Chapter 8: The Fiancée in the Mountains

Another roar echoed, and Ding Huan's face changed—he was certain this was the cry 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, and the Giant Ape was an ancient beast.

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

From the 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 second—he chose a direction and fled swiftly, hoping 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 it in Qianluo Mountain.

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

Ding Huan didn't understand why the Giant Ape was chasing him—he had done nothing to offend it.

As Ding Huan grew desperate, he spotted a stone cave above the side cliff.

The cave was on the cliff face, five meters above ground. Ding Huan sprinted toward it, used his feet to push off the cliff wall, and managed to hook his fingers over the cave entrance in one leap, 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 had no leverage to enter.

Inside the cave, Ding Huan finally saw clearly—four people were already hiding 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 within Qianluo Mountain, nearly no one entered; how could four people appear now?

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

"Qiao Yi, that ferocious ape is terrifying—going out means certain death. This cave is spacious; 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—he looked toward the backpack of another woman; the scent came from within it.

"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, but now he realized the culprit wasn't him—it was these people before him.

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

"Watch your tongue, kid. 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.

Ding Huan let out a short laugh, his tone calm: "If you 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 calmly: "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'd chosen another escape route, the Giant Ape would never have chased him.

"Is it really that serious?" said the woman with the herb in her pack, frowning slightly—clearly, she didn't want to give up the herb.

Though the cave was dim, Ding Huan could still see the woman was very beautiful.

Her facial features were perfectly proportioned, her figure exquisitely curved; if not for her ever-present 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 gently toward the woman.

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

After speaking, she turned to Ding Huan: "Are you from Luohe? 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 Luohe City. Wild herbs are fetching high prices now, so I came to Qianluo Mountain to try my luck. What about you?"

He also wanted to find out where these people came from, especially that arrogant fool Qiao Yi, who acted like a strutting rooster.

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

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

Earlier, Ding Huan had assumed this was the extinct Chinese Giant Ape, but 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 changed, causing some creatures to regress or mutate genetically, 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, nearly existing only in legend. Its 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 battering 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 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 its genes, but they could never develop a gene serum to fuse them into the human body—he could.

"Bo Chuanqiang, stop being so hostile. We're all in this together—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—came here for tourism."

Ding Huan couldn't shake the feeling these people weren't tourists—but it didn't concern him.

Aside from Liu Aimei, he found the other three utterly disagreeable, so he walked to the side and sat on a rock.

Qin Yi refused to return the herb to the Giant Ape, so the Da Huang Jin Yuan wouldn't leave—no telling how long this would drag on. Since they were just waiting, why waste words?

No—Qin Yi's herb might be the very one the Da Huang Jin Yuan needed to refine its Illusion-Piercing Eye. Thinking this, Ding Huan's gaze unconsciously fell on Qin Yi's pack.

Even if the Da Huang Jin Yuan lost this herb, it might find another way to refine 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—he couldn't 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; at night, the outside fell silent.

Ding Huan knew the Jin Yuan was still blocking the entrance—he closed his eyes to rest and circulate his Luo Shi Jing. Even if it didn't boost his cultivation, improving blood flow was still beneficial.

"Has the Giant Ape left? It's been quiet for so long," Bo Chuanqiang muttered, 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 Luohe City, none of you would be trapped here. Maybe I should return the herb to the Giant Ape."

Qiao Yi 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 being a burden," Liu Aimei said. "But I really don't understand why you insist on coming to Qianluo Mountain in Luohe City. There are plenty of rare mutated herbs in the Yanshan Mountain range near Yanjing."

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 Luohe City, I learned that Ding Baishan, founder of Bai Yu Group, had long gone missing."

"Ding Baishan's son and heir, Ding Xiaotu, was also driven out of Bai Yu Group. Now Bai Yu Group is Ding Jie's company—I've made this trip 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 less attractive than her. Thinking back on how he had once fawned over Luo Xinwei in his past life, Ding Huan shook his head—what an ignorant age that was.

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

"These small places in Luohe..."

Bo Chuanqiang spoke half a sentence, then realized it sounded wrong—Luohe 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 Ding Huan, not far away, felt something vague stir in his mind. Ding Baishan's visit to the Qin family in Yanjing was very likely connected to him.

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

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

(That's all for today's update, fellow cultivators—good night! Please support with recommendation votes and collections. If you have monthly votes, please support too—thank you!)