Li Yushan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they had held something back, so they wouldn't completely lose track of the enemy.

The question was, was that Bai Yongyan, or the person acting under Bai Yongyan's guise, a member of the White Lotus Sect?

If so, why didn't he care about the lives of other White Lotus cultists?

If not, Li Yushan found it hard to imagine someone provoking the Wude Guard, the Western Depot, and the White Lotus Sect simultaneously.

Bang—crack!

A burning point of fire suddenly rose in the night sky far to the west, exploding with a bang and scattering dazzling light, forming a vague cloud pattern.

"Go!"

Li Yushan's expression changed drastically. He gave a low shout, called his subordinate Tiyi out of the palace, mounted their horses, and galloped toward the west of the city.

Yongling Temple and the Annamite high monk followed.

Only the Western Depot's secret agents were left standing in the courtyard, looking at each other in dismay. Finally, they decided to leave five people behind to help dig the tunnel and wait for Yu Qingqiu.

The others followed Li Yushan and left the palace.

––––

In the dim and dark underground,

a car-sized, terrifying worm covered in carapace and with protruding mouthparts was moving hundreds of pairs of legs, dragging a huge iron cage, and running wildly through the winding underground tunnel.

Xiangrui grasped the iron bars of the cage, half-lying on the bottom, to reduce the bumps caused by the Digging Worm's progress.

The dim environment did not affect his vision. Xiangrui opened his light green eyes and looked at the calm-faced man sitting on the worm's carapace, asking in a hoarse voice, "Who... who are you?"

"Me?"

Li Ang maintained a seated posture and said peacefully, "Aren't you proficient in divination? You should be the one to tell me the answer to that question."

"My eyes can see most things in this world, but I can't see through you."

Xiangrui shook his head. "I can't see your past, present, or future."

"That means your eyesight is deteriorating. You should wash your eyes with internal eye drops."

Li Ang said earnestly, "Otherwise, you'll be like I used to be, having to memorize all the directions of the e's on the eye chart just to pass the vision test."

"?"

Xiangrui said blankly, "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"It's nothing, just advising you to protect your eyesight."

Li Ang said casually, then turned his head and carefully examined Xiangrui. "By the way, do you have a name?"

Xiangrui was stunned. "A name? I don't have that thing."

"How can you not have a name? I can't just keep calling you Xiangrui, Xiangrui."

Li Ang glanced at the ape-man and said casually, "Sun Wukong, Winston, Curious George, LBW, King Kiki, pick one of these names."

The ape-man scratched his head. Although he didn't understand the specific meaning of these names, he felt that they were strange.

So he shook his head and said, "Forget it, names are just human codes. I was born of heaven and earth, so there's no need to name myself."

"Born of heaven and earth?"

Li Ang raised an eyebrow. "Where did you come from? You didn't pop out of a rock, did you?"

"No."

The ape-man shook his head, not paying attention to the word "also," and said to himself, "I don't have any memories of when I was born.

The first thing I remember is opening my eyes and finding myself falling from the sky, smashing into a jungle.

I was badly injured at the time. After getting up from the ground, I treated myself with the herbs around me, and then I lived in the jungle."

The ape-man's eyes were a little unfocused, and he murmured to himself, "I stayed in the jungle for seven years.

At first, I had to avoid jackals, tigers, leopards, pythons, and poisonous insects. I was often injured and very embarrassed.

As time went on, I found that my strength was getting stronger and stronger, and I was also getting 'smarter'.

I was able to make all kinds of tools to resist and even kill powerful beasts.

In the end, even some of the demons in the jungle were afraid of me and fled my territory.

I became the king of the jungle, but this place of mine,"

Xiangrui pointed to his heart and said in a low voice, "has always been empty.

I feel lonely and lonely.

I want to find someone like me to communicate with.

However, even the apes in the jungle that look most like me cannot understand my wisdom.

No matter how I teach them, I can't make them as smart as me."

"Sounds pretty bad."

Li Ang nodded, he could understand that feeling.

Xiangrui said to himself, "Then, I discovered a human village. They lived a primitive and backward life on the edge of the forest.

The living environment was even worse than that of the common people in the Central Plains.

I hid in the dark to observe them, learning their language and knowledge – which was not difficult for me.

Sometimes, I would secretly help them,

for example, rescuing those who were attacked by wild animals, and guiding them to plant crops suitable for the local soil.

They never discovered me, they just felt that the forest was protecting them, and finally they erected totem poles and worshiped the forest god.

But, I didn't integrate into them."

Xiangrui pointed to his half-human, half-ape face, "Even if I shave the hair on my body and put on human clothes, I can't change this face.

If I walk out of the jungle and announce to them that I am the forest god,

the greatest possibility is that I will be treated as a demon and driven away with sticks."

"Normal."

Li Ang said, "Ye Gong likes dragons."

"That's right."

Xiangrui nodded and said, "Of course, there is no such idiom in Annam, they have another saying...

In short, I silently helped that village,

using my innate knowledge to plant rare trees on the edge of the forest, allowing the villagers to become rich by selling wood,

from a small village of a dozen households to a small town of hundreds or thousands of people."

"And then?"

Li Ang asked, "Did the news spread too widely and attract cultivators?"

"Not really."

Xiangrui said in a low voice, "I found a traveler on the mountain who had been bitten by a poisonous snake, was unconscious, and was in critical condition.

So I took him back to my lair and saved his life.

After he woke up, I gave him herbs and food, told him the way to leave the mountains,

and told him, no matter what, not to reveal my existence to the outside world."

Li Ang shook his head and said, "It seems he failed to keep his promise."

"Yes..."

Xiangrui murmured, "He was grateful to me, thanking me repeatedly, and promised to abide by my request, claiming that he would definitely keep his promise.

At first, he did do that,

in my vague premonition,

he took the herbs and food and walked out of the mountains, but he got lost again. He finally came to a ferry and begged the boatman to take him for a ride.

The boatman let him on the boat. At that time, he had not eaten for several days, and he was dizzy and hungry, and his internal organs were cramping.

So he begged the boatman again for some food.

The boatman refused, saying that it was already an exception to let him on the boat for free to cross the river. If he let him eat and drink for free, and spread the word, all the past travelers would ask for free,

then the business of boating would not be possible."