Not long after, Kuku and Yeye entered a mountainous forest with complex terrain.
"Hoo~"
Yeye raised a clawed wing and pointed in one direction. It seemed to be saying, "You wait here, I'll scout ahead."
"Roar! Gugu!"
The two monsters quickly reached an understanding. Although the trees in the Forgotten Shrine were not as tall as those in the Ancient Forest, providing perfect cover for Yeye, the complex terrain with its scattered heights and the dark night environment were advantageous for stealth.
After Yeye flew away, Kuku unfurled its fan-shaped auricles. Since becoming the Ancestral Black Wolf Bird, Kuku's fan-shaped auricles had significantly shrunk, but its hearing range and resistance to interference when unfurled had improved by more than a little. As the [Wolf Bird Hearing] skill activated, Kuku detected the sound of chewing and swallowing approaching. It originally wanted to investigate, but remembering it was on standby and couldn't move freely, it continued to listen.
Before long, a three-star monster, a Great Tengu, passed overhead. The Great Tengu was a beast-type monster, similar in size to an ape, covered in blue and white fur. Its three-toed tail claws were extremely strong, capable of supporting its body for leaps and spins. Seeing a purple creature looking up blankly by the river below, the Great Tengu quickly swallowed the large persimmon in its mouth. Then, it picked out a yellow one from the various large persimmons in its belly pouch and held it in its claw.
"Swoosh! Splat!"
The yellow persimmon hit Kuku's face, its juice and skin slowly sliding down the purple beak.
"Wugaga! Wuwu-ooh!"
As the Great Tengu shrieked excitedly, it braced itself on its three-toed tail claws, swaying its body back and forth while flapping its wings, clapping its claws.
"Waooo..."
Kuku narrowed its eyes and slowly looked up. Remembering its agreement with Yeye, Kuku decided to endure for now. It shook off the persimmon juice from its beak, turned its head in another direction, and continued to listen with its neck craned.
"Whoosh! Smack!"
Another yellow persimmon flew at it. This time, however, Kuku's spiky tail whipped out, shattering the persimmon into pieces mid-air.
"Wow!"
Kuku issued a warning with a roar. The Great Tengu was unfazed, pulling more large persimmons from its belly pouch and placing them on its wing-clawed arm, seemingly intending to attack continuously. Seeing the situation, Kuku thought it was time to spar with the creature and show it what a "black hand" was.
"Wao! Kuku spread its wings and took flight, charging directly at the Great Tengu.
The mountain forest erupted in chaos, no longer peaceful. Ahead, Yeye weaved through the trees, moving with a stealth that produced almost no sound. A nest of Great Izuchi appeared below. Seeing the Great Izuchi snoring with bubbles coming from its nose, an urge to slit its throat with its sharp wing blades arose in Yeye's heart. Fortunately, Yeye suppressed the impulse. However, as its claws lifted from the tree to fly away, the branch it was on sprang back, launching an abandoned bird's nest into the air.
"Swoosh~ Thud!"
As the bird's nest was about to fall on the sleeping Great Izuchi, the inverted Yeye gently caught it with its sharp beak. Just as Yeye felt a sense of relief, a noisy cry suddenly came from not far away.
"Wuwu-ooh! Waooo!...."
Realizing one of the cries clearly belonged to Kuku, Yeye's red eyes darkened. The Great Izuchi was startled awake by the cries, but before it could get up, it was startled again by a pair of red eyes hanging above its head.
"Goo..."
Yeye wanted to give a warning cry, indicating that it would kill the creature if it dared to make a sound. However, halfway through the cry, it heard a crisp snap from above.
"Crack!"
The old, crooked tree to which its claws were hooked broke under Yeye's weight.
"Thwack!" The vertically falling Yeye's sharp beak plunged directly into the Great Izuchi's head.
"Roar! Roar!..."
With a series of piteous roars, all the Great Izuchi in the nest were awakened and gathered, forming an encirclement. Yeye, quickly getting to its feet, realized its first stealth approach had failed and decisively chose its second stealth approach.
Day and night alternated, the sun and moon cycled. The next morning, Kuku and Yeye flew back to the Fire Village together. Kuku brought back a severed tail of a Great Tengu and had several new scars on its body. Yeye's sky-blue feathers were soaked in a large amount of bright red blood, making it look as if it had been bathed in a pool of blood.
"Did you two really go scouting?" Li Fan asked in surprise.
