Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 120
Chapter 120: Golden-eyed Demon Ape
“Chen’er, the wild beasts you talk about… could they have become faes?” Fang Canghai’s expression tightened up.
Since there were cultivators in the world, it only made sense that there were faes as well. Fighting on the battlefield wasn’t terrifying for him, but dealing with faes and mystical creatures of that sort… he would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated.
“They won’t pose a threat.” Fang Chen shook his head with a smile. “Let everyone have their fill of the spring water before setting up camp. We’ll have to send some people to nearby towns to purchase materials and hire workers to construct a manor.”
Fang Canghai nodded.
As soon as the Fang Clansmen took a sip of the spring water, the sweltering heat dissipated. They quickly took another sip, and it revitalized them. It felt like their exhaustion from traveling had vanished without a trace.
With that, they began constructing their camps.
The Fang Manor’s guards were all veterans, and the youths had received relevant training too. They were all familiar with setting camps. It didn’t take them long to construct a simple camp.
Some of the civilians who came to fetch water from the spring were stunned to see their camps. A brawny man mustered his courage to approach them and advise, “You shouldn’t stay here. It’s still fine in the day, but ferocious beasts will swamp this area at night. They’ll eat you!”
“Ferocious beasts? We have plenty of people here to fight them off. We’ll be fine,” Xu Ge replied with a grin.
“I can see that too, but it won’t work.” The brawny man shook his head. Seeing how stubborn they were, he chose not to bother anymore.
Just then, a group of youths suddenly galloped over.
One of them glanced at their camp and asked, “Where are you from? Are you planning on staying here?”
They frequented this place for spring water, which was why they were surprised by the pitched tents and ongoing construction. Some of them scoffed at their foolish decision..
“Big Senior Sister, let’s ignore them. They must be some rich foreigner who naively thinks that they can occupy this cold spring by staying here. It probably never crossed their minds why none of the powerhouses in the southern region has occupied this area yet.”
“Indeed. Let’s quickly take a sip of water and leave. It’s starting to get dark. We’ll be in trouble if those faes come.”
“Master and the others have already reached Profound Saber Sect. We need to catch up.”
The person whom the group addressed as Big Senior Sister shook her head. “They must be unfamiliar with the reason. The least we can do is to offer them a reminder.”
So, she galloped over to the Fang Clan’s camps. Her juniors followed her.
The Fang Manor’s guards immediately stood forward to stop her. “My apologies, but we have already set up camp here. Please occupy a different spot.”
The senior sister shook her head and replied, “We won’t be staying here. I’m here to advise your patriarch that this place is not suitable for residence.”
Xu Ge narrowed his eyes. It’s not just the civilians but also disciples of the pugilistic world who advises us against staying here. Is it really that dangerous? This piqued his curiosity, so he told the guards to let them enter.
“What airs!” the other juniors sneered, upset that they were being blocked.
It looks like martial cultivation is mainstream in the southern region. These disciples are young, but even the weakest of them has already reached pinnacle Ki Condensation. That woman is also at Ki Explosion despite looking only around a year or two older than Miss Zhixue.
With such a thought in mind, Xu Ge asked with a smile, “Young miss, you mentioned that this place is not suited for residence. May I ask you to elaborate further on that?”
“Faes sometimes appear in this region,” the senior sister replied.
“Faes?” Xu Ge laughed. “Are there really faes in this world? Even if they do exist, they won’t dare to cause us any trouble.”
“Hah, you sure talk big. You must be the guard leader here. Of all places you could have stayed, your master insists on camping here in the wilderness. An interesting choice, I must say,” one of the juniors sneered.
“You’re all dressed in the same uniform. May I know what sect you’re from?” Xu Ge asked.
“We’re disciples of the Bear Mountain Sword Sect. Have you heard of it?” the junior proudly replied.
“So you’re from the Bear Mountain Sword Sect!” Xu Ge nodded.
Only the Four Great Sects, along with some of the top-tier sects and clans, would be backed by a Ki Control martial artist. The Bear Mountain Sword Sect was one of them.
“Big brother Xu, why are you chatting with these people instead of helping out?” Fang Zhixue ran over and asked.
“Hm?”
