" Yu!" After confirming temporary safety, Ye Wanrong moves closer to Chen Yu's side. She glances at the collapsed figure of Su Xu and asks, "Why bother with him?"
Chen Yu chuckles at her question, opting not to argue over Su Xu with Ye Wanrong. Instead, he says, " the Black Scales Jackal has consumed a large number of corpses. For the time being, it won't see us as food to swallow. We must find a way to leave!"
"Hmm?" Ye Wanrong perks up. "Brother Yu, do you have a plan?"
"We can give it a try! Wanrong, gather all the elixirs!" Chen Yu's expression becomes complicated as he looks at Ye Wanrong's familiar face.
"Alright!" Ye Wanrong begins to collect all the elixirs carried by everyone present.
Watching Ye Wanrong busy herself, Chen Yu's gaze remains fixed on her graceful figure, his eyes filled with indescribable affection.
"For you, I can risk my life. I wonder if you'll remember me forever," Chen Yu murmurs softly.
" Yu, the elixirs are gathered. What were you saying?" Ye Wanrong approaches with several medicine bottles, not catching Chen Yu's words clearly.
"Nothing!" Chen Yu snaps out of his reverie, taking the medicine bottles and pouring all the elixirs onto the ground.
There weren't many elixirs, only about twenty or so, and they were all ordinary the Vital energy-replenishing pills.
Chen Yu casually pops one into his mouth, then sits cross-legged, activating his cultivation technique to restore his true energy.
Everyone in the cave is stunned, watching Chen Yu with uncertainty.
Half an hour later, Chen Yu, fully restored to his peak condition, straightens his posture and opens his eyes.
" Yu, what exactly is your plan?" Ye Wanrong sits beside Chen Yu, her face still pale but with a hint of hope in her expression.
Chen Yu gazes at Ye Wanrong, feeling a strong sense of melancholy rising within him. He says, "Wanrong, promise me that you'll survive and return to the Five Clans Fort. And in the future, promise me that you'll live well!"
"Darling Yu, what are you planning to do?" Ye Wanrong hesitates, asking.
Chen Yu didn't respond further. He opened a small cloth pouch he carried and took out a plant and a palm-sized medicine cauldron.
The plant was the Confusion Grass, a relatively rare poisonous herb in the Fallen Deity Mountains. Its toxicity wasn't strong, but it had a powerful numbing effect.
As for the medicine cauldron, it was something Chen Yu often used in the Fallen Deity Mountains to concoct medicine when needed for survival and cultivation.
He crushed the Confusion Grass into a paste in the cauldron and then used a dagger to cut his left palm, letting the blood drip into the cauldron.
After mixing the poison and blood together, Chen Yu added half of the elixirs and gently stirred them in.
Once mixed, he removed the elixirs and let them dry. Chen Yu looked at Ye Wanrong's face once more, his eyes filled with reluctance.
Then, Chen Yu made up his mind not to look at Ye Wanrong again.
He feared that his reluctance would prevent him from leaving Ye Wanrong behind.
Time was running short. When the Black Scales Jackal finished digesting the human corpses it had previously consumed, it would become aggressive. It wouldn't just stay blocking the entrance anymore.
Chen Yu knew that his reluctance would only result in both him and Ye Wanrong dying here together.
Without responding to Ye Wanrong's questions, Chen Yu didn't even dare to look at her. He walked to the entrance of the cave and, seeing the lethargic the Black Scales Jackal lying there, he whistled and shouted, "Hey, big guy, let's make a deal. Let us go, and I'll give you something good!"
The lazy the Black Scales Jackal turned its head, a hint of confusion in its crimson eyes. But seeing that Chen Yu wasn't trying to escape, it showed no intention of attacking.
Having eaten its fill, as long as Chen Yu didn't attempt to flee, it was unwilling to pay him any further attention.
Chen Yu smiled and tossed out a regular the Vital energy-replenishing pill, which rolled to the Black Scales Jackal 's mouth!
Inside the cave, everyone was dumbfounded.
Ye Wanrong guessed Chen Yu's plan at this moment. She hugged Chen Yu from behind, tears streaming down her face, and said, " Yu, please don't do anything foolish. I would rather die here with you than let you go alone to lure away the Black Scales Jackal!"
Chen Yu's heart was torn, but he didn't look back.