"Gugu! Roar!"
"Alright, so what were the results?"
"Roar!"
"The Great Tengu only knew how to run and use the terrain to hide; it was no match for you... And you, Yeye?"
"Gugu!"
"The monsters here have a low sense of danger; not only are there many of them, but their variety is also very rich. If there were an Apex Anjanath living nearby recently, they wouldn't be acting like this."
After understanding Yeye's report, Li Fan pondered for a moment and affirmed, "That makes sense. It seems the Guild's intelligence is reliable." He took out the map and drew a cross on the grid where they were located. The Fire Village then moved on, preparing to transfer to the next designated area to continue their search. This method of searching was indeed inefficient, but since the Guild investigators who were permanently stationed in the wild couldn't find any trace of the Apex Anjanath, all that was left was a simple, thorough carpet search.
Half a month quickly passed, and Kuku and Yeye's coordination during reconnaissance became increasingly默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding). Almost every time, Kuku would cause a large-scale disturbance to attract attention, allowing Yeye to carry out its stealth reconnaissance in peace. However, even with such meticulous searching, no useful information was obtained. Li Fan, looking at the map filled with crosses on the deck, felt a slight headache.
There were only two areas left to search. One was the Jade Leaf Fortress, an area extending outwards from the Fire Village. However, the interception capabilities there were top-notch, and the village defense force was stationed there year-round, making it impossible for an Apex Anjanath to hide. The other area was the mountainous forest behind the Fire Village, near the cliffs. Because it bordered the sea, it didn't seem like there was anything for an Apex Anjanath to be interested in. Li Fan pondered for a moment. Although he knew that Apex Anjanath had nothing to do with the sea, he decided to set sail and investigate. After all, it was the only area left unexplored in the vicinity.
One sunny noon, after searching the sky for any abnormalities, the Fire Village descended to the cliff behind the village. Since there was a fishing port on the coast with many people coming and going, Li Fan, to avoid causing panic by the monsters' appearance and unnecessary trouble, chose to have the team search on foot for tracks. Taking the roller lift that transported fresh fish, the team soon arrived at the forest below the cliff.
In the jungle, Dailu held a large book and read as she walked. "No wonder the Apex Anjanath's tracks are so hard to find; it swallows bones along with its food, meow!" Dailu finished speaking and continued to flip through the pages. "Consuming a large amount of bone not only strengthens the Apex Anjanath's physique and promotes the generation of internal ghost fire dust but also accelerates the growth of the horn on its head." Li Fan added.
"Have they even investigated what it likes to eat?" Yudora asked in surprise.
"Yes, if I can really catch the Apex Anjanath, I'll send it to the Dragon Graveyard; it loves piles of decaying bones... Of course, before that, we have to find it." Li Fan said with anticipation.
"Li Fan, what do the triangles on the map mean?" Yudora asked curiously. The entire map was filled with crosses, except for one area on the edge of the Forgotten Shrine, which was marked with a triangle.
"That's the habitat of a Zinogre pack, which Yeye and Kuku discovered by chance." Li Fan explained.
"Why mark that place?" Yudora asked, confused.
"That seems to be where Brother Lei's former pack was."
"Uh... alright." Yudora was a little surprised, not expecting that Brother Lei, who had been active around Kalura Village for a long time, had his home in the Forgotten Shrine near Fire Village.
Magnifying glass, small shovel, collection bottle... Dailu began her specialized tracking investigation. After a full afternoon, she finally found a set of Apex Anjanath footprints. Following the footprints, the team arrived in a dense jungle. As the tracking continued, Dailu's brow furrowed. "Something's not right, meow. There are more and more footprints, and their depth varies greatly. There might be more than one Apex Anjanath active in the vicinity." Dailu explained her findings.
Sniffing the slightly pungent, rotten smell in the air and glancing at the darkening sky, Li Fan marked the location and decided to return to the fishing port to rest for the night.
Late at night, in a small inn at the fishing port, Li Fan inquired about the surrounding situation from the owner. "There's nothing unusual. But it's strange, other fishing ports are often attacked, but this place has been peaceful for many years." The male owner leaning against the counter said.
"Peaceful? Have monsters never attacked?" Li Fan asked, somewhat surprised.
"That's right, young man. At first, everyone was worried that this place was too far from Fire Village, and reinforcements couldn't arrive in time. But after all these years, it's now considered a blessed land." The owner said with certainty.
