Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

“Here it comes!” Chu Han cautioned.

Everyone except Mo Mian scattered as the ape demon charged towards the party.

Having learnt from their previous mistake, this time they did not move in completely different directions from one another.

They no longer wanted a situation where the ape demon had an opportunity to isolate any of the weaker combatants.

Pu Feixiang and Gui Longcan escaped to the left.

Zhao Yunxiao followed Chu Han’s lead as they dodged to the right.

Mo Mian was the only one who actually headed in the ape demon’s direction instead, turning into a blur as he once again became one with the wind.

Rahhhh-!

The ape demon roared in rage the moment he saw Mo Mian doing the same thing all over again.

This time, however, it was no longer as helpless after burning its blood essence.

Mo Mian’s current state of being one with the wind made his movements extremely difficult to follow, but he was far from being invulnerable.

Clank-!

The sound of metal striking metal reverberated across the clearing as the ape demon managed to find Mo Mian for the very first time.

Thankfully, Mo Mian saw it coming and managed to block its attack with his Jadewind Sword.

Alas, the ape demon’s monstrous strength still sent Mo Mian stumbling back a few steps, but this did not deter him from immediately resuming his offence after a brief moment of recovery.

“Don’t give it any chance to focus!” Chu Han ordered.

The other four members of the party kept circling around the ape demon in pairs, constantly firing ranged attacks at the ape demon.

Some of these attacks were more lethal, while others were nothing more than distracting.

Ultimately, their main aim was just to prevent the ape demon from focusing on finding Mo Mian, so anything and everything was being thrown out.

Just like that, Mo Mian used himself as a shield to prevent the ape demon from chasing down the other members of the party, while the other members of the party threw countless attacks to prevent the ape demon from tracking down Mo Mian.

Yet even under such pressure, the ape demon still managed to find Mo Mian a few more times.

Each time, Mo Mian managed to block its attack, gritting his teeth to endure the heavy impact to his body.

Sword wounds, dagger wounds, burn wounds – injuries slowly started piling up on the ape demon’s body.

As for the ape demon, its movement speed slowly but steadily decreased, and its demonic aura similarly diminished little by little.

Rahhhh-!

With a roar of indignation, the ape demon lost all light in its eyes and fell to the ground.

As it lay there in a state of complete exhaustion, its chest was barely moving up and down as it struggled to even catch its last breaths.

“End it!” Mo Mian leapt back and exited his state of being one with the wind.

“Die!” Gui Longcan shouted as he waved his fan to fire bolts of lightning at the motionless ape demon.

Zhao Yunxiao threw out his daggers that exploded upon impact.

Chu Han shot a beam of energy using his eight-trigram mirror.

Boom-!

Explosions covered the fallen ape demon from head to toe.

When the cloud of smoke finally cleared, they could see that the ape demon had stopped breathing altogether.

Finally, their efforts had paid off. The accumulation of injuries and poison had taken the ultimate toll on the ape demon.

The party members exchanged looks and smiled.

They had won this battle!

“What a tough bastard!” Pu Feixiang’s legs gave out, and he fell back on his butt.

He was completely drenched in sweat, causing the forest dirt and fallen leaves to stick to his body, but he could care less about that right now.

“Tough bastard, indeed,” Gui Longcan agreed, though he remained standing instead of acting as ungracefully as Pu Feixiang.

Just like the others, Mo Mian was currently drenched in his own sweat at this moment.

Even then, he did not stop to rest like them.

Instead, Mo Mian cautiously walked up to the ape demon, holding his sword at the ready with that slightly trembling hand of his.

After seeing that there was no reaction from the ape demon, he slashed out with his Jadewind Sword and severed its head.

Spurt-!

A fountain of blood shot out from the neck and poured onto the forest grounds.

The rest of the party members felt a load being lifted off their chests upon seeing this.

That right there sealed the deal, leaving absolutely zero doubts about the ape demon’s fate.

“Get up. It is still too early to rest,” Chu Han said. “There is still work to be done.”

“Did you hear that?” Gui Longcan said to Pu Feixiang. “Time to work.”

“I know, I know,” Pu Feixiang used his spear as support to reluctantly get to his feet.

“There’s only a bit more to go,” Mo Mian assured. “Let’s finish this.”

“Got it!” the rest of the party members answered.

The main threats were taken care of now that both the monkey demon and the ape demon had been neutralised.

Now, all that was left was to get rid of the remaining monkey monsters before the grand array gave out.

As they headed up the forest path back towards the monkeys’ nest, Zhao Yunxiao could clearly see the state that everyone was in.

And it was not a pretty sight.

As much as the party members were trying to conceal it, it was obvious that they were just about spent after that long battle with the two demons.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mo Mian seemed to be the one who was struggling the most. Zhao Yunxiao could see that not only did his breaths remain heavy, but his arms were also still trembling even now.

“The ape demon was a little stronger than expected,” Mo Mian said awkwardly after noticing Zhao Yunxiao’s gaze. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine after a short rest.”

“I’m sure you will,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded with a smile.

