56: Chapter 56 The slow runners are in the front row.

"Fatty! Run!"

Chen Ze roared and broke into a full sprint in the direction they had come from.

The dead branches underfoot snapped and cracked as he moved, his figure swift as an arrow, without a hint of hesitation.

Fatty's reaction was not slow either. The moment he heard Chen Ze's command, he immediately opened up his stride and ran wildly, not daring to delay for even a second.

The two had just run about ten meters when a dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground suddenly came from behind them.

In his panic, Chen Ze instinctively turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.

He saw a bloody figure fall straight down from the canopy of the jujube tree, slamming heavily onto the ground where the two had just been frantically picking spirit jujubes.

It was the one-eyed Big Male Monkey that had just been defeated.

His entire body was already stained red with blood, making it impossible to tell the original color of his fur.

Claw wounds crisscrossed his body, still gushing blood. In an instant, the red jujubes and rotten leaves beneath him were soaked into a dark red mess.

"Looks like this guy is a goner!"

Just as this thought crossed Chen Ze's mind, reality slapped him hard in the face the very next moment.

Because he saw the Big Male Monkey actually stand up again.

"What the hell! Whose subordinate is this, to be so fierce!"

Chen Ze was shocked, and his pace slowed down for a split second.

And the scene that followed made him feel like the sky was collapsing.

He saw the Big Male Monkey not even glance at the Old Monkey King, who was about to rush up to him, but instead charge straight in the direction of Chen Ze and the others.

His speed was even more absurd than when he was in the trees earlier!

"Damn it! Is this beast sick?"

Chen Ze immediately felt like ten thousand grass mud horses were stampeding through his heart.

Why couldn't this stupid monkey run somewhere else instead of following them? Wasn't it just causing trouble?

"Fatty?"

Chen Ze was about to tell Fatty to run faster, but when he turned his head, he realized that although the bastard Fatty looked chubby, he didn't hold back at all when running.

In the brief moment he had been distracted, Fatty had already charged ten meters ahead, his broad back swaying. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought a black bear had become a monster.

"You dog, so whoever runs slow is in the front line, huh?"

Chen Ze cursed under his breath and dared not linger any longer. He pushed off with his feet and immediately sped up to catch up.

And so, a comical scene unfolded.

Chen Ze and Fatty were running for their lives in front, while the Big Male Monkey stumbled along in the middle, chasing them relentlessly.

Behind the Big Male Monkey, a flock of over twenty mutated Macaques swooped down, snapping branches with a crackling noise, while stones and jujube pits were constantly pelted from behind.

Fortunately, the Old Monkey King valued his life after all.

Chen Ze had previously shot an arrow into his abdomen, and during the later scuffle, the Big Male Monkey had bitten his neck hard, tearing off a large piece of flesh. The two fatal wounds were bleeding continuously, significantly weakening his combat power.

As the old saying goes, the older you get, the craftier you become; this applied equally to the Old Monkey King, who had lived for many years.

He had experienced such power struggles too many times and knew well that one must not be careless at such times; the desperate counterattacks of those with no way out were often the most ferocious!

Thus, the Old Monkey King simply followed slowly at the very back of the group, only constantly emitting sharp, rapid shrieks to command the other Macaques to pursue with all their might.

Of course, Chen Ze and Fatty could not possibly know any of this.

The two of them only heard the commotion behind them growing louder and louder, accompanied from time to time by ear-piercing monkey cries, which made one's heart tighten.

Fatty was heavy to begin with, and his three-dimensional attributes were relatively low. He hadn't run long before he was panting like a bellows, sweat streaming down his cheeks from his forehead.

"Ze, Brother Ze! How… how much further to the Light Barrier!"

Fatty stumbled forward, speaking intermittently. He glanced back out of the corner of his eye and was scared out of his wits.

He saw that the Big Male Monkey was still hanging on tightly behind them.

He ran and bled the whole way. Dark red blood dripped continuously along his limbs, leaving a clear, striking trail of blood on the soil and fallen leaves, and a strong, fishy stench could be smelled from far away.

And twenty or thirty meters behind him, five or six strong, sturdy Macaques had already caught up.

"Almost there! At most five hundred meters, we'll be there in a moment!"

Actually, Chen Ze wasn't telling the truth. They were still at least a thousand meters away from the Light Barrier, but to boost Fatty's confidence, he had to say so.

Sure enough, when Fatty heard Chen Ze's words, he was instantly energized as if injected with chicken blood. His two legs moved frantically, becoming a blur, and he managed to put a significant distance between them and the Big Male Monkey behind.

Chen Ze's condition was much better than Fatty's and the Big Male Monkey's. He was, after all, an E-rank powerhouse with all attributes over 30 points. They hadn't been running for long, so he wasn't exhausted yet. He followed steadily by Fatty's side, still able to spare some mental energy to keep an eye on the movements of the pursuers behind.

Just then, the group of young and strong Macaques behind finally caught up with the Big Male Monkey that had fallen behind in the middle.

The leading Macaque shrieked viciously, pushed off with its hind legs, and pounced directly at the Big Male Monkey.

The Big Male Monkey was already at the end of his rope; he had no energy left to resist.

He could only force his body to lean to the side, barely dodging this fatal blow.

Chen Ze saw it clearly; the Big Male Monkey's body rolled to the side like a torn sack. Just as he thought this guy would never get up again, he saw the latter force himself to roll over and stand up once more.

He looked in Chen Ze's direction, and a hint of a different emotion seemed to appear in his eyes.

It was as if he were begging! Begging Chen Ze to save him!

In an instant, Chen Ze felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

A monkey, begging me to save him?

Are you kidding me? So human-like! You wouldn't happen to be surnamed Sun, would you?

The thought was fleeting. Chen Ze wouldn't be stupid enough to actually save this monkey; he was hoping the Big Male Monkey would get caught so the monkey troop wouldn't chase them.

The reality was indeed as Chen Ze had expected.

After dodging once, the Big Male Monkey had completely exhausted his last bit of strength.

His arms hung limp, the bright red blood had long since dried, and with a "thud," he fell heavily to the ground, never to rise again.

The following monkey troop rushed up in an instant. Seeing that the Big Male Monkey had completely lost the ability to resist, they immediately let out excited, sharp shrieks, swarmed him, and sank their claws and fangs into his broken body without hesitation.

"Fatty, seize the chance, sprint forward with everything you've got!"

Chen Ze urged without looking back.

"Brother Ze, how much further? Why does this five hundred meters feel so long!"

Fatty was panting heavily, his vision darkening. If he didn't know the Light Barrier was right in front of them, he would have likely passed out by now.

"Almost there, almost there! At most 250 meters!"

Chen Ze said this while almost suppressing a laugh.

Fortunately, this time it really wasn't much further. The two continued to sprint for a little longer before they felt the soft Light Barrier.

The next second, a gentle, dry, and incredibly reassuring heat washed over them, completely dispelling the cold, bloody chill of the dense forest behind them.

Chen Ze sat down on the cracked ground, panting heavily.

"Ah! Finally back!"