Chapter 71

Chasing Lu Buqi? Wang Weiwu would naturally not do such a thing. First, he found it beneath him, and second, he was unwilling.

It was only more than ten days later that Wang Weiwu received news of Lu Buqi. After Wang Chengzhou recounted the entire incident to Wang Weiwu, Wang Weiwu did one thing: he rewarded Wang Chengzhou with 100,000 coins for his efforts.

"If I didn't have this much trust in you, how could I have entrusted you with such an important task?" This was the reason Wang Weiwu rewarded instead of punishing him, which deeply moved Wang Chengzhou. He knelt down to thank him, feeling a sense of loyalty and dedication.

"Get up! In the future, leave some room for yourself when you speak and act!" Wang Weiwu's eyes narrowed slightly. "Besides, this isn't your fault. For this young Zenu to suddenly break through in a life-or-death situation, it seems his fate is not yet over. And for him to be able to withstand a few of your strikes at such a young age, he deserves to live."

Wang Anguo frowned and said, "Head of the family, do you mean... you won't send anyone to chase him?"

"Chase what? Even this time, it was just a routine defense drill!" Wang Weiwu said coldly. "Moreover, is Dahuang Mountain an easy place to deal with?"

Pausing for a moment, Wang Weiwu said with a hint of reminiscence, "In Dahuang Mountain, fifth and sixth-stage spirit beasts frequently appear. Even you and Chengzhou, if you were to go alone, would only have a fifty percent chance of making it through. Even if he can survive, does my great Wang family really need to worry about the revenge of a small Zenu?"

Wang Anguo was solemn and did not speak further. He did not know that when Wang Weiwu had crossed Dahuang Mountain in the Bone Resonance Realm, it was because he had met a benefactor. Otherwise, there would be no Wang family today.

Was Wang Weiwu really so magnanimous? Clearly not, otherwise he wouldn't have sent 20,000 private troops to defend the area around Dahuang Mountain and Luchao Mountain. If Lu Buqi were to appear before Wang Weiwu now, he wouldn't hesitate to try the terrifying power of the Law Mark again to kill Lu Buqi and truly eliminate any future threats.

After Wang Anguo and Wang Chengzhou left, Wang Weiwu's expression turned grim. "Fifteen years old, in the Bone Resonance Realm, and able to escape from Chengzhou... I seem to have really underestimated his potential!"

While Wang Weiwu was somewhat regretful, Lu Buqi had already truly delved deep into the heart of Dahuang Mountain. Over the past half month, his life had been extremely exciting. On average, he encountered a spirit beast every two days.

Some were not very powerful and were killed by Lu Buqi, turning into light red heart cores, which were likely low-stage spirit beasts. However, three of them were as strong as the Black Jaw Ghost Tiger, and Lu Buqi could only defend himself. Fortunately, spirit beasts at this level were more intelligent and knew when to retreat. After a fierce battle, they would back off, wary of Lu Buqi's Yu Chang Sword.

That afternoon, dark clouds gathered over Dahuang Mountain, heralding the arrival of a summer downpour. To avoid the embarrassment of four days ago, Lu Buqi decided to find a cave to shelter from the rain.

Thunder rumbled, and as the heavy rain drenched Lu Buqi, he finally found a cave he had spotted from the mountaintop about half an hour earlier.

This was a small valley with relatively flat terrain and lush vegetation. The cave was located on the waist of a sloping cliff. Without the mood to carefully examine the surroundings, Lu Buqi used the momentum to dash up the cliff and into the cave entrance, slipping inside.

As soon as he entered, Lu Buqi felt something was wrong. He smelled a pungent, salty odor... This smell only meant one thing: the cave had an owner, and it was a reptile.

Just as Lu Buqi decided to leave, a strange hiss came from outside the cave, filled with pain and despair, echoing with the thunder, making the hair on his body stand on end.

Following the sound, Lu Buqi was horrified. This was the strangest thing he had ever seen in his life. In the low visibility of the rain, about thirty meters to the right of the cave, there was a vague outline of a small pond. A snake-like, dragon-like figure was writhing in the black rain, as if trying to soar into the sky, reaching for the heavens, like a fish leaping through a dragon gate.

