19 The Oriole
[Word Count 1880]
Approximately thirty miles away from where Zhao Wei had been dutifully surveying, was a deep canyon that stretched far wider than even the Grand Canyon.
It was pretty much conspicuous, considering that it was surrounded by seemingly limitless huge ancient trees that made up a larger part of Sky Cloud Forest.
Steeling his resolve, Zhao Wei started heading toward the canyon with the intention of identifying the cave that housed the Blood Red Python.
In short, Zhao Wei had to narrow down the Blood Red Python's territory.
On the way, Zhao Wei met a herd of Golden-horned demonic mountain goats peacefully grazing as if they weren't aware of the dangers deep inside Sky Cloud Forest. Even he, himself, was slightly surprised but he already knew that things weren't as simple as they seemed. They were huge with extremely robust legs and shoulder muscles that gave one the thought that they never skipped leg days.
The Golden-horned demonic mountain goats were also naturally herbivores and never sought after trouble from other competitors in the brutal ecosystem. Since their main source of food was mostly vegetation, they had no need to travel often just to search for food.
They looked like the type to be easily bullied and compared to other monsters, they weren't belligerent but Zhao Wei understood very well that that was only under the strict condition of not being provoked.
The Golden-horned demonic mountain goats were higher tier Deadly Beasts comparable to Martial Masters and those shimmering golden horns on their heads weren't for decoration. They had a habit of shoving them up the asses of their victims and that brutal yet weird fetish instinctively made Zhao Wei clench his ass cheeks.
Did Lord Fifth by chance happen to spread his culture here by mistake? Zhao Wei smiled awkwardly to himself as he continued with his journey.
As someone who had also read ISSTH, Zhao Wei naturally had such thoughts come to mind. Lord Fifth was a character in "I Shall Seal The Heavens" that liked sticking pointy things up the holes of those he had fancied. It was something so peculiar and fear-inducing to his victims. Some would rather die than be subjected to such utter disrespect and severe loss of dignity and face.
Within a few minutes of careful searching, Zhao Wei eventually found the cave that he had been looking for. The Blood Red Python's territory.
There were no beasts lurking around the periphery of the Blood Red Python's territory. That place was being treated as some forbidden land that one should avoid at all costs. The aura of the Blood Red Python was inarguably thicker the more one ventured deep into its territory. That in itself served as enough deterrence to all other creatures.
Zhao Wei could sense a strong intimidating presence deep inside the abyssal cave. This indicated that the Blood Red Python was currently at home.
'Before anything else, I should scout for any High tier Deadly Beast that can possibly rival the Blood Red Python. To perfectly sow discord, I must use methods that would force the target I have set my eyes upon to unrestrainedly break into Blood Red Python's territory.' A dark gleam shone in his eyes as Zhao Wei carefully thought about the next steps of his plan.
In the original timeline, it was the Two-Winged Sword Toothed Tiger that had chased Zhao Feng, who fought to death with the Blood Red Python. Currently, Zhao Wei didn't know where that beast was and since the forest was like an infinite maze, it would prove extremely difficult to orchestrate the same events as in the novel. And that was why he had to scout potential 'pawns' to fight in his stead.
Not wanting to startle the Blood Red Python, Zhao Wei didn't even bother to mistakenly enter the range of its territory.
It was extremely tiring for Zhao Wei as he relentlessly searched for the 'candidates'.
His first attempt was a failure. It was an Azure-Eyed Silver Wolf King with strength comparable to an Eighth Rank Martial Artist. His attempts at pissing it off as it was leisurely dosing after a good meal, did not raise any waves at all. The intelligent Azure eyes of the Silver Wolf King had only looked at him with derision and aloofness as if Zhao Wei was something akin to an insignificant bug in its eyes that was just asking to be squashed to death. It had once tried to send a vicious paw toward Zhao Wei but he had easily moved away from its range. Seeing that the insignificant bug was a slimy one, the Azure-Eyed Silver Wolf King resumed its nap with its ears constantly flexing to pick any disturbances.
Zhao Wei's second and Third attempts on other Higher tier Deadly Beasts also didn't bring positive results.
Luckily, on his fourth attempt at looking for a pawn, Zhao Wei's victim took the bait.
It was a Violent Titan Ape that had just given birth. The Violent Titan Ape was 13 feet tall with bulky muscles perfectly distributed all over its colossal figure. It had white fur that reminded one of snow and winter which made quite a strange sight to see considering that most Violent Titan Apes had black fur covering their bodies. So there was only one conclusion that Zhao Wei arrived at - Mutation.
It was better to call the Violent Titan Ape as Mutated Violent Titan Ape. This made it even more powerful than your average Violent Titan Ape that were known for their utter savageness and undisputed combat might on the same level.
