Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 509 Xialong: In short, I deeply regret it.
A plant that has never been seen before?
Lin Lin and Ye Zi couldn't help but exchange a glance; this was quite different from what they had expected—a certain ancient dragon causing trouble.

Could it be that the ancient dragon also has the ability to manipulate plant growth?

Lin Lin felt it was unlikely. As far as he knew, there was indeed an ancient dragon that could manipulate plant growth, namely the Yawon dragon that appeared in the online game Monster Hunter: Frontier Online. However, the Yawon dragon had lived in seclusion deep in the bamboo forest for hundreds of years and had the ability to control the bamboo because it had achieved a symbiotic relationship with the bamboo.

In other words, Yawon is a complete shut-in who never leaves his home. Even if Yawon really exists in this world, the monster that is currently making such a mess of places like the Waterless Forest is unlikely to be it.

(As shown in the picture, both are designed based on the Qilin in Chinese cultural legends. The current ancient dragon "Qilin" is actually more like a unicorn, while the Yawenglong is obviously closer to our Qilin image.)
Lin Lin shook his head slightly. There was really no point in thinking about it now. Since Xialong said that it had seen those plants and was very sure that the ferocity was caused by these plants, why not just go and take a look?

"I wonder what that plant you're talking about actually looks like? I'm going to collect some and take it back to see if I can analyze it."

Of course, it would be best to leave it to a scholar like Sophia to analyze, or send it to a research institution like the Dragon Academy or the Mad Dragon Virus Research Institute. As a hunter, he could just wait for the conclusion and see which dragon to cut down.

Xialong was not surprised at all by Lin Lin's request. It thought about it for a moment, then let out a low growl and turned to walk in the northeast direction.

Follow me, I remember it's more concentrated around here, so it'll be easier to find.

Without saying a word, Lin Lin followed immediately. Ye Zi hurriedly followed and quietly took Lin Lin's hand. Nia Lu stared wide-eyed at Yi Long and the other two walking ahead on their own, then turned and met the gaze of the clear-eyed Gou Zi.

Nia sighed, turned around and picked up the cat sword that Xialong had carelessly thrown on the ground, then jumped onto Xiaobai's back, and the cat and dog followed.

……

The journey wasn't long. As Lin Lin walked, he recounted his experiences since parting ways with Shui Mo Lin. Before they even got to the part where he started fighting with Lan Long, they had already arrived.

At a glance, Lin Lin recognized the strange plant that Xia Long had mentioned, a plant he had never seen before.

Because it's just so bizarre.

What kind of normal plant glows? And this bright blue light, so conspicuous at night? Isn't this just inviting a herbivorous monster to eat it?

(Guangmo: Qier woman)

Lin Lin turned to look at Ye Zi, who instantly understood and gently shook her head:
"I've never seen it before, and I don't know it."

So Lin Lin took out his peeling knife, plucked the vine that was twisting and turning around the tree trunk like an octopus, and put it into his prop bag.

Xialong growled impatiently. "We were just getting into the story, how could you cut it off like this? Tell me, what happened next?"

Lin Lin twitched the corner of his mouth, wiped the dirt off the peeling knife, recalled where he had left off, and then continued to tell the story in detail.

It has to be said that Lin Lin's storytelling ability is quite average. If he were to write a novel, he would most likely be a flop. But this does not affect the extent to which the story attracts the dragon. After all, it is his personal experience, and the immersion is maximized when told by him. In addition, Xialong is also a homebody dragon and has never seen the area outside of the water and forest. What Lin Lin experienced is too new to it.

As Lin Lin walked slowly forward, he told the story. Sometimes, when he saw those blue vines, he would collect some samples to take back with him. However, the further northeast he went, the denser the vines became, and Lin Lin's prop bag was soon filled up.

"Hmm... is this enough? I'm just wondering if we should collect some soil and water samples..."

Hearing Lin Lin's mutterings, Ye Zi immediately took out several glass bottles and bent down to start taking samples:
"It doesn't take up much space anyway, let's collect it first."

Once Ye Zi had finished sampling, Lin Lin estimated that the investigation could be concluded. Thanks to the presence of Xia Long, they had saved several days of their time, and the rest could be left to the scholars for analysis.

