Black Earth Forest, outer perimeter.
A group of eight people were quickly approaching the Black Earth Forest.
Leading them was a tall, thin man dressed in a blue long robe, resembling a scholar. The man held an iron fan, his face was narrow and long, his cheekbones prominent, and his eyes were always narrowed, giving off a sinister feeling like a venomous snake.
The seven people following behind all held sharp blades, their movements agile and swift, clearly skilled martial artists.
The scholar-like man holding the iron fan stopped upon seeing the Black Earth Forest not far away, his gaze falling upon a bald man behind him as he asked.
“That's the Black Earth Forest ahead. Huang Lao Ba, are you sure this information is reliable? Don't make me come here for nothing, otherwise, you know what will happen.”
Hearing the man's words, the bald man named Huang Lao Ba immediately patted his chest, a smile spreading across his ugly, fleshy face, and said with great certainty.
“Rest assured, Offering Yan, this information is 100% true. I heard it with my own ears from the Sun Family members. They really encountered that thing, otherwise only two of them wouldn't have run down the mountain and ended up being intercepted by me.”
“That's for the best then. If this succeeds, there will be plenty of benefits for you all.”
Hearing this, the man called Offering Yan revealed a smile on his face, but combined with his somewhat disharmonious features, even his smile gave off an indescribable awkwardness.
“Also, no one is allowed to reveal even half a word about this matter. Otherwise, without me even needing to act, given the ruthless style of the main family, none of us will escape.”
“Rest assured, Offering Yan, none of us brothers are fools. Even with a knife to our throats, we would never reveal a single word to outsiders...”
The seven people behind him all patted their chests, speaking firmly and decisively.
“Then let's hurry. Don't delay any longer. If that monkey ruins the thing, we'll have come here for nothing.”
Yan Feng raised his eyebrows, and after speaking, he was the first to plunge into the Black Earth Forest. The seven people behind him also didn't want to be outdone, gripping their weapons tightly and quickly following.
*
Crack.
A rotten branch was crushed under a black riding boot, letting out a faint crisp sound.
Lin Sheng walked through the forest, slightly hunched over.
Plop, he threw a pebble from his hand, knocking down a small gray snake coiled on a branch three meters away.
His strength was immense; even with just a piece of gravel, he shattered nearly half of the small snake's body with a single hit, leaving only the remaining half twitching unconsciously.
Lin Sheng recognized this type of small snake; it was a species called the Graywood Snake, also venomous. Although not as highly venomous as the Crown Head Snake, it shouldn't be underestimated, and a bite would be quite troublesome.
Moreover, this snake is extremely stealthy, and one could easily be ambushed and bitten if not careful.
However, in Lin Sheng's eyes, it naturally had nowhere to hide. Since entering the Black Earth Forest, he had been cautious, constantly paying attention to his surroundings, and had discovered the Graywood Snake hidden ahead early on.
Following the principle of not wasting anything, Lin Sheng picked up the half-body of the Graywood Snake, found that the gallbladder was still intact, dug it out, and put it into a cloth bag. Then, he searched through the remains shattered on the ground, found the fangs and venom sacs, and carefully put them aside.
Although the Graywood Snake's gallbladder was quite valuable, the fangs and venom sacs naturally couldn't be wasted either.
After several actual combat experiences, he had already confirmed the value of hidden weapons.
So, before entering the mountain, he had already had the blacksmith in town forge a row of darts which he kept in the inner lining of his clothes.
These venom sacs and fangs could be used to make liquid venom and venom powder to poison the darts.
After tidying up, he continued searching the surroundings and before long found a few more vibrant red small flowers.
With a little identification, he recognized these vibrant red flowers as a plant called Red Blood Grass, which contained potent venom.
Lin Sheng put on gloves and carefully plucked these red small flowers, putting them into his pocket.
His pocket was already filled with four or five different colored plants, all of which were poisonous.
He had long since memorized that herbal compendium, and he could recognize most of the plants in Yangping Mountain.
Not only these highly poisonous plants, but he also collected some medicinal herbs with good medicinal value and put them into his pocket. After all, besides searching for high-grade ordinary beasts like apes and monkeys this time, he was also there to make money.
These things could also fetch a good price if sold.
Because his perception far surpassed that of others, his chances of collecting medicinal herbs and other plants were also much higher.
“In terms of searching for medicinal and poisonous herbs, the strength of one's sense of smell is undoubtedly the most important, even more so than eyesight. The perception boost brought by integrating the Horned Owl mostly manifests in vision. Perhaps I can choose a beast with the most prominent sense of smell to integrate; that would undoubtedly greatly improve the efficiency of searching for various medicinal herbs.”
