In the Screaming Woods, Lancelot and Bruto had dismounted their steeds, gripping their weapons and shields tightly, cautiously guarding against a lethal ambush from the Bagula Demons.
The Fang Tooth Trees had no branches or leaves; although tall above the ground, they were actually degenerate, relying on a vast underground root system to sustain their life. This allowed for a considerable distance between each Fang Tooth Tree, enough for a ten-foot-tall gorilla to move and strike freely.
The wind slicing through the woods shattered into piercing howls as it clashed with the sharp trunks, as if the souls of the damned lingered there.
Bruto, shield in hand, walked ahead of the two. The large trunks easily obscured visibility from the ground, and the massive apes could hide in the shadow of the treetops, ready to strike from above at any moment.
The Dwarf had to frequently look up to check his surroundings, a situation he found quite uncomfortable. Although Grace was flying high above, the Bagula Demon's ability to become invisible made it difficult for her to issue timely warnings.
Bruto suddenly stopped and pointed ahead, panic-stricken:
"By Muradin's beard! What in the world is that?"
On an unusually thick trunk ahead of him hung a horrifying totem. It was likely made from a Coward Devil, its legs brutally broken at the knees, with the shinbones piercing through the eye sockets, pinning the corpse to the trunk.
It wasn't hard to imagine that the primary material was likely still alive at the start of its making. Flesh from the Abyss degraded rapidly; using a body that had already perished would hardly keep the entire skeleton intact on the trunk.
With its legs cut in half, the skeleton resembled a gorilla. It was a typical Bagula totem, whose true significance was unknown to outsiders, but everyone knew what it represented: you had entered Bagula territory, and you should prepare to become such a totem.
Bruto, hands on his hips, mustered the courage to stare directly at the terrifying totem. Once he saw it clearly, there was nothing to fear, the totem was merely a declaration of its creator's cruelty, a reminder Bruto knew all too well.
Lancelot, on the other hand, had a thought. He noticed a blood-red little plant below the totem, emitting faint waves of Spiritual Energy.
He knelt down, dug up the little plant along with the surrounding soil, then carefully brushed off the dirt clinging to its roots, and tucked it into a small bag filled with mountain crystals.
Various knowledge about Spiritual Cultivation was recorded on the bamboo slips left in his mental world by Han Tiansun; Lancelot, regardless of his understanding, would read them in his mind when idle, and thus, he learned how to identify usable herbs.
— Shadow Spirit Grass, commonly found beneath the suspended bodies of the tragically died, nourished by the deceased's resentment and fresh blood, with red leaves and black stems, extremely Yin in nature, often used to neutralize other overly Yang medicinal materials, the method to ascertain its medicinal properties is...
This was the record regarding Shadow Spirit Grass on the bamboo slips, and the plant before him matched the description well. He didn't have a Jade Box to prevent the loss of Spiritual Energy, but the slips said surrounding it with Spirit Stones could work the same; so, he stored the plant with the mountain crystals, planning to study it further upon his return.
"You know how to identify herbs too?" Bruto asked, surprised.
"A little bit," Lancelot replied.
The Dwarf rolled his eyes, convinced that the guy was just pretending.
"That skeleton isn't useful to you, right?"
"Not at all," Lancelot shrugged. "What are you thinking?"
Upon hearing this, Bruto directly raised his new hammer, thought for a moment, then switched to his shield and smashed it violently against the horrifying totem, shattering it into pieces.
"Doing this," he explained.
"Roar!!!!!!!" The reply was a heavens-shaking roar; Bruto's face turned white in an instant.
It seemed that the Bagula Demon had discovered them long ago, using its invisibility to lurk in the shadows. Bruto's reckless action unexpectedly enraged it, forcing it to reveal itself.
Kuka suddenly leaped down from the top of a thick Fang Tooth Tree, his fists, full of rage, violently smashed towards the two.
Lancelot and Bruto, alert from the moment they heard its roar, jumped aside in time, dodging the deadly blow.
"I will grind you into pieces!"
The enraged ape demon roared, its ambush foiled but it seemed to have entered into a berserk state.
"Dream on!" Bruto responded, unyieldingly.
"ROAR!!"
Kuka hated this detestable dwarf to the bone, it was he who had completely ruined his meticulously crafted totem; no one had ever done that before!
People always saw the Bagula totem as a territorial symbol, a warning to intruders. But in reality, each totem was a piece of art into which the Bagula demons poured great amounts of effort, a tool they used to display their taste to the outside world.
Of course, for demons, taste generally pertained to the methods of slaughter and the novelty of torment.
Although Bruto was tall for a dwarf, standing over five feet, his opponent was nearly twice his height. The massive fists pounded down like air hammers; if one hit him squarely, it would likely drive him straight into the ground. Bruto completely gave up on counterattacking and used his best rolling technique. He moved across the ground like a dung beetle, making it very difficult for Kuka to land a hit.
Lancelot had already charged in with his sword. He carefully made a stabbing attack, maintaining as much distance as possible while attacking since he lacked Bruto's size that provided dodging bonuses.
The blade deeply penetrated the raised behind of the ape demon, causing Kuka to scream in pain. It whirled around with a swinging punch, but hit nothing; Lancelot had immediately lept back after delivering the stab.
The blade had gone nearly a foot deep, blood reddening the area around the wound, but any injury to the buttocks was hardly fatal, something Lancelot was well aware of.
"Ha ha, you stupid ape, why is your butt as red as a monkey's?"
Bruto teased shamelessly. Seeing Lancelot's successful strike and Kuka turning its back again, he wanted to try out his new hammer too.
"Bruto, watch out!!"
Lancelot urgently shouted, but it was too late. The ape demon spun around with alarming speed and threw a punch. Bruto couldn't dodge in time and could only barely lift his shield to block.
"BOOM!"
A loud sound, the Bagula demon landed a direct hit on its target for the first time that day.
Bruto flew backward like a ball kicked with great force, smashing hard against a tree and spitting out blood from his mouth.
Seeing the attack effective, the ape demon immediately lunged at Bruto, its body beginning to emit magical fluctuations.
Lancelot, sensing trouble, drew a dark green short sword from his waist. He had asked Barrend to make it from the beak of that demon overseer when they encountered the dwarves.
The True Qi surged out of his Dantian, he executed the Gathering Qi Slash technique, fiercely hurling the short sword at Kuka.
The Kiss of Deadly Poison shot out like a green bolt of lightning, easily entering the ape demon's back. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the heart for a fatal blow, nor did it stop the Bagula demon's supernatural ability from taking effect.
A flash of white light, and both Kuka and Bruto disappeared from the spot.
Lancelot immediately concentrated his Spiritual Energy in his ears and soon heard the sound of two heavy objects landing not far away.
"I see them, they're over there!"
Just then, Grace landed on the ground from the air, pointing in the direction of the sounds.
Lancelot didn't look back as he dashed towards that direction, astonishingly fast, with the succubus straining to keep up.
"Hang in there, little dwarf!"