"I've confessed! I've confessed everything!"
"Quick, get this dead thing down. It's starting to grow mushrooms!"
The giant salamander bounced around in the stream, leaping forward and back, its body arched high, almost to the point of gasping for air.
The fungus spreading inside the parasitic creature absorbed the nutrients from the salamander's mucus, growing rapidly and starting to sprout brightly colored mushrooms on its body.
"See? This is how intelligence is gathered."
Master Fox showed a proud expression and spoke to the Monkey King, inviting them to watch closely and learn step by step.
"Parasitic Beast, stop growing mushrooms. We still need to question it for intelligence later."
Monkey King: "......"
Master Fox's words, although somewhat reasonable, according to what the Monkey King knew,
Master Fox had beaten a Spirit Beast overlord to obtain information about the Treasure Grass, unraveling the ultimate cause of the Qinling anomaly. Later, he rode a Guardian Level Spirit Beast like a horse at the Qinling Panda Eco-base, gathering more information about Treasure Grass possibly linked to crested ibis.
As for this giant salamander here, not to mention whether it has reached Guardian Level strength,
its specialized jet stream ability alone couldn't be dealt with using guns and the chemical trio.
The defensive mucus covering its body gave the salamander a very high tolerance, along with remote torrent techniques.
The ability to let the "local villagers" guide is something that only happens in the Spirit Beast Circle when there's a significant strength gap.
"Tell us about the Treasure Grass." Ansheng signaled the fungal parasitic beast to restrain itself.
"Huff, huff..."
The panting salamander flopped down onto the stream, glanced at the parasitic beast dangling before its eyelids, and lost the will to resist, resigning.
"I don't know what special connection there is between the crested ibis and the Treasure Grass, but if you want to know where you can find a lot of Treasure Grass, you can search in the human-called [Ba Mountain Sky Pit]..."
"I've been to Ba Mountain from a cave. The amount of Treasure Grass in the forest there is far greater than in the outer Qinling area, but there's a swarm of bloodsucking mosquitoes, playing violins, filling the entire Sky Pit with their buzzing."
The salamander stretched its limbs, lay on the ground, and took a couple of gulps from the stream, sharing what it knew.
From its choice of words,
the salamander seemed to be very familiar with human society, able to speak many societal terms.
"Is that all?"
"That's all!"
Master Fox and the salamander stared at each other, with the salamander's small, intelligent eyes peering wide, meeting the fox's gaze.
"Well then... Master Fox, could you help me ask the giant salamander why it's forcing this group of macaques to build a so-called Dragon Palace for it?"
Although the Monkey King could understand what the salamander was saying with the help of the golden monkey translating, questioning details depended on whether the salamander felt like answering.
"Hey!"
Master Fox looked at the salamander and called out.
"The water quality here is great, I enjoy the spring water that flows here, but the cave temperature is too low, and I want to bask in the sun to enjoy the spring water,"
The salamander glanced at the Monkey King reluctantly and said, "Before I moved here, I used to live in a farm watching TV. I know monkeys have relatively good intelligence, so I have them come up with something..."
"But all I got were silly monkeys, spending all day doing nothing but scratching their nether regions."
The salamander's words struck the Monkey King like a lightning bolt, making him cover his head and squat down in bitterness.
Boo hoo hoo... we really tried hard, but the stones keep collapsing when piled up. We've already started pondering why the stones keep collapsing.
The salamander belongs to the family Cryptobranchidae, tracing back to the ancient Devonian geologic period, and they are very picky about the water quality of their living environment, generally preferring to be active in water temperatures of 10 to 25 degrees and disliking direct sunlight.
Calling itself the Dragon King, the salamander is very fond of the water quality in this cave, but the cave's water is too cold. Other salamanders might put up with it given their ability only to bully small fish and shrimp.
But the Dragon King Salamander is different; it prefers to enjoy a better lifestyle when it has the means.
So, it captured a group of monkeys to build a palace similar to a farm to enjoy itself.
Truth be told,
all the nutrients these silly monkeys have consumed over the years have gone to their monkey head mushrooms, with nothing left for their brain cells.
