Chapter 191
Chapter 191
The people from Wushan Cavern had not expected these intruders to be so difficult.
Jiang Yunsui threw a small sphere, followed by a cluster of Imperial Flowing Essence.
The instant they landed among the swarm, white mycelium began growing madly.
The once-active Gu insects gradually stiffened.
Even a giant snake fell victim. The spores were so fine that they were nearly invisible and could enter through the mouth, nose, ears, and other openings.
Once stimulated, they grew with astonishing tenacity.
Inside an animal, the mycelium fed upon blood, flesh, and internal organs.
The white strands looked holy and immaculate, yet they were lethal weapons.
The scene resembled a work of art, but it sent chills down every spine.
The Wushan Cavern fighters stared in horror.
“Scatter! It’s the Parasitic Yellow Mushroom!”
“Jiang Yunsui, you go first!” Song Jin shouted.
Jiang Yunsui swung herself onto Zuozuo’s back.
“Go!”
Fat Chef and Jiang Yunsui fled at once with Ji Si protecting them.
They ran for a very long time without stopping.
“Huff… huff… Where have we run to?”
Fat Chef could go no farther. They had been running for nearly an hour.
He dropped onto his bottom, his face crimson with exhaustion.
Jiang Yunsui climbed down from Zuozuo.
“Will they be able to find us?”
“We left markers,” Ji Si replied.
Then they would wait here.
Ji Si stood nearby with his sword in hand, alert for danger. Both dogs pricked up their ears and kept watch as well.
Growl…
Jiang Yunsui and Fat Chef simultaneously looked down and rubbed their stomachs.
Then they looked at each other.
“Hungry.”
Ji Si fell silent.
Fat Chef looked up at the sky and found himself staring into a pair of eyes.
“Holy mother!”
Jiang Yunsui looked up too.
Oh. It was a monkey.
“Scared me half to death,” Fat Chef grumbled. “We used too much energy. It’s time to eat.”
Jiang Yunsui nodded in agreement.
“I’ll hunt,” Ji Si said.
Fat Chef stood. “We’ll go together. This forest is far too dangerous. If I meet something strange, I can’t promise I can defeat it.”
Jiang Yunsui rose too, dusted off her bottom, and trailed Ji Si like a little tail.
“Si Si, together.”
Ji Si gave in.
They searched the area and found some edible wild fruit. Ji Si caught two pheasants and an unfamiliar bird, while Jiang Yunsui found edible mushrooms.
Finding mushrooms was her greatest specialty.
“Fat Grandpa, is this Chinese yam?”
Fat Chef leaned closer. “It really is. You two dig it up while I set the pot and start a fire.”
They found a small stream and efficiently began cleaning the game and cooking.
Jiang Yunsui and Ji Si grunted with effort as they dug for yams. The two dogs wagged their tails and helped dig.
The meal was ready before long.
They spent ten seconds debating whether to wait for Song Jin’s group or eat first.
They chose to eat.
They could save portions for the others.
While Jiang Yunsui ate, something tugged on her backpack.
She turned and found a monkey.
“What are you doing? That’s my backpack!”
Ji Si drove it off with a pebble.
The monkey leaped into a tree and began screeching.
Ji Si’s expression changed.
“Bad. Run.”
“What?” Fat Chef asked. “Why are we running? Our things are still here!”
Ji Si had no time to explain. He scooped up Jiang Yunsui, who was still gnawing on a chicken leg, tucked her under one arm, and ran.
Fat Chef stared in shock.
Jiang Yunsui was equally confused. What had happened?
They understood a moment later when a tremendous commotion swept through the forest.
A troop of monkeys!
More than a hundred surged toward them. Any monkeys capable of surviving in such a dangerous forest were no gentle creatures.
Fat Chef looked mournfully at his pot, which still held meat.
“My pot! My meat!”
Jiang Yunsui called back, “Fat Grandpa, run! There are so many monkeys!”
“Agh! Go away! Don’t steal my bag!”
The monkeys moved too quickly through the trees. Fat Chef, the slowest runner, was the first they caught.
They stole his clothes and bag. He waved his spatula to drive them off, but the creatures were far too agile.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
The two dogs also grew irritated by the harassment.
The monkeys were not especially deadly, but they were maddeningly persistent. They darted everywhere, stealing the party’s belongings and clinging like sticky plasters no matter how often they were driven away.
Their scratches and bites still hurt.
Jiang Yunsui clutched her pack tightly.
“Don’t take my backpack! Let go!”
Little Mushroom bared her teeth as fiercely as she could.
The monkeys were not intimidated.
Several large monkeys suddenly swung down from the trees and seized both Jiang Yunsui and her pack.
Ji Si held on to her with all his strength while slashing with his sword.
He had already killed several monkeys.
The Monkey King glared furiously at Ji Si.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!”
At the Monkey King’s command, most of the troop swarmed Ji Si.
Entangled by the monkeys, the hand he used to hold Jiang Yunsui was bitten until the flesh tore open.
“Si Si, let me go.”
The moment Jiang Yunsui struggled free, two large monkeys swept her and her backpack into a tree, then bounded through the canopy.
“Aaaaah! You can have the backpack! Put me down! I’m going to fall!”
Jiang Yunsui screamed.
Fat Chef knocked away a monkey. “Little Yunsui!”
He immediately ran after her.
Ji Si used his lightness skill to pursue them, but the savage troop quickly blocked him again.
His eyes reddened as he pushed his swordsmanship to the limit, cutting down several monkeys in succession.
“Damn it, these monkeys are vicious,” Fat Chef cursed.
“Where is she? Where did they take Little Yunsui?”
It was absurd. With so many people present, the monkeys had chosen Jiang Yunsui.
Ji Si was covered in blood, some his own and some from the monkeys.
As the two men followed the troop’s escape route, they met Song Jin’s group coming to find them.
“What happened to you?” Song Jin asked.
“Where is Jiang Yunsui?” Shen Qingzhu demanded.
Fat Chef struggled to catch his breath. “The monkeys… took her.”
“Huff… huff… You’re finally here.”
“Quickly. We have to follow them.”
Song Jin’s face went black. “How long has it been? That Little Unlucky One has already found trouble again.”
Shen Qingzhu passed wound medicine to Ji Si.
“Treat those injuries first. This forest is full of venomous insects. Don’t let the wounds become poisoned and make Jiang Yunsui worry.”
“I’ll help you,” Ji Er said.
“I’ll retrieve the pot,” Fat Chef said. “We need that thing if we plan to eat later.”
Once they had gathered their belongings and treated the wounds, the party immediately followed the tracks left by the monkey troop.
Elsewhere, a trembling Jiang Yunsui was carried into the monkeys’ den.
They left her hanging in a tree.
A young monkey stepped onto her back and curiously pawed through her hair.
“That hurts! Stop pulling my hair!”
The monkey tugged out her ribbon and began playing with it.
Her backpack had also been stolen.
Fine scratches from branches covered Jiang Yunsui’s face and arms.