Chapter 37: The Choice

This fleeting gap right now would determine the ultimate fate of the two kings.

Bai Wushang was sure that with just a little extra help, the Demon Ape Leader could slaughter the Swift Wind Sword Wolf king—just a little help!

It was as if two little people were arguing in his consciousness.

One dryly and forcefully shouted, “What are you hesitating for, go save it. Only by saving the Demon Ape leader can you gain its friendship, and have a chance to establish a contract with it. Don’t you want to have such a powerful pet companion?”

The other was furious, and loudly scolded, ”Please use your brain! You’re facing a pack of Swift Wind Sword Wolves, not one, but a pack! What can you do alone?

“Once you fail, you will be chased by a pack of wolves. Is it possible for you to run away? No way!

“You can only choose to activate the distress talisman, and that means you’ll be expelled from the academy! It means that your growth will have to come to a halt when your life is already limited! You simply can’t afford to fail!

“In other words, even if you were lucky enough to kill the Sword Wolf king and drive off the wolves, are you sure of subduing the Demon Ape leader? For a highly intelligent creature like an ape, the only way to ensure a stable relationship between human and pets is to make it obey willingly. Have you considered this?

“Maybe you will risk a lot and end up with a carcass, and for what?”

***

In 16 years, Bai Wushang had never been so torn.

Reason kept telling him that the risks were too great and the returns too uncertain—he couldn’t save it!

But on the emotional side, he already highly acknowledged the Demon Ape Leader, and even his sixth sense was telling him, “If you do not go to save it, you’ll miss out on this Demon Ape, and you will regret forever,” and such thoughts like this.

Seeing that the blood mist on the Demon Ape leader was getting thinner and thinner, and that the Sword Wolf king was gradually gaining the upper hand, Bai Wushang’s heart grew more and more anxious, as if a flame was burning.

He clenched his knuckles, listened to the thumping acceleration of his heart, felt the purest change of emotion inside him, and he moved.

“Screw it. I want to save it!!!”

Bai Wushang sprinted out of the bushes where he was hiding like an arrow leaving the bow string, and ran wildly towards the wolves.

In just a breath or two, he crossed the distance of hundreds of meters, and approached the outermost circle formed by the ordinary sword wolves.

The two closest sword wolves, their ears towering high, immediately turned around and pounced on Bai Wushang with their teeth bared.

At this moment, perhaps the incomparable agitated emotions inside prompted Bai Wushang to perform at a super-high level of 120% of his normal performance.

He very promptly and decisively rolled on the ground to avoid the claw attack of the first sword wolf, followed by a strong charge, actively closing in on the second sword wolf, and stabbing the hybrid poison spear in his hand straight into its mouth in an extremely dangerous position.

The poisoned spear, which was more than a meter long, almost completely vanished inside the wolf. The second sword wolf’s eyes turned white, and it spat out blood, falling to the ground at once, rolling around, howling, and struggling.

With these actions, Bai Wushang tore right through the pack of wolves, and he continued to run towards the two kings in the very center without pausing.

The surrounding sword wolves were a little caught off guard, and reacted a little slower than usual. By the time they looked back to chase after Bai Wushang, he had already arrived in front of the Swift Wind Sword Wolf king.

An unfamiliar figure appeared in the Sword Wolf king’s blurred vision. The Sword Wolf king instinctively sensed something terrible, and was stifled and frightened, whimpering in resistance. A momentary outburst of power strengthened it a little more, and it actually nearly broke free of the Demon Ape leader’s restraint.

Pu!!!

Bai Wushang didn’t give it a chance as the last paralyzing poison spear pushed hard into the already exposed flesh of the Sword Wolf king’s abdomen.

Seemingly afraid of not doing enough damage, he pulled out two more non-toxic short spears, and aimed them at the vitals like the Sword Wolf king’s organs and eyes in a flurry.

Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!

On the messy, torn, blood-soaked brown dirt slope, Bai Wushang looked focused, waving the short spears in his hands over and over. The orange sunset spilled over his sharply cut face, rendering a hint of icy cold fury.

The wolves thus slowed down, and at that moment, a crisp click sounded.

The neck of the Swift Wind Sword Wolf king was twisted into a fried dough twist[1]!

“Hou!!!”

The Demon Ape leader desperately opened its right eye to look and look again, convinced that the Sword Wolf king had really been taken out by him, and an excited roar came from its throat.

But this roar was far less vigorous than the one that came before, and at the end, it transformed into a wailing sound of extreme grief.

The Demon Ape leader rolled over with difficulty, lying on the corpse of the Sword Wolf king, and began to tear its flesh with his teeth, chewing and swallowing with large mouthfuls, repeating this action over and over again, its face wet.

“Eat their flesh, drink their blood. That’s hatred to the bones…”

Bai Wushang sighed, but he couldn’t be distracted at this time, immediately grabbing a short spear that was stained red with blood, and aiming the tip at the surrounding pack of wolves.

“Ooh~”

The seven or eight ordinary sword wolves were clearly scared, and simply didn’t have the courage to continue fighting.

The ever resourceful, fierce, and brutal Sword Wolf king that they remembered just died!

To the ordinary sword wolves which focused on teamwork and obeyed the will of the strong, this was no different than the sky falling.

The pack looked around at each other, finally turning their attention to the outermost and badly wounded second alpha wolf at late-stage youth who was now the new leader.

The second alpha wolf swept a gloomy glance at Bai Wushang, and then took a look at the crazy-looking Demon Ape leader, not daring to make a rash move. It instead whimpered, turned its head, and ran to the back.

Looking at the new leader, who was limping and still running fast, the pack no longer hesitated, and scattered, chasing after its steps and quickly moving away from the battlefield.

“Phew…” Bai Wushang sighed in relief. If the pack of wolves vowed to die, and had to stay and fight to the end in blood, he wasn’t sure he could win.

Confirming that it was safe for the time being, Bai Wushang looked down to check the injuries of the Demon Ape leader.

At this time, the Demon Ape leader had already exited the Second Blood Burning state. Its body was crisscrossed with wounds, and many places even exposed the bones. Whoever looked at it would shudder.

The more serious one was a flush break on the left arm, and the bleeding hadn’t stopped even now.

But that wasn’t the fatal wound; the most serious, still, were the two withered hearts.

When Bai Wushang looked at the [Status] section of the attribute panel, there were actually more than 10 negative statuses listed on it, such as near death, half blind, organ failure, massive blood loss, extreme grief, extreme pain, unsettling rage, withered heart (two), and so on, making him dumbfounded.

“It’s only because Demon Ape has a strong constitution. If this had been any other beast, it would have died long ago…” Bai Wushang muttered, and just as he took out the herbs and prepared to administer first aid, he saw the Demon Ape leader’s head lolling and resting motionless.

“Hey, boss ape, hang in there!”

[1] [Annotation text missing]