Chapter 207: The Demon Clan's Plight: A Little Demon's Plea for Help

Shen Yan’s finger twitched.

Not a spasm—it was deliberate. He rubbed his thumb against the dried bloodstain on his palm, his phone still clutched in his hand. The screen was cracked, but the System Interface flickered faintly. Green text jumped across the black background: 【Neural Interface unstable. Recommend pausing operations】.

He ignored it.

The little demon in the grass was still trembling, huddled behind him, its claws digging into the dirt. Shen Yan glanced down at its left ear—the carved mark was clear and distinct, strikingly similar to an Encryption symbol he had written three years ago, only stretched slightly, as if a Signal had been distorted during transmission.

“Can you understand me?” Shen Yan’s voice was hoarse, like a Notification Tone stuck in a crashed Code.

The little demon nodded, then shook its head, finally squeezing out a few words with difficulty: “Devil Clan… camp… took… children.”

Luo Li stood three steps away, her tail rigidly straight, a layer of dark red Demon Power floating in her palm. She stared at the little demon, her gaze cold enough to freeze the air.

“Don’t trust it,” she said. “Nine out of ten ‘messengers’ that appear at a time like this are traps.”

Shen Yan didn’t argue. He raised his hand, pressed the Tip of the Finger to the ground, and a faint green light swept over the little demon’s body. A Terminal Popup Window appeared: 【Vital signs normal. No Demonic Energy residue detected. Heart rate consistent with stress state】.

He let out a sigh of relief. “It’s not fake.”

Luo Li sneered. “How do you know? Just because it has a scar on its ear?”

“Not a scar.” Shen Yan handed her the phone, zooming in on the image. “Look at the pattern’s direction—it’s a variant of binary Encoding. An encrypted identifier I wrote. Only something that has come into contact with future Data Streams would leave such a Projection.”

Luo Li’s pupils contracted.

Of course, she didn’t understand Code, but she understood jade pendants. Subconsciously, she touched the purple-scaled jade at her waist, then looked at the broken armor piece tightly gripped in the little demon’s claws—the patterns matched. It was a registration tag for Western Wastes younglings, carved only once every ten years. Once lost, it could never be replaced.

“You said… where were they taken?” Her voice lowered.

The little demon trembled as it raised a hand, pointing northeast. “Underground… cave. Moved… before dawn… every day.”

Shen Yan immediately pulled up the map Module on his phone, loading a low-power voice parsing Script. He had the little demon repeat the keywords, and the System automatically pieced together a Logic chain: Devil Clan camp → underground prison cave → captives transferred daily before dawn → route passes through dried-up riverbed → three patrol Nodes.

“Is there a map?” Shen Yan asked.

The little demon shook its head but pulled out a charred metal piece from its chest, with a crudely carved route on it.

Shen Yan took it and chuckled. “This looks like an Error Reporting Log, but… it’ll work.”

He closed his eyes, his Mental Power barely enough to sustain five minutes of modeling. A simple terrain map appeared in his mind, with three paths marked in red. The first followed high ground—good visibility but easy to expose. The second cut through ruins—many traps. The third ran along the riverbed—low terrain, plenty of cover, and the longest patrol intervals.

“Take this one.” He pointed to the third line.

Luo Li frowned. “It’s too roundabout.”

“Roundabout means survival,” Shen Yan opened his eyes. “They’re keeping the captives alive for a reason. If you charge in, their first reaction will be to silence them. If you want to save them, you have to wait for the best opportunity.”

“Then tell me, when is the best opportunity?” She stared at him.

“When they begin the transfer,” Shen Yan said. “That’s when the guards are at their fewest and most distracted. We’ll set up an ambush ahead of time and intercept the escort team.”

Luo Li fell silent for a few seconds, her tail slowly drooping. For the first time, she didn’t argue back, only saying, “…You lead the way.”

The two humans and the little demon set off.

Shen Yan walked at the front, his phone pressed against the outside of his thigh, ready to activate a program at any moment. His Mental Power hadn’t recovered, so he couldn’t use high-level invisibility spells; he could only rely on terrain and timing to hide. Luo Li guarded the flank, with the little demon sandwiched in the middle, limping along.

The night wind swept through the dry riverbed, sand and gravel pelting their faces. In the distance, there were faint flickers of firelight, but not yet close.

Halfway there, dust stirred up ahead.

Shen Yan immediately raised his hand, signaling them to stop.

Three Devil Clan patrol soldiers approached, halberds in hand, their armor stained with dark red bloodstains. Their footsteps were uniform, clearly part of a regular patrol route.

The little demon’s legs went weak with fear, nearly collapsing. Luo Li caught it, her eyes fixed intently on the three soldiers.

