“God-Slaying Grass grows on the steep cliffs.” Shen Yuanzhou spoke blandly. “Finding it will probably take some effort.”
Ning Bingque frowned and looked around. “This place is all cliffs and crags—how are we supposed to know where God-Slaying Grass is?”
Yan Yu’an lowered his head in thought. He didn’t know whether Xie Ji and the others had ever seen that legendary God-Slaying Grass. If they had, that would be fine—but if they hadn’t, then it would be trouble.
“Haven’t seen it.” Shen Yuanzhou seemed to guess what Yan Yu’an was thinking.
Xie Ji nodded, rubbed Yan Yu’an’s hair, and took the water flask from his hand. “Who cares. Let’s go in first—it’s better than staying here.”
Ning Bingque nodded in agreement, but Shen Yuanzhou always felt something was off.
He glanced at Yan Yu’an, saw that his face was serious too, and knew what he was thinking. He moved his lips, wanting to stop Xie Ji and the others from entering the mountain.
But Yan Yu’an shook his head at him. Yan Yu’an knew God-Slaying Grass wouldn’t be easy to find, but to find it they had to go into the mountain, so he simply didn’t stop Xie Ji and the others.
Towering peaks that pierced the clouds stood all around—a single glance and you couldn’t see the end of them.
The wails of wild beasts came from all around, and Yan Yu’an couldn’t help shivering.
As if sensing he was afraid, Xie Ji and the other two all drew closer to his side without meaning to.
The moment Yan Yu’an looked up, he found Shen Yuanzhou gazing at him. In an instant, the memories of that night flooded into his mind like a tide, and his face went red at once. He hurriedly lowered his head and stared at the tips of his feet.
His only wish now was to find God-Slaying Grass and go back to farming. First he’d make clothes from the cotton and silk, and then he’d decided to smelt iron on a large scale in the lion tribe.
That way, many ordinary beastmen could catch prey with ease.
Compared to staying with Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque, Yan Yu’an actually preferred the atmosphere of the lion tribe.
It was just that he didn’t know whether Xie Ji, after recovering his ability, would still be willing to take him back.
And at this moment, the other three’s thoughts coincided with Yan Yu’an’s—they all wanted to bring Yan Yu’an back to their own territory, so that the other two wouldn’t covet their treasure anymore.
Rumble, rumble.
The sound of sliding stones brought the four back to their senses. They immediately shielded Yan Yu’an in the middle, staring intently at their surroundings to guard against attack.
After a while, they relaxed slightly.
“An’an, this place isn’t simple.” Xie Ji said quietly.
Ning Bingque rolled his eyes at him. “No shit, who doesn’t know this place isn’t simple?” Though Ning Bingque sympathized with Xie Ji for not knowing about Yan Yu’an and them, that didn’t stop him from snapping at him from time to time.
And besides…
Ning Bingque lowered his eyes and glanced at Yan Yu’an, who had his head down. Yan Yu’an had helped him without knowing what he was doing—if he’d been awake, he definitely wouldn’t have wanted it.
Thinking this, Ning Bingque couldn’t help glaring at Shen Yuanzhou. He was a little jealous.
He wasn’t unaware of what Shen Yuanzhou had done that day—but if he stopped Shen Yuanzhou, then Shen Yuanzhou would tell Yan Yu’an about what happened during the day, and then Yan Yu’an would hate him.
Still, they’d all tacitly not told Xie Ji about this matter—after all, no one wanted their rival in love to know these things.
“Over there.”
Just then, Yan Yu’an suddenly spoke. He pointed at a mountain not far away and said quietly.
Ning Bingque frowned. He moved his lips, wanting to say something, but Xie Ji beat him to it. “How do you know?”
At these words, the other two’s gazes landed on Yan Yu’an.
Sunlight couldn’t get through because of the mountains blocking it, so it was very damp. Yan Yu’an, without changing expression, dodged a rat that had recklessly scurried over here, and hesitated. “I don’t know either.”
Xie Ji crushed the rat to death with one foot, then kicked it far away. He said carelessly: “It’s fine. Let’s just go over there and take a look—we’ve got no clues right now anyway.”
Shen Yuanzhou nodded. The damp smell made him frown. He looked at Ning Bingque, his tone impossible to read. “What about you? Why are you looking for God-Slaying Grass?”
Ning Bingque froze, then smiled.
After waiting so long, Shen Yuanzhou had finally run out of patience and wanted to know the answer.
Along the way, apart from knowing that Xie Ji wanted it to restore his ability, neither Ning Bingque nor Shen Yuanzhou had said why they were looking for God-Slaying Grass.
Ning Bingque gave a cold laugh. He crossed his arms, and the wings behind him flapped slightly.
Seeing him like this, Shen Yuanzhou knew he wasn’t willing to tell him. He wasn’t angered either—if God-Slaying Grass really was on that mountain like Yan Yu’an said, then there would surely be fierce beasts guarding it.
So he had to find out clearly why Ning Bingque had come looking for God-Slaying Grass.
Yan Yu’an lowered his eyes. Shen Yuanzhou had come looking for God-Slaying Grass to help him—if not to protect him, he wouldn’t have come to such a dangerous place.
“Yan Yu’an needs God-Slaying Grass.”
He didn’t know how much time had passed before Shen Yuanzhou spoke. He looked at Ning Bingque fearlessly, not a trace of emotion in his eyes.
Ning Bingque frowned. “What do you mean?”
