Chapter 529 - 529: Attacking Over a Disagreement

The two Little Dang Kangs were naturally intelligent. Sensing their mother had died, they began to cry with mournful whimpers. They nudged her body repeatedly with their snouts, trying to wake her. But tragically, their mother would never open her eyes again.

The White Cat walked over to the two Little Dang Kangs, raised a paw, and gently patted them. It was as if it were comforting them, or perhaps saying, 'My condolences. I'll look after you from now on.'

Ying Ji scooped the two adorable Little Dang Kangs into her arms, stroking and comforting them.

Zhao Yuan sighed. He spoke earnestly to the Little Dang Kangs, regardless of whether they could understand. "You must remember this: your mother died protecting you."

Then he called over to Cheng Haoyu and Hao Li. "Let's dig a hole and bury Dang Kang's Mother."

Cheng Haoyu and Hao Li nodded, took out their entrenching tools, and began digging the pit with Zhao Yuan.

They all knew that, like the Raccoon Power, the Dang Kang was an Auspicious Beast whose entire body was a treasure trove. Yet, they had no desire to eat this Dang Kang. Or rather, they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

For one, they were deeply moved and filled with admiration for the Dang Kang's maternal protectiveness. For another, the two Little Dang Kangs were watching right there. They weren't heartless enough to eat the mother in front of her children.

To prevent Wild Beasts on the mountain from digging up the corpse, Zhao Yuan's group dug a very deep pit. After burying Dang Kang's Mother's body, they shoveled dirt to fill the hole and built a small burial mound.

Putting away the entrenching tools, Zhao Yuan took out three sticks of Soul-Stabilizing Incense, lit them, and placed them on the head of Dang Kang's Mother's grave. He said softly, "You can go in peace. I will take good care of the two Little Dang Kangs. In the future, I'll bring them back to visit and burn incense for you."

In a daze, Zhao Yuan saw a shadow float out from the burial mound.

It was the soul of Dang Kang's Mother.

It bent its two front hooves, kneeling before Zhao Yuan and kowtowing several times.

Having done this, its heart was finally free of worries. A beam of light shone down upon it, and a moment later, its soul vanished along with the light.

Only Zhao Yuan and Ying Ji witnessed this scene.

Hao Li and Cheng Haoyu, who had no knowledge of Witch Priests, had no idea what had just happened. Even Ying Ji hadn't seen it nearly as clearly as Zhao Yuan. After all, her Cultivation had not yet reached the Qi Listening Realm; she only had a vague sense of it.

"It's gone. It left in peace," Ying Ji said.

"Mhm." Zhao Yuan nodded. He knew this better than Ying Ji, because at the exact moment Dang Kang's Mother departed, a surge of Negative Wish Power flooded into his body.

This wave of Negative Wish Power was both pure and immense, stronger than the previous two he had received! Most importantly, this Negative Wish Power also contained a breath of Innate nature!

This had to be unique to an Auspicious Beast. Zhao Yuan had never obtained a similar aura from the Ghost Souls of humans.

Although the imbalance of his internal Wish Power—an excess of yang over yin—had not been reversed, it was greatly alleviated. At least for now, Zhao Yuan no longer had to worry about the tragedy of his body exploding from excessive yang or suffering from Qigong Deviation.

Cheng Haoyu and Hao Li were baffled by their conversation and couldn't help but ask, "Who's gone? What are you two talking about?"

Zhao Yuan and Ying Ji exchanged a smile and didn't continue the topic. Instead, Zhao Yuan said, "Let's go. It's time to butcher the Raccoon Power. This place may be remote, but there's no guarantee someone won't show up. We should finish up and get out of here quickly."

"Right. I'll go butcher the Raccoon Power now!" Ever the impatient one, Hao Li pulled out two sharp carving knives and rushed toward the Raccoon Power's location.

Zhao Yuan and the others followed close behind.

The Dang Kang's burial site was about forty meters from the Raccoon Power's corpse, and the view was obscured by numerous trees and bushes. So it was only as they drew near that they were shocked to find a large group of people had appeared beside the Raccoon Power's body. They were holding ropes, preparing to tie up the corpse and drag it away.

The other group spotted Zhao Yuan and his companions as well.

The atmosphere was momentarily awkward.

However, the other group quickly recovered. A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and desert camouflage spoke up. "Did you kill this Raccoon Power?"

This place was quite remote; even locals rarely came here. Considering that, plus the Raccoon Power's grievous injuries, he had quickly deduced the truth.

At this point, there was no sense in denying it. Besides, judging by their gear and demeanor, they were likely Fellow Daoists who had also come for the Raccoon Power.

Hao Li replied, "That's right, we killed this Raccoon Power! And how should we address you Fellow Daoists? Isn't it a bit dishonorable to steal someone else's prize?"

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses chuckled. "Stealing someone else's prize is, indeed, dishonorable. But it's fine if we just make the prize ours."

'Make the prize ours? What does he mean by that?'

Before Zhao Yuan and his friends could process it, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses whipped out a pistol and pulled the trigger on Hao Li, who was closest to him.

At the critical moment, the Bone Woman flashed forward and threw herself in front of Hao Li, taking the bullet for him.

The Bone Woman was a Demon, not a living person, so a bullet couldn't do much damage, let alone kill her. However, the shot from the man with gold-rimmed glasses was like a signal. His companions all drew hidden pistols and rifles and unleashed a hail of bullets on Zhao Yuan's group.

"Find cover!"

Cheng Haoyu yelped, dropped to the ground, and executed a series of tactical rolls, quickly ducking behind a large tree and using its thick, sturdy trunk to block the bullets.

Zhao Yuan, Ying Ji, and Hao Li also found cover immediately. The Bone Woman did the same; although she wasn't afraid of a single bullet, she couldn't withstand a sustained barrage.

"Dammit, who the hell are these guys?" Hao Li said, panting. "They started shooting without a word! They're dead set on taking us out and stealing our prize!"

"We have to fight back! Otherwise, we're all going to die here today!" Cheng Haoyu shrieked.

Ying Ji said, "They have more people and more guns. Their firepower is too intense; they've got us pinned down. How are we supposed to fight back? Besides, I used up all my Talismans and Mana fighting the Raccoon Power. I can't cast any more Curses."

Zhao Yuan said nothing.

He hid behind a large tree, his mind racing. 'These people are determined to wipe us out! Not only is their firepower overwhelming, but every one of them is a trained fighter. There might even be Cultivators among them who are skilled in the Martial Dao and other disciplines. In our exhausted state, this is going to be tough to handle... Wait, that's right! The trap!'

Zhao Yuan's eyes lit up. He remembered the explosive trap he had set for the Raccoon Power, the one that hadn't been used.

'No matter how strong these guys are, a massive explosion should kill or injure most of them, right?!'