socalfunplaces Chapter 1050: You're Overestimating Me
Chapter 1050: You're Overestimating Me
Chu Yang smiled and actually handed her a few: "Want some?"
Su Wanwan looked at the few peeled peanuts in his palm, then at the dark, ghost-like swamp in front of her, and remained silent for a long time before inexplicably taking them.
The first bite is savory, fragrant, and crispy.
She chewed a couple of times, and inexplicably, the tension in her heart actually eased a little.
Sun Wukong darted back from the front and landed beside her, lowering his voice to ask, "How was it? How did it feel to be in charge of negotiations?"
Su Wanwan rolled her eyes at him: "Monkey King, keep laughing."
"I'm not laughing at you for going too," Sun Wukong scratched his face, "I genuinely think it's pretty good. Your line just now, 'Whoever dares to try will die,' was quite something."
Su Wanwan's ears burned, but she still stubbornly replied, "That's exactly right."
"Yes, that's right." Sun Wukong nodded seriously. "Next time, I'll let you scold me first."
"Don't give me that."
"Really." Sun Wukong raised his chin at the back of the gray-clad man in front of him. "These guys, to put it bluntly, are bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong. If you stand up for yourself, they'll have to think twice."
Chu Yang slowly added, "So you were just too polite before."
Su Wanwan laughed in exasperation: "When have I ever been polite?"
"At least you can still turn a corner," Chu Yang said. "I didn't turn today, and the effect was quite good."
Tang Sanzang listened to their conversation from behind and sighed softly, "You..."
Sun Wukong immediately turned around: "Master, do you think Wanwan has improved today?"
Tang Sanzang paused for a moment, looked at Su Wanwan, and actually nodded: "Miss Su, you are indeed more decisive than usual today."
Su Wanwan was taken aback.
She had originally thought that Tang Seng would say something like "too harsh" or "inappropriate words," but she didn't expect to only get this one sentence.
She pursed her lips, suddenly unsure how to respond, and simply gave a soft "Mmm".
After passing the misty marsh, the forest landscape suddenly changed direction.
What was once dense has become empty here.
It wasn't a comfortable, open space, but rather a large expanse of trees suddenly receding outwards, leaving behind a huge, shady area. The soil was dark reddish-black, as if soaked in blood. Scattered across the ground were many stone pillars, some two or three zhang tall, others only waist-high, their surfaces covered with scratches and bite marks. Some pillars still had broken chains wrapped around their tops, rusted and worn.
Further ahead lies a dark pool.
The pool was stagnant, without a ripple, as black as a single piece of polished iron. A kind of extremely tall reed grew on the bank, its leaves sharp as blades, making a sharp "snap-snap" sound when blown by the wind.
Across from the pool, there is a half-collapsed stone cliff.
Deep in the shadows below the cliff, there was a cave entrance.
Before you even get close, a heavy sense of oppression comes from there, completely different from the scattered demonic energy in front. It's like a giant beast lying in the shadows, motionless, but staring at you.
The man in gray finally stopped: "We're here."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the wind by the black pool suddenly changed.
What was originally just damp and cool now felt like something was being expelled from deep within, carrying an extremely strong fishy smell. That fishy smell was mixed with rust, rotting flesh, and some kind of intense medicinal bitterness, making one's stomach churn.
A ripple slowly spread across the surface of the black pool.
Round and round.
It looked like something was slowly rising from the bottom of the pool.
Just as Su Wanwan was about to speak, Chu Yang suddenly raised his hand and pulled her back half a step.
"Don't say anything this time," he whispered.
Why?
"Because this one is harder to persuade than the last one." Chu Yang looked at the black pool. "Your approach just now might not work on him."
Almost simultaneously, the center of the pool cracked open with a "whoosh".
It wasn't an explosion; the entire surface of water split open from the middle to both sides, and a tall figure slowly rose from underwater.
Su Wanwan looked up and her heart sank immediately.
The creature was nearly ten feet tall, covered entirely in dark blue scales, with a broad back, high shoulder bones, and two short, curved horns on its head. Its face was still vaguely human-like, but its nose was flat, its mouth extremely wide, and its eyes were a dull yellow, turning like the eyes of a dead fish rolling up from the bottom of a pool. Most horrifyingly, a string of objects hung diagonally from its chest; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a chain of skulls of varying sizes, worn through and strung together.
As soon as it stepped ashore, the muddy ground by the pool sank in.
The gray-clad man appeared as thin and frail as a bamboo shoot in its presence.
The monster's gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Tang Sanzang. It let out a low gurgling sound, like laughter, or like the panting of a hungry beast smelling the aroma of meat.
"It smells so good," it said.