In normal situations , Zhao Wei wouldn't have taken chances to mess with such a powerful enemy but his current situation wasn't exactly normal. It was a little bit favorable to one he had in mind.
After giving birth, the mother Mutated Violent Titan Ape had been significantly weakened but its strength shouldn't be underestimated.
Zhao Wei watched from a safe distance while in his invisible state as the weakened Mutated Violent Titan Ape vigilantly scanned its surroundings for anything that would prove dangerous to its newly born child.
The newborn baby Ape cried for its mother's milk and the mother was forced to breastfeed it but even that seemed not to be enough for the extremely energetic young one. It was greedy for more which subsequently forced the mother Violent Titan Ape to look for fruits that it could find within its vicinity.
Man is the spirit of all living things but all that breathes under the dome of the heavens is equal in its eyes.
Be it demonic beasts or humans, Zhao Wei essentially categorized them under the same banner. Killable beings. Death could claim anything.
What he was about to do was going to ultimately deprive a mother of its newborn baby? But who cares?
The world is a cruel place and in the pursuance of benefits, anything can be sacrificed.
Of course, Zhao Wei didn't let sentiments cloud his vision.
Zhao Wei immediately used that breath of time to move into action. As soundlessly and stealthily as possible, Zhao Wei quickly aimed for the Baby Ape.
Since he wasn't hiding very far, it only took him a couple of microseconds to bridge the distance between him and the Baby Ape.
NGEEE!
Through a mother's inherent intuition, the mother Violent Titan Ape suddenly felt a bad premonition. Something bad was about to happen to its new born baby!
The mother Violent Titan Ape wasn't very far but it was too late for her to save the baby Ape from being taken by an invisible entity. But that didn't stop it from moving nonetheless.
GRRRR!
The mother Violent Titan Ape snarled in extreme wild anger as the baby also happened to disappear from its field of view.
Who dared to do such a shameless heinous act?!
The mother Violent Titan Ape angrily smashed a thick huge tree into smithereens with its clenched fists.
It then wailed in unimaginable anguish and sadness. Its mournful cries that radiated boundless sorrow immediately startled any nearby wild beasts and Deadly Beasts into panic.
At the same time that Zhao Wei had the mother Violent Titan Ape cry, he made the Baby Ape visible and coerced it to cry loudly for its mother to hear.
NGEEE!
The mother Violent Titan Ape's colossal body visibly trembled and instantly locked onto its baby's position before unhesitatingly taking a mighty violent leap toward Zhao Wei.
Almost immediately, Zhao Wei entered the invisible state and no sounds were heard.
On achieving a destructive landing that ruined the terrain and cleared the nearby trees, the mother Violent Titan Ape released a roar of infinite wrath while violently pounding its mammary glands without a care for the pain.
The cycle of on and off continued over and over again until finally, Zhao Wei lured the Mutated Violent Titan Ape toward the periphery of the Blood Red Python's territory without even realizing it.
Zhao Wei stealthily placed the Baby Ape at the entrance of the cave before taking off as if his life was on the line and even an ounce of hesitation on his part would ultimately lead to his demise.
NGEE! The visible Baby Ape screamed its healthy lung out like a banshee. It had just been born and now it had been abruptly separated from its mother. Such injustice!
HISS!
A sinister sound immediately resounded all over the place as the abyssal cave started trembling due to the movement of something huge heading towards the entrance.
The Blood Red Python felt offended that somebody had the nerve to make pointless noise directly in its territory. Even the beasts that lived inside the cave knew how to respect it.
HISS!
When the Blood Red Python saw the tiny and insignificant meal that couldn't even fit between the tiny gaps of its sharp fangs, it hissed in discontentment and looked around for any more nuisances.
The Blood Red Python coldly stared at the annoying youngling causing disturbance in its territory before deciding its dark fate immediately.
With one gulp, the Blood Red Python curbed the noises. With one casual gulp, the Blood Red Python restored the silent and peaceful atmosphere of its territory and treated the unusual incident as nothing.
But… it was just at that very moment, that the mother Violent Titan Ape arrived and witnessed everything even before she could save her child!
Limitless killing intent immediately oozed off the mother Violent Titan Ape and the world seemed to have turned gray and red due to its intensity.
The Blood Red Python bared its fangs at the unwanted intruder in extreme displeasure before speedily moving completely out of the cave.
This was a blood feud!
Bloodlusted Mutated Violent Titan Ape vs Blood Red Python!
Meanwhile, the oriole - Zhao Wei - calmly watched from the sidelines with a face full of apathy as the two High tier Deadly Beasts comparable to the Eighth Rank Martial Master faced off against each other.
Each unaware of the one who orchestrated everything.
Beasts would always be beasts no matter how strong they are and their intelligence can't compare to that of man.
Unanimously, Zhao Wei was going to be the ultimate winner after their hard-fought death battle!
***
