Zhao Wuji gave his orders:
"Oscar, give Tang San a Sausage and shake him awake. Whatever that Hidden Weapon of his is, it'll be a huge help.
"Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, you two keep watch. Zhu Zhuqing, stay close and protect Ning Rongrong. Don't leave her side!"
"A hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape will scare off every Soul Beast nearby. Even if we're unlucky enough to run into one that's two or three thousand years old, you can handle it together!"
At those words, everyone sensed something was wrong and immediately straightened up, alert.
This didn't sound like something he'd normally say.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze sharpened.
Could it be...?
Zhao Wuji cursed angrily:
"Every one of you stays right here! I'm going after them!"
"You're all nothing but trouble!"
"I must owe you bastards something from a past life!"
He'd already taken the medicine he'd brought with him. He swallowed all the healing medicine Ning Rongrong had given him in one go, then shot off in the direction the Titan Giant Ape had gone.
His furious voice still rang in everyone's ears:
"Wait here until dawn. If I haven't come back by then, I'm dead. Get out of here at once!"
Ma Hongjun and Oscar shouted urgently, "Teacher Zhao!"
That was a hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape!
It was far too dangerous!
As Zhao Wuji left, silence fell over the group. They looked at one another, but no one knew what to say.
The hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape had shaken them all to the core.
Ma Hongjun looked around. Seeing no one else speak, he could only grab Tang San by both shoulders and shake him hard. "Sausage! Sausage!"
"Where's the Sausage?!"
Oscar hurriedly summoned a Sausage almost as long as his forearm, grabbed Tang San by the mouth, and shoved it in. Tang San's throat even visibly swelled.
He made a gurgling sound.
Three Sausages went down, one after another, but Tang San didn't move at all.
"It's not working!"
Ma Hongjun was panicking. Everyone except Ning Rongrong was injured, and their Soul Power was depleted. But Ning Rongrong was a support-type Soul Master; she couldn't possibly hold off a Soul Beast.
Right now, their greatest hope was Tang San's strange Hidden Weapon.
With it, they'd have a much better chance of staying safe.
Three days ago, he'd been bragging about some kind of weapon that could be fired without using Soul Power, just by holding something in his mouth. It had tremendous power.
When he'd fought Meng Yiran, it had certainly looked impressive.
They had to wake him up now. Otherwise, if another Soul Beast really came, they'd be in for another bitter fight.
Grimacing, Ma Hongjun slapped Tang San across the face.
"Smack!"
The sharp crack rang out through the treetops.
"Smack! Smack! Smack!"
One loud slap after another landed as though they cost nothing. Ma Hongjun didn't care how Tang San would react when he woke up. He just wanted to slap him awake.
He kept going until his hand hurt, until Tang San's dark face was swollen and red, shining in the moonlight as if it had been smeared with lard.
Only then was he forced to stop.
"Huh?"
He still wasn't awake?
"Phew... phew..."
He caught his breath.
Just as Ma Hongjun was about to start again, Tang San's eyelid twitched.
Ma Hongjun's eye twitched. He immediately pinned down his own left hand, pressing it down.
He clenched it tight and hid it behind his back.
Then, in a rush that was also somehow slow, he laid Tang San down. Nothing had happened!
Tang San awoke from the excruciating pain. He struggled to open his eyes a crack and, in the light of the Full Moon, saw Ma Hongjun's blurry, worried face.
He seemed so anxious...
His thoughts were still a blank, but for some reason, warmth welled up inside him. Without thinking, he compared Ma Hongjun with the others from Shrek. So Shrek still had a normal person...
For some reason,
his face was the only part of his body that hurt. It burned and throbbed, as if someone had beaten it to a pulp...
Ma Hongjun snatched the Sausage from Oscar's hand and held it to Tang San's mouth.
"You don't feel so good, huh? It's all that Titan Giant Ape's fault. Eat a Sausage and you'll be fine..."
The others silently turned their heads away. No one said a word.
Titan Giant Ape?!
