Monster Hunt: Notes from a Hunter

Under the cover of night, the two and a dog slipped through the iconic iron gate and out of the Seliana base.

The reflectivity of ice and snow is very high, making it naturally dazzling under the sunlight, but at night, the moonlight and starlight bathed the land in a gentle silver-blue hue, hazy and dreamlike, as if veiled in gauze.

It allowed people to see clearly without hurting their eyes.

The only problem was the lack of warmth from the sunlight. The temperature of the frozen earth at night was exceptionally low. Even though the weather was clear tonight and the wind was light, Fifi still felt like she was freezing, despite wearing a cold-proof cloak.

To avoid the ice-knife-like headwind, she tried to shrink into the soft fur on the back of Raging Wind.

Just then, Jie Jia embraced her from behind, the wide sleeves and front of the Celestial Mother Raiment completely covering Fifi's back.

The texture, somewhat similar to jelly, had a subtle elasticity, and the experience of wearing it was very novel, like being covered with a living blanket.

The strange thought flashed through Fifi's mind, but then she thought about it. If the Yu-moon Celestial Mother, with a water content exceeding ninety percent, didn't have the ability to raise its body temperature, it would have frozen solid long ago in the Frost Islands, where the temperature often dropped to minus thirty or forty degrees.

With Raging Wind's thick fur against her chest and Jie Jia's raiment covering her back, Fifi immediately felt warmer. She giggled and said, "Thank you, Sister Jie Jia," then tightened her legs slightly.

Receiving the signal, Raging Wind glanced back, let out a low growl, and strode forward with its powerful limbs, its running speed immediately increasing another notch.

At this point, they no longer needed to worry about threats from monsters. In this snow forest, no monster could keep up with the pace of a fully sprinting Jagras.

Perhaps a flying dragon soaring in the sky could, but the flying dragons that occupied the sky within a thousand miles seemed to be only the Legiana.

The location of their destination was much closer than Fifi had expected. In addition, Raging Wind knew the way, so they didn't even need a map. Less than half an hour after leaving the Seliana base, they arrived at an area of undulating rocky mountains and complex terrain.

Seeing Raging Wind stop, Fifi raised her head a little, "Are we there? Do the Boaboa live in this mountainous area?"

Raging Wind shook its head and howled twice.

"It says to hold on tight," Jie Jia whispered in Fifi's ear.

Fifi didn't bother to wonder why Jie Jia could understand dog language. She obediently squeezed Raging Wind's ribs and gripped the saddle tightly with both hands.

After confirming that the two on its back were secure, Raging Wind accelerated again.

As it was about to crash into a mountain wall, it leaped up, its sharp claws gripping the protrusions and crevices in the rocks, allowing it to run on these rock walls at an almost vertical angle.

In the blink of an eye, it carried the two over several low rocky mountains and arrived at a woodland surrounded by mountains.

Fifi, who had almost been thrown off, calmed her pounding heart and looked around.

This was a secluded paradise. The surrounding rocky mountains might not be high, but they were enough to block the footsteps of large monsters. If this place didn't already have an owner, it would be the best place to set up a camp.

"This is the hometown of those fluffy little cuties, right?" Fifi rubbed her hands and jumped off Raging Wind's back. "Where are they?"

Raging Wind shook its head and led Fifi, who was wrapped tightly in a cold-proof cloak, to a steaming pool of water.

The warm water was pale yellow and had a slightly pungent sulfur smell. This was a natural hot spring.

Raging Wind grabbed Fifi's clothes with its teeth and tugged, trying to lead her to the edge of the hot spring pool.

Fifi wrapped her clothes tightly around herself. "What are you doing? You want me to soak in a hot spring in this weather? I don't want to!"

"It says to take off your clothes and get into the hot spring," Jie Jia once again demonstrated her excellent animal comprehension skills.

"Isn't that just letting me soak in a hot spring? I'll freeze to death when I come out!"

Jie Jia stared at the hot spring for a while and shook her head gently. "No, there's a tunnel in the water."

Raging Wind "Woofed!" as if to say "Yes," and took the lead in jumping into the hot spring pool, diving underwater.

"Take off your thick clothes and bury them in the snow, then get into the water, otherwise you'll easily catch a cold," Jie Jia reminded Fifi before jumping in.

Left alone on the shore, Fifi wore a bitter face. Now she had no choice but to get into the water.

At the fastest speed of her life, she took off her thick Ice Wolf cold-proof suit and snow boots, made a bundle with the cold-proof cloak and threw it into the snow, screamed "I'm freezing!" and jumped into the hot spring pool.

She put her head underwater and looked. Through the dim yellow hot spring water, she could indeed see an underwater tunnel.

She took a deep breath, and Fifi dived into the water again, swimming towards the secret tunnel hidden at the bottom.

"Phew!"

When she surfaced again, she had arrived in an almost completely enclosed cave.

The reason for saying "almost" was that there was an opening at the top of the cave that led directly to the outside. A huge Beotodus skull blocked the opening, preventing large monsters from entering through it.

However, judging by the size, it was definitely no problem for people to pass through.

"Then why don't we just come in through that opening!" Fifi, with Jie Jia's help, climbed out of the hot spring pool and complained to Raging Wind.

"Woof!" Raging Wind, playing with several nearby Boaboa, barked.

"That's their window. It says that when you visit, you have to go through the front door, otherwise it's impolite," Jie Jia translated.

Raging Wind nodded vigorously.

"How can you translate this whole paragraph from one 'Woof'?"

Faced with Fifi's complaint, Jie Jia explained very seriously, "Language is not the key. Understanding emotions and thinking from the other person's perspective and way of thinking is the key."

"Alright."

Fifi squeezed the water out of her hair, hugged her arms, and rubbed her arms. Just as she was about to say "It's so cold," she realized that the cave was surprisingly warm.

"The temperature comes from the bonfire and the hot spring pool. The almost completely enclosed cave is very warm. Even in the coldest weather, it's very warm here," Jie Jia took off her wet shirt and put it aside.

"Did Raging Wind tell you that too?"

"No, Brother Ansel told me," Jie Jia rearranged the Celestial Mother Raiment. "He's been here and told me about this place."

"Dad? Oh right, it seems like Dad and his team were the ones who built the communication bridge between the Research Commission and the Boaboa back then. Did they say anything else?"

"They like to have their bellies rubbed, the Boaboa."

Jie Jia walked to a few Boaboa who had gathered around, squatted down, and scratched the furry belly of one of them.

The Boaboa seemed to be very ticklish and rolled onto the ground.

Jie Jia smiled and stretched out her hands, scratching its belly, making the Boaboa roll around.

Several other Boaboa also came over, as if they wanted her to help them scratch too.

Raging Wind walked over, and one of the Boaboa consciously lay down. Raging Wind put its nose to its belly and nudged it, and the Boaboa also wriggled.

It looks like a lot of fun!

Fifi rubbed her hands excitedly and approached.

She thought that the Boaboa would let her rub their bellies too, but she didn't expect those few to turn around alertly, pointing their large horns on their cloaks at her, looking resistant and wary.

"Gababa woo ya!"

"Woo ga!"

"What's going on?" Fifi pointed at the little guys with their different attitudes and couldn't help but ask Jie Jia.

Jie Jia, who had started to tickle the second Boaboa, looked back.

"It says it senses the aura of a weakling on you and won't let you touch them."

Fifi: "??"