Chapter 266

He Lingchuan looked at it; its face was covered in slender wounds, one of which even slashed across its right eye, nearly blinding it. Blood beads trickled down its cheeks, but it had no time to lick them away.

He had no choice but to comfort his companion in turn: "If this person were truly so easy to catch, he wouldn't have become a wanted criminal in multiple nations." Judging from the experience of their two encounters, this scoundrel Dong Rui was extremely cunning; he would flee the moment an attack failed, never entangling himself with his targets, regardless of whether it looked like there was still an opportunity.

A person so cautious and careful is not easy to catch.

It is said that Dong Rui does not have many demon puppets, and each one requires meticulous preparation. He had already lost one werewolf earlier, so this ghost ape should be his most powerful weapon; he could not afford to lose it no matter what.

That was why Dong Rui followed with the bird, trying to find a way to retrieve the ghost ape.

Under these circumstances, He Lingchuan ordered everyone to follow closely without letting up.

Dong Rui attempted to descend to retrieve the ape, but Shan Youjun bent his bow and fired; the arrowhead grazed the giant bird's wing, scaring it into a rapid ascent.

He Lingchuan glared at him: "Pathetic!"

It wasn't that Shan Youjun hadn't aimed accurately; it was just that the strange bird had keen spiritual sense and flipped its body at the last moment to dodge.

He rubbed his nose, drew two arrows at once, and prepared to succeed next time.

However, after this scare, the giant bird refused to fly down again.

As for why He Lingchuan didn't use the Floating Life Blade's "one throw, one hit" special effect, it was simple: the distance between him and Dong Rui exceeded ten zhang...

The two sides remained in this stalemate, galloping for another ten-plus miles.

The ghost ape could no longer walk; He Lingchuan and the others could hear its wheezing, like a bellows with a hole in it. Earlier, He Chunhua's guards had drawn the Ghost Eye Bow and wounded its lungs. Every time it exhaled, it sprayed a mist of blood.

If this continued, it would become He Lingchuan's biggest prey this year.

It was precisely at this moment that Dong Rui suddenly blew a bamboo flute. The sound was exceptionally sharp, carrying far into the dark night sky.

The ghost ape heard it too, suddenly let out a roar toward the sky, and accelerated again! This was the instinct of squeezing out one's life force.

Rock Wolf suddenly said: "Not good, I smell the scent of vegetation and flowing water!"

Up ahead? He Lingchuan immediately urged everyone to speed up.

Unfortunately, it was too late; as the giant ape ran, it suddenly leaped, its body shrinking rapidly in mid-air, and then—

It fell!

He Lingchuan chased forward a few steps before urgently pulling the reins. The Bo beast let out a long neigh and reared up on its hind legs.

Three more steps forward, and they would have fallen off a cliff.

The cavalry also pulled their horses to a halt in a hurry.

Stretching out before them was actually a pitch-black crevice canyon! The flat terrain ended right here; the crevice was over a hundred zhang wide, and as for the depth...

It was too dark to see clearly. He Lingchuan dismounted and kicked a stone the size of an ostrich egg down.

Pitter-patter—it was the sound of the stone tumbling through branches and leaves.

He Lingchuan listened intently, as if he could even hear the sound of water.

It seemed to be a mountain stream down below; there were trees at the cliff's edge and water at the bottom of the ravine.

The ghost ape jumped straight down, disappearing into the darkness; the giant bird in mid-air circled once, then lowered its head and dove straight down, clearly intending to meet it at the bottom of the ravine.

Dong Rui, after all, flew high and saw far, having made preparations early; He Lingchuan and the others were more than a step behind in this regard.

Just like that? Their pursuit ended here? He was unwilling to give up, and without dawdling, he took out a grappling hook and said to Shan Youjun: "Get your gear, follow me."

With that, he leaped off the cliff!

Of course, he would not repeat the mistake of being forced off a cliff by the Ghost Eye Bow at County Magistrate Lake in the past; while falling, he swung the grappling hook, caught a branch at the cliff's edge, and swung away with the momentum.

Shan Youjun did the same. The others had no grappling hooks and hadn't practiced this skill, so they couldn't just stand on the cliff staring blankly; they found a coil of rope and lowered it, preparing to receive the two of them later...

There were few large trees at the bottom of the ravine, though there were dozens of small ones, followed by dense jungle and mossy ground.

He Lingchuan landed after swinging twice. The bottom of the ravine was even darker than the surface; swinging with the grappling hook again would risk hitting trees. Besides, the small trees likely couldn't support his weight.

He and Shan Youjun quickly linked up and ran together in the direction where the giant ape had fallen.

The bottom of the ravine was filled with strange rocks, yet it was dim and lightless, making it difficult to walk.

Neither of them seemed to have heard the sound of the giant bird taking off, so Dong Rui should, perhaps, still be here? Fortunately, before long, Shan Youjun whispered to him: "Look up."

He Lingchuan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a giant protruding rock on the cliff wall ahead; Dong Rui was squatting on it, and the giant bird was perched beside him.

From their angle, Dong Rui was bandaging something, busy as could be.

It wasn't hard to guess that it was likely the shrunken ghost ape. The latter had been heavily wounded first and then chased for dozens of miles, having long since forced out its life potential. After Dong Rui retrieved it, it had entered a state of critical injury and near-death, in urgent need of immediate rescue.

Otherwise, Dong Rui wouldn't have risked stopping here.

