The cub was busy playing when it suddenly saw the peach rolling along the ground and hopped over.
Wild peaches often ripened and fell from these trees, so the giant apes merely glanced over without paying much attention. The cub bounced after it, had just managed to pick it up and bite into it, when another peach dropped ahead.
Chasing one after another, it eventually ended up beneath a cluster of hanging branches, rump in the air as it scrabbled about.
Nian Hongzhi seized the opportunity. He dropped down without a sound, directly swept the giant-ape cub into his storage pouch, then climbed the tree with extreme agility and fled at once.
He had it!
The giant apes below noticed nothing. Nian Hongzhi escaped cleanly and simply used a Swift-Travel Talisman. Within a few breaths, he had already covered several li.
Only after putting another mountain between himself and the valley did he stop and pour the cub out of the storage pouch.
It had not been inside for long, but living creatures could not be kept in a storage pouch. The little ape’s face had already turned red from suffocation, and it was barely breathing.
Nian Hongzhi restrained it, raised his flying sword, and slit its throat. Blood sprayed out at once. The cub died before it could even make a sound.
Nian Hongzhi let out a breath, cut open the cub’s chest, dug out its heart, and squeezed out the essence blood from around its heart and organs. He collected the blood in a small bottle and put it into his storage pouch. Then he used an Explosive Flame Talisman to blast the small corpse into pieces. Afterward, he sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, he had no wood-attributed magical artifact or talisman. Otherwise, if he had used one to kill the cub directly, the scheme would have been even more convincing.
Once everything was done, Nian Hongzhi steadied himself and flew back with the Wind-Riding Art.
Back in the valley.
The Adamantine Giant Ape returned at the head of its clan, carrying several bloody prey animals. They threw them onto the ground, producing a series of heavy crashes.
The smell of blood filled the air. The cubs immediately forgot their games and rushed over drooling.
More than ten cubs crowded around a two-headed wild horse, tearing into the bloody meat with claws and mouths. The adult giant apes waited off to the side, in no hurry to eat.
The Adamantine Giant Ape watched the cubs with a ferocious-looking smile. After a while, its expression suddenly changed, and a hoarse human voice emerged from its throat. “Where is Ape Nineteen?”
Several cubs looked up and hissed and cried at length.
The Adamantine Giant Ape said, “Not one of you saw?”
The cubs nodded again.
The Adamantine Giant Ape then questioned the Iron-Hide Giant Apes that had remained behind. Two of them described how a wild peach had fallen from a tree and Ape Nineteen had gone after it. When the cub did not reappear, they had assumed it had gone off alone to hide and play.
The valley was very large, and the cubs often jumped and hid all over the place. Normally it was nothing serious. Yet unease began to rise in the Adamantine Giant Ape’s heart.
The Adamantine Giant Ape had already cultivated for a thousand years and had only obtained this single child ten years ago. It cherished and doted on the cub greatly. Now that Ape Nineteen had vanished, it could not possibly remain at ease.
A thought stirred in its mind, disturbing its state of mind further. The sense that something was wrong grew stronger. It immediately ordered, “Bring ten good fighters. Follow me and search!”
Ten Iron-Hide Giant Apes answered at once and followed the Adamantine Giant Ape, nimbly climbing the cliff and vanishing after only a few leaps.
The Adamantine Giant Ape led the way, following its instincts onward.
After crossing one mountain, its unease deepened. Then its nose caught a faint trace of blood.
That scent of blood… unmistakably carried the unique smell of their giant-ape clan!
It leaped faster and faster, waves of panic surging through its heart, wishing it could grow two more legs.
The scent of blood became clearer. At last it stopped on a slope, lifted its blood-red eyes, and nearly went mad with grief.
Not far away, beside a patch of grass, lay the body of a giant-ape cub blown into pieces. The bright ape blood had not yet dried. Its heart and organs had been dug out and lay to one side, the little body dead with its eyes still open.
