Chapter 66 - 64 I'm Back Again

The little creature Ding Huan was holding in his hand struggled and shrieked continuously, but he could see fear in its eyes. What kind of animal was this? Ding Huan had never seen it before. Its body somewhat resembled a dog's but not quite, and its voice was somewhat like a monkey's but without the shrillness. It had long front legs and short hind legs. "You seem to have some intelligence, daring to scheme against me,", said Ding Huan as he pulled a vine from nearby, tied up the little creature, and threw it into his bag, then zipped it up. As for whether it would suffocate, Ding Huan didn't care. The creature looked very cute, but in fact, it was no easy prey. If he hadn't already been a fourth-level gene cultivator, it could really have gotten the better of him. If it weren't for his recent thought to fuse the memory gene of the stone monkey into this little creature, he would have incinerated it with a fireball right away. In this era, he certainly wouldn't sympathize with this adorable little thing. Seeing Ding Huan walking toward him, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, whose legs had been broken, showed obvious fear in its eyes, much like the creature Ding Huan had stuffed into his bag. It clearly had intelligence. Could it not see how Ding Huan dealt with the little creature? Looking at the Great Wilderness Golden Ape in front of him, Ding Huan said indifferently, "The last person who messed with your medicinal materials wasn't me. I acknowledged your strength last time and deliberately avoided you. You chased after me, but I didn't hold it against you. I never thought you'd still come after me, an innocent, and even try to sneak attack me. People just can't be too kind, it seems." The Great Wilderness Golden Ape growled deeply, apparently not understanding Ding Huan's words. However, Ding Huan's divine will sensed a change in the creature's eyes, and he was sure it understood him. "Heh heh.", Ding Huan patted his backpack, "This little thing schemed against me, I plan to go back, burn it, and eat it—it's just a waste of some anise. You're a bit bigger, but I heard the pulp in a primate's brain is tasty; maybe it can be used for barbecue. If one frame isn't enough, we can cut it up and roast..." Upon hearing Ding Huan mention brain pulp, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape made sounds that seemed to be a mixture of wailing and pleading. Indeed, it understood, and Ding Huan huffed, "Since that last incident wasn't my fault, and you still provoked me deliberately, if you want me not to harm your life, you must make compensation, understand? Nod if you do." The Great Wilderness Golden Ape nodded repeatedly, making Ding Huan very pleased. "I won't ask for any other compensation, just two things. First, the medicinal plant you snatched last time, I need it. Second, I need a bit of blood from your forehead. Isn't that simple?" The Great Wilderness Golden Ape's eyes widened. Damn... Just because that medicinal material had been stolen before, it wanted revenge, but after all the twists and turns, it still had to lose that plant. Ding Huan took out a short knife from his bag and repeatedly slapped it against his palm, "Ah, after killing a few genetic beasts last time, I haven't used a knife for a long time. I wonder if I can get my wish today." Before Ding Huan could finish his words, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape growled several times and nodded repeatedly. Ding Huan thought to himself, wouldn't it have been easier if you were cooperative from the start? "Seeing as you're cooperative, I'll give you a hand dressing your wounds.", said Ding Huan as he casually set the Great Wilderness Golden Ape's bones, stabilized them with a few sticks, and wrapped them with some vines. After doing all this, he chopped down a tree and made a pair of crutches for the Great Wilderness Golden Ape. The Great Wilderness Golden Ape, who had originally thought about how to ambush Ding Huan, saw Ding Huan casually sweeping his hand through the air a few times, and the crutches were ready. Frightened, it dared not make a move for a while. Three hours later, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, leaning on crutches, led Ding Huan to its lair. Seeing the lair of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, Ding Huan couldn't help but complain, "This guy really knows how to pick a spot." The environment here was much better than the cave where he cultivated. The first thing that caught his eye was a pond, beside which stood many log-built A-frame cabins. Behind the cabins was a garden of medicinal materials, containing various kinds of rare and mutated medicinal materials. "You monkey really are talented.", said Ding Huan as he looked at the almost hermit-like setup and couldn't help but tease the Great Wilderness Golden Ape. The Great Wilderness Golden Ape felt wronged—it wasn't a monkey, it was a Golden Ape. "Go on, harvest the medicinal materials yourself, I won't go into your home. I'm worried I won't be able to resist packing all your medicinal materials to take away.", Ding Huan actually didn't recognize that particular plant. He guessed it was probably the plant used by the Great Wilderness Golden Ape to create the Eye of the Great Wilderness. Hearing that Ding Huan wouldn't enter its garden, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape quickly hobbled into the garden on its crutches and soon brought a plant to Ding Huan. Smelling the scent, even fresher than before, Ding Huan nodded. This was the one. Last time, a woman named Qin Yi stole it, and the Great Wilderness Golden Ape chased after her, blocking the cave for several days and killing two people. How things change. Today, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape had brought it to him voluntarily. Looking at the plant in his hand, which was no more than a foot high with