Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 459 The Promise with the Young Girl Gu Long
Lingrui was clearly stunned for a moment, her big eyes filled with confusion.

'partner?'

"Yes, partner."

Considering that the Qilin mostly lives a solitary life, Lin Lin changed his approach to make it understandable:

"A partner is someone you share food with when you're foraging, stay together to keep warm when you're resting, help each other in battle, comfort each other when you're feeling down, and share good things with each other when you're happy... that's pretty much the kind of relationship you have."

Now Lingrui understood. So-called partners are actually like mothers taking care of each other! And it's a two-way street!
In other words, she wanted to take care of Lin Lin as her mother had taken care of her, and Lin Lin wanted to take care of her as her mother had taken care of her.

Lingrui's ruby-like eyes carefully examined Lin Lin's body. Although he looked petite, Lingrui, who had witnessed his battle with the Golden Lion, knew very well how powerful this body was.

It's decided! Lin Lin is the man who can become my mother!
Thinking this, Lingrui swayed its long, silvery-white mane from side to side, its voice sounding somewhat excited.

Okay!

Lin Lin: ...

No, your understanding of partnership is definitely drastically flawed! Don't let Char mislead you!
Lin Lin stretched out his hand, seemingly wanting to speak but then stopping himself, opening and closing his mouth three times before finally saying nothing and letting out a deep sigh.

Forget it, let's leave it at that. I feel it's very difficult to correct Lingrui's views. Let's explain it slowly later.

So, will you be living here with me from now on?

Meeting Ling Rui's clear, unadulterated gaze, Lin Lin looked troubled:
"We are hunters. Our actions are not for ourselves, but to protect all our kind. Until we retire, we will not be able to stay in one place for long."

"Besides... I have other partners who need me, and I can't abandon them for you."

'I see...'

Lingrui's tail stopped wagging and hung quietly behind it, just like its lowered gaze.

The innocent and young Gu Long wore his emotions on his face. Even without the ability to sense thoughts, Lin Lin could see the sudden disappointment in him.

Lin Lin raised his hand and gently stroked the silvery-white mane on Lingrui's neck, his tone soft:
"Perhaps when I retire, I can come here every now and then to keep you company."

"But Lingrui, is this place very important to you?"

Lingrui tilted her head slightly, looking at Lin Lin with a puzzled expression.

"You can come with us and see the scenery of our human cities and villages. It's a magnificent sight that you can't see in the wild."

Upon hearing this, Ling Rui turned his gaze to the massive skeletons that formed the mountaintop, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

The saying goes, "It's hard to leave one's homeland." It had been forced to leave the land of its birth, wandering for a long time, unable to find its way back, and no longer able to see the familiar grass and trees. The primeval forest it was now in was its second home. It had just settled down, so was it going to have to say goodbye again?

Lin Lin listened to Ling Rui's thoughts, understood the reason for its hesitation, and couldn't help but smile as he spoke:
"It's not like I'm never coming back. If I miss home, I can come back to visit anytime."

"Treat this as a trip with companions, to see scenery you've never seen before, and then come back here to rest when you're tired from walking."

"and……"

Lin Lin hesitated for a moment, carefully recalling the forest hills where Ling Rui was born in his dream. He felt that the terrain there was somewhat familiar, as if a part of it overlapped with the Xiu Red Forest Hills he had visited before.

"If I have the chance, I would also like to visit the forest where you were born."

Of course, this is on the premise that it won't alarm Miss Mira. He doesn't want to become Mira's master's secret roast meat along with the Qilin—or he can wait until the guild has gathered its strength and successfully defeated it before going.

Lin Lin's words clearly touched Ling Rui's heart deeply. It suddenly raised its head, its crimson eyes meeting Lin Lin's:

'Really? '

“Really, I’ve been to that area before, and it’s easy to find the place by comparing it with my memories from the dream.”

The ancient dragon girl's mood was like a roller coaster ride, going up and down. When she heard this good news, she felt as if she had flown directly to the ninth heaven. The whole dragon was floating on air.