They say you rely on your parents at home and your friends when you're out, and that's absolutely true. With a monster friend to help you wherever you go, ecological surveys become a huge hassle.

Lin Lin's story had just reached the point where they successfully defeated the Heavenly Returning Dragon and Tiao Tiao completed its transformation. There wasn't much more to say, so it was a good time to end it here. Therefore, Lin Lin decided to bid farewell to Xia Long.

But then, a question posed by Xialong sent a chill down his spine.

"You mean you're planning to leave Waterless Forest and wander around somewhere else?!"

God knows how stunned Lin Lin was when he heard those words; it was as if the sky had fallen!

Originally, I just wanted to satisfy my friend's curiosity by telling it my story, but who would have thought that this would only fuel its curiosity and make it want to go outside for a stroll.

As everyone knows, Elder Dragons are known as mobile natural disasters. Among all the Elder Dragons, the calamities brought by the Chameleon may not be the most destructive, but their killing efficiency is definitely the most astonishing. Once the poisonous mist spreads outward, within a radius of a thousand miles, apart from some creatures with maximum poison resistance, it can be said that nothing grows.

It's too dangerous for Xialong to go out for a stroll!

Seemingly sensing Lin Lin's subtle resistance, Xialong let out a low growl, appearing quite displeased.

Aren't we friends? If you need help, I'll personally take you to find that strange plant. Now I just want to go out for a walk, and you don't even want to go?
As its emotions changed, a faint pinkish-purple hue appeared in the thin mist around it. However, Xialong quickly noticed this and with a slight thought, the pinkish-purple hue disappeared.

Lin Lin was ready to take out the antidote and administer it, but Xia Long reacted faster than he expected. After carefully assessing his condition, he found no signs of poisoning and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He shrugged:
“It’s not that I want to stop you, but you know how potent your poison is, right? If you run away, you could easily kill a lot of people and severely disrupt the local ecosystem. Then, local ancient dragons or powerful monsters comparable to ancient dragons will come to stop and drive you away.”

"Even without these, the Hunter's Guild would not tolerate such serious ecological damage. They would definitely send out powerful hunters to repel or even punish you."

Upon hearing that an ancient dragon would come looking for trouble, Xialong didn't react much, but upon hearing the following sentence, Xialong's body involuntarily trembled slightly.

It had just heard his story from this human friend. According to the battle he described, the ancient dragon named "Tianhuilong" was obviously stronger than it. But even so, it was still killed by Lin Lin and his companions. Even its corpse was made into a weapon for the female hunter.

As for this chameleon, it has almost zero experience in melee combat. Apart from releasing poison, it can only hide and run away. If it were to be targeted by that Hunter's Guild and sent a bunch of powerful hunters like Lin Lin to hunt it down, it would probably not have a good time.

Humans are too strong; I'm afraid. —Yes, Chameleon has seen many hunters, but few have shown their skills to it, and few have allowed it to judge their strength. Once was about forty years ago, with a katana hunter named Puxian; another was when it encountered Lin Lin and his two companions in the Waterless Forest; and the last time was right now, when two of the three people it encountered last time had already participated in the Elder Dragon hunt.

It's understandable that Xialong is a little frightened at this moment because she clearly has some misunderstanding about the overall strength of the hunters.

However, as one of the most quirky of the ancient dragons, the Chameleon is actually quite intelligent. It quickly realized what was happening and let out another low growl.

You're making it sound so scary, but isn't all of this based on the premise that I release toxic fog on a large scale and destroy the ecosystem? As long as I don't do that, everything will be fine, right?

Lin Lin's expression immediately became indescribable.

"Theoretically speaking, that's correct... but can you really control yourself from releasing the poisonous fog completely?"

Lin Lin pointed to the thin mist created by the Xialong around him. Just a few minutes ago, this mist contained a trace of pinkish-purple poison.

You say you can control yourself and not release poison? Who can believe that?

Xialong avoided Lin Lin's gaze somewhat guiltily, its eyes darting around. Clearly, although it couldn't find a way to refute Lin Lin, it still hadn't given up the idea of ​​going outside to take a look.

