Chapter 84

Chapter 84: The Beastman Appears

Lou Yun had just wanted to go up the mountain when he heard Chang Xiang’s voice ring out in his mind: "Kid, there are not only demon beasts on this mountain, there is also a person!"

"One person?" Lou Yun asked puzzledly: "Shouldn’t there be a group of people?"

"No, only one person, and I actually couldn’t figure out this person’s strength—it wasn’t that I couldn’t see it, but I couldn’t make it clear!"

"What do you mean?"

"His magical weapon had already mixed with a massive amount of rampaging energy, as if he had been beastified! Be careful—you probably aren’t his match!"

People became beastified for only one reason: by absorbing energy from beast souls to cultivate, and after beastification, they would become very powerful but lose most of their humanity, turning almost like demon beasts, adopting their traits and joining with them. Of course, there was also the constant life threat of exploding due to uncontrollable chaotic energy.

Lou Yun had only heard of beastified people but had never actually seen one. Now, hearing Chang Xiang say this, he felt a bit worried. He wasn’t worried for himself, but for Wan Huier.

If he left Wan Huier at the foot now, first, she would surely disagree, and second, he truly wasn’t reassured. Lou Yun slightly regretted being too rash—he hadn’t figured out the situation here before recklessly bringing Wan Huier along. But since they were already climbing the mountain, leaving wasn’t really possible. Might as well quickly find a couple of weaker demon beasts to kill, and quietly leave without alarming that beastman!

After making up his mind, Lou Yun expanded his spiritual sense and also asked Chang Xiang to keep an eye out for him, notifying him immediately if the beastman’s traces were discovered.

To prevent Wan Huier from getting scared, Lou Yun had to act as if nothing was wrong. After climbing uphill for about a hundred meters, Lou Yun finally spotted three demon beasts: two at intermediate one-star and one at beginner five-star.

Lou Yun decided that after killing these three demon beasts, he would leave immediately!

Pulling Wan Huier to a stop, Lou Yun whispered to her about the locations of the demon beasts, telling her to hide quietly nearby and not act, since her strength wasn’t enough to kill any of them.

Wan Huier was already feeling a bit timid, so hearing Lou Yun say this, she naturally nodded in agreement. She found a tall fir tree to climb and hid among the leaves.

After seeing Wan Huier hidden, Lou Yun drew his Stone Sword in his right hand and his Dream Emperor Sword in his left, for he wanted to finish this fast, not disturb the beastman, so he went straight for his weapons.

First targeting one demon beast’s position, Lou Yun pushed off with his feet, shooting himself out. Before he even reached it, his Stone Sword swung out with a Sword Dance of Wind and Thunder across the beast’s neck.

With Lou Yun at an intermediate three-star magical weapons master level, and going all-out, this poor beast didn’t even have time to scream—its large head was cut off, rolling on the ground for a long distance before stopping.

A companion’s sudden death made the other two demon beasts pause in shock, which was exactly what Lou Yun wanted. He aimed the Dream Emperor Sword at another beast and used it like a spear for the Heavenly Gang Unison move from Heaven Gang Spear. The Dream Emperor Sword flew out, piercing through the beast’s body and shooting away.

In a blink, two demon beasts were dealt with, leaving the last one to snap out of it and open its mouth to let out a piercing roar.

Lou Yun thought to himself that this was bad! The roar was too loud and could easily attract the beastman. He hurriedly swung the Stone Sword and charged forward, while with his right hand he opened and closed his fingers, summoning another Dream Emperor Sword. This made Wan Huier, hiding in the fir tree, stare in astonishment—she’d never seen anyone use magical weapons like that!

Effortlessly, it was another one-hit kill. The three demon beasts had been completely finished off in just moments under Lou Yun’s full assault, showing that Lou Yun had not only grown stronger in cultivation but also boosted his skill in weapon techniques and combat experience.

After killing the three demon beasts, Lou Yun dared not linger. Immediately, he cut open their bellies with his swords—fortunately, two of them had beast souls inside.