“Not limited to just medicinal herbs, those strange beasts also have their own unique scents. In the dense mountain forests like Yangping Mountain, perhaps the sense of smell makes it easier to track down strange beasts.”
Such a thought emerged in Lin Sheng's mind.
It was just a pity that among the strange beasts he had currently integrated, none had a particularly outstanding sense of smell.
Most were even inferior to the Horned Owl.
“There's no rush for this matter. Finding that Black Tiger Ape is the priority right now.”
The area of the Black Earth Forest was not small, at least several dozen square li.
He had been in the Black Earth Forest for two or three hours, but unfortunately, he hadn't found any sign of the Black Tiger Ape.
He had already anticipated this situation before coming in. After all, this was just the central area of Yangping Mountain, and a high-grade ordinary beast like the Black Tiger Ape, even if it liked the environment of the Black Earth Forest, couldn't be that common.
It was even possible that there were no Black Tiger Apes in the entire Black Earth Forest at the moment.
However, this time luck seemed to be on his side. After searching in the Black Earth Forest for another half an hour, Lin Sheng suddenly heard a strange howling sound.
The cry sounded like crying and laughing, quite eerie. The sound wasn't close to him; based on his judgment, it should be two or three li away.
Hearing this ghostly wailing and howling, Lin Sheng's eyes lit up, and a look of unconcealable surprise appeared on his face.
According to the information he had gathered about the Black Tiger Ape, its cry was exactly like this.
“I didn't expect to find a lead so quickly.”
Lin Sheng didn't hesitate and quickly strode towards the direction from which the sound came.
He didn't run at full speed. After all, there were many poisonous creatures in the Black Earth Forest, and he didn't want to capsize in the gutter due to impatience; that would be a loss greater than the gain.
Moreover, if he attracted the attacks of some strange beasts due to impatience, it was very likely to disturb that Black Tiger Ape.
As a high-grade ordinary beast, the Black Tiger Ape's combat strength was not comparable to that of ordinary mid-grade ordinary beasts.
This could be seen from the time they encircled and suppressed the Tusker Mountain Pig.
Furthermore, compared to the Tusker Mountain Pig, the Black Tiger Ape was even more troublesome in some aspects.
The Tusker Mountain Pig was large and had thick skin and flesh. As long as one was agile and not too slow, it was possible to escape from it.
But facing the Black Tiger Ape was not that easy.
The Black Tiger Ape was known for its speed and agility, an advantage greatly amplified in the mountain forest. Its nature was brutal and it held grudges.
Moreover, in terms of intelligence, it was far superior to the Tusker Mountain Pig. Once targeted by it, there was little chance of escape.
Even though Lin Sheng's current strength was incomparable to before, he didn't dare to be careless in the slightest when facing the Black Tiger Ape.
Before long, he got closer to the source of the sound. At this moment, the Black Tiger Ape seemed to have encountered something, letting out a cry from time to time.
As the distance grew shorter, Lin Sheng also became more cautious.
Soon, judging by the sound, the Black Tiger Ape was probably only about a hundred meters away from him.
Lin Sheng raised the iron spear in his hand, gently pushed aside the bushes obstructing his view, and focused his eyesight to look ahead.
He saw only an ape, completely black and covered in long black fur, on the thick trunk of an ancient tree.
The ape's size was slightly larger than that of a normal adult man, its height roughly around two meters. Its limbs were thick and powerful, and from the outline of the muscles covered by its long fur, it wasn't difficult to imagine the immense explosive power contained within this body.
His gaze moved upwards, revealing a white face, in stark contrast to the black fur.
Not a white face, but rather cheeks covered in fine white fur. Its nose was flat, and its eyes were wide open. Even at a hundred meters away, Lin Sheng could see the brutal wildness contained within its gaze.
“This is the Black Tiger Ape!!”
Seeing this, Lin Sheng was certain that this large black monkey was his main target for this trip.
His gaze paused on the sharp black claws extending from beneath the Black Tiger Ape's black fur on its limbs.
The Black Tiger Ape's claws on its limbs were highly venomous; as long as they broke the skin, the potent corrosive venom would be transmitted.
This Black Tiger Ape before him had streams of fresh blood flowing from its left arm, making the black fur matted together. It was clearly injured.
Seeing this, Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings of the Black Tiger Ape.
The Black Tiger Ape's strength was definitely among the top tier of high-grade ordinary beasts. Whatever was able to injure it must also be quite strong.
Lin Sheng didn't rush to act. Instead, he scanned the surroundings for several minutes, and only after confirming that there was nothing unusual did he slightly relax and begin cautiously approaching the Black Tiger Ape on the ancient tree.
This Black Tiger Ape was injured. Although he wasn't sure how severe the injury was, it would definitely have some impact on it. This was undoubtedly a good thing for Lin Sheng.
