Chapter 5964

The Vermilion Demon Lord gave a curt nod, his scarlet eyes dimming to embers.
He and Jared resumed their slow pursuit, following the cultists’ footprints as if the earth itself were laced with tripwires.

The Ghostspring vanguard reached the outer stalks of the Jade Bamboo Grove.

Frederick had barely drawn a breath of the grove’s cool scent when the air convulsed.

Emerald light erupted skyward, bright enough to carve green shadows across Frederick’s cheek. Leaves sheared from the bamboo, each hardening mid-flight into a jade razor. They slammed toward the intruders like a sideways cloudburst.

From the soil, ink-dark vines burst forth, writhing toward ankles with the hunger of snakes scenting blood.

“Ambush! Defense formation!”

The Great Elder’s shout cracked through the grove like a whip. He drove the Whitebone Staff into the ground. A ripple of gray death-mist unfurled from the impact, colliding with the leaf-blades and hissing them into powder.