Sweat beaded on Shen Yan’s forehead. Using a large-scale invisibility spell now would completely drain his Mental Power. But without it, all four of them would be exposed.

He bit the tip of his tongue, the pain making his vision blur as he forced himself to concentrate, quickly typing into the Terminal:

【Function: cloak_lite_v0.3】

Parameters: target_count=3, duration=90 seconds, energy_consumption=low

Function: Integrates ambient low light + distorts air refraction index to achieve basic visual concealment

The progress bar loaded slowly. 50%…70%…85%…

The patrol soldiers drew closer.

89%…90%!

A flash of green light signaled the program’s completion. The figures of the three instantly blurred, as if seen through a layer of mist. One of them paused, looking around, nostrils flaring.

“Just now… was someone there?”

A companion patted his shoulder. “Stop imagining things. This area was cleared out long ago.”

The group continued onward, gradually fading into the distance.

Shen Yan slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. A Popup Window appeared on his phone: 【Memory usage 97%, recommend hibernation】.

“Still holding up,” he said, putting away his phone and wiping the sweat from his brow. “Let’s keep going a bit further.”

Luo Li crouched down to examine the little demon’s wound, tearing a strip from her clothing to bandage it. Her movements were gentle, as if afraid of causing pain.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

The little demon shook its head. “No… name. The tribe scattered.”

“Then we’ll call you Ake,” Shen Yan interjected. “Because of the notch on your ear.”

The little demon froze, its eyes suddenly reddening.

Luo Li looked up at him. “You’re pretty good at naming things.”

“Programmer habit,” Shen Yan grinned, then coughed twice. “Every Variable needs an identifier, otherwise it’s all Bugs when you run it.”

Luo Li didn’t smile, but the corner of her mouth relaxed slightly.

She stood up, gazing into the distance. “How much longer?”

“At this pace, we can reach the outskirts of the camp before dawn,” Shen Yan said. “We need to find a vantage point to observe, preferably get our hands on an internal layout map.”

“You have a way to hack in?” Luo Li asked.

“Hack? Let’s call it ‘friendly access,'” Shen Yan winked. “As long as they’re using a Spiritual Power network, I have an Interface. I’m just worried it’s too primitive, without even a single Data Node.”

Luo Li rolled her eyes. “Keep bragging.”

The group continued onward.

The riverbed gradually narrowed, with rising rock walls on both sides forming natural cover. The wind died down, and footsteps became inaudible. The little demon was too exhausted to continue, so Shen Yan simply carried it on his back. Though not heavy, a saw-like, dull pain radiated from his ribs, each step feeling like running an infinite loop.

Luo Li offered to take over, but he refused.

“You need to save your strength for fighting,” he said. “This is what I call low-power operation—conserving resources.”

“Stop joking around,” she murmured, yet moved closer, shielding him from the wind with half her body.

They drew nearer to the camp.

Rows of campfires appeared at the edge of their vision, black flags hanging from tall poles, flapping sharply in the wind. The faint sounds of dragging chains and low, resonant spell incantations could be heard.

Shen Yan raised his hand, and the entire team halted.

He pulled out his phone and switched to thermal imaging scan mode. The image showed twelve sentry posts around the camp’s perimeter, with an underground entrance hidden in the northwest corner, guarded by two axe-wielding sentries.

“I see it,” he whispered. “There’s Restriction Seal energy fluctuations at the entrance—likely some kind of Seal Formation. Forcing our way in would trigger an alarm.”

“What’s your plan then?” Luo Li asked.

“Wait,” Shen Yan replied, eyes fixed on the screen. “Wait for their shift change, or… for someone to come out.”

No sooner had he spoken than the northwest gate opened.

A figure clad in black robes emerged, carrying an iron cage. Inside the cage, a young demon frantically rammed against the bars.

The robed figure placed the cage on the ground and lit a stick of incense. The flame burned an eerie blue, curling upward in thin wisps.

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes. “That’s no ordinary incense—it’s a positioning beacon. They’re preparing for a transfer.”

Luo Li clenched her fist. “Now’s the time.”

“Not yet,” Shen Yan pressed her wrist down. “That’s just one. We need to wait for the main escort team to come out so we can assess their route and troop distribution.”

“But that child—”

“Saving one is less effective than saving them all,” Shen Yan locked eyes with her. “Trust my pace.”

Luo Li’s breathing quickened, her fur bristling, but she ultimately didn’t pull away from his grip.

She whispered, “…Alright.”

The robed figure collected the incense burner and turned back toward the camp. The gate slowly closed.

Shen Yan put away his phone, his gaze steady and resolute.

“Next step: infiltration and reconnaissance.”

He looked at Luo Li. “Are you afraid?”

She scoffed. “What I fear has never been the enemy.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s you charging ahead alone, leaving me behind.”

(End of Chapter)