Chapter 208: Real Heartbreak Isn’t a Big Scene

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Real Heartbreak Isn’t a Big Scene

The perspective shifted. On a mountaintop somewhere in the Ten Thousand Mountains, Qin Zhan and the others had fallen into a strained silence.

Although the sun shone brightly overhead, they couldn’t feel a shred of its warmth.

Their hearts turned cold.

They were living proof that true despair wasn’t about shouting and making a scene.

After a full day and night of trekking through the mountains, not only had they failed to find any trace of Boss Lu, but they had also gotten lost.

As for the map...

"Hah!"

Qin Zhan tore the map in his hands to shreds, letting the pieces scatter in the wind. Utter garbage.

But the wind couldn’t carry away their worries.

Now, they had no idea where they were. The environment in these mountains had a natural disorienting effect; ordinary methods of navigation were useless here.

Once they went too deep, their One World Communication devices stopped working.

They had lost all contact with the outside world.

They all had cultivation, so it wasn’t as if they would starve to death here.

However...

Lou Xiaotian hid behind a rock, sighing deeply as he looked down at the behemoth blocking the valley below, then glanced back at the massive serpent faintly visible in the forest behind them.

They were trapped.

Even though the demon beasts might not have been aware of them, they didn’t dare make any rash moves.

The Iron Armor Dragon demon beast in the valley was, by their initial assessment, at the Void Realm of cultivation. The strongest among them, however, was only at the Nascent Soul realm.

There was a gap of two major realms between them.

Moreover, this Iron Armor Dragon was famous for its defense. That thick armor was absurdly tough. The combined attacks of all six of them probably wouldn’t even be enough to scratch it.

On the contrary, a single small roll from the beast could easily crush them to death.

They couldn’t go forward, and they couldn’t go back.

They were stuck here.

"What do we do now?"

The Little Prince Long Zhang had never seen a situation like this. He sat on the ground, looking utterly dejected.

He peeked over at Shan Hanzhi and gave a silly grin.

’It’s a shame we can’t leave, but if she’s here with me, I’m actually quite happy about it.’

’My mother told me that when you meet a woman you like, you have to pursue her boldly.’

’That’s how my father won my mother’s heart. As for all the setbacks and hardships he faced, those were just minor squalls on the path of love.’

’Nothing worth mentioning.’

His love-addled brain was clearly acting up. Everyone saw Long Zhang’s dopey expression, rolled their eyes, and moved away, not wanting to get infected.

Shan Hanzhi seemed to ignore him, but the corners of her mouth curved into a small smile.

’Silly Little Prince.’

"Can we break through from the side?"

Zhang Yue was considering the possibility.

"I can use my ghost spirit to scout the path."

With her ghost spirit, Zhang Yue had given them early warnings about many dangers along the way. That, combined with the scent-eliminating medicine from Jiang Yunhe, was why they hadn’t run into much trouble so far.

"It’s hard to say."

Jiang Yunhe dusted off his clothes.

None of them cut a pretty picture right now; they were all covered in dust and dirt.

They had gone too deep. The creatures living here now were all powerful demon beasts.

He couldn’t guarantee his medicine would be effective against every demon beast.

If they accidentally trespassed on the territory of a highly territorial demon beast, they might just lose their lives.

"Boss Lu, where in the world are you?!"

Lou Xiaotian howled, beating his chest and stomping his feet.

’I should have been braver back then and stood up to those evil forces. I should have refused to leave, no matter what.’

"It moved."

Qin Zhan spoke up. Down below, the demon beast that had seemed to be sleeping soundly on the ground lifted its head. Lou Xiaotian quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.

Fortunately, it wasn’t looking in their direction.

"Another demon beast is coming."

The group hid themselves well. From their vantage point, they had a clear view of the scene below.

The newcomer was a bird with jade-green feathers. Despite its small size, no one dared to underestimate it.

A Cui Du Bird. Its whole body was so poisonous that a single touch meant death. Even Jiang Yunhe had no remedy for its venom.

They all held their breath.

SWISH SWISH!

The Cui Du Bird flapped its wings, hovering at the same height as the Iron Armor Dragon’s head, and began chirping about something.

The wind carried the sound of its calls, a clear and melodious cry as pleasant as a nightingale’s song.

"Can any of you understand it?"

Lou Xiaotian asked. He certainly couldn’t.

Qin Zhan and the others shook their heads. This was outside their area of expertise.

Long Zhang, however, scratched his head and whispered.

"I think... I can understand a little of it."

Although Long Zhang had a human form, he wasn’t part of the Human Clan, nor was he purely a demon beast.

Perhaps due to some distant ancestry, leagues and leagues removed, he could grasp some of the meaning in the bird’s chirps.

"It seems to be inviting the Iron Armor Dragon to go eat something somewhere. They’re friends."

Beasts have friends, too.

Not all demon beasts are solitary. Some form packs, and others form groups.

"Eat!"

That one word ignited a fire of hope in the group.

The biggest thing sustaining them through their time as wild men in these mountains was their craving for Boss Lu’s food.

At that moment, a thought popped into their heads.

’Could the place these two beasts are heading to be where Boss Lu is?’

In their excitement, their emotions overloaded, and their auras fell into disarray.

Below, both beasts looked over at the same time.

ROAR!

’Humans. Should we take care of them?’

The Iron Armor Dragon asked the Cui Du Bird. It had noticed these humans long ago but hadn’t bothered to do anything about them.

"No need."

The Cui Du Bird shook its head.

"Lu Tuantuan is also human."

It had been taken by another beast friend to taste the rabbit heads, and the exquisite flavor had made it want to share the experience with the Iron Armor Dragon.

And all the demon beasts who had eaten Lu Wu’s rabbit heads knew that Boss Lu had once played the part of a bunny to soothe their emotions.

This was Boss Lu’s love for them.

"Lu Tuantuan" was the demon beasts’ term of endearment for Lu Wu.

Because of her, they wouldn’t proactively attack humans.

Of course, if any humans came looking for death, they wouldn’t be polite.

Lu Tuantuan herself had said not to trust humans too much just because of her.

Kill them if they need killing.

Having understood these few words, Long Zhang wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He glanced at his oblivious companions and puffed out his chest.

’Oh, well.’

’I guess I’ll just have to savor this taste of fear all by myself.’

"Follow them, or not?"

The two beasts began to move. With their cultivation, despite their massive bodies, their speed was nothing to scoff at.

They moved like startled rabbits.

If they hesitated any longer, they would lose track of the two beasts.

"Let’s go!"

Qin Zhan was the first to move. They’d come this far and were lost anyway. They might as well take a shot in the dark and see what happened.

The group hurriedly followed.

Moving as fast as the wind, they completely lost their sense of direction, weaving left and right as they followed the two beasts.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The earthquake-like tremors traveled from the distance to where Lu Wu was.

’A beast is coming.’

Lu Wu paid it no mind.

By her stall, Lu Wu was using Spiritual Power to soothe her sore arms after a long day of work, then set down her spatula.

Today’s rabbit heads were also sold out.

Having completed the system’s mission, Lu Wu sat to the side, sipping on milk tea.

The little beasts were cleaning up the stall for Lu Wu.

A little squirrel was scrubbing the pot.

It looked at the bit of grease on its paw and licked it with its tiny tongue.

’Bunny, so delicious.’

Perhaps because they had been hunting bunnies a little too diligently these past two days, the nearby rabbit population had nearly vanished.

The rabbits: We’ve moved!

Adhering to the concept of sustainable development, the little beasts decided they would hunt somewhere farther away tomorrow.

The relocated rabbits: Stay away from us!