Friends

"Mm, I know him."

Pang Jian admitted quietly.

The Gray Ape in the cage was the leader of a troop of apes in the Cenji Mountains. Before it became an Ape King, it had been badly wounded in a fight with a white bear. Young Pang Jian and his father had rescued it.

His father had been willing to save it because he had recognized the Gray Ape's remarkable intelligence.

After that, the Gray Ape—with its unusual Ice Blue eyes—became one of Pang Jian's companions in the Cenji Mountains.

From then on, he never hunted the troop under its command. Sometimes, when he ran into danger while hunting, the Gray Ape would see him and come to his rescue.

Two years ago, after he had hunted a mountain leopard alone, several other old hunters from Linshan Town had maliciously targeted him.

The old hunters had bullied him for being young. Seeing that his father had been missing for a long time, they tried to steal the mountain leopard he had killed.

Just as he was fighting back with all his might and was about to be defeated, the Gray Ape and its troop came to his aid.

After that clash, three hunters infamous throughout Linshan Town vanished forever into the woods.

Seeing the Gray Ape imprisoned in an iron cage, a captive of the Shangguan Family, Pang Jian suddenly stepped out from where he had been hiding behind the others.

"That Gray Ape?"

His movement caught Zhou Qingchen's attention. He glanced at Pang Jian's solemn expression and asked in surprise, "You know it?"

"Friend," Pang Jian answered seriously.

"Friend..."

Zhou Qingchen looked thoughtful.

Shangguan Qin, who had come up to stand before them, wore a strange look on her charming face. She said casually, "This Gray Ape and its followers attacked us not long ago. The troop hadn't been tainted by the evil power within the Ghost Mist, so we wiped them out quickly."

"As for this Gray Ape with Ice Blue eyes..."

Shangguan Qin pressed her lips together. She looked at Pang Jian, then at Zhou Qingchen, and smiled. "It seems to have gained intelligence."

"Gained intelligence?"

Zhou Qingchen was slightly taken aback.

Shangguan Qin nodded lightly, her eyes glimmering as she explained with a smile, "After we captured it, we tried all sorts of methods and confirmed that it possesses remarkably high intelligence. You know that apes are already intelligent, and this one is far cleverer than an ordinary ape."

Zhou Qingchen understood. "So it seems to have mutated into a spirit beast."

There were many precedents of wild beasts transforming in places where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, or under the shroud of the Ghost Mist.

Wild beasts that couldn't cleanse the impurities from the spiritual energy could still be extremely ferocious and powerful. But because they couldn't communicate, they were classified as savage beasts.

Savage beasts were difficult to tame and control, and held no value alive to cultivators.

Spirit beasts were different.

Once tamed, a spirit beast could become a cultivator's companion and be made to do all sorts of things.

Shangguan Qin had captured the Gray Ape alive because she likely planned to take it out of the mountains and tame it completely, putting it to use for the Shangguan Family.

"Friends, huh..."

Zhou Qingchen rubbed his chin, glancing now at the Gray Ape in the cage, now at Pang Jian. He weighed their respective value in his mind, wondering whether he should redeem the Gray Ape from Shangguan Qin.

A Gray Ape in the Shangguan Family's hands, one that possessed intelligence, was naturally worth a great deal. He'd likely have to pay a price to get it back.

Pang Jian's ruthless determination when he assassinated He Ziren, along with his familiarity with the Cenji Mountains, also made him valuable. Zhou Qingchen had indeed been considering recruiting him.

It was just that Pang Jian's cultivation talent was undeniably poor. Unless he encountered some heaven-defying opportunity, his future achievements would be limited.

After weighing things over, the word "friend" stirred his compassion instead. "Aunt Qin, would you be willing to part with this Gray Ape? You heard what my young friend said just now. It's his friend."

Ning Yao, Ning Yuanshan, and the others were all baffled. They couldn't understand why Zhou Qingchen had suddenly started treating Pang Jian differently.

When they first met, Zhou Qingchen hadn't even given Pang Jian the time of day. But after the bloody incident among the rocks, he had taken the initiative to bring him food and even gifted him the Dragon-Patterned Spear.

