14: Shuanghe, rapidly increasing balance

At the same time, the villagers who were kneeling on the ground, their faces somewhat pale, shouted in unison:

“Since you have seen the deity, why do you not bow?”

“Why do you not bow...”

Layer upon layer of voices overlapped, seemingly merging into a sort of tide that surged toward the group who had just entered the cave.

The Guard Soldiers at the Mortal Rank had clearly not expected this kind of mental impact; struck by this mental tide, they instantly clutched their heads and wailed in pain.

Even Chu Jingyu's face turned a few shades paler. He could easily deal with the [Heart-Bewitching Ghost], which was of the same mental type but one Realm lower than him, without being disturbed.

However, facing a mental attack of the same rank, he also felt quite uncomfortable.

Chu Jingyu's gaze fixed on the deity statue carved into the mine wall facing the entrance. Judging by the source of the Mental Energy, the Source Beast should be inside that statue.

To be precise, it was within those exceptionally bright eyes that emitted a warm, gentle glow.

With a thought from Chu Jingyu, the [Golden Jade Beast] quietly crawled down from his shoulder and then burrowed into the ground.

At this moment, Zhang Yu frowned and gave a light shout, “How noisy.”

The White Crane stood before everyone at some unknown point, its wings slightly spread, as a loud, clear cry erupted from its beak.

Faint azure ripples spread out with it as the center, instantly clashing against the questioning voices of “Why do you not bow?”

“Buzz—”

After a brief buzzing sound, the villagers collapsed and fainted all over the place under the intense mental impact.

“Crack.”

In the brief silence, a strange sound came from the head of the Mountain God Statue.

Fine cracks appeared followed by a “boom” as the head completely exploded.

A hazy, misty figure flew out, closely followed by the small [Golden Jade Beast] with its glowing pincers.

Seeing the Source Beast's figure being forced out, Zhang Yu's eyes lit up. The nonchalant White Crane flapped its wings and rapidly approached the misty figure.

“Screech!”

A sharp sound came from within that misty figure, and Mental Energy transformed into a shockwave that stabbed toward the White Crane.

Furthermore, the mist quickly split into three parts, hurtling away in different directions.

In a flash, Chu Jingyu made a judgment, “Chase the one on the far right.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the [Golden Jade Beast] quickly responded to his command, vanishing into the soil. When it reappeared, its pincers had already snapped at one of the three mist clouds.

“Bang.”

The mist dissipated, revealing the true form of the Source Beast within.

Overall, it resembled a humanoid, but it had sharp, thin horns on its head. Its emerald-green eyes were unusually large, and fluorescent green patterns covered its skeletal upper body like cracks.

Better than the [Heart-Bewitching Ghost], its lower body was not like mist but had curved legs like scythes.

Thick mist swirled around its body, making it look like a malevolent ghost from Hell.

Seeing this ghost-like Source Beast, Zhang Yu's eyes grew even brighter. He licked his lips and spoke excitedly,

“I haven't seen this Source Beast before. Does Old Chu know what it's called?”

Chu Jingyu shook his head, “I haven't seen a Source Beast of this appearance either. It might be some new species.”

Although he said he didn't recognize it, Chu Jingyu had his suspicions. This Source Beast might very well be the evolution of the Mortal Rank [Heart-Bewitching Ghost] at the Uncommon Rank.

However, there was no need to voice these suspicions to the Guard Commander at this time.

Zhang Yu's White Crane quickly closed in on the ‘Mountain God’, its white feathered wings stabbing toward its chest like sword blades.

The ‘Mountain God’s’ emerald eyes glowed brightly. Its body bent at an incredible angle; with its hands on the ground, it used its legs as weapons to meet the white feathered wings.

Though they clearly appeared to be made of flesh and blood, they produced the sound of clashing metal upon impact.

But while the legs and wings were evenly matched, a pincer emerged from a hole in the ground. It clamped onto the ‘Mountain God’s’ arm that was supporting it on the ground and yanked it down hard.

The ‘Mountain God’ instantly sprawled wretchedly on the ground. Seizing the opportunity, the White Crane swept its feathered wings through the air.

Seeing its abdomen about to be sliced, the emerald-green patterns on the ‘Mountain God’s’ body suddenly flared. The mist around its body instantly condensed into a solid-looking shield, hovering over the ‘Mountain God’s’ body to block the attack.

The white feathered wings left only a faint white mark on the shield formed of mist.

