Chapter 116 - 109: Giant Beast
"Do you guys smell that? The air smells sweet." Qin Ziwu’s nostrils flared.
Li Tieshan looked up. "I smell it."
Qian Muzhen nodded. "I smell it, too."
"It’s a bit like passion fruit." Qin Ziwen raised his head, his gaze falling on the Forest Giant Mayflies above.
A Forest Giant Mayfly traced a Z-shaped path through the air, drifting down like a leaf to land on the edge of the rooftop. Its tail was slightly raised, and its back was turned to the four of them.
Its two long tail filaments swayed in the wind.
Compared to its aquatic nymph form, the winged Forest Giant Mayfly was much more elegant.
After resting for a moment, the Forest Giant Mayfly on the rooftop flapped its wings, preparing to take flight—
Flight—
—
’No, what is wrong with you?!’
Pulled back from the air three times in a row, the Forest Giant Mayfly turned its head. Qin Ziwen could almost sense its "annoyance." It opened its large mandibles and bit down on his arm.
But it had forgotten that its post-emergence mouthparts were not even as hard as the reproductive claspers on its rear.
Its two soft, little mandibles hit his arm, feeling more like a light scraping than a bite.
"Quiet. Don’t move."
Qin Ziwen slapped it on the head, dazing it.
"Let me see what this is." Qin Ziwen reached for the Forest Giant Mayfly’s back. Between its two wings was a pore, from which a thick, golden liquid was oozing.
This was the source of the strange, sweet fragrance filling the air.
He dipped his finger in, pulling up a long, viscous strand. It was as thick as honey.
It smelled very fragrant, like the blended pulp at the heart of a passion fruit.
The illustrated guide mentioned this substance but didn’t detail the uses of the "golden juice." It only gave its name, "Mayfly Golden Juice," and noted it was a major characteristic of the Forest Giant Mayfly.
Qin Ziwen watched the Forest Giant Mayflies dancing overhead and told his younger brother, "Go down and bring up a clean, empty glass jar."
Qin Ziwu hurried downstairs and quickly returned to the rooftop with a glass jar and a metal spoon.
After they scraped the Mayfly Golden Juice from the male Forest Giant Mayfly’s back, it began to struggle desperately as a female flew past overhead, its tail whipping around like a propeller.
Qin Ziwen let go.
The male mayfly finally shot into the sky.
It immediately flew to the female’s side to show off, and the two mayflies danced gracefully in the air, joining head to tail.
Over the next while, some of the Forest Giant Mayflies would tire and land on nearby rooftops to rest.
Qin Ziwen’s group caught what they could and scraped what they could.
The small glass jar in their hands was soon nearly half full.
Qian Muzhen asked curiously, "Sir, what exactly is this juice used for?"
If Qin Ziwen hadn’t noticed and stopped him, he would have secretly tasted it while scraping the golden juice.
"I don’t know," Qin Ziwen said, shaking his head.
Qian Muzhen became thoughtful. "I don’t think it’s poisonous. I secretly fed a little to an ant just now, and the ant didn’t die."
"Dr. Qian, your dedication to practical application is truly impressive," Qin Ziwen said with a thumbs-up.
Qian Muzhen chuckled. "Sir, don’t tease me. I was just curious what this stuff is. Humans can’t just eat anything, so letting an ant have the first taste is a good idea. But just because it’s fine for an ant doesn’t mean it’s fine for a person. It still needs more testing."
Suddenly, a low bellow, like that of a cow, echoed from the mountain behind them.
"GUUUU—"
The deep call was like the rumbling of falling rocks, cascading down from the high mountain.
"That sound is..." Qian Muzhen said, surprised, turning his head to look at the mountain behind them.
Li Tieshan asked curiously, "Is it an earth dragon turning over?"
Qian Muzhen disagreed. "Definitely not. The commotion from an earth dragon turning over wouldn’t be this small."
"It sounds a bit like the call of some kind of beast," Du Yu said, his expression turning grave.
Qian Muzhen’s hand trembled, and he nearly tore out his own beard. He sucked in a sharp breath. "For the sound to travel this far... what kind of lungs must that beast have?"
"GUUUU—" Another deep bellow came from the mountain. Compared to the first, this one was even more powerful and resonant.
Du Yu looked in the direction of the sound, his breath catching. "Sir, judging by the direction, could it be that thing from the cave?"
"What thing?" As a newcomer, Qian Muzhen didn’t understand.
But both Qin Ziwen and Qin Ziwu knew what Du Yu was talking about. They exchanged a look, then glanced toward the source of the sound. It did indeed seem to be coming from that direction.
Along with the sound, the Forest Giant Mayflies circling overhead began to fly faster.
At this point, more and more neighbors in the Gated Community were coming outside.
They were also gradually discovering that the insects flying overhead didn’t seem to be aggressive.
Some of the bolder ones were even trying to catch the Forest Giant Mayflies.
Qin Ziwen said, "These things are a type of mayfly. They were in their nymph form in the river before, and now they’re winged adults after emerging."
"The mayflies that are born in the morning and die by evening?" Qian Muzhen said. "According to the medical classics, mayfly nymphs are edible, but the adults have no nutritional value."
Li Tieshan asked, "Why is that?"
Qian Muzhen shook his head sagely. "The medical classics say, ’When eating insects, one should take their fat and richness.’ A mayfly uses all its essence for its winged transformation, leaving the rest of its body shriveled and meatless."
Qin Ziwu said, "We just caught a couple. They did feel pretty light, like inflated balloons."
THUD.
A tremor came from the mountain behind them.
THUD!
A behemoth was slowly leaping down from the mountain.
With every leap, the ground gave a muffled rumble.
Its massive body crushed the bushes and vegetation in its path, and some smaller trees were snapped in two.
THUD!
Its movements seemed slow but were actually fast, each leap covering a dozen meters or more.
"What the hell is that thing doing here?" Qin Ziwu muttered to himself, staring dumbfounded at the behemoth gradually leaping down from the mountain.
THUD!
From a distance, they could see a Giant Toad, its entire body a grayish-brown like rock, leaping step by step down the slope.
"That size... it must be two stories tall!"
Comparing it to the trees and plants nearby, the Giant Toad was nearly eight or nine meters long, with a head about five meters wide. Its body was about one story high.
It had a squarish, almost solid-looking body. Qin Ziwen took out his telescope to observe it from a distance.
The toad’s two eyes, each larger than a basketball, glowed with a pale yellow light.
The muscles on its hind legs bulged like blocks of iron. Then, those powerful muscles tensed like coiling steel cables, and its massive body launched into the air before crashing down heavily.
THUD!
It kicked up a huge cloud of dust, and the surrounding blades of grass rolled outward like a wave.
The Giant Toad leaped steadily, step by step, toward the Gated Community.
The others took the telescope from Qin Ziwen’s hand, each taking a look before lowering it.
Qian Muzhen’s brows were tightly furrowed. "This..."
Li Tieshan took a deep breath. "Sir, the Beast Traps will be useless against it."
Du Yu stared at the Giant Toad. "Its muscles are incredibly dense. A regular Bow and Arrow probably couldn’t even penetrate them. To hunt it, a simple pitfall trap won’t work either. We’d need a siege Crossbow or poison."
After getting a clear look at the Giant Toad, Qin Ziwen finally confirmed that this was the Stone Cave Ancient Giant Toad.
But its size far exceeded the standards recorded in the illustrated guide.
...
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