Beastmaster: I'm really just a forest ranger

Chapter 271 This fire-breathing bird looks very weak.

It has mushrooms and a sweet aroma?
A smile appeared on Chen Yuan's face: "It seems we have found the habitat of fungal pets."

“But,” Li Junyue summoned the immovable Ink Tree Spirit, making this massive creature, like a solid fortress, stand in front of everyone. His deep voice echoed through the deep coniferous forest, “There’s something ahead. Let’s be careful.”

Even high-level beast tamers need to remain vigilant at all times in the wild.

In particular, they are now located in the habitat of fungal pets.

To prevent other creatures from invading or trespassing into their territory, fungal pets usually set up traps around their territory, such as using [Poison Spore Landmines] to set up a mushroom array, or using [Sweet Fragrance] to construct a large area of ​​poisonous miasma.

In short, there are various traps and ambushes, so one must be vigilant when entering the habitat of fungi-like pets.

Jiang Wenning let the Ice Crystal Illusion Cat on her shoulder jump down to guard the surroundings, her voice light and lively: "I guess either a beast tamer with the same purpose as us was attacked by the fungal pets here, or other pets broke in."

"Let's go join the fun, no, let's go pick mushrooms."

Jiang Wenning showed no fear. Her Ice Crystal Illusion Cat had broken through to the third rank earlier than the Ink Tree Spirit. Her surging spiritual power was hidden within her body, and once it erupted, it could intimidate multiple pet beasts at the same time.

Even if she were to travel through this place alone, she would have the confidence to calmly face any special circumstances.

"Then let's hurry up and pick more mushrooms." Li Junyue nodded in agreement, letting the slow-moving Ink Tree Spirit lead the way.

Cola, however, was dissatisfied with the slow-moving Ink Tree Spirit. It rushed to the latter's side, patted its trunk with its paw, and let out two cries: "Awoo~"

Step back and let me do it.

The black tree spirit, with no eyes or nose, stopped, turned to face Cola, its gaping maw opening and closing, and its arm-like branches drooping downwards.

Cola nodded and strode forward, yelling "Awooooo!"

As it moves forward, a gentle breeze ripples around it, blowing to the left and right, swirling up withered branches and fallen leaves, and swaying the tall, slender fir trees.

Once it senses the presence of a wild animal, this breeze will tell Cola.

However, as they continued forward, they saw few wild animals, but instead, they saw mushrooms scattered on the ground.

There are many kinds of mushrooms, including colorful ones that are vibrant in color and have an alluring shape, giving off an impression of "I'm poisonous, don't eat me."

Jiang Wenning and Chang Yuhuan also threw the poisonous mushrooms into the bag.

On their way here, they plucked some moss from the yaks. They believed that if they stewed it with poisonous mushrooms, it would purify the toxins, and there would be no need to worry about poisoning after eating it.

Of course, some fungi are extremely toxic, and even the moss of the yaks cannot harm them, so they have no choice but to throw them away with great reluctance.

Actually, none of the four recognized these mushrooms. Fortunately, Xiao Duoji knew them like the back of his hand, was very familiar with each type of mushroom, knew whether they were edible, and even knew the specific cooking time.

However, when he answered the questions from the crowd, he was clearly distracted and kept sneaking glances ahead.

His movements seemed discreet, but they had already been observed by the four men.

"almost."

Jiang Wen glanced at the full bag, with all sorts of mushrooms lying quietly inside. She shook it vigorously to weigh it, and smiled brightly: "Enough for us to have a meal."

The four of them didn't intend to pick all the mushrooms in the forest. Firstly, they just wanted to try some, and secondly, although they were ostensibly picking mushrooms, they were actually using this as an excuse to go deep into the wild and have a good rest for a day.

This trip into the mountains is not for training, not for carrying out a mission, and not for patrolling and protecting the forest; it is simply for sightseeing and enjoying the scenery.

“It’s still early.” Li Junyue glanced at the sky through the dense foliage, squinted, and said, “Let’s go back.”

Hearing this, Xiao Duoji finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Ouch!"

