The moment Jiang Yun stepped over the red light boundary, it was as if he had entered another world; not only did his vision suddenly dim, but chilling gusts of wind, mixed with the stench of blood and decay, came from nowhere, swirling around him, accompanied by strange, wailing sounds.
This sudden change did not cause Jiang Yun the slightest fear. At this moment, though he appeared expressionless, a sharp glint flickered in his agile eyes, his body slightly hunched, and his aura completely concealed, making him resemble a Vicious Beast poised to strike.
Over the course of three days, while Jiang Yun continuously searched for Lu Xiaoyu’s whereabouts, he also found several herbs and fruits, and even hunted a Vicious Beast, finally allowing his physical strength to recover to its Peak state.
As for the injuries within his Physical Body, they had largely healed. No one knew that, besides being incredibly powerful, his Physical Body also possessed a terrifyingly fast self-healing ability; naturally, this was the result of sixteen years of medicinal baths.
Maintaining this posture and state, Jiang Yun’s figure transformed into a wisp of smoke, continuing deeper into the Trapped Beast Forest.
The number of Vicious Beasts here was noticeably fewer than within a hundred li, but the Rank of the Vicious Beasts Jiang Yun encountered were all above Rank Seven.
Naturally, this situation confirmed his earlier speculation: within the Trapped Beast Forest, Vicious Beasts above Rank Seven were indeed all confined to the area beyond a hundred li.
Jiang Yun, of course, was not afraid of these Vicious Beasts. Let alone Rank Seven, he had even killed Rank Nine Vicious Beasts when he was in Mang Mountain. In fact, if he hadn't been constantly worried about Lu Xiaoyu, he might have killed a few Vicious Beasts, because Vicious Beasts above Rank Seven are treasures from head to tail.
Especially when a Vicious Beast reaches Rank Seven, it may condense a Beast Core within its body, and a Beast Core is a necessary Material for refining some Medicinal Pills.
At present, he naturally had no desire to collect Beast Cores; he was still persistently searching for Lu Xiaoyu’s whereabouts, so he avoided the Vicious Beasts as much as possible.
Unbeknownst to him, one day had passed since Jiang Yun crossed the red light boundary, and a sizable swamp appeared before him.
Just like before, Jiang Yun's gaze casually swept across the swamp. However, at that moment, his body trembled violently, because amidst the decaying leaves covering the swamp, he saw something!
This object completely shattered the last shred of hope in his heart, and furthermore, caused his body to tremble uncontrollably.
It was a sachet!
Although it was tattered and bore traces of blood, upon seeing this sachet, Jiang Yun recognized it at a glance; it was precisely the sachet Lu Xiaoyu wore, and he had even worn it himself once.
“Xiaoyu!”
With a reach of his hand, Jiang Yun firmly clutched the sachet, his eyes tightly shut, as if he had turned into a stone figure, standing motionless there.
Jiang Yun viewed death lightly, but that was only in reference to himself; it did not mean he viewed the deaths of others equally lightly. On the contrary, he regarded the deaths of his loved ones more heavily than anything else.
In Mang Mountain, death was unavoidable. You didn't even know if you would return alive tomorrow after leaving the village today.
Over the course of sixteen years, Jiang Yun had personally witnessed the deaths of many people in Jiang Village, and each time he witnessed it, his heart would be filled with sorrow.
The more he saw, the more unacceptable it became to him, which was also why he tried so hard to become a pharmacist.
He wanted to use his insignificant strength to minimize the deaths of the people in Jiang Village as much as possible.
Now, in this Trapped Beast Forest, the reason he still refused to give up searching for Lu Xiaoyu's whereabouts was precisely because he also could not accept Lu Xiaoyu's death.
However, this sachet before him, along with some scattered fragments of gray clothing, were enough to indicate that Lu Xiaoyu was already dead, killed by a Vicious Beast, and had become its food!
Suddenly, several fist-sized bubbles emerged from the swamp in front of Jiang Yun, and beneath the countless decaying leaves, a pair of blood-red eyes quietly peered out, observing Jiang Yun, who stood there silently motionless.
