The Nine Cauldrons Book 4: Vermillion Tiger Fist - Chapter 17: Moving during Chaos

Book 4 Chapter 17 Moving during Chaos
Teng Qingshan prostrated himself on the terrace of the cliff, making his breathing so weak that it could not be heard.
“It’s out.” Teng Qingshan could see the tall and big Steel Arms Monkey walk out of the cave. He then said to himself, “Yes. As expected, the Scarlet Fruit that was in his hand is now in the cave.”
When the tall and big Steel Arms Monkey walked out of the cave, it immediately made “Ah Ah Ah” sounds. The noise was excited and loud, resonating above the lair of the monkeys. When the monkeys that were originally playing around heard the squeals of the tall and big monkey, they immediately waved and shouted excitedly.
“AhAhAh…….”
After the shouting sounds rang, the monkeys immediately ran to each corner, taking out some stone cups.
“Cups?” Teng Qingshan stared at this scene in shock.
Some of the Steel Arms Monkeys seemed to have lost their cups. Those monkeys casually grabbed some stones and begun using their sharp claws like knives, cutting and carving the stones rapidly. Soon, the stones became stone cups.
Many of the other Steel Arms Monkeys that heard the shouts emerged from many other places, causing an increase in the number of the Steel Arms Monkeys below the cliff.
“There are over one thousand normal Steel Arms Monkeys, and the Steel Arms Monkeys with a greater stature are thirteen in number!” Teng Qingshan sighed in awe. He then questioned, “But why are they all taking out cups? ”
At this moment——
A Steel Arms Monkey with a normal physique, silver-colored fur and gold-colored eyes came out of the cave. It grabbed a large wine jar with one hand. Light red liquid filled the wine jar and a strong alcohol scent permeated the air. Teng Qingshan, who was only around ten Zhang away from the cave, also smelled the scent.
“This smell…….” Teng Qingshan only felt that this scent caused his body to quiver as a refreshing sensation spread throughout his body.
“Even the scent is so alluring.” Teng Qingshan said as he casted a glance at the Steel Arms Monkey with gold-colored eyes, “All of the monkeys treat the silver fur monkey with respect.” Teng Qingshan could tell that this Steel Arms Monkey with gold-colored eyes was the king of all the monkeys! Among the demonic beasts, the one that could be king must be the most powerful one.
However, Teng Qingshan was unclear of this monkey king’s ability.
“In the books about the demonic beasts, they only talked about the normal Steel Arms Monkeys. The books didn’t even mention the tall and big Steel Arms Monkey or the monkey king.” Teng Qingshan sighed secretly. The book failed to explain everything.
Below the cliff——
As the Steel Arms Monkey with gold-colored eyes shouted, thousands of Steel Arms Monkeys immediately cheered in joy.
The Steel Arms Monkey with gold-colored eyes poured the wine jar filled with the light red liquid into the wine jugs held by the thirteen tall and big Steel Arms Monkeys. The thirteen tall and big Steel Arms Monkeys then gave some Scarlet Fruit Wine to each Steel Arms Monkey.
The speed of those thirteen tall and big Steel Arms Monkeys was fast, and in the blink of an eye, each of the thousand-plus of Steel Arms Monkey got a cup of wine.
……
“It smells so good!” Teng Qingshan gasped in admiration.
By the time the rich and thick wine was completely split among the more then a thousand Steel Arms Monkeys, the sky had already darkened. The Steel Arms Monkeys were all happily treasuring the drink, smacking their lips as they took light sips every once in awhile. One cup of Scarlet Fruit Wine would take at least a dozen sips to be finished.
“Hm?” Teng Qingshan’s gaze swept over the distance.
He saw a black figure appear on top of a nearby tree. A pair of grey eyes stared at him amidst the darkness, giving off a mysterious feeling.
“It’s a black panther.” Teng Qingshan’s eyesight was extremely good, and a single glance was enough to determine that the black figure in the distance was a panther with a body of glossy, pitch-black fur. “It’s the demonic beast ‘Black Wind Leopard’. It should be even faster than me.” Teng Qingshan had very clearly seen the speed at which the black leopard leaped onto the tree.
“Whoosh!”