Its only child, awaited for hundreds of years!
The Adamantine Giant Ape released a piercing howl. Its huge body came down like a boulder, smashing toward the ground. It landed beside the blasted corpse, carefully gathered its child’s remains into its hands, and the red light in its eyes flared violently.
Then furious demonic qi erupted wildly from its body. “Damnable immortal cultivator! I’ll make you pay with your life for my child!”
On the cub’s corpse remained an extremely faint trace of an immortal cultivator’s spiritual energy. Its attribute had been masked by the talisman’s fire qi, but it was still distinguishable.
Xu Ziqing sat cross-legged on the grass. Shanyan Ridge was thick with trees and rich in wood qi, so even without entering meditation, he felt extremely comfortable here.
Wang Yingwu and several Wang family cultivators had gathered together as well, each keeping watch on the surroundings.
Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun had already been gone for about an hour, rather longer than expected.
However, Wang Yingwu was waiting with anticipation, so he was less impatient than before.
Another fifteen minutes or so passed before Xu Ziqing suddenly opened his eyes. “They’re coming!”
The plant ash he had sent out brought back news of the two brothers. Cultivator spiritual power mixed with several traces of demonic qi was approaching, already less than half a li away. Wang Yingwu immediately stood and, with a faint flash of light in his palm, gripped his ruyi.
The other cultivators also made their preparations, ready to guard the field for him.
Xu Ziqing added, “Five first-rank demon beasts are coming.”
Hearing this, heroic spirit rose in Wang Yingwu’s chest. “Let them come!”
Seeing Wang Yingwu’s vigor return, Wang Xing relaxed slightly. “Young Master, fight to your heart’s content. We will make certain none of the demon beasts escape.”
The words had barely left his mouth when everyone saw Wang Jun. Riding a clear current of wind, he flew toward them while repeatedly glancing behind him.
Several demon-beast silhouettes raced after him, their hooves pounding as they charged forward at great speed.
When Wang Jun saw Wang Yingwu and the others, he immediately veered aside and shouted, “Young Master Wang, attack!”
Wang Yingwu instantly hurled out the ruyi. Under the power of the First Star, it immediately smashed the fastest demon beast head over heels.
The other cultivators moved to surround them at once, trapping all five demon beasts inside.
Wang Yingwu took one beast, while four others each held one back, neither allowing them to escape nor permitting them to injure the man and beast currently fighting.
The one facing Xu Ziqing was a Bloodscale Leopard. Its entire body was covered in blood-red scales, its aura eerie and sinister, and its movements extraordinarily fast.
But it posed no difficulty for him. No matter how swift the Bloodscale Leopard was, it was still only a first-rank demon beast. Its cultivation placed a limit on its speed. It was fast, but Xu Ziqing was faster.
A green shadow drifted through the area while a blood-red blur tangled with it, pouncing, swiping, clawing, and biting by every means possible. Yet each time the green figure flickered, it slipped away without allowing the leopard to touch even the edge of his clothing.
Xu Ziqing was having no difficulty at all, while Wang Yingwu’s battle on the other side was fierce.
Wang Yingwu was fighting a Red-Fanged Wolf. The wolf was also known for speed and possessed a mouthful of vicious teeth. Their cultivation was roughly equal, with the Red-Fanged Wolf perhaps slightly stronger, but Wang Yingwu had gained a fair amount of experience and was surprisingly not at a disadvantage.
The fight simply dragged on for quite a while.
After roughly the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, Nian Hongzhi returned.
The moment Wang Jun saw him, he called out, “Big Brother, you’re finally back!”
Nian Hongzhi said, “Fortunately I managed to avoid that flock of demon birds. Those beasts weren’t especially strong, but their tempers were fierce.”
This explained why he had not returned together with Wang Jun. The other cultivators were all comfortably keeping their respective beasts occupied and had enough attention to spare. Hearing the explanation, they nodded in understanding.