Tang San snapped fully awake. Xiao Wu?!
He looked around and realized almost half the group was missing.
"Where's Xiao Wu?!"
Zhao Wuji and Xia Yan were gone too!
Was Xia Yan dead?!
Where was Xiao Wu?!
Ma Hongjun looked troubled. He started to reach out with his right hand to pat Tang San's shoulder in comfort, then seemed to realize something and unconsciously lowered it again.
"Xiao Wu was..."
A sudden rustling sound came from nearby.
Everyone instantly went on guard. They all used Martial Soul Possession, and more than ten yellow, yellow, yellow, and purple Soul Rings rippled around them. Every one of them focused intently on the source of the sound.
Any Soul Beast that appeared now
would definitely not be an ordinary one.
But to their surprise,
two figures emerged from the bushes.
Everyone's eyes narrowed, and they cried out in unison:
"Xiao Wu?!"
You're still alive?!
Xiao Wu's half-loose scorpion braid was tangled with grass and dirt. Her clothes were torn in several places, but she wasn't seriously injured—not even lightly injured.
Tang San was overjoyed. Struggling to his feet, he cried, "Xiao Wu, you're okay!"
He stumbled toward her and reached out,
but Xiao Wu dodged him.
She took in his excited expression, and a chill passed through her heart.
But she didn't let it show. She ignored Tang San.
"Sorry for making everyone worry. I'm back."
Ning Rongrong exclaimed, "Xiao Wu, how did you get back?!"
She wasn't wishing Xiao Wu dead. It was just that being taken by a hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape and coming back alive without a scratch was simply impossible!
Even Zhao Wuji, who had encountered Xiao Wu on the way back, felt as if he were dreaming.
He looked utterly incredulous.
His student had been snatched away by a hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape that had suddenly appeared, and now she'd returned alive and completely unharmed?!
Xiao Wu had already thought up an explanation. "After I was taken, I vaguely heard a bull bellow.
"The Titan Giant Ape seemed really nervous and threw me away. I was knocked unconscious by the bellow too.
"When I woke up, it was gone. There were also more than ten Soul Beast corpses nearby, all bleeding from the mouth, with their Soul Rings floating around them.
"One of them was a thousand-year Lightning Rabbit that suited me. I absorbed it and then came back..."
"..."
Everyone listened with furrowed brows. A bull bellow? Being knocked unconscious? Absorbing a Soul Ring?!
What was all that supposed to mean?!
"Where's Xia Yan?"
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing asked at the same time, "Where is Xia Yan?!"
Zhao Wuji said, "Xiao Wu didn't see Xia Yan. I don't know where he is. Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, look after Xiao Wu. I'm going to find Xia Yan!"
The Star Dou Great Forest was extremely dangerous at night. Aside from Soul Beasts, it was easy to get lost there too.
During the day, Soul Masters could easily tell which way they were going.
But at night, the Star Dou Great Forest was pitch-black, making it hard to find one's bearings. People could easily lose their way, and soon panic would set in. If they ran into a Soul Beast after that,
they would almost certainly die!
But since Xiao Wu was still alive, Xia Yan might very well be alive too.
Before he'd even finished speaking, Zhao Wuji set off again. As for the bull's bellow and whatever else, they could talk about it after they got out!
With Zhao Wuji gone,
the atmosphere fell silent once more.
Ning Rongrong came over to Xiao Wu. "Xiao Wu, what exactly happened?"
She wasn't the only one. No one present could make sense of what Xiao Wu had said. Everything that had happened that night was beyond their wildest imagination.
The sudden appearance of the hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape, Xiao Wu being taken away, the mysterious bull's bellow, the Titan Giant Ape's nervousness, Xiao Wu's sudden return—and she'd even absorbed her Third Soul Ring...
They had experienced the Titan Giant Ape's sudden attack firsthand, so naturally no one doubted Xiao Wu's words.
It was just that
the whole thing was utterly outrageous.
If they hadn't experienced it themselves, not a soul would believe them!
Before you continue