Chapter 25: Human Traffickers AgainWith nothing much to say through the night, Ye Feng woke up.Traveling as usual, having Yaoguang keeping him company along the way made it not feel lonely at all.Yaoguang was very smart; after growing feathers, it learned how to fly not long after.It frequently scouted the way ahead for Ye Feng, even though he didn't need it to.Yaoguang was very lively; judged by the age of a Spirit Beast, it was still a child.Not long after Ye Feng woke up, it flew away.Ye Feng didn't bother with it; Yaoguang only fluttered around him and wouldn't go far.After walking for nearly half an hour, suddenly, a white figure flew past and landed on Ye Feng's shoulder.Immediately after, it began to chirp continuously. Its calls had varied inflections and were very rhythmic, clearly a form of language.Although Ye Feng couldn't understand it, long-term companionship allowed him to read the meaning within the chirps."Are you saying there is a group of people ahead?"Yaoguang nodded in a human-like manner.Ye Feng knew it wanted to express more than just that, but he could only make out this one meaning."Are those people stronger than me?"Hearing this, Yaoguang shook its head."Then we don't need to worry about them, just keep going."To be safe, Ye Feng didn't let Yaoguang continue flying.It was currently only a ten-year Spirit Beast, and its strength was pitifully weak.Any Spirit Master with a bit of strength could hunt it down, and Ye Feng certainly didn't want Yaoguang, whom he had raised with such difficulty, to be hunted as an ordinary Spirit Beast by someone.Not long after, Ye Feng encountered the group of people Yaoguang had mentioned.Unexpectedly, Ye Feng knew that group of people.Or rather, he knew the leader of that group.This group of people was precisely the ones who had kidnapped him when Ye Feng had first transmigrated.It was just that the boss was still the same boss, the number of people had increased, but his two former lackeys were nowhere to be seen.With Ye Feng's hearing, he easily heard the sound of sobbing coming from inside the carriage.He also heard the traffickers chatting and laughing.It seemed that he was still plying his old trade.Taking advantage of the fact that they hadn't discovered him yet, Ye Feng quickly hid himself.He certainly didn't want to end up being held hostage by others.Even though he didn't care about the hostages' lives, the fewer people who died, the better.Ye Feng unleashed his mental force to scout the situation. There were five traffickers in total, and apart from the boss, all of them were Spirit Grandmasters.At this moment, three of them were eating, and two were patrolling.Finding the right angle, Ye Feng walked into their blind spot, executed the Wave-Treading Art, and silently snapped the neck of the patrolling person.Then, taking advantage of his speed, he killed the other person as well.Only then did Ye Feng swagger over to the front of the carriage.At the very moment the traffickers discovered Ye Feng, they also lost their vision.Leaving only three headless corpses behind on the spot.Looking at the fist that had just blown apart a head, Ye Feng fell into deep thought.He seemed to have been too cautious; his realm had already advanced to a Spirit King, and his combat power was enough to rival low-level Spirit Saints.Facing five small fries, there was no need to make such a big fuss.When all was said and done, it was because he had stayed deep within the Star Dou Great Forest for too long and hadn't reacted in time.Ye Feng reined in his thoughts and turned to walk towards the carriage.Inside the carriage was a scene familiar to Ye Feng; he had spent a month here.The difference was that there were only five children in the iron cage.That's right, how could there be so many children for them to traffic?Large-scale disappearances of children would also attract the attention of the Spirit Hall, which wouldn't be worth the loss.The iron cage was locked, but to Ye Feng, it was as good as nothing.With a casual swipe of his hand, the iron lock was split into two.Ye Feng opened the iron cages one by one, not forgetting to comfort them verbally."Children, the bad guys have already been defeated by me. In a moment, you will be able to go home."However, the few children still refused to come out, clearly still finding it a bit hard to believe.A slightly bolder boy tentatively crawled out.Ye Feng cast an encouraging look at him.With someone taking the lead, the others also crawled out one after another.Until the last girl came out, a flash of surprise crossed Ye Feng's eyes.The girl had a head of dazzling brilliant golden long hair, a pair of beautiful scarlet eyes, a petite figure, a pale face, tired eyes, and was somewhat malnourished.Most specially, she had a pair of brilliant golden beast ears on her head and a fluffy tail behind her.Clearly, an accident had occurred during her Spirit awakening, causing her body to undergo mutations.This situation was extremely rare, and only one case (the Cat Woman) was mentioned in the original work.Precisely because it was rare, once it appeared, there was a high probability that she would be abducted and auctioned off at an auction house, and the price would remain high.This was also Ye Feng's first time seeing it, and he couldn't help but develop an interest.He had read in books that this kind of mutation was essentially the Spirit affecting the physical body; although it would strengthen a certain aspect of the body, it had a huge drawback.The greater the degree of mutation, the closer the body was to a Spirit Beast, and the more difficult it was to cultivate meditation techniques.In essence, it was sacrificing future limits in exchange for short-term strength.Ye Feng didn't know if this claim was true, but right before him was a living case.Ye Feng squatted down beside the blonde girl, looked into those hollow eyes, and waved his hand in front of her; there was no response.So he gave up on the idea of communicating with her.He directly grabbed the girl's wrist, channeling pure spirit power into her to probe her meridians while nourishing her body along the way.After several cycles, Ye Feng's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.The girl's body was even worse than he had anticipated.It was as if she hadn't eaten for a month; the fact that she was still alive now was already a miracle.The meridians within her body were even more disordered, completely unlike a human's meridians.From the looks of it, that claim was correct.While continuously transferring attribute-free spirit power, Ye Feng looked at the boy who had first crawled out of the iron cage and asked,"Whose children are you? Which village? I will send you back."There was no help for it; he couldn't just let these children fend for themselves in the wilderness, could he?That would be even worse than not saving them in the first place!Emboldened, the boy replied with his little face flushed red:"We all come from Daogu Village, and we were tied up onto the carriage a few days ago.""Then do you know where the village is?""Daogu Village is to the east of Nuoding City, not very far away."Ye Feng smiled. It happened to be on the way, so this wouldn't delay his schedule."Kid, I'll ask you one last question. What is this little girl's Spirit?"A trace of fear flashed in the boy's eyes as he said:"It's a golden lion, a very scary lion."Someone nearby disagreed and retorted:"That's not right, it's a dog, a large golden dog with a black face.""Um, I remember the Spirit Master adult in charge of the awakening said that the Spirit she awakened was a golden-haired hound."The more Ye Feng listened, the more confused he became. A golden-haired hound? It didn't sound like the name of some Spirit Beast, but rather like a name made up on the spot.Golden fur, black face, looking both like a lion and a dog...Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Ye Feng's mind. All the clues strung together, and he thought of a terrifying guess.A terrifying Spirit Beast known even to someone like him who hadn't read Douluo Dalu III.That kind of Spirit Beast that had gone extinct as early as ten thousand years ago.The legendary ancestor of all canine Spirit Beasts and feline/leonine Spirit Beasts—the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff!
