Chapter 29

On a new day, the two of them had a much richer harvest. Not only did they still have the four marsh rats left over from the morning, but they also encountered four gray wolves in the morning, which could be considered a huge harvest.

When dealing with the four gray wolves, Wang Lishou used a spear. While Lu Buqi easily killed two gray wolves with his decapitation knife, Wang Lishou used the spear to stab and pierce, quickly dispatching the other two gray wolves.

Afterward, Wang Lishou examined the wounds on the gray wolves and found that the wounds inflicted by the spear bled much faster than those from a regular spear. At this point, he realized the effect of the blood grooves that Lu Buqi had described. However, from a professional perspective, these blood grooves still had their drawbacks, as they would affect the strength of the weapon. After all, any weapon with blood grooves would inevitably be less solid.

As for whether to choose the strength of the weapon or its deadliness, that was a matter of personal opinion. If one could ensure the weapon's strength while designing blood grooves, it would undoubtedly be a revolutionary change in weapon design.

At first, Wang Lishou had a few suggestions about the two of them's itinerary in the Guokan Forest, but later he found that his suggestions were naturally refuted by the actual situation. Lu Buqi always found a more suitable way, which made Wang Lishou stop offering random suggestions.

As they delved deeper, Wang Lishou increasingly found Lu Buqi to be unfathomable. In him, calmness, experience, wisdom, and resilience were evident. With his relatively rich experience, Wang Lishou could only find one flaw, and that was if being too perfect was considered a flaw.

But then again, a thirteen-year-old boy possessing qualities that only adults in their thirties or forties could have would make anyone feel it was unrealistic.

"They say the Guokan Forest is home to many spirit beasts, and villagers often suffer attacks from them. But we've been in here for almost ten days, and the weather is getting warmer, yet we haven't encountered any spirit beasts," Wang Lishou muttered as they prepared to set out after breakfast, carrying four spears. One of the spears had been completely worn out over the past nine days and had already contributed its last bit of warmth to roasting meat for the two of them.

"If spirit beasts were everywhere, we marsh slaves would have been dead long ago!" Lu Buqi knew that Wang Lishou, feeling his strength had grown, was eager to test it and regain some of the balance he had lost to Lu Buqi.

Wang Lishou nodded, "That's true, I was just saying. If we really encounter a spirit beast, it would be a bit risky. A minor injury wouldn't be a big deal, but a serious one could mean we don't get out of here."

Lu Buqi shrugged lightly, "We won't be that unlucky..."

Two hours later, when they used a spear to impale a black ape, Lu Buqi felt a sense of danger and suddenly looked to the side. Under the blazing sun, on the top of a tall palm tree, a huge ape, two to three times larger than an ordinary black ape, hung by one arm, staring at Lu Buqi with a fierce expression.

"Wang Master, you really are a jinx!" Lu Buqi tightened his grip on the decapitation knife, "Don't tell me that huge ape, which is taller and stronger than me, isn't a spirit beast."

At that moment, more than ten adult black apes came from all directions, baring their teeth at the two of them. Holding the spear with both hands, Wang Lishou swallowed hard, "It definitely is, and we seem to have disturbed the ape's nest!"

"These are apes, not monkeys!" Although Lu Buqi studied monkeys when practicing the ape fist in the Five Animal Imitation Boxing, in his deeply ingrained belief, apes and monkeys were very different, with apes being much smarter.

"Do you still care about that now?" Wang Lishou licked his lips.

Lu Buqi kept his eyes fixed on the large ape, not letting up for a moment, and said softly, "I'm not nitpicking, I just want you to understand that its strength might not be as terrifying as a violent bear, but it is much more dangerous than a violent bear because it is much smarter than an ordinary spirit beast. That's why we are now surrounded."

Indeed, the two of them had been chasing a black ape. If they could kill a black ape weighing about 300 pounds, they wouldn't have to worry about food for the next two days.

But they didn't expect that killing the black ape would lead them to the ape's nest. Looking back, it seemed like the large ape had used a "lure into a trap" strategy.

"What do we do now?" Wang Lishou looked around at the apes staring at them and couldn't help but glance at the large ape on the high branch, which could launch a terrifying attack at any moment. He had thought about encountering spirit beasts, but never imagined this situation. Encountering a spirit beast made him truly feel the oppressive fear.

Lu Buqi resisted the urge to pinch his nose, "What else can we do? We have to fight our way out, and we can't wait any longer. The large ape isn't attacking because more adult black apes haven't arrived yet... My knife is fast, I'll take care of the large ape, and you use your fastest speed to deal with all the black apes and then come help me."

"No, I'm stronger than you, I'll take care of the large one!" Wang Lishou gritted his teeth, took a step forward, and faced the large ape on the tree. His movement seemed to provoke the apes, and four black apes immediately pounced at them, baring their teeth.

In fact, when Wang Lishou moved, Lu Buqi knew the apes would attack. He also acted decisively, slashing a black ape's chest with his decapitation knife and, in a spin, thrusting the blood spike in his left hand into another black ape's neck.

At that moment, Wang Lishou was in danger because the large ape on the tree could give him a fatal blow at any time. He couldn't afford to be distracted by the two black apes pouncing at him.

Being bitten or scratched by an ordinary black ape wasn't a big deal, so Wang Lishou gritted his teeth and prepared to endure a couple of wounds. He didn't want to easily deal with the smaller ones and then be hit by the large ape.

Just as the two black apes were about to reach Wang Lishou, a sharp whistling sound was heard. Wang Lishou felt a projectile fly past his forehead, and then heard a black ape on his left howl and fall. The black ape on his right was kicked away by a powerful kick.

Lu Buqi's attack was merciless. Even a single kick to an ordinary black ape would be fatal. But just as Lu Buqi glanced at Wang Lishou and prepared to deal with the other howling black apes, he heard the rustling of the palm tree.

"Be careful!" Wang Lishou shouted, his eyes flashing with anger at being ignored. His spear shot out like a venomous snake, aiming directly at the large ape falling from the tree.

Lu Buqi didn't pay attention to the wind above him. He trusted Wang Lishou's strength. If he couldn't block the large ape's attack even with such focused attention, then they wouldn't stand a chance.

Wang Lishou didn't let Lu Buqi down. His martial skills were indeed solid, and he accurately targeted the large ape's landing point with his spear. Although the large ape was as fast as the wind, to attack Lu Buqi, it would have to be injured by Wang Lishou's spear.

But what shocked Wang Lishou was that the large ape, in mid-air, suddenly extended its long arm, grabbed the spear, and used it to pull itself toward Wang Lishou, baring its teeth.

Wang Lishou cursed and suddenly let go of the spear, took a step back, and struck the large ape's ugly head with his palm. He didn't believe the large ape could dodge.

But the large ape's next move left Wang Lishou utterly shocked. In mid-air, it swung the stolen spear and struck Wang Lishou's palm with lightning speed.

With a loud crack, the hard ironwood became brittle under the combined force of man and ape. As splinters flew, Wang Lishou felt a heavy blow to his chest, causing him to stagger backward several steps.

Feeling a sweet taste in his throat, Wang Lishou realized he had been kicked hard by the large ape. Swallowing the blood, he drew another spear and thrust it at the large ape, which was no smaller than him.

"If only I had the Yunyue Axe!" For Wang Lishou, the spear was too light. It was fine for ordinary beasts, but against such a powerful spirit beast, it was inadequate.

Even with limited mobility, Wang Lishou had given himself a death order. He would fight to the death to hold off the large ape. If he could just hold on until Lu Buqi dealt with the troublesome black apes, then two against one would give them a much better chance of winning.