Regret

Ye Chen gripped the straight blade embedded in the Alpha Ape's neck with one hand and clutched its pitch-black fur with the other, his entire body dangling from its chest.

The sharp tip had pierced both the black mass and the Alpha Ape's neck. Countless splashes of Ape Blood mixed with mud gushed from the wound, and quite a few spattered across Ye Chen's face.

Coming into such close contact with the Abyss Matter, a chorus of overlapping, ghostly voices immediately broke into Ye Chen's consciousness, calling out to him one after another inside his mind.

"Why? Why are you hurting us?"

"We're not your enemies!"

"Come on! Join us, and together we'll devour every last thing in this world!"

The sinister words struck the boy to the core, making him clutch his head in pain.

But in the face of the Abyss's temptation, the boy's will remained unyielding from beginning to end. He quickly drove away the string of demonic whispers with his indomitable fighting spirit.

Get lost, you disgusting things!

Ye Chen smacked his head hard, swiftly regaining his senses. Then he heard the Alpha Ape's hoarse, anguished scream.

"Yaaagh—!"

Its groin had already suffered a devastating blow, and now its throat had been stabbed as well. The Alpha Ape's mind was nearly overwhelmed by a tidal wave of pain. It thrashed about in a frenzy, reaching to tear Ye Chen to pieces.

But Ye Chen had regained his composure. He released the hilt in a flash, grabbed the ape's fur, and flipped straight down, dodging the hand reaching for him and climbing onto the unreachable blind spot of its back.

"Grrraugh—!"

The Alpha Ape had completely lost its mind. It began rolling across the ground, trying to crush Ye Chen beneath it.

Ye Chen swiftly leapt back to the ground, reached into his coat, and pulled out a small round jar filled with brown liquid. He flung it at the rampaging Alpha Ape before him.

Crash!

The jar struck the Alpha Ape's head and shattered. Brown liquid splashed all over its head, giving off a pungent smell of oil.

"Huh?"

The sudden wetness on its crown made the Alpha Ape's expression change, and it instinctively stopped rolling.

However, before it could figure out just how dangerous its situation was, Ye Chen, standing ahead of it, had already tossed a lit match.

The Alpha Ape recoiled in terror, but it was just a beat too slow. The instant the match touched the oil, dazzling flames engulfed its fur, turning it into a "Fire Ape."

"Gyaaaahhh—!"

The Alpha Ape's agonized scream rang across all of Cold Wind Village.

The Man-eating Giant Ape, so arrogant just moments ago, was now flailing and rolling under the torment of a stranger's various attacks. The surviving guards and villagers around them stared in shock, their jaws hanging open.

"Phew..."

Listening to the Ape's miserable cries, Ye Chen couldn't help letting out a long breath of relief.

He hadn't done this when he'd fought the Alpha Ape earlier, since they'd been in the dense Pine Forest. But now that the Alpha Ape had run out onto the village's open main road, Ye Chen had no reason to hold back.

Against a monster with so much fur, fire was undoubtedly the most effective.

As Ye Chen mused to himself, he watched the burning Alpha Ape. The beast had lost all its former swagger and was now rolling around in the snow, trying to smother every last flame on its body.

Just as it was about to stamp out the final few flames on its shoulder, Ye Chen threw two more oil jars in quick succession. The fire roared back to life, letting the Alpha Ape continue to enjoy its very own barbecue.

At last, after several minutes of struggling and screaming, the flames finally died out completely.

The Alpha Ape, scorched black from head to toe, lay gasping on the ground, its eyes vacant. Its charred mouth hung open as it struggled to gnaw at the cold, snowy dirt in front of it.

Ye Chen approached the Alpha Ape with his blade, but didn't rush in to finish it off with a decapitating strike. Instead, he cautiously studied the situation before him.

After all, he'd already experienced stabbing it through the heart without killing it. He couldn't be sure that cutting off its head would end the Abyss Monster's life, and it might also be pretending to be near death so it could launch a counterattack. Ye Chen had to proceed with caution.

After a quick inspection, Ye Chen noticed that although the Alpha Ape itself had been badly burned, the mass of black sludge remained tightly attached to its indistinct flesh. It squirmed and gathered, trying to fill the burns covering the Alpha Ape's body.

It seemed even the high heat of fire was useless against this Abyss Matter. So even if the Cold Wind Village guards had thought of using fire, they probably still wouldn't have been able to overcome the Abyss's terrifying regenerative power.

