At this point, the primal nature of the ape-men could no longer be ignored. The massacre wrought by the gorilla, instead of striking fear back into their hearts, ignited a feral fury within them.
Comrades' blood spraying across the battlefield, their chief fighting with unmatched valor, and the tribal captain grievously wounding the monstrous beast—each scene stoked the fire of their instincts. No longer did they hesitate; they charged forward with the reckless courage of young calves, bellowing into the night. Even the old, weak, and infirm joined the fray without a second thought.
"Perfect opportunity!"
Chen Xu didn't pause to consider the ape-men's wild behavior. Harnessing the surge of raw momentum, he combined all ten bamboo spears in his hands into a single lethal force. Without hesitation, he drove the combined weapon into the gaping wound in the gorilla's abdomen. But he didn't insert it straight; twisting mid-thrust, he drove the spear upward, rending flesh and sinew as if tearing a living tapestry.
Blood erupted from the wound, splattering across Chen Xu's face and blinding him for a heartbeat.
At the same time, a monstrous, anguished wail echoed through the night. The gorilla, gripped by what could have been a fatal strike, now directed all its fury toward Chen Xu. But the price was steep. The sheer force of the backlash slammed into him. A wind, vicious and slicing, ripped across his face, tearing it with pain as sharp as blades.
"Damn—it's his palm strike! How… how can it be so fast?"
Chen Xu's mind jolted. He could no longer press his attack. Rapidly cycling his inner energy, he propelled himself upward, trying to escape the gorilla's strike.
But this was the gorilla's first strike in a state of uncontrollable rage. Its speed and power surpassed anything Chen Xu had faced before. Even with his heightened leap and the acceleration of his inner energy, he could not evade it entirely.
The gorilla's massive hand, like a terrifyingly swift flyswatter, slammed down. Chen Xu, moving like an alert, chaotic insect, was struck by the edge. His body spun through the air, light as a wisp of paper, before crashing violently to the ground. Pain exploded through every nerve, his throat burning with blood, his body weightless yet dragged by an invisible force, and stars danced before his eyes.
When he regained consciousness, Chen Xu felt as if his internal organs had been seared by fire. Every sinew screamed with pain. Reaching up, he wiped his face, and under the moonlight, he saw streams of blood running from his features. His ears rang incessantly, his body weak, almost incapable of movement.
Boom!
The impact of the gorilla's strike had flung him five meters away, like a cannonball landing on the hard earth. The dust rose in clouds. Disoriented, Chen Xu's mind reeled, struggling to distinguish direction or position.
Yet, his inner energy remained intact, dispersed but not destroyed. Cooling currents of true energy flowed, gradually restoring clarity to his consciousness. He understood the battlefield again.
"It burns…" Chen Xu gritted his teeth, forcing his inner energy to stabilize his injuries. With a sudden flick, he leapt from the ground, immediately facing the looming, massive form of the gorilla. Dust swirled as its colossal hands struck again, narrowly missing him.
Fortune favored him. Though heavily injured and blinded in one eye, the gorilla's reactions were slightly impaired; this time, Chen Xu was struck only by the edge of its massive palm. Any other outcome might have left him crushed.
What felt like a long struggle was, in truth, measured only in heartbeats. From the gorilla's assault, to Chen Xu's counter, to the beast's furious retaliation—it all passed with the swiftness of lightning.
By the time the ape-men surged forward, emboldened by Chen Xu's tenacity, he had already recovered a few bamboo spears from the ground and resumed the attack. Yet the gorilla, now guarding its vulnerable points fiercely even in its rage, revealed few openings. The ape-men, despite their numbers, could do little more than occasionally draw its attention—and occasionally, pay the price with their lives.
Chen Xu's mind raced. He thrust a spear into the gorilla's abdomen, twisting to aggravate its pain, then withdrew in a flash, narrowly avoiding its furious counterattack. He had fully drawn the beast's hatred toward himself, and with a shout, he commanded the other ape-men to hold their strikes, leaving him alone to maneuver the enraged gorilla.
By now, Chen Xu's inner energy was nearly exhausted. The gorilla, though grievously wounded and blinded in one eye, fought with unrelenting strength, its vitality seemingly unshakable. Without his inner energy, Chen Xu could not hope to dodge its strikes indefinitely. Should he fail to maintain the gorilla's focus, the ape-men would be annihilated.
Swiftly, he weighed his options and decided to lead the gorilla from the mountaintop. With careful prodding, he drew it deeper into the dense forest, maintaining a pace that kept it tethered yet out of immediate striking range. The ape-men followed, leaving only the old and weak to tend the fire atop the peak.
Through the shrouded darkness of the trees, Chen Xu moved with measured precision, keeping the beast in view while avoiding its deadly reach. Soon, the forest opened to a clearing, and his trap—the large pit they had dug—came into sight.
Positioning himself at the edge, spear at the ready, he assumed a defensive stance. Moments later, a gale swept toward him, carrying a roar of unbridled fury. The gorilla charged like a monstrous bowling ball, unstoppable in momentum.
"This is the moment."
Chen Xu's lips curled in determination. Gathering the last of his inner energy into his legs, he surged upward, leaping atop the gorilla's head in a single, lightning-fast motion. Avoiding the crushing charge, he slammed his bamboo spear down onto the beast's skull with all his remaining strength, pushing like a mountain crushing from above.
The force drove the gorilla off balance. Staggering, it rolled forward—directly into the pit, its enormous body collapsing into the hidden trap. Bamboo spears and sharpened wooden stakes, concealed beneath, pierced relentlessly under its massive weight. Pain engulfed the creature; dust and blood blinded its remaining eye as it thrashed, yet the trap held it fast.
The gorilla's already grievous wounds tore open further. Blood poured like a miniature waterfall, filling the pit with a macabre cascade.
Calmly, Chen Xu retrieved his longbow and fitted three arrows. Drawing the string to full moon, he aimed at the beast's still-functioning eye. This was the opportunity he had planned for—the trap had brought them to this precise moment. He would blind the gorilla fully, turning its fury into a weapon that could be contained, the only method left to level the scales of life and death.
Chen Xu inhaled, his body emptied of distraction, every fiber of his being attuned to that one target. The forest fell silent around him, the stage set for the final, decisive strike.