Chapter 313: The Big Stick and the Whip

So smooth?

What is so smooth?

Black Fire Ghost Ape:?

Even in its current chaotic state, it felt a sense of strangeness.

Did something go wrong somewhere?

Seeing the Ghost Ape raise its hand to scratch its head, Ren Yidao curled his lips and crooked his finger at it.

"Hey!"

"You thunder-god-faced monkey, stop right there!"

"I opened this road, I planted these trees; if you want to pass this way, leave behind your toll money!"

Black Fire Ghost Ape:???

This little bug wants to rob me?

"ROAR!!!"

You actually dare to provoke me!!?

Sure enough, just as Cang Lan said, this Ghost Ape can still understand the language of the Demon Race after falling into a berserk state.

But it can only understand it; there is no way for it to actively regain its senses.

Only by letting it vent thoroughly and waiting for it to recover on its own will it work; provoking it at this time will only make the situation worse.

What a coincidence.

A worse situation is exactly what Ren Yidao needs.

Go completely insane.

You aren't crazy enough yet!

"ROAR!!!"

Upon feeling the bug's provocation, the Black Fire Ghost Ape went berserk.

Thump, thump, thump!

It beat its chest with all its might, shaking the entire tunnel until it cracked, causing many cone-shaped stalactites to fall.

The way it looked, it seemed as if this tunnel was also about to collapse.

Yet Ren Yidao stood still, letting the rubble fall around him; he watched the Ghost Ape go mad with a smile, showing no sign of dodging.

He whispered words the Ghost Ape could not understand:

"The risk of facing a Heavenly Demon head-on is truly too great."

"Honestly, I am not willing to die in vain for those people."

Jiang Mingzhi, Gongsun Changshou, Chu Hairen... these three all have some connection to Ren Yidao.

But in all honesty, this kind of relationship has not reached the level where he would risk his life to rescue them.

Ren Yidao is not a soft-hearted god; he will not put himself in danger for their sake.

However...

"If it isn't a certain-death threat... I am actually willing to give it a try."

Ren Yidao whistled at the Ghost Ape and chuckled:

"What are you still waiting for?"

"Do you want me to invite you?"

Roar—

And from the Ghost Ape's frantic roar, it was not hard to tell.

There was no need to be so polite anymore.

Without Ren Yidao needing to say another word, the Ghost Ape could no longer endure it and charged directly at him!

I! Will!

Crush! You!

Thump, thump, thump—

Ren Yidao stood where he was with his hands behind his back, watching the mountain-like beast charge toward him, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

"If the mountain will not come to me, I will go to the mountain."

"Who among you has seen a mountain that can run? I have!"

And while he was lost in his wild thoughts, the threat of death in his perception was also crazily increasing.

One thousand meters, one hundred meters, fifty meters!

Ren Yidao could already smell the stench on the Ghost Ape and feel the Evil fire that was like miasma.

But Ren Yidao did not panic; instead, he stared at it and silently counted down in his heart.

"Three, two... one!"

"Now!"

At the very same instant Ren Yidao spoke, a silver light flashed.

A silver-gray giant wolf over twenty meters tall emerged from the shadow behind the Ghost Ape, cold light flickering on its pale teeth.

The giant wolf's fur glowed faintly in the pitch-black cave, shining with iridescent colors, and its huge, fluffy tail was almost as long as its body.

But comically, in front of the hundred-meter-tall Ghost Ape, this ferocious giant beast looked just like a normal-sized puppy.

It did not hesitate after appearing; a cruel, murderous glint appeared in its eyes, and it bit down on the Ghost Ape!

Crack!

"Roar!?"

But the Ghost Ape did not feel any pain.

Because the place where the giant wolf bit down was not its body, but the Gourd at its waist!

Unlike the Gourd itself, the strap binding the Gourd did not come from the ape itself, but was added later by this Ghost Ape.

The originally huge Gourd artifact also changed rapidly after falling into the giant wolf's mouth, becoming consistent with its size, just right for it to hold in its jaws.

After the successful strike, the giant wolf did not hesitate and turned its head directly to flee toward the back.

Whoosh!

The giant wolf transformed from Cang Lan lowered its head abruptly, dodging the Ghost Ape's furious giant hand by a hair's breadth, and leaped directly into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

"Roar—"

The Ghost Ape's giant foot, wreathed in black flames, stomped angrily toward the shadow beneath it!

Although this stomp clearly missed, a loud sound of bones breaking and tendons snapping rang out.

Crack!

"Whimper—"

The giant wolf that had already disappeared was actually stomped out by this kick, rolled twice in pain, let out a whimper from its throat, and its entire spine was almost snapped in two.