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

With that thought in mind, Ye Chen quickly circled behind the Alpha Ape's head. By then, it no longer had the strength to fight back. It could only stare at Ye Chen's lowered blade with bloodshot eyes. At last, unease, fear, and despair had come around to haunt it.

The Alpha Ape had once thought that, after merging with the Abyss Matter, it was invincible, and that every living creature in the world would become its prey.

But the Alpha Ape had been wrong. Now, it was nothing more than prey. Before a true Hunter, it was about to pay the price for its wanton cruelty.

Now was the time for it to pay for its bloodshed.

Ye Chen raised his blade, then thrust it down, cleanly piercing the Alpha Ape's sturdy skull. He turned the tip of the blade and smoothly severed its thick neck.

Ape Blood gushed out, and its head fell.

But even then, the pool of black sludge continued to pulse and writhe.

At the same time, after separating the Alpha Ape's head from its body, Ye Chen noticed a black, round stone embedded in the cross-section of its windpipe. The sludge around it continuously swirled and coiled around the stone.

Ye Chen didn't hesitate. He brought his blade down.

The stone was extremely fragile. The moment it touched the bloodstained edge, it crumbled into countless specks of dust and vanished.

As the stone broke apart, the remaining black sludge on the Alpha Ape's corpse immediately solidified into patches of dry ash, then vanished into the air along with the stone.

Watching all the Abyss Matter disappear and the Alpha Ape become nothing more than an ordinary animal carcass, the boy finally felt the tension in his heart ease a little.

After the Alpha Ape's death, the people of Cold Wind Village whom Ye Chen had saved didn't look jubilant or elated. Instead, they all stood rooted to the spot, not even daring to take a deep breath. They simply watched Ye Chen in silence and fear.

In their eyes, Ye Chen had dealt with such a terrifying monster in no time. That made him just as dangerous.

They didn't know who Ye Chen was or where he came from, so they couldn't tell whether he was a hero who had descended from the heavens or another demon from hell.

Ye Chen understood their wariness and didn't blame anyone in Cold Wind Village. He simply walked over to the two guards the Alpha Ape had knocked away and asked if they were badly hurt.

Although the two guards' armor was shattered, their faces streaked with blood, and their arms broken, they still struggled to their feet when Ye Chen approached. Limping, they called out to him, "N-no, we're all right! Thanks for asking!"

Seeing that they still had so much energy, Ye Chen didn't feel the need to continue the conversation.

Then he suddenly felt someone tug at his coat. He looked down and saw a girl greeting him. This petite young Frost White Person was one of the mother and daughter he had just rescued from the Ape's jaws.

"Thank you for saving us, big brother!"

The girl looked up at Ye Chen. Ignoring her mother's protests and attempts to pull her back, she thanked him in her childish voice, then flashed him a cute smile.

The child was used to seeing her father hunt beasts, so she wasn't repulsed by the way Ye Chen had just finished off the Alpha Ape.

"Mhm. I'm just glad you're safe."

Faced with a child who had no guard up around him, Ye Chen smiled back. He gently stroked the girl's head, his presence now utterly different from when he'd hunted the Alpha Ape, radiating warmth and friendliness.

"Big brother, you're so amazing! You took that monster down in just a few moves! Dad's always been worried about that big monkey. Now that you've taken care of it, he'll be super happy! When he gets back, he'll definitely treat you to a delicious meal!"

The girl mimicked Ye Chen's earlier movements, clenching her fists and swinging them about as she spoke with a giggle.

Her words were still as innocent as ever, yet they became a cold breeze that swept through Ye Chen's heart, freezing the expression on his face.

"Your dad... where is he now?"

Ye Chen hesitated for a moment, but finally asked.

"Dad went up the mountain to hunt! He's the second-strongest member of the Cold Wind Village Guard Squad, after Uncle Ponsen! He might not be as strong as you, big brother, but he's still really amazing!"

Hearing Ye Chen's question, the girl proudly puffed out her chest and spoke with satisfaction, showing just how much she admired and respected her father.

Ye Chen's expression wavered at once.

"Ah..."

"You're right..."

"Your dad really is amazing. He's so brave. And he loves you very much, too."

The boy replied in a trembling voice. Then he reached out and patted the girl's head again. His face full of sorrow and regret, he managed to force out a bitter smile.