Chapter 265: You Chase, I Flee

The Rock Wolf, Lu Xin, spoke with deep self-reproach. After all, Dong Rui was the sworn enemy of the entire Rock Wolf clan, and it had finally caught him, only to let him escape!

He Lingchuan looked at its face, covered in long, thin scratches. One cut even ran across its right eye, nearly blinding it. Blood trickled down its jowls, but it had no time to lick it away.

He could only turn to comfort his companion: "If this person were so easy to catch, he wouldn't be a wanted criminal in multiple countries." From their two encounters, Dong Rui was clearly cunning; he would flee immediately if an attack didn't succeed, never lingering or getting entangled with his victims, regardless of whether there seemed to be further opportunity.

Someone so cautious and prudent was not easy to catch.

It was said that Dong Rui had few demon puppets, and each required meticulous preparation. Having already lost a werewolf, this ghost ape was likely his most powerful weapon, which he could not afford to lose.

That's why Dong Rui had used the bird to follow them, intending to retrieve the ghost ape.

Under these circumstances, He Lingchuan ordered everyone to pursue relentlessly.

Dong Rui tried to descend to pick up the ape, but Shan Youjun drew his bow and fired. The arrow grazed the giant bird's wing, scaring it into a rapid ascent.

He Lingchuan glared at him. "Pathetic!"

It wasn't that Shan Youjun's aim was bad; the strange bird's senses were just too sharp, allowing it to twist away at the last moment.

He rubbed his nose, then pulled out two more arrows, preparing for his next attempt.

However, after this scare, the giant bird refused to fly down again.

As for why He Lingchuan didn't use the "always hit" effect of his Floating Life Blade, it was simple: he and Dong Rui were more than ten zhang apart.

The two sides continued their stalemate, running for another ten li or so.

The ghost ape could no longer run. He Lingchuan and the others could hear its gasping breaths, like a bellows with a hole. He Chunhua's guards had previously used the Ghost Eye Bow, injuring its lungs. Every breath it exhaled released a spray of bloody mist.

If this continued, it would become He Lingchuan's biggest trophy of the year.

Just then, Dong Rui suddenly blew a bamboo flute. The sound was exceptionally sharp, carrying far through the dark night sky.

The ghost ape heard it too, suddenly let out a roar to the sky, and accelerated again!

This was an act of squeezing out its last life force.

The Rock Wolf suddenly said, "Oh no, I smell vegetation and flowing water!"

Ahead? He Lingchuan immediately urged everyone to speed up.

Unfortunately, it was too late. As the giant ape ran, it suddenly leaped, its body rapidly shrinking in mid-air, and then—

It dropped!

He Lingchuan chased a few steps forward, then abruptly reined in. His mount, a bo beast, neighed loudly and reared up on its hind legs.

Three more steps and they would have plunged over the cliff.

The cavalry also quickly reined in their horses.

What lay before them was a dark, cavernous fissure, a gorge!

The flat terrain ended abruptly here. The fissure was over a hundred zhang wide, and as for its depth...

It was too dark to see clearly. He Lingchuan dismounted and kicked down a stone the size of an ostrich egg.

A cacophony of sounds followed: the stone tumbling through branches and leaves.

He Lingchuan listened intently, and it seemed he could also hear the sound of water.

It appeared to be a mountain stream below, with trees along the cliff edge and water at the bottom of the gorge.

The ghost ape had leaped directly down, vanishing into the darkness; the giant bird, circling in mid-air, also swooped straight down, clearly intending to meet it at the bottom of the gorge.

Dong Rui, flying high and seeing far, had prepared in advance; He Lingchuan and his group were at a definite disadvantage in this regard.

Was this it? Was their pursuit ending here?

He was unwilling to give up. Without hesitation, he took out a grappling hook and told Shan Youjun, "Get your gear ready, follow me."

With that, he leaped off the cliff!

Of course, he wouldn't repeat his past mistake at Xianling Lake, where the Ghost Eye Bow had forced him to fall off a cliff. As he fell, he flung out the grappling hook, snagging a tree branch on the cliff edge, and swung away.

Shan Youjun followed suit. The others, lacking grappling hooks and not having practiced such a skill, couldn't just stand on the cliff edge and stare. So, they found a coil of rope and lowered it, preparing to help the two of them back up later.

At the bottom of the gorge, there were only a few large trees, but dozens of smaller ones, followed by dense jungle and mossy ground.

He Lingchuan landed after two swings. It was even darker at the bottom of the gorge than on the surface, and swinging further with the grappling hook risked hitting trees. Besides, small trees likely wouldn't support his weight.

He and Shan Youjun quickly rendezvoused and ran together in the direction where the giant ape had fallen.

The bottom of the gorge was full of strange rocks and shrouded in gloom, making it difficult to traverse.

Neither of them seemed to hear the giant bird flying back up, so Dong Rui should, perhaps, still be here?

Fortunately, not long after, Shan Youjun whispered to him, "Look up."

He Lingchuan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a prominent large rock on the cliff face ahead. Dong Rui was crouched there, and the giant bird was perched beside him.

From their vantage point, Dong Rui was busily bandaging something.

It wasn't hard to guess that it was probably the shrunken ghost ape. Already heavily wounded and then pursued for dozens of miles, it had already pushed its life potential to the limit. After Dong Rui retrieved it, it was in a critical, near-death state, in urgent need of immediate rescue.

Otherwise, Dong Rui wouldn't have risked stopping there.

