Slap, Slap, Slap, Ma Hongjun's Ear Slap

Zhao Wuji ordered:

"Oscar, feed Tang San a Sausage to wake him up. His Hidden Weapon is very useful. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, you two are on alert. Zhu Zhuqing, protect Ning Rongrong closely, don't leave her side!"

"The Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape will scare away all the surrounding soul beasts. Even if we're unlucky enough to encounter a two or three thousand year one, you can handle it together!"

Hearing this, everyone felt something was off and immediately straightened up, their spirits rising.

This wasn't normal talk.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze sharpened.

Could it be?

Zhao Wuji cursed:

"All of you wait for me here, I'm going to find them!"

"You're all just troublemakers!"

"Do I owe you guys anything?!"

He had finished taking his own medicine and, in one gulp, downed all the healing medicine Ning Rongrong had given him. His body shot towards the direction the Titan Giant Ape had left.

His angry roar echoed in everyone's ears:

"Wait for me until dawn. If I'm not back, I'm dead. You guys get out of here quickly!"

Ma Hongjun and Oscar cried out urgently: "Teacher Zhao!"

That was a Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape!

It was too dangerous!

As Zhao Wuji left, a deathly silence fell upon the group. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Everyone's spirit was shaken by the Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape.

Ma Hongjun looked around. Seeing that no one was speaking, he could only grab Tang San's shoulders and shake him violently: "Sausage, Sausage!"

"Where's the Sausage?!"

Oscar quickly summoned a Sausage nearly the length of his forearm and shoved it into Tang San's mouth. His throat visibly expanded, making a gulping sound.

Three Sausages later, Tang San showed no signs of waking.

"It's no use!"

Ma Hongjun was anxious. Now, except for Ning Rongrong, everyone was injured and their Soul Power was depleted. But Ning Rongrong, a support-type, couldn't possibly fend off soul beasts.

Their greatest hope now was Tang San's strange Hidden Weapon.

With it, they would be much safer.

Three days ago, when he was bragging, he said that thing could be fired without Soul Power just by holding it in his mouth, and its power was immense.

It had indeed seemed powerful when used against Meng Yiran.

They had to wake him up now, otherwise, if soul beasts really came, it would be another fierce battle.

With a determined look, Ma Hongjun slapped Tang San's face hard: "Slap!"

The sound was so crisp it pierced through the canopy and carried far away.

"Slap, slap, slap!!"

Loud slaps rained down like they were free. Ma Hongjun didn't care about Tang San's reaction when he woke up; he just wanted to wake him.

Until Ma Hongjun's hand ached from slapping, until Tang San's dark face was swollen and red, reflecting the moonlight like it was greased, he finally had to stop.

"Ah?"

He still wouldn't wake up?

"Hoo... hoo..."

He took a breath.

Just as Ma Hongjun was about to strike again, Tang San's eyelids twitched.

His eye twitched, and he immediately suppressed his left hand, pressing it down, clutching it tightly, and behind him, he slowly and deliberately laid Tang San down, as if nothing had happened!

Tang San woke up from the intense pain, his eyes struggling to open a sliver. In the moonlight of the full moon, he saw Ma Hongjun's worried, chubby face in the hazy glow.

He seemed very anxious...

His mind was still blank, but he felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart. He unconsciously compared Ma Hongjun to the others in Shrek, realizing that Shrek still had normal people...

For some reason, his entire body felt fine except for his face, which burned with a stinging, throbbing pain, as if it had been whipped to shreds...

Ma Hongjun grabbed a sausage from Oscar's hand and held it to Tang San's lips: "Feeling rough? It's all the Titan Giant Ape's fault. Eat a sausage and you'll be fine..."

Everyone turned their heads away in silence, none of them speaking.

The Titan Giant Ape?!

Tang San snapped into full consciousness. Xiao Wu?!

He scanned the circle and realized nearly half the group was missing.

"Where is Xiao Wu?!"

Zhao Wuji and Xia Yan were gone too!

Is Xia Yan dead?!

What about Xiao Wu?!

Ma Hongjun's expression turned awkward. He started to reach out his right hand to pat Tang San's shoulder in comfort, but realizing something, he instinctively pulled it back. "Xiao Wu was..."

A rustling sound suddenly echoed through the air.

The group immediately went on high alert, all activating their Martial Soul Possession. Over a dozen Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, yellow, and purple—rippled into view as they focused their full attention on the source of the noise.

Any soul beast that could appear now was definitely no ordinary creature.

But to their surprise, two figures emerged from the thicket.

The group's eyes narrowed, and they exclaimed in unison:

"Xiao Wu?!"

You're still alive?!

Xiao Wu's half-unraveled scorpion braid was messily matted with grass and dirt, and her clothes were torn in several places, yet she showed no signs of serious injury—not even a scratch.

Tang San was instantly overcome with joy and struggled to his feet. "Xiao Wu, you're okay!"

He stumbled toward her and reached out, but Xiao Wu dodged his touch.

She took in his emotional expression, a coldness flashing through her heart, yet she showed none of it. Ignoring Tang San, she said, "I've made everyone worry. I'm back."

Ning Rongrong gasped, "Xiao Wu, how did you get back?!"

She didn't mean to curse her, but to be snatched away by a Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape and return alive, completely unscathed, was simply impossible!

Zhao Wuji, who had run into Xiao Wu on the way back, felt as if he were dreaming.

He looked on in disbelief. His own student had been snatched by a sudden Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape, and now she had returned, safe and sound?!

Xiao Wu had already prepared her story: "After I was taken, I vaguely heard a bull's roar. The Titan Giant Ape seemed very nervous and threw me away. I was knocked unconscious by the roar, and when I woke up, it was gone. There were over a dozen soul beast corpses nearby, all bleeding from their mouths with their Soul Rings still hovering. One of them was a Lightning Rabbit perfectly suited for me, so I absorbed it and came back..."

"..."

Everyone frowned as they listened. A bull's roar? Knocked unconscious? Absorbed a Soul Ring?! What was all this?!

"Where is Xia Yan?"

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing asked simultaneously, "Where is Xia Yan?!"

Zhao Wuji said, "Xiao Wu didn't see Xia Yan; she doesn't know where he is. Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, you two take care of Xiao Wu. I'm going to find Xia Yan!"

The nights in the Star Dou Great Forest were extremely dangerous; besides the soul beasts, it was easy to lose one's way.

During the day, soul masters could easily identify their direction, but the Star Dou Great Forest was pitch black at night. It was difficult to navigate, and people easily became lost. Once panic set in, if they encountered a soul beast, death was almost certain!

However, since Xiao Wu was still alive, it was very likely that Xia Yan was still alive as well.

Before his voice had even faded, Zhao Wuji was on the move again. As for whatever cow-like or ghostly bellows were echoing, he would deal with them once they were out of here!

With Zhao Wuji's departure, the atmosphere lapsed back into silence.

Ning Rongrong approached Xiao Wu's side: "Xiao Wu, what on earth happened?"

It wasn't just her; everyone present found Xiao Wu's account impossible to grasp. Everything that had transpired tonight far exceeded the limits of their imagination.

The sudden appearance of the Hundred Thousand Year Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Wu being snatched away, the mysterious bellowing, the Titan Giant Ape's visible anxiety, Xiao Wu's sudden return, and the fact that she had even absorbed a third Soul Ring...

Having personally experienced the sudden assault of the Titan Giant Ape, the group naturally did not doubt Xiao Wu's words.

However, it was all simply too absurd.

If they hadn't experienced it firsthand, not a single soul would believe it if they were told!