Chapter 24: The Chicken Uprising

"Damn idiot, saying that in front of Lord Ma is just asking to die."

The two henchmen whispered among themselves.

Ma Jinghong had already seized Xiao Yang’s collar with one hand, poised to make his move.

"I’ll ask again—are you sure you’re Ma Jinghong?"

The tone remained calm and indifferent.

Ma Jinghong’s bandit instincts erupted. He swung his fist at Xiao Yang’s face, roaring as he did.

"My name is Ma Jinghong of Wolf Mountain—I never change my name, never change my surname!"

Seeing Ma Jinghong’s rage, the two henchmen exchanged bitter smiles. In their hearts, they cursed Xiao Yang up and down. Wouldn’t it be better to just stay alive? Why provoke this master? It’s like lighting a lantern in the latrine—asking for trouble!

"Give Lord Ma a beating!"

With a furious shout, Ma Jinghong prepared to smash Xiao Yang’s head with a single punch.

Just as Xiao Yang was about to be struck, Zhou Yan wanted to intervene, but before she could act, a shadow suddenly flew backwards.

Bang!

The figure crashed through several ancient trees before finally stopping.

At the same time, a cool, detached voice sounded nearby.

"I’ll take the fifty thousand taels for that head."

With one head worth fifty Concentration Pills, Xiao Yang figured that, in the future, he could stroll through the surrounding mountains more often. After all, this was the Thousand Peaks Range, with thousands of mountains. Not every peak had bandits, but out of ten, at least two or three would. One head meant fifty thousand taels—if he cleared out all the bandits nearby, reaching the rank of Martial Master wouldn’t be difficult.

"Lord Ma!"

"Lord Ma!"

The two henchmen quickly rushed over, and when they saw Ma Jinghong’s state, they couldn’t help but gasp.

"This..."

Ma Jinghong now bled from all seven orifices, his chest sunken in as if struck by a giant beast. He was so dead, he couldn’t be deader.

"Senior Brother, you might have overdone it," Zhou Yan murmured, suddenly snapping out of her daze. Her mind was reeling. A seventh-layer Martial Warrior, killed with a single kick. And was that the Wind Howl Strike just now? As an eighth-layer Martial Warrior herself, she hadn’t even managed to see it clearly.

"You two, bring that little Ma over here."

The two bandits, who were fierce just moments ago, instantly became meek as lambs at Xiao Yang’s command. Trembling with every step, they dragged Ma Jinghong’s lifeless body over.

At that moment, a dense rustling rose from the surroundings, like hundreds of people running at once.

The two bandits’ faces turned deathly pale.

"We’re doomed. The Mountain King is here!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yang realized these three had just been fleeing for their lives.

"What’s this Mountain King?"

"The bandit chief?"

He asked directly.

After witnessing Ma Jinghong’s death, the two were too scared to hide anything and hurried to explain.

"Reporting to the lord, the Mountain King isn’t a person."

"Not a person? Then a beast?"

He was puzzled.

Zhou Yan frowned. For a beast capable of chasing Ma Jinghong all over the mountain, it had to be frightening. Normally, such beasts would either dwell deep in the Thousand Peaks Range or be hunted by experts from the Great Spirit Sect. Yet she’d never heard of a beast called the Mountain King.

"Hmph! Senior Brother, they’re lying," she said.

At her words, the two men dropped to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Auntie, we swear it’s true! The Mountain King is a group of beasts that appeared five days ago."

"They can destroy several bandit strongholds in a single day!"

Suddenly appeared?

Xiao Yang’s expression darkened. He’d heard that the precursor to a beast tide was the sudden gathering of monsters. By the time humans realized, it was already too late.

"Senior Brother, maybe we should report back first," Zhou Yan said worriedly, sensing the gravity of the situation.

"Let’s confirm what’s happening—if it’s a beast tide, we’ll return and report. If not, we’d both be punished severely."

The surrounding grass began to shake.

The two bandits, terrified, clung to each other.

"They’re here—it’s them!"

They shouted in panic.

Xiao Yang watched the thicket ahead, his nerves tightening. If it really was a beast tide, he’d have to stand his ground and let Zhou Yan alert the others.

Cluck cluck!

A chicken’s cry echoed.

The two bandits squeezed their eyes shut in terror.

"This is it—we’re all dead."

"This is it, the Mountain King will kill us for sure."

Xiao Yang’s expression grew strange as he heard the sound.

The next moment, a speckled rooster emerged from the bushes.

"Mountain King???"

Xiao Yang was stunned. He wanted to grab the two henchmen by the hair and demand answers.

Your Mountain King is a chicken?

Moments later, Xiao Yang sensed something was off.

One after another, speckled roosters came out of the thicket.

Within seconds, hundreds had gathered.

He noticed that each of these roosters possessed cultivation, all reaching the level of monster beasts.

His heart skipped a beat.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that this had something to do with the Chicken Overlord.

Cluck cluck! Cluck cluck! Cluck cluck!

A flock of proud roosters glared at the group, crowing loudly, then charged toward the four of them.

"This—this is the Mountain King???"

Zhou Yan was stunned as well.

A bunch of ordinary chickens ruling the Thousand Peaks Range as the Mountain King? Unbelievable! It felt surreal.

"Ahem, most likely the Chicken Overlord’s doing," Xiao Yang said with a helpless cough.

The Chicken Overlord was far from stupid—in fact, in some ways, it surpassed human intelligence. After Xiao Yang had strengthened it, the Chicken Overlord learned to absorb the essence of sun and moon for cultivation. Raising its own little gang wasn’t impossible.

"No, no, that can’t be," Zhou Yan stammered, unable to believe it.

If the Chicken Overlord was behind this, the implications were terrifying.

Snap!

Xiao Yang casually slapped away a rooster trying to ambush him, scanning the surroundings.

More and more speckled roosters emerged.

Within a short span, their numbers exceeded a thousand.

And all of them had reached the minor monster realm.

Even Xiao Yang felt a headache coming on.

He was strong, but even he could eventually tire.

"If it gets out of hand, I’ll hold the line and let my junior sister fetch reinforcements," he decided.

The rooster army had already surrounded them.

Cluck cluck!

Strangely, though they were just minor monsters, the roosters showed no fear of Xiao Yang.

Flap flap!

Dozens of roosters flapped their wings and soared toward him.

"Well, aren’t they bold!"

Even facing a Martial Warrior like himself, the roosters seemed eager to fight.

But thinking it over—it made sense.

Ma Jinghong, a seventh-layer Martial Warrior, had been chased all over the mountain by these chickens.

As a second-layer Martial Warrior, Xiao Yang likely ranked as a nobody in their eyes.

Just as he prepared to act, a loud crow rang out.

The restless rooster flock suddenly fell silent.

The roosters poised to peck Xiao Yang stopped in their tracks.

"Huh?"

"What’s going on now?"

As Xiao Yang wondered, the bandit at his side spoke up.