Chapter 7: Chapter Six: My Fiancée Is in the Mountains

Another roar echoed, and Ding Huan's face changed—he was certain this was the scream of a ferocious ape.

Previously, there were no apes in Qianluo Mountain, but after Earth's environment changed, two types of ferocious apes appeared in Qianluo Mountain: one was the Giant Ape, the other the Brown Ape.

Whether Giant Ape or Brown Ape, both were extinct species; the Giant Ape was even an ancient beast.

Even without mutation, these two apes were extremely fierce; after genetic mutation, they became genetic ferocious beasts capable of easily crushing humans.

From that sound, Ding Huan guessed this was very likely a Giant Ape, and it was coming toward his direction.

At this moment, Ding Huan dared not hesitate for a moment—he chose a direction and fled swiftly, hoping only that the Giant Ape was not chasing him.

Logically, the Giant Ape should not have been chasing him; besides collecting some plants, he had done nothing to provoke the Giant Ape.

Although Ding Huan was agile, his speed still paled in comparison to the Giant Ape's; within just a few minutes, he saw the Giant Ape chasing him from behind.

Ding Huan did not understand why the Giant Ape was chasing him—he had done nothing to offend it.

Just as Ding Huan was desperately anxious, he spotted a stone cave above the side cliff.

The cave was on the cliff face, five meters above ground; Ding Huan rushed toward it, used his feet to push off the cliff wall, and managed to hook his hands onto the cave entrance on the first try, then swiftly rolled inside.

Boom—boom—boom! Outside, another thunderous crash erupted—the Giant Ape was raging outside the cave. Fortunately, the entrance was small; though the Giant Ape could reach the opening, it could not gain leverage to enter.

Inside the cave, Ding Huan finally saw clearly—four people had already taken shelter there: two women and two men. A thin, tall man was staring at him, his gaze unfriendly.

Ding Huan wondered strangely—this place was deep enough within Qianluo Mountain that almost no one came here; why were there suddenly four people?

"Get out. You attracted the ferocious ape—deal with it yourself," the thin, tall man said bluntly, seeing Ding Huan said nothing.

"Qiao Yi, that ferocious ape is terrifying—going out means certain death. The space inside is large; we just need to hide. The ape will leave eventually—it can't stay outside forever," said a woman in blue, seated inside.

Ding Huan, however, caught a refreshing medicinal scent; his gaze fell on the backpack of another woman—the scent was emanating from her bag.

"You stole the Giant Ape's spiritual herb?" Ding Huan suddenly understood.

He had felt a twinge of guilt earlier; when Qiao Yi yelled at him, he had ignored it. Now he realized the culprit was not him, but these people before him.

The only mistake he had made was choosing the wrong direction to flee.

"Kid, watch your tongue—what do you mean we stole the Giant Ape's spiritual herb? We dug it up," said the man, no taller than one meter sixty, his face rugged and clearly no good fellow.

Ding Huan let out a short laugh, his tone calm: "If you all want to live, hand over this herb. Otherwise, no one here will survive."

"What do you mean?" Qiao Yi's tone grew even more hostile, as if ready to teach Ding Huan a lesson at any moment.

Ding Huan spoke coolly: "The spiritual herb guarded by the Giant Ape is its lifeline. Now it has surely smelled its herb's scent—if you don't return it, the Giant Ape will block the entrance until it dies rather than leave."

Even as he spoke, Ding Huan inwardly cursed his luck—if he had chosen another direction to flee, the Giant Ape would never have chased him.

"Is it really that serious?" said the woman with the herb in her bag, frowning slightly—clearly, she was reluctant to give up the herb.

Despite the poor light inside the cave, Ding Huan could still see the woman was very beautiful.

Her facial features were perfectly proportioned, her figure exquisitely curved; had she not always carried an air of arrogance, any man would have been moved.

"Qin Yi, don't listen to this kid's nonsense. No matter how huge the ape is, it's still just an animal—how much patience or brains could it have?" Qiao Yi scowled at Ding Huan, then turned to the woman with a gentler tone.

"Yiyi, this might be true—animals can be more attached to their treasures than humans," the blue-clad woman added, supporting Ding Huan.

After speaking, she turned to Ding Huan: "Are you from Heluo? Did you come here to search for herbs?"

Ding Huan had a good impression of the blue-clad woman; he nodded: "Yes, I'm from Heluo City. With the price of wild herbs so high now, I came to Qianluo Mountain hoping for luck. What about you?"

He also wanted to find out where these people came from, especially that Qiao Yi—who was as arrogant as a rooster.

"Kid, don't ask about us," snarled the short, fierce-looking man, glaring at Ding Huan.

Ding Huan ignored him, his gaze shifting instead to the Giant Ape wildly slamming against the cliff wall.

Previously, Ding Huan had assumed this was definitely the extinct Chinese Giant Ape; now that he saw its true form, he was stunned.

Isn't this a Giant Ape? Why does it look like a Da Huang Jin Yuan?

Even if Earth's environment suddenly mutated, causing some creatures to regress or genetically mutate, how could a Da Huang Jin Yuan appear? Did this species ever exist on Earth?

He had learned of the Da Huang Jin Yuan during his cosmic wanderings—it was an origin variant species, nearly existing only in legend. This ape's entire body was golden, as if draped in a golden blanket.

