Another roar came, and Ding Huan's complexion changed. He was certain it was the howl of a Fierce Ape.
Previously, there were no apes in Qianluo Mountain, but after the environmental mutation on Earth, two kinds of Fierce Apes appeared: one was the giant ape, and the other was the Brown Ape.
Whether it was the giant ape or the Brown Ape, both were species that had disappeared, with the giant ape even being an ancient beast.
Even without mutations, these two types of apes were very ferocious. After gene mutations, they became Genetic Beasts that could easily crush humans.
From that sound, Ding Huan guessed that it was very likely the giant ape, and it was coming in his direction.
At this moment, where could Ding Huan dare to hesitate? He chose a direction and fled quickly, hoping that the giant ape was not coming after him.
Logically speaking, the giant ape should not be targeting him since he had done nothing to enrage it on Qianluo Mountain other than collecting some plants.
Although Ding Huan was agile, he was still too slow compared to the speed of the giant ape. In just a few minutes, he saw the giant ape chasing after him.
Ding Huan didn't understand why the giant ape was chasing him; he hadn't done anything to offend it.
Just as Ding Huan was anxious, he saw a cave in the cliff above on the side.
This cave was on a cliff, five meters above the ground. Ding Huan charged towards it frantically, pushed off the cliff with his feet, and hooked his hands onto the mouth of the cave, then swiftly rolled inside.
Boom, boom, boom! The outside erupted with loud bangs again. Clearly, the giant ape was going berserk outside the cave. Fortunately, the entrance was not large, and although the giant ape could reach it, it couldn't force its way in.
Inside the cave, Ding Huan finally saw that there were already four people hiding there, two women and two men. A tall and thin man was staring at him with an unfriendly look.
Ding Huan was puzzled in his heart; this was quite a deep area of Qianluo Mountain, where almost no one would come. So how come there were four people here all of a sudden?
"Get out, you brought the Fierce Ape here, deal with it yourself," the tall and thin man said ungraciously upon seeing Ding Huan not speaking.
"Joey, that Fierce Ape is terrifying. Going out would mean a certain death. The cave is spacious enough, we can all just hide. Sooner or later the ape will leave, it can't stand guard outside forever, right?" Said a woman in blue who was sitting inside.
However, Ding Huan smelled a refreshing medicinal fragrance. His gaze landed on another woman's backpack, from which the fragrance was emanating.
"Did you steal that giant ape's Spiritual Medicine?" Ding Huan suddenly realized.
Initially, he had felt a bit apologetic, but now that the guy named Joey had yelled at him, he didn't pay any attention to it. Now he realized that the real culprits were not him, but these people in front of him.
The only thing he had done wrong was choosing the wrong direction to escape in.
"Watch your words, kid. What do you mean 'we stole the giant ape's Spiritual Medicine'? We found it ourselves," said a man who was at most 1.6 meters tall, looking fierce and obviously not a good sort.
Ding Huan scoffed calmly, "If everyone wants to live, we should send out this medicinal plant; otherwise, no one here will survive."
"What do you mean by that?" Joey's tone became even more hostile, as if he was ready to teach Ding Huan a lesson at any moment.
Ding Huan calmly stated, "A giant ape guarding its Spiritual Medicine sees it as the apple of its eye. Now that it definitely smells its own medicine, if you don't send the Spiritual Medicine out, the ape will stand guard at the entrance until death and won't leave."
Even as he said this, Ding Huan cursed his luck. If he had fled in a different direction, the giant ape would definitely not have pursued him.
"Could it really be that serious?" The woman with the medicinal plants in her backpack spoke, frowning slightly, clearly reluctant to part with them.
Despite the dim light in the cave, Ding Huan could still see that this woman was very beautiful.
Her facial features were perfectly proportioned, and her figure was just right; if not for her consistently arrogant demeanor, probably every man would be moved.
"Qin Yi, why listen to this kid's nonsense? No matter how big that ape is, it's just an animal; how much patience and intelligence can it have?" Joey glanced disapprovingly at Ding Huan and turned to speak softly to the woman.
"Yi Yi, I'm afraid this is true. Animals can sometimes be more persistent about their treasures than humans," the woman in blue added another word for Ding Huan.
After speaking, she turned to Ding Huan, "Are you from Lu River? Did you come here looking for medicinal materials?"
Ding Huan had a good impression of the woman in blue, he nodded, "Yes, I'm from Lu River City. With the high prices of various wild medicinal materials, I thought to try my luck on Qianluo Mountain. What about you?"
He also wanted to find out where these people came from, especially the guy named Joey, who was as proud as a rooster.
"Kid, don't pry into our affairs," the fierce-looking short guy stared at Ding Huan, speaking menacingly.
Ding Huan couldn't be bothered with him and instead turned his attention to the giant ape furiously slamming into the cliff outside.
Before, Ding Huan had always thought that this must be the extinct Chinese Giant Ape, but now that he clearly saw the giant ape's appearance, he was shocked.
Could this not be a giant ape? Why did it look like an aberrant species, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape?
Even with Earth's sudden environmental mutations causing reversions or gene mutations in some creatures, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape shouldn't appear, right? Did this species ever exist on Earth?
The Great Wilderness Golden Ape was something he learned about while wandering through the universe; this type of ape was an origin aberrant species that almost only existed in legends. The ape's entire body glowed golden as if it was draped in a golden blanket.
This is merely the surface: The reason why the Great Wilderness Golden Ape is known as one of the Ten Great Divine Species is due to its two terrifying abilities.
The first is its boundless strength, and the second is the possession of a vertical eye that penetrates illusion.