Just as Lou Yun bent down to take out the two beast souls, Chang Xiang’s voice rang in his mind: "He’s coming!"

Before the words faded, Wan Huier’s scream followed. In a rush of heat like blood to his head, Lou Yun turned around to see a figure clutching Huier and swiftly darting through the fir trees—its agility and speed were almost inhuman!

Staring at the figure’s back and hearing Huier’s cries, Lou Yun felt his eyes sting as if bleeding. He pushed off with his feet and chased after that person at full speed, trying to catch him and save Huier.

Though Lou Yun had excellent physical fitness and was fast, compared to a beastman who possessed demon beast traits, he was still a step slower.

Lou Yun used all his strength but could only barely keep the figure’s back in view from a distance, not losing track; it was impossible to catch up!

So one ran ahead and one chased behind. Soon, they’d covered a great deal of ground. Lou Yun had no time to check his surroundings—only that countless demon beasts rushed by him—and direction-wise, they were heading uphill.

At first, Huier screamed occasionally, but later there was no sound at all. This made Lou Yun even more anxious, fearing that Huier had already met with some disaster!

Lou Yun looked up—the mountaintop was just ahead, making his heart leap with hope. The mountaintop had no more paths—where could he run now?

As for this beastman, though Lou Yun knew he was weaker in strength, he had Xiao Huo with him, so he didn’t worry about losing a fight. But the beastman was too fast to catch.

Now that the enemy had nowhere to go, as long as Lou Yun could force him to put Huier down, the rest would be manageable. Lou Yun’s mood eased a little.

Lou Yun gnashed his teeth and shouted at the beastman’s back, "See where you can run! I swear I won’t be human if I don’t kill you!"

The beastman completely ignored Lou Yun’s shouts; although he obviously knew he had reached the mountain top, his speed didn’t slow down at all. However, because of the terrain, Lou Yun closed the distance between them a bit and could now clearly see his back.

The beastman had a strong, broad back and was topless, with his lower body wrapped in what looked like the skin of some demon beast. His body was slightly hunched, and the muscles on his arms and legs bulged high. As he ran and leaped, his movements were extremely fluid, clearly showing that he spent a lot of time active in the mountains.

Just as Lou Yun saw that the beastman had reached the mountain top and thought he should stop, the very next second, he vanished right before Lou Yun’s eyes!

He had jumped down!

That was Lou Yun’s first thought, and upon realizing this, he immediately raced like mad, desperately charging toward the mountain top.

When he stood on the mountain top and looked down, all he saw below were swirling clouds and mist. Lou Yun’s eyesight couldn’t penetrate the mist to see what was underneath, and naturally, he didn’t spot the beastman or Wan Huier either.

Still, the mountain top wasn’t that big, and with no sign of the beastman in sight, it meant the beastman had definitely jumped off this cliff.

The beastman dying didn’t matter, but Lou Yun worried about Wan Huier’s safety. He desperately wanted to jump down right after him, but thankfully, he hadn’t completely lost his reason. Suddenly, he thought that the beastman’s strength wasn’t weaker than his own—even if Lou Yun pursued him, the beastman could have fought back, defeated him, and avoided resorting to such a suicidal method of escape, right?

This didn’t fit a demon beast’s personality at all; he’d only ever heard of humans committing suicide, never demon beasts doing such a thing!

Therefore, since the beastman dared to jump, he must have known he wouldn’t die. After all, the beastman lived in the mountains year after year, so he naturally knew this environment inside out. Probably, beneath the clouds and mist, there was a path or cave that Lou Yun didn’t know about.

But gazing at the unfathomable depths below, Lou Yun really lacked the courage to just plunge down. If his guess was correct, it might be fine, but if wrong, if the bottom was empty, falling from such a height would surely shatter him into pieces!

Yet if the guess was right, Huier was still in the beastman’s grasp, waiting for Lou Yun to rescue her!

What should he do?

Lou Yun was caught in a difficult dilemma!

