It had to be said — by the time they came to their senses, their reactions were swift enough. Upon examining the details, more and more strange inconsistencies were unearthed.
In particular, at the moment Old Ancestor Lionheart and Old Ancestor Douxiong were slain, their performance had been completely out of character — entirely below their normal level.
"It must be — someone must have interfered with them in that instant, which is why they were cut down with a single blow!" Old Ancestor Douhu raged, his fury burning white-hot.
From Old Ancestor Douhu's tone, Old Ancestor Ironshirt still couldn't be certain whether Fei Yao had actually been killed by Old Ancestor Douhu's hand.
Still unwilling to let it go, he pressed: "Douhu, we demon men have always acted with swift justice. Commander Fei Yao — was it really your people who killed him?"
"Bullshit! What Commander Fei Yao? He has nothing to do with our Giant Demon lineage!" Old Ancestor Douhu hadn't done it, so naturally he wouldn't shoulder such a false accusation.
Had he truly been played? Old Ancestor Ironshirt remained unconvinced and continued: "But that method — crushing the heart and devouring it — isn't that the signature technique of your Giant Demon lineage?"
"Idiot! Idiot!! Don't you know that techniques can be mimicked?" Old Ancestor Douhu was absolutely furious. He had never imagined that the Monster Demon lineage would come looking to fight him to the death over something like this. "If I truly wanted to deal with a mere commander, would I have left his corpse behind as such an obvious clue for you to find? Am I really that stupid?"
A flicker of light passed through Old Ancestor Ironshirt's eyes — clearly, an intense internal struggle was playing out.
Deep down, he had already sensed that he might have truly wronged the Giant Demon lineage. The Giant Demon lineage muscling in to share the Hundred Sacred Grounds' resources — that was inevitable. But to say that the Monster Demon lineage had openly slain one of their own commanders? That really did seem too extreme, even for them.
So what had actually happened?
Just as he hesitated, screams suddenly erupted from the perimeter. One after another, demon cultivators stumbled and scrambled in panic.
From all directions, golden tides surged up from the ground as if from nowhere. In the next instant, the golden flood swept outward from every side, and under the sunlight, the golden radiance appeared all the more spectacular.
Those shimmering lights cast an eerie glow under the sun, surging across the scene like a rushing river. In the blink of an eye, countless demon cultivators were engulfed and swallowed by the golden tide.
"No — those are mice! A Spirit Beast horde!" Old Ancestor Douhu finally saw clearly, his heart sinking as he cried out in alarm.
Old Ancestor Ironshirt's heart went cold as well. Amid the golden ocean, he saw wave upon wave of golden mice converging to form that vast golden sea.
Countless golden mice, ravenous and utterly voracious, were ceaselessly devouring his people — the warriors under his command.
The demon race was a formidable species, but against this tide of Gold-Munching Mice numbering in the hundreds of millions, even their demon cultivators were continually being cut off and separated, batch after batch consumed.
The demons fought back, fighting desperately.
But the disparity in numbers was simply too vast. In their struggle, they did manage to kill the Gold-Munching Mice that had infiltrated their immediate surroundings, one after another.
Yet it was no match for the endless waves of Gold-Munching Mice surging forward, filling every gap left by the fallen without a moment's pause.
That boundless, infinite tide of mice seemed to flow on without end, as if it would never stop.