Seeing this, the ‘Mountain God’ also breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then, with a roar, it forcibly tore its hands from the [Golden Jade Beast’s] pincers. One arm was severed at the wrist, while the other was left with hanging flesh and bare bone.

The fallen hand and flesh did not remain in place but instead turned into a cloud of mist and dissipated in the air.

New flesh formed on the ‘Mountain God’s’ arms, but its Aura had clearly withered significantly.

As it retreated, it extended mist that turned into threads, connecting to the villagers fainted on the ground. “Don't come any closer, or I'll kill them now.”

Zhang Yu frowned slightly, a cold look in his eyes. “I don't accept your threats. What do the lives of a few commoners have to do with me?”

As he spoke, an azure whirlwind appeared before him, and an azure figure turned into a gale, chasing closely after the ‘Mountain God’.

“Swish—”

The azure whirlwind charged into the mist, causing it to scatter instantly. The ‘Mountain God’s’ face still held its previous ferocity, but this time, its arms and the shield protecting it had all turned into the surrounding mist.

The mysterious figure responsible for all this was now standing beside the ‘Mountain God’.”

It was an extremely slender crane-type Source Beast, covered entirely in azure plumage, with sharp eyes like a treasure sword overflowing with Killing Intent.

Faint azure wind spirals swirled around its body, blowing away the surrounding mist, and the field of vision gradually became clear.

Looking at this newly appeared crane Source Beast, Chu Jingyu felt a chill in his heart. He realized that Zhang Yu indeed had more than just that one White Crane Source Beast; this newly appeared one was likely his true trump card.

The azure wind spirals enveloped the ‘Mountain God’s’ body and carried it toward Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu nodded to the Azure Crane and then looked at the dying ‘Mountain God’. “A mental-oriented Source Beast like you is rare. I'll have to take you back and study you properly.”

After speaking, he didn't look at the ‘Mountain God’s’ resentful eyes but turned to Chu Jingyu. “Mr. Chu, the culprit has been dealt with. The villagers of your Fuhe Village should be able to rest easy now.”

Chu Jingyu cupped his hands slightly. “Thank you for your assistance, Lord Guard Commander. The villagers of Fuhe Village will surely set up a Longevity Tablet for you to show their gratitude.”

The reason Chu Jingyu addressed him as Guard Commander at this moment was to indicate that these were his duties; he shouldn't think that Chu Jingyu owed him a personal favor—if there was gratitude to be had, it was the villagers' business.

Whether he understood Chu Jingyu's subtext or not, Zhang Yu's smile faded slightly, and then he nodded.

“Li Tie, take some men and stay here. Once the villagers wake up, escort them home. And make sure they know it was Mr. Chu going to town that saved them.”

Chu Jingyu didn't understand the deeper meaning behind Zhang Yu's action. He saw Zhang Yu cup his hands again. “I have urgent matters, so I'll take my leave first.”

As he spoke, he left the mine entrance accompanied by two crane shadows, one white and one azure.

Chu Jingyu looked at the villagers lying all over the ground, feeling a bit of a headache over the follow-up processing.

He glanced at the Guard Soldiers staying behind and had a thought. He walked over to the sturdily built Li Tie.

“This old man suffered some injuries during the battle just now. I'll leave things here to Lord Li.”

Hearing Chu Jingyu's words, Li Tie looked him up and down suspiciously. “Mr. Chu, you didn't seem to participate in the battle directly just now, did you?”

This guy is truly an honest man. Can't he see I'm just looking for an excuse? Chu Jingyu's expression stiffened slightly. He could only rub his temples and sigh:

“It might be an internal injury caused by the mental impact just now. I was forcibly suppressing it, and only just noticed it.”

Seeing Chu Jingyu's ruddy complexion, which didn't look like he had internal injuries, Li Tie had a puzzled expression. “Al...right. Do you need me to have someone escort you?”

“No need, no need. I walk this mountain path often; I'm very familiar with it.”

With that, Chu Jingyu quickly left the cave, cradling the [Golden Jade Beast].

Seeing this, Li Tie scratched his head in confusion. A thin young man beside him chuckled.

“Brother Li, surely you didn't fail to see that the Old Gentleman was just making an excuse to leave?”

Li Tie tapped his head. “But why didn't he just say so?”

...

In the Chu family courtyard, Chu Mu, who was idle within the stone book, suddenly felt a change in the [Nameless Book].

He hurriedly opened it to check and found that for some reason, his Source Spirit balance had suddenly surged.