Yan Yu’an fell silent for a moment. He’d been afraid of heights since childhood—at this height, it was a wonder he wasn’t scared to death.
Ning Bingque secretly laughed, but that scene of Yan Yu’an jabbing straight at the monster’s eye really didn’t match his delicate, petite appearance. Now he didn’t dare underestimate Yan Yu’an either.
“We don’t know how long we’ll have to climb.” Xie Ji wiped the sweat from his forehead and said a little helplessly. At this moment, a thin layer of glistening sweat had also appeared on his dark skin.
Shen Yuanzhou frowned. He pointed at the large rock not far ahead and said coldly: “Let’s rest on that rock for a bit, then continue after a while.”
Because sunlight couldn’t reach this place year-round, you couldn’t tell day from night.
Yan Yu’an divided the apples in his bag and gave each of them one. “There doesn’t seem to be any food here.”
His voice was very soft, but it made everyone fall silent.
Indeed, from the moment they’d arrived here until now, they’d only seen one rat—apart from that, they hadn’t seen any other animal that could serve as food.
Ning Bingque thought for a moment and said: “I’ll fly up and take a look first. You all wait here for me.”
Yan Yu’an nodded. He glanced at the food that was about to run out and said quietly: “Then we’ll go look for food in a bit.” As he spoke, a trace of worry appeared in his eyes. “If you run into danger, you must come back quickly.”
“I know.”
After Ning Bingque finished speaking, his enormous wings spread, and he flew up the mountain.
There were no trees on this mountain, so Ning Bingque flew easily, and before long he’d flown to the top.
But the next second, an enormous roar made him couldn’t help trembling. He frowned, wanting to get a closer look at what was making that sound.
But before he could step forward, the roar came violently again. Before he could steady his footing, he was nearly knocked off the mountain.
Ning Bingque was startled, then immediately flew back down the mountain. The monster didn’t choose to chase Ning Bingque—after seeing him leave, it returned to calm.
Yan Yu’an and the other two had naturally heard the roar.
“Ning Bingque won’t be in trouble, will he?” A trace of worry flashed through Yan Yu’an’s pretty eyes. His thumb couldn’t help rubbing his index finger.
At this moment Xie Ji’s brows had also furrowed. He and Shen Yuanzhou exchanged a glance, each seeing unease in the other’s eyes.
“This monster isn’t simple.” Just as Yan Yu’an was still worrying about Ning Bingque, Ning Bingque returned, fine cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Shen Yuanzhou frowned. “What do you mean?”
Yan Yu’an looked him over from head to toe again, and only after making sure he was fine did he ask: “Did you see that monster?”
Ning Bingque shook his head. Just now at the mountaintop, he must have been close to that monster—yet no matter what, he couldn’t see where it was.
And besides, that roar wasn’t something an ordinary monster could produce. He could even feel that the monster’s bloody maw was about to swallow him whole.
“I couldn’t even see where that monster was.” Ning Bingque thought for a moment and said. “And did you all hear its roar? Good thing I flew fast—otherwise I’m afraid the sound would have shaken me off.”
Yan Yu’an nodded. Just now when they were looking for food, they’d suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet start moving violently—even the small stones began to tremble.
Shen Yuanzhou frowned. This would be a little troublesome, he thought.
“There’s simply no food on this mountain.” Yan Yu’an said quietly. Meeting Ning Bingque’s shocked look, he shook his head again. “We searched the area just now—never mind food, we didn’t even see an ant.”
“Then that rat…” Ning Bingque fell silent.
Xie Ji pursed his lips. “Probably the last one we’ll see.”
Yan Yu’an blinked and glanced at Shen Yuanzhou. “Is there a possibility that there’s none up the mountain, but there is at the bottom?” He paused, then continued, “Since Ning Bingque almost got shaken off just now, is it possible that all the other animals were shaken off the mountain, which is why there are no animals up here?”
After thinking for a moment, he continued: “The reason there isn’t even an ant is that there are no trees and no water resources here.”
Shen Yuanzhou and the other two thought about it and felt what he said made sense.
But the problem was, what they needed now was the God-Slaying Grass on the mountain.
If they couldn’t get up the mountain, they couldn’t find God-Slaying Grass. And if they couldn’t find God-Slaying Grass, then Yan Yu’an might die from his body bursting apart, Ning Bingque couldn’t kill the monster inside his body, and Xie Ji couldn’t restore his ability.
Then there’d be no point in their coming here.
Yan Yu’an lowered his eyes. He knew the road to finding God-Slaying Grass wouldn’t be simple, but he hadn’t expected to run into these monsters either.
He’d thought this place was some primitive society—but if it really were a primitive society, then creatures like beastmen wouldn’t exist.
Yan Yu’an couldn’t help wondering just why he’d come here.
“Then let’s go.” Xie Ji suddenly spoke. His gaze looked toward the unknown road ahead—that road was pitch black, and you couldn’t see clearly what lay ahead, but they didn’t care.
Yan Yu’an nodded. “In that case, let’s go.”
Shen Yuanzhou was silent for a moment, then was the first to take a step, striding forward.
Ning Bingque, meanwhile, gave a light laugh and caught up with their steps.
