Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 494 The Birthplace of Little Puff

If possible, Lin Lin really wanted to learn from those male protagonists in wish-fulfillment novels and see how they managed to maintain a harmonious harem without things getting out of hand.

However, it was clear that there was no one here for him to learn from, so he could only bite the bullet and try to ease the tension between Oozora and Puff.

Given the current situation, it's practically impossible to get the two little ones to become very close all at once. We can only take it slowly and see if they can gradually accept each other as they spend time together.

Seeing Da Kong's resentful gaze, Lin Lin could only give him a look:
'Puff can't travel the world like we can, so I'll have to spend more time with her while we're in Flame Village. Oozora is such a good kid, she'll surely understand her father's good intentions, right?'

Da Kong:……

After a moment's thought, it realized that it had wings and could fly all over the world with Lin Lin, while Puff obviously didn't have that ability. It seemed that the amount of affection that Puff could get from Lin Lin was quite limited. Once they left the Flamefire Village area, there would be nothing left for it.

Thinking about it this way, Da Kong suddenly felt that this flamboyant fox dragon wasn't so annoying after all, and even felt a little pity for it—poor thing, it can only be proud for a short time.

Da Kong growled at Lin Lin, flapped its wings and took off, preparing to hunt some wild monsters in the surrounding abandoned shrine area to reward itself, leaving the space to Lin Lin and Puff.

"Ugh……"

Lin Lin sighed with worry and sat down, looking slightly tired.

With a slight exertion of its four paws, Puff slid its body across the ground and quickly slid behind Lin Lin, lowering its body so that Lin Lin could lean against it.

Lin Lin rested his head on Puff's back, then turned his head slightly to meet the pair of fox-like eyes that were looking back at him.

After a moment of silence, Lin Lin said softly:

"I didn't expect you to be so happy to see me again."

"We've been apart for so long..."

Little Puff leaned her head closer, her big, blinking eyes looking intently at Lin Lin, and let out a soft moan.

When it was young, it was an innocent little dragon that simply liked to stay by Lin Lin's side out of the heart and instinct. But as time went by and it often came into contact with the villagers, Little Puff slowly learned to think. In its spare time when it didn't need to eat, it liked to stare at the colorful light reflected on the bubbles it blew and contemplate the life of a dragon.

So, it also figured out one thing.

Although Sister Huoya and the villagers were very kind to it, and it liked them very much, the person who rescued it from darkness and pain, the first person to bring it warmth in the cold and cruel nature, was the first ray of light to shine into its heart.

Therefore, no matter how long they have been apart, as long as it recalls the painful scars of its childhood and the warm hand that reached out to it, it will feel its feelings for this human being grow stronger. Time has not diluted its feelings; on the contrary, it has made this fine wine even more fragrant and mellow.

"So I'm that important to you?"

Lin Lin raised his hand to stroke the violet-colored fins on Puff's back and chuckled softly:
"Could you promise me that next time you see Osora, you'll be a little nicer? You're both kids I raised, and I really don't want to see your relationship so strained."

Cream puffs: ...

It let out a soft whimper, somewhat reluctantly, which could be considered a reluctant agreement.

If it treats me better when we meet again, I might be able to be a little gentler.

……

The next day.

Lin Lin turned over, yawned lazily, and his eyelids trembled slightly.

Ah, it's dawn...

Lin Lin was about to stretch and loosen his limbs when he suddenly realized that the sunlight in front of him was blocked and a figure was looking down at him.

Lin Lin: ?
"Brother Lin Lin, even if you're trying to avoid me, you don't need to sleep in a place like this, do you?"

The crisp voice carried an obvious hint of resentment, which quickly snapped Lin Lin back to his senses.

"What do you mean, 'hiding from you'?"

Lin Lin's question startled Ye Zi slightly, then her little mouth pouted higher than the sky, making her look even more aggrieved:

"If you're not avoiding me, why don't you sleep at my house instead of sleeping in a place like this?"

