Chapter 122: The Fleeing Yu Ren

“Qin Fei, do you really think there’s a Digital Gate inside Mercury’s palace that can take us back to the human world?”

Along the way, this was the fifth question that Daimon kept asking.

“There is. Mercury also uses the Digital Gate to travel to the human world,” Qin Fei answered quickly but avoided explaining why.

The trees around them began to thin, and they could vaguely see the lush green land ahead—it must be the forest’s edge.

Suddenly, just as they were about to exit the forest, a boomerang sliced through the air toward them.

Qin Fei’s eyes flickered; he knew Yu Ren had arrived.

“Is it because of Jellymon?”

Just like when he first came to this Digital World, his movements were discovered by Jellymon, which then attracted the Rockmons and Yu Ren’s group.

It seemed the same had happened just now.

There was no coincidence—someone was definitely watching them.

Everyone quickly dodged Yu Ren’s surprise attack with the boomerang and searched for the enemy hiding in the shadows.

Soon, they spotted a small figure nimbly leaping between the branches like a monkey, seemingly trying to find the right distance to strike again.

As expected, the boomerang was thrown once more from the dense canopy.

But once again, everyone evaded it.

After all, Daimon, who possessed a Digital Soul and had years of experience handling the Digital World’s gates, was incredibly agile—so much so that even Qin Fei could not compare.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Don’t you recognize me anymore, Yu Ren?” Qin Fei suddenly shouted toward the shadow where the figure hid, then stepped forward, revealing his position.

Sure enough, upon seeing Qin Fei’s familiar face—the one who had once defeated and even humiliated him—Yu Ren’s eyes blazed with fury, and he threw the boomerang straight at Qin Fei without hesitation.

Qin Fei remained calm, standing still until a red axe slashed through the air, cutting Yu Ren’s boomerang down.

“That’s Yu Ren?”

Shunai and the others were surprised to see the figure moving like a monkey between the branches.

So Professor Noguchi’s child had appeared so quickly, but he attacked them on sight.

“You said he was raised by DigiBeasts… so he thinks he’s one of them?”

Yesterday, Daimon had heard from Qin Fei about the complicated history of the Noguchi couple and Yu Ren. Since the Snowmon that raised him was killed by an artificial DigiBeast created by Akihiro Kurata, Yu Ren harbored a deep, unyielding hatred for humans.

“This is tricky. Judging by how aggressive he is toward us now, his hatred for humans runs deep. Even if you say you’ll take him back to his human parents, I doubt he’d believe you,” Toma said, watching the intense gaze from the treetops, a troubled expression on his face.

“We’re not enemies, Yu Ren! We came to find Mercury to explain everything clearly. We understand what happened and have brought the results,” Shunai quickly called out to Yu Ren’s hiding spot.

But the only reply was a spiky fruit hurtling toward her—if she hadn’t dodged quickly, it might have scratched her face.

“Damn it,” Shunai’s temper flared.

“LalaMon, counterattack!”

At Shunai’s command, LalaMon instantly appeared before her and fired a rapid volley of nut bullets at the incoming fruit.

“Humans can’t be trusted!”

Dodging LalaMon’s attack, Yu Ren’s stiff, cold voice came, clearly unwilling to believe a word they said.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings flashed from above, and a familiar owl DigiBeast landed beside Yu Ren.

“So it’s NightOwlmon…”

Daimon, seeing the familiar figure, felt curiosity rather than anger.

“You’re human too! What right do you have to say that?” Shunai shouted at Yu Ren. “Besides, your parents are waiting for you in the human world. They’ve always wanted you to come home.”

“Shut up! I am a warrior among DigiBeasts. Don’t compare me to you despicable humans!” Yu Ren roared resentfully. He hated being called human more than anything.

“What do we do? This kid’s really stubborn,” Shunai said, scratching her head in frustration and casting a pleading glance at Qin Fei.

After all, bringing this child back to his parents was one of their missions.

Shunai believed that forcing him back now, given the hatred he showed toward humans, might even make him attack his own parents.

“Let’s just capture him first. As for changing his mindset and hatred, once we get to Mercury and explain everything, we can help him resolve his inner turmoil. Besides, I have a secret weapon,” Qin Fei said.

“What secret weapon?”

Daimon and the others looked at Qin Fei with growing curiosity.

“I asked Yu Ren’s mother for it before we left. You’ll see once we bring Yu Ren here,” Qin Fei said, still a bit secretive, prompting everyone to roll their eyes in unison.

“...”

“Yu Ren, we’d better run. That powerful guy is here too—we can’t handle him,” NightOwlmon beside Yu Ren kept advising. It had seen the DigiBeast that evolved from Qin Fei’s partner fight back and forth with Lord Mercury.

Thinking of that, NightOwlmon had no courage left to fight.

“Humans are the enemy of DigiBeasts. We must defeat them,” Yu Ren said, unwilling to listen to NightOwlmon’s counsel as he pulled out his Digivice.

“Fine, then give me the power to evolve.”

Seeing Yu Ren’s stubbornness, NightOwlmon seemed resigned.

“That’s... a Digital Digivice?”

Daimon and the others were surprised when Yu Ren suddenly pulled out the device. Although Qin Fei had mentioned they were partners, it still caught them off guard.

“NightOwlmon, evolve... Woodpeckermon!”

A familiar “ground chicken” appeared before Qin Fei’s eyes.

“Is he planning to keep fighting? Agumon, let’s go!”

Daimon’s eyes sharpened as he prepared for battle, watching Yu Ren’s evolved DigiBeast partner.

But before Agumon could evolve, the “ground chicken” stretched its neck, grabbed Yu Ren’s partner in its beak, and ran off without hesitation.

Leaving Daimon and the others stunned and exchanging bewildered looks.

Clearly, it had planned to escape all along; the evolution was simply to speed up the getaway.

*The Legend of Immortal Wood*

“Put me down! Put me down! Why are you running away? I want to fight... coward!!!”

Yu Ren’s angry and dissatisfied voice faded into the distance. Although he knew he couldn’t defeat the human who had bested him before, he was just as furious at his partner’s cowardice.

“...They just ran off?”

Watching the disappearing silhouette, Daimon didn’t know what to do next.

“Let’s go. Since they ran, forget it,” Qin Fei shrugged, calling his three DigiBeasts forward as they resumed their march toward the clearly visible snow-capped mountain.

“Qin Fei, didn’t you say you were going to catch him? Why...?”

Shunai looked at Qin Fei’s indifferent expression, confused.

“You can run from the monk, but you can’t run from the temple...”

“What does that mean?”

“Literally what it says.”

Yu Ren and NightOwlmon would return to Mercury eventually. Once they reached Mercury’s palace in the snowy mountains, they would meet again sooner or later. If Mercury could mediate, it would be far more effective than words from humans he hated.

Of course, that depended on whether Mercury found Qin Fei’s explanation satisfactory.

Hearing this, Daimon and the others had no choice but to continue their journey.

It seemed they regarded the somewhat mysterious Qin Fei as their guide.