However, at that moment, Cola, who was lying to the side, suddenly raised its head, its ears perked up, and barked repeatedly at the front, its growling attracting everyone's attention.

"Something's up?" Li Junyue looked around, his eyes sharpening.

Cola had already noticed the situation, but when they went deeper into the area, they didn't see the fierce battle they had imagined; there were only scattered mushrooms.

"Hmm." Chen Yuan nodded, turning his head to look at the sparks on his right shoulder. "Let's go see what's going on up ahead."

"Chirp."

Spark nodded, gently spread its wings, and took flight into the sky.

"Mushrooms!"

Suddenly,
The fluffy mushroom, which had been curled up in Xiao Duoji's cotton coat pocket, suddenly jumped out. Its short stem bounced on the ground as it rushed towards the direction where Cola had discovered the anomaly at a fairly good speed, accompanied by urgent cries.

"Little mushroom!"

Little Dorje reached out and called out, but Fluffy Mushroom didn't turn around.

Seeing this, Xiao Duoji whispered an apology to the four of them, then wrapped himself in a large cotton coat and chased after Rongronggu.

"There's definitely something going on." Jiang Wenning's eyes lit up when she saw this.

They had noticed Xiao Duoji's unusual behavior long ago, and combined with this reaction, Jiang Wenning immediately sensed that something was amiss.

"Want to follow?"

Chang Yuhuan turned her gaze to Li Junyue and Chen Yuan and asked a question.

Li Junyue did not answer, but turned his head to look at Chen Yuan, who was deep in thought, waiting for the latter to speak first.

Chen Yuan appeared to be deep in thought, but in reality, he was watching Xiao Duoji's retreating figure and muttering to himself, "What, is there another special situation?"

He's been having this feeling lately that wherever he goes, he'll encounter special situations that require his intervention.

Can something as simple as going into the mountains to pick mushrooms trigger special circumstances?

The jumbled thoughts vanished in an instant. Meeting the three people's probing gazes, Chen Yuan shrugged: "Let's follow him. We can't just let him encounter danger."

"Nuomi, let's go!" Jiang Wenning stretched out her right hand, her braid swinging behind her head.

"Meow~"

The Ice Crystal Cat meowed and moved forward slowly with elegant and light steps.

Dissatisfied with his slow pace, Jiang Wenning grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up, meeting his crystal-clear, two-colored eyes: "Hurry up."

"At your current speed, the battle will be over before you even get there."

The Ice Crystal Cat bounced around, gently breaking free from Jiang Wenning's right hand. A surge of spiritual power emanated from its body, and an invisible force propelled its body forward.

"Aww?!!"

Cola's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at the flying ice crystal cat.

What? A cat can fly?
"Alright, you'll be able to fly someday, but let's go check out the situation first."

Chen Yuan's voice pulled Cola back from her drifting thoughts. Cola raised her head and let out a sob, then moved her limbs and charged straight forward.

Even though Fluffy Mushroom and Little Dorje rushed out first, their speed was far inferior to that of the little guys. Not to mention the sparks flying high in the air, Ice Crystal Cat, which flew with the help of mental power, could easily surpass them.

Flying using mental energy is a common technique for mental-type pets, but it is limited to pets with small bodies.

Even with immense spiritual power, a creature of the size of a Fallen Horned Beast would find it difficult to fly.

For this reason, Chen Yuan had already prepared a way out for Cola. Even if it couldn't learn to fly through wind-based abilities, it could still achieve this goal by using mental power after advancing.

"Ow!"

Although Cola, with its swift movements, was the last to rush out, it was extremely fast. It first overtook Little Doji and Fluffy Mushroom, then overtook Ice Crystal Cat, and rushed to the front. The fierce battle it had been looking forward to was gradually coming into view.

It was not just a fierce battle, but a massive melee.

Various kinds of fungal pets were caught in a fierce battle. In Cola's eyes, it was like delicious mushrooms jumping into a pot, rolling around in the boiling water, and the wonderful aroma lingered around his nose, making him unconsciously swallow his saliva.