Now, for Pang Jian's sake, he was asking the Shangguan Family to hand over the Gray Ape?

Ning Yao and the others had no idea why.

As if it truly understood human nature, the Gray Ape in the cage had kept its Ice Blue eyes fixed on Pang Jian ever since he said the word "friend."

"Who is he?" Shangguan Qin asked curiously.

"A hunter who knows the Cenji Mountains better than anyone. We'll be relying on him for all our exploration of the mountains from here on!" Zhou Qingchen replied.

"Just a hunter?"

Shangguan Qin looked surprised and confused.

She considered the bones near the Indeterminate Ferry, the Blood Moon emblem on their clothes, and the black brocade banner fluttering aboard the ferry. Then she abruptly changed the subject. "Qingchen, how long have you been here? And how did they die?"

"We just got here not long ago. They were already like this when we arrived, and all the belongings on their bodies were still there. I think they were attacked by wild beasts, which also devoured their flesh," Han Duping said ingratiatingly.

"You all know the relationship between the Shangguan Family and the Blood Moon."

Shangguan Qin rubbed her forehead, putting on a troubled expression as she looked at the enormous Indeterminate Ferry.

"How about this? After we leave the Cenji Mountains, I'd like to buy the belongings you recovered from the Blood Moon's dead. As for what's below, we'll search this Indeterminate Ferry, and everything inside—including the ferry itself—will be handed over to the Blood Moon by our Shangguan Family."

"How does that sound?"

Shangguan Qin asked Zhou Qingchen alone.

She chose to ignore the opinions of Ning Yuanshan, Ning Yao, Han Duping, and the others.

"How can that be?"

Han Duping couldn't hold back. He thought Shangguan Qin's terms were far too harsh.

The Indeterminate Ferry was enormous. Without the Blood Moon's secret method, people from the lower world would find it difficult to get it airborne.

The Zhou Family would probably have a hard time claiming this special ferry, and even if they managed it, the Blood Moon wouldn't let it go.

But if there were treasures in the cabin, the Zhou Family had arrived first and deserved a share. The Shangguan Family couldn't let them take all the spoils.

A Gray Ape that had only just gained intelligence had yet to show its potential and wasn't worth much. Shangguan Qin was asking for the moon.

"Fine."

To everyone's surprise, Zhou Qingchen agreed without hesitation. He pointed at the iron cage and gestured to Pang Jian. "It belongs to you now."

"Thank you."

Usually taciturn, Pang Jian offered his sincere thanks this time. He said solemnly, "I'll give serious thought to what you said among the rocks."

For the sake of the Gray Ape he cared about, Zhou Qingchen had been willing to give up such a large share of the spoils. Pang Jian couldn't help but feel moved.

After thanking him, Pang Jian dismounted and walked toward the iron cage under everyone's puzzled gaze.

The towering, heavily muscled man saw Shangguan Qin nod her permission. He handed Pang Jian the chain attached to the cage, ready to transfer it to him.

Pang Jian shook his head and didn't take the chain. Instead, he looked at the Gray Ape inside.

The Gray Ape with Ice Blue eyes was watching him too. Its cold eyes held a trace of sorrow, as though it were still mourning the death of its kin.

After exchanging looks with the Gray Ape for a moment, Pang Jian opened the latch above the cage and lifted the lid.

"Mm!"

Many of the onlookers looked surprised.

"Hide, and hide far away. Don't show yourself again for a while," Pang Jian told the Gray Ape softly.

The Gray Ape seemed to understand him. When he finished speaking, it nodded like a person, then sprang out of the cage and raced toward the densely wooded mountainside.

Every so often, it glanced back at the Shangguan Family's cultivators, its Ice Blue eyes filled with ferocity.

"This Gray Ape is dangerous. Its intelligence is improving quickly. I'm starting to regret this."

Under its ferocious gaze, Shangguan Qin felt a strange chill. She couldn't help thinking that letting the Gray Ape go so easily might bring trouble down on her.

