Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The air in the valley vibrated, and the mist that shrouded the valley was blown away by the strong airflow, revealing the true appearance of the valley.
—The valley was filled with jagged rocks that could reach straight into the sky. On the rocks grew a forest of maple trees that were as red as blood. Clumps of red maple leaves, like flames burning brightly, were carried by strong air currents and danced on the treetops and branches.
The wind howled, the strange rocks trembled, and the red maple leaves were stained with blood.
Then, a giant with a bull’s head, wings on its back, four eyes, and six arms, each arm wielding a weapon, strode out. Its height was immeasurable; at first glance, it seemed to reach the heavens and the earth. Each step it took caused the earth and mountains to tremble, and each flap of its wings created a fierce hurricane. Its six weapon-wielding arms swept away all obstacles in its path with ease.
Jiang Lan’s scales involuntarily opened, and under the powerful threat, his body swelled up, transforming back into his true form.
His body leaned forward slightly, his scarlet eyes narrowed warily, and he let out a tentative growl, assuming an attack stance.
The giant swung his arm, letting out a muffled roar like thunder. With his movement, the pure black chains around his neck clanged together, producing a piercing ringing sound.
It roared angrily twice, then ignored Jiang Lan and swung its weapon at the chains binding him. Sparks flew everywhere, and the high-pitched, ear-piercing impacts were like countless cold arrows stabbing into eardrums.
However, the chain, which was not even as thick as its arm, remained completely unmoved no matter how it was chopped, not even leaving a mark.
The giant grew even angrier at the sight, swinging his six arms wildly and slashing haphazardly, almost leveling the entire valley under his barrage. A fierce hurricane swept up boulders, indiscriminately blasting them in all directions.
The distant Ya Zi lowered its ears and let out a low growl as it nimbly dodged the flying stones and cautiously retreated.
While dodging, Jiang Lan glanced back at him, used her body to block the giant rock from the gale, and shouted at him to leave quickly.
With him blocking most of the gale and boulders, the pressure on Ya Zi behind him was greatly reduced. He glanced at Jiang Lan, then ran away without looking back. He was clearly very familiar with this terrain, and in just a few breaths, he had disappeared from sight.
The berserk giant in front of him was attracted by Jiang Lan’s roar and vented all his anger on him.
It flapped its wings and waved its arms as it strode toward Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan roared and fearlessly charged forward to fight it.
The giant was unlike any opponent before. It was enormous and incredibly powerful, and its attacks were just like Jiang Lan’s – brutal and savage, a direct confrontation.
The colossal Taotie collided with the towering giant, the impact producing a dull thud. The surrounding mountains crumbled, and debris carrying plants and animals from the mountains poured down like a torrent.
The giant wielded a giant axe and cleaved down on Jiang Lan’s back, but Jiang Lan traded one for one, tearing off one of his arms.
Jiang Lan swallowed the arm whole, finding its texture different from the others. Before he could figure out what made it different, the giant, now missing an arm, attacked again…
The two fought from the valley to the riverbank, and then from the riverbank to the mountains, flattening countless mountains and filling in countless rivers. Jiang Lan bore several deep, bone-revealing wounds, his back covered in mottled scales that revealed tender, red flesh. The giant, on the other hand, was missing three arms, and one of his bull horns was broken off.
Jiang Lan hid behind a boulder, cautiously crouching low and panting heavily.
They fought from dusk till dawn, and then from dawn till dusk again, until the first rays of morning light appeared on the horizon. Countless hours had passed, and with his injuries and exhaustion, Jiang Lan felt weary. His movements were no longer as agile and powerful as before, and the wounds on his body were all from when he couldn’t dodge in time.
The giant not far away was missing several arms, but it seemed to feel no pain or fatigue. It turned its head, locked onto Jiang Lan again, roared, and charged forward fiercely.
Jiang Lan had no choice but to bite the bullet and face the challenge once again.
Suddenly, a low howling sound came from behind. Jiang Lan turned around and saw that Ya Zi, who had run away earlier, had returned at some point. He roared at Jiang Lan from afar, then turned and ran west. After running two steps, he stopped and turned back, impatiently urging Jiang Lan to catch up.
Jiang Lan understood his meaning, hesitated for a moment, and then quickly followed behind him.
Upon seeing this, the giant let out another earth-shaking roar and gave chase.
Ya Zi led the way, and Jiang Lan shrunk his size to keep his distance and followed behind him. The giant waved his remaining arm, and because of his enormous size, his movements were slow and he lagged far behind, but he kept chasing after them.
With a short sword in its mouth and its ears perked up, Ya Zi, with its two tails, deliberately sought out mountainous areas with complex terrain.
Jiang Lan shrunk in size and encountered little resistance, but the enormous giant faced many obstacles. This only fueled its deeper and greater rage. It swung its weapon, breaking through the obstacles and relentlessly pursuing them, but the distance between them inevitably grew larger and larger.
Ya Zi glanced back and yelled at Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan immediately understood his meaning, sped up, and quickly caught up with him, falling only half a step behind.
At the same time, Ya Zi darted into a cave covered with purple vines. Jiang Lan followed without hesitation. Soon after, Ya Zi jumped up and rammed his horn against the cave ceiling, causing a huge boulder to fall and completely block the cave entrance.
