Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Usually, when a Wild Man catches a woman, he wants to eat her after a good laugh. For some reason, Wang Cuiping had been brought back to the creature’s lair instead, where she had been trapped for twenty years.

Filled with sympathy, I reached out to pull her up.

“Can you stand? I’ll help you escape while the Wild Man is out.”

Wang Cuiping shook her head, her expression wooden.

“This is Wildman Valley. There is no escape.”

Many vines, some as thick as a wrist, hung down from the opening of the Tree Hollow. I grabbed one, gave it a tug, and beckoned to Wang Cuiping.

“We can climb out using these. It’s not hard. Why don’t you try?”

Wang Cuiping lowered her head and refused to look at me, her attitude clearly uncooperative.

Fine then. I would find a way out myself first, and once I reunited with Hua Yuling, I’d come back to save her.

I gripped the vine, exerted some force, and braced my legs against the trunk. I easily climbed up a significant distance.

“Huh, my strength seems to have increased.”

Could it be because I ate that Wild Man Meat? Oh my god, what an unexpected surprise. At least that suffering wasn’t for nothing.

I climbed upward with high spirits and was soon nearing the top of the tree. Just then, Wang Cuiping suddenly shouted from below: “Qiao Moyu, keep going!”

The narrow, long trunk acted like a megaphone. Wang Cuiping’s voice projected from the hollow and echoed throughout the entire valley.

Almost immediately, the branches above began to shake violently. A dark shadow plummeted from the sky, a palm swinging toward the top of my head. If that hit connected, I’d have a concussion at the very least.

I hastily let go of the vine, letting my body drop. Mid-fall, I reached out to grab the vine again to break my descent.

Even so, I still hit the ground hard. A piercing pain shot through my lower back.

I lay there grimacing, unable to catch my breath for a long while.

The Wild Man jumped down to the floor and let out a series of threatening roars at me. I quickly waved my hands in surrender.

“Fine, fine! I won’t run. I don’t dare to anymore.”

Ignoring me, the Wild Man held out a handful of bright red berries, offering them to Wang Cuiping almost subserviently.

Wang Cuiping didn’t take them. She pointed to the side with a cold face.

“Put them there. I’ll take them myself!”

The Wild Man obeyed and placed the berries down. Then, he turned back toward me, letting out a strange, cackling laugh.

His pitch-black pupils emitted a faint, eerie green glow in the dim hollow, flickering with the predatory intent unique to a male animal.

Instinctively sensing danger, I rolled to the side and formed a Thunder Ancestor Hand Seal with my fingers.

“Primordial Purity of the Beginning, the True Talisman swears the oath! Drive the two breaths, unite them into truth. Five Thunders, Five Thunders, gather swiftly at the Yellow Serenity! Transform through the mists, roar with lightning and thunder! Arise upon my call, sound the Yang voice immediately!”

A bolt of lightning about the thickness of a thumb struck the Wild Man. Startled, he let out a strange cry.

Lightning magic is meant to dispel evil spirits, but the Wild Man possessed a physical body. While his fur was singed, the actual damage wasn’t great. The Wild Man felt his chest, realized he wasn’t seriously hurt, and lunged at me again.

I ran in circles, occasionally finding a gap to fire off a bolt of lightning. I felt like Ultraman fighting a monster.

I didn’t have any of my equipment with me, and there were only a few spells I could use barehanded. After a while, I was truly running out of steam. I swung the leg bone to drive the Wild Man back once more, feeling utterly exhausted.

I looked at the bone in my hand and gritted my teeth. Countless people had died here over the years. If it really came down to it, I would have to forcibly set a formation to summon the spirits. I didn’t believe I couldn’t handle one Wild Man if I had a thousand ghosts wailing at once.

Just as I was forming the hand seals, a sharp pain hit my ear. A Gu insect suddenly crawled out of my ear canal and flew toward the opening of the hollow, its wings fluttering. Simultaneously, a faint shouting drifted in from outside:

“Qiao Moyu! Qiao Moyu!”

Hua Yuling?

My spirits lifted instantly. I immediately banged the leg bone against the trunk and shouted at the top of my lungs, “Hua Yuling! I’m here! I’m inside the tree!”

The Wild Man also heard the intruder. Thumping his chest, he let out an angry roar, grabbed a vine, and climbed out in a few swift motions. Moments later, the sounds of a fierce struggle erupted outside.

I hurried to grab a vine to climb up, but Wang Cuiping called out to stop me.

Sitting on the pile of hay, she looked at me with a face full of supplication.

“Your companion is here to save you?”

“Qiao Moyu, take me with you. Please help me-”

Wang Cuiping braced her body, leaning one hand against the inner wall of the tree as she slowly stood up.

At that moment, a beam of light broke through the clouds and shone down on her through the gaps in the foliage.

I stared at her in shock, my scalp tingling with numbness.