27: Chapter 27 The Foolish Provocateur

After a small commotion, the group rested briefly before heading deeper into the forest.

The mission objective was to destroy the Green-skinned Monkeys tribe and slay their leader; having only just reached the beach, they were clearly still far from their goal.

Perhaps Wang Meng felt he had lost face in front of everyone, or perhaps he wanted to prove his strength. Nursing a belly full of anger, he took the initiative to walk at the very front of the group, responsible for clearing the path.

He vented all his frustration on the obstacles blocking their way.

"Hah!"

With a low roar, he slammed his flaming fist into a row of crude wooden fences.

"Boom!"

Wood splinters flew everywhere, and the entire fence was instantly shattered, with sparks still burning at the broken edges.

"Hmph!"

Wang Meng snorted coldly, feeling much better, and turned back to cast a provocative look at Li Taiping.

Li Taiping couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid, simply following the group at his own pace with a leisurely expression.

This indifference made Wang Meng feel as if he had punched cotton; he felt even more stifled.

He gritted his teeth and continued forward.

Ahead appeared a crude watchtower built by the Green-skinned Monkeys, with two Green-skinned Monkeys sentries on top, "chattering" away.

"You're asking for death!"

Without a word, Wang Meng took a running start, pushed off the ground with both feet, and leaped high into the air. With a powerful downward punch, he smashed the entire watchtower to pieces.

The two Green-skinned Monkeys sentries above fell screaming, and before they even hit the ground, he finished them off with two punches, turning them into two wooden treasure chests.

"Nice!"

"Great skills, Brother Wang Meng!"

Someone in the group cheered.

Hearing the praise, Wang Meng's expression improved significantly. He puffed out his chest proudly, feeling like he had regained his standing.

However, just as he was preparing to continue forward, the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way.

"What the f*ck!"

He only had time to let out a cry of surprise before he was "whooshed" up into the air.

It turned out he had stepped into a vine trap hidden beneath the weeds on the ground.

A thick vine tightly bound his ankle, hanging him upside down from a large tree.

This sudden scene left everyone stunned.

Wang Meng struggled wildly in mid-air, his muscles and fat wobbling together; his posture was as pathetic as it could be.

"Pfft..."

Someone couldn't hold it back and let out a stifled laugh.

Immediately after, a wave of suppressed laughter broke out in the group.

Even the usually icy-cold blonde Foreign Girl had the corners of her mouth twitch upward almost imperceptibly.

Li Taiping almost laughed out loud.

This Wang Meng was simply a clown; was he specifically responsible for comic relief?

"What are you laughing at! What's so funny!"

Wang Meng roared in the air, both ashamed and angry.

He put force into his waist, attempting a kip-up to grab the vine, but he used too much force, causing his body to swing in the air like a pendulum, spinning several times before stopping.

At this point, even Li Jun, a man who rarely smiled, couldn't help but let his mouth twitch twice.

In the end, Wang Meng had to use the flames on his fists to burn through the vine, causing him to fall to the ground with a "thud." Although he wasn't injured, his image was completely gone.

He jumped up from the ground, his face flushed red, and glared viciously at everyone.

Those who had been suppressing their laughter quickly collected themselves, pretending to look elsewhere as if nothing had happened.

Wang Meng felt like he was about to explode with anger.

First, he tried to provoke Li Taiping and lost the verbal spar, and now he had made such a fool of himself; he felt he had lost all face.

But he couldn't find an outlet for his frustration, so he could only silently add this debt to Li Taiping's account.

In his view, if Li Taiping hadn't angered him, he wouldn't have lost his composure, and he wouldn't have been so careless as to step into the trap!

Yes, it was all that pretty boy's fault!

Having made a fool of himself, Wang Meng's mindset became even more unbalanced and he was even angrier.

A flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes as he looked at Li Taiping.

Li Taiping noticed it keenly, but his expression remained indifferent; only his slightly narrowed eyes betrayed his inner thoughts.

He had his eye on him.

Wang Meng walked in front without a word, like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

The group continued deeper.

The light in the forest grew dimmer, and the surrounding environment became increasingly eerie.

