Vol. 4 Chapter 23: The Mountain Spirit

Chapter 23: The Mountain Spirit

The illusory dreamscape of Nanshan has shrunk to its smallest size. When the Nanshan Tiger was still alive, the entire illusory dreamscape enveloped the whole mountain. Now, through his senses, Lu Li found that the dreamscape was no larger than a basketball court. If Lu Li were to enter directly, it might cause the entire dreamscape to collapse.

The dreamscape moved continuously within the range of Nanshan, seemingly attaching itself to another creature, absorbing new legends, and generating new ghosts and monsters. Lu Li sensed the aura of the dreamscape, his steps silent as he navigated the forest, almost invisible.

A shadow crushed a venomous insect underfoot. Lu Li moved noiselessly, leaping lightly onto a tree, standing on a large branch, and peering through the leaves at the creature ahead.

After some time of tracking, Lu Li finally found the creature to which the dreamscape was attached. He quietly observed from the outskirts of the dreamscape. The creature had a robust build, covered in pitch-black fur, with exceptionally long arms and three-fingered hands ending in black claws. Strangely, it had only one backward-facing foot.

The monster crouched on the ground, its long arms constantly pulling things from the ground into its mouth, making a grunting noise like a pig eating. After a while, the monster finally finished eating and stood up, towering over two meters tall.

The monster looked around, and Lu Li finally saw its face. Apart from its face, it was covered in black fur. Its face resembled a monkey or a baboon, but its lips were extraordinarily thick, taking up half of its face. Chicken feathers stuck to its grotesque lips, indicating it had just eaten a wild chicken.

The monster hopped on its single foot, moving through the forest at an incredible speed. Lu Li followed silently, making no noise. After a while, the monster entered a cave.

Lu Li recognized the familiar terrain—it was the real-life counterpart of the Tiger King's cave in the dreamscape. Unlike the dreamscape, the ground was uneven, surrounded by trees, dirt slopes, and rocks.

Lu Li waited for a moment, then followed the monster into the cave. The cave was not as smooth as the one in the dreamscape, nor did it have stone slabs. A foul smell permeated the air, and many white bones, mostly human, littered the ground.

Passing through the tunnel, Lu Li saw a large inner cave with a massive stone in the center. Narrowing his eyes, he realized this stone was the prototype of the palace in the dreamscape. The monster was scratching the stone with its black claws.

"Do you want to go back?" Lu Li suddenly asked.

The monster immediately turned, roaring in anger, and lunged at Lu Li on its single leg.

"So it is you!" Lu Li laughed. "Should I call you the White Monkey General or your current name, Mountain Spirit?"

This monster was indeed the White Monkey General from the dreamscape. After Lu Li shattered the essence of the Tiger King, most of the dreamscape collapsed, and the vengeful spirits within vanished with the Tiger King's death.

In the dreamscape, the Red Fox had been killed by Lu Li's shadow. Only the White Monkey General and his monkey minions remained. Somehow, the White Monkey General was chosen as the new bearer of the dreamscape, consuming all his monkey minions and appearing in reality, half real and half illusory.

The dreamscape absorbed various wild legends, constantly transforming the White Monkey General. During these transformations, the legend of a creature called the Mountain Spirit, similar to a monkey, was chosen. Thus, the White Monkey General was mutated into the Mountain Spirit.

As the third in command of the Tiger King's cave, the White Monkey General was once surrounded by his monkey minions, living in a palace with ghosts serving him. But because of Lu Li, he was now a beast, unable to speak, scavenging in the wild and sleeping in a dilapidated cave. His hatred for Lu Li was boundless.

Shadows behind Lu Li surged like giant serpents, exuding a thick aura of fear. They struck the Mountain Spirit, whose body stiffened as the fear invaded its senses. The shadows blossomed into thorny flowers, rooted in the ground, binding the Mountain Spirit.

Becoming the Mountain Spirit had its advantages. The White Monkey General's power had increased, potentially surpassing the White Tiger King with the dreamscape's support. However, he had not been the Mountain Spirit long enough, and the dreamscape had just endured a collapse, offering no power boost. As the Mountain Spirit broke free from the shadows, a spear flew over, piercing its body.

Lu Li's shadow writhed, piercing the Mountain Spirit. Despite its struggles, the shadow transformed inside it, trying to crush it to death. In the next moment, the Mountain Spirit vanished.

"Teleportation?" Lu Li's shadow twisted. The Mountain Spirit, impaled by the shadow, had disappeared. The dreamscape was not as weak as it seemed, granting the Mountain Spirit legendary abilities.

This was Nanshan Tiger's misdirection. The dreamscape's primary ability for the White Tiger King was to create vengeful spirits, sustaining its immortality. Without Lu Li's assault on the dreamscape, Zhou Chu wouldn't have killed the Nanshan Tiger so easily.

The Mountain Spirit differed, gaining direct enhancements. It inherited the legend of the Mountain Spirit's ability to burrow, escaping through soil or trees. In a crisis, it tunneled through the ground, evading Lu Li's shadow.

"Pity, you should have left." Lu Li formed another spear, hurling it to pierce a human-sized rock and the Mountain Spirit behind it. Thorns bloomed, pinning the Mountain Spirit to the rock. "Your foul stench is hard to miss."

The Mountain Spirit's newfound burrowing ability was weak. Had it escaped the cave, it might have survived. However, for some reason, it didn't want to leave its "home," allowing Lu Li to find it.

Now, escape was impossible. Lu Li's shadow enveloped and crushed the Mountain Spirit, which died. Lu Li sensed the dreamscape collapsing further, transforming into an invisible force drifting toward him.