Another figure was hidden in the grass, not too far away. The glowing green eyes were also stuck fast on the monkeys’ lair.
……
“So many demonic beasts.” Teng Qingshan’s heart trembled. “Demonic beasts’“Black Wind Leopard’, ‘Green Patterned Wolf’, ‘Purple Electric Centipede’, and two more I don’t recognize.” From Teng Qingshan’s angle and his senses, he’d already discovered five demonic beasts. Exactly how many of them were hidden in the surroundings?
Teng Qingshan didn’t dare say.
In short, there were many of them! Of course, the concealed Teng Qingshan’s might wasn’t the slightest bit less imposing than those demonic beasts.
“Ya!”
The Golden Eyed Monkey King gleefully took a large swig of Scarlet Fruit Wine. It glanced at the surrounding demonic beasts in hiding with great scorn.
The other Steel Arms Monkeys also shouted excitedly. There were obviously some among the over one thousand Steel Arms Monkeys that noticed the demonic beasts in the surroundings, but……it was obvious that these monkeys looked down on those demonic beasts. Each and every one of them sipped their Scarlet Fruit Wine and shouted proudly after each sip.
In the Steel Arms Monkey Mountain, the Steel Arms Monkeys were kings!
The other demonic beasts couldn’t defeat the Steel Arms Monkeys! were all unable to go against the monkeys!
……
Chaos!
It was obvious that the demonic beasts staying in concealment were attracted here by the Scarlet Fruit Wine. The force of the Scarlet Fruit Wine’s attraction was too strong, but those demonic beasts only hid in the surroundings, and not one of them dared to pounce into the multitude of monkeys. If it was only one Steel Arms Monkey, the demonic beasts in solitude wouldn’t be afraid at all, but the Steel Arms Monkeys were numbered in the thousands.
Therefore, they hesitated!
“Something is wrong with the atmosphere.” Teng Qingshan gasped secretly as he looked towards the demonic beasts in the distance. He then said to himself, “I seldom encounter demonic beasts in the Desolate Land, but on this Steel Arms Monkey Mountain, there’s not only Scarlet Fruit, but also a multitude of Steel Arms Monkeys and other demonic beasts.”
Teng Qingshan understood.
The reason why the demonic beasts showed up had something to do with the Spiritual Qi of Heavens and Earth! So many spiritual fruits and demonic beasts appeared in this Steel Arms Monkey Mountain, thus, it was obvious that this mountain was not an ordinary mountain.
While Teng Qingshan was hiding quietly——
“Xiu!”
A piercing sound rang and high up in the sky. A silver figure slashed across the air, dashing into the multitude of monkeys like lightning.
“It’s an eagle. However, I never read about this godly eagle in the book.” Teng Qingshan also realized that the book describing the demonic beasts was not complete. The godly eagle swooped down. The width of its opened wings was over one Zhang. The instant the godly eagle darted into the multitude of monkeys, it pounced on one of the thirteen tall and big Steel Arms Monkeys.
“Pu!”
The eagle flapped its wings.
“Bang!” The tall and big Steel Arms Monkey was thrown into the air and crashed fiercely onto a mountain wall at the side. With a booming sound, a large hole appeared on the mountain wall, and broken rocks flew towards all directions.
“Whew!” The godly eagle put its beak into the water jar, and with a sip, it drank the remaining Scarlet Fruit Wine in the water jar.
“Ah Ah Ah~~~”
The Steel Arms Monkeys immediately became agitated, and each one of them showed an menace appearance.
“Ah!” The Golden Eyed Monkey King shrieked and dashed towards the godly eagle like a silver streak of lightning.
The silver-colored godly eagle refused to fight the Golden Eyed Monkey. With a quiver of its wings, the eagle flew towards the sky.
“Pu!”
The Golden Eyed Monkey King stomped on the ground, causing the earth to tremble fiercely. Suddenly, the Golden Eyed Monkey King seemed to have transformed into a beam of silver light, instantly jumped a distance of over twenty Zhang, and its steeled arms actually grabbed the claw of the silver godly eagle. The silver godly eagle immediately flipped forcefully and attacked the Gold Eyed Monkey King with its sharp beaks and claws.