After a moment of silence, the countless decaying leaves suddenly shot skyward, as if a whirlwind had erupted beneath the swamp. Within this whirlwind, a foot-long figure was hidden, opening its gaping maw and fiercely biting towards Jiang Yun.
“Bang!”
Jiang Yun, who had been stiff as a stone, suddenly moved, grabbing the figure by the neck and slowly raising his head. In his equally blood-red eyes, a fierce light burst forth, and the hundreds of scars on his body rapidly trembled, as a majestic aura of bloodlust wildly emanated from his body.
What Jiang Yun held in his hand was an alligator-shaped Vicious Beast. Jiang Yun knew it was a Mud Lizard, a Rank Seven Vicious Beast, which liked to inhabit swamps.
Although he didn't know which Vicious Beast had killed Lu Xiaoyu, since her sachet was left on this swamp, then this Mud Lizard must also be involved.
“Die!”
As Jiang Yun uttered this word, the hand gripping the Mud Lizard's neck suddenly exerted force, and with a crisp snap, this Rank Seven Mud Lizard was actually crushed at the neck by Jiang Yun.
Another muffled sound rang out as Jiang Yun's other palm directly pierced the Mud Lizard's belly.
His palm was like a sharp blade, easily slicing open the Mud Lizard's belly, from which flowed a pile of colorful internal organs, including a Dragon-eye-sized pearl, a Beast Core.
Jiang Yun, however, did not look at the Beast Core. Instead, he carefully examined the internal organs flowing out of the Mud Lizard's body, even reaching in without a hint of disgust to stir them, until a moment later, he frowned and said, “This Mud Lizard hasn’t eaten for at least three days. It wasn’t it!”
“Bang!”
Throwing the Mud Lizard’s Corpse aside, Jiang Yun suddenly sat down cross-legged, reaching out to grasp his arm and forcefully slash it. From the five hideous wounds, blood streamed down.
Jiang Yun paid no mind to the wounds on his body. Instead, he restrained his Qi, closed his eyes slightly, and murmured, “Xiaoyu, I’m sorry! I came too late, but don’t worry, I will avenge you, starting with these Vicious Beasts!”
The scent of Jiang Yun’s flowing blood began to spread in all directions. Gradually, Vicious Beasts started to appear around him, but when they saw Jiang Yun sitting cross-legged, they did not immediately approach. Instead, they squatted in place, silently observing.
Vicious Beasts above Rank Seven, although their intelligence cannot be compared to that of humans, possess some basic spiritual awareness. Naturally, they all saw that the situation before them was a bit off, and thus, they did not rush forward en masse.
If the Vicious Beasts didn't move, Jiang Yun naturally wouldn't either. He understood these Vicious Beasts too well. He knew that if he couldn't hold back and attacked now, he would at most kill two or three Vicious Beasts, and the others would undoubtedly turn and flee without hesitation.
Therefore, he was waiting, waiting for these Vicious Beasts to lose their patience, waiting for them to actively launch an attack on him.
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Finally, when the number of surrounding Vicious Beasts gathered to nearly thirty, a faint, ghost-like wailing sound suddenly echoed, and all the Vicious Beasts, in unison, launched a fierce charge towards Jiang Yun.
This scene caused Jiang Yun’s expression to change slightly.
He wasn't afraid of so many Vicious Beasts charging at once; what concerned him was the strange sound just now, which was clearly a command for all the Vicious Beasts to immediately attack.
If it were a group of Vicious Beasts of the same species, such a situation would not be strange, just like a wolf pack having a wolf king; every type of Vicious Beast would have a leader.
Once the leader gave an order, the Vicious Beasts would naturally obey.
However, the nearly thirty Vicious Beasts around them belonged to at least twenty different beast species, and among them were even a few Rank Eight and Rank Nine ones. They actually listened to the command issued by that voice. What was issuing the command?
A human, or a beast? Or a Beast Tamer?
This situation completely exceeded Jiang Yun's expectations; he had never encountered it before.
A sentence Sha Jingshan had told him suddenly surfaced in Jiang Yun’s mind—“The Vicious Beasts in the Trapped Beast Forest are not simple!”
However, he had no time to ponder deeply, because the nearest Rank Seven Vicious Beast had already charged in front of him.