Although severely injured, Cang Lan did not stop her movements, struggling to hide back into the darkness.

The Ghost Ape raised its giant foot again, wanting to repeat the same trick, but just as it was about to strike, it heard a soft sound.

Clang...

A faint humming sound rang out from very close behind it.

!!!

The Black Fire Ghost Ape had just wanted to turn back to pursue, but could only turn back in shock and anger; it felt a tiny insect land on its neck!

But unlike before, at this moment, it actually felt a great threat!

He...

It was just about to crush that tiny insect with one hand, when it suddenly felt something painless and itchy tap lightly on the back of its head.

Ding—

For some reason, even though the attack from behind posed no threat to it at all, the Ghost Ape's foot stopped right there in mid-air.

Its brain fell into a blank state, and even its originally frantic thoughts stagnated for a moment.

Hm?

What was I, just now, about to do?

Just as the Ghost Ape was thinking, it heard the sound from behind once again.

"Where are you looking?"

"Am I not standing right before your eyes?"

Ding—

The Ghost Ape's mind fell into a blank state once again, its mouth agape, staring blankly at the rock wall above its head.

And at this moment, right on the back of its head, the mace in Ren Yidao's hand was swinging so fast it was almost sparking.

Ding ding ding...

Ren Yidao's original plan was not complicated.

One person would act as bait to attract the Ghost Ape's attention, then the other would take the opportunity to snatch the Gourd, and finally, the first person would find a way to shake off the Ghost Ape's pursuit.

This plan actually carried great risk, especially for the person snatching the Gourd; that was truly snatching food from the tiger's mouth, and one careless move would lead to a tragic situation of eternal damnation.

From the very beginning, he had intended to leave this position for Cang Lan to handle.

Ren Yidao himself was unwilling to take such a great risk for Jiang Mingzhi and the others.

That was why he asked Cang Lan that question: "Are you willing to die for her?", asking if she was willing to take such a great risk?

If she was willing, then we would cooperate.

If she was not willing... then so be it.

If you want to save people, go by yourself; I will do my best at most, but I won't risk my life.

Fortunately, he guessed correctly.

For Cang Lan, nothing was more important than the safety of the Demon God's Child; that was not just her own mission, but concerned the fate of the entire Demon Race!

... Even if it meant sacrificing her own life, she would not hesitate!

But now, the situation seemed to be a little different.

Originally, he was just relying on the mace's memory-clearing function to stall for time, but he hadn't expected the actual effect to be unexpectedly good!

Although the Ghost Ape was a Heavenly Demon, its state was wrong at the moment, and its Consciousness Sea was undefended.

Thinking about it, it was normal; who could invade the Ghost Ape's Consciousness Sea under these circumstances?

In its berserk state, its brain was empty, with only the most primitive attack instincts remaining.

And when the beating from the mace "Fatherly Love" cleared away its desire to attack, there was absolutely nothing left in its brain, and it could only stare blankly at the sky.

"The ancients did not deceive me; 'permanent stun' really does counter 'berserk'!"

But the problem also arose: this was not a long-term solution.

The Black Fire Ghost Ape was a Heavenly Demon after all, and Ren Yidao had no way to make it completely unconscious; as soon as the mace stopped, its violent desire to attack would emerge again.

"... This is a bit awkward."

Ren Yidao swung the mace with one hand to keep up the stun, while scratching his head with the other.

The most awkward situation had appeared.

"What is this? Is the action of force and force mutual?"

While Ren Yidao controlled the Black Fire Ghost Ape, he had also locked himself by its side.

"What should I do now?"

At the same time Ren Yidao bound himself to the Black Fire Ghost Ape, Cang Lan, who was clutching the Gourd, finally lost the strength to continue after sprinting over a hundred miles while severely wounded.

"That Ghost Ape didn't follow... Was it lured away by that man?"

"Did he actually keep his promise?"

From the moment she began cooperating with Ren Yidao, Cang Lan had never believed his nonsense.

Since Ren Yidao insisted he was of the Human Race, she treated him as a member of the Human Race.

And the Human Race is not to be trusted!

They are full of lies, and they only stab people in the back... This was the education she had received all along, the experience gained by countless ancestors of the Demon Race through blood and tears.

From the very beginning, Cang Lan did not believe Ren Yidao would keep his promise to lure away the Ghost Ape, thinking he was preparing to use her as bait before running away.

But she still chose to cooperate and agreed to his plan.

It wasn't that she wanted to gamble on Ren Yidao's character, but that Cang Lan had no other choice.

Even without Ren Yidao, Cang Lan would have found a way to save Yaoyue herself.