Chen Yu's plan, in fact, was quite simple. He would use elixir to sedate the Black Scales Jackal, then take advantage of its sedation to lure it away, giving Ye Wanrong a chance to escape.
This plan had occurred to Chen Yu early on, and he was quite confident in it because he had read in an ancient book about someone feeding drugs to the Black Scales Jackal.
The Black Scales Jackal was a unique beast among ferocious creatures, cunning and greedy by nature, with intelligence not inferior to humans. Its special physiology allowed it to absorb the medicinal properties of drugs, and due to its greedy nature, it easily became addicted to them.
Using drugs as bait greatly increased the likelihood of success. However, as the sacrificial lamb to lure the Black Scales Jackal away, Chen Yu was facing certain death.
Chen Yu had considered letting others be the bait to lure the Black Scales Jackal away, but seeing the terrified reactions of the others, including Su Xu, he was certain that these companions, frightened by the Black Scales Jackal's ferocity, wouldn't get far under its pursuit.
Moreover, no one would be willing to sacrifice themselves to pave the way for others... except Chen Yu, who was doing it for Ye Wanrong!
If Ye Wanrong weren't here, Chen Yu wouldn't care about the others' lives!
The thrown pills rolled to the Black Scales Jackal's mouth. The Black Scales Jackal sniffed carefully at the pills by its mouth, then its massive tongue reached out, rolling up the Vital energy-replenishing pill and swallowing it.
After swallowing the pill, it squinted as if savoring the taste and benefits of the pill. Then, it became excited, slowly standing up and starting to walk towards the cave entrance.
Chen Yu quickly threw out the pills in his hand that weren't soaked in poison.
The Black Scales Jackal, massive as a small hill, suddenly became extremely agile, rolling up each pill Chen Yu threw into its mouth, not missing a single one. It didn't notice that Chen Yu deliberately controlled the landing points of the pills to keep it away from the cave entrance.
"The crucial moment has come!"
Chen Yu threw a Vital energy-replenishing pill soaked in the scent of the Confusion Grass.
This time, the Black Scales Jackal didn't directly roll the pill into its mouth with its tongue. Instead, after the pill landed, it leaned over to sniff carefully.
Obviously, its keen sense of smell detected something different.
Chen Yu tensed up.
A seventh level monstrous beast wasn't easily fooled. The scent of dragon grass wasn't strong, but it definitely wasn't odorless. It needed to be masked with a scent of blood, which was why Chen Yu had soaked the poison pills in blood earlier.
After sniffing carefully, the Black Scales Jackal glanced at Chen Yu, seemingly trying to find clues in his expression.
Chen Yu chuckled and said, "The elixirs are for you. Let's make a deal. Our meat isn't tasty. How about letting us leave?"
The Black Scales Jackal growled softly, baring its sharp, menacing teeth as a warning before rolling the poison pill into its mouth.
"This beast is becoming too cunning!" Chen Yu thought to himself, quickly throwing out the poison pills one by one.
The unsuspecting Black Scales Jackal swallowed each pill without hesitation. Its belly seemed bottomless; even after swallowing around twenty Vital energy-replenishing pills, it still wasn't satisfied!
"Wait for me to lure it away, then you can run. Wanrong, take care, you must stay alive!" Chen Yu stared at the ferocious face of the Black Scales Jackal, slowly prying open Ye Wanrong's hands wrapped around his waist, bidding his final farewell.
"No..." Ye Wanrong cried bitterly, tears raining down.
"Now's the time!" Chen Yu, disregarding Ye Wanrong's emotions, leaped out of the cave as soon as he noticed a slight stiffness in the Black Scales Jackal's body, darting out of the cave entrance and sprinting in the right direction.
One stalk of Confusion Grass could easily poison a Vital energy Condensation realm powerhouse, but Chen Yu knew that for a powerful monster like the Black Scales Jackal, Confusion Grass could only paralyze it for a short while. This brief window was crucial for his escape and luring the Black Scales Jackal away.
"Roar!" Sensing the poison, the Black Scales Jackal roared furiously, charging towards Chen Yu. But after just a few steps, its massive body seemed to be bound by invisible ropes, and it crashed heavily to the ground.
The effects of the Confusion Grass had fully taken hold!
