Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Road is Treacherous

  The dusk in the Youyue Forest was particularly dim due to the shading of the giant trees above. Helianuo carefully held a thick, withered branch to sweep away the weeds and wild vines blocking his path. From time to time, insects and snakes were startled out of the grass, quickly escaping. However, Helianuo seemed to have grown accustomed to this, focusing solely on clearing the road ahead. Although the weather was somewhat sultry at this moment, he was wrapped tightly from head to toe, with only his eyes barely visible through a small gap.

  It's been dozens of days since leaving the Heavenly Wolf Cave, and Helian'no has been strictly following the route set by Helian Shang, traveling during the day and hiding at night. Although they've taken a lot of detours along the way, they've fortunately avoided any major dangers. He can't help but admire Helian Shang from the bottom of his heart, wondering how this taciturn uncle of his managed to plan out such a safe route through the forest, completely avoiding all the powerful soul beasts. The route is so precise it's as if he'd been to every corner of the Youyue Forest before. And those relatively weaker soul beasts have also been intimidated by the Heavenly Wolf Blade's aura and don't dare approach. So although this journey has been extremely arduous, they haven't encountered any major difficulties.

  The most annoying thing is those mosquitoes that have just awakened in the spring, these little creatures who have been hungry for a winter smell the breath of humans and don't care about danger, like a pack of wolves smelling blood, they swarm over, buzzing around this group of people without leaving, occasionally grabbing the opportunity to bite hard, at first Helianuo could still bear it, but after being bitten many times, he couldn't stand the pain and itching, so he had no choice but to take out all his clothes from his bag and wrap himself tightly, although it was a bit hot, he felt better for the time being. Helianuo had heard his younger uncle say that the mosquitoes in the depths of the forest could bite people to death, this place is already on the outskirts of the forest, but still needs to be extremely careful.

  Compared to Hellen, the little wolves didn't have such troubles at all. The little wolf's tough fur made it impossible for mosquitoes to bite through no matter how hard they tried. The nine-treasured turtle was even simpler, just withdrawing its head into its shell and completely rejecting any incoming enemies outside the "shell". As for the squirrel balls, strangely enough, not a single mosquito dared to approach them, and the seemingly weakest one turned out to be the most relaxed all along.

  The area of the demon moon forest is vast, and even if Helianuo has superhuman strength, it took him tens of days to approach its edge. As he looked at the increasingly sparse forest in front of him, Helianuo couldn't help but feel excited. Thinking that he would soon be in contact with the outside world, he felt his footsteps lightening up a lot. Considering that it was impossible to encounter powerful soul beasts on the outskirts of the forest, Helianuo decided to rush through the night and try to leave this annoying forest before dawn the next day.

  The little wolf and the ball, they naturally had no objection, watching as they were about to leave the forest where they had lived for over a decade. The little wolf, who was always extremely curious, was even more excited than Hellenor, with his mouth holding onto the turtle shell, he sprinted ahead of Hellenor and quickly disappeared from sight.

  He Lianuo watched as Xiao Lang disappeared into the distance, a faint sense of unease in his heart. After all, Xiao Lang had been causing trouble along the way, sometimes snatching cubs from giant tigers to expand his own Soul Beast Legion (although so far there were only three members), and other times driving out hibernating gray bears from their dens (the unfortunate gray bear was later used by He Lianuo to make roasted bear paws). In short, Xiao Lang's curiosity had always led him to stir up trouble for He Lianuo. Now, watching Xiao Lang run out of sight once again, He Lianuo couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety in his heart. Wanting to chase after him, he found himself somewhat exhausted, having spent the last two days rushing along mountain paths and waterways, consuming more than half of his physical strength. At this moment, he was already at his limit, how could he keep up with Xiao Lang's boundless energy?

  Just as he was about to find a place to rest before going after the little wolf, Helianuo suddenly heard the sound of the little wolf's fierce howling coming from ahead, accompanied by several shrill cries of the squirrel balls. Helianuo sighed helplessly and pulled out the Tianlang dagger inserted at his waist with a familiar motion. Based on past experiences, the enemies provoked by the little wolf were not particularly formidable, and it was unlikely to encounter any powerful soul beasts in the outer forest. In fact, Helianuo wasn't too worried.

  With great effort, Helianuo lifted his slightly sore feet and headed in the direction of the wolf's cries. After circling around several giant ancient trees, Helianuo finally saw the mischievous little wolf on a clearing, running excitedly around something while howling to call out to him. Meanwhile, Qiuball stood on a branch, shouting loudly as if cheering for the little wolf. And... there was someone else?

  A person! It's really a human being! Helianuo couldn't help but feel ecstatic, after walking in the demon-infested Youyue Forest for over a month, he finally saw one of his own kind again. How could this not excite him?!

