Two days later,
"Roar"
In a vast expanse of mountains, towering ancient trees pierce the sky, and terrifying beast roars echo through the forests. Occasionally, a beast can be seen in the sky, casting gigantic shadows over the dense woodland below, followed by a fierce impact that shakes a section of the mountain forest.
The entire range is filled with a primitive and wild atmosphere, completely different from the Northern landscape of Shu.
Amidst these vast mountains flows a magnificent and magical river. Its waters are a green-gold color, shimmering with a vivid metallic luster.
The Qingjin River meanders through the mountains, with cliffs towering on both sides. From the dense forests near the cliffs, mysterious howling sounds echo from time to time.
On this day, strange singing sounds emanated from a mountain forest by the edge of a cliff.
"Bang"
"Bang"
At the foot of a mountain towering about three hundred zhang by the cliff, a two-legged creature stood upright. At a height of one zhang and two chi, covered in gray fur, with pointed ears and a dog’s nose, razor-sharp teeth visible at the mouth, a demon stood. A flag with a black base and red edge was strapped to its back, with a bell hanging at its waist, drumming leisurely with its hand as it hummed a tune, walking down the mountain and threading through the mountain paths.
Just then, a voice sounded behind this little demon.
"Demon Brother, please wait!"
"Hmm?" The sharp-eared, gray-haired little demon’s ears twitched, stopping the drum in its hand, halting its steps, and turning around.
On the mountain path, just a few zhang behind it, a creature with golden fur, a red face and horse-like features, standing at a towering height of two zhang, with eyes carrying a hint of amusement, gazed at it.
When the little demon saw this ape demon, its mouse eyes immediately turned fierce, grabbing the bell at its waist, "Which mountain are you from, sneaking around here?"
But the golden-haired ape demon revealed a smile, appearing somewhat ugly and fierce, with a muffled voice, "Demon Brother, don’t be offended. I was cultivating in the mountains and got lost, accidentally wandering in. I just wanted to ask what territory this is?"
As he spoke, the ape demon flipped his hand and tossed an object toward the little demon.
It was a cluster of spirit fruit, green and enchanting, resembling emeralds.
The little demon took the spirit fruit, sniffing it with his dog nose, his mouse eyes lighting up. The fierce expression with bared teeth vanished, replaced with a look of satisfaction as he looked at the golden-haired ape demon, raised his head, and spoke:
"So, you’re a newly-formed demon who was cultivating outside."
He then lifted his paw covered in shaggy fur, raised his thumb and pointed it over his shoulder with pride, "This is Stone Demon Ridge, within three hundred li all under our great king’s jurisdiction. Impressive, huh?"
"I see you’ve refined your throat bone. If you want to get on track, I might introduce you to our king. Eat and drink without having to cultivate in the wild. This place has been uneasy recently, rumors say outsiders have arrived, even making our king nervous, ordering us to patrol the mountains everywhere."
The little demon’s expression was animated, with a look of pride and a hint of greed, desiring more spirit fruit..
"Oh?" The golden-haired ape demon’s pupils moved slightly,
"Forget it, your king only controls three hundred li. I had an offer from a king of the Eight Hundred Miles Langdang Mountain to join him, but I declined. No future there."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Don’t go! Our king is of the Night Fish Clan, supported by Luwu Mountain. The thousands of li of land traversed by Zegeng Water all belong to Luwu Mountain. What does a wild-cultivator like you know?" The little demon leaped forward nimbly, blocking the golden-haired ape demon, pointing to the sky with disdain, the bell in his hand chiming with a trace of cunning in his eyes.
"Luwu Mountain?" The golden-haired ape demon’s pale golden pupils slightly contracted at the mention, then looked at the wily-eyed little demon and the bell in his hand, grinning, exposing sharp teeth.
A few breaths later, the mountain path was empty, with no sign of the little demon.
The golden-haired ape demon appeared not long after by the green-gold river several li away. Then he leaped into the river.
At the moment of entering the water, the massive ape body transformed into a large silver fish, and with a flick of its tail, it swam toward the depths of the river.
In the shallow waters, there were irregularly shaped stones of green jade, dyeing the river with a dreamy hue.
The "big fish" swam for a while, reaching a riverbed 300 zhang deep. At this moment, the river bottom was pitch black, with inky river water, and the big fish suddenly changed, revealing a figure. The figure’s eyes flickered with golden light, illuminating the river bottom, where there was a section of inky black water.
The figure flickered and charged directly into it.
"Bang"
A pair of feet landed on a deck.
Soon, "thud thud thud," the sound of clothes flapping in the wind arose, with several silhouettes appearing around.
"Colonel, how’s it outside?"
"Did you find out where we’ve landed?"
The one speaking was a towering man with a full beard, precisely Hu Yanqing the Shaking Mountain Tiger from Taisui Mountain, his copper bell-sized eyes fixed on Chen Yuan wearing green clothes and frowning.
Two more people stood beside him, Jade Qilin of Jinyu Mountain and Kuang Dao Yu Wen Guang. They exchanged a glance after observing Chen Yuan’s expression, sensing something amiss.
They had had a narrow escape from the Great Demon two days ago, fell out of a teleportation passage, and ended up "stranded" on this riverbed with this large boat. But over the past two days, there had been occasional noises outside. Because everyone had sustained injuries from that Dragon and Tiger demon, they hadn’t shown up, hiding on the deck of the boat to heal.
The reason they stayed only on the deck, not entering the cabin, was that the cabin door was tightly shut, seemingly unwelcome, as if there was a consciousness within. Fortunately, the fog of the boat was strange enough to isolate their aura!
At this moment, aside from the trio from Taisui Mountain, a group huddled in the corner of the deck, seeing Chen Yuan emerge, causing a stir. Fearful, they dared not come forward, none other than the Fang Family members.
Their ancestor, at this time, sat cross-legged with slightly lifted eyelids, lost in thought.
"We are now in Luwu Mountain territory, this river is called Zegeng River, which flows south into Pang Waters, rich with green jade," Chen Yuan revealed the name of this river, this area.
Upon hearing Chen Yuan casually mention the name, the area’s products and specialities, Hu Yanqing thought this was a place familiar to Chen Yuan the Colonel from Shu, feeling relieved until Chen Yuan continued,
"But there is a beast in this water, named Gu Diao, its form like an eagle with horns, its sound like a baby’s cry, fond of eating humans!"
Chen Yuan finished, Hu Yanqing became aware, his copper bell eyes stared wide.
"This...."
"Looks like we’ve fallen into the Ten Thousand Mountains!" Jade Qilin of Jinyu Mountain realized a step faster, remarked oddly.
Gu Diao, one of the Ten Evils, they had landed in such a fierce demonic beast’s lair.
Upon hearing they had fallen into the lair of the Ten Evils, the Fang Family disciples panicked, causing a commotion, noisy and startling.
Chen Yuan cast a sidelong glance at these people, a fierce glint flowing in his eyes, then turned to the Taisui Mountain trio,
"According to The Overseers’ records, Luwu Mountain is deep within the mountains, even if the Ten Thousand Mountains are teeming with demons, if we are careful, crossing shouldn’t be a problem. However, based on the information from the little demon in the nearby mountains and the movements outside these two days, I suspect that Great Demon knows we’ve fallen in here, possibly laying a net of traps, waiting for us, so crossing won’t be easy."
"Why not turn the tables!"

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