Chapter 51

After finishing the beef jerky, Sangmu and Yanglang looked as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.

I knew they had something to say, so I said, "If you have something to say, just talk to me."

Sangmu and Yanglang pushed each other around for a while, but finally Sangmu stepped forward and said, "We two want to go back first."

"Yes, since we have sent you two here, let's go back first." Yang Lang also said from the side.

They were of no help against the mandrills, but I was still a little angry at their desertion.

Liu Danchen said on the side: "Then you two should go back now. It will be more dangerous after dark."

After hearing what Liu Danchen said, the two of them felt as if they had been pardoned, and hurriedly ran down the mountain.

My pretty face was filled with anger. I watched them go down the mountain without saying a word. Liu Danchen saw that I was a little angry and said, "If they stay, they will die. It's better for them to leave early so that we don't have to take care of them later."

"That's what I said, and I understand the logic." As soon as I finished speaking, there was a cry of surprise from the other side.

Liu Danchen and I exchanged glances, and I hurriedly said, "Something happened!"

The two of us stood up and ran towards Sangmu and Yanglang.

When I arrived, Yanglang was lying on his back, leaning against a tree root, staring at the road in horror. In the middle of the road, Sangmu's lower body was gone, leaving only a pool of blood. He wasn't dead yet, and when he tried to speak, he could only spit out blood foam.

I had never seen such a tragic scene before, and I couldn't adapt to it for a moment. I turned my back and stopped looking at Sangmu.

Liu Danchen acted decisively and struck out with a finger sword. Sang Mu finally died, but his eyes were wide open.

Yang Lang was so scared that he kept muttering "mountain ghost, mountain ghost".

I walked towards Yang Lang, who suddenly lashed out with his hunting knife in a frenzy, kicking his legs backwards, but unfortunately, a large tree stopped him in his tracks. I struck him in the back of the neck with my knife, and he finally quieted down. Finally, Liu Danchen carried him back to our makeshift tent. I had just been eating together, and now one of us was dead.

The mandrill didn't leave just now, but was watching us from a distance. It took advantage of the opportunity when Sangmu and Yanglang came down the mountain and ran towards them at a very fast speed. Poor Sangmu was pulled in half by it, and the lower half must have been taken away by it.

It seems the mandrill is more cunning than we imagined. I have a feeling it's watching us from out of sight, and if we're alone, it'll appear. Liu Danchen and I are fine, we're not afraid of it. But Yanglang is not so. He's just an ordinary person, and if he encounters a mandrill, his fate will be no different from Sangmu's.

Sangmu's body couldn't just sit there. Liu Danchen went to deal with it, and I stayed in the shed to watch over Yanglang. He found a lot of wood and placed Sangmu's body on top. After the billowing smoke, a huge fire broke out. I watched the flames rise to the sky, thinking of Sangmu's tragic death. I made a secret decision: regardless of whether this mandrill had any connection to the Fountain of Youth, I would destroy it.

The mandrill should have also seen the flames, and a "zha zha" sound was heard in the distance.

It had indeed been lingering nearby.

When Yang Lang woke up, it was already evening.

He opened his eyes and saw Liu Danchen and me, still shrugging back in fear. Liu Danchen and I consoled him for a long time before he finally came to his senses, but his hand was tightly gripped around his hunting knife. The three of us tacitly avoided mentioning Sang Mu and sat in the shed, stunned.

"It would be too passive to continue like this," said Liu Danchen.

"How about we get some bait?" I asked.

When Yang Lang heard me talk about bait, he looked at me nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't let you go." Seeing him like this, I said lightly.

But he didn't believe it at all and remained on the defensive.

"I'll go out and lure it out. Once it shows up, we'll attack with all our might and won't let it escape," said Liu Danchen.

"Let me go. I look less threatening than you. I'll call you the first time it shows up, and then we'll attack together. I don't believe it can beat the two of us." I said.

Liu Danchen pondered for a moment and said, "Then be careful. I'll rush over as soon as I spot it."

"Yeah." I stood up and walked into the woods.

"Come out!" I shouted.

But there was no movement in the woods.

I walked about a hundred meters further, and this time, without me shouting, a cluster of treetops in the distance shook. It was coming, heading straight for me. It jumped from a branch and landed right in front of me.

We both looked at each other warily, circling around. Only after we switched positions did I, as planned, shout, "Brother Danchen!"

In this way, I blocked its way forward, and Liu Danchen heard my shout and ran towards me quickly, blocking its way back.

The two of us were one in front and one behind. Liu Danchen's sword instantly shone with golden light, and I also summoned a golden feather arrow, ready to be launched in the air.

Seeing no way out, the mandrill let out a furious cry. It instantly grew taller, its entire body appearing even more muscular. I summoned three arrows, whizzing and whizzing, blasting them towards its head, chest, and abdomen. With nowhere to hide, it shielded itself with its arms, ready to withstand the blow. But it was no match for the blow; all three arrows pierced its arms.

It felt pain and roared.

Seeing me land a hit, Liu Danchen immediately charged forward with his sword. The mandrill was already wounded, and this only spurred it on to greater ferocity. Seeing Liu Danchen approaching from behind, it spun around and engaged Liu Danchen. But Liu Danchen was no less formidable. The clash of sword and mandrill produced a metallic clang, sending sparks blazing through the forest.

Seeing that Liu Danchen couldn't catch it for a while, I shot three more arrows. All three of these arrows hit the mandrill's back, giving it a chilling feeling.

It stopped attacking Liu Danchen and instead let out a shrill roar.

I thought it was dead for sure, but suddenly I heard Yanglang scream over there.

Liu Danchen and I quickly ran towards Yanglang, but when we reached the shed, only two legs remained. Behind us, a mournful "coo, coo" sound emanated.

The two of us ran back to the mandrills and saw another larger mandrill standing there, holding the injured little mandrill.

There are actually two! It seems that the little mandrill must be its child.

The big mandrill carried the little mandrill and ran deep into the forest.

"Chase!" Liu Danchen shouted, and then he ran forward first.

I followed Liu Danchen.

The big mandrill, clutching the child, couldn't run fast enough to shake us off. The two of us followed it, but couldn't catch up either. So the two of us kept chasing each other through the woods, non-stop.

But we are human beings after all, and we don’t have the physical strength to keep up. In addition, it is already night and we can’t see the mountain road clearly, so we have to give up.

Fortunately, the little mandrill was injured, and we can search for it by following the blood after dawn.

"I didn't expect there were two." Liu Danchen and I sat by the fire.

"Maybe there are more mandrills, but only two of them came out," said Liu Danchen.

It's not impossible.

"We have to find him no matter what," I said.

After all, in addition to killing the villagers, they also have clues to the Fountain of Youth. We can't just give up like that.