Chapter 140 – The Mountain God Surrenders
The bloodshed lasted for three hours.
The land, previously washed clean by the rain, was now drenched with blood.
The earthy scent in the air was overpowered by the smell of blood, which Tu Ran, perched several meters up in the tree, could clearly detect.
Only three or five Pao Xiaos were still alive below.
These few survivors were also severely injured from the internal battle.
Their minds had fully cleared, and they remembered clearly what had happened over the past three hours.
Staring up at Tu Ran, who still sat with her legs dangling from the tree, they felt not anger but fear.
Fear that ran deep into their bones.
Tu Ran bit her finger and tried planting the hallucinogenic mushrooms for the fourth time but failed.
In the past three hours, she had planted hallucinogenic mushrooms three times.
Each mushroom could only last for one hour.
The failure to plant the fourth mushroom indicated that she could only produce three hallucinogenic mushrooms in a day.
The rest had to be dealt with by herself.
Tu Ran raised her submachine gun and aimed at the remaining five Pao Xiaos.
She continued to scan and fired every bullet into their wounded areas.
Two of the Pao Xiaos, already on the brink of death, could not withstand the impact of the bullets entering their wounds and died.
Only three remained.
Their injuries from the infighting were not severe; two had only leg injuries, while the other had a neck wound from a bite, with a lot of blood loss.
The three Pao Xiaos struggled to escape.
The two with leg injuries found it difficult to navigate through the sea of corpses, stumbling as they went.
The one with the neck wound, however, was not hindered and was almost past the pile of dead Pao Xiaos when Tu Ran activated [Teleportation].
Drawing her sword, she aimed at its neck wound and stabbed it.
The Pao Xiao stiffened and let out a wail.
The sound made Tu Ran’s ears ring painfully.
She didn’t hesitate, gripping the sword tightly and pressing it down to slice open its neck.
Its vocal cords were severed.
The screeching stopped abruptly.
The Pao Xiao’s body collapsed with a thud, and Tu Ran swiftly moved aside to avoid being crushed.
The remaining two Pao Xiaos, having witnessed their companion’s beheading, were enraged.
With no chance of escape, they decided to fight this despicable and evil human to the death.
They exchanged a determined glance and charged toward Tu Ran, stumbling as they came.
Tu Ran met their charge with her sword, targeting their injured legs. The gaps in their defenses made it easier for her blade to cut through.
In an instant, their claws were severed from their bodies, and the two Pao Xiaos fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.
Tu Ran was too fast; they couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her afterimages.
Like sheep to the slaughter, they were powerless to resist.
Accompanied by their whimpers and cries, Tu Ran methodically dismembered them.
Only when the sharp tip of her sword pierced their hearts did she end their lives.
After she sheathed her sword, Tu Ran scanned the area to ensure there were no survivors and then left.
The wasteland of piled corpses soon attracted countless other alien species in the following days.
The flesh was quickly devoured.
Three days later, the remaining skeletons were discovered by a human.
After extensive research, the human concluded that an internal battle among the Pao Xiao tribe had occurred here three days earlier.
He comprehensively documented the scene using a recording bracelet before leaving the site.
That was a story for later. For now, Tu Ran had circled the area and found no other Pao Xiaos.
She chose to return to the cave.
Pangpang excitedly greeted her, “Boss, boss, you’re back?”
Tu Ran tossed a red-skinned melon she had picked up to silence him, then turned her attention to the ancient turtle.
It was still standing in its original spot, its dragon-scale background vivid and lifelike.
“Finished so soon?” Old Turtle was surprised.
“No,” Tu Ran replied. “I came back to ask you where the remaining Pao Xiaos are hiding. I can’t find them.”
It had previously used magic to determine the appearance of the Pao Xiaos on its mountain, so it should also be able to locate where the remaining ones were hiding.
Sure enough, Old Turtle began casting a spell, and thirty seconds later, he said, “They’ve hidden on other mountains.”
Tu Ran raised an eyebrow, “Do you need me to bring them back to deal with them?”
Old Turtle hissed, looking at her with disdain. “Why are you so full of killing intent at such a young age? Must you go to such extremes? In all my years, you’re the one with the most murderous aura. I’ll tell you, it’s not good. We should have compassion and treat all beings equally.”
Tu Ran: “…”
Wasn’t it this very turtle who had said the Pao Xiaos were ugly and needed to be dealt with?! And now, after the matter was resolved, it was pretending to be all high and mighty?!
Suppressing her anger, Tu Ran’s fingers cracked audibly as she gritted her teeth. “So, has the curse you put on me been lifted?”
“Naturally lifted—Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?! Put down your sword!! Oh no, no!! I was wrong, I won’t do it again, I won’t scare you anymore.”
As the blade was pressed against its neck, it knelt and apologized, all in one swift motion.
Tu Ran was utterly astonished by how quickly it admitted fault, shattering her previous perceptions of deities.
Pangpang was also stunned. The old turtle was even faster at kneeling and more spineless than it was.
With this swift turn of events, Tu Ran’s anger subsided significantly. She was now more frustrated with herself for being so easily intimidated by a cunning old turtle and for being deceived so thoroughly.
Tu Ran sheathed her sword.
“Pangpang, let’s go. I found a fruit grove. We can have dinner there.”
“Okay!” Pangpang cheerfully followed Tu Ran as they were about to leave.
Behind them, Old Turtle pitifully called out, “Pangpang, bring some of those fruits for me too. I want to taste what kind of fruit grows on me.”
“Why don’t you pick them yourself?” Tu Ran turned to look at it.
She noticed it had been staying in that spot.
If it liked Pangpang so much, why didn’t it come over and touch it?
“Because I am the mountain god of this mountain,” Old Turtle replied.
Pangpang also explained, “Grandpa Turtle is always stuck there. He can’t come out.”
It felt so sorry for Grandpa Turtle. If it had to stay in such a small place for its entire life, it would definitely feel suffocated.
Tu Ran narrowed her eyes, “How did you eat before?”
“I don’t need to eat,” Old Turtle smiled, “After today, I’ll go back to sleep. I just wanted to try the taste of the mountain fruits today. The last time I had mountain fruits was two thousand years ago when a monkey gave them to me.”
A monkey? Was it Sun Wukong?
“Is your cave safe? Aren’t you worried that some alien species might come in and eat you?”
Old Turtle puffed out its chest proudly and said, “I am the mountain god of this mountain. No matter how fierce they are, they have to respect me.”
Tu Ran scoffed, “If they knew that you, as the mountain god, not only didn’t protect them but also hired a human to kill them because they were ugly, would they still respect you?”
