The two large cranes, who were usually terrified of the cold, had come out and were standing motionless on the rock. In front of them, a giant ape was half-crouching on the ground with a woman leaning against its bent right arm. She seemed too weak to even sit up properly, yet she was speaking softly to the two crane spirits.

Her voice was gentle and slow, carrying a soothing tenderness. Even Chen Dachang, standing at a distance, felt somewhat languid listening to her. The crane spirits had lowered their heads slightly, apparently receptive to her approach, their usual haughtiness and laziness nowhere to be seen.

The giant ape was a far cry from what it had been two days ago. Its fur was matted, stained with blood and dirt, with no trace of its original pure white luster. It seemed to have suffered severe injuries, hunched over and unable to straighten its back. If not for its enormous size and the pair of crimson gold arm guards still embedded in its arms, Chen Dachang might not have recognized it.

Chen Dachang found this strange: wasn’t this the same monkey that had majestically gone to support the front line a few days ago? How had it fallen into such a wretched state?

Looking at the woman in its arms, hmm, Chen Dachang immediately understood the situation:

This human and ape wanted to steal his mounts!

He pressed his lips together: not while he was around.

While the mistress was attempting to tame the crane spirits, the giant ape remained perfectly still, not daring to breathe heavily, fearing it might disturb these winged creatures.

They needed to leave this place quickly.

However, just as the woman’s slender fingertips were about to touch the white feathers of the crane spirit, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the forest!

The sound was sharp and brief, but it echoed several times off the stone walls on both sides.

That was enough.

The two crane spirits shook their heads as if awakening from a dream. Anger swelled in their eyes, and their dagger-like beaks shot out like lightning toward the woman’s hand!

The giant ape quickly pulled back its arm, preventing the person in its embrace from being injured.

But before it could counterattack, the two large cranes were already flapping their wings vigorously, flying above the forest, and then letting out two long cries of displeasure.

Their voices echoed throughout the valley.

The giant ape was furious, turning its head toward the direction of the whistle to see who had ruined their plan. But the woman in its arms urgently said, “Not good, they’re too noisy. Quick, let’s go!”

The giant ape immediately picked her up and ran outward, but it seemed too late.

Right after the crane spirits’ cries, human voices followed: “They’re here!”

Then four people emerged from the forest, blocking the giant ape’s path: “State Preceptor Yu, if you continue to defy the King’s orders, we cannot guarantee your safety when you meet His Majesty.”

Hearing the words “State Preceptor Yu,” Chen Dachang’s eyebrows twitched as he remained hidden in the shadows.

Another person laughed loudly as if hearing a great joke: “State Preceptor? What State Preceptor?”

The giant ape’s eyes reddened.

Just as this person was laughing most arrogantly, there came a whooshing sound as a boulder weighing at least a ton was hurled directly at him.

He was startled and dodged, but his field of vision was then filled with an enormous figure—

The giant ape had followed right behind the boulder. He may have dodged the rock, but he couldn’t evade the ape’s steel fist.

With a “splat” sound, a fist larger than a millstone smashed directly into his face, blasting him more than ten zhang away. When he landed, he didn’t move at all.

His face was gone, replaced by a sunken, bloody hole!

The other three were also shocked, not expecting this battered giant ape to be so violent and dare to launch a preemptive attack. Though they outnumbered it three to one, they weren’t afraid. One opponent was severely injured, and the other had no fighting capacity at all. If they couldn’t win this fight, the Yan King wouldn’t keep such useless subordinates.

They immediately employed nimble movements, dancing around the giant ape. The ape let out a few angry roars at first but then fell silent, focusing entirely on the battle. Observers like Chen Dachang could see that when it roared, blood sprayed from its mouth—a symptom of injured lungs and heart. The giant ape was exhausted, with diminishing strength and increasingly sluggish movements. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it has already sustained three or four new wounds. If not for its thick skin and strong resilience to damage, it would have already collapsed.

The most troublesome thing was that it was holding its master with one arm, leaving only a single hand for combat, greatly reducing its effectiveness.

This fighting approach wouldn’t work.

After receiving another wound below its right rib, the giant ape finally made a decision and placed Yu Haizhen against the rock wall!

It then positioned itself in front of Yu Haizhen, turning to face those enemies.

The terrain here was a concave rock wall, and with the giant ape’s enormous size, the three enemies could hardly get past it to capture Yu Haizhen.

Moreover, with both hands-free, the giant ape became terrifying. One of the Yan cultivators was careless and was struck in the chest by the ape’s hammer-like fist, immediately spitting blood a full three chi away.

The giant ape, filled with hatred for these pursuers, delivered rapid consecutive punches, first smashing into this person’s crown. “Pop”—that crisp sound even reached Chen Dachang’s ears from a distance. The Yan cultivator’s skull split open like a coconut being smashed, its contents splattering everywhere.

The ape then continued to pound the chest repeatedly. In the time of three breaths, the person had been hammered into a pile of bloody pulp.

Not just others, even Chen Dachang’s eyelids twitched at the sight.

Only two living people remained on the field. The reduction in numbers immediately brought a sense of insecurity. These two exchanged glances, already thinking of escape, planning to return with reinforcements to deal with this troublesome monkey.

Even the Yan King couldn’t subdue it on the battlefield that day; what was so strange about their failure?

Seeing the giant ape charging toward them again, they both turned simultaneously and fled into the forest. It didn’t matter if someone else got the military merit, but they needed to save their own lives first.

The giant ape also understood the importance of silencing witnesses; otherwise, when these two returned, it would be the end for both itself and its master. Despite its injuries, it leaped up and jumped over twenty Zhangs, directly blocking one person’s path. Regardless of how the man struggled, the ape grabbed him and stuffed him into its huge bloody mouth, chewing forcefully a couple of times.

The person’s screams were abruptly cut off.

However, the giant ape had already reached its limit. While eating the man, its jaw was again wounded. Now it was panting heavily, with fresh blood flowing down its neck, sitting on the ground with no strength left to stand.

It could only watch as the last Yan cultivator ran farther and farther away, soon becoming just a small dot in its vision, and then…

Then a long arrow flew through the air, with a “swish” sound, piercing the man’s leg and causing him to fall face-first into the dirt.

Reinforcements?

No! The giant ape suddenly widened its eyes. This arrow had been shot from the rock hollow—from its female master’s direction.

Just as it turned its head, a second arrow arrived. The man on the ground barely finished his scream before an arrow sealed his throat!

All the Yan people were eliminated, but the giant ape couldn’t relax:

Behind its female master, someone else had appeared!

It had been careless, chasing the Yan people more than ten zhang away, allowing this person to take advantage of the opportunity.

When it recognized this person’s face, it became enraged again, roaring and revealing its full set of fangs: “You! You prevented me from returning to the front line, you caused the Six Ao Formation to be broken!”

It was this same person who had stuffed a steamed bun in its mouth earlier and then shoved it into a wine jar! For a dignified Mountain God, this was a tremendous humiliation!