The voice was rough and hoarse, like two millstones grinding against each other.
Sun Wukong clicked his tongue and said, "Another one who doesn't learn his lesson."
The man in gray bowed slightly to the monster: "Lord of the Pool, these gentlemen are passing by and have something to say."
"Borrow a path?" The monster called the pool master slowly grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Borrow what path? Leave a piece of flesh, and you can pass."
Su Wanwan's initial surge of confidence inevitably faltered in the face of this thing.
But when she thought about how she had already gone all the way ahead, she realized that if she backed down now, she would lose face.
She gritted her teeth, took two more steps forward, and said to the monster, "Leave your head my foot!"
The pool master slowly turned his head and looked at her.
Those yellowish eyes narrowed, as if they had finally noticed the little human girl standing there.
"Oh?" It chuckled softly in its throat. "This little thing is quite delicate."
As soon as it said this, the atmosphere around it suddenly became heavy.
Su Wanwan felt a blur before her eyes, and in the next instant, Chu Yang was already blocking her way.
The movement was small, almost like casually taking a step to the side, but the meaning of "try looking at her again" was so blatant that even the wind by the dark pool seemed to freeze for a moment.
A golden shadow flashed on the tree, and Sun Wukong landed, slamming his golden cudgel into the ground with a "thud," instantly causing cracks to spread across the ground.
"If you bare your teeth at her again, I'll knock your whole mouth out," Sun Wukong laughed.
The smile on the pool master's face slowly faded.
It glanced at Chu Yang, then at Sun Wukong, finally no longer fixated solely on Tang Sanzang as before. Clearly, it had realized that among these people, the real trouble wasn't the monk, but rather the two protecting him.
Despite being perceptible, it is clearly not the type to give in easily.
"Such arrogance!" The pool master's voice boomed like thunder. "This is Blackwater Pool, not a place for you to run wild."
"That's perfect," Chu Yang said. "I'll shoot right in front of your house today."
A fierce glint suddenly flashed in the pool master's eyes. He took a sudden step forward, and a foul wind swept up from the pool, flattening the tall grass on the bank. When that oppressive aura pressed down, even Su Wanwan felt a tightness in her chest and a buzzing in her ears.
But Chu Yang didn't even flinch.
He stood there, looking at the monster, his eyes indifferent.
"I'll count to three," he said.
The pool master seemed to have heard a joke: "Who are you counting for?"
"Listen to me," Chu Yang said. "First, shut your mouth and stop thinking about food. Second, keep everything under your control within three zhang of my master. Third, when we cross the forest, anyone who dares to show their face will die."
The pool master threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound of which seemed to make the surrounding stone pillars resound.
"With you?"
"With my help," Chu Yang said.
"By that monkey?"
"Also thanks to Brother Monkey."
"With this girl?" The pool master glanced sideways at Su Wanwan, his malice obvious.
Chu Yang's eyes finally turned cold.
"This is the last time," he said, "Don't look at her."
The pool master not only didn't look away, but instead leaned forward even further, grinning and saying, "If I insist on looking—"
It didn't finish its sentence.
Because the moment the word "see" was written, Chu Yang suddenly moved.
It's not about rushing forward, nor is it about raising your hand to form a hand seal.
He simply took one step forward.
But this one step felt like it crushed the air in the entire area.
Su Wanwan heard a loud "boom" as a large area of muddy ground by the black pool suddenly sank down. The pool master's huge body was as if it were being pressed down on the head by an invisible hand, and was forced to kneel down! The stone ground beneath its feet cracked inch by inch, and black water splattered several feet high, even shaking down a pile of rocks from the opposite cliff.
For the first time, horror appeared in the eyes of the pool master. He let out a roar of anger and shock, and his demonic energy surged as he tried to get up.
But as soon as it exerted its strength, a golden light, accompanied by a gust of wind, crashed down from above.
Sun Wukong didn't give it a second chance. He swung his golden cudgel horizontally, smashing it squarely onto its raised shoulder and neck. The sound was so deep it made your teeth ache. The pool master was sent flying sideways, crashing through two stone pillars, and finally half of its shoulder and back were embedded in the cliff wall beside the pool.
The sound of bones cracking was frighteningly clear.
The gray-clad man and the demons behind him all changed color and subconsciously took a half-step back.
Sun Wukong, holding his staff in one hand, stood in the center of the cracked mud, tilting his head to look at the monster, and smiled very kindly: "Do you understand now?"
Blood spilled from the pool's mouth, and the chain of skulls around its neck broke off, scattering across the ground with a clatter. It struggled twice, but couldn't pull itself out of the cliff for a moment.
Chu Yang then slowly walked over and stood less than three steps away from it.
"Want some more?" he asked.