Li Fan pondered for a moment and looked at the map. The Jade Leaf Fortress extended outwards in a fan shape, forming an almost all-encompassing barrier to the outside. The fishing port at the rear being undisturbed by attacks seemed logical. However, the investigation during the day had confirmed that Apex Anjanath could visit this area, meaning the fishing port was not within the protection range of the Jade Leaf Fortress. Could it be that Fire Village's blocking ability was too strong, coupled with sheer luck? Li Fan was surprised by the lack of any defenses when he arrived at the fishing port. So, they had been relying on luck all along.
"Perhaps it's the coastal ecosystem, combined with the external barrier in front, that causes monsters to rarely visit," Li Fan speculated.
"There's actually another saying."
"What saying?"
The owner smiled and pointed to the dark sea outside the window. "An old fisherman who often goes out to sea said that there is a Dragon Palace left by a lost civilization in this sea. When this Dragon Palace reappears, the world will come to an end, so even monsters don't want to touch this place."
Could this be referring to the Dragon Palace Ancient City?
"Are there any more detailed descriptions?" Li Fan pressed.
"No."
The next day, the weather was clear and the air was fresh. The team went to the marked location from yesterday early in the morning to continue their investigation, but the scene shocked everyone. Trees were broken, rocks were cracked, and countless dense claw marks were evident on the ground. The rotten smell was very strong, and several clusters of unburnt purple ghost fire were scattered everywhere. Dailu walked over to a cluster of purple fire and observed it. Soon, the flickering flames suddenly turned pink. Dailu leaped back.
"Boom!" A small amount of purple scale powder exploded, creating a pink fireball that detonated along with the surrounding ghost fire clusters. However, due to only a small residue, it didn't pose much of a threat.
"Is this the monster Brother Lei once hunted?" Yudora exclaimed, looking at the hellish scene.
"This battlefield looks like it was left by two Apex Anjanath fighting." Li Fan speculated.
"That's right, meow... But why would two Apex Anjanath fight?" Dailu couldn't understand. Based on their known habits, Apex Anjanath didn't engage in mortal combat upon encountering each other like Zinogre.
"Let's investigate first. Be careful of the ghost fire that hasn't fully exploded yet." Li Fan said, drawing his Zinogre Great Sword and beginning to detonate the unexploded ghost fire clusters. Dailu followed behind, starting the investigation and collection of traces.
Twenty minutes later, the initial investigation of the scene was complete.
"There are also female Apex Anjanath here, at least three?" Li Fan was also very surprised by Dailu's findings.
"Yes, meow." Dailu said, taking out a thick book from her backpack and showing Li Fan a page. "Female Apex Anjanath weigh less than males, so their footprints are slightly smaller and lighter, meow. Also, the areas where these footprints are concentrated have no signs of combat nearby, which is consistent with females being less involved in fighting." Dailu pointed to the page with her cat paw and explained.
"What was the motive?" Li Fan couldn't understand why Apex Anjanath would fight. Why would they fight in the barren coastal forest instead of occupying the abundant ecosystem of the Forgotten Shrine, and even bring three females? Competing for mates? Male Apex Anjanath could have harems at will, except...
"I know, the Apex Anjanath we're looking for is likely one of them." Li Fan speculated.
"Ah? But there are no Apex Anjanath occupying the Forgotten Shrine area, meow?" Dailu found it incredible. The motive for fighting between Apex Anjanath might only be territorial disputes, but what was there to fight over in the coastal forest?
"I can think of three possibilities, the most likely being that they simply disliked each other." Li Fan explained.
"That can be a reason for fighting?" Yudora asked, confused.
"As it seems now, the Apex Anjanath saw the other one flaunting its many mates and, remembering its own damaged horns, targeted it. The two engaged in constant struggles, fighting all the way to the coastal forest." Li Fan explained.
"Uh... that seems quite reasonable. What's the second possibility?"
"This possibility is less likely. The Apex Anjanath sensed that the other had formed purple jade within its body and wanted to consume it for mutation. However, according to secret archives from the Dragon Lore Institute, only extremely strong or ancient individuals typically form precious jade. If it were at that level, the Apex Anjanath would likely not be a match." Li Fan informed.
"What about the third possibility?"
"The third possibility is even smaller. The Hyakuryu Night is coming, and the Apex Anjanath wants to have it all to itself."