Of Mountains and Rivers 38
But it was too late to retreat now.
The moment the sound beasts came ashore, they suddenly accelerated and started running toward Yuan Ping.
To humans, the stone forest by the water was like a labyrinth. But for the sound beasts, which were about three times taller than ordinary people, this maze became a crude, two-dimensional pattern, condescending and transparent at a glance.
Yuan Ping didn’t look back when he heard the movement behind him; he had already crouched down to make himself the smallest size possible.
He lacked neither speed nor stamina nor experience, and he skillfully avoided wave after wave of attacks by using the surrounding stones. But even so, the species was extremely malevolent and relentlessly made one attack after another.
Yuan Ping was chased like a mad dog by those big beasts.
Sharp gusts of wind brushed Yuan Ping’s scalp several times, and the sound of the collisions of large and small stones created the illusion of a hail of bullets.
Suddenly, a sound beast impatiently charged after Yuan Ping like an elephant chasing a little ant. Its beam-like tail struck out, swept across the sky, and instantly smashed the stone forest into pieces of flying stones and sand.
Yuan Ping broke out in a cold sweat.
No matter how ferocious and terrifying lions and tigers were, they would never be able to create such a great visual impact on people. Most likely, the eternal fear of human beings could be attributed to two images—long reptiles with cold, slimy scales, and insects with disgusting mouthparts, especially if they were unacceptably large.
Yuan Ping felt that his adrenaline level was going to explode.
The sound beast opened its gory mouth wide and stretched out its snake-like fangs that looked like sharp picks, and Yuan Ping’s head was the target where it was going to dig a bloody hole.
Yuan Ping had the optimal view from this angle, but he still couldn’t find a safe way to dodge. The moment the sound beast’s jaws closed in, he had no choice but to bite the bullet. Instead of retreating, he threw a big stone to block the beast’s mouth.
The sound beast bit it immediately. With a cracking sound, the huge boulder weighing more than a hundred kilograms was cut in half, and one of the sound beast’s iron teeth flew out.
Yuan Ping had a bad feeling at that time.
In fact, thinking about this in the beast’s shoes, anyone who had a big tooth knocked out by something would probably howl.
Sure enough, the next moment, the now toothless sound beast hissed and roared, and invisible sound waves hit Yuan Ping straight in the chest. Yuan Ping had no choice but to roll sideways on the ground and put his arms around his head, trying to dodge the attacks no matter how hard they hit. The roar sounded like a starting gun, and the other two sound beasts opened their mouths at the same time as if they had received some kind of signal.
Chu Huan snatched the bow from Dashan’s hand and jumped down from the hillside. He whistled as sharp as the dawn. Since the beast was very sensitive to sound, it immediately turned its attention to Chu Huan.
Chu Huan’s first arrow had already left the string.
But his hand was shaking, and the arrow missed.
His arrow hit the big nostril of the sound beast. He missed it by a thousand miles. There was a buzzing in Chu Huan’s mind, and he was numb.
It was almost impossible for an incident like this to happen to Chu Huan. With the sophistication of the bow in his hand, he could shoot an arrow into the eyes of a sparrow dozens of meters away. The eyes of the sound beast were as big as a human face. How could he miss?
Chu Huan’s hands and feet became uncontrollably cold. His joints were stiff, and the cold sweat of his palms almost made him drop the bow.
The earlier image of Yuan Ping’s intentionally or unintentionally raised middle finger, as well as the silhouette of Chu Huan who suddenly fell to the ground, his status unknown between life and death, seemed to pull out Chu Huan’s long-buried memories. He fell onto his knees, his expression uncharacteristically shocked. The smell of blood spread in the air around him.
What am I doing? he thought. What the hell am I doing? Why am I making such a stupid mistake?
Of course, even though the arrow missed, the beast was still distracted by him.
At this time, Nanshan had already passed through the stone forest quickly. While the beast had turned its head, he picked up Yuan Ping and retreated quickly.
The three beasts immediately realized that they were tricked by the sound and came back to their senses at the same time, rushing towards Nanshan.