He Lingchuan and the other could see so clearly because a light source had lit up beside Dong Rui. After all, he needed illumination to treat the demon puppet, but the man was still careful, having chosen this semi-high place beforehand so he could escape at any time when a crisis arose.

The two lay low and slowly crept forward.

There were many grass leaves at the bottom of the ravine; they placed their feet carefully, fearing to make a sound. When the giant bird or Dong Rui's gaze swept over, they would stop and remain motionless.

After walking like this for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the straight-line distance between the two sides closed to within ten zhang.

Walking to this point, He Lingchuan's heart felt much more settled.

At this moment, Dong Rui seemed to have finished dressing the ghost ape's wounds and was taking a transparent glass bottle from his bosom, gently shaking the red liquid inside.

He Lingchuan gave Shan Youjun a look, slowly drew the Floating Life Blade himself, and Shan Youjun also bent his bow and nocked an arrow. As a man who roped horses, bending his bow to shoot eagles on the plains had been a common occurrence for him in the past; he would never allow this strange bird to escape from under his arrow a second time!

Perhaps because both of them had locked onto the target, Dong Rui suddenly sensed something, his hand movements paused, and his eyes swept toward here.

He couldn't wait any longer.

He Lingchuan focused one last time and threw the Floating Life Blade out.

No matter how much this blade restrained itself, its edge was still much brighter than an arrowhead. Dong Rui saw a flash of silver in the darkness below and, without thinking, immediately lay low.

The giant bird behind him had excellent vision and suddenly stretched its beak to peck, pecking exactly on the blade's surface.

With a "ding" sound, the tip of the giant bird's beak was gone.

It dared to lightly touch the blade's edge, so Floating Life naturally wouldn't be polite to it, though the blade body was also knocked flying.

The pursuers were here! Dong Rui shivered, threw a handful of smoke toward He Lingchuan and the others' hiding place, hugged the ghost ape, and jumped off the rock.

He and the strange bird had cooperated for many years and almost never made a mistake; the latter flipped its body and spread its wings, catching him on its back, and immediately prepared to gain altitude.

If it flew into the sky, He Lingchuan would have no way to deal with him.

Fortunately, the Floating Life Blade spun and suddenly folded back.

Dong Rui had just raised his head when he saw cold light flashing before his eyes; he let out a strange cry in fright and raised his staff to block—

Yes, he had just taken out his short staff, wanting to give He Lingchuan and the others a taste of his power.

As a result, the Floating Life Blade flew past, spinning, and sliced off both the staff head and his fingers! Dong Rui let out a loud "Ah" scream, and something slipped from his palm, falling off the bird's back.

At this moment, Shan Youjun's arrow had also been fired, aiming straight for the strange bird's wing.

This thing was truly alert, flipping in mid-air more cleanly than a sparrowhawk.

However, Shan Youjun had anticipated its anticipation, and the second arrow arrived, piercing its bat-like wing.

The thing let out a "caw" and wobbled toward the ground straight ahead, as if it were about to crash.

He Lingchuan and the other rushed toward that spot.

But they had only run a few steps when the strange bird suddenly stabilized its form, flapped its wings twice, performed a low-altitude flight, and then glided behind a tree! With the tree blocking, Shan Youjun's bow and arrow were powerless, and he could only watch as it pulled up behind the tree, gradually flying higher and straight into the sky.

Only then did the two realize that its bat wings could actually split into upper and lower halves, just like butterfly wings. Shan Youjun had shot and damaged the lower half, but it didn't hinder the upper half from operating independently; at most, it just wasn't as agile when flying.

This thing was cunning, knowing that if it took off immediately, it would still be shot down, so it simply pretended to be hit and fall, distancing itself from the two before flying high again.

"Sigh!" He Lingchuan knew it couldn't be shot down anymore and stomped his feet in a long sigh.

Shan Youjun's face flushed red, but fortunately, the night was thick: "Proprietor, I... it's my fault, please punish me!"

The strange bird let out cawing cries after reaching the sky, as if it were mocking him repeatedly.

"If punishing you were useful, if it could bring those three back, I would definitely punish you severely!" He Lingchuan sighed, "Alright, let's head back. Father still needs manpower there."

The two walked back dejectedly, and when passing that protruding rock, He Lingchuan's heart stirred.

When Dong Rui endured the Floating Life Blade's return strike just now, it seemed something had fallen off? He walked near that position, took out a fire starter, and lowered his head to search.

Before long, Shan Youjun called out: "Found it, found it, this..." He picked up an object and spat, "It's Dong Rui's severed finger."

What He Lingchuan wanted to find was the thing that had fallen from Dong Rui's hand.

Just as he was about to turn his head, the divine bone necklace at his neck suddenly grew hot.

Eh? This thing had been silent for a long time; He Lingchuan had even forgotten about it. Why was it showing its presence again? The last time it grew hot, it was because there was a good item nearby.

He Lingchuan circled the area, determining the location of the treasure based on its temperature change.

Finally, his toe seemed to touch an object, hard and round, and it rolled twice in the grass.

This is?

He parted the grass, picked the object up, and held it to the light.

"A medicine bottle."

This was the glass bottle Dong Rui had taken out earlier; he hadn't even had time to pull the stopper before He Lingchuan's Floating Life Blade swung over. Fortunately, this bottle was truly sturdy, remaining intact after hitting the ground, and not a single drop of the red liquid inside had spilled.

Once the bottle was in hand, the divine bone necklace quieted down, seemingly no longer in a hurry.

Asking for monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)