"Chirp-chirp-cackle!"

Suddenly, a dense chorus of shrieks came from ahead.

The group perked up, knowing they had encountered enemies again.

In the forest clearing ahead, a massive swarm of Green-skinned Monkeys rushed out, far more numerous than the ones they had encountered on the beach—at least fifty or sixty of them!

And at the very front of that group of Green-skinned Monkeys stood one that was a size larger than the ordinary Green-skinned Monkeys, with dark green skin and holding a huge stone axe!

[Large Green-skinned Monkey (Ordinary Peak)]

[Skill: Berserk Charge]

[Evaluation: A minor chieftain among the Green-skinned Monkeys; thick-skinned, immensely strong, and somewhat troublesome.]

"It's a Green-skinned Monkeys army! And there's a chieftain!"

"Everyone, be careful!"

Someone in the group warned.

But the next second, everyone's eyes turned red.

Because what they saw wasn't danger, but over fifty moving wooden treasure chests!

"Kill!"

"Don't let them run!"

"The treasure chests are mine!"

In an instant, except for Li Taiping, everyone acted as if they were high on adrenaline, charging forward with wild shouts.

Wang Meng was the "first to bear the brunt." He transformed all his frustration and anger into strength, the flames on his fists surging three feet high, and he forcibly smashed a bloody path through the group of Green-skinned Monkeys.

"Die! Die! Die!"

He waved his fists frantically, turning a Green-skinned Monkey into charcoal with every punch.

The others were not to be outdone; the archer rained down arrows, the alchemical puppet slaughtered everything in its path, and Helya threw poison bottles as if they were worthless, felling the Green-skinned Monkeys in droves.

The entire scene was chaotic.

Everyone was bloodshot with killing intent, frantically snatching up the "spoils of war."

Li Taiping followed behind, unhurried and slow. He did not tangle with the ordinary Green-skinned Monkeys; his target had been the same from the very beginning.

That was the large Green-skinned Monkey holding the stone axe.

And...

Wang Meng.

The large Green-skinned Monkey was indeed troublesome. It swung its huge stone axe, forcing back several experts who tried to approach it, leaving wounds on their bodies.

Wang Meng also tried to attack it, but his flaming fists only left charred patches on the large Green-skinned Monkey's body, unable to inflict fatal wounds.

The large Green-skinned Monkey's defense was far superior to that of the ordinary Green-skinned Monkeys.

The battle lasted for nearly five minutes.

Under the siege of the group, the large Green-skinned Monkey gradually faltered, its body covered in wounds of all sizes, and its movements became sluggish.

Just as Wang Meng was gathering his strength, preparing to deliver the final blow.

A figure flashed past his side like a ghost.

It was Li Taiping!

Li Taiping's cold iron sword traced a cold arc in the air, piercing with extreme precision through the weakest gap in the armor at the large Green-skinned Monkey's neck!

"Pfft!"

The tip of the sword pierced through its body.

The large Green-skinned Monkey's massive body suddenly stiffened, the fierce light in its eyes quickly fading, and then, with a "boom," it fell heavily to the ground.

It dissipated into points of light.

In its place was a unique chest.

It was a chest crafted entirely from bluestone, with ancient patterns carved onto it.

[stone treasure chest]!

Out of the fifty-plus Green-skinned Monkeys in the area, only this large Green-skinned Monkey dropped the single stone treasure chest!

And the remaining forty-nine ordinary Green-skinned Monkeys all dropped wooden treasure chests.

At this moment, everyone stopped in their tracks, their gazes focusing uniformly on that stone treasure chest, eyes filled with greed and jealousy.

Wang Meng was so angry he nearly vomited blood.

He had worked hard fighting for half the day, grinding the large Green-skinned Monkey down to low health, only for that pretty boy Li Taiping to easily swoop in and steal the kill!

How is that fair?!

He stared fixedly at the stone treasure chest, then looked at the calm Li Taiping, the greed and rage in his heart erupting like a volcano.

He strode over to Li Taiping, pointed a finger at him, and roared righteously:

"Hand over the chest!"