"Ow"

I want to eat them one after another!

"Mushrooms!"

The bouncy, fluffy mushroom finally arrived. Upon seeing the chaotic battle, its gray cap shook incessantly, emitting anxious cries.

Directly in front of it, a much larger fluffy mushroom was fighting a giant shrew. Both sides used their skills frequently, but the larger fluffy mushroom gradually fell into a disadvantageous position and was covered in poison gas.

Seeing this, the fluffy mushroom hopped forward, and when it got close to the scarlet-eyed nightmare mushroom, it suddenly leaped up, its cap quickly closing and becoming sharp, charging straight at the scarlet-eyed nightmare mushroom.

But when the Scarlet-Eyed Nightmare Mushroom turned around, its scarlet eyes burst with red light, and a dangerous aura emanated from its body.

"mushroom!"

The velvety mushroom's charge came to a halt, letting out a terrified scream. Head down, it fell straight to the ground, its body stiffening with fear, its cap tilting to one side, and it fell into a coma.

"mushroom."

Upon seeing the reaction of the fluffy mushroom, the cap of the scarlet-eyed nightmare mushroom bobbed up and down, emitting a hoarse, mocking sound.

"Ow."

Cola couldn't stand the reaction of the Scarlet Nightmare Mushroom, so a gust of wind swept up the mushroom, lifting it high into the air before slamming it back to the ground.

The next moment, the Scarlet-Eyed Nightmare Mushroom fell into a coma.

"Ow~"

Cola looked down on its owner with disdain; it hated two types of pets more than anything in its life:

One is someone who tries to show off in front of it;
Secondly, we must prevent it from standing out.

"Why are these mushrooms fighting?"

When Chen Yuan and his group arrived at this place, they were immediately stunned by the scene before them.

Why are they fighting when they are both fungus-type pets?
In their guess, it was most likely an invasion by an external enemy, with the fungal pets working together to resist, but they ended up fighting each other?
"Little mushroom!"

When Little Dorje saw the fallen fluffy mushroom, he knelt down on the grass and reached out to pick it up, but the fluffy mushroom did not move and seemed to be dead.

"Little Mushroom, don't die, we haven't become champions together yet."

Tears fell in a steady stream onto the fluffy mushroom, whose body trembled slightly before it slowly opened its eyes: "Mushroom?"

Little Dorje hugged Fluffy Mushroom tightly, tears still welling in his eyes, but a smile appeared on his lips first: "Thank goodness, Little Mushroom, you're not dead."

"mushroom!"

The dazed fluffy mushroom finally came to its senses and struggled to jump out, trying to join the fierce battle, but was stopped by Little Dorje: "Little mushroom, you are no match for them."

"mushroom!"

The velvet mushroom reacted violently, its cap shaking wildly.

Seeing the reactions of the person and the pet, Chen Yuan, who had already experienced all sorts of special situations, remained calm and spoke in a steady tone: "Little Dorje, tell us everything you know."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Duoji was taken aback, his expression visibly stiffening as he stammered, "I...I..."

"Don't be nervous, we're not bad people." Chen Yuan smiled slightly. "We'll decide whether to get involved in this mess only after we know the specifics."

As a forest ranger in the Qinling Mountains, Chen Yuan has witnessed and resolved many pet-animal conflict incidents, most of which were fights between pet groups.

If their conflict does not affect the local ecological environment or cause harm to humans, Chen Yuan will not intervene.

Upon hearing Chen Yuan's words, Xiao Duoji looked down at the struggling Fluffy Mushroom, then turned to face Chen Yuan and the other three, bowing his head in apology: "I'm sorry, I lied to you."

The four remained expressionless. Jiang asked Ning, "What did you lie to us about?"

Little Dorje didn't dare look the four in the eye, burying his head even lower, his voice as weak as a mosquito's buzz: "Actually, these mushrooms are fake." "Fake?" Jiang Wenning frowned: "They can't be eaten?"

"No, no, no!" Little Dorje hurriedly waved his hands, explaining, "These mushrooms were specially placed here by Little Mushroom's friends, so you wouldn't be disappointed if you didn't find any mushrooms and then not pay me."

