Precarious Valley
“Xiaoshuai, how about you be its lunch?”
“It just ignored me, though. It wants you for lunch.”
Mu Yu accidentally stormed into a pair of flash double-headed wolves’ turf and had to run for dear life. Trees were a no go, so flying was the alternative. Unfortunately, a level four winged fiend started chasing after Mu Yu once it classified him its lunch.
Tugging Mu Yu’s ear, Xiaoshuai belted, “Left! Left! Step on it!!”
Mu Yu pulled up abruptly while travelling fast, passing the winged fiend’s claws. The fiend beasts walked away after he crossed a creek. He pulled over to catch his breath and questioned, “Nice, man! How did you know to go this way?”
“Well, they aren’t going to invade level six demon toad’s place.”
“Level six demon toad?! Oh, those two weren’t enough for you? Who runs into a level six’s turf to escape a level five?!”
“It’s cool. Its voice tells me it’s cool with us. Hey, there it is,” Xiaoshuai said and pointed.
Mu Yu turned to face the demon toad as mighty as a Spirit Severing Realm cultivator. Mu Yu quivered, expecting an elephant-sized monster. To his astonishment, it was the same size as Xiaoshuai. It wasn’t ugly; it was colourful and… pretty.
“She said she’s heartbroken because the toad she likes doesn’t like her,” interpreted Xiaoshuai, croaking back.
“Xiaoshuai, don’t say stupid things.”
Mu Yu didn’t understand what was being exchanged, but the toad started looking at Xiaoshuai affectionately…
“She said she likes me. She reckons I’m leaps and bounds better than the other toad. I mean, can I blame her? Even I like myself.”
Mu Yu palmed his face.
“She said the dating meet up is coming and wants to give me a Xiaoshuai Junior, but I don’t have experience in this department.” Scratching his head, he asked, “Mu Yu, you have any experience?”
“Wh-what? No!”
After another quick exchange, the toad looked downtrodden. Xiaoshuai then dusted his hands and hopped back up to Mu Yu’s shoulder. “Done. Let’s bounce. I told her I have someone I like and told her to give up on me.”
“Why so heartless?” Mu Yu cautiously checked on the toad in case it decided to vent on him. Since she seemed occupied with her feelings, he made a dash for it. “Xiaoshuai, you can communicate with fiend beasts, so why do they keep chasing us? Can’t you clear the air with them?”
“I can understand them, yes, but they refuse to listen.”
Fiend beasts, like humans, had their own temperaments. The duo had already come across friendly and hostile types.
A black river flowed into the valley where were dark herb was found. A green mist drifted along the river. Strange bones were littered across the bank. Shrubs were partially buried in the ground. Ku Mu Valley’s inspiration was the very valley Mu Yu was at. As a matter of fact, calling Ku Mu Valley an imitation would be the most accurate description. Ku Mu wouldn’t have warned Mu Yu to be extra careful if the valley was an exact copy, nonetheless. The valley was inevitably more perilous than Ku Mu Valley.
The eerie silence was uninviting. The only fiend beasts in the valley were the strong ones. Ku Mu had to escape using his jade piece when he found the dark herb during his youth. Mu Yu only had one choice once he entered – defeating them. To add, he was weaker than Ku Mu when Ku Mu was there.
“Xiaoshuai, wait outside for me. If I don’t come back in ten days, find someone who is willing to take you back to Third Heaven.”
“No. I don’t like the silence out here. I’ll join you. It’s not as if the dangers are any of my problems.”
“Hahaha.”
Thus began their adventure into the precarious valley. The poison wasn’t an issue’ however, the mist limited his vision to only a two metre radius. He had Shadow Splitter Sword hovering around him at all times for optimal reaction time. They spotted a verdant plant after two hours of searching. Each leaf was thick. A purple flower bloomed on the trunk that grew on top of a mushroom. They could smell the scent of raw meat in the air.
The flower was called a carnivore flower. Its appearance lulled fiend beasts in, and then the plant would spring once the target was within a two metre range. Mu Yu avoided the flower and continued along the cliff face. Moss grew from the wet wall. He didn’t plan to climb it, and it couldn’t see its appearance.
Despite the darkness and descending sun, he didn’t start a fire to err on the safe side. He eventually had to call it a day as vision was too minimal to remain safe. He cleared off the moss on a boulder and sat on it before the darkness consumed all the light. He didn’t sleep for Ku Mu cautioned it might be his last sleep. Consequently, Mu Yu concentrated spiritual qi to his ears because vision wasn’t the optimal tool in those circumstances.
Mu Yu ducked his head upon hearing something sharp whizz his way. After the projectile landed on the wall, several more projectiles approached. He jumped onto his sword to fly up and threw activated pill fire stones in the direction the projectiles originated. He had vague vision on a few four-limbed mud squids by the bank. They backed off upon sighting fire. It was unfortunate, but more enemies approached owing to the fire despite the mud squids backing down.
Mu Yu raced off and landed elsewhere to save energy. The fire kept continued to act as his decoy in the meantime. His grief had only begun. A slimy vine wreathed around his leg and hauled him off. Whatever the tentacle belonged to induced a numbing sensation as it drained his blood using its spikes. He cut himself free and took flight. Alas, an arm pummelled him. He lit up another fire to reveal a hybrid human with octopus tentacles. Well, an ape torso was more accurate than a human one.
Mu Yu took advantage of a small window to soar up and get out of the tentacles’ range. He parked in the sky when he felt he was safe. The fiend beasts in the valley were nocturnal just as the lot in Ku Mu Valley was. Mu Yu dried digging a cave similar to the one at Ku Mu valley. The rocks were too solid, sadly. The good news was he eventually found a cavity the size of a bowl.
Whack! Mu Yu’s conscious left his body after the sudden impact on the back of his skull.
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