Bang! Not long after, the corpse of a Khezu fell from the sky, landing at the cave entrance.
Yuan Jiao suppressed his movements to the lowest possible level and went to the cave entrance to investigate.
Seeing that the entire body of the Khezu had only a single cut mark on its neck, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Feeling a wetness on his front paw, Yuan Jiao looked down to see a puddle of drool. He no longer dwelled on it, opened his mouth, bit down on the Khezu's spine, and walked into the mountain cave.
Creak! Rustle! Whoosh! Grrr...
A series of tearing and swallowing sounds emanated, lasting for a short while before quietly ending.
Bang! A Felyne fell from a great height.
Yuan Jiao came out again to investigate. It was another fatal blow to the neck.
Li Fan saw that Ye Ye had become familiar with the mission flow and began to take turns with the team to keep watch.
After all, once the Hyakuryu Yakou began, they would have to participate in the defense of the city. Facing a surging tide of monsters, they couldn't afford to be without sufficient rest.
Time passed, and Dilu, holding the binoculars, felt her eyelids growing heavier.
"Ye Ye is so amazing, meow! The corpses at the cave entrance are piling up... Ah! They're piling up!"
Dilu, sensing something was wrong, suddenly jumped up.
The higher the hunting efficiency, the better, of course. But with seven or eight monster corpses piled at the cave entrance, anyone would feel that something was amiss within the cave.
At that moment, Ye Ye, carrying the corpse of a Great Jaggi, flew overhead.
"Ye Ye! Don't drop it anymore, meow!"
Dilu, covered in a green leaf camouflage net, waved her paws on the ground to remind Ye Ye.
Ye Ye swooped down and landed beside her. Dilu tried to mimic Li Fan's gestures and words to convey the meaning.
Ye Ye, who seemed to understand but not entirely, tilted her head and listened for a long time. Carrying the Great Jaggi corpse, she hopped into the bushes.
"That's right, meow! Otherwise, the monster corpses piling up together are too conspicuous."
Dilu approved.
Gurgle! Ye Ye, understanding the intention, flew to the cave entrance and began to drag the piled monster corpses away one by one.
The first time was fine, the second time was fine. As she was dragging a Khezu corpse backward for the third time,
The moonlight was suddenly blocked, and three large shadows converged, engulfing Ye Ye.
Ye Ye slowly looked up, her crimson eyes filled with shock.
"Ah? Ye Ye has been led into the cave by Yuan Jiao, Lei Ge, and Xi Xi!"
"Yes, meow! Quick, think of a way to save Ye Ye!"
Dilu grabbed Li Fan's arm and cried out.
"It should be fine. Two of these three brothers are our own. Ye Ye will definitely be safe."
Li Fan crawled out of his sleeping bag, took out his handheld game console from his backpack. Ye Ye's pixelated icon was trembling slightly, one wing raised, covering her beak.
After checking her status, he found that she had more negative status effects than usual: one was fear, and the other was stench.
Where did the stench come from... Oh, three five-star monsters eating, drinking, and defecating inside. It would be strange if it didn't stink.
This reminded him that there must be someone in the village defense force who could smell the Magnamalo's feces. He needed to find Ju Xing to help cover it up.
Before long, Ju Xing cautiously poked his head into the cave entrance, sniffed the thick odor wafting out, and nodded with some approval.
Puchi! Puchi! ...
With a little effort, yellow mist soon drifted from the cave entrance.
"Good. Once the Magnamalo's scent is covered, even the diligent village defense force won't be able to investigate... Alas, why is there wind?"
A strong wind blew through the mountain forest, causing the trees to bend slightly.
Li Fan pressed down his hair, which was being blown about by the wind, squinted, and looked up, noticing a not-so-small problem.
The yellow mist, which had originally dispersed upwards, was now being carried by the wind and all flowed into the cave entrance.
"Ju Xing, stop! If you keep going, there will be trouble."
Li Fan quickly shouted.
Ju Xing, who was squatting in the strong wind, sniffed, got up, and quickly fled.
Seeing the yellow mist continuously pouring into the cave, Li Fan's face grew increasingly grim.
However, when he checked his handheld game console, the result surprised him.
Lei Ge, Xi Xi, and Ye Ye had indeed suffered severe stench, but their emotions were surprisingly stable.
Could it be that they were already accustomed to the smell and had developed resistance?
Li Fan made a conjecture based on his own experience.
Before long, Yuan Jiao strode out, glanced back into the cave, then suddenly lowered his head in front of the bushes and began to retch.
Sensing that Lei Ge, Xi Xi, and Ye Ye had come out of the cave, Yuan Jiao immediately raised his head and returned to normal.
Roar...
Ye Ye took to the sky, and Yuan Jiao let out a low growl.
"What did Yuan Jiao say, meow?"
Dilu, who was crawling, asked Li Fan beside her.