Xie Ji, meanwhile, shifted his gaze onto Yan Yu’an. Seeing him nod, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
“Yan Yu’an isn’t a cub.” He said quietly. “He once lost a segment of memory, so I took him to the snake doctor—but I never expected…”
Seeing him fall silent, Yan Yu’an continued: “The snake doctor said I’m already an adult, and without an ability, I might die from my body bursting apart.”
Yan Yu’an didn’t know what made them define him as a cub, and he even somewhat didn’t believe that he’d die from his body bursting apart without an ability.
But according to Shen Yuanzhou, that snake doctor should be very capable.
Holding to the idea that it was better to believe it existed than not, Yan Yu’an had still come with Shen Yuanzhou to look for God-Slaying Grass.
Ning Bingque frowned. He gripped Yan Yu’an’s shoulder hard and looked him over from head to toe carefully. Only after hearing Yan Yu’an hiss in pain did he slowly withdraw his hand.
“What you said is true?” Xie Ji frowned. In his eyes, Yan Yu’an was the little cub he’d rescued. He hadn’t believed what Shen Yuanzhou said at first—but after seeing Yan Yu’an nod, he hesitated.
Shen Yuanzhou nodded. “I’m willing to stake my life on it.” His tone was heavy.
The snake clan had always been cunning. Ning Bingque and Xie Ji exchanged a glance and saw disbelief in each other’s eyes—but after Shen Yuanzhou swore it, they believed it somewhat.
Shen Yuanzhou cleared his throat. “And you? You should tell us now, shouldn’t you.”
After a moment of silence, Ning Bingque finally spoke. “There’s a monster inside my body.”
But unexpectedly, the moment his words fell, an eerie red light began to emanate from his body. Yan Yu’an froze and couldn’t help stepping back half a pace.
In just three seconds, a scarlet eye had appeared on his forehead. That eye was red and swollen, looking as if it were constantly bleeding.
Neither Xie Ji nor Shen Yuanzhou had ever seen such a sight. They stepped forward at the same time, separating Yan Yu’an from Ning Bingque.
That red eye blinked, and Yan Yu’an actually saw mockery in it.
“You actually told them about my business.”
An eerie tone, word by word, came out of Ning Bingque’s mouth.
The scene looked somewhat horrifying.
“I felt like it.”
Ning Bingque’s tone was a little asking-for-a-beating.
Yan Yu’an immediately knew which was Ning Bingque and which was the monster he spoke of.
“I’ll kill them.”
“Don’t trouble yourself. Once we find God-Slaying Grass, I’ll kill them too.”
“But before that, I’ll kill you first.”
Yan Yu’an frowned. He looked at that eerie eye on Ning Bingque’s forehead, and with a surge of resolve, pushed aside Xie Ji and Shen Yuanzhou blocking in front of him.
“An’an…” Xie Ji wanted to pull him back, but Yan Yu’an stopped him.
“An interesting little fellow.”
A tone completely different from Ning Bingque’s came out of Ning Bingque’s mouth, making Yan Yu’an feel somewhat vexed inside.
He stepped forward. Seeing that the monster still wanted to say something, he raised his hand and jabbed at that scarlet eye.
“Ah! Ah!” The pain made the eye snap shut, while the two eyes belonging to Ning Bingque stared at Yan Yu’an in disbelief.
Yan Yu’an raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Ning Bingque instinctively shook his head—but that eye was a different matter.
It kept blinking, vainly hoping to ease the pain this way.
Yan Yu’an understood. Then he used both hands at once—one to pry open the eyelid of that eye, the other to jab viciously inside.
In an instant, a scream of pain echoed through the valley.
The next second, that eye actually retracted, leaving only that smooth forehead.
“There we go.” Yan Yu’an said quietly. “Looks like we do need God-Slaying Grass.”
Xie Ji: “!!!”
Shen Yuanzhou: “???”
Ning Bingque: “…”
The three wore completely different expressions. Seeing Yan Yu’an’s calm face, Ning Bingque stammered for a moment, and in the end couldn’t help asking: “Aren’t you afraid?”
Yan Yu’an gave a light laugh. In the apocalypse, never mind an extra eye—he’d even seen people with three or four extra eyes.
Would he be afraid?
Back then in the apocalypse, the simplest way to attack these kinds of monsters was to attack their eyes. He hadn’t expected that here, this method would work just the same.
Xie Ji stared blankly for two seconds and inexplicably felt his own eyes ache a little.
Ning Bingque was still in disbelief. He touched his own forehead—this monster had been inside him for a long time, and this was the first time he’d ever snatched it back himself.
Shen Yuanzhou was stunned for two seconds, but he was the first to snap out of it. “Let’s not talk about this. Let’s go up the mountain first.”
The other two glanced at Yan Yu’an, and after seeing him nod, they nodded too.
They didn’t dare underestimate Yan Yu’an now—after all, the only one who’d dare jab away at such a terrifying eye was him.
Yan Yu’an didn’t mind what they were thinking, but for the rest of the way, whenever he looked back, he’d see two pairs of admiring eyes—Ning Bingque’s and Xie Ji’s.
This actually made him a little embarrassed.
The mountain path was steep. Shen Yuanzhou walked at the very front leading the way. Yan Yu’an thought for a moment, a little puzzled. “Why don’t we do like when we came—ride on Ning Bingque’s back?”
Ning Bingque looked up at the peak and shook his head slightly. “This mountain’s too high. You wouldn’t be able to take it.”
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