From the moment they’d decided to go together, at least until they found God-Slaying Grass, they were inseparable companions.
They didn’t know how long they’d walked before a faint glimmer of light actually showed ahead. Yan Yu’an thought for a moment. “Let’s rest here for a bit. Is there any water left?”
Xie Ji nodded. “Good thing our water’s enough.”
Yan Yu’an nodded. He took out the mold Mu Shu had given him and began making a small knife.
There was a very good chance the three of them wouldn’t be able to protect him up ahead—only he could protect himself.
He first started a fire, then smelted the molten iron. After pouring the molten iron into the knife mold, he poured water over it. Once it cooled, he carefully ground it sharp and bound on a handle made from a tree branch.
And just like that, a small knife was complete.
Xie Ji and the other two had seen this at Mu Shu’s house, but none of them knew what use it had.
Ning Bingque took the knife and toyed with it. He was just about to toss it to Xie Ji when, unexpectedly, a careless moment and the knife cut a gash in his hand.
To Ning Bingque, this wound was nothing worth mentioning, but he still couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. Then he casually put his bleeding hand to his mouth and sucked at it.
“This thing’s actually pretty sharp.”
He raised an eyebrow and, seeing Yan Yu’an’s anxious face, said with a grin: “But to me, it’s a piece of cake.”
Xie Ji gave a “tsk” and took the knife. He looked at it and found it was a little different from the one in Mu Shu’s house—but before he could look closely, Shen Yuanzhou took it away.
“You!” Xie Ji looked at him discontentedly, then looked at Yan Yu’an again.
At this moment Yan Yu’an didn’t dare look at Shen Yuanzhou. Though he didn’t know how much time had passed since that matter, whenever he met Shen Yuanzhou’s eyes, he always felt as if he’d taken advantage of Shen Yuanzhou.
So he lightly patted Xie Ji’s head, as if comforting him.
Xie Ji glanced smugly at Shen Yuanzhou. To his provocation, Shen Yuanzhou only gave a faint smile.
A fellow with nothing at all.
If Xie Ji knew what Shen Yuanzhou was thinking, he definitely wouldn’t be able to resist going up and biting him to pieces.
Shen Yuanzhou looked at the small knife, then handed it back to Yan Yu’an. A smile appeared on his face. “This thing’s not bad. When there’s danger, you can use it to defend yourself.”
Yan Yu’an nodded—that was exactly what he’d been thinking.
Xie Ji gave a soft “tsk,” hooked an arm around Yan Yu’an’s neck, and said smugly: “I’ll protect you well.”
“You?” Ning Bingque gave a mocking laugh. “Wait until your ability’s restored before you say that.”
Yan Yu’an: “…” Watching the two about to start arguing again, he couldn’t help rubbing his forehead. Just as he was about to say something, he looked up and saw Shen Yuanzhou smiling at him.
“…” Forget it.
Yan Yu’an lowered his head and felt his ears grow a little hot.
They rested here for a night before continuing on the road.
“We should be almost at the mountaintop.” Ning Bingque said.
At once, all four of them went on guard—after all, the higher they went, the less safe it was. That thing could appear behind them at any moment.
Yan Yu’an narrowed his eyes. Perhaps because they were nearing the mountaintop, some sunlight actually reached this place. He kept feeling that the higher they went, the more a strange sensation grew inside his body.
Like a stream of clear spring flowing into his five viscera and six bowels.
He suppressed this strange feeling. Just then, an eerie sensation suddenly struck, and Yan Yu’an instinctively sensed a breath of danger.
He whipped his head around—and met a pair of enormous eyes in the jungle.
At once, he felt cold sweat break out, and his legs couldn’t help going weak. If not for Xie Ji supporting him at his side, he might have collapsed straight onto the ground.
“What’s wrong?” Xie Ji asked quietly.
The three men, whose vigilance was a hundred times higher than his on ordinary days, now seemed not to have noticed the approaching danger at all.
Yan Yu’an’s hands trembled a little. He pointed at those eyes in the distance. “D-don’t you feel it?”
Ning Bingque and Shen Yuanzhou whipped their heads around—and the next second, an enormous creature appeared before them. Yan Yu’an stepped back, but he always felt this thing wouldn’t hurt him.
“What is this?” Xie Ji was shocked. He wanted to pull Yan Yu’an behind him to protect him, but unexpectedly Yan Yu’an’s legs now seemed filled with lead, firmly fixed to the ground.
The monster let out a fierce roar and charged toward them with great strides. Yan Yu’an snapped back to his senses. He saw that Ning Bingque had already shifted back into beast form, wanting to try to defeat it.
But the once-enormous Ning Bingque was now half the size of that monster.
Shen Yuanzhou gritted his teeth and wanted to charge forward too, but Yan Yu’an held him back. “Ning Bingque, come back! Don’t fight it.”
The moment his words fell, Ning Bingque was kicked flying by the monster and landed on the ground not far away.
“An’an, come with me quick.” Xie Ji grabbed his hand, wanting to take him away from here.
Yan Yu’an shook his head. “No. This monster—I don’t think it will hurt me.”
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