Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Is the duration of the scales’ effect unlimited?” Gao Peng asked further.
“Of course not. The scales can repel monsters because they give off the scent of His Excellency, King Red Carp. After being used for some time, the scent will naturally become faint,” explained the elderly man matter-of-factly. “We don’t have to give many monsters as tribute, and one scale can be used for one year.”
Gao Peng nodded. This King Red Carp was pretty intelligent. It knew how to obtain freebies. And with this, it did not even need to tire itself every day to hunt for food. Humans would naturally go up to offer it food. All it had to do in return was shed scales that it did not need anymore.
By now, Gao Peng could more or less understand why the Alliance Government would not publicize such news. It would do no good for the government’s reputation if it became widely known that the government was unable to protect its citizens even under the alliance, and even resorted to worshipping monsters for protection.
But in order to maintain the security of a base city, they would need a familiar or a monster of at least Lord tier in order to do so.
As a human himself, Gao Peng could not help but fall into silence.
In the places he had been before, Yuzhou and Chang’an both had the best human Monster Trainers protecting the place. Hence, there was no need to fear invasions from monsters coming from surrounding forests.
But in this small base city, that was not possible.
“Boss, we’re here.” The old sailor slowly berthed the ship along the river bank. The river waters rose and receded gently down the bank. In the murky waters, a green softshell turtle could be seen lying in the shallows.
Seeing the ship, it did not seem scared. Instead, it approached curiously to sniff the ship. Then, as though smelling something horrifying, it squinted its tiny beady eyes, withdrew its turtlehead, and dove into deeper river waters with a turn of its body.
“Are you familiar with this place?” Gao Peng asked Dumby. If Dumby had lived here before, he should remember the surrounding area.
Dumby bent over and came out of the ship’s cabin. Each step on the deck made a crisp thumping sound. Dumby looked around, then leaped off the deck, landing on the riverside. Stepping on the wet ground, his silver-white toe bones sank deep into the mud.
Dumby bent down, picky up the mud with its two hands. The damp mud slowly seeped through his fingers.
Dumby’s soul flames flickered in his eye sockets. At that moment, he felt as though he had returned to a year ago, where he was still playing and making a ruckus along this familiar river bank.
A large net had dropped from above. Its sharp hooks had latched tightly onto his fur. Being the strongest, Dumby had become a prized prey in the eyes of the hunters, who sought to catch him at all costs.
Dumby howled in rage, warning his family to leave the riverside and flee deep into the dense forests.
Dumby witnessed with his own eyes his three-month-old infant daughter being carried away by her mother and hiding in the forests. Who knew if she still remembered him.
Dumby slowly stood back up, pulling his thick, strong bones out of the mud. With each step, a large patch of sandy mud was unearthed.
One step at a time, Dumby walked determinedly into the forest.
Gao Peng paid the sailor, and then arranged a time for him to pick them up again. Then, he got the rest of his familiars on shore.
After around 10 minutes of walking, Dumby stopped under a large, thick tree.
This was a forest of thick trees. Each thick tree trunk seemed to have emerged out of the ground like a giant snake, twisting outwards and covering the sky. The dense canopy blocked out the sunlight, causing the light in the forest here to be dim.
There were familiar markings on the branch of the tree. Dumby climbed up, then gently ran a finger over the marking left behind.
Dumby was feeling anxious, and he jumped down from the tree branch uneasily.
“It’s alright, perhaps they have moved elsewhere,” comforted Gao Peng. “Search carefully again, maybe you can find traces of a trail they left behind?”
Dumby nodded. The mark here was probably left behind a few months ago. In this forest, a period of a few months could erase all traces left behind by a monster. But Dumby was, after all, a Red River Ape. Having been a Red River Ape, he was all too familiar with the habits of Red River Apes.
After receiving words of comfort from his master, Dumby no longer felt set back. He picked himself up again and continued to search for traces left behind by his family.
The group of Red River Apes might have left their original location, but they would still be living along the Red Sand River area. Of this, Dumby was very certain, because only this area supported the foods and environments that were comfortable for them.
As they searched, they ran across a group of Red River Apes. Dumby stared at them carefully for half an hour, before regrettably leaving. This was not his family, for there was not a single familiar face amongst them.
Unless his family had been totally eradicated, he should still find at least a few familiar faces, no matter where the group drifted to.
As if not feeling any fatigue, Dumby continued to walk through the forests. In front of them came the sounds of Red River Apes.
Dumby immediately became alert, and he walked quickly over. Up ahead was a cliff that was not too high, just over forty meters tall. Below the cliff grew a patch of dense forest. Large numbers of vines draped down from the top of the cliff.
There were a few Red River Apes playing amongst the tree branches.
Dumby suddenly froze. He stared dumbly at the group of Red River Apes.
Gao Peng had never seen Dumby so emotional before.
In his chest, the Blood Thread Heart beat frantically, swelling and shrinking repeatedly. The Blood Threads between his bones were drawn taught, wrapping tightly around all his bones.
Gao Peng wondered if Dumby’s bones would fall apart from the stress of the emotion.
“Do you want to go over and meet them?”
Dumby felt the urge to go, but then he lowered his head and took a look at his skeleton body. He fell silent.
“Go take a look; they are your family, after all. Didn’t you say you were once the king of your tribe?” Gao Peng encouraged Dumby.
Dumby frantically waved his hands. “No go! No go!”
His voice sounded panicky, and it did not matter how Gao Peng tried to persuade him. From within his eye sockets, clear blue light seemed to be flowing out, as though he was crying.
This was the first time Gao Peng had seen Dumby cry.
He never thought that a skeleton could shed tears too.
Dumby gripped the tree bark tight with his two hands, hiding behind the large tree. He carefully poked his head out and secretly observed the small female ape within the group.
Dumby was in a daze.
She was happy and that was good enough.
Daddy was useless. He got caught away when you were only three months old, and he could not be there to protect you.
But… Daddy still loves you.
Dumby’s face no longer had any flesh, so he could no longer produce a smile.
Instead, his mouth opened as he dumbly stared into the distance, looking like a fool.
Gao Peng did not disturb Dumby, but allowed him to quietly enjoy this beautiful experience.
Finally, Dumby let go of the tree reluctantly. He bent over, carefully hiding behind the tree so he would not be discovered.
“We’re leaving like this?” Gao Peng was surprised.
Dumby nodded vigorously.
“Do you not want to bring your daughter back? Don’t worry, I’ll give her the best possible life,” Gao Peng promised Dumby.
Dumby was moved, but in the end, he shook his head vigorously again. “With me, she is not free. Here, she is free.”
Gao Peng suddenly felt his heart clench. He suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Dumby’s large hand gently patted Gao Peng’s shoulder, as he looked seriously at his master. “But with master, I… I am very happy!”
Gao Peng felt a warmth in his heart.
After making sure that his daughter was alright, Dumby was already very satisfied. He turned around and left with Gao Peng and the rest.
Stripey’s mood seemed affected as well. It seemed a little unhappy, as though recalling something.
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot rang behind them.
The gunshot echoed across the forest, followed by the pained howls of Red River Apes.
Dumby, who had his head hung low, suddenly froze…
