Chapter 44 Stupor

As if to prove his guess right, Duncan heard someone fighting in the distance.

The impact was so big and the sounds were so loud that the entire cave started to shake. Duncan worriedly looked up at the cave and wondered if he would die here in a cave-in. That would be a really bad way to go.

Still, he didn't get out of the cave. Duncan knew that with his both legs injured, he would be easy prey to any beast or man out there. The best thing for him to do was to hide now. And this cave provided that to him, however minimal it may be.

Looking up and seeing the cave shake from the impact of the fight in the distance, Duncan felt a complicated emotion well up in his heart. He searched and found the wine gourd he had carried with him and hurriedly took a sip.

He knew that the wine might harm him, but he didn't care about it at that moment. He just wanted to numb his mind at this moment. He didn't want to think about whether he would die from a cave-in or in the beast tide that was occurring all around. He just wanted to hide and ride this out.

If the wine was going to harm him, it wouldn't make much of a difference either. Whether it was the cave-in or the beast tide, both were far more dangerous than this wine and he was currently in the middle of it.

At least, there was the comfort that this was the best wine he had consumed to date. And if it knocked him out into a stupor, he would be glad to die in that stupor not needing to feel the last moments of his death.

With a small smile, Duncan glanced at the sword he was holding in one hand and took a bigger sip from the wine gourd in his other hand. He relaxed and let his mind rest.

Whatever happened from now on, he had no control over it. Instead of sweating about it, it would be good to enjoy this wine and let go off all his worries.

The wine burned as it went down his throat in a familiar way that Duncan was beginning to get accustomed to. He was beginning to like this feeling of relaxation as well.

"It would have been better if I had a woman serving me right now. What a way it would be to die!!!" Duncan chuckled a little inebriated.

The smell of the wine, the sword in his grip, and the relaxed mindset of not caring about anything else began to make a strange change deep within Duncan unknown to even himself.

*****

Hui Wanren winced as he saw Liu Kong crash into the distance. As powerful as Liu Kong was, he was no match for the Monkey Demon. Especially when he had no one else to back him up.

Hui Wanren inwardly rejoiced to see Liu Kong in such a pitiful state. He hadn't forgotten how Liu Kong had attacked him as well when he was fighting alongside him against the Monkey Demon.

Even though he knew that Liu Kong might have another one of those one-shot attacks up his sleeve, Hui Wanren still enjoyed seeing the Monkey Demon toy with the Holy Son of Seven Clouds Sect.

And just as he expected, Liu Kong unleashed yet another powerful attack that grievously injured the Monkey Demon further. Liu Kong had caught it unprepared when the beast had closed in without being wary of Liu Kong's counterattack.

The Monkey Demon roared in pain as it got back up. This time the Monkey Demon's torso was filled with heavy wounds as it struggled to stand up. The freakish recovery ability the demonic beasts had thanks to their insane regeneration rate wasn't able to combat the wounds left by Liu Kong's attack.

Hui Wanren gave it one more attack to tank before it would be too injured to chase after Liu Kong. This was advantageous for him as well. With the attention of both Liu Kong and the Monkey Demon occupied, he could easily find an opportunity and launch his own attack at the right moment.

And if Liu Kong ended up using all his trump cards, then it would be even better. But, Hui Wanren didn't have much hope for it. He knew that someone as smart as Liu Kong will not reveal all his trump cards if they were not near death.

Liu Kong looked like he could still fight for a long time. So, it would be unlikely that the chase would come to an end here. Most probably, Liu Kong would lure the beast further and use his last trump card at the last possible moment to take care of the Monkey Demon.

They were already at the outskirts of the Grasslands and soon they would be reaching nearby villages. Usually, this area would be a hotbed for demonic beasts during any beast tide. However, the presence of Monkey Demon dissuaded any demonic beast to come near.

It worked in Hui Wanren's favor as well.

If the beast tide was raging on, he would be hard-pressed to sneak around. But, with the wild and the demonic beasts avoiding this place like a plague invested area, he knew that he wouldn't face much trouble in following them.

The same could be said for others as well, though.

Hui Wanren turned towards his left and frowned. He could feel another energy signature in that area. And it too looked like tailing Liu Kong and the Monkey Demon.

He wondered if it was Yang Dangli. If it was, then things would get complicated soon. He didn't have much hope for Bai Qingfeng and Peng Xiaoli to appear anywhere near here.

They weren't a threat to him at all. Much less to Liu Kong or the Monkey Demon. In a fight like this, they could only act as cannon fodder. Still, he felt that things didn't seem to be that simple.

He had noticed for a while now that Liu Kong was heading in a particular direction. Most probably he had some sort of backup waiting for him there. And he would unleash it only after reaching that place.

Hui Wanren decided to take his time and check out what sort of backup plan Liu Kong had. If someone else rushes in and gets caught in a trap, it was none of his business.

He slowly got out of his hiding place and watched Liu Kong once more lead the Demon Monkey in a specific direction. He crossed the small hill and once more started trailing them leisurely. He didn't even notice that the hill had a small cave at the foot.

*****

With more seconds that passed, Duncan was able to hear the commotion outside intensify in effect. The cave around him started to shake badly and it almost collapsed on his head a couple of times.

Duncan started drinking the wine sip after sip hoping that he would live through this day. The noises that were coming from outside were truly horrendous to listen to.

He heard the roars of a demonic beast that shook his heart. From its roar, Duncan realized that it might have been the reason for the tiger to scamper away in a hurry. It was most probably a very strong demonic beast.

But what worried him most was that such a demonic beast that was able to shake him with just its roar was actually roaring in pain. Someone outside was dealing heavy damage to the demonic beast and Duncan couldn't even fathom how that was possible.

Each of the attacks he heard was accompanied by large bangs and earthquakes all around the region. He idly wondered if he would see the same hill after walking out of here. He was sure that those attacks will change the very landscape outside.

As Duncan started to drink more and more, he soon lost track of his surroundings. The fear deep within him subsided and began to truly relax. The sounds stopped after a while, but Duncan didn't care about it even once.

His mind was now fully occupied by the wine that was in his hands. Duncan slowly drank himself into a stupor despite the conditions he was in.

*****

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