Chapter 134: The Flea on the Drum

Zhou Qian slapped the trunk of the tree and landed lightly as a feather. Sweeping his gaze around, he noticed that the wolf meat discarded like worthless chicken bones by the man and the bird by the campfire was gone. It had undoubtedly been taken by those two figures. A trace of surprise arose in his heart: "I have long heard rumors that wild men roam the vicinity of Shennongjia, but I never expected the rumors to be true! Or perhaps they are not wild men at all, but mountain ghosts."

Driven by curiosity, his sleepiness vanished. Estimating the time, it was around the Hour of the Tiger, not far from dawn, so he quietly followed them. The mystery of the wild men in these mountains might finally be unraveled on this trip. The mountain trail was narrow and difficult to traverse, with dense foliage blocking the sun and thorny vines intertwined everywhere. True to its name, "Twig and Branch Ridge," the mountain was plagued by heavy morning dew and sparkling dewdrops. Although it possessed a hazy beauty, pushing through the brush inevitably soaked his robes, making them sticky and extremely uncomfortable. Inwardly, he felt a twinge of regret for meddling in other people's business, but his hands and feet kept moving, clearly determined to see the matter through to the end.

Fortunately, Zhou Qian's pace was extremely fast. Up ahead, two dark figures could already be seen running and leaping, uttering strange "Awoo" sounds. Energized, he quickened his speed. The terrain suddenly opened up before him; a lush expanse of grass filled his entire field of vision. Deep within the mountain ridges, nestled among sheer cliffs and steep precipices, lay a basin spanning several hundred mu. Seven or eight crude wooden houses stood there, and dozens, if not a hundred, wild men were either lying or sitting about. As soon as the two wild men tossed the wolf meat down, seven or eight others scrambled for it simultaneously. In an instant, the meat was torn into multiple pieces. Those who managed to grab a piece beamed with joy and shrieked bizarrely, while those who failed grunted and shook their heads, though they went no further and made no attempt to snatch from others, displaying a surprising degree of order.

Zhou Qian quietly drew closer to examine this group of wild men carefully: humanoid, about a zhang tall, dark-faced, hairy, with their heels turned backward. He clicked his tongue in wonder, finally having his eyes opened. Just as he was about to move, he saw the most robust of the wild men—evidently the leader, draped in animal skins and with bird feathers stuck in his hair—stepping forward while pushing a wooden statue. The statue carved a human figure with blurred facial features, yet its clothing resembled Han attire. That alone was not all; the crucial point was that Zhou Qian found the carved figure strangely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

With the statue placed in the center, the wild men knelt and kowtowed one after another, chanting incessantly with strange, continuous wails as if worshiping a deity. Their expressions were deeply devout. After about half an hour, the ritual finally ended, and they began to tend fires, split firewood, and chop logs, resembling an ordinary farming village. Yet, in the middle of these desolate mountains and wild ridges, it seemed rather unusual. Zhou Qian normally detested such religious worship and cultist practices, largely because the Red Lotus Sect's preaching across Sichuan and Shaanxi had driven countless families to ruin. However, seeing that these wild men's speech and behavior were quite civilized—the old helping the young, men assisting women, self-sufficient, and orderly, presenting a flourishing atmosphere—it was undoubtedly the merit of this so-called "deity," which left him quite astonished.

If this deity were merely a mortal, how could he win the trust of these untamed, outland wild men? But if it were a swordsman of some sort, why would he idly come to this wilderness to play god? As he was pondering, a disturbance arose ahead in the basin. Branches trembled and mountain trees shook as five massive old black bears—also known as man-bears—burst out from the opposite woods.

Saying they "burst out" was not entirely accurate; rather, they smashed and crashed straight through arm-thick tree trunks in front of them with an aggressive momentum. These old bears had brownish-yellow fur, robust physiques, humped shoulders, and coats mixed with pine resin, making them look slick and glossy. Judging by their form, they were fat and strong, with thick hides. It was estimated that their flesh and bones weighed at least two thousand catties, far surpassing ordinary brown bears and approaching the realm of spiritual beasts, save that they remained dim-witted and ignorant of the Dao of breath-absorption.

The five brown bears surrounded the group of wild men, drooling profusely, evidently preparing to enjoy a hearty feast. Their fierce and ferocious aura washed over the area, terrifying the wild men to the point of limp limbs and violent trembling. Zhou Qian shook his head inwardly; these were likely among the beasts that had mutated recently under the nourishment of spiritual energy, opponents few ordinary mortals could withstand.

