounds rang out incessantly, all from the breaking bones and shells of the human-faced scorpions.

After steadying themselves, the passengers on board cheered.

Han Li, holding the Golden Child with one hand, leaned half his body out of the ferry and looked down at the sand sea below.

The vast yellow sand undulated, densely packed with strange beasts the size of ordinary dogs, resembling maggots. Their bodies were earthy yellow, with only a hint of pink showing through the layers of flesh.

"Oh no, there are sand beasts below, gnawing at the hull..." Han Li quickly recognized them and shouted loudly.

The crowd was alarmed and rushed to the railing to look down.

The metal outer shell of the ship was covered with wriggling sand beasts, already riddled with holes. Worse still, several sand beasts, twice the size of ordinary ones, were frenziedly gnawing at the keel at the front of the ferry.

These strange beasts had almost no facial features. If not for the round mouth full of sharp teeth at one end, it would be hard to tell which end was the head and which was the tail.