The pool master stared intently at him, his murky eyes filled with shock, anger, and resentment.
Chu Yang looked down at it, his voice low.
"You should be glad that we're talking first, not killing first."
"If I see that kind of thing in your eyes a second time, I'll fill this pool up."
The area around the Black Pool was so quiet that only the sharp rustling of the wind through the reeds could be heard.
After a long while, the pool master finally let out a very low gasp, as if his arrogance had been crushed.
"...I wouldn't dare."
Su Wanwan, standing at the back, only realized she had been holding her breath the whole time when she heard those two words.
She slowly exhaled, her heart pounding, and even her fingertips felt a little numb.
But at the same time, an indescribable sense of exhilaration also welled up inside.
This is completely different from the feeling of leading a group of mortals astray at Xuanyun Temple.
This is like facing a truly ferocious beast, forcing it to lower its head.
Looking at the pool master half-embedded in the cliff, and then at Chu Yang and Sun Wukong holding the staff in front of her, she suddenly felt that her earlier words "I'll spare your head" weren't so weak after all.
Sun Wukong turned and glanced at her, raising an eyebrow: "Boss, it's your turn."
"what?"
"Wasn't it you who was supposed to talk?" Sun Wukong said with a grin. "Now that it's listening, you can continue."
Su Wanwan paused for a moment, then realized what was happening and immediately took a few steps forward.
This time, she walked to Chu Yang's side, only four or five steps away from the pool master.
She looked at the monster, her voice more steady than before: "Did you hear me clearly?"
The pool master's chest heaved violently, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a single word through gritted teeth: "...Understood."
"Then I'll say it again," Su Wanwan said, "You can't touch Tang Sanzang. Anyone who dares to have designs on us as we pass through the forest will die. Keep everyone in the Black Water Pool and everyone in the forest under control. And if there's anyone who dares to mess with us..."
She glanced at Chu Yang to the side, then looked up at Sun Wukong, and gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"Then you should know the consequences."
The pool master stared intently at her, finally lowering his head: "...I know."
Su Wanwan stood there, feeling all the pent-up anger she had been holding in finally dissipate at that moment.
She even had the leisure to add, "Also, stop talking about how difficult cultivation is. If it's really that hard, then cultivate honestly and stop thinking about taking shortcuts."
The pool master's face twitched, clearly furious at being scolded, but he didn't dare to utter a single word in response.
The man in gray watched this scene from the side, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Earlier, at the clearing in the ancient woods, he thought this Miss Su was just arrogant because she had someone backing her up. But now, standing next to Chu Yang and Sun Wukong, as she truly spoke her mind, her aura gradually rose.
Not all of it was borrowed.
She's really daring.
Chu Yang then turned to look at the man in gray: "And you, are there any other leaders you haven't introduced us to?"
The man in gray paused for a moment, then said, "Further northwest, there's a den of withered wood wolf demons. To the south, there's a group of spider vine ghosts. And to the east, under the rocky slope, lies an old scorpion."
"Can we call them all over?"
The man in gray gave a wry smile: "You overestimate me."
"Then you lead the way and we'll find them one by one," Chu Yang said.
The man in gray: "..."
Since the pool master had been beaten so badly, he naturally dared not say anything more and could only agree in a low voice.
For the next half day, the woods were practically turned upside down.
First, there was that den of wolf demons in the Northwest.
Even before getting close, one could hear low howls rising and falling from the dead trees. The wolf king, covered in long, gray-black fur, with eyes that gleamed with an eerie green, sensed something was wrong when it saw the Blackwater Pool Master following behind. But it was ultimately more cunning than the Pool Master, stopping far ahead and not baring its teeth at all.
Su Wanwan was much more adept this time. She stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, but don't try anything with Tang Sanzang, or your whole bunch will be buried here."
The wolf king was about to exchange a few more pleasantries when Chu Yang pointed his finger, and a large, withered tree behind him, which was so thick that it would take seven or eight people to encircle it, silently broke into more than a dozen pieces, the cut surfaces as smooth as if he had cut tofu.
The wolf king immediately changed his tune: "...No problem."
Sun Wukong clicked his tongue and said from the side, "You bunch of kids, you're all really quite sensible."
Further south lies the territory of the Spider Vine Ghosts.
That place was even more troublesome. The ground and the sky were covered with fine, dense, bluish-black threads, hanging among the trees like a net. If you weren't careful, you could get covered in them. At the end of the threads sat several alluring female demons, dressed in light clothing, their laughter soft and sweet, their voices carrying a sticky, seductive charm.
"Why are you gentlemen so fierce? Now that you've entered my territory, wouldn't it be better to sit down and have a cup of tea first?" (End of Chapter)