To her, the future of the Demon Race was more important than her own life.

Cang Lan had already prepared herself to make the sacrifice.

But now, not only had Cang Lan achieved the plan, she had actually managed to survive, which left her—having prepared for death—feeling somewhat at a loss...

"Is this man different? Or were the ancestors all wrong?"

As Cang Lan pondered this and was about to stop to drop her concealment, she suddenly saw the rock wall in front of her tremble.

Who?

Under Cang Lan's gaze, a tall, sturdy figure stumbled out from a secret passage and began to cough violently.

Demon Race?

No, that's not right, it's the Human Race.

Just like that coward from before.

Hu Wanwan did not know he was being watched, and not caring whether he would inhale Demon Qi, he knelt on the ground, gasping for air after his narrow escape.

Ha...

"That was close, *cough cough*! Just a little more, and I would have ended up like them!"

"We're only five hundred miles in, how could there be a Heavenly Demon? Shouldn't it be in seclusion a thousand miles away? How did it get here?"

Thinking of that terrifying beast, which was like a mountain, a look of lingering fear flashed in his eyes.

"And who exactly was that white-haired woman? Why did my clan uncle die?"

Recalling the situation just now, Hu Wanwan's expression turned sinister, and his fingers dug hard into the ground.

That mysterious woman had appeared at the location of the Token, thrown out Hu Yongyong's corpse, and toyed with him and Chu Hairen like prey!

If not for that Heavenly Demon that intruded, they would have been played to death by that eerie woman!

Hu Wanwan could not figure it out.

From the start, this trial in Death Valley was a conspiracy.

But shouldn't he, Hu Wanwan, be the hunter!?

"*Cough cough*... Ha, where exactly did things go wrong?"

Hu Wanwan took a deep breath, finally adjusted his state, and stood up from the ground.

"However, regardless, the result has been achieved."

He did not think Jiang Mingzhi could be as lucky as he was and escape from the Heavenly Demon.

"Hehe... have a safe journey, my dear brother."

"You must not blame me! If you don't die, I won't be able to inherit, I had no choice!"

At the thought of the heavy stone in his heart finally being lifted, a brilliant smile appeared on his face.

But that smile quickly stiffened.

Hu Wanwan, who had raised his head, saw a giant silver-gray wolf appear silently before him, looking down at him quietly with cold, chilling eyes.

"This..."

*Gulp. *

Hu Wanwan froze for only a second, then squeezed out a fawning smile, and while circulating the Demon Race bloodline in his body, said:

"Great, Great One! Don't misunderstand! I am a Demon..."

*Slap. *

A giant wolf paw flattened him instantly, not giving him any chance to explain.

If it were before, Cang Lan would have slapped Hu Wanwan to death, but this time, out of consideration for Ren Yidao, she spared his life for the moment.

However, thinking of Hu Wanwan's disgusting face just now, Cang Lan slowly shook her head.

She lifted her paw to reveal the gasping Hu Wanwan underneath and wiped it on the ground nearby in disgust.

"Sure enough, the Human Race is a base species."

Betrayal is their norm, and keeping one's word is a rare occurrence.

Putting away the realization, Cang Lan probed her divine sense into the Gourd.

This treasure was naturally formed, and since the Ghost Ape did not understand the method of refining, Cang Lan easily gained control of the Gourd.

*Whoosh—*

A white light flashed from the mouth of the Gourd, and a slender, white-haired figure appeared beside the giant wolf.

The Demon Moon, eyes closed, seemed to have sensed the changes in the surroundings and slowly opened her eyes, giggling:

"Oh~ Cang Lanlan, you've come to save me!"

"I thought I was going to die, I was so scared! Waaah~"

Cang Lan shook her head; exhausted in body and mind, she couldn't be bothered to bicker with her, saying hoarsely:

"Stop talking, let's go! We haven't escaped yet..."

Thump!

Cang Lan's words cut off, and she looked sharply behind her; she had heard a heavy sound.

Thump, thump, thump.

"It's caught up, go! We... go? Uh?"

Then, they saw it.

At the end of the tunnel, the Black Fire Ghost Ape rushed out from around the corner.

That was not the end of it.

What truly made both of their eyes widen in shock was the youth standing on top of the Ghost Ape's head!

While smashing a mace against the Ghost Ape's head, he waved the Long Whip and shouted commands:

"Forward! Keep moving forward! Yes, yes, yes!"

"Don't turn!"

Ren Yidao saw the two of them, his eyes lit up, and he cracked the whip with force.

Crack!

"Right there! Charge for me!"

"Charge!!!"

Cang Lan:???

Demon Moon:???

900,000 words now, it hasn't been easy.