The problem, however, was their sheer numbers.
A quick count revealed over thirty of them, all pouncing on the Hunting Team in a frenzy.
"Don’t get bogged down fighting these Demon Apes! Cover the others and fall back!" Zou Feng shouted without turning his head, charging straight into the thickest cluster of the creatures.
It seemed the Demon Apes had only recently started their attack, as they hadn’t caused any major casualties yet.
But with Zou Feng, Tian Yun, and Xie Ding joining the fray, the situation was instantly brought under control.
With their leaders present, the hundred-plus members of the Hunting Team found their resolve, and they began a much more orderly fighting retreat.
As Zou Feng fended off five Demon Apes simultaneously, he was also constantly scanning his surroundings for any sign of Yuwen Shuo.
With poison seeping into his very marrow, Yuwen Shuo certainly couldn’t escape. But he was a Gang Qi Realm Martial Artist, after all; he wouldn’t die in just a few moments.
So, in theory, even if Zou Feng ignored him, the helpless Yuwen Shuo would eventually be torn to shreds by the Demon Apes.
But unless he saw it happen with his own eyes, Zou Feng would never be able to rest easy.
He couldn’t afford to take any chances.
’This is too important. If by some freak stroke of luck Yuwen Shuo doesn’t die, I’ll spend the rest of my days being hunted by High Grade Martial Artists...’
He had to make absolutely sure Yuwen Shuo was dead.
"Has anyone seen Yuwen Shuo?"
After searching for a while to no avail, Zou Feng had no choice but to shout the question aloud.
One of his men quickly replied, "General Leader, a moment ago, an exceptionally large Demon Ape seized that bastard and dragged him off!"
Zou Feng’s heart sank at his words.
’What the hell? It didn’t kill and eat him, it just dragged him away?’
’Are these Demon Apes out of their minds? Did they come here just to save Yuwen Shuo? Or maybe they thought he was handsome and decided to kidnap him to be their queen?’
Cursing inwardly, Zou Feng violently shoved aside a few Demon Apes and pushed deeper.
Whatever the case, Yuwen Shuo could not be allowed to live.
Fortunately, not long after breaking through the circle of Demon Apes, he finally spotted Yuwen Shuo at the base of a giant, claw-scarred tree.
He was slumped against the trunk, his eyes filled with despair as snot and tears streamed endlessly down his face.
The reason was simple. Standing before Yuwen Shuo were no fewer than eight Demon Apes.
One of them was particularly massive. Judging by the eerily human-like expression on its face, this Demon Ape possessed a high degree of Spiritual Wisdom; it was likely the Ape King of this troop.
The Ape King was studying Yuwen Shuo meticulously, appearing to be extremely interested in him.
Zou Feng had no idea what the Ape King was planning, but he couldn’t be bothered to find out. From over a hundred feet away, he unleashed a full-power Blood Hand Seal.
Compared to the Poison Fury Fire Lotus Seal, the Blood Hand Seal was faster and much harder to detect.
But in the end, the Spiritual Wisdom of these Demon Apes was no match for a human’s. Sensing something coming at them, their reaction—including the Ape King’s—was to either dodge or to snarl and cover their heads in defense.
They had no idea that Zou Feng wasn’t even aiming for them. His only goal was to ensure Yuwen Shuo died on the spot.
Thus, the Blood Hand Seal sailed smoothly past several of the Demon Apes and slammed into Yuwen Shuo’s chest.
Though he felt no pain when the attack landed, Yuwen Shuo’s instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.
When he saw that it was Zou Feng who had launched the attack, he immediately shrieked in terror, "Don’t... Zou Feng, you... listen to me... actually..."
As if Zou Feng would listen to his nonsense now. The next moment, he tightly clenched the right fist he’d used to cast the Blood Hand Seal.
SPLAT—
The spot on Yuwen Shuo’s chest where the seal had landed instantly burst apart, creating a human fountain of blood and viscera.
The Blood Hand Seal could only have such a devastating effect because Yuwen Shuo was already riddled with poison.
Zou Feng had been forced to deliver the killing blow himself. It was baffling; the Demon Ape had shown no intention of killing Yuwen Shuo at all.
’Good thing this place is a special environment. It’s unlikely I’ll be marked for this...’
With Yuwen Shuo finally dead, Zou Feng spun around and fled.
The other Demon Apes were manageable, but the Ape King was the real issue. One look from afar was enough for Zou Feng to know it was significantly stronger than Wu Xing.