Lin Lin sighed softly. He could see that things had already come to this point, and he probably couldn't dissuade Xia Long from his idea. Even if Xia Long wouldn't run around while he was here, who could guarantee that Xia Long would stay obediently in the Waterless Forest once he left?
By then, he didn't even know where to find this guy.

"Never mind, it's not that I can't help you."

Xia Long was overjoyed and his sly eyes darted around, looking at Lin Lin again, waiting for him to continue.

"But I need a little of your blood."

In other words, it's impossible to control the surrounding mist in detail anymore; otherwise, the Chameleon would definitely have made them turn into three question marks on its forehead.

If you're going to help, why do you need my blood? What's the connection between the two?
Lin Lin had no choice but to explain:

"As you know, I have some... special qualities. I can establish a spiritual resonance with the owner of an ancient dragon's blood through the blood. When that time comes, our communication will no longer be limited by distance, and we will only be able to communicate face-to-face."

"That way, if you run into any trouble while you're out and about, even if I'm not around, I can still give you some advice and maybe avoid a lot of potential conflicts."

Huh? Is that so? Is this how the Black Devourer Dragon that helped in the battle against the Celestial Dragon communicated?

No problem then, it's just a little blood, take it!
Could you please choose a less painful spot for the blood draw? Like the thick-skinned back of a wing or similar area?
Lin Lin twitched the corner of his mouth. In fact, Xia Long was really wrong. Although Tiao Tiao had become an ancient dragon, the bond between them was far deeper than what Xia Long could currently match. He and Tiao Tiao did not need the blood of an ancient dragon as a bridge to resonate.

However, there's no need to bring this up again.

He simply called out to Ye Zi to draw blood from Xia Long—at Xia Long's request, the blood was drawn from its back, requiring him to climb onto its back. Obviously, Ye Zi had far more experience on a dragon's back than he did, so it was safest to leave the task to Ye Zi.

"Ow!"

Xialong regretted it, she was extremely regretful.

It's not that I regret agreeing to have my blood drawn, but that I regret having my blood drawn from my thick-skinned back.

Because its skin was so thick and tough, Yoko had to use a peeling knife to first pry off the outer protective scales, and then cut open the thick muscles in order to find its capillaries and collect the meat.

This is like being cut with a dull knife; it hurts constantly. If I had known it would be like this, I would have chosen a more "delicate" spot like my forelimbs or tail. It's better to have a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one!
"Phew, all done!"

Ye Zi wiped away her sweat, put away the peeling knife, put the few dragon scales she had pried off into her prop bag, and then sprinkled some life powder on the wound on Xia Long's back to promote healing. Only then did she jump off Xia Long's back and hand a bottle of scarlet liquid to Lin Lin.

Lin Lin: ...

A few drops would have been enough, why did you buy a whole bottle, girl...?

Ye Zi returned an innocent look, saying that with that much blood, it would be a waste to only take two drops!

Fortunately, Xialong didn't care about any of that. For a creature that was a full 26 meters long, the little bit of blood in that tiny bottle was really just a drop in the ocean.

Lin Lin poured two drops of the blood of the Radiant Dragon into his mouth, then his gaze met that of the Radiant Dragon.

"Ow?"

Why does it seem like nothing has changed?

As soon as it uttered that shout, it suddenly sensed something amiss. Although its gaze was fixed on the man in front of it, its vision seemed to suddenly split in two, playing fragments of the man's memories.

Some scenes were unfamiliar, with steel and concrete mountains rising abruptly from the ground, while others were more familiar, having been mentioned in the stories Lin Lin had told it before, though some parts were slightly different from what it had imagined.

As for Lin Lin, he naturally closed his eyes, stretched out his legs, and fell asleep, once again entering the dream world to experience the life of Xialong.

However, there's not much to say about Xialong's life. After hatching from its egg, it was raised by no parents. In its infancy, it survived by feeding on pollen and nectar and preying on various insects. With its superb intelligence and ability to hide, it outwitted all its predators and grew up unharmed, becoming the mischievous creature it is today.

It was that simple; Lin Lin woke up from his dream in no time.

(End of this chapter)