Mountain Lord!

Deep in the dungeon, crates filled with remains and scattered bones were everywhere.

Supporting one another, everyone headed outside.

Wu Yu watched the group for a while, then took a look around.

Unlike the left side, this was already the deepest part of the dungeon. There were no passages leading anywhere else.

"Strange. There's nowhere to use the [Dungeon Key]!"

Returning to the group, Wu Yu watched everyone file out, puzzled.

Could this [Dungeon Key] only open those cages?

"It came from a gold chest, yet all it can do is open cages..."

"That seems unlikely!"

Just then, Yu Tiezhu noticed Wu Yu lingering and hurriedly called out, "Come on, young man! Let's go!"

"Coming."

Wu Yu composed himself and strode over.

As he approached,

Yu Tiezhu scratched his head and asked with a good-natured expression, "What was your name again, young man? I kept forgetting to ask."

"My name is... Wu Tian."

Wu Yu's gaze shifted slightly as he gave a name.

"What a badass name! Wu Tian!"

The blue-haired young man suddenly chimed in, fawning over him. "You just radiate power, Brother Wu Tian! You really live up to your name!"

"Bandits, Tiger Wraiths-they're all trash in front of Brother Wu Tian!"

"With Brother Wu Tian's talent, blowing everyone else up is a piece of cake!"

"From now on, Xiao Kun only listens to Brother Wu Tian! Brother Wu Tian is invincible!"

As he spoke, the blue-haired young man's eyes flickered. He looked every bit the lackey.

Wu Yu smiled and said casually, "Mostly, it's because I bought a lot of Psionic Bombs from Inspector Liu. Even if these bandits are Transcendent Martial Artists, they're still flesh and blood. How could they withstand bombs?"

"So that's it! You called Lord Liu up to the second floor of the inn to buy things!"

Realization dawned on Yu Tiezhu, and he said regretfully, "I was wondering about that! If I'd known, I would've bought some from Lord Liu too!"

"Oh, so Brother Wu Tian actually had the money to buy Psionic Bombs..."

The blue-haired young man looked thoughtful too, then said enviously, "You're really rich."

"Oh? You don't have any?"

Wu Yu smiled and took out a [Silver Tael] Card. "I used silver."

"You can buy them with silver too?"

The others were startled.

"Yes. Silver is pretty useful in Redfang Village. You can buy all kinds of things with it."

"I noticed Inspector Liu needed it, so I traded for some technological items."

Wu Yu nodded.

"Well..."

The blue-haired young man looked regretful, as though something had occurred to him.

Yu Tiezhu sighed, looking disappointed. "So that was an option! But Captain Liu took all the Cards the bandits dropped when they died. We couldn't get much."

"As long as we make it back, that's enough."

Wu Yu brushed it off and asked, "After you got out, didn't you head for the Evacuation Point with Captain Liu? How did the bandits capture you and bring you here?"

"Just our rotten luck!"

The blue-haired young man complained, "Our luck was awful. We'd originally planned not to travel with the NPCs, but then a whole bunch of bandits came charging out halfway there! We were scattered in no time!"

"Especially when the Mountain Lord showed up! I got off lightly, just a beating from the bandits. He had it rough, though. The Mountain Lord hit him."

As he spoke, the blue-haired young man pointed at Yu Tiezhu.

Yu Tiezhu gave a good-natured smile. "I'm pretty tough. It was nothing."

Hearing that, Wu Yu looked him over. Sure enough, only Yu Tiezhu's clothes were damaged. His exposed skin showed no wounds or bloodstains.

"[Nine Oxen's Strength]..."

Wu Yu studied him closely, his gaze shifting slightly.

A little while later, the locals had all made their way out.

Wu Yu and the others followed behind, chatting as they walked.

Along the way, Wu Yu approached the guards up front and asked about the attack.

The guards answered honestly, clearly recounting the bandits' appearance and the Mountain Lord's arrival.

"Benefactor, you have no idea how cunning those bandits were! They actually laid traps to ambush us. It was like they'd suddenly grown brains!"

"Some of the Tiger Wraiths weren't afraid of dying, even though they'd been afraid of pain before!"

"And the Mountain Lord attacked us despite being badly wounded! That was completely unexpected. Nobody thought the Mountain Lord would leave Lostway Cave!"

The guards and merchants all chimed in, full of complaints.

None of them had expected so many things to go wrong this time!

One guard recalled the Mountain Lord, fear spreading across his face.

"At first, Captain Lu cut down a bandit chief all by himself, then chased several other chiefs around. He even killed more than twenty bandits along the way."

"Then the Mountain Lord arrived! Captain Lu saw how badly wounded the Mountain Lord was and tried to seize the chance to kill him."

"But with just one swipe of his claw, the Mountain Lord severely wounded Captain Lu. His iron armor and sharp sword might as well have been made of paper."

Wu Yu glanced back at Yu Tiezhu, looking thoughtful.

A short while later, the group reached the fork.

Standing among the crowd, Wu Yu kept everyone in front of him where he could protect them and surveyed their surroundings.

"Hm?"

He looked toward the passage on the right, his brow furrowing.

The pebbles he had set there had been scattered, but there were no footprints on the ground.

His heart skipped a beat. He immediately narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, vaguely sensing that something was wrong.

Before he could speak, however, a vicious gust swept toward them from up ahead!

Roar!

A tiger's roar came from the direction of the cave entrance. Deep in the darkness, they could just make out an enormous creature slowly approaching!

"The Mountain Lord!"

Someone screamed and collapsed to the ground in fright.

"The Mountain Lord is here!"

"My God, why is the Mountain Lord coming back from outside?"

"Run!"

The Mountain Lord had already terrified the crowd out of their wits. The instant the huge silhouette began to emerge from the darkness, everyone turned and fled blindly.

"Holy shit, why is that big tiger outside?"

The blue-haired young man was startled too and hurried over.

"Brother Wu Tian, do you have any of those bombs you bought from Inspector Liu left?"

"..."

Wu Yu did not answer him.

He could still sense the [Bi Fang Sigil] on this little thug. If anything, the young man posed even less of a threat than that girl.

Through the darkness, he glimpsed the Mountain Lord approaching from a distance.

Just as everyone had described, the huge tiger's body was truly astonishing.

He stood over three meters tall, and his head alone was terrifying. A single bite could probably crush a grown adult.

But he was in a miserable state. One leg was broken, and several hideous wounds covered his body, so deep that bone was visible. A blood-red aura clung to them.

On one side, new flesh was visibly sprouting, seemingly trying to regenerate.

On the other, his flesh was continually being eaten away.

Looking closer, Wu Yu saw that the Mountain Lord was also blind in one eye!

"He's close!"

Wu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and saw the Mountain Lord step into one of the traps he had laid.

The next instant!

BOOM-!!!

The earth seemed to shake as a thunderous blast rang out.

More than a dozen pebbles suddenly exploded. The flames merged and swept over everything around them in an instant.

The darkness was driven back. The shock wave rolled toward them, and the fierce wind sent Wu Yu's clothes snapping.

Beside him, the blue-haired young man jumped in fright. His legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.