At this moment, the Black Tiger Ape was constantly extending its tongue to lick the wound on its left arm, and its vigilance towards the surroundings would undoubtedly be lowered.
Lin Sheng moved quite slowly and carefully, until he had closed the distance to fifty meters.
At this distance, if he threw the iron spear or darts, he didn't have absolute certainty of hitting the Black Tiger Ape.
After a slight pause, he still decided to creep forward a bit more.
However, he ultimately underestimated the Black Tiger Ape's alertness and cunning.
At this moment, Lin Sheng's gaze was fixed on the Black Tiger Ape, but the Black Tiger Ape suddenly stopped licking, and instead reached out to scratch its head, as if catching fleas in its fur. In the process of its movement, its body had already moved to the other side of the ancient tree.
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng frowned slightly. At this moment, the Black Tiger Ape's figure was completely blocked by the thick trunk of the ancient tree. He didn't rush, but just continued to creep forward.
However, after a few breaths, he suddenly felt the hairs on his body stand on end. His expression changed, and Lin Sheng didn't even think. His legs suddenly swelled up by a size, he stomped heavily on the ground with one foot, and his body rolled to the side.
The moment he dodged, he clearly felt a whoosh of wind cutting through the air, brushing past his neck.
Lin Sheng dodged several meters away, immediately got up, and frowned as he looked at the tall black figure that had appeared several meters away without him noticing.
“Black Tiger Ape.”
That Black Tiger Ape had somehow silently crept up beside him without him knowing. Even with his perception, he hadn't noticed this; it was only when it launched its attack just now that he became aware.
If he hadn't been decisive and pulled back to dodge immediately, that claw just now would probably have landed directly on his neck.
Even if it didn't kill him instantly, he would be hit by the corrosive venom and would still face a dead end.
Lin Sheng quickly reacted. It seemed this Black Tiger Ape might have discovered him long ago. The reason it didn't attack directly was to try and ambush him. This level of thought was not inferior to that of a human.
Hiss—
At this moment, the Black Tiger Ape stood upright, its two dark eyes looking at its own palms, then at Lin Sheng not far away, a trace of confusion and surprise appearing on its face.
It seemed quite puzzled by the failure of this sneak attack.
However, it quickly contorted its face, constantly letting out strange cries, and bared its teeth at Lin Sheng, revealing a mouth full of sharp fangs. It had clearly fallen into a rage.
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng exhaled heavily, gripped the iron spear tightly, slightly moved his neck, and a ferocious smile also appeared on his face.
“You bastard, I wonder if you can still cry out after I smash your head in?”
As his voice fell, Lin Sheng had already strode towards the Black Tiger Ape.
Since a sneak attack was hopeless, he would just face it head-on.
Hiss—
He didn't know if the Black Tiger Ape understood Lin Sheng's meaning, but after letting out two more strange cries, it also charged towards Lin Sheng.
The man and the ape quickly closed in on each other. The iron spear cut through the air, smashing directly towards the Black Tiger Ape's head.
He didn't understand any spear techniques, so he preferred to use the iron spear in his hand as an iron rod.
Seeing that this strike was not easy to deal with, the Black Tiger Ape did not choose to clash head-on. Instead, its body agilely dodged to the side, while simultaneously extending its claws to grab at Lin Sheng's thigh.
Lin Sheng didn't pull back the iron spear to block. Instead, he changed the downward smash into a horizontal sweep and swung it over.
The Black Tiger Ape's speed was indeed very fast, significantly faster than his, but the speed of their attacks didn't differ too much.
Facing the iron spear coming straight at it, the Black Tiger Ape did not choose to clash head-on. Instead, it pulled back and retreated, avoiding the attack range of the iron spear.
It didn't stop for a moment, its body transforming into a black shadow and charging towards Lin Sheng's other side.
Lin Sheng pulled back his spear to block.
Its claw heavily struck the spear shaft. Lin Sheng felt a surge of great force; this Black Tiger Ape's strength was surprisingly not small, even slightly exceeding his own.
He took two steps back, his body swaying, seemingly unstable.
Seeing this, the Black Tiger Ape immediately closed in and raised its hand to grab at Lin Sheng's chest.
Lin Sheng, however, flipped his wrist, and two darts shot out.
The distance between them was only two or three meters at this point. At such close range, Lin Sheng knew that even if he had integrated the White Ape, he definitely wouldn't be able to dodge.
A trace of surprise appeared in the Black Tiger Ape's eyes. The next moment, its body performed a strange deflection, narrowly avoiding the two darts.
However, before it could breathe a sigh of relief, five more darts shot out.
This time, the Black Tiger Ape had nowhere to dodge, and all five darts landed on its body.