Chen Yu sprinted with all his might, swiftly leaving the valley where the cave was located and heading towards the dense forest to the north.
Twenty seconds later, Chen Yu reached the edge of the forest. Glancing back, he saw the Black Scales Jackal stumbling after him, constantly falling and scrambling back up, looking utterly miserable.
However, the Black Scales Jackal's aura had become extremely violent, its crimson eyes filled with hatred, fixed firmly on Chen Yu, showing no sign of relenting.
Chen Yu also saw Ye Wanrong standing at the mouth of the cave, like a statue.
Tears welled up in Chen Yu's eyes. He dared not look back anymore and pushed himself into the forest, increasing the distance between them as fast as he could.
"Roar!" Less than half a minute after Chen Yu entered the forest, a furious roar came from behind, echoing through the mountains. Then the thunderous sound of trees being snapped and crushed filled the air.
As the sound indicated, Chen Yu knew that the effects of the Confusion Grass had worn off, and the Black Scales Jackal had returned to normal.
Although the forest constrained the Black Scales Jackal's speed to some extent, this was only temporary. The central area of the Fallen Deity Mountains was complex, and dense forests couldn't exist indefinitely. With the Black Scales Jackal's powerful sense of smell, Chen Yu couldn't shake off its pursuit.
Three minutes later, Chen Yu burst out of the forest. Unable to resist looking back, he saw, a hundred meters away, trees constantly breaking and falling as the massive Black Scales Jackal plowed through the forest, creating a path of pursuit.
From its roar, Chen Yu could feel its determination to kill!
Outside the forest was a gorge. Chen Yu sprinted towards the end of the gorge with all his might.
"Roar..."
The Black Scales Jackal's roar grew closer.
Five minutes later, Chen Yu was almost at the end of the valley. He felt his vital energy becoming sluggish, and the Black Scales Jackal's roar was getting closer.
"In the end, can't escape?" Chen Yu's emotions turned desperate.
Suddenly, around the corner of the valley ahead, a dark swamp appeared.
"A swamp? There's a swamp here?" Chen Yu's heart ignited with hope, and he continued to sprint with all his strength.
At that moment, Chen Yu suddenly felt a fierce wind behind him. He instinctively lunged forward.
A sharp claw grazed his back, its immense force nearly tearing him in half, and blood gushed out from his back.
Despite this, Chen Yu didn't give up his instinct to escape. As he fell, he pushed himself up with all his strength and sprinted again.
Fifty meters, forty meters, thirty meters...
He was getting closer to the edge of the swamp.
"Roar!" The Black Scales Jackal's roar and the sound of its claws tearing through the air came closer and closer!
Chen Yu dared not look back and could only glance sideways.
Thud... Half of Chen Yu's body was torn by the sharp claws, and a large chunk of flesh flew out, his entire body thrown out like a broken kite.
His vision began to darken, and the continuous spurt of blood pushed Chen Yu to the brink of collapse.
"Roar..." The Black Scales Jackal slapped Chen Yu again, then leaped up and pounced towards him.
"Damn beast!" Chen Yu spat blood, then, with his last strength, rolled forward abruptly.
Splash... The sound of falling into the water was like a melodious song. Chen Yu's heart was filled with joy as, despite his depleted body, he managed to summon a last bit of strength, propelling himself through the muddy swamp water, trying to get away from the shore as much as possible.
Boom, the giant claw of the Black Scales Jackal slammed into the water at the edge of the shore, stirring up countless mud and swamp water. The waves surged towards Chen Yu with tremendous force.
Driven by these waves, Chen Yu's body trembled, blood spewing from his mouth. However, the waves carried him further away from the shore.
Standing at the edge of the swamp, the Black Scales Jackal's crimson eyes stared at Chen Yu, who was sinking, about to be swallowed by the swamp, emitting a thunderous roar.
However, the Black Scales Jackal seemed wary of the swamp, ultimately not jumping in but continuing to roar at the shore.
Chen Yu's blood dyed the swamp red, and he had no strength left. His entire body sank, his consciousness on the brink of darkness.
What Chen Yu didn't know was that as his blood flowed more and more, in the middle of the swamp, far away from him, a patch of mud suddenly churned, bubbling with bubbles. Then, a bright red bloodline suddenly appeared on the surface of the swamp, shooting towards his direction.