"Anyway, everyone in the village knows about our relationship, so even if we live together, no one will gossip! Are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

Lin Lin: Huh?

Did they fast-forward directly to living together?
Although in the original world, it would take no more than a day for two people to go from meeting to playing cards together, Lin Lin himself was actually one of the most conservative people. In his view, premarital sex was an irresponsible act.

But now that I'm in the Monster Hunter world, where being a hunter is a high-risk profession, most people still believe in "enjoying life while you can." Shouldn't I adapt to local customs and change my mindset? If the person in question is Yoko, I'll definitely take full responsibility!

Seeing Lin Lin's face flush red at a visible speed, Ye Zi was stunned for a moment, her mind immediately racing with all sorts of thoughts. However, she still suppressed her shyness and tried her best to make her voice sound less trembling:

"What are you thinking about! It's just about living here! As for those things... we'll have to wait until we get married..."

Looking down at Lin Lin's flushed face and the large bulge in the center of his skirt armor from waking up, Ye Zi paused, her blush deepening.
"Shouldn't we wait until the engagement...?"

"cough cough"

Lin Lin finally realized he had misunderstood, coughed lightly, and quickly said:
"Of course, of course."

"I'm not some lustful wolf. I fully understand and respect your choice, Yoko!"

Ye Zi raised her chin and let out a pleasant hum through her nose. Judging from Lin Lin's reaction, the idea that he was avoiding her wasn't really true, and her mood improved considerably as a result.
"So, Brother Lin Lin, why did you sleep here last night? I looked for you for a long time but couldn't find you. It was the village chief's Fumu Rabbit who found your location, and that's how I came here."

It's not surprising that Ye Zi couldn't find him, because Lin Lin didn't sleep in the village at all.

Flamefire Village is a village built on an island in the middle of a lake, while Lin Lin's location is on the opposite shore of the lake, in an area closer to the estuary.

"Well... it's mainly because Little Puff made her nest here. I played with her for a long time yesterday, so she just started sleeping here." "Little Puff?"

Yoko paused for a moment, then peered around to observe for a while:
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen it since I got back. Where did it go?"

"Wow!"

As soon as Ye Zi finished speaking, a splash suddenly appeared in the lake, and a huge fox head emerged, holding a large, gluttonous tuna in its mouth, its tail sticking out and slapping energetically.

Lin Lin: "Look, isn't it right here?"

Yoko: ...

Little Puff blinked and quickly recognized Yoko, letting out a cheerful little howl as if to greet her.

Ye Zi nodded in response, then looked at Lin Lin again:

"What are you..."

Lin Lin reached out and took the huge tuna from the puff's mouth, pulled out a small knife, and cleanly finished it off, quickly removing the scales and cutting it.

"I plan to go out with Puff today. I'm really concerned about what happened at Feiye Fortress. Maybe we can find some clues on this trip."

"Feiye Fortress? That unknown entity that secretly launched the beast tide?"

Ye Zi remembered what Lin Lin had specifically mentioned to Chang Pu before, and her expression became serious.

"I'll go too."

This matter concerns the Hundred Dragons' Night Parade, which has a very significant impact on Yanhuo Village. As a native of Yanhuo Village, she cannot stand idly by and do nothing.

So after Lin Lin and Ye Zi finished off the gluttonous tuna for breakfast, they sat on Little Puff's back and were carried through the estuary towards its usual hunting grounds.

And at this moment in the village—

Date, carrying the half-finished Felyne Dragonbreaker he had developed, ran to the workshop to seek help from his best friend Blade. To Date's great surprise, in addition to Blade, another heavyweight guest was also attracted by Date's idea and participated in the improvement of the device.

His name is—Hoshino.

(As shown in the picture, the character's artwork is quite hard to find.)
In the village, this man was known as "Big Brother to everyone" because of his straightforward personality and his helpful and kind heart.

