"Zzzzzz—"
The water knife shooting out of the mountain stream was like a soft whip, sweeping past the trees by the stream, cutting them in half, and causing them to crash down with a "boom".
Even the rocks by the stream, which had withstood years of weathering without altering, were left with deep cuts when touched by the water knife, shaving off a piece.
"Splash...."
It seemed as if something heavy had fallen into the stream, creating the sound of a heavy object splashing into the water.
A huge flat, wide fish head slowly emerged from the mountain stream. Its eyes on either side revealed a vague glint of wisdom as its massive gray-brown form gradually squeezed out from the stream, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth, emitting a series of "ying ying" sounds.
"You impudent monkey!"
"Who gave you the courage to expose those less-than-two-inch monkey head mushrooms? This king will yank them off you!"
"Zee zee zee!"
Seeing the Dragon King emerge from the mountain stream, the monkey who had gone to knock on the door fled in terror, crawling and rolling to hide behind the Monkey King: "Great King, look at it..."
Golden Monkey: "........"
I'm very pleased you can trust me, but I really don't have the eyes to see.
If it weren't for Lord Fox, I wouldn't dare touch the Dragon King's backside.
The presence of the Golden Monkey, according to classification, should belong to the "Human Society Specialized Type." It can transfer skills and knowledge it learns to its kind through speech and some undetectable telecommunication signals.
Fighting head-on is not its strong suit.
"What are you creatures?"
"Is it you who incited the monkey groups to rebel and come to challenge my palace gate?"
The giant salamander, about the length of a yellow sedan, wrapped in a layer of moisturizing slippery mucus, exhaled and asked Lord Fox, observing from the knobby protrusions on its skin that opened and took in the air.
"Just asking, judging by your size, it seems you got this way from frequently munching on Treasure Grass, right?"
Squatting on the riverbank, Lord Fox and the giant salamander stared at each other across the stream. The fox asked the giant salamander:
"According to our investigation, the appearance of Treasure Grass is somewhat related to the habits of ibis birds...."
"Zzz—"
Upon hearing the words "Treasure Grass," the wisest glint vanished from the giant salamander's eyes. It opened its mouth, spraying a thin water line with powerful cutting force towards Lord Fox.
"You bold monkeys! You're bold too! You actually dared to lead humans into the mountains to dig up Treasure Grass!"
The water line scraped past Lord Fox, carving a slit on the rocky streambed, seemingly warning Lord Fox and the Monkey King not to venture further into the forest.
The giant salamander let out a sharp, baby-like cry, both shrill and slightly coquettish.
"Seeing your intense reaction, you must know something, right?"
Witnessing the giant salamander spew a water knife to warn him, Ansheng expressed a moment of surprise, then smirked coldly and gestured to the Fungal Parasitic Beast: "You, go and handle it, make it understand we are not here for discussions, we are here to rob."
"Okay, Dad!"
The Fungal Parasitic Beast, receiving the order, slowly removed its sunglasses from its cheeks, revealing its peculiar and colorful eyes to the giant salamander with a grin.
Facing that sinister gaze, the giant salamander instinctively felt a surge of malice making it very uncomfortable.
However.
What happened next left the giant salamander, the Monkey King, and the Golden Monkey all dumbfounded.
After taking off its glasses, the Fungal Parasitic Beast removed its tactical gloves, tossed them into the stream, and then undid its tactical bulletproof vest, exposing its black shirt.
It began undoing its belt.
The giant salamander instinctively stepped back, raising its head to closely observe the Fungal Parasitic Beast. Upon confirming it was indeed starting to remove its pants, it backed away another two steps.
"Zee zee zee...."
Seeing the Fungal Parasitic Beast strip down, the monkey alongside seemed greatly shocked, its legs gave out, collapsing onto the ground, pointing tremblingly at the parasitic beast, looking towards the Golden Monkey.
"Shush, I'm thinking..." The Golden Monkey gazed blankly at its bizarre new colleague, then looked at the giant salamander.
The five-meter-long giant salamander stood on its limbs, reaching about three meters tall.
While the Fungal Parasitic Beast, standing less than one meter eighty, left the Golden Monkey utterly perplexed.
"Jie jie jie...."
Having neatly folded its clothes, the Fungal Parasitic Beast burst into an evil grin and launched itself towards the giant salamander like a cannonball.
The startled giant salamander, shaking its head, opened the stomata on its knobby skin, compressing air within and spraying a jet into the sky, slicing directly at the chest of the Fungal Parasitic Beast, splitting it in two.
After being halved.
The Fungal Parasitic Beast fell to the ground, yet no organs or blood were visible at the wound. Black tendrils extended from the split body, intertwining to reunite the halves.
When it stood up again, it had already lost its human-like appearance, sprouting several tendrils from its back and membranous wings like bat wings from under its arms and at its ribcage.
"Ying—"
The frightened giant salamander started to backpedal, quickly retreating into its rocky den.
But how could the Fungal Parasitic Beast let it escape.
Not to mention Dad's hammer of education, just looking at the giant salamander's mucus made it feel incredibly nutritious.
If it weren't for Dad speaking first and out of respect for Lord Fox, it would have long since gone up to take a taste.
"Ying ying ying—"
"Jie jie—"
The den echoed with screams and eerie laughter, while Lord Fox sat squatting by the stream, calmly observing the pitch-black, lightless den, and the Monkey King, along with the monkeys, stood slack-jawed, watching the entrance and exit of the mountain stream cave.
Moments later.
The giant salamander emerged again.
It was covered in a layer of black mold, and the Fungal Parasitic Beast, beaming with satisfaction, lay on its back, stroking its leathery, bumpy skin, and softly consoling the giant salamander to calm down.
It assuredly wasn't a pervert.
"Ying ying ying..."
The giant salamander, feeling water rapidly drain from its body, gazed at Lord Fox with terror:
"Quick! Get it off me! Didn't you want information about Treasure Grass? I'll tell you. Although I'm unaware of what I did wrong, I admit my mistakes to you..."
"Oooh—"
"Ah—"
The giant salamander screamed in a voice akin to a maiden's, unable to tolerate the parasitic beast on its body.
The Fungal Parasitic Beast's regenerative capability was unparalleled.
To defeat it was remarkably simple; just swing it apart with a hammer as Lord Fox did, tear out the insect inside, and the parasitic beast would obediently surrender.
Although the giant salamander could spew jets, it clearly did not possess the power to dismantle the Fungal Parasitic Beast's body.
Moreover.
One characteristic of the Fungal Parasitic Beast was its love for water.
While the giant salamander's strongest ability was water spraying.
Covered in nutrient-rich mucus, the giant salamander aroused great excitement in the parasitic beast, causing the entire creature to behave somewhat perversely.
"I told you, we're just asking for directions and now look at the mess you've made." Watching the transformed spinosaurus-style giant salamander, Lord Fox couldn't help but chuckle.