Chapter 122: Not Holding a Grudge, But Keeping a Tally

"Your mother was indeed with me originally, but now, she cannot come for the time being; she is slightly injured!" Dugu Bo said.

"What!" Nan Feihuang was startled. Mother was injured? She was a Title Douluo; how many people could possibly injure her?

After a quick brainstorm, Nan Feihuang soon understood.

"Old Poison, it was Tang Hao who made the move, wasn't it?"

"Eh, you actually guessed Tang Hao?" Dugu Bo's voice carried a hint of surprise.

Meeting the Shrek group on this trip was something outside of Nan Feihuang's expectations, so he had ignored a key factor at the first moment.

That was Xiao Wu's identity as a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast; it was impossible for it to be hidden from Lan Xue, and if so, how could Tang Hao let Lan Xue go?

He had originally thought that Tang Hao was no longer following Tang San and Xiao Wu at this stage; after all, in the original story, even when Long Gong pressured Tang San like that, or even when the Titan Giant Ape attacked, Tang Hao had not appeared.

Yet he hadn't expected that this time it was slightly different; he was still following, and had even fought with Lan Xue.

"It's not hard to guess. I know Tang San is Tang Hao's son, and that rabbit Xiao Wu is a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast. This point couldn't be hidden from you, nor from me. Whether it's Mother or Tang Hao, neither could easily give up a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring and soul bone. If so, how could they not fight? Old Poison, is my mother's injury serious?" At this moment, Nan Feihuang no longer cared about other matters; let alone a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring, even a million-year one was not as important as his mother's safety.

"Rest assured, Xiaofeijiang, your mother is fine. As a Title Douluo, that little injury counts for nothing. She can recover after half a month of recuperation, but she cannot engage in overly intense combat recently, so she entrusted me to protect you and help you hunt for your Fourth Soul Ring," Dugu Bo reassured him.

"That's good!" Nan Feihuang breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems that there is one more reason to issue a challenge to the Tang Family in the future."

He did not hate Tang Hao, because Tang Hao had not done anything wrong this time. To put it in a falsely noble light, Tang Hao was protecting his daughter-in-law and his family; to put it practically, that was a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Beast, and anyone had the qualifications to hunt it.

The battle between Lan Xue and Tang Hao was similar to the previous one between Tang San and Meng Yiran, fighting to compete for the Phoenix-Tail Crested Serpent; whoever was stronger simply obtained it.

However, not hating did not mean not holding a grudge. Nan Feihuang believed Tang Hao had done nothing wrong, which was out of his rationality.

But besides rationality, people also have something else: emotion. All along, his mother had been Nan Feihuang's most important relative, and he would not allow anyone to hurt her.

On this point, Nan Feihuang would inevitably find Tang Hao to settle this account properly.

He would not hold a grudge, but he would keep a tally!

At the same time, in the pitch-black dense forest in the middle of the night, the ground felt as if it were shaking; this was clearly the sound of some behemoth advancing.

It was a giant black ape, the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming. It had sensed Xiao Wu's aura at the first moment and was sprinting toward the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest.

It was just that the Star Dou Great Forest was truly too vast; even at its speed, it would not be able to reach the outside without two days' time.

Additionally, there was another fellow. In that cave where firelight radiated, Red Hare was working hard to cultivate the technique to seal its own power; it had actually also sensed Nan Feihuang.

But it would not appear directly in front of Nan Feihuang and the others, choosing instead to continue cultivating in a place closer to its master.

Unless its master summoned it, it would not appear at the first moment.

The next day, Zhao Wuji and Qin Ming continued to lead the group to search in the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest, even though they had encountered thousand-year Spirit Beasts along the way.

But most were around two thousand years, that awkward age range that was neither high nor low.

For Tang San and Oscar who needed a third ring, this age was too high; for Nan Feihuang, Yu Tianheng, and Dugu Yan who needed a fourth ring, this age was too low.

Two days passed, and the group still had nothing to show for it. Fortunately, food supplies were not a problem for the group, but living in the crisis-ridden great forest every day still made people highly tense and more prone to fatigue.

Night fell once again, and it was time to rest.

This time they found a good spot by the river and did not rest on the spot, but set up tents, intending to sleep well for the night and thoroughly recover their energy.

One cannot light a fire at night inside the Star Dou Great Forest; although many beasts are afraid of fire, there are quite a few that like it, so it is too dangerous.

Without a fire, one cannot cook. On the Shrek side, there were still Oscar's sausages to eat, but on the Imperial Heaven side, they could only eat their carry-on dry rations. Fortunately, they had brought plenty.

"Hey, you few from Imperial Heaven, do you want any? My sausages are still very effective for recovering physical strength." After distributing them to his own people, Oscar asked as a matter of routine.

Dugu Yan said, "No need, keep them for yourself."

She had already heard the soul incantation Oscar used to summon his martial soul, and she expressed that she found it somewhat unacceptable.

For a girl like Ye Lingling, who had psychological and physiological cleanliness obsessions, she avoided it even more.

Qin Ming shook his head. On this point, he actually felt that Imperial Heaven was not as good as Shrek, being so picky about food while in the Star Dou Great Forest.

If it were truly a life-or-death crisis, let alone the incantation being a bit lewd, even if it were real rats or cockroaches, one would have to stuff them into their mouths to survive.

"Junior Brother Xun, Junior Brother Feihuang, Yufeng, come drink some water!"

"And Dugu Yan, Teacher Qin, Tianheng, this is yours."

Ye Lingling and Oslo brought water from the river to distribute to everyone.

Qin Ming took a light sip, looked at Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng who were eating dry rations with no appetite, and asked with a smile, "What's wrong? No results for many days, are you getting a bit anxious?"

"Yes, this is clearly already a zone where thousand-year Spirit Beasts live, but there is absolutely no sign of suitable ones. Teacher Qin, do you think we should ditch these Shrek people tomorrow and go deeper to search?" Dugu Yan suggested.

After all, there was a gap between the Spirit Beasts the two sides were looking for. Shrek wandering around here was enough, but for the soul rings they needed, perhaps going a bit deeper would make it easier to search.

Of course, it wasn't that there were none at all nearby, just that they were relatively rare.

Qin Ming nodded, "That's fine. I'll go talk to Teacher Zhao in a moment; let's split up right here."

He was also thinking about whether it would be better to go a bit deeper.

"Great, is everyone still thirsty? I'll go get some more water for you." Dugu Yan was in a good mood, took the empty water canteen, and walked to the riverbank.

However, she did not notice that when she reached her hand into the river, a dark figure deep at the bottom of the river was slowly swimming toward her.

"Hmm?"

Zhao Wuji and Qin Ming, the two high-level Spirit Masters, still felt nothing, but the first to discover it was Nan Feihuang.

As a Battle General, his perception of danger was much sharper than ordinary people's.

(End of chapter)