Proofread by Liang Yaping
After walking in the cave for about an hour Yun Chuan turns a corner again, and suddenly a heat wave blows on his face. Together with it comes a refreshing fragrance, and a mere breath of which makes his pores relaxed and opened all over the body.
In front of him grows a red plant in the crevices of the stone, and on it there are only a few leaves with some gnawed traces left by the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape. But fortunately, a red fist-sized fruit on the top remains perfectly intact.
“Wonderful…It seems that this is the so-called Fruit of Blood and Fire!”
Yun Chuan’s face lights up. He walks to the red plant and takes the crimson fruit down. As soon as he gets it in his hand a sense of burning comes from it, which makes him wonder.
“Nephew, leave after you get it! The b.l.o.o.d.y Ape is coming back!”
Suddenly there comes a roar of rage in the distance, together with the worried voice of Zhao Jiu mixed with his roar. The loud sound of the tumbling trees comes from afar and approaches nearer and nearer towards Yun Chuan.
A sudden panic strikes Yun Chuan, and the moment he gets the Fruit of Blood and Fire, he immediately rushes out of the cave without any delay. On the way out he is twice as fast as before because he has been familiar with the route. Before Zhao Jiu and the beast come back, he leaves the cave and hides himself behind the big rocks in the distance.
After just a few seconds, there comes a smelly and pungent wind. It seems that the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape has been aware of the theft of the Fruit, so it comes back regardless of Zhao Jiu’s attack behind. Its bright red nose moves, and the smell on his body becomes more and more violent.
“Nephew!”
At the moment when Zhao Jiu sees Zhao Yang’s dead body outside the cave, his eyes turn red. He thought that it was because Zhao Yang had stolen the Fruit of Blood and Fire, so that the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape would ignore his attack and come back; but he didn’t expect that Zhao Yang had been killed, and the Fruit disappeared as well.
“Who the vermin, dares to s.n.a.t.c.h food from my Zhao Clan and kill our disciples?! Our Zhao Clan will never let you off!”
“Grrrrr!”
The b.l.o.o.d.y Ape roars angrily, and its fierce and boundless evil spirit spreads, breaking countless plants and trees around. With its red eyes it directly locks Zhao Jiu at the nearest place, and smashes to him with its enormous power like the pressing Mount Tai.
Also filled with grief and indignation at the moment, Zhao Jiu fights back relentlessly. Both of them are going to reach the stage of Martial Core, so each of their attacks contains a great power. Countless mountain stones are bombarded by the aftershocks of their movements, with debris and rocks splashing everywhere.
Zhao Jiu coughs up with blood heavily, and his strength gradually diminishes while the breath of the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape, however, is also weakened by nearly half compared with that of the previous time; its incessant wild roar scatters the birds and animals in the mountain.
However, although the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape is about to reach the stage of Martial Core, its mind still remains unenlightened. So after a while, Zhao Jiu catches a flaw of its at the cost of taking a good claw, and he severely punches the Blood Ape’s chest. His fist pa.s.ses through its body directly, and the heart of the b.l.o.o.d.y Ape is directly crashed by one punch. Then, it is thrown away, leaving only one last breath.
“You are indeed worthy of the power at the stage of Martial Core. I really admire you!”
Zhao Jiu is bleeding all over his body, and the fight leaves him deeply hurt; now it is difficult for him to use even half of his strength. Following the direction where the voice comes, he finds that a handsome young man with red lips and white teeth is walking to the dying ape while nodding to him afar politely.
In his spotless white clothes Yun Chuan bends down, and smashes the head of the dying Blood Ape with one palm. With his hands clapping he stands up and grins, showing his white teeth. He praises: “It’s really ashamed to show off my incompetence in the presence of a master like you. The b.l.o.o.d.y Ape’s vitality is so strong that it even can keep alive with its heart crashed.”
“Yun Chuan, if my guess is correct, you are the murderer and robber who killed my nephew Zhao Yang and stole the Fruit of Blood and Fire. Well, I never expected that the hunter would be hurt by his prey one day.”
Zhao Jiu’s gray hair is a bit scattered, but his back is still straight. He looks at Yun Chuan with turbid eyes, and on his face there lies a mixture of admiration and regret: “It’s not easy for you, a waste with such inferior first-level blood and poor martial arts qualification, to get there. But today, you are going to die here. I just can’t understand it: since you have a chance to escape, why do you still choose to come out? Do you think that with only half of my strength left, I’m now too weak to take your life?”