375: Crossing the Ten Thousand Mountains (asking for monthly tickets)

Two days later,

“Roar”

A vast expanse of mountains, with towering trees reaching into the sky, resonated with terrifying beast roars, echoing through the forest. Occasionally, winged beasts could be seen in the sky, casting enormous shadows over the dense forests below, then striking a section of the forest, causing a tremor.

The entire mountain range was filled with a primal and wild aura! It was completely different from the northern scenery of Shu.

Within these vast mountains flowed a magical and magnificent river. Its waters were a greenish-gold, shimmering with brilliant metallic luster.

The greenish-gold river snaked through the mountains, flanked by towering cliffs rising thousands of feet. From the dense forests on the clifftops, the cries of unknown creatures occasionally echoed.

Just that day, by the cliffs, a strange song emanated from a forest on the cliffside.

“The Great King… sent me to patrol the mountains!”

“Bang”

“Bang”

“...”

At the foot of a three-hundred-foot-tall mountain by the cliff, a demonic creature stood on two legs. It was twelve feet tall, covered in gray fur, with pointed ears, a dog-like nose, and fangs at the corners of its mouth. A black flag with a red border was stuck into its back, bells hung from its waist, and it tapped a wooden clapper in its hand, humming leisurely as it walked down the mountain, traversing the winding paths.

Just then, a voice sounded from behind the small demon.

“Demon brother, please hold your steps!”

“Hmm?” The small demon with pointed ears and gray fur twitched its ears, stopped its clapper, halted its steps, and turned its head.

On the mountain path, a few feet behind it, stood a demonic creature covered in golden ape fur, with a red face and horse-like features, standing two fathoms tall. Its eyes held a hint of amusement as it looked at the small demon.

Upon seeing the ape demon, the small demon’s rat-like eyes immediately turned fierce. It picked up the bells from its waist and demanded, “Which mountain are you from? What are you doing, skulking around?”

The golden-furred ape demon revealed a smile, which appeared somewhat ugly and ferocious, and its voice rumbled, “No offense, demon brother. I was cultivating in the mountains and got lost. I stumbled in by accident and just wanted to ask what place this is?”

As it spoke, the ape demon flipped its hand and threw something towards the small demon.

It was a cluster of spiritual fruits, similar to grapes, and as emerald green as jade.

The small demon took the spiritual fruit, sniffed it with its dog-like nose, and its rat-like eyes lit up. The fierce, fanged expression receded, and it snorted with satisfaction. Then, looking at the golden-furred ape demon, it raised its head and spoke:

“So, you’re an uncultivated demon from the wilds, just recently coming into your own.”

As it spoke, it raised its shaggy claw, gave a thumbs-up, and pointed over its shoulder, saying with unconcealed pride, “This is Stone Demon Ridge. Everything within three hundred li is under our Great King’s rule. Isn’t he powerful?”

“I see your throat bone is refined. If you want to be more enlightened, I can introduce you to our Great King. You’ll have food and drink, and won’t have to cultivate in the wilds. This place hasn’t been peaceful lately. They say outsiders have arrived, and even our Great King is nervous, making us patrol the mountains everywhere.”

The small demon’s expression was lively, filled with pride and a hint of greed, wanting more spiritual fruits.

“Oh?” The golden-furred ape demon’s pupils flickered.

“Forget it. Your Great King only controls three hundred li. Before, when I was cultivating in the wilds, a Great King from the eight-hundred-li Langdang Mountain wanted to recruit me, but I didn’t follow him. No future.”

With that, it turned to leave.

“Don’t go! Our Great King is of the Night Fish Clan, backed by Luwu Mountain! The thousands of li of land that the Ze Geng River passes through are all Luwu Mountain territory! What do you, a wild cultivator from the mountains, know?” The small demon’s paws moved quickly, leaping several feet in a single bound, directly blocking the golden-furred ape demon. It pointed at the sky, a look of disdain on its face, and at the same time, the bells in its hand jingled, a hint of cunning flashing in its eyes.

“Luwu Mountain?” When the golden-furred ape demon heard this name, its pale golden pupils constricted slightly. Then, it looked at the shifty-eyed small demon in front of it, and then at the jingling bells in the other’s hand, baring its fangs with a grin.