  That was indeed a person, a man, to be precise, a very sturdy young man. The young man wore a coarse linen shirt that was obviously not like Hurenno's "wild man" who had been living in the forest for a long time. However, the coarse linen shirt was already torn and tattered, looking no better than Hurenno's animal hide. The young man had a square face, thick eyebrows, wide mouth, high nose, big ears, huge hands and feet, and his hair stood upright like a brush cut, looking very rough. Hurenno roughly estimated that the young man was at least two meters tall.

  It was determined that he was a young man because his appearance, although rough, still had some youthful features. His face did not have any stubble, and his Adam's apple was not very prominent. Most importantly, there was an old-fashioned long-life lock hanging around his neck!

  Gongsun Zhan once told Helian Nuo that some ethnic groups on the Youyue Continent have a custom of wearing long-life locks for their children from a young age, meaning to lock up their lifespan and bless them with longevity. This lock cannot be removed until adulthood, and the standard for adulthood on the Youyue Continent is fifteen years old. Therefore, Helian Nuo can conclude that the giant in front of him is at most fourteen years old.

  Goodness, eating and drinking the same way, how did they grow like that? He Lianuo looked at his own height of just over 1.6 meters, then looked at the giant in front of him who was over 2 meters tall, and couldn't help but start complaining about his own growth rate.

  On this side, He Lianuo was still thinking wildly, while on the other side, the giant was already tense and sweating profusely. He thought to himself, "What have I done to deserve this? Not only am I stuck in this desolate Youyue Forest, but I also often go hungry for entire nights because I can't catch any prey. Today's luck wasn't bad, and just as I was about to catch a rabbit, a fat, silver giant wolf suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched my food away! How can you, a dignified wolf, have the nerve to steal food from me, a homeless wanderer? Fine, you win this time. I admit defeat. Who let me be inferior to a wolf, anyway? But this wolf wouldn't even let me leave, and it kept calling for help. Are you saying that one rabbit isn't enough to fill your teeth, and you want to swallow me whole too? Let me tell you, I'm not someone to be trifled with! Thinking this, the giant quickly grabbed his tattered giant axe, ready to fight to the death against this shameless wolf!

  Who would have thought that after waiting and imagining, the wolf pack didn't appear, but instead a dwarf wearing animal hides came out! The dwarf was only about 1.6 meters tall, wrapped in three layers of animal hides inside and out, with only his eyes exposed, holding a strangely-shaped dagger in his hand. The giant thought to himself, "This guy is quite something, playing mysterious? And still wearing a mask? I'm not buying it!" He couldn't hold back his temper anymore, let out a loud "Wah-yah-yah" and charged at Helianuo with his axe!

  He Lianuo was startled by the thunderous shout and saw a giant axe chopping down in front of him. He hastily leaned back, barely avoiding the sharp blade. Before the giant could change his move, He Lianuo swiftly poked a vital point under the giant's armpit with lightning speed, using the technique of "Embracing Hole Hand".

  The giant stared at the dwarf, who had dodged his lightning-fast attack with ease. Before he could react, he felt a sudden numbness throughout his body, as if all his strength had been drained away in an instant. His hands could no longer hold onto the massive axe that weighed hundreds of pounds, and his legs turned to mush like noodles. The giant collapsed to the ground with a thud.

  A little wolf beside him let out a happy cry, as if praising Helianuo for helping himself get rid of another trouble. Helianuo couldn't help but laugh and patted the wolf's head, then walked in front of the giant, squatted down and smiled at him with a grin.

  Jù Hàn was puzzled at this moment, wondering how the opponent had only lightly touched him and he had already fallen to the ground with a numb body. What kind of soul technique was this? Was it the legendary Tian Jiē? But just now, he clearly hadn't felt any fluctuations in his soul power!

  How would a giant like him know that there's a kind of martial skill in this world that doesn't require soul power and relies solely on technique?

  He Lianuo wouldn't say anything either, he just looked at the giant's expression and knew that the giant had already regarded himself as a profound and unfathomable outsider. Well, it was good for this outsider to experience being revered by others, haha!

  Khaleno gently patted the giant's head, interrupting his daydream. Seeing the giant look at him, he quickly cleared his throat and said in a pretentious tone: "Hey, big guy, who are you? Why did you appear on my turf? And how dare you hunt the wild beasts I raised?" Khaleno thought the giant was simple-minded and wanted to intimidate him.

  That giant, although his physique was astonishing, was still just a half-grown child. Moreover, Helian's injury had only just been treated, and he hadn't noticed that Helian's casual question was actually full of loopholes. He replied honestly: "I am an outsider who has come to train my soul. I didn't know I got lost in this Youyue Forest. I really don't know if this is someone else's territory. If I have offended you, please forgive me! May I ask the strong warrior's surname and given name?" The giant really didn't know how to respond, so he simply used the routine phrases he had seen before to cope with the situation, which also made him seem polite and courteous, quite proper.

  "I? I am Helianno!"

  "What? You're saying... you... your surname is He Lian?", the giant suddenly roared with excitement.