Then, Lin Lin's next words immediately pulled him back to the ground:

"It's not difficult to get you there, but we'll have to wait for the right opportunity."

'Why? ’

"Because it is near the ancient kingdom of Shured, where a forbidden being slumbers in the ruins. It is the nightmare of all living beings in the real world, and even ancient dragons fear its power."

"According to the available intelligence, it has begun to gradually awaken from its slumber, and it may not be long before it is fully awakened—which is why your mother insisted on taking you away back then."

Upon hearing Lin Lin's words, Ling Rui subconsciously recalled the inexplicable ease and joy she felt at the beginning after her mother forcibly took her away from her homeland.

Combining the information Lin Lin had just revealed, it finally understood that the ease it felt might not have been without reason, but rather the release of the oppressive aura of the terrifying being that had weighed on it since birth.

'With such a terrifying existence, will we even have a chance to go back?'

"There will be."

Lin Lin's voice was very firm.

"Even if we can't go before it awakens, we'll definitely have a chance after it's defeated."

Lingrui's eyes were filled with confusion:

'You said it yourself, it's an existence even ancient dragons fear, how could it possibly be defeated?'

Lin Lin smiled mysteriously:
"Because I've read the script."

A question mark made of lightning appeared on Lingrui's forehead. It remembered seeing similar scenes in Lin Lin's dreams and knew that this was a way of expressing its confusion.

"In the ruins of the ancient city of Shuret, the Azure Star that guided the way faced its destined war, Mirapolias. Under his leadership, the human alliance fought a bloody battle, suffering heavy casualties, and finally succeeded in defeating him."

"This is the inevitability of fate; the destined war will eventually come to its destined end."

Lin Lin shook his fingers like an old charlatan, looking completely certain.

After a moment, he suddenly asked in surprise, "That's not right. If you've seen my memories in your dream, how come you don't know this?"

Lingrui was completely bewildered:
'Should I know? I already said that memories in dreams are fragmented; you can only see the general outline!'

"And that dream was so absurd, it even included things like a running metal shell and a towering nest. If it weren't for some parts I could recognize, I would have really thought it was just a dream."

However, Lingrui didn't dwell on the topic too much. Seeing the certainty on Lin Lin's face, it felt much more at ease.

Hopefully, that terrifying entity can truly be defeated, so that it can return to its homeland.

"So? Have you decided to come with me?"

Lin Lin once again attempted to abduct the naive and innocent Gu Long girl. Aside from wanting to abduct her as a mount, he actually had another consideration.

Upon returning to Jiangbo Village, we must hurry to Xinade Village and eliminate Tianhuilong before he recovers from his severe injuries. Then, we should help Tiaotiao take over. If we can bring Qilin along, a genuine ancient dragon, and with Tiaotiao's near-ancient dragon combat power after activating his Berserk Transformation, plus my and Yezi's assistance, we can definitely take him down with ease!

However, after thinking for a moment, Lingrui first nodded, then shook his head.

Now it was Lin Lin's turn to have a question mark on his forehead.

'I'm willing and want to be your partner, but I can't walk with you right now.'

Lingrui bowed slightly to Lin Lin, gesturing for him to look at the broken root of the lightning horn on his head:

'Before my lightning regenerates, my control over lightning will decrease, and if my attacks are inaccurate, I could easily injure you. I need to stay here a while longer; the thunderclouds here can help me regenerate quickly.'

Immediately afterward, Lingrui looked up, gazing towards the distant mountainside, her clear and melodious voice continuing to echo in Lin Lin's mind:
"Moreover, that platinum-colored thing just caused such a ruckus on the mountaintop, spreading black dust everywhere. Although it can't penetrate my body, those weaker creatures certainly won't be able to withstand it and will be corrupted, becoming accomplices in the chaotic spread."

'I have to stay and clean up this filth; I don't want to see this place turn into a bloody and brutal killing field.'

Lin Lin remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded.

Although he still really wanted the power of this ancient dragon, Lin Lin didn't say anything like, "What you're doing is just a temporary fix. If you don't kill that Heavenly Returning Dragon, the same chaos will continue to happen in various places."