He Lingchuan and Shan Youjun could see so clearly because a light source had appeared near Dong Rui. After all, he needed light to treat his demon puppet. However, Dong Rui was still meticulous; he had chosen a spot halfway up the cliff, a place from which he could easily escape if danger arose.

They crouched low and slowly crept forward.

The gorge bottom was covered in thick vegetation. They stepped carefully, fearful of making a sound. When the giant bird or Dong Rui's gaze swept over them, they froze.

After about a quarter of an hour of this, the direct distance between the two parties narrowed to within ten zhang.

Reaching this point, He Lingchuan felt much more at ease.

At this moment, Dong Rui seemed to have finished dressing the giant ape's wounds and was taking a transparent glass bottle from his pocket, gently shaking the red liquid inside.

He Lingchuan exchanged a glance with Shan Youjun, then slowly drew his Floating Life Blade, while Shan Youjun drew his bow and nocked an arrow. For a man like him, accustomed to lassoing horses and shooting eagles on the plains, there was no way he would allow this strange bird to escape his arrows a second time!

Perhaps because both of them had locked onto their targets, Dong Rui suddenly sensed something. His movements paused, and his gaze swept in their direction.

They couldn't wait any longer.

He Lingchuan made one final focus adjustment and then flung out the Floating Life Blade.

No matter how much the blade lay dormant, its edge was far brighter than an arrowhead. Dong Rui saw a flash of silver light in the darkness below and, without thinking, immediately flattened himself.

The large bird behind him, with its excellent eyesight, suddenly extended its beak and pecked, hitting the blade surface directly.

With a 'ding' sound, the tip of the bird's beak was gone.

Since it dared to challenge the blade, Floating Life naturally didn't go easy on it, but the blade itself was also knocked away.

Pursuers! Dong Rui shivered, then casually tossed a handful of smoke towards He Lingchuan and their hiding spot. He grabbed the ghost ape, flipped over, and leaped off the rock.

He and the strange bird had cooperated for years with almost no mistakes. The bird flipped sideways, spread its wings, and quickly hoisted him onto its back, immediately preparing to ascend.

If it flew into the sky, He Lingchuan would have no way to catch him.

Fortunately, the Floating Life Blade spun around and suddenly came back.

Dong Rui had just looked up when he saw a cold glint flash before his eyes. He shrieked in alarm and raised his staff to block it—

Yes, he had just taken out his short staff, intending to teach He Lingchuan and the others a lesson.

However, the Floating Life Blade spun past, slicing off both the head of his staff and his fingers!

Dong Rui cried out in pain, and something slipped from his palm, falling off the bird's back.

At that moment, Shan Youjun's arrow also flew, aiming straight for the strange bird's wing.

The creature was incredibly alert, twisting in mid-air more deftly than a hawk.

But Shan Youjun had anticipated its evasion, and his second arrow struck, piercing its bat-like wing.

The creature let out a squawk and glided erratically towards the ground directly ahead, as if about to crash.

He Lingchuan and Shan Youjun quickly ran towards that spot.

However, they had only run a few steps when the strange bird suddenly stabilized itself, flapped its wings twice, flew low to the ground, and then glided behind a tree!

With the tree blocking the way, Shan Youjun's bow and arrows were useless. He could only watch as it ascended, gradually climbing higher into the sky.

Only then did they realize that its bat-like wings could actually separate into upper and lower halves, like butterfly wings. Shan Youjun had damaged the lower half, but it didn't prevent the upper half from functioning independently; at most, it just made its flight less agile.

The creature was extremely cunning; it knew that immediate ascent would still get it shot down, so it simply feigned being hit and falling, creating distance between itself and the two men before flying high again.

"Ugh!" He Lingchuan knew he couldn't bring it down. He stamped his foot and sighed deeply.

Shan Youjun's face was flushed crimson, fortunately obscured by the dense night. "Master, I... it's my fault, please punish me!"

The strange bird cawed loudly after ascending into the sky, as if continuously mocking him.

"If punishing you were useful, if it could bring back these three, I would certainly punish you severely!" He Lingchuan sighed. "Alright, let's head back. My father still needs help there."

The two walked back dejectedly. As they passed the prominent rock, something stirred in He Lingchuan's mind.

When Dong Rui had been hit by the Floating Life Blade's return strike earlier, hadn't something fallen?

He walked near that spot, casually pulled out his tinder stick, and looked down to search.

Soon, Shan Youjun cried out, "Found it, found it, this..." He picked something up and spat, "It's Dong Rui's severed finger."

What He Lingchuan was looking for was what had dropped from Dong Rui's hand.

Just as he was about to turn his head, the divine bone necklace around his neck suddenly grew warm.

This item had been dormant for a long time; He Lingchuan had even forgotten about it. Why was it suddenly making its presence known again?

The last time it had warmed up was because there was something good nearby.

He Lingchuan circled the area, using the necklace's temperature changes to pinpoint the treasure's location.

Finally, his toe seemed to strike something hard and round that rolled a couple of times in the grass.

What was this?

He parted the grass, picked up the object, and held it up to the light.

"A medicine bottle."

This was the glass bottle Dong Rui had taken out earlier. He Lingchuan's Floating Life Blade had been flung before Dong Rui could even uncap it. Fortunately, the bottle was very sturdy; it landed intact, and not a drop of the red liquid inside spilled out.

As soon as he held the bottle, the divine bone necklace settled down, seemingly no longer in a hurry.