Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Seeing how quickly Dumby had leveled up, Gao Peng suddenly had an idea to help it level up even more.
If I can pull this off, Dumby may be able to gain a couple more levels very quickly…
“We better leave now. There’s a Mountain Spirit living in this area… Right now, we humans aren’t exactly on good terms with its kind. It would be best if we stayed out of their… Damn it,” cursed Uncle Liu under his breath.
A low rumbling sound echoed in the distance. The ground began shaking violently, as if a herd of horses was now stampeding towards them.
Gao Peng looked down and saw the pebbles on the ground rattling around his feet.
“Let’s go!” said Uncle Liu hurriedly.
The Blood Eye Whisker Vulture spread out its wings and lowered its body, letting Gao Peng ride on its back.
The Shadow Japalura lifted Dumby up and carried Uncle Liu on its back. Together, they flew up into the air.
Looking back down, Gao Peng saw a cloud of dust rising into the sky. Through the cloud, he could make out a massive figure moving towards them.
Gao Peng drew in a sharp breath.
Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of a 300-foot-tall Mountain Spirit moving inexorably towards them.
Those with weaker wills would have immediately run in fear at the sight of it.
“Hu… mans…” it said, its voice rumbling from the depths of the earth. It sounded so indistinct that Gao Peng thought he was imagining it at first.
Only when the Mountain Spirit repeated what it had said did Gao Peng realize that it was speaking to them at that moment.
“Uncle Liu, I think the Mountain Spirit is calling us,” shouted Gao Peng.
“What did you say?” Uncle Liu shouted back. The wind had drowned out Gao Peng’s voice.
“The Mountain Spirit is calling us!” said Gao Peng, pointing at the Mountain Spirit behind them.
“Relax, it can’t catch up to us!” said Uncle Liu, patting his chest confidently.
“That’s not what I said. I’m saying it’s calling us!” shouted Gao Peng. How hard of hearing can you be, uncle?!
“Don’t worry, it can’t fly!” said Uncle Liu, grinning.
Gao Peng fell silent for a moment. “Uncle Liu, are you deaf?” he shouted.
“What, are you calling me deaf?” said Uncle Liu, appalled.
Gao Peng decided not to continue the conversation until the Shadow Japalura was flying close enough for Uncle Liu to hear him clearly.
“I see, you’re saying that the Mountain Spirit is calling us. Yeah, I heard it too,” said Uncle Liu. “Let me tell you something. You’re still young. You have much to learn about this world. These creatures cannot be trusted. First, they lure you in with their sweet words, then they try to eat you.”
Gao Peng hesitated for a moment. “Why don’t we go down and hear what it has to say? We’ll fly just close enough to have a conversation with it.”
They had flown so far ahead that they could no longer hear the Mountain Spirit behind them.
“All right then, but I’m telling you, Mountain Spirits may be made of stone, but they are all rotten to the core,” said Uncle Liu.
Gao Peng nodded impatiently. “Yes, you’re right. These Mountain Spirits are always up to no good!”
Uncle Liu glared at him with a strained smile on his face. You little twerp…
When it saw Gao Peng and the others disappear into the distance, its head drooped down dejectedly.
“Hey, big guy, you want something from us?” shouted Gao Peng from the back of the Blood Eye Whisker Vulture.
The Mountain Spirit stopped in its tracks and turned around.
“Human, I would like to make a deal with you…”
…
Ten miles away, a couple of humans and their familiars were resting near a mountain stream.
“Did a Mountain Spirit just pass by?” a man in a black singlet said worriedly.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be living in a valley to the north. Why did it suddenly appear here? We were almost spotted by it,” said a young man beside him. The young man had short hair and a lively pair of eyes. He was carrying a camouflage backpack on his back, and in his left hand was a chunk of meat. He tore off a piece of it and fed it to a red wolf beside him. The wolf happily gobbled it down.
“No, we were definitely spotted by it. It simply ignored us,” said a lady in a yellow jacket and black sweatpants.
“How can you be so sure?” the man in the black singlet said, frowning.
“My brother once told me that Mountain Spirits don’t have eyes or noses, that they rely on their brainwaves to sense all life forms in their vicinities,” said the lady.
“So you’re saying that nothing can hide from it?”
“Well, there are many monsters out there. One of them might have the ability to fool its senses,” said the young man, patting his thighs as he stood up. “Let’s go, aren’t we supposed to help you hunt—”
Suddenly, an indistinct rumbling up ahead interrupted him. The young man said, “Maybe we should wait a bit.”
The Mountain Spirit had lumbered across the mountain stream in front of them. Two huge bird-like creatures were now hovering above it.
The Shadow Japalura was wreathed in a green aura that was shaped like a pair of tattered wings. The Blood Eye Whisker Vulture beside it was cloaked in a turbulent white aura.
The three of them stared at the two Lord-tiered monsters with bated breath, fearing that the slightest movement might anger them.
“One of them is carrying something in its claws.”
“Must be its dinner.”
“Someone’s on the flying-type monster,” said the man in the black singlet, rubbing his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.