"All right, you can search the Indeterminate Ferry now."

Zhou Qingchen kept his word. He first had the Zhou Family servants loyal to him leave the sailing vessel, then beckoned Pang Jian back to his side.

Pang Jian waited until the Gray Ape had vanished completely and was sure the Shangguan Family would have difficulty pursuing it. Only then did he return to Zhou Qingchen.

"I'm amazed you made friends with an intelligent Ape King." When Pang Jian came over, Zhou Qingchen burst into hearty laughter. "Pang Jian, you're quite an interesting fellow."

In Zhou Qingchen's eyes, Pang Jian had been hired by the Ning Family, but he was already one of Zhou Qingchen's own.

Ning Yao had noticed it too.

She had been the one to hire Pang Jian with a bag of silver nuggets, but with Zhou Qingchen taking such a clear stance, Pang Jian was probably destined to join him.

"You, you, and you!"

Shangguan Qin waved her snow-white arm, pointing out several people loyal to the Shangguan Family. "Go inspect the Indeterminate Ferry carefully and see what's inside."

They nodded in acknowledgment and immediately headed for the sailing vessel, which was moored atop dead branches and wood chips.

Shangguan Qin had no mount, so she left the others where they were and walked over to Zhou Qingchen and Ning Yao.

Only then did she seem to finally notice Ning Yao. Her gaze flicked over Ning Yao's slightly swelling chest, and she remarked pointedly, "Well, well, Miss Ning, you've grown up."

Just as Ning Yao straightened her face to reply, Shangguan Qin's expression suddenly turned cold. Her voice was icy as she said, "Ning Yuanshan, you're still alive?"

Ning Yuanshan gave a humorless laugh and didn't get into a verbal spat with her.

Everyone could see that Shangguan Qin and the Ning Family were on bad terms. They must have had some history.

"Qingchen, what did you discover along the way?"

Seeing that Ning Yuanshan wasn't taking the bait, Shangguan Qin didn't press him. Instead, she casually chatted with the young master of the Zhou Family.

As they talked, the members of the Shangguan, Zhou, and Ning Families all kept an eye on the Indeterminate Ferry. They watched as the people loyal to the Shangguan Family climbed the wooden ladder to the deck, then made their way down into the cabin.

From their conversation, Pang Jian learned that the Shangguan Family had entered from the eastern side of the Cenji Mountains and encountered numerous wild beast attacks along the way.

Like them, the Shangguan Family had hurried over after seeing the enormous upright skeleton from a distance.

"Bang! Bang! Bang-bang!"

As they discussed the secrets of the Phoenix Bone, horrifying bursts of exploding flesh rang out from inside the Indeterminate Ferry's cabin.

Shangguan Qin's expression changed abruptly, and the others were horrified as well.

Thick streams of blood soon shot out of the cabin like blood arrows, eerie and gruesome. They flowed one after another into the Blood Moon emblem on the black brocade banner.

The crimson crescent moon swaying in the wind swallowed up the streams of blood, slowly swelling within the banner.

A steadily brightening crimson glow spread from the crescent moon. In a short time, it had turned into a full moon.

It looked like an eerie blood-red eye embedded in the black brocade banner, staring at everyone from afar.

The transformation of the "Blood Moon" made everyone's flesh crawl. The eyes of all who looked at it began to ache, and their temples throbbed as if two steel nails had been driven into them.

"Eye of Imprint!"

After her initial shock, Shangguan Qin was the first to calm down. She raised her hand and shrieked at the black brocade banner, where the crescent moon had become full after soaking up the blood.

She was overcome with excitement, her eyes full of anticipation and longing, as though she were awaiting the favor of an evil god.

On the banner, the dreadful blood-red eye slowly turned, searching for a target to lock onto.

Suddenly, Pang Jian felt a heat in his chest, and his eyes were instantly dyed a deep, viscous red.

He immediately met the eerie blood-red eye's gaze. Scene after scene abruptly appeared in his mind, as if some memories were being forcibly poured into it.

Two chapters are up. If you've got any recommendation votes, send them Old Ni's way~