Of course, that alone is far from enough to be considered a heavyweight. As the eldest disciple of the Blade Pattern, Huoxia has a unique understanding of weapon research. The "rapid-fire cannon," which plays a very important role in the defense of Feiye Fortress, is his masterpiece.

Incidentally, besides being an outstanding craftsman, Hisaka was also an excellent light crossbowman. One of the protagonists in the famous story of the Flame Village hunter killing the Map King like a chicken was Hisaka, and the other was Manjushri, whom he had met in Yukumo.

With the help of this genius in weapon development, Date's research on the Cat Dragonbreaker continued very smoothly, and it may not be long before this secret weapon is put to use in battle for the first time.

Sophia, who came to Flamefire Village with Lin Linyezi, excitedly wandered around the village with Baobao, finding everything quite magical.

Although the atmosphere of Jieyun Village is somewhat similar to this place, a closer look reveals that the customs and traditions of the two villages are actually quite different, which only fuels Sofia's desire to explore further.

For example, the villagers of Jieyun Village tend to be more relaxed and carefree, while the villagers of Yanhuo Village appear much more alert—clearly, this is the most direct change brought about by Yanhuo Village's policy of mobilizing all its citizens to deal with the Hundred Dragons Night Parade.

Furthermore, the villagers of Yanhuo Village seemed much more relaxed about the presence of Boom Boom, and were not as alarmed as before. This was also thanks to Sui Fengren and Lin Lin. With a Ghost Frog and a Flame Fox Dragon living in the village, and a Yellow Velociraptor that had lived there for a while before, it didn't seem strange that a Broken Dragon cub had appeared now.

Only Niaru, when she yawned and came out of Yoko's house, looked around for a long time, her face blank.

Where did my eldest go, meow? Wasn't he supposed to go find Senior Lin Lin? Where is he?

The person had naturally arrived at the abandoned shrine.

Lin Lin's prediction was indeed correct. The river that Puff found flowed into the sea was the same river that passed by the abandoned shrine. However, the place where Puff usually hunted was much closer to the upper reaches of the river—even further upstream than the small lake where she used to hunt the Kappa frogs.

Strictly speaking, their location extends beyond the narrow definition of an "abandoned shrine," placing them at the intersection of the abandoned shrine and the Feiye Fortress.

Finally, Little Puff stopped in a vast lake area.

The scenery here is filled with a wild natural beauty. Everywhere there are dilapidated, moss-covered, decaying trees, looking as if they had been ravaged by a raging storm. However, with the passage of time, new trees and aquatic plants have covered most of these traces. Perhaps before long, the tenacious vitality of nature will transform this place back into a peaceful land with lush vegetation.

"Woo——"

Little Puff turned to look at Lin Lin, letting out a soft moan, her mood slightly downcast.

For it, this place held not-so-pleasant memories, so it rarely came here. It was only on a whim that it came here this time, carrying Lin Lin.

This is the land where it was born. Many aunties of the Bubble Finch Dragon live here with their cubs. Red leaves fall and the water is calm. Even though Puff was forced to leave this place because of her experience of being constantly driven away in her childhood, she still thinks that the scenery here is very, very beautiful.

Before meeting Lin Lin, it wanted to return here but couldn't find the way. After being taken back to Yanhuo Village, it lost all interest in the place, but unexpectedly found it while foraging for food.

However, when it found this place, the bubble fox dragons that used to lick each other's fur and clean themselves had all disappeared without a trace, leaving only the traces left by the raging storm.

"Your birthplace..."

Lin Lin looked around and vaguely understood why Little Puff had brought him here.

"Judging from this, this place was most likely destroyed by a storm."

"Wind? Steel Dragon?"

Ye Zi felt a sense of unease. If it was an ancient dragon, it might really trigger a hundred dragons to roam at night... If he could kill it, he might be able to dispel the dark cloud that had been hanging over Flamefire Village.

"It might not just be Steel Dragon. Storm Dragon also controls storms, and... there might be other ancient dragons that control the wind?"

For example... the Wind Dragon?

(End of this chapter)