Ding Huan stared intently at the giant ape still assaulting the cliff face, on whose forehead appeared to be a black strip—that was precisely where the Great Wilderness Golden Ape's third eye would manifest.
The fact that this Great Wilderness Golden Ape had not yet developed a third eye meant it was still a young ape.
Ding Huan took a deep breath, determined that once he became powerful, he would surely acquire the Great Wilderness Golden Ape's strength gene and the gene to penetrate the void.
The likelihood of encountering a Great Wilderness Golden Ape was scarcely greater than finding a speck of dust in the universe.
Even if others managed to obtain the gene of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, they wouldn't be able to create Genetic Medicine Liquid that could merge with the human body, but he could.
"Bai Chuanqiang, don't always look so fierce. Now is the time for everyone to pull together and unite."
The woman in blue addressed a short man, then turned to Ding Huan and said, "My name is Liu Aimei, and we all come from Yanjing, here to travel."
Ding Huan felt that these people didn't really seem like they were here for tourism, but it was none of his business.
Apart from being able to chat with Liu Aimei, Ding Huan didn't like any of the other three; he simply walked away and sat down on a rock.
That woman named Qin Yi was unwilling to give up the medicinal materials from the giant ape, and the Great Wilderness Golden Ape outside wouldn't leave, not knowing how long this stalemate would last. Since it was a waiting game, why bother squandering words?
Wait, Qin Yi's medicinal materials in her bag might just be what the Great Wilderness Golden Ape needs to refine its Illusion Eye. With that thought, Ding Huan's gaze unconsciously landed on Qin Yi's bag.
Without that Spiritual Medicine, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape would surely have other means to refine the Illusion Eye.
But even if he managed to get the blood of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape and create the Genetic Medicine Liquid to penetrate illusion, without that Spiritual Medicine, the effects might be limited.
Ding Huan shook his head privately; for him to try and obtain that medicinal plant was a fool's dream.
As Ding Huan pondered, the first day passed with the rumbling sounds of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape striking the cave entrance, and then at night, the outside grew quiet.
Ding Huan was certain the Golden Ape was still blocking the outside; he closed his eyes to rest, and at the same time, he circulated his Luo Shijin. Although it wouldn't improve much, it was good to stimulate blood circulation.
"That giant ape should have left by now, right? It's been quiet for quite a while," Bai Chuanqiang said, feeling a bit hungry and unable to resist speaking.
"Definitely not gone. Not to mention that its treasure is with us; even if its treasure wasn't here, such giant apes hold grudges very strongly. We've offended it, and it won't just give up," Liu Aimei replied.
"I'm sorry; it's my fault that everyone is trapped here. If I hadn't wanted to come to Qianluo Mountain in Luoh River City, we wouldn't be stuck in this place. Should I give the medicinal materials back to the giant ape?" Qin Yi said with some regret.
"Now, even if we return the medicinal materials to the giant ape, I'm afraid it won't leave," Joey stated.
"Yi, we are all friends. Saying you've troubled us makes it sound like we are strangers. But I really don't know why you insisted on choosing Qianluo Mountain in Luoh River City. Actually, near Yanjing, the Yanshan Mountain Range also has many rare Mutated Medicinal Materials," Liu Aimei said.
Qin Yi was silent for a while before saying, "Actually, I came here to see what my fiancé whom my father told me about looks like. Only after I arrived in Luoh River City did I find out that the founder of the Baiyu Group, Ding Baishan, has long been missing.
The heir of Baiyu Group, Ding Baishan's son Ding Xiaotu, was also driven out of the Baiyu Group. The Baiyu Group today is Ding Jie's company; it was a wasted trip for me."
"Your father told you about the fiancé, not that Ding Xiaotu who was kicked out of Baiyu Group, right?" Liu Aimei asked incredulously.
Qin Yi laughed self-deprecatingly, "You're right; it is indeed him. But I can't really say he's my fiancé; my father allows me to choose for myself. Only if I am satisfied will this matter proceed, so I came to have a look."
Ding Huan observed Qin Yi again; the woman was indeed beautiful.
Luo Xinwei was far inferior to her, and recalling how he had yearned for Luo Xinwei for years in his past life, Ding Huan just shook his head, laughable years of ignorance.
What Qin Yi meant was clear to Ding Huan: without the inheritance of Baiyu Group, he had no chance of matching Qin Yi's expectations, and she would not accept him.
"Luoh River, these small places..."
Bai Chuanqiang said half a sentence before feeling that these words didn't seem quite right—Luoh River was not a small place. He simply changed the topic by saying, "You could totally reject your father's proposal."
Bai Chuanqiang's words were met with no response. Clearly, this was not just the matter of two individuals; it must involve both Qin Yi's family assets and the issues of the Baiyu Group.
"I heard that Ding Baishan has been missing for half a year. Uncle Ding must have known before, right?" Liu Aimei asked, puzzled.
Qin Yi shook her head, "No, Uncle Ding visited my home half a year ago; he's met me..."
Qin Yi did not continue, but Ding Huan had a vague notion in his heart. Ding Baishan's visit to the Yanjing Qin Family was very likely to be related to him.
Ding Baishan had gone to Yanjing and met with Qin Yi's father, and they probably nearly settled their affairs—otherwise, Qin Yi would not have come to Luoh River City.
Since Ding Baishan went missing after visiting the Qin Family, his disappearance could be closely related to the Qin Family, but Qin Yi was likely unaware.
(Today's update ends here, dear readers, good night! Please support with recommendation tickets and favorites, and if you have monthly tickets, please support as well. Thank you.)