That was merely its appearance; the Da Huang Jin Yuan was called one of the Ten Divine Species because it possessed two terrifying abilities.

First, immense strength; second, a vertical eye capable of piercing illusions.

Ding Huan stared fixedly at the Giant Ape still slamming against the cliff wall—on its forehead, there seemed to be a dark line—the exact position where the third eye of the Da Huang Jin Yuan would appear.

This Da Huang Jin Yuan before him had not yet developed its third eye, meaning it was still a juvenile.

Ding Huan took a deep breath—he would one day, when his strength grew, obtain the Da Huang Jin Yuan's strength gene and the gene for piercing illusions.

The chance of encountering a Da Huang Jin Yuan was no greater than finding a single speck of dust in the universe.

Others might obtain the Da Huang Jin Yuan's genes, but they could never develop a gene serum to fuse them into a human body—he could.

"Bo Chuanqiang, stop being so hostile. We're all in the same boat now—we must unite."

The blue-clad woman spoke to the short man, then turned to Ding Huan: "I'm Liu Aimei. We're all from Beijing, here for tourism."

Ding Huan couldn't help but feel these people didn't look like tourists—but it was none of his business.

Aside from Liu Aimei, whom he could at least chat with, the other three he found utterly disagreeable; he simply walked to the side and sat on a rock.

Qin Yi refused to give up the Giant Ape's herb, so the Da Huang Jin Yuan outside would not leave—no one knew how long this would drag on. Since they were just waiting, why waste words?

No—Qin Yi's herb might very well be the spiritual herb the Da Huang Jin Yuan uses to condense its Illusion-Piercing Eye. Thinking of this, Ding Huan's gaze unconsciously fell on Qin Yi's bag.

Even if the Da Huang Jin Yuan lost this herb, it would surely find another way to condense its Illusion-Piercing Eye.

But even if he obtained the Da Huang Jin Yuan's blood and developed the gene serum for its Illusion-Piercing ability, without this herb as a catalyst, the effect might still be limited.

Immediately, Ding Huan shook his head inwardly—he could not possibly obtain this herb now; it was a fool's dream.

Lost in thought, Ding Huan's first day passed amid the sound of the Da Huang Jin Yuan pounding the cave entrance; by nightfall, the outside fell silent.

Ding Huan was certain the Jin Yuan was still blocking the entrance; he closed his eyes to rest, and quietly circulated the Luo Shi Jing. Though it wouldn't raise his cultivation, promoting blood circulation was still beneficial.

"Has the Giant Ape left? It's been quiet for so long," Bo Chuanqiang said, feeling hungry.

"It hasn't left. Even if its treasure weren't here, this kind of Giant Ape is extremely vengeful—we offended it, it won't just give up," Liu Aimei replied.

Qin Yi said apologetically: "I'm sorry—I've dragged everyone down. If I hadn't come to Qianluo Mountain in Heluo, none of you would be trapped here. Maybe I should return the herb to the Giant Ape."

Joey said, "Even if we return the herbs to the Giant Ape now, it probably won't leave."

"Yiyi, we're all friends—don't talk about burdening each other. But I really don't understand why you insist on coming to Qianluo Mountain in Heluo City. There are plenty of rare mutated herbs in the Yanshan Mountain range near Beijing," Liu Aimei said.

After a moment of silence, Qin Yi said, "I came here because I wanted to see what my father's promised husband looks like. But after arriving in Heluo City, I learned that Ding Baishan, founder of Bai Yu Group, had long disappeared."

"Ding Baishan's son, Ding Xiaotu, the heir to Bai Yu Group, was also thrown out of the company. Now Bai Yu Group belongs to Ding Jie. I've come all this way for nothing."

"Your father's promised husband isn't that Ding Xiaotu who got kicked out of Bai Yu Group, is it?" Liu Aimei asked in surprise.

Qin Yi gave a self-deprecating smile. "You're right—it's him. But I can't really call him my promised husband. My father let me choose for myself; only if I'm satisfied will the arrangement proceed. So I came to take a look."

Ding Huan studied Qin Yi again. This woman was indeed beautiful.

Luo Xinwei was far inferior to her. Thinking back on how he'd fawned over Luo Xinwei in his past life, Ding Huan shook his head—what an ignorant age that had been.

Ding Huan understood what Qin Yi meant: if he wasn't the heir to Bai Yu Group, he had no right to be chosen by her, and she would never agree.

"These small places in Heluo…"

Bo Chuanqiang said half a sentence, then realized it sounded wrong—Heluo wasn't a small place—so he switched tack. "You can simply refuse your father's proposal."

No one responded to Bo Chuanqiang's words. This clearly wasn't just a matter between two people—it must involve Qin Yi's family business and Bai Yu Group.

"I heard Ding Baishan has been missing for half a year. Didn't your uncle know about it before?" Liu Aimei asked, puzzled.

Qin Yi shook her head. "No, half a year ago, Uncle Ding still came to my home—he met me…"

Qin Yi didn't continue. But far away, Ding Huan felt something vague stir in his mind. Ding Baishan's visit to the Qin family in Beijing might have something to do with him.

Ding Baishan had gone to Beijing and met Qin Yi's father, even discussed his affairs in detail—otherwise Qin Yi would never have come to Heluo City.

Since Ding Baishan disappeared after visiting the Qin family, his disappearance was likely connected to the Qin family—though Qin Yi herself didn't know it.