A few breaths later, the mountain path was empty. The small demon was nowhere to be seen.

And the golden-furred ape demon appeared shortly after, more than ten li away, by the greenish-gold river. Then, it leaped into the river.

The moment it entered the water, its massive ape body transformed into a large silver fish. Then, with a flick of its tail, it swam towards the depths of the river.

The shallow waters of the river here contained chunks of greenish-jade stones, with varying angles, tinting the river water with a dreamlike quality.

The “large fish” swam for a moment, arriving at the silty riverbed, three hundred feet deep. The riverbed was completely dark at this time. In the pitch-black river water, the large fish suddenly transformed, revealing a figure. Golden light flashed in the figure’s eyes, illuminating the riverbed, where a patch of ink-like river water lay.

The figure flickered and plunged directly into it.

“Bang”

A pair of feet landed on a deck.

Soon, “thump, thump, thump,” the sound of clothes fluttering in the wind rang out, and several figures appeared around them.

“Ninth Zhonglang, how is it outside?”

“Have you found out where we landed?”

The speaker was a burly man, built like an iron tower, with a full beard. It was Hushan Hu Yanching of Tai Sui Mountain. His large, copper-bell-like eyes were fixed on Chen Yuan, who was dressed in blue and frowning.

Beside him were two others: Jade Unicorn Jin Yushan and Mad Saber Yuwen Guang. The two looked at Chen Yuan’s expression, exchanged glances, and felt something was amiss.

Two days ago, they narrowly escaped from the clutches of that great demon, falling out of the teleportation passage, and then their large ship “ran aground” at the bottom of this river. But for these two days, there had been occasional movements outside. Because everyone had been injured by that Dragon Tiger demon, to be safe, they had not shown themselves, hiding on the deck of this ship to heal their injuries.

As for why they were only on the deck and not inside the cabin, it was because the ship’s cabin doors were tightly shut, as if it didn’t welcome them inside, seemingly possessing a consciousness. Fortunately, the mist on this ship was very strange, capable of isolating Qi!

At this moment, besides the three from Tai Sui Mountain, there was also a group of people huddled in a corner of the deck. Seeing Chen Yuan appear, a commotion arose among them, but their gazes were tinged with fear, not daring to approach. It was the Fang Family group.

And their Old Ancestor, at this moment, slightly raised his eyelids, sitting cross-legged, lost in thought.

“We are currently in Luwu Mountain territory. This river is called Ze Geng River, and it flows south into the Pang River. The river is rich in green jade,” Chen Yuan stated the name of the river and this area.

When Huyan Qing heard Chen Yuan casually state the name of the place, its abundance, and its special products, he thought it was a familiar place for Chen Yuan, the Zhonglang General of Shu. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Chen Yuan continue,

“And in this water, there is a beast called a Gǔdiāo. It resembles an eagle with horns, and its cry sounds like that of an infant. It enjoys eating people!”

After Chen Yuan finished speaking, Huyan Qing finally reacted, his copper-bell-like eyes widening.

“This…”

“It seems we’ve fallen into the Ten Thousand Mountains!” Jade Unicorn Jin Yushan, who was beside him, reacted a step faster, his expression strange.

Gǔdiāo, that’s one of the Ten Fiends. They had fallen into the lair of such a fierce demon.

And hearing that they had fallen into the lair of the Ten Fiends, the Fang Family disciples immediately panicked, making some unsettling noises that were quite annoying.

Chen Yuan glanced at these people sideways, fierce light surging in his eyes. Then, he turned his head to look at the three from Tai Sui Mountain,

“According to the Dao Fu Division’s records, Luwu Mountain is deep within the great mountains. Even though the Ten Thousand Mountains are full of demons, if we are careful, crossing should not be an issue. However, based on the information I gathered from a small demon in a nearby mountain, plus the movements outside these past two days, I speculate that the great demon should know we’ve fallen in. It’s possible that those demons are setting up a net, waiting for us, so it might not be easy for us to cross out.”

“Why not do the opposite!” (End of Chapter)