Nanshan let out a low cry, and with him at the center, a hurricane-like airflow swept out. He used all of his strength, and in moments, all the boulders within two meters of him were displaced. The black beast swung its tail in front of itself in order to block the attacks.
The toothless sound beast in the middle probably felt the impact. It was knocked three or four meters out of the middle, and its bulky body fell into its companion on one side, rolling the two sound beasts into a ball.
Nanshan didn’t dare to hesitate and hastily pulled Yuan Ping back from the hurricane. Yuan Ping’s Gatekeeper physique enhanced his physical fitness. By now, he had already regained consciousness, but he was still dragged by Nanshan since his feet were slightly unsteady.
Nanshan said, “Chu Huan, let’s go!”
Chu Huan’s complexion was as pale as his joints, and his bony fingers rested on the bowstring. His eyes flashed across Yuan Ping’s face, and he turned sideways to face them. “I’m broken.”
Hearing this, Nanshan’s feet didn’t stop. He ran up a few steps and lifted Yuan Ping like pulling up a carrot. He grabbed Yuan Ping’s two hands and hoisted him up as if performing acrobatics.
Before Yuan Ping could stand on his feet, his body had already leaned out, and he shouted at Nanshan, “Don’t worry about him! If you keep spoiling him, he will be ruined. Better to let him stand and die here than live in a puddle of mud1!”
Nanshan turned a deaf ear and said to the group, “Go downstream. We’ll follow right away.”
Dashan said, “Patriarch!”
The Patriarch didn’t respond anymore, and Nanshan ran towards Chu Huan without looking back.
With the departure of Nanshan himself, the airflow around the beasts began to dissipate, and he no longer had the ability to throw sand and rocks. The roar of the sound beasts echoed around, and even though he was not facing them directly, Chu Huan could still feel the roaring shock.
His chest seemed to be hit by an invisible sledgehammer, but he didn’t have any protection, so he was just pinned to the spot. He once again meticulously drew the simple bow that could be shown in a museum2 in his hands.
He was not deaf, of course—he had heard what Yuan Ping said.
Once again, he thought Yuan Ping was right.
One of the sound beasts escaped from the range of the hurricane at breakneck speed and rushed towards Chu Huan, but Chu Huan’s feet seemed to have taken root, and he didn’t move until the animal was very close to him. The fierce wind even infected his temples, and he saw his embarrassing reflection in the brown pupils of the sound beast.
The bowstring had been drawn too tightly, and when the arrow left the string, it let out an almost shrill scream. The air between them seemed to melt from the heated, desperate killing intent. The huge muzzle of the sound beast brushed against Chu Huan as its serpentine and lizard-like head suddenly raised.
Chu Huan instinctively knew that it would call out.
The moment it opened its mouth, before it could make a sound wave, he had a chance.
And this opportunity was fleeting—even half a second of hesitation would cause the sound wave to hit him directly. Chu Huan did not have Yuan Ping’s strong Gatekeeper body, so it was likely the attack would shatter his sternum on the spot and crush other internal organs.
Three arrows were already on the bowstring, but the sound beast then raised its head ninety degrees.
Chu Huan frowned. This angle was very unfavorable to him, but he had no choice.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Huan jumped from the boulder with all of his strength. At this moment, he suddenly felt a gust of air flowing under his feet that could almost be called insignificant, like a gentle comfort.
But Chu Huan was shocked.
Nanshan?
His realization—Nanshan is here—seemingly gave him some kind of strength. The next moment, when the sound beast opened its mouth wide, Chu Huan crossed one leg and stuck it on the sound beast’s jaw. Standing in front of its bloody mouth, he used gravity to push down the sound beast’s head.
As soon as he touched it, he already felt the terrible bite force. Chu Huan could almost hear his bones trembling. He didn’t dare to hesitate and let go of the bowstring during his rapid fall, and the three sharp arrows mercilessly shot into the sound beast’s throat.
He then heard Nanshan’s voice call, “Jump down!”
Without thinking, Chu Huan curled up and jumped down. A strong but gentle air current caught him in the middle of his fall, and then he felt a naked arm wrap tightly around his waist.
The unexpected intimate contact made Chu Huan’s senses amplify, and he found that Nanshan’s elbow was jabbing into him with a grip that could break his ribs.