Zhou Qian held a favorable impression of these wild men and could not simply stand by and do nothing. Just as he was about to intervene, five streaks of golden light shot from nearby, aiming directly to slash the five bears. Whether the bears reared their heads to bite or lashed out with their paws, not a single one retreated, demonstrating both their stupidity and raw ferocity. However, physical flesh could hardlly withstand magical treasures; teeth were shattered and paws pierced. Even worse, one unlucky bear suffered a massive gash across its belly, spilling blood and intestines. Yet this only fueled its ferocity even more: the bear scooped up a large chunk of mud from the ground, stuffed it into its belly, exerted force with all four limbs, and lunged swiftly toward the crowd of wild men, while the other four had already charged ahead. Believing that these five golden hooks had been unleashed by the wild men, the five bears glared with bloodshot eyes and roared continuously.

This action instantly startled the person hiding in secret and rendering assistance. Their original intention was to use offense as defense to help the wild men escape, but things backfired, driving the brown bears completely frantic and redirecting their hatred toward the wild men. The ground thudded heavily; the sound of the bears' footsteps grew more frequent, and the situation turned perilous!

The leader gestured wildly and shrieked at the top of his lungs. The wild men, understanding the commands, scattered in all directions. However, several stumbled and fell in their panic, right in the path of the oncoming giant bears. Zhou Qian pressed his hand against his sword as the willow-wood blade hummed, almost slipping free from his grasp—

A wisp of grey Qi surged from the forest, racing toward the basin. Five black flames resembling thin threads shot from within it. Only one bear managed to dodge, while the others had their fur ignited, rolling on the ground and wailing. High above, the five streaks of golden light revealed their true form—five golden hooks—and swiftly shot toward the last remaining giant bear. Five large holes were instantly blown through the beast's heart, killing it instantly. The figure within the grey Qi waved a hand again, recalling the black flames, which now appeared somewhat larger, having seemingly harvested the soul of the bear-monster.

The wild men gathered once more, kneeling and kowtowing repeatedly toward the figure suspended in mid-air. Judging by its silhouette, it bore a seven or eighty percent resemblance to the statue, making it certain to be the "deity" worshiped by the wild men. However, Zhou Qian frowned slightly; observing its divine powers and magic, it did not look like the methods of a righteous practitioner, but rather resembled the arts of the demonic path!

Zhou Qian turned to leave, unwilling to reveal himself. Although he despised practitioners of the demonic path, he was not one to slaughter them on sight; he maintained his own principles. Yet, the figure within the grey Qi sensed something and shouted, "Who is it?" Lifting a hand, it unleashed the five golden hooks.

Sighing inwardly at his bad luck, Zhou Qian transformed his willow-wood sword into a streak of white light to meet the attack. When the two forces clashed, the surrounding trees could not withstand the sharpness and were severed cleanly at the waist, fighting to a standstill for a moment.

Merely in terms of sword-control technique, Zhou Qian far surpassed that person, throwing the opponent's footing into disarray within just a few moves. Unfortunately, this person's cultivation level was a notch higher than his own—as evidenced by their ability to hover in mid-air—and the five golden hooks wielded by the opponent were forged from extraordinary materials. The willow-wood sword emitted a faint sorrowful sound upon collision with them, forcing Zhou Qian to hold back and leaving many techniques unexecuted.

The opponent also exerted full strength, causing the grey Qi enveloping them to gradually thin out, revealing their face and form.

As Zhou Qian glanced over by chance, his whole body trembled, and he said in disbelief, "Little Six?!"

The opponent also halted their attack and asked in bewilderment, "Who, who are you?"

"I am Zhou Qian. Do you still remember me?"

"Brother Zhou! Is it really you?" The man hurriedly descended and walked over. It was none other than Little Six, the martial-arts novice adept at lock-picking, known in the pugilistic world as the "Flitting-on-Roofs Rat"!

"Why are you here? I remember back then you were escorted by Lü Cunwen and the Tantric monk to the Cloudy Wind Cave. Later, the cave collapsed, and you vanished without a trace. I never expected you to still be alive, let alone entered the path of immortality!" Zhou Qian said with delight, repeatedly patting his shoulder.

"That's a long story," Little Six said somewhat sheepishly. "Let's head out first and talk."

The two walked side by side into the basin. The nearby wild men swarmed around them, but lingered hesitantly without approaching. Little Six uttered a few bizarre cries, speaking the language of the wild men, and immediately the wild men scattered in all directions. The two came to an open space and sat facing each other. Only then did Little Six recount the experiences he had suffered back in the Tomb of the Qin Emperor...