Chapter 120: Ownerless Cave

Hu Pinggu and his wife probably had some reservations because they couldn't see through Mo Juren's background.

In addition, Mo Juren had superb physical skills and could fight evenly with extremely fast monsters, so he couldn't help but look up to him.

So she deliberately suppressed her anger and said,

"Fellow Daoist, you can't just give others these compliments. My husband and I can't afford to accept them."

"You look so compassionate, so instead of pursuing responsibility here, why don't we work together to catch this beast first? How do you think?"

Mo Juren saw that the two men had good attitudes and were local cultivators. If he could get to know them, he could find out some information from them.

After hearing what Hu Pinggu said about her friend's cave and the escaped spirit beast, it seemed like there was some opportunity to take advantage of, so after a moment's hesitation, she replied,
"Cooperation is easy to talk about, but I need to know what this cave is about first. If I get involved in any unnecessary trouble..."

Hu Pinggu and her husband looked at each other, as if discussing something. After a while, the young woman answered,
"It's like this. A good monk friend of ours is traveling, so he entrusted his cave to my husband and me to take care of it."

"Unexpectedly, we were not familiar with the habits of the guardian spirit beast, and it escaped when we were feeding it, so we tried every means to capture it back, so as not to lose the trust of our friend."

"Oh, really? There is a cave!"

Mo Juren's eyes lit up when he heard this.
"In that case, please take me down to check it out. If there is no other danger, I am willing to help."

The couple did not suspect anything, thinking that Mo Juren believed them, and happily introduced themselves.

"I am Hu Pinggu, and this is my husband Xiong Dali. He is mute and cannot speak. Please forgive me, fellow Taoist."

Mo Juren thought, I've known you guys for a long time, you two are honest and didn't say a fake name, but he said,
"I see. My name is Zhang Tie. Please lead the way."

The three of them went down Mopan Mountain, and Hu Pinggu took Mo Juren to a deserted place in the wild. The further they walked, the more desolate the environment became.

Fortunately, everyone has magic to help them travel, and they are not afraid of those thorns and plants.

Mo Juren asked in confusion as he walked.

"Since that mountain ape beast is a spiritual beast guarding the cave, why did you two go to the top of Mopan Mountain to ambush it?"

Hu Pinggu answered confidently,
"The spirit beast is unchecked in the cave, and it sneaks out to play every now and then. The two of us have been guarding it for more than a month."

"But the terrain around the cave is complicated, and there is no way to deal with it. The only way is to set a trap in the open space on the top of the mountain and lure it into the trap."

More than a month? Interesting, who was the one who was chased and blocked by the river seven days ago, like a lost dog? Mo Juren smiled in his heart.

It seems that this young woman is indeed up to something and is hiding something from me.

Mo Juren was secretly on guard, but on the surface he still pretended not to know.

"Besides its fast speed and strong body, does this mountain ape beast have any other special features that we need to be on guard against?"

"It should be gone. As far as we know, this mountain ape beast is only a first-level spirit beast. Apart from brute force, it does not have any innate skills."

Hu Pinggu was afraid that Mo Juren would think too much, so she advised him,
"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Zhang, you just need to hold him back like you did just now."

"With your skills, you can resist its sharp claws. My husband and I will set up a trap and we will be able to catch it in one fell swoop."

The burly Xiong Dali also hummed twice.

Finally, the three of them came to a quiet valley, which was only more than ten miles away from Mopan Mountain, and the valley was backed by two small mountains.

The valley is full of green trees and colorful flowers. A small river flows in front of the valley. With gurgling water, singing birds and fragrant flowers, it looks like a scenic spot.

Mo Juren didn't know what was going on, so he stopped at the other side of the stream and asked,
"Is this the so-called cave?"

"Yes, the cave is in this valley. Don't be fooled by the pleasant scenery here, it is actually an illusion created by the formation. Daoist friend, you can tell it with your divine eye technique."

Mo Juren used his divine eye technique as he was told, but saw no beautiful scenery in front of him.

It was just a messy flat land by the river, with fallen trees and soil, destroyed beyond all recognition. There was only a vague place that looked like a cave entrance in the distance.

The mountain ape beast squatted in front of the cave entrance, staring at the three people with its red eyes, as if it was a watchdog guarding against intruders.

Hu Pinggu didn't seem to allow Mo Juren to think too much, and immediately said,
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, as planned just now, we will set up the trap first, and then..."

"Wait!"

Mo Juren interrupted her and said,
"Didn't you just say that this is your friend's cave? Why don't you just open the formation and go in to deal with it, instead of luring it out?"

Hu Pinggu was a little hesitant in her words.

"This... Daoist friend has also seen that this beast has gone mad."

"If we open all the formations, I'm afraid it will rush into the cave and wreak havoc. If it destroys anything more, it will be a betrayal of our friend's trust."

Mo Juren pretended to check the terrain, then slowly walked away from the two of them, and came to a side where he could leave at any time, and laughed,
"Hahaha, you two have lied to me for so long, and you still want to hide it now? Tell me, what are your real intentions and what are you doing here?"

When Xiong Dali saw that Mo Juren had revealed the truth, he thought that Mo Juren was going to turn against him, so he casually drew out his sword-like magical weapon and looked over at him with a fierce look.

Hu Pinggu quickly held him down and looked at Mo Juren with a cunning look. After seeing that Mo Juren was not really going to take action, she said,

"I'm very curious, when did Fellow Daoist Zhang know that my husband and I didn't tell the truth?"

Mo Juren saw that the young woman's behavior did not seem to be trying to overpower others, and she might still want to cooperate, so he said,
"There is no point in talking any more. If you two really want me to help you deal with this mountain ape beast, it's not impossible, but I want to hear the truth. What good will it do me?"

"Hahaha, I didn't expect Brother Zhang to be so straightforward. Well, it was my husband and I who were wrong before." Hu Pinggu smiled with her hands covering her teeth.

Then she seemed to have confessed everything, and said sincerely,

"Let me put it this way. This is indeed the cave of one of our friends, but that person has already died."

"We originally wanted to force our way in, but the beast guarding the cave was too difficult to deal with,"

"With it guarding here, there is simply not enough time to break the formation. So we wanted to lure it into the trap when it left, and then try to break the formation."

"So this cave is now ownerless?" Mo Juren's heart beat faster, but he pretended to ask inconspicuously.

Hu Pinggu did not doubt it and answered affirmatively,

"You can say that, otherwise the spirit beast wouldn't have lost control and destroyed the cave entrance like this."

(End of this chapter)