Nian Hongzhi pretended to look around, then came to Xu Ziqing’s side. With a lift of his hand, he knocked the Bloodscale Leopard aside and laughed. “Big fellow. Not small at all!”
Xu Ziqing paused slightly, then smiled. “Fellow Daoist Nian, you’ve worked hard.”
Nian Hongzhi stood shoulder to shoulder with him. While tangling with the Bloodscale Leopard, he said, “I only ran an errand. What was hard about that?”
The two chatted and laughed. Although the Bloodscale Leopard’s intelligence was weak, its instincts were strong. Seeing Xu Ziqing and Nian Hongzhi acting so leisurely made it furious. It growled twice, and its movements became even faster.
Nian Hongzhi appeared to stumble, exposing an opening. The Bloodscale Leopard struck him, leaving three bloody claw marks across his arm.
Xu Ziqing was startled. “Fellow Daoist Nian!”
Nian Hongzhi hissed. “This beast!” Then he added, “I spent some strength evading those demon birds earlier and actually let this thing scratch me. How embarrassing.”
Before Xu Ziqing could reply, a Fierce Demon Ox suddenly came charging from the side.
Wang Jun shouted, “Big Brother, careful!”
Nian Hongzhi kicked the Bloodscale Leopard away, grabbed one of the Fierce Demon Ox’s horns, and vaulted over it to land behind the beast. Blood flowed even faster from the wound on his arm.
Wang Jun rushed over and quickly tied up the Fierce Demon Ox. He said apologetically, “Fellow Daoist Xu, I’m truly sorry. I saw Big Brother get hurt and became careless for a moment, letting it slip through… Are you all right?”
Xu Ziqing shook his head. “I’m fine.”
It was not as though he could not have dodged the Fierce Demon Ox himself, but Nian Hongzhi had protected him like this, and Xu Ziqing could not help feeling somewhat grateful.
The two exchanged only a few quick words before the Bloodscale Leopard rolled across the ground and lunged again. Xu Ziqing was about to stop it when a flying sword suddenly stabbed in from behind and pierced the leopard straight through.
Blood sprayed everywhere. Xu Ziqing was directly in front of the Bloodscale Leopard and, caught completely off guard, was splashed with leopard blood.
Xu Ziqing froze, then heard Nian Hongzhi say, “That beast injured me. I can’t simply let it go. I killed it. Later I can lure another one over.”
So Nian Hongzhi had struck from behind and killed the Bloodscale Leopard.
Xu Ziqing nodded slightly. The Bloodscale Leopard had injured Nian Hongzhi, so if the injured party wanted to kill it, Xu Ziqing had nothing to say. He raised his sleeve to wipe his face, never noticing Nian Hongzhi slipping a small bottle back into his storage pouch.
At this moment, Wang Jun and Nian Hongzhi exchanged a glance, both curling their lips in faint smiles.
The plan was already more than half complete.
The smell of blood was unpleasant and Xu Ziqing disliked it, but he was not about to change clothes here. The Bloodscale Leopard he had been holding back was already dead, and Nian Hongzhi had gone to assist Wang Jun. With nothing else to do, Xu Ziqing leaned against a huge tree and watched the other cultivators fight, quietly gaining insight from their movements.
Before long, Wang Yingwu finally killed the Red-Fanged Wolf. Wang Xing, who was closest to him, immediately flashed aside and handed over the demon beast he had been restraining to Wang Yingwu.
Wang Yingwu faced that demon beast next, switched to the Second Star’s technique, and began fighting again.
Several ke passed without anyone noticing. Although Wang Yingwu occasionally needed to swallow a pill for support, he only grew fiercer the longer he fought and showed not the slightest fear.
Wang Xing was filled with satisfaction, all his attention fixed on his Young Master.
At that moment, Xu Ziqing’s gaze suddenly became grave.
Through his Myriad-Woods Spiritual Perception, he could faintly sense an enormous danger drawing closer and closer.
His heart gave a violent leap as a warning premonition arose…