After all, with only a few hunters in Jiangbo Village, dealing with the Steel Dragon in the dense forest was already a headache. If it weren't for the Kirin, the entire primeval forest might soon turn into another Sky Mountain, becoming a new arena for the Black Dragon Battle Royale.

As a hunter, his duty also includes maintaining the ecosystem, and the scenario described above is undoubtedly something he would not want to see.

Lin Lin smiled and vigorously ruffled the silvery-white mane on Lingrui's neck:

"Then it's settled. You stay here to contain the spread of the Mad Dragon virus, and I'll go to Sky Mountain to take down the source. Once you've finished your business here, I'll come and pick you up so you can travel with us."

Lingrui was about to nod when she suddenly sensed something was wrong:
'If you leave here, how will you know that my work is done?'

Lin Lin smiled, but didn't speak. Instead, he pointed to his head:

Do you think our communication relies solely on face-to-face interaction?

Lingrui's eyes widened in an instant. Only now did it suddenly realize that the human who communicated with it more smoothly than its mother was speaking words that resonated directly in its mind. What it truly understood was not the language spoken by the other party, but the spiritual thoughts transmitted from it.

"Feel it carefully, can you sense the invisible connection between us? When that time comes, just say it to me in your heart, I will hear you."

"Oh dear~"

Lingrui raised its head and let out a long hiss, indicating that the deal was done.

……

In the woods a little further from the summit.

Ye Zi paced back and forth anxiously, sometimes looking up at the thunderclouds gathering at the peak, sometimes turning to look at Tiao Tiao, who was fast asleep beside her, and sighed helplessly.

"Don't worry about Boss Meow, don't forget his abilities, Meow!"

Dates scratched Yoko's shinbone in a comforting gesture.

It had already listened to Yezi's account of her previous experiences, and now its expression appeared very confident:
"The boss definitely wants to be friends with that Qilin too, meow! He's done this more than once before, and the same thing happened with that Mizuki Dragon in the Water Forest, meow!"

"Moreover, the ancient dragons are quite intelligent. The Qilin is one of the more docile ancient dragons. The boss fought the Golden Lion to save it, so it definitely doesn't have any hostility towards the boss, meow! Otherwise, the boss wouldn't have specifically asked you all to come back. It must be that the Qilin is more wary of Jump Jump, meow!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Zi sighed softly, stopped pacing, and sat down on a rock.

"I hope so, but what about Jump Jump..."

Her gaze fell on Jump again, whose head was resting on its wing claws, clearly fast asleep.

Ever since bringing out the corpse of the Mad Dragon-transformed Golden Lion, Jumpy has been very excited. As soon as it landed, it couldn't wait to open its mouth and start gnawing. The first thing it swallowed was the Golden Lion's heart, which was purplish-black from being filled with the Mad Dragon virus.

And the result...

Jump Jump's eating speed slowed down more and more. After finally swallowing most of the meat from the golden lion, its movements became somewhat unsteady, looking almost like it was drunk. Before long, it collapsed to the ground and fell fast asleep.

—Perhaps for the Black Eclipse Dragon race, a high concentration of the Mad Dragon Virus is a super supplement. If too much is consumed in a short period of time, symptoms similar to "carbon dizziness" may appear.

"Don't worry, boss!"

Nia scratched Yoko's greaves from the other side:
"Jumpy's vital signs are stable, meow, and according to my careful examination, its breathing is gradually becoming longer and its heartbeat is gradually becoming stronger, meow!"

"In short, it's about getting stronger quickly, meow! Don't worry, meow!"

Yoko nodded, but her expression didn't relax much, clearly she wasn't comforted.

"Are you worried that some monster might attack Jumping Meow? That's impossible. This place isn't far from that Qilin, and there was just a big battle nearby. How could any foolish monster dare to come near, meow?"

"Well...that's true."

Ye Zi sighed softly. Perhaps this was a case of being too concerned to see clearly. She couldn't help but worry about this and that when she couldn't see Lin Lin's condition.

"Yezi! You're here? Hey? Why is Tiaotiao asleep?"

(End of this chapter)