7: Chapter 7 Anomalies

Ahead, a low mountain appeared; the hillside was covered in vines and shrubs, and halfway up, a dark, black cave entrance was vaguely visible.

The entrance was small, about a person's height, and the rocks on both sides were polished smooth and shiny—signs that a Yao Beast had been entering and exiting for a long time.

The Ape Cave.

Wu Li landed silently on a large tree outside the cave entrance, folded his wings, and pricked up his ears to listen for a moment.

It was very quiet inside the cave, with no sound at all; the Old Fox Demon should not have arrived yet.

Wu Li was not in a hurry and waited in the treetop.

Another hour passed.

In the distance, a grayish-white figure moved silently through the bushes, its movements light and cautious, like a ghost blending into the night.

'Finally here.'

Wu Li concealed his Qi, his bean-sized black pupils fixed intently on the approaching figure; hiding in the canopy, as long as he did not make a sound, no one would be able to see him at this time.

"Rustle, rustle~"

The Old Fox Demon stopped outside the cave entrance, not rushing to approach.

It crouched low, its grayish-white fur almost pressing against the dead leaves, and pricked up its ears, listening for a long time.

There was no sound inside the cave, only the wooshing of the night wind passing through the gaps in the rocks.

But the Old Fox Demon did not let its guard down.

"Sniff~ sniff~"

The Old Fox Demon took two breaths through its nose, and then its eyes suddenly lit up.

'There really is the scent of a spiritual plant!'

With this, the information matched, and the Old Fox Demon immediately became excited.

Then, it slowly raised its right front paw; clamped between its claws was a grayish-white object, thumb-sized and round, looking like some kind of plant seed; it rubbed the object with its two front paws, and grayish-white powder fell in a flurry from between its claws.

Then, it took a deep breath, mixed its Demon Power into the powder, and blew gently toward the cave entrance.

"Whoosh~"

A white mist poured out from the Old Fox Demon's mouth and drifted silently into the cave.

The mist was very faint, so faint it was almost invisible, but from his vantage point, Wu Li could see it clearly.

A smoke charm?

Wu Li's pupils contracted slightly.

This old fox was indeed prepared.

After the white smoke drifted into the cave, the Old Fox Demon did not enter immediately.

It retreated two steps, squatted on one side of the cave entrance, and waited for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before preparing to go inside.

The grayish-white figure disappeared into the pitch-black cave entrance.

High in the canopy, Wu Li remained motionless.

He was not in a hurry to follow.

Entering later is auspicious.

With this divination, Wu Li knew that the Old Fox Demon who entered first would definitely not get it.

Inside the cave, after a brief silence.

"Roar!!"

A deafening roar exploded from the depths of the cave; the sound was laden with rage and murderous intent, shaking the loose rocks at the entrance until they fell in a flurry.

Immediately after, a violent sound of fighting erupted from within.

"Squeak!"

"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!"

The Old Fox Demon's cries carried obvious panic.

Wu Li crouched in the canopy, motionless, his bean-sized black pupils locked onto the cave entrance.

Another two breaths later, a grayish-white figure suddenly bolted out from the cave!

It was the Old Fox Demon.

It ran extremely fast, its four paws barely touching the ground; there were several bloody claw marks on its grayish-white fur, its left ear was missing a piece, and blood was streaming down its cheek.

"Damn fox, you're courting death!"

"Roar!!"

The Ape Demon rushed out of the cave, swaying its body.

It was a giant white-furred ape, three zhang tall, with muscles knotted all over its body and a pair of blood-red eyes gleaming with ferocity in the night.

There was still white powder from the smoke charm on its head, and its footsteps were somewhat unsteady; clearly, the drug's effect had not completely worn off.

But it was already angry enough.

Someone had taken advantage of its sleep to steal its things—this was the greatest insult to it.

The Old Fox Demon did not dare stop and scrambled forward.

The Ape Demon roared and chased after it, each step covering several zhang, its huge figure dragging a long shadow under the moonlight.

In the canopy.

Wu Li remained motionless.

He watched the Old Fox Demon and the Ape Demon disappear one after another in the direction of Desolate Ridge, a flash of red light appearing in his eyes.

"Good opportunity!"

Wu Li slid down from the canopy, spread his wings, and his black figure shot into the cave like an arrow.

The cave entrance was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass, but after walking a dozen steps inside, the cave suddenly opened up.

Wu Li's pupils dilated slightly.

This Ape Cave was more than ten times larger than he had imagined.

The space inside the cave was three or four zhang high and dozens of zhang in circumference, like a hollowed-out mountain belly.

What surprised him even more was that there was a missing piece in the cave ceiling, revealing a natural crack; silvery-white moonlight poured down from the crack, casting a rippling light onto a small pool of water.

The pool was not large.

It was about one zhang square, the water clear enough to see the bottom; a few emerald-green lotus leaves floated on the surface, and the moonlight shining on them emitted a faint fluorescence.

And in the center of the pool, on a protruding blue stone, a pure white fleeceflower root was growing quietly.

That fleeceflower root was even larger than described in the divination; its rhizome was as thick as an adult's arm, its surface covered in fine, dense patterns like coiled Dragons.

The leaves were thick and emerald green, exuding a faint spiritual essence under the moonlight; the Spiritual Qi was so rich it was almost dripping.

A hundred-year-old fleeceflower root.

And looking at its quality, it was even approaching two hundred years.

"My lucky day."

Wu Li did not hesitate, spread his wings, flew over the pool, and landed on the blue stone.

He extended his right claw, grabbed the base of the fleeceflower root, and pulled hard.

"Pop!"

The fleeceflower root came out, with moist soil still clinging to its roots, and a rush of Spiritual Qi hit him in the face.

Wu Li took the fleeceflower root in his beak and turned to fly away.

But just then, his gaze swept across the cave, and his movements paused abruptly.

The stone walls.

The cave walls were covered in traces of carving.

It was not a naturally formed cave, but one chiseled out by something, axe by axe.

The chisel marks on the stone walls were neat and regular; in some places, there were even vague patterns carved, looking like some kind of design or perhaps some kind of writing, but it was too old and had been weathered until it was no longer clear.

Wu Li's gaze continued to move.

On the other side of the pool, there was a large, flat blue stone covered with hay and animal skins; that was the Ape Demon's bed.

Beside the bed, there was also a stone table.

The surface of the stone table was polished smooth as a mirror, square, and with distinct edges and corners—clearly not something knocked together casually.

On the stone table were a few stone bowls and a stone pot, and there were dried marks in the bowls, as if someone had eaten and drunk water here a long time ago.

Wu Li's pupils contracted slightly.

Stone bed, stone table, stone bowls...

This was clearly a cave that someone had lived in for a long time.

But how could an Ape Demon have chiseled out such a cave?

Unless...

Something else had lived here before.

Wu Li's gaze swept over the vague patterns on the cave wall again, his mind racing.

But time was tight, and Wu Li did not dare stay long; just as he was about to turn and leave, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a mess by the side of the pool.

That was where the Ape Demon and the Old Fox Demon had fought just now.

Broken stones were scattered everywhere, dirt was flying, and there were claw marks and bloodstains left on a few stone slabs.

And in the center of that mess, a crack had opened in the ground, and a wisp of faint Spiritual Qi was slowly seeping out from that crack.