Chapter 23

Amidst the stones raining down on the bamboo raft, Li Mang instantly felt the raft sink under the pressure. However, at this moment, he had no time to lament the raft he had painstakingly crafted over three days. Once he fell into the water, he swam with all his might back in the opposite direction. Besides the continuous barrage of stones from above, he was even more wary of the strange fish in the water, the sight of which had left him with a vivid memory of a male ape being devoured down to the bones.

With great strength, Li Mang swam extremely fast. Since the nearby strange fish had already eaten their fill, they did not attack him, allowing him to smoothly reach the opposite shore.

“Splash!” Li Mang emerged from the water, quickly climbing onto the shore and panting heavily. At this moment, he turned to look back and realized that the bamboo raft had not sunk, but it had scattered under the pressure, with the bamboo poles quietly drifting away with the current.

“...” Li Mang’s mouth twitched, and he felt a deep resentment. Not only had he nearly lost his life tonight, but he had also lost the bamboo raft he had worked on for three days, leaving him feeling extremely frustrated.

The ancient white apes on the opposite side were still howling, and their cries made Li Mang inexplicably irritable. With such a group of white apes, how could he possibly cross the second mountain? Given his current strength, this was an impossible task. Yes, he could defeat one, but facing thousands or tens of thousands, he could only run as far as possible.

“What do monkeys fear?” Li Mang muttered to himself.

There was a riddle that asked what monkeys feared the most. The answer was absurd: the horizon, because the horizon has no intersection (banana).

“Dog... blood!” Li Mang laughed and scolded, but after much thought, he found no answer and could only temporarily leave the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* space.

The next day, Li Mang was in a daze all day. His mind was preoccupied with one question: what do monkeys fear the most?

The troubled Li Mang saw a little brat wandering in front of him and couldn’t help but ask, “Little brat, what do monkeys fear the most?”

Originally, he had just asked out of curiosity, not expecting the little brat to give him an answer. However, the little brat looked at him with disdain and said, “Li Mang, you’re so stupid. Monkeys fear chickens!”

“Fear chickens...” Li Mang’s face darkened slightly.

The little brat, thinking he had said something wrong, grumbled, “Isn’t it said that ‘killing a chicken to scare the monkeys’?”

“...Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys!” In an instant, Li Mang’s eyes lit up! Yes, how could he have forgotten this? Mount Yaoyao, the first mountain in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, had almost no danger. The second mountain, Mount Tangting, should not be particularly difficult to cross.

Moreover, there were wild chickens on the first mountain, which were precisely prepared for entering the second mountain. Why hadn’t he thought of this? Li Mang slapped his forehead in frustration, feeling ashamed that even a little brat had figured it out.

“Monkeys also fear sesame seeds!” The stone-faced man, who rarely spoke, couldn’t help but interject. He was a man of few words, even to the point of being stingy with his words. He usually worked diligently and was Yang Fan’s absolute confidant, and it was said that his life had been saved by Yang Fan.

“Sesame seeds?” Li Mang looked at him in confusion.

“Sesame seeds are like fleas. If you sprinkle them on a monkey, the monkey will go crazy!” Stone finished speaking and left the courtyard, his face showing no significant change. However, this was the most interesting joke Li Mang had heard since he met him.

“That makes sense!” Li Mang’s muddled mind suddenly cleared. Although he was already confident that the ‘killing a chicken to scare the monkeys’ strategy would work, preparing ‘sesame seeds’ as a precaution would be wise. At this moment, he wished he could try it out again with the bamboo raft.

Of course, he could only think about it. The bamboo raft was damaged and needed a few days to be repaired, and he still had to go to the training base at this time.

When he returned to Training Room 44, Li Mang was no longer as conflicted as when he left the previous night. Instead, he was eager to try again, a sign that he had tasted success.

“...” Cheng Wei looked at the spirited Li Mang in shock, unable to react for a long time. He hadn’t forgotten Li Mang’s terrified expression when he left yesterday, and he found it strange that just one day had brought such a dramatic change, even for someone as stoic as himself.

What alarmed him even more was Li Mang’s condition! Despite his appearance of not caring about Li Mang’s life or death, he had a clear understanding of Li Mang’s injuries, which, though not severe, would take more than a day or two to recover from... But now, Li Mang didn’t look injured at all.

Cheng Wei narrowed his eyes and then said expressionlessly, “Starting today, I will teach you ancient martial arts techniques!”

Li Mang had experienced Cheng Wei’s teaching methods before, and they could be summed up in one word: ruthless!

Even when teaching ancient martial arts techniques, he didn’t let Li Mang practice slowly. According to him, conventional training methods were too slow and ineffective!

He taught each technique to Li Mang only twice, and then immediately had Li Mang use it in a real fight with him! Although Cheng Wei held back, he showed no mercy, and his attacks were even heavier than the previous day.

A few hours later, Li Mang left the training base with a bruised and battered body. In this state, he couldn’t eat, so he just drank a bottle of fresh milk from the fridge to quell his hunger, didn’t even take a shower, and fell into bed, too exhausted to even wash.

For the next few days, Li Mang spent his time this way: working during the day, training, and entering the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* space at midnight to eat wild game and make a new bamboo raft. His schedule was packed, and his life felt stable and secure.

Three days later, the new bamboo raft was finally completed, and Li Mang set out again. This time, he brought two large wild chickens with their legs tied and a bag of sesame seeds in his pocket.

“Roar!!!”

This time, as Li Mang’s bamboo raft approached halfway, the ancient white apes on Mount Tangting had already gathered on the shore, holding stones and some of them were already throwing them. However, due to the distance, the stones only splashed water on Li Mang.

Unable to advance further, Li Mang used a bamboo pole to stop the raft. He took a deep breath, then picked up one of the wild chickens, facing Mount Tangting, with a kitchen knife in his left hand.

“Cluck cluck cluck!!!”

The wild chicken seemed to sense the danger it was about to face and struggled fiercely. Unfortunately, its legs were tightly bound, and with Li Mang’s great strength, its struggles were in vain. As Li Mang’s kitchen knife sliced across its neck, blood spurted out instantly!

“Caw caw caw caw...”

The dying chicken’s strength surged, making it difficult for Li Mang to hold it, and his wrist even turned red. However, he didn’t notice, only staring tensely at the ancient white apes on the opposite side. If the ‘killing a chicken to scare the monkeys’ strategy didn’t work, he had no idea what to do next.

Strangely, the moment the wild chicken’s blood spurted from its severed throat, the previously noisy group of apes suddenly fell silent, their expressions filled with fear.

...

PS: Where are all the recommendation votes?

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