After blocking the way, Ya Zi relaxed. He glanced at Jiang Lan arrogantly, squatted down on a smooth stone inside, and began to slowly lick his fur.
Jiang Lan scanned the cave and found that the cave was very spacious. There were many fruits that he had never seen before and there were even two thin deer that were kept in captivity.
Seeing that Jiang Lan was staring at the two deer, Ya Zi, who was slowly grooming his fur, suddenly jumped up and growled threateningly at him.
Seeing his agitated state, Jiang Lan thought to herself that this was clearly Ya Zi’s den.
He withdrew his gaze, sat down at the cave entrance, and listened carefully to the sounds outside.
The sound of rocks collapsing could be heard intermittently outside, clearly indicating that the giant was going crazy because they couldn’t find them. He was initially worried that the giant would find them, but after listening for a long time, he didn’t see any movement coming this way, and Ya Zi looked completely calm and composed.
He then breathed a sigh of relief.
Judging from the layout of the cave, Ya Zi had obviously been in the space for quite a long time, and he was the one who led himself to the Giant Valley, so he should know better than Ya Zi how to get rid of the giants.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lan relaxed his tense body and began to clean his wounds.
Ya Zi rummaged through a pile of fruit to the side of a large rock, then lay down on the rock, munching on the fruit idly. His dark golden eyes stared curiously at Jiang Lan, while the short sword that he always carried in his mouth was now pressed down in his paws.
Jiang Lan glanced up at him while tending to her wound and asked, “You really don’t remember me?”
Ya Zi twitched its tail and ate a fruit.
Jiang Lan asked again, “How long have you been here? How did you get in?”
Ya Zi continued eating the fruit, ignoring him.
“…”
Jiang Lan finished treating his wounds, frowned as he looked at him, and muttered to himself, “After forgetting who you are, you won’t even be able to speak anymore, will you?”
The Ya Zi, who was lying down eating fruit, suddenly sprang up, let out a howl, and angrily threw two stones at him.
The stones hitting him didn’t hurt him at all. Jiang Lan didn’t even dodge, and chuckled coldly, “You’re as stupid as ever, but your temper hasn’t mellowed at all. I’ll settle this score with you when you’re better.”
Ya Zi glanced at him, then leisurely lay down again, this time ignoring him and instead using her short sword as a pillow to stare at the two captive deer.
Seeing this, Jiang Lan had an idea. He remembered that when he had a late-night snack by the river, Ya Zi had been watching from the side. Considering that he hadn’t seen any animals in the forest before, he understood why Ya Zi had been staring at the two deer but not eating them.
There were probably not many animals in the mountains.
Ya Zi was no ordinary wild animal; it could survive by eating fruit. But for a carnivore to be forced to eat vegetables must be incredibly painful.
No wonder the Ya Zi stared at the two deer but couldn’t bear to eat them, because if it did, they would be gone.
After thinking it over, Jiang Lan also lay down and took out a handful of gems from his storage ring to replenish his strength.
The creaking sound immediately attracted Ya Zi’s attention, and he stretched his head to look at Jiang Lan. Seeing Jiang Lan covering his paw, he slapped the ground with his paw in dissatisfaction and let out a fierce howl.
Jiang Lan ignored him, turned his back to him, and continued eating.
Ya Zi: …
He gritted his teeth, glaring angrily at Jiang Lan.
Holding a grudge.
….
After staying in the cave for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Lan listened intently for a long time. There was no longer any sound from the giant outside. He didn’t know if the giant had gone elsewhere to look for them or had already returned. And if it had returned, would it ever come out again?
He glanced at Ya Zi, who was angry and ignoring him, adjusted himself into a comfortable position, and began to think about taking Ya Zi back.
If he wanted to go back, the only way was to take the path that Song Yu took before— that was currently the only known connection between the two spaces.
The problem was how to take Ya Zi back.
He obviously wouldn’t obediently follow me, and causing another disturbance that would attract the giant would be troublesome.
Jiang Lan’s gaze at Ya Zi grew increasingly intense as he began to consider the possibility of knocking Ya Zi unconscious and taking him back.
Ya Zi noticed his gaze, turned his head sensitively, and stared at Jiang Lan warily.
“…”
Jiang Lan withdrew his gaze. “Forget it, I’ll try deceiving you first.”
His eyes flickered, and he showed the unfinished gem in his paw to Ya Zi before quickly stuffing it into his mouth and eating it.
Ya Zi, who hadn’t seen clearly yet: …?
Feeling cheated, he stood up angrily and let out a low growl.
Jiang Lan asked, “Want to eat?”
He pointed to the two deer in the corner and said, “They taste much better than that.”
Ya Zi glared at him with displeasure, his eyes gradually turning fierce, eager to snatch it directly.
Jiang Lan pushed the stone aside, looked around at the situation outside, and said, “I’m going to find something to eat. If you want some, come along.”
Without waiting for Ya Zi to hesitate, he quickly ran towards the village after determining the direction.
When he fought the giant before, he deliberately avoided the direction of the village. Now he just hoped that the giant hadn’t gone in that direction.
Seeing him walk away without looking back, Ya Zi muttered something under his breath, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately his curiosity got the better of him, and he followed Jiang Lan’s figure from afar.
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