Hearing this, Chen Yuan sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

Do they look like that kind of people?
Little Dorje glanced at their reactions, and seeing that Chen Yuan and the other three were not angry, he continued in a low voice, "Actually, this is a collaboration between me and Little Mushroom and the others."

"They are responsible for placing mushrooms in the woods in front, and I am responsible for leading people into the mountains to pick mushrooms. The money we earn is used to buy food for them."

"The little mushroom's friends don't want to see humans, so we can only lead you to the forest ahead. You can't venture into this area."

Little Dorje's voice grew softer and softer, then he bowed deeply, his tone sincere: "I'm so sorry, I lied to you."

"If all scams in the world were like this, I'd like to see as many as possible." Chen Yuan chuckled lightly, then looked at the fungal pets in the midst of their chaotic battle, changing the subject, "So what's going on with these?"

Seeing that Chen Yuan did not pursue the matter of his deception, Xiao Duoji secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt a deep sense of guilt. He quickly explained, "These are two different groups."

"One group is Little Mushroom's friends, and the other group is the Bad Mushrooms, who love to attack other pets with poison."

Chen Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

He had just discovered the situation; although it was a chaotic battle, it was actually divided into two camps.

First, there are non-toxic fungal pets, most of which are wood-type, but some also have other attributes, such as the fire-type Ironfist Flame-Fold Mushroom.

The Iron Fist Flame Mushroom has a thick cap like a boxing glove, and every time it punches, it can create a burst of sparks, making it an anomaly among fungal pets.

There is also the ice-type Avalanche Mushroom, which is entirely ice-blue with layers of ice crystal scales covering its cap. When the cap shakes up and down, it can exhale a chilling aura that freezes its opponent into an ice sculpture.

Secondly, there are poisonous fungal pets, including the Exploding Mushroom and the Nightmare Mushroom that Chen Yuan had seen before, as well as the Corrosive Heart Mushroom that he was seeing for the first time. Their attack methods are roughly similar, all of which attack their opponents with poison-type skills.

However, as a forest ranger and part-time beast tamer, Chen Yuan knew that one could not judge the quality of a pet by whether or not it was poisoned.

Moreover, human standards of good and bad do not necessarily apply to pets.

Li Junyue's gaze was deep as he extended the topic: "Poisonous fungus-type pets and non-poisonous fungus-type pets have always been fighting each other, and it is very normal for them to fight each other fiercely."

Kobayashi's Honey Mist Umbrella Spirit belongs to the latter category. Due to its innate conditions, it has never gotten along well with the former.

Chen Yuan looked ahead, observing the chaotic battle.

Poisonous mushroom-type pets unleashed their poison-type skills, various poisonous gases spread around, and poisonous mushrooms boomed and exploded in mid-air.
The non-toxic fungi-based pets each displayed their unique abilities, some throwing punches that sent sparks flying, others emitting chilling breaths, and still others shooting out flying leaves.

Little Dorjee held the struggling, bouncy mushroom tightly, telling it not to go to its death while urgently explaining the situation to everyone.

It turns out that this place is called Mushroom Valley by the locals. It was rich in mushrooms even before the spiritual energy was restored. Every summer, a large number of locals would come here to pick mushrooms.

After the spiritual energy revived, a huge number of fungal pets were born in this place, and ordinary people could no longer cross the dangerous coniferous forest to reach the even more dangerous Mushroom Valley.

These fungal pets naturally fall into two groups: non-toxic and toxic, but they all obey the Mushroom King.

"Mushroom King?" Jiang Wenning's eyes flashed, and she murmured, "What a cringeworthy name."

Little Dorje stretched out his hands, hidden in his sleeves, and with a series of strokes, indicated that the Mushroom King was incredibly large, like a moving mountain.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow: "It's not going to be another gigantic pet, is it?"

The Mushroom King is the common leader of the two groups, but he is mostly asleep and only wakes up once a month.

Every time he wakes up, the Mushroom King eats a lot of things.

