Regret

Ye Chen gripped his straight blade, which was plunged into the Alpha Ape's neck, with one hand, while his other hand clutched the beast's pitch-black fur, leaving him dangling right in front of its chest.

The sharp tip of the blade pierced through the black mass and the Alpha Ape's neck simultaneously, causing a spray of Ape Blood mixed with sludge to erupt from the wound, much of which splattered onto Ye Chen's face.

Under the zero-distance contact with this Abyss Matter, layers of ghostly voices immediately invaded Ye Chen's consciousness, screaming one after another directly inside his mind.

"Why... do you want to hurt us?"

"We are not your enemies."

"Come here quickly... join us and let's devour everything in this world."

The sinister words struck the boy's heart, causing him to clutch his head in immediate agony.

However, faced with the seduction of the Abyss, the boy's will remained unyielding from start to finish; that series of demonic whispers was quickly and forcibly dispelled by his tenacious fighting spirit.

Get lost, you disgusting things!

Ye Chen slapped his head hard to regain his composure, and then he heard the Alpha Ape's hoarse, shrill scream.

"Eee-aaaah--!"

Having already suffered a fatal blow to its vitals and now with a blade driven deep into its throat, the Alpha Ape's brain was nearly overwhelmed by a tsunami of pain, causing it to thrash about wildly while reaching out to tear Ye Chen to shreds.

Regaining his calm, Ye Chen nimbly released the hilt, grabbed the ape's fur, and performed a vertical flip. Not only did he dodge the swipe of the ape's palm, but he also climbed into a blind spot on its back where its hands could not reach.

"Ugh-roar--!"

Having completely lost its sanity, the Alpha Ape began rolling on the ground, attempting to crush Ye Chen on its back.

Ye Chen reacted quickly, jumping back to the ground and pulling a small round jar filled with brown liquid from his coat, which he hurled at the rampaging Alpha Ape.

Crash!

The jar smashed against the Alpha Ape's head and shattered, coating its entire skull in brown liquid that emitted a pungent, oily odor.

"Roar?"

Feeling the sudden wetness on its crown, the Alpha Ape's expression shifted, and it instinctively stopped rolling.

However, before it could grasp the dangerous situation it was in, Ye Chen, standing before it, tossed a lit match.

The Alpha Ape recoiled in terror, but its reaction was a beat too slow. The moment the match touched the oil, blinding flames instantly engulfed the ape's fur, turning it into a "Fire Ape" in an instant.

"Gaa-aaaaah--!"

The Alpha Ape's painful screams immediately echoed throughout Cold Wind Village.

Watching the previously arrogant Man-eating Giant Ape now writhing and crawling in agony under the various methods of a stranger, the surviving guards and villagers were left dumbfounded, their faces filled with shock.

"Hoo."

Listening to the ape's miserable cries, Ye Chen couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He hadn't done this when fighting the Alpha Ape in the dense pine forest, but since the beast had run out into the open village road, Ye Chen no longer had any reason to hold back.

Dealing with a monster with this much fur, fire is indeed the most efficient method.

Ye Chen thought to himself while observing the burning Alpha Ape. The giant beast had lost its former majesty and was now just rolling in the snow, trying to extinguish the flames on its body.

But just as it was about to smother the last few sparks on its shoulder, Ye Chen threw two more oil jars, causing the fire to roar back to life and allowing the Alpha Ape to continue enjoying its exclusive barbecue session.

Finally, after several minutes of struggling and screaming, the flames were completely extinguished.

Covered in charred remains, the Alpha Ape lay on the ground, gasping for breath, its eyes dull as it opened its black mouth to feebly gnaw at the cold, snowy earth.

Ye Chen approached the Alpha Ape with his blade, but he did not rush to deliver the finishing blow, observing the situation cautiously instead.

After all, having experienced it not dying after its heart was pierced, he couldn't be sure that decapitation would end the life of this Abyss monster. Furthermore, the creature might be faking its death to launch a counterattack, so Ye Chen had to act with caution.

Through a quick observation, Ye Chen discovered that although the Alpha Ape had been severely burned, the pile of black sludge remained tightly attached to its mangled flesh, constantly squirming and gathering to try and fill in the burns all over its body.

It seems that even the high temperature of fire is no match for this Abyss Matter. Even if the Cold Wind Village guards had thought of using fire, they likely wouldn't have been able to overcome this terrifying regenerative power.

In the end, only Auling Power can truly destroy them.