At that moment, Chang Xiang spoke up again and reminded him, "Don’t fret so much! I can tell you that the beastman and your sister aren’t dead, because there’s a cave on the cliff wall, likely where the beastman usually lives. He can come and go freely, but you don’t yet have that ability!"

Upon hearing this, Lou Yun was both relieved and worried—relieved that Huier was safe, but worried about how to save her.

"Brother Chang, can you help me save her?"

"I’d really like to help, but I don’t have the ability to do so right now!"

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Lou Yun felt like he was going mad. Clearly knowing Huier was below him, in the beastman’s clutches and facing mortal danger at any moment, yet completely unable to rescue her—this was worse than death!

Gritting his teeth, Lou Yun suddenly drew the Stone Sword.

"What are you going to do?"

"Save her!"

"Going down like this is just throwing your life away!"

"I can’t just stand by and watch Huier get hurt! Besides, if I don’t give it a try, how would I know?"

After saying this, Lou Yun ignored Chang Xiang’s disapproval. He reached out and placed Xiao Huo from his shoulder onto the ground, saying, "Xiao Huo, if I don’t come back, run away on your own!"

Lightly patting Xiao Huo’s head, Xiao Huo seemed to sense what Lou Yun intended to do next, letting out a mournful cry as if pleading with him not to go down.

Lou Yun smiled lightly, then the Dream Emperor Sword appeared in his right hand. He took a deep breath, bent over abruptly, and with a thrust of his right hand, drove the Dream Emperor Sword into the cliff wall. Next, his left hand pushed with force, embedding the Stone Sword into the cliff wall, too. After that, Lou Yun jumped off.

Relying on the two swords embedded in the cliff, they bore the full weight of his body as he hung in mid-air. The feeling of having no footing was extremely unsettling, especially when mountain winds blew, swinging his body violently with the gusts. The strong wind also rushed into his ears, making a roaring noise; he could fall at any moment.

But this was no time to dwell on that. Lou Yun took another deep breath, suddenly pulled out the Dream Emperor Sword, and hung there with just the Stone Sword supporting him.

He then drove the Dream Emperor Sword into the cliff near his knee height, shifted a bit to test its firmness, and pulled out the Stone Sword, embedding it again close to where the Dream Emperor Sword was stuck.

Moving in this perilous manner, Lou Yun gradually lowered his body while fighting the fierce wind. Chang Xiang didn’t speak now; he was praying anxiously for Lou Yun, knowing that even the slightest disturbance could make him plummet to the bottom, so he dared not take the risk.

After descending about six or seven meters, Chang Xiang cautiously whispered to him, "The cave entrance is roughly three meters away now!"

Lou Yun glanced up, estimated his descent distance, and realized he’d reach the cave with just two more moves.

"Hang on, hang on, I’ll see Huier soon!" Lou Yun mentally encouraged himself. Of course, he was scared—anyone would be, hanging from a sheer cliff with just two swords like this before he could control a magical weapon to fly.

After carefully moving down another half-step, Lou Yun caught a whiff of a foul smell and immediately heard Huier’s voice: "Go away! What are you trying to do? Listen, Brother Lou’s coming to save me any second now, and once he gets here, you’re dead!"

Hearing those words stirred Lou Yun deeply. Even in such a crisis, Huier still trusted him so much; if fear hadn’t made him descend, he would have truly betrayed her faith in him.

Trying not to alarm the beastman, Lou Yun extracted his next sword extremely slowly. Yet, whether because he still made some noise or because the beastman’s hearing was too sharp, before Lou Yun fully pulled out the blade, a massive head suddenly jutted out around one meter from his position!

The hair on that head was tangled into knots, the swollen face was unrecognizable, and two long fangs protruded from the mouth, keeping it partly open. Sticky saliva dripped out, making the sight utterly disgusting!

This was the beastman, whose appearance indeed made Lou Yun gasp sharply. Although there was still a human outline, not a shred of human essence could be felt!