To gain the favor of the Mushroom King, the two groups will try every means to collect food and store mushrooms.

Chen Yuan guessed, "You've spent all the money you've earned here?"

Little Dorje nodded: "Yes, the Mushroom King may have eaten, and the stored mushrooms are not enough, so the little mushrooms' friends need me to help buy food."

At this point, he counted on his fingers and said, "Whether it's meat or vegetables, the Mushroom King likes to eat them all, but what it likes most are the snacks it buys from the city."

"How do those poisonous fungus-type pets gather food?" Chang Yuhuan asked, having recorded the information provided by Xiao Duoji.

“It must be by robbing Beastmasters,” Li Junyue suddenly said, drawing everyone’s attention. “If I remember correctly, the Beastmaster Office of Longda Village once issued a mission to drive out the group of poisonous fungus-type pet beasts that lived nearby.”

"Because they will actively attack hikers and beast tamers, causing them to fall into a coma after being poisoned."

"When they woke up, they were unharmed, but all their food had been looted."

"Actually, it's not a big deal if the food is looted, but if a beast tamer falls unconscious in the wild, he is easily attacked by other aggressive pets, which is very dangerous."

"Therefore, these guys are the main targets of local crackdowns."

"Has anyone taken on this task?" Jiang Wenning blinked.

Li Junyue shook his head: "No, dealing with these guys is too troublesome. You could easily get poisoned, and the reward for completing the mission might not even cover the cost of buying the antidote."

This is why the poisonous fungus-type pets collect more food each time and are more appreciated by the Mushroom King, while the other group is resentful. As a result, the two groups are constantly in conflict, the root cause of which is the competition for the Mushroom King's favor.

"I remember now, today is the time when the Mushroom Kings wake up." Little Dorje's eyes widened, and he belatedly spoke up, "Every time before the Mushroom Kings wake up, they fight over food."

Having finally sorted out what had happened, Chen Yuan looked ahead and quietly asked, "How many contribution points would I get if I solved them?"

Li Junyue silently raised a finger: "Given how troublesome poison-type pets are, at least this number."

Chen Yuan nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his face: "Cola."

"Ow!"

The cola roared with its head held high, already poised to unleash its power.

However, one of the Gorilla-eyed Nightmare Mushrooms had noticed Cola's involvement in the melee earlier. After dealing with a Fluffy Mushroom, it launched an attack on Cola without hesitation.

"Ow!"

Seeing that its opponent not only did not surrender but launched an attack on it instead, Cola's fluffy tail swayed easily, and dense wind blades suddenly gathered around its body.

Bang bang bang!
Blades of wind shot out, and the slow-moving Nightmare Mushroom had no way to dodge. No matter what skills it used, it could not stop the fierce attack. Explosions rang out continuously, and it instantly collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Seeing Cola's amazing performance, Little Dorje stood there in a daze, and even the fluffy mushroom in his arms stopped struggling.

"Ow~"

Cola glanced sideways at the man and his pet, the dog shaking its head and wagging its tail.

what is this?
Cola, I'll show you something even more amazing!
"Ow!"

Cola looked around and saw a large rock to his left. He leaped onto it and looked down into the chaotic battle with his sharp eyes.

A strong wind rose.

A fierce gust of wind swept out from Cola's body, spreading rapidly in all directions and hitting every pet in the melee.

The wind grew stronger, and each of the pets began to sway uncontrollably, then cast their gazes toward Cola, who stood firmly on the large rock.

"Ow!"

Cola raised its head and let out a long howl, its light brown fur flying wildly. Facing the gazes of the crowd, it actually took half a step forward and swept its disdainful eyes across the entire scene.

The overwhelming and imposing aura stunned the entire audience. When Cola took a half step forward, all the pets involuntarily took a half step back, which amazed everyone.

Seeing Cola's reaction, Chen Yuan couldn't help but mutter, "Could it be that Cola is studying under Ironhead?"

But the pets present quickly reacted and launched one skill after another at Cola.

"Ouch!"