To Zou Feng’s surprise, however, the Ape King stared at the now-lifeless Yuwen Shuo, stunned for a moment. Then, with boundless rage, it beat its chest, stamped its feet, and tilted its head back to let out a deafening roar.
The strange display made Zou Feng glance back in astonishment, even as he continued to flee.
’Is it insane? Don’t tell me the Demon Ape actually fell in love with Yuwen Shuo at first sight!?’
’This roar right now... it really sounds like I just murdered its favorite concubine...’
As if to confirm Zou Feng’s guess, the Ape King’s bloodthirsty eyes locked onto him. In the next instant, it kicked off the ground and shot toward Zou Feng like a cannonball.
At this, Zou Feng wished he could just swat the mad ape dead.
The problem was, he knew he probably couldn’t beat this thing, even if he activated State Two.
Besides, he wasn’t just dealing with the Ape King.
In short, he’d have to be an absolute idiot to stick around and fight them, especially when he had no idea how many more Demon Apes might come pouring out of the woods.
Zou Feng made a snap decision. He spotted Shi Yangming and shouted from a distance, "Old Shi, throw me the Xiong Xin!"
They had eaten the rest of the Demon Bear they’d hunted earlier, but the Xiong Xin had been saved.
The reason was simple: this particular Demon Bear’s Xiong Xin contained a potent poison that even Zou Feng hadn’t fully deciphered yet.
But poison aside, the thing was a powerful tonic, perfect for replenishing the energy he would expend after using State Two.
Now that he was being hunted by the Ape King, it was safer to have the Xiong Xin on hand, just in case.
The moment Shi Yangming saw the behemoth chasing after Zou Feng, he understood. He snatched a bundle from the ground by his feet and hurled it over.
Zou Feng caught the bundle and immediately changed direction, fleeing toward an area with fewer people.
By drawing the Ape King away, he was, in effect, also saving the Hunting Team.
Otherwise, if that creature had joined the main fight, it would have been a tiger among sheep, and the Hunting Team would have suffered devastating casualties.
"Get out of here! Don’t worry about me!"
After shouting one last order, Zou Feng put everything he had into escaping.
With Tian Yun and Xie Ding present, the Hunting Team shouldn’t have much trouble making an orderly retreat.
They could still follow the plan: stay away from the depths of Qifeng Mountain, wander around the outer edges, and wait for him to shake the Ape King before rejoining them.
What Zou Feng didn’t expect, however, was that after seeing him pursued by the enormous Demon Ape, Tian Yun hesitated for only a moment before taking off after him.
Tian Yun gave chase because she could see how powerful the Ape King was and intended to lend a hand.
There was another reason as well. Just as she’d said, Tian Yun wanted to press deeper into Qifeng Mountain in search of a real challenge.
Trying to team up with Zou Feng to kill an exceptionally powerful Demon Ape was clearly the kind of challenge she was looking for.
It would allow her to walk the line between life and death, which might just stimulate her potential and help her break through to the Gang Qi Realm.
Meanwhile, Zou Feng was quite confident in his Drunken Immortal Moon Gazing Step, which had reached the level of Refined Skill.
He hadn’t been able to widen the gap with the Ape King yet, but he wasn’t afraid of a long-distance chase.
The Ape King couldn’t have limitless stamina, after all.
Still, it was a real pain in the ass to have gone from the pursuer to the pursued in such a short amount of time.
He really had no idea what had gotten into that Demon Ape...
As he fled, Zou Feng took every opportunity to glance back and observe the Demon Ape.
He soon discovered that the Ape King’s initial expression of uncontrollable fury had gradually faded away.
But the look in its eyes now was like that of a starving predator that had just spotted its prey.
’Uh... moved on to a new love already?’
’No, it’s not likely these Demon Apes find human males attractive. There must be something else on both me and Yuwen Shuo that’s drawing the Ape King in.’
’But if I had to name something Yuwen Shuo and I have in common, besides our stunning good looks...’
’It’s obvious. We’re both poisonous creatures!’
’That’s right. It goes without saying for a Poison Cultivator like me, but with poison seeped into his very marrow, Yuwen Shuo had also become one of these ’poisonous creatures’.’
’And that’s not even mentioning the highly toxic "Xiong Xin" tied to my waist.’
’So, what this Demon Ape truly craves is the poison on me and Yuwen Shuo?’
’By killing Yuwen Shuo and causing his blood to spray everywhere, from the Demon Ape’s perspective, I’d essentially wasted a body full of valuable poison.’
’That must be the real reason the Ape King was so furious.’