"Hisss..." Another strange hiss echoed, piercing Lu Buqi's eardrums. The figure, about ten zhang long, fell to the ground, twisting and landing in the grass.

Wiping the water from his face, Lu Buqi squinted at the creature writhing and hissing in the grass. He could vaguely make out that it was a massive pink snake, as thick as a giant tree, too large for two people to encircle.

"This snake is definitely more powerful than any spirit beast I've seen before!" Lu Buqi swallowed hard. "I don't know if this is good luck or bad luck..."

Just as Lu Buqi recognized the color and outline of the snake, the snake's crystal-clear eyes locked onto him.

"Hisss..." The red snake did not attack Lu Buqi but instead writhed, its massive tail striking the pond, splashing water mixed with rain, creating a tragic and beautiful scene of struggle.

"It's shedding its skin... a giant snake in the process of shedding its skin?" Lu Buqi tightened his grip on the Yu Chang Sword. Although he didn't know much about snakes, he understood that a snake shedding its skin was at its weakest.

"Now is the best time to kill it!" Lu Buqi pinched his nose. Judging by its size and aura, this red snake was at least a seventh or eighth-stage spirit beast. Its heart core would be a significant treasure.

More importantly, killing it would reduce one danger on the journey ahead. Lu Buqi did not want this snake to come after him for food once he had moved on.

With this in mind, Lu Buqi decisively leaped down and slowly approached the red snake, the Yu Chang Sword gleaming menacingly in the lightning.

It seemed that even the heavens did not want such a powerful creature to continue growing. At that moment, a blinding bolt of lightning struck. Lu Buqi watched as the giant snake, which had suddenly stood upright, was hit by the lightning and fell with a thud, accompanied by the thunder.

"Hisss..." The snake's body convulsed, and the part of its body that had already shed its skin stubbornly lifted, its cold gaze sweeping over Lu Buqi before looking up at the sky, emitting a defiant hiss.

Exhausted, the snake's head drooped again, spewing murky white vapor, its eyes fixed on Lu Buqi, its body still struggling to move.

Lu Buqi stopped in his tracks. In that moment, as he saw the snake's defiance and unwillingness to give up in its struggle against the heavens, he thought of himself.

The few traces of defiance and pleading in the snake's eyes stirred something deep within Lu Buqi. He remembered the moment when Wang Chengzhou's massive hammer had struck, a situation eerily similar to what the snake was facing now.

Putting away the Yu Chang Sword, Lu Buqi stared at the snake with a gleam in his eyes. "Red snake, I won't take advantage of your weakness to kill you. A defiant creature deserves more chances to survive... but if you come after me after this, I will fight to the death to kill you!"

To Lu Buqi's great surprise, as he took a few steps back, the red snake seemed to understand his words. It blinked its transparent eyelids, and its eyes softened.

Having made his decision, Lu Buqi did not hesitate. He tightened his pack and continued eastward through the rain, cutting through the underbrush. The rain would last for at least half a day. Since he didn't plan to kill the red snake, he decided to put as much distance between them as possible, as the snake was too dangerous.

The rain lasted longer than Lu Buqi had expected, not stopping until the next morning. Lu Buqi didn't sleep all night because he couldn't find a better place to shelter than the snake's cave.

Fortunately, the soil in Dahuang Mountain was relatively solid, and the heavy rain did not cause any landslides. However, there were occasional mountain floods like small rivers that Lu Buqi had to carefully navigate.

Soaked in the rain all night, tired and hungry, Lu Buqi couldn't help but smile bitterly as he thought about the previous day. "You were also being too soft-hearted. If you had killed that snake, you would have been well-fed and well-rested by now..."

"But I wonder if the snake successfully shed its skin. If it failed because of the lightning, that would be really bad luck!" Lu Buqi muttered to himself. "With such a heavy rain, there's no lack of water, but I can't start a fire, so I have to eat raw food again..."