"He said... 'Fourth brother, keep it up.'"
The next day, the weather was clear, and preparations for the city defense were still underway.
The team began to scout the terrain of the Jade Forest Fortress.
This had two benefits: first, if a dominant monster led the charge, the team could quickly reach the pass to intercept it.
Second, it allowed them to formulate a feasible plan for capturing Yuan Jiao.
Li Fan found the village defense captain and had a chat. He learned that even dominant monsters in the past usually only reached the second pass.
The reason was that although dominant monsters led the monsters, they did not engage in desperate battles. As long as they did not give the enemy a chance to climb the city walls, they had a very high probability of repelling them.
Li Fan immediately recorded this information in his notebook.
"As expected of a chief hunter, he even records information related to city defense."
Watching the team leave, the village defense captain couldn't help but sigh.
The morning was spent on field investigations, the afternoon on planning the capture. By evening, two preliminary plans were finalized.
In the makeshift tent on the city wall's corridor, Dilu looked through the plans Li Fan had written, becoming increasingly confused.
"Plan One, 'Three Heroes Fight Lu Bu.' Plan Two, 'Infernal Affairs'... What do these mean, meow?"
Li Fan, eating his meal, swallowed a piece of beast meat and explained, "Yuan Jiao's ultimate goal is the same as other monsters in the Hyakuryu Yakou, but his behavior is the opposite. He seems to be intentionally causing trouble. I learned from the village defense captain today that Magnamalo not only gives the village defense force a headache but is also disliked by other monsters. There have even been instances of three-way battles in the past."
The village defense force feared Magnamalo for two reasons: first, its leaping ability, using its ghost fire, posed a significant threat to the top of the city walls.
Second, Magnamalo's indiscriminate slaughter, while driving away the monster tide, would cause panic among lower-star monsters, leading to uncontrollable diversions.
This was very detrimental to a city defense battle that relied on concentrated firepower.
Li Fan drank a mouthful of thick soup and continued his explanation.
"If a dominant individual appears, my plan is to guide the three brothers to fight against it. The dominant monster, with so many monsters under its command and its own superior combat power, I don't think the three brothers will be a match for it. When Yuan Jiao is in a desperate struggle and his life is in danger, our team will make its appearance."
"What a creative plan, meow! What about 'Infernal Affairs'?"
Dilu asked.
"This plan is more insidious. If there is no dominant individual in this Hyakuryu Yakou, Xi Xi will launch a heavy blow from behind Yuan Jiao when he is in his most desperate situation. Lei Ge will then step forward to cover Yuan Jiao's escape. Afterward, our team will appear, pretending to hold Lei Ge hostage and threaten him. At that time, Yuan Jiao, out of loyalty, will most likely surrender willingly."
"This... it feels like destiny is being controlled, too terrifying, meow!"
Dilu felt a pang of sympathy for Yuan Jiao.
"This is just a preliminary plan, and there are still many areas to research... To be safe, let's find a way to include Wan Pi as well."
Li Fan immediately had a new vision.
He arrived at the observation point far from the cave entrance to relieve Yudora.
Late at night, Yuan Jiao came out to relieve himself and vomit.
After a day of adaptation, the yellow mist's effect on him was gradually diminishing.
As he walked past the cliff edge where he often took strolls, Yuan Jiao suddenly noticed a Rathalos lying on the ground below, feigning death.
Yuan Jiao leaped lightly from the cliff top and landed beside the playing-dead Wan Pi, circling and observing him.
Roar...
Confirming there was no threat, Yuan Jiao let out a low growl.
Wan Pi's head, resting on the ground, lifted slightly, and he coughed out two puffs of black smoke, appearing extremely weak.
In normal circumstances, this would have been a gift from nature.
But Yuan Jiao remembered the constantly expanding team. With a few climbs, he returned to the cliff top.
Before long, Xi Xi and Lei Ge were dispatched, and as quietly as possible, they dragged Wan Pi into the cave.
The next day, Li Fan returned to the tent to rest after his shift. He hadn't slept long before Dilu rushed over.
She said that a Sinister Soul Wyrm was circling her, but she couldn't understand what it was trying to convey.
Li Fan rushed to the scene and, through interpretation, learned that the spirited Yuan Jiao, feeling that the team was so powerful, wanted to change their hiding cave.
They were originally planning to act at the second pass, but now they were temporarily going to ambush at the first pass.
"Change it, for goodness sake! Your infiltration hasn't been exposed yet, and you're getting more capable subordinates. I'm the one carrying the burden for you."
Li Fan was helpless.
The monsters at the first pass were indeed the most numerous, but since they hadn't been attacked by the city defenses, they were in the best condition.
Therefore, the difficulty of hunting would increase significantly.
Furthermore, and most importantly, the first pass was designated as breachable in the city defense plan.
This meant that the time the monster tide spent gathering before the first pass was extremely limited.