However, before he could remind him, Nanshan let him go.
Chu Huan came back to his senses. “Go separately. I will lead these two mutated crocodiles to the hinterland of the valley, and you go downstream to chase them first.”
Nanshan’s entire body projected his gloominess. He didn’t say a word in agreement or opposition; he just glanced at Chu Huan expressionlessly. Nanshan then took the lead to pass through the stone forest and head straight in the direction of the hinterland of the valley.
Chu Huan was stunned for a moment and then hurriedly followed.
At this point, he had basically killed one of the three sound beasts, and there were two left. One of them, whose teeth were broken by Yuan Ping, was exceptionally brave for some reason, and its speed was exceptional. If this continued, Chu Huan estimated that the two of them would not be able to reach the hinterland of the valley. They would be caught before then.
Chu Huan climbed to a higher place after several ups and downs and turned around with an arrow. This time, he was not out of sorts, and the screaming arrow hit one of the sound beast’s eyes accurately. After losing a tooth, it lost an eye; its entire face was asymmetrical.
How could it not roar now?
Chu Huan expected to experience the feeling of being hit by a car and having a concussion again. However, Nanshan suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pushed him into the stone forest. He raised his hand to forcibly grab the back of Chu Huan’s neck. Pressing Chu Huan’s head into his arms, Nanshan directly used his body to carry him to safety.
Chu Huan felt that Nanshan staggered a few steps forward involuntarily. He heard the chaotic and rapid heartbeat in Nanshan’s chest and smelled the sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance that was always elusive at the ends of his hair.
Nanshan seemed to snort and then pushed Chu Huan forward aggressively. “Go, don’t look back. They will follow when they smell people.”
Chu Huan sensed a special meaning, but at this time, it was too late to talk about nonsense, let alone think about it.
The two quickly crossed the continuous sea of stones that were being hurled at them and ran towards the hinterland of the valley with incomparable speed.
The movement of the two sound beasts, which were a few meters tall, was no small matter, and Chu Huan deliberately made noise while walking. Soon, the flat people hidden in the hinterland learned of the existence of natural enemies, and their sharp horns blasted.
Since they were sensitive to sound, the sound beasts, having suddenly fallen into this noisy environment, became more and more anxious.
Although there were more flat people here, they were not armored or clueless, and their quality was uneven. Some ran fast while others ran slowly.
The faster soldiers divided into two groups and charged towards the sound beasts, shouting and attacking.
The two monsters became a mess.
A flat-faced man saw that there were also two humans fishing in troubled waters and immediately prepared to sound the alarm. But the horn was only raised halfway when an arrow had already pierced its dry throat.
As soon as it came into contact, the sound beasts fell into a sea of flat people and ‘mad dogs.’ Soon, even Chu Huan and Nanshan were washed away.
Nanshan twisted the neck of a Mutayi that was standing in front of him, and when he turned around, Chu Huan was nowhere to be seen. He panicked, not caring that he was still angry and didn’t want to talk to him.
He suddenly resented himself for no reason. Nanshan pondered—if he hadn’t brought Chu Huan in, if he hadn’t been at the Mountain Gate, if Nanshan hadn’t been selfish and wanted to keep him for a few more days, keeping him until the Shaking Period, even . . . Even if they were in a land at the border of their worlds, if one was unaware of the misunderstanding between them, it was natural to insist on keeping that person near.
Nanshan unknowingly retreated to the edge of the hinterland. In order to find Chu Huan, he did not hesitate to stand in a high place and turn himself into a target.
At this moment, his ankle was hit by a small stone. Chu Huan appeared from the nearby mountain stream. “Hurry up, hurry up. What are you doing climbing so high? Come down, don’t just stand there!”
The two of them dove into the stream to hide their scent, wading in the shallow water with their waists bent and swimming in the deeper places, moving like two slippery water mice.
However, despite this, the waterway was not easy to traverse. Every ten steps, they heard a plop sound as the body of a flat person or a ‘mad dog’ fell into the water. Sometimes they encountered half-dead ones and had to fight. They often met half-dead Mutayi, and when one fell, the whole stream would turn red.