a blue flower blooming at the top and a black stem featuring bamboo-like joints, Ding Huan was satisfied and put away the herb, while the Great Wilderness Golden Ape looked on with reluctance and longing. But Ding Huan simply ignored it. After securing the medicinal materials, Ding Huan took out another bottle, "Come here, I just need a bit of your blood and then I'll leave." The Great Wilderness Golden Ape felt very aggrieved but could only walk up to Ding Huan, leaning on a cane and bending down to wait while Ding Huan extracted blood. Ding Huan was very quick, with a swipe and a sweep, a line of blood appeared on the forehead of the Great Wilderness Golden Ape, which accurately fell into the bottle in Ding Huan's hand. After the bottle was filled with blood, Ding Huan put the bottle away, and the bleeding from the Golden Ape's forehead had already stopped. Seeing that Ding Huan had indeed only taken a little blood, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm leaving now, and let's consider our past grievances settled. Before I go, let me give you a piece of advice. Do not venture into human cities or dwellings, for if you do, your death will be imminent," Ding Huan said. Having said that, Ding Huan grabbed the stone monkey beside him, his figure flashed, and he disappeared like a shadow. Watching Ding Huan's retreating figure, the Great Wilderness Golden Ape felt helpless. It had originally planned to venture into a human city for a spin after opening the Eye of the Great Wilderness, hoping to ascend another level by utilizing human essence blood. Now, with Ding Huan's warning, it didn't dare to take such risks even if it had the audacity. ... Ding Huan returned to Luoh River City with great swagger. This time he didn't disguise himself, although several months of cultivation in a cave left him with long hair and an untrimmed beard, making it hard to recognize him as Ding Huan without a closer look. Standing at the entrance of Yujiang University, Ding Huan reflected, "After all the twists and turns, I, Ding Hansan... bah, I, Ding Xiaotu, am back." Yujiang University was much busier than before, as three of its students were admitted into the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges, attracting many applicants. The university's popularity would have been even higher if not for the sudden rampage of genetic beasts. As for financial issues, Principal Tan Bei as the head of Yujiang University, no longer needed to worry about that. Plenty of people were still willing to funnel money to Yujiang University, even though Ding Huan was no longer there. Consider Yujiang University, which had produced three students ranking among the top of the Blue Star Ten Great Colleges. Could these students let their alma mater collapse after they graduate? Despite being away for nearly a year, Ding Huan's residence was still preserved. No one from the Washing Blade Association was found outside his lodging, either because they knew they wouldn't catch Ding Huan here, or because they knew Ding Huan's stature had grown too great for the Washing Blade Association to afford chastising him. Regardless of the reason, Ding Huan didn't plan to let the Washing Blade Association off. Right now, for Ding Huan, the most important thing was to rush to the gene laboratory and do what he needed to do. Ding Huan took a bath, changed his clothes, and without cutting his hair, went straight to the gene laboratory. He was still not quite accustomed to using the Dust Removal Technique, even though he had already mastered this small magic. There were still hardly any people at the entrance of the gene laboratory building, though there was now a security guard. "Kong Dan? How come you're working as a security guard here?" Ding Huan recognized the guard almost immediately upon approaching. Only then did Kong Dan recognize Ding Huan and said excitedly, "Mr. Ding, I've been waiting for you. I'm here because I was waiting for you. I believed that you would definitely come to the gene laboratory as soon as you returned, and I guessed right." "That's good, I still have some things to take care of now, but once I'm done, I'll teach you cultivation," Ding Huan patted Kong Dan's shoulder. "Yes, Mr. Ding, you go ahead with your work, I'll keep watch here, no one will disturb your genetic experiments," Kong Dan was still not quite calm from his excitement. Because Ding Huan had said before that it might take a year or two before he would return. He had prepared to wait for a long time, but Ding Huan had returned much sooner. "Alright, I'm going to do an experiment. By the way, are there many people coming here to do genetic experiments now?" asked Ding Huan casually. "No one has come, you are now the head of the Genetic Department at Yujiang University," replied Kong Dan, now somewhat calmer, his voice steadier than before. "I am the head of the Genetic Department at Yujiang University?" Ding Huan asked in disbelief. He hadn't known about this; how did he become the head of the Genetic Department? Kong Dan explained, "I brought the note you gave me here to Principal Tan Bei, and he let me choose a position immediately. I chose this place and mentioned that you would surely continue your genetic experiments here. Principal Tan, upon hearing my words, simply appointed you as the head of the Genetic Department. You see, although Yujiang University is crowded now, in reality, there are no scholars from the Genetic Department, nor does anyone come here to conduct experiments." "That's actually quite good," Ding Huan was very satisfied. Principal Tan really knew his needs well and was quite astute. He didn't care about being a director, but managing this place allowed him to conduct genetic experiments without disturbance. This was extremely helpful for extracting memory genes from the stone monkey. (Just a note, starting tomorrow, updates will resume at six in the evening, nine o'clock)