Many of the Bear Mountain Sword Sect’s male disciples had their eyes light up upon seeing Fang Zhixue’s suave figure.
“Young miss, they are disciples from the Bear Mountain Sword Sect,” Xu Ge replied.
“Bear Mountain Sword Sect? My older brother said that the Bear Mountain Sword Sect is a prestigious sect in the southern region, placed just beneath the Four Great Sects. Aren’t you located in Beamwater Commandery?” Fang Zhixue eyed the people before her in astonishment.
“She knows about our Bear Mountain Sword Sect.”
“Her big brother appears to be quite knowledgeable. He knows that our Bear Mountain Sword Sect is second only to the Four Great Sects in the southern region. Now that the Heavensword Mountain Villa is gone, we might just join the ranks of the Four Great Sects.”
The male disciples chattered among themselves with gleeful grins.
The senior sister smiled. “We have business to attend to in the South Immortal Commandery. You’re the young miss of this clan, right? I advise you to leave this place before it turns dark. It’ll get dangerous soon.”
Just as she said those words, an exclamation could be heard in the distance.
A few civilians could be seen running frantically in their directions, the pails they had carried here with them nowhere to be seen.
“Grar!”
With a vicious snarl, an ape boasting a height of over three meters tall chased them. It was delighted to see so many people gathered around the cold spring, prompting it to beat its chests and roar at the crowd.
None of the Fang Clansmen has ever seen such a huge ape before, and fear flickered across their eyes. However, they were sufficiently well trained to quickly calm down and not lose their bearings.
The senior sister exclaimed in horror, “The Gold-eyed Demon Ape? I thought it was dead? It hasn’t appeared for many years now!”
“B-Big Senior Sister, are you certain? How can we be so unlucky as to cross paths with one of the most ferocious faes here?!” The Bear Mountain Sword Sect’s disciples shuddered.
The Golden-eyed Demon Ape was so huge that normal people looked like three-year-old kids before it. Even from a distance away, it gave off an intimidating aura that suffocated one.
“So this is the southern region! They often say that the southern region is barren and lacking in resources, but to think that their apes can grow this big…”
“And I wondered why most in the capital were reluctant to come to the southern region. That giant ape can probably take down a Ki Control with a single fist, right?”
“This broadened my horizons. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed that there could be such a massive ape in the world!”
The Fang Clansmen muttered among themselves. The Golden-eyed Demon Ape seemed to understand their words and was enraged by their gossiping, so it immediately charged at them.
“Shut your mouths! The Golden-eyed Demon Ape understands human speech. You’re courting death by gossiping about it!” the Bear Mountain Sword Sect’s Big Senior Sister bellowed.
“Big Senior Sister, let’s retreat!” The disciples of the Bear Mountain Sword Sect were intimidated.
“That won’t do. What will happen to them if we leave?”
The senior sister couldn’t bear to leave the others to the lurch, so she gritted her teeth and roared at the Golden-eyed Demon Ape, “We are disciples of the Bear Mountain Sword Sect. Please have mercy and return to the mountain!”
The Golden-eyed Demon Ape halted its footsteps. Disdain flashed across its eyes, but just then, it found itself faced with a pair of grayish-white eyes and immediately turned tail and ran.
Those from the Bear Mountain Sword Sect were taken aback. Seconds later, one of them exclaimed in delight, “Our Bear Mountain Sword Sect’s reputation has grown so huge that even the faes here fear us!”
The nearby civilians were awed. They clasped their fists and thanked them.
However, the Bear Mountain Sword Sect’s senior sister frowned in confusion. When did our Bear Mountain Sword Sect become so famous that even faes avoid us…
—
Starve’s similar but contextually different words:
In Chinese folklore, it’s believed that there’s a soul in every being, and beings that live for a long time tend to gain sentience and power.
For instance, a thousand-year-old tree can become a powerful fae. A snake that has lived for a long time can become a fae too. They tend to be more powerful than their peers, and they may be capable of speech.
A lot of Chinese stories involve such concepts, such as Madame White Snake, A Chinese Ghost Story, and even Journey to the West.
There are many ways to translate it – some go for spirits, some go for demons. I chose fae because there will be other contexts where I’ll need to use terms like ‘spirits’ and ‘demons’ later, and I don’t want to conflate the ideas together.