It wasn’t until sunset that the two of them got rid of the monsters.
The mountain stream stretched to the lower reaches3 and approached the confluence of a turbulent river. The two of them dared not walk further in these waters. Once the water grew deep, they risked losing their footing. After being busy chasing people, they decided to rest nearby first and dry their clothes before talking.
Chu Huan peeled off his soaked, rag-like shirt and bent down again to wring out his trouser legs. He took off his shoes and set them aside, posing them one by one from left to right. After he’d finished all this, he finally had nothing to do. He carefully wiped off the water on his glasses and put them in front of his eyes that were not nearsighted at all, as though he was donning invulnerable armor. He walked to Nanshan slowly.
Nanshan glanced at him and saw the unwiped water drops dripping from his hair, flowing down his collarbone and chest, making one imagine it slipping past his waistline and getting into his trousers. Suddenly feeling scalded, Nanshan looked away.
Nanshan’s heart was like a pot of chaos—embarrassment, unreasonable anger, inexplicable remorse, and boundless melancholy all mixed indiscriminately in one place. His fist-sized heart was tangled into a twisted mess.
When he didn’t speak, Chu Huan felt a little anxious. He stood still beside Nanshan, inexplicably remembering the moment when Nanshan held him in his arms to block the attack of the sound beast. His face changed a few times, and Chu Huan finally squatted slowly. After bending down, he spoke with some difficulty, “I’m not in good shape today. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
His apology was jerky and unskilled, clearly lacking practice.
Chu Huan was originally a narcissistic person, and narcissistic people would most likely magnify their strengths to make people appreciate them. Even if they occasionally made small mistakes, those were caused by the objective environment or other people. An innocent self could be forgiven. Why would he ever need to apologize?
Of course, it was much better now, because he had long ago turned against himself, holding both love and hatred internally. There was always a sense of indebtedness in his heart for no reason, and he couldn’t tell who he owed, just that he felt uneasy.
It seemed that only by giving his life back to someone could he go into the ground with peace of mind.
He couldn’t help being caught in this morbid perspective and feeling that everything was his fault.
When seeing the sound beasts, why couldn’t he immediately predict that they were coming for the people?
What reason did the arrow miss?
Why couldn’t he be stronger so that Nanshan didn’t feel so insecure about him and think he was weak at any given time?
Nanshan finally raised his head from looking at Chu Huan’s nose and mouth and made eye contact with him. He didn’t know the cause and effect, and it was difficult to figure out the deep meaning of Chu Huan’s words and body language. Nanshan just followed his instinct.
Nanshan grabbed Chu Huan’s arm, whose skin was as cold as water, and tentatively moved forward. He quickly embraced Chu Huan, gave him a hug that was easily released, and then secretly thanked himself for being soaked into a ball. His long hair was tangled and hung down on the side of his head, like a door curtain that could block all the places where he shouldn’t be red.
Chu Huan froze. He didn’t expect the Patriarch Nanshan to be so informal in broad daylight. But Chu Huan’s clothes were thin, and his wet trousers stuck to his body and could not cover anything at all, meaning that his every move was exposed to Nanshan’s eyes. He had no choice but to forcefully suppress his imagination and cough dryly, pretending to be honest. “You . . . where will they wait for us tomorrow?”
Hearing Chu Huan’s cough, Nanshan’s throat was a little itchy, so he said hoarsely, “They’ll be near the middle reaches. I asked them to go downstream. It’s about a day’s journey.”
Chu Huan nodded—they originally ran in the direction of the upper reaches of the river, and then temporarily changed their course to go downstream, which was equivalent to a big circle. It might take them a few days longer to travel.
The shallow water depth in the upper reaches couldn’t support such huge beasts. They must have just migrated here for some reason, and they would have to go downstream to see what happened there.
Chu Huan knew these reasons without asking, so for a while, there was nothing to say between the two of them. Suddenly, they both stood up at the same time and said in unison, “I’m going to light the fire.”
As soon as their voices collided, they each shut their mouths in embarrassment.
Chu Huan thought that it was not his imagination this time; he really felt some kind of ambiguous atmosphere.