With this thought in mind, Ye Chen quickly circled behind the Alpha Ape. During this time, the beast no longer had the strength to counterattack, only able to stare fixedly at the blade tip hanging over it with bloodshot eyes. Now, it was the ape's turn to experience unease, fear, and despair.

The Alpha Ape once thought that after merging with the Abyss Matter, it was an invincible existence, and that every living thing in the world would become its meal.

However, the Alpha Ape was wrong. Now, it was nothing more than prey. In front of a true hunter, the Alpha Ape was about to pay the price for its indulgence and cruelty.

Now was the time for it to pay its blood debt.

Ye Chen raised his long blade and thrust it down, cleanly piercing the Alpha Ape's solid skull before twisting the blade to smoothly sever its thick neck.

Ape Blood sprayed, and the head fell.

Yet, even so, that pool of black sludge continued to heave.

At the same time, after separating the Alpha Ape's head from its body, Ye Chen discovered that embedded within the cross-section of the ape's trachea was a black round stone, with the surrounding sludge constantly swirling and coiling around it as a center.

Without hesitation, Ye Chen slashed down.

The round stone was extremely fragile; the moment it touched the blood-stained blade, it turned into countless specks of dust and vanished into thin air.

As the round stone crumbled, the remaining black sludge on the surface of the Alpha Ape's corpse immediately solidified into dry ash, dissipating into the air along with the stone.

Watching all the Abyss Matter vanish and seeing the Alpha Ape become nothing more than an ordinary beast corpse, the tension that had been hanging in Ye Chen's heart finally eased.

After the Alpha Ape dropped dead, the people of Cold Wind Village who had been saved by Ye Chen did not appear jubilant or high-spirited; instead, they stood rooted to the spot, not even daring to breathe deeply, merely casting fearful gazes toward Ye Chen in silence.

In their eyes, the fact that Ye Chen could so swiftly execute such a terrifying monster meant that his own existence was equally fraught with danger.

They did not know who Ye Chen was, nor did they know where he came from, and thus they had no way of knowing whether Ye Chen was a hero descended from the heavens or a second demon arrived from hell.

Ye Chen understood their wariness and had no intention of blaming the people of Cold Wind Village in the slightest; he simply walked over to the two members of the Guard Squad who had been knocked away by the Alpha Ape earlier to ask if they were seriously injured.

Although the two guards had shattered armor, blood-streaked faces, and broken arms, upon seeing Ye Chen take the initiative to approach, they struggled to crawl up from the ground and limped toward him, shouting, "N-no, no major issues! Thank you for your concern!"

Seeing that they still had such spirit, Ye Chen had no desire to continue the conversation.

However, he suddenly felt his sleeve being tugged, and looking down, he discovered a young girl greeting him; this small, young Frost White Person was one of the mother-daughter pair he had just saved from the jaws of the ape.

"Thank you for saving us, big brother!"

The girl looked up at Ye Chen, ignoring the opposition and tugging from her mother behind her, and thanked him in a childish accent before flashing a cute smile.

This child was accustomed to seeing her father hunt wild beasts, so she felt no aversion to the way Ye Chen had executed the Alpha Ape just moments ago.

"Mm, as long as you are safe, that is all that matters."

Facing the unguarded child, Ye Chen responded with a smile of his own, reaching out to gently pat the girl's little head, radiating an aura completely opposite to the one he had while hunting the Alpha Ape, overflowing with friendliness and kindness.

"Big brother, you are so amazing, you took down that monster in just a few hits! Daddy has been worrying about that big monkey for a long time, and now that you've solved it, Daddy will definitely be super happy! When he comes back, he will definitely treat you to a delicious meal!"

The girl imitated Ye Chen's previous movements, clenching her fists and gesturing wildly before giggling and speaking.

Her words still seemed innocent and pure, yet they transformed into a cold breeze that blew into Ye Chen's heart, causing his expression to stiffen abruptly.

"Where is your daddy... right now?"

Ye Chen hesitated for a moment before finally asking the question.

"Daddy went up the mountain to hunt! He is the second strongest in the Cold Wind Village Guard Squad, right after Uncle Ponsen! Although he might not be as good as big brother, he is still very amazing, you know!"

Hearing Ye Chen's inquiry, the girl proudly puffed out her chest and announced in a smug tone, fully expressing her admiration and respect for her father.

Ye Chen's expression wavered instantly.

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"You are right..."

"Your daddy is indeed very amazing; he is truly very brave. At the same time, he also loves you very much..."

The youth replied with a trembling voice, then reached out to stroke the girl's head once more, his regretful and sorrowful face finally managing to squeeze out a bitter smile.