“Whew!” “Whew!” “Whew!”
While the monkey king and godly eagle was fighting, the demonic beasts that were hiding immediately dashed into the multitude of monkeys to drink the Scarlet Fruit Wine, rushing like they were in a competition.
“Ah Ah!!!”
The Steel Arms Monkeys shouted and simultaneously drank the Scarlet Fruit Wine in their own cups, refusing to let the outsiders drink it. And then, over ten Steel Arms Monkeys formed a group and pounced onto the demonic beasts together. After demonic beasts dashed in and drank a few cups of Scarlet Fruit Wine, they also realized that the situation was bad and had no choice but to flee.
In actuality, when the monkeys were in confusion, Teng Qingshan already dashed onto the cliff directly above the cave.
“Even though it’s chaos, there are still Steel Arms Monkeys guarding here.” Teng Qingshan said as he glanced at the Steel Arms Monkeys below. Those monkeys were watching the fights in the distance and paid no attention to their surroundings.
“Whew!”
Teng Qingshan fell silently from the cliff, and the instant his head was near the cave entrance, his right hand clawed into the internal walls of the cave. Through the strength of his right hand, his body stuck closely to the internal cave walls as if it was boneless. Teng Qingshan darted directly into the cave, before Falling and entering the cave in just the blink of an eye.
“Whew!”
Teng Qingshan had already disappeared deep into the cave.
As for those monkeys standing before the entrance of the cave, they were still staring at the fighting demonic beasts while cheering excitedly and roaring occasionally. They did not notice Teng Qingshan at all.
……
Teng Qingshan held his Reincarnation Spear with his right hand and a flying knife with his left hand as he advanced in the cave carefully. The cave was pitch black, but Teng Qingshan could see everything before him. After a few turns, Teng Qingshan also arrived the the spacious area inside the mountain.
A thick wine fragrance came from within. Thick and rich aroma of wine arose from the middle of the area.
“This is——” Teng Qingshan stared at the light red liquid in the rectangular stone hole and said, “There’s this many? The demonic beasts outside fought to death for a little bit of this, yet there’s so much here. However, I need to find the Scarlet Fruit first.
Beside this rectangular stone hole, there were a few bottles, stone mortars, wine jars, etcetera.
“Scarlet Fruit!” “Scarlet Fruit!”
Teng Qingshan immediately saw the Scarlet Fruit within the stone basin. “There’s only one more? What about the other two?” Teng Qingshan picked up the Scarlet Fruit and was shocked to discover that…the aroma it emitted was very similar to the scent the scarlet liquid gave off.
“There’s still some scarlet fluid remaining in the basin. Could it be that..the scarlet wine was produced by combining Scarlet Fruits and some other materials?” Teng Qingshan began to realize.
“If the demonic beasts are fighting to drink it, the wine should be drinkable. However…” Teng Qingshan opened his bag and placed the Scarlet Fruit within. “Once the Scarlet Fruit is eaten, one’s inner strength will explode, and the Dan Tian will rapidly expand as well. I would assume that as the Dan Tian is changing, there is no way to use one’s inner strength as one pleases. The situation is dire right now, so I’ll wait until I escape before I eat the fruit.”
There were monkey packs outside after all!
Staying in this cave for a moment longer meant a moment more of danger.
It didn’t matter what kind of spirit fruit it was, Teng Qingshan didn’t dare to eat it at the moment.
“It’s really a waste to not drink this Scarlet Fruit Wine. However, if I drink it now, it’ll incite certain reactions in my body, that won’t be of any help to my escape.” Teng Qingshan’s gaze swept across the bottle and jugs, but they were all made of stone and very roughly constructed. There wasn’t even a single sealing cork. Suddenly, Teng Qingshan noticed the gourd inside his own bag!
This was a gourd meant for storing water! For the purpose of adventuring around outside, a gourd meant for storing water naturally wouldn’t be small.
“I can store it within this gourd; it’s quite a few Jin.” Teng Qingshan was delighted and immediately opened the gourd’s stopper before placing it into the stone pit. With a few gurgling sounds, the Scarlet Fruit Wine ceaselessly flowed into the gourd.