Seeing the overwhelming energy waves, Cola's powers instantly crumbled. Terrified, it quickly jumped to the ground and used a large rock to dodge the attack.

Rumble!
The skill was unleashed, and the seemingly indestructible boulder instantly turned into stone chips, which flew everywhere.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cola burst out, its figure turning into a blur, and crashed heavily into the nearest Explosive Mushroom.

boom!
The Explosive Mushroom was knocked to the ground and fell into a coma.

At the same time, all three commanded their pets to join the melee.

Because the scene was too chaotic, they couldn't distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous fungi, so they simply beat them all to quiet them down.

The Ink Tree Spirit charged into the horde of fungal pets like a berserker, its branches waving and swirling in the wind.

Whenever a fungal pet attempts to attack it, the Ink Tree Spirit simply uses its trunk to withstand the attack, and the mushroom bombs can only cause minor damage to it.

With the Ink Tree Spirit drawing the fire, the other little guys were in a much better position in the battle.
The Ice Crystal Cat's eyes shone with a faint light, and its surging spiritual power wove into a net, instantly trapping several pets, sending them flying high into the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

If a pet attempts to attack it, its mental energy will construct a defensive barrier, blocking all attacks.

Although the Water Spirit Turtle didn't perform as well as the previous two, it fought steadily, spouting jets of water from its mouth, and achieved a respectable record for a time.

After all, these fungal pets had long been engaged in fierce battle and were no longer in their original state. They were all injured to varying degrees, and their strength was far inferior to that of the other pets, so the scene was one-sided.

The only thing to watch out for is poison-type skills.

Poison-type skills are insidious and difficult to defend against; a slight mistake can lead to being caught off guard.

Fortunately, the twin concubines remained quietly seated on Chen Yuan's left shoulder, their bright eyes sparkling with curiosity as they carefully observed each poison-based skill.

Whenever toxic fog spreads in this direction, it calmly waves its hands to deal with it.

As a result, when everyone joined the melee, the two major fungal pet groups quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, and one fungal pet after another fell down.

During the chaotic battle, some fungal pets would drop fungi. Ice Crystal Cat's eyes flashed, and it used its mental power to control these fungi to fly into its bag.

The bag was so full it couldn't be fuller, enough for everyone and the little ones to have a good meal.

"Amazing!"

Looking at the group of pet beasts displaying their divine power, Little Dorje opened his mouth wide, his face full of shock.

Apart from that seemingly weak fire-breathing bird watching from mid-air, all the other pets are incredibly powerful; Little Mushroom is no match for them at all.

"mushroom"

The fluffy mushroom also stared at everything in shock, but then it suddenly realized that its little friends were also falling to the ground one after another. With a shake of its cap, it was about to rush out to save them.

But when Fluffy Mushroom suddenly saw the arrogant Wind Hound, the ferocious Ink Tree Spirit, and the Ice Crystal Cat toying with its opponents with its mental power, it silently stopped in its tracks.

The melee gradually subsided, and all sorts of fungal pets lay sprawled on the ground, with delicious mushrooms scattered everywhere, but no one intended to pick them up.

"Alright, that's about it." Looking at the few fungal pets huddled in the corner trembling, Chen Yuan smiled kindly. "We can talk to them properly once they wake up."

"Hmm, and by the way, tell these guys not to attack any passing beast tamers."

Looking at the mess on the ground and the fungal pets lying haphazardly, Little Dorje was still in a deep shock.

It turns out that these beast tamers are really different from the beast tamers he has served before.

In the past, beast tamers would panic and flee when they encountered a crazed gray-armored boar, and would avoid flocks of flying larks from afar.

Rumble!
Just then, a huge roar, like an earthquake, came from not far away. Cola suddenly raised its head, looked ahead, and let out a wary cry: "Awooooo!"

Could it be that ridiculously large bug has reappeared?

The same thought flashed through Chen Yuan's mind for a moment, but he quickly shook his head and laughed, "How could that be?"

The gigantic Thousand-ridged rock magpie stayed obediently in Daping Village.

What kind of pet could have caused such a commotion?
(End of this chapter)