The monkey monsters had never been a real threat from the start, and that was more so the case now that they were all scattered around.

With the two demons taken out of the picture, the party had no issue hunting down the scattered monkey monsters.

The only troublesome part was actually making sure that they combed the entire area, not missing a single one in the process.

At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao dared not relax while they went on the hunt.

There was no guarantee that there would not be a third or fourth demon coming their way, so he kept a lookout all along.

Fortunately, there were no more such surprises waiting for them.

It did not take long before the party regrouped at the monkeys’ nest, having taken care of the remaining monkey monsters.

While monster parts could be useful at times, these monkey monsters were a little too weak for that.

Thus, instead of collecting their parts for future use, the party members simply stacked them in a pile and lit it up in a huge blaze.

And with the fire burning strong behind them, the party gathered in front of the largest tree in the nest.

“This is it,” Mo Mian looked up at the huge stick house sitting on top of the tree.

“Yes, this is it,” Chu Han repeated.

“Do I hear people talking?” a hesitant voice came from within the stick house.

“A-Are there people outside?” another voice said.

“Save us! There are people here!”

“Let me do it,” Pu Feixiang leapt up to the stick house.

With a powerful kick, Pu Feixiang sent the door flying off its ledge. Light poured into the stick house from the entrance, illuminating the space within.

Pu Feixiang could not help but frown when he witnessed the scene before him.

There were more than a dozen wooden cages, each holding a person. However, none of these people were in presentable condition.

Some of them had their clothes tattered and torn, while some of them were even left completely naked.

Their hair was dishevelled, and there was dirt and dust all over their bodies. All of them had parched lips, a testament to how they were all severely dehydrated and probably starved.

And that was not even the worst part.

What truly made Pu Feixiang frown was the fact that every single one of them had injuries all over their bodies.

The luckier ones only had minor injuries like bruises and cuts.

However, there were also those who had more grievous injuries like deep gashes on their bodies, sticks and rocks piercing through their flesh, or even missing limbs altogether.

It was like a room filled with soldiers from a routed army, except none of them looked anything like proper warriors.

“Am I dreaming?” a young man rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“It’s a human...” another muttered under his breath.

“It’s actually a human!” a young woman exclaimed.

“Save us!”

“Get us out of here, please!”

“I beg you!”

After a brief moment of shock, these people imprisoned in their respective cages started to yell and shout, pleading for Pu Feixiang to free them.

As the other party members appeared one by one behind Pu Feixiang, the excitement level in the stick house only grew even further.

“Don’t worry, everyone. You are safe now that we are here,” Mo Mian stepped forward to assure them.

“What about the monkeys?” a more rational one asked hesitantly. “Are they all gone?”

His question caused the rest to shudder.

The monkeys here had created too deep a psychological impact on them while they had been imprisoned here.

Just the thought of the monkeys was enough to frighten all of them into silence.

“They are gone,” Mo Mian answered confidently. “We got rid of them.”

Those simple words were like a spell that eased the mental tension that had accumulated within these prisoners.

Some started to weep.

Others fell to their knees, prostrating towards the party even before they had been freed from their cages.

These cages were simple enough that they did not require keys, locked with a clever combination of bolts that were accessible only from the outside.

This meant that the party did not even have to expend extra energy on destroying the cages to free these people.

The party moved quickly, easily freeing all of the prisoners from their cages.

“We are heading back to East Stream Village. Those who wish to follow us can do so,” Mo Mian informed them.

“Me! I am from East Stream Village! Please bring me back there!”

“Me too! I am from East Stream Village as well!”

“I will follow you home!”

“Don’t forget me!”

Many of those present reacted strongly upon hearing the name of their village. However, not everyone shared the same sentiments.

“Wait, why East Stream Village? What about Green Hibiscus? Can you send me back to Green Hibiscus?”

“Where is this East Stream Village? I am from Green Hibiscus as well. Is it possible to send me back too?”

It would appear that East Stream Village was not the only place that had fallen victim to the monkey demon’s kidnapping tendencies.

“We are here to save you from this place out of pure goodwill, but you are not our duty,” Chu Han answered sternly. “I repeat, we will be heading back to East Stream Village. Those who wish to follow us back to East Stream Village can do so. Others are free to go wherever you want from here.”

Chu Han’s words immediately silenced those who had been complaining before.

Rather than being left alone out here in the forest, they would rather get to safety first.

Some of them had never heard of this East Stream Village, but anywhere was better than having to find their way home themselves!

Even if the monkeys were truly gotten rid of, there was no telling what other beasts and demons lurked around the corner.

If left to their own devices, who knew if they would ever be able to make it out of this dangerous forest?

At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao was slightly impressed by Chu Han’s firm rejection.

He agreed completely with Chu Han’s words.

Some people’s greed knew no bounds.

It was one thing to help these people who had suffered in captivity, but the line had to be drawn somewhere to avoid being taken advantage of.

They were already kind enough to offer these people a way out of here.

If these people chose to be unappreciative and were unwilling to accept what they were offering, then they would just have to find their own alternative ways forward!