The second pass, with its narrowed terrain, was the one the village defense force had to defend to the death. If the monster tide reached the third pass, it would be a matter of survival for Flame Village.
No one was willing to take that risk.
Therefore, the extremely long retention time before the second pass provided ample assurance for the capture plan.
After all, the areas outside the passes of the Jade Forest Fortress were not too narrow in terrain.
In the complex environment of a surging monster onslaught, only a long gathering period could create conditions for the three brothers to fight against a dominant individual.
"I need to find a way to stop Yuan Jiao."
Li Fan said, stroking his chin.
Although he appeared reluctant, Lei Ge still followed Yuan Jiao, stealthily making their way along the mountain path to check the situation at the first pass.
Boom! Boom! Boom! ...
Listening to the continuous roars, Yuan Jiao grew more puzzled.
Finding a high vantage point, he observed the first pass. The scene before him made Yuan Jiao freeze.
Inside the caves on the surface of the mountain, flames were soaring.
On top of the pass's city wall, cannons were still adjusting their positions, carrying out continuous bombardment.
"To witness both a Mizutsune and a Rathian hiding in a cave... I don't know if the outpost failed to detect and report it, or if the monsters have opened up a new route. It's truly perplexing."
The village defense captain, who was directing the attack, was deeply confused at this moment.
Roar! Seeing this, Yuan Jiao let out a fierce roar, turned around, and began to retreat.
The hiding cave at the second pass.
In the faint yellow mist, on one side of the rock wall, Lei Ge, Xi Xi, Ye Ye, and Wan Pi stood in a row.
Roar! Roar! ... Roar!
Yuan Jiao paced back and forth, emitting ghost fire from his forearms and flicking his wing-like appendages, appearing extremely angry.
"What is he saying, meow?"
Dilu, peeking her head out from the side of the cave, asked Li Fan.
"Yuan Jiao is saying there's a traitor among us, and I must find him today. If he can't prove himself, then it's a fight to the death."
Li Fan, who was observing, translated.
Yuan Jiao stopped in front of Lei Ge. Lei Ge tilted his head, appearing very resolute, while guiding the remaining few Sinister Soul Wyrms to circle around him.
It was as if he was saying, "Don't my Sinister Soul Wyrms, depleted by infiltration, prove enough?"
Roar...
Yuan Jiao let out a low growl, showing some emotion, then moved to Xi Xi.
Xi Xi let out an indignant roar, swinging its electrified tail in front of itself.
Buzz! A翠绿斩舰刀 (emerald green battleship sword) emerged from its crown, illuminating the entire cave in green.
Then, its crown was raised high, slashing towards the tail.
Splat! Yuan Jiao, unafraid of the electric sparks emanating from the tail, placed one of his forepaws on it.
Roar...
Facing Xi Xi's tail-slashing proof, Yuan Jiao let out an approving growl.
When he reached Ye Ye, Ye Ye first met his gaze for a moment, then spread its wings slightly, its body swaying in a discernible manner.
Yuan Jiao's fierce gaze gradually became hazy.
Roar... Roar....
"Yuan Jiao actually complimented Ye Ye's handsomeness... It's not a traitor, it seems to have been hypnotized."
Li Fan said with some surprise.
"Ye Ye is very handsome, meow... Uh! What's going on!"
Dilu jolted awake and shook her head, feeling that she had also been affected by watching too intently.
Next, Yuan Jiao approached Wan Pi.
Wan Pi pondered for a long time but could not provide a response.
Seeing this, a sharp glint appeared in Yuan Jiao's eyes.
Roar! Roar! ...
"Among the monsters that caused chaos at the first pass, there was a Rathian. How do you explain that?"
After translating, Li Fan could only reluctantly take out a Poké Ball, preparing for a rescue.
Roar...
Wan Pi opened his mouth and let out a tentative roar, which stunned both Li Fan and Yuan Jiao.
"What is Wan Pi saying, meow?"
"Wan Pi says his wife, Little Foolish, also wanted to join. She accidentally caused the commotion on the way because she was unfamiliar with the environment."
Roar! Roar....
Yuan Jiao threw his head back and roared loudly, appearing very pleased.
"Why so happy, did he agree, meow?"
Dilu asked excitedly.
"No, he told Wan Pi to divorce as soon as possible, saying that the Rathian would only hinder Wan Pi from progressing further and getting closer to completing his mission."
"What a strange individual, meow."
Dilu sighed softly.
"Perhaps he was hurt too deeply in the past. However, the more eccentric Magnamalo individuals like this are, the more likely they are to reach the apex of their species."
Li Fan informed her.
Roar! Wan Pi raised his head, and his roar immediately became serious.
Clearly, even as a mole, he would not compromise.
Lei Ge sighed helplessly at this, but Yuan Jiao paid it no mind, merely letting out a dismissive roar before ending the investigation.