The salamander always included a criticism of the monkey body in three out of four sentences when discussing building the Dragon Palace.
The monkey head mushroom received special attention.
"Master Fox, the Ba Mountain Sky Pit mentioned by the salamander is almost near Hanzhong; we need to trek more than ten kilometers of mountain roads to reach there..."
The Monkey King took out a satellite phone, displaying a high-precision internal map from the Security Bureau, drawing a line marking the current location and the Sky Pit mentioned by the salamander.
"More than ten kilometers of mountain roads, does that sound feasible?" Ansheng looked at the Monkey King in exasperation.
On ordinary mountain roads, one could walk the distance; after all, Ansheng planned to use a drone, not needing to walk himself.
But given the gait of the Monkey King and the monkey troop, completely traversing the primitive forest for more than ten kilometers might mean reaching there by midday the next day.
"Yes, that's precisely my point,"
The Monkey King nodded and stated, "With our pace, reaching today is impossible. So, I suggest temporarily halting manpower searching while having the monkey troop scout, alongside utilizing satellite monitoring over the Sky Pit around the clock."
The goal here is to locate the source of the Qinling anomaly.
Currently, a clue has been found, and technological means can achieve comprehensive reconnaissance.
The salamander's words imply that the Sky Pit's primitive forest houses a group of spirit-like mosquitoes. The Monkey King wants to avoid rash conflicts with the mosquito swarm.
The mission to find the Qinling anomaly source isn't the highest priority within the Security Bureau.
Matters regarding the [Xinxing Agricultural Science College] are the focus of the Security Bureau.
Rash conflicts with the mosquito swarm could result in injuries and reduction of personnel, hindering future actions.
After all, the Sky Pit is desolate, and once the Xinxing Agricultural Science College incident concludes, targets can be locked in, and the mosquito swarm can be dealt with flamethrowers.
"Alright, back for dinner then!"
After listening to the Monkey King's analysis, Ansheng, who initially, upon hearing about climbing more than ten kilometers of mountain roads, wanted to bolt, immediately agreed and prepared to head home for dinner.
Just before heading home, Ansheng felt there was one more thing to do.
The fungal parasitic beast, upon receiving Ansheng's instruction, had defeated the salamander.
Yet, the wish list remained silent.
Ansheng couldn't discern whether the salamander was genuinely obedient, or if it was because he hadn't defeated it himself, that there was no Wish Power.
Ansheng intended to conduct a test.
After conferring with Master Fox, the Monkey King, who temporarily suspended the mission, glanced at the giant figure lying in the stream.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem, Lord Dragon King..."
The Monkey King looked at the salamander, speaking courteously: "We just learned from the macaques that you wish to construct a palace suitable for yourself? Coincidentally, we're considered quite affluent with connections in human society."
"We wish to invite Lord Dragon King to venture out; during your absence, we'll help construct your Dragon Palace, and during your tenure, we can collect famous waters worldwide for your enjoyment..."
The Monkey King expressed the invitation to the salamander, explaining the Security Bureau's capabilities.
However,
while the Monkey King spoke, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
A tree had fallen behind the salamander, with its crown inverted to the ground and its roots reaching towards the sky; the Monkey King was momentarily stunned.
He looked at the upside-down crown and saw Master Fox standing upright, gripping the tree trunk with two paws and sneakily moving behind the salamander.
"Security Bureau? Pfft... I have no interest; your human city environments are too polluted..."
"Thud—"
The salamander rolled its eyes. The Monkey King was left speechless while Master Fox scratched his head in confusion.
Wow!
I used so much force, yet still no Wish Power.
You, this huge thing, have no ambition, all that size gone to waste.
"Master Fox...."
The Monkey King could barely hold back his words, swallowing them down as he prepared to call a helicopter.
No wonder Wang Qiqi said.
If faced with an unsolvable issue, just call the Master; Master Fox is exceptionally persuasive.
Isn't he persuasive?
Going up and knocking someone out, ensuring only Master Fox spoke throughout, leaving the other unable to think.