Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 325 Changes in Lingfeng

Lin Lin opened the huge package and found that in addition to a large amount of medicine, there were also a lot of ingredients, including the specialty mushrooms that Ye Zi had mentioned she wanted to use for making soup.

Since becoming a hunter, Lin Lin has become increasingly accustomed to grilling as a cooking method, to the point that he has become somewhat rusty with other methods due to not using them for so long, and he is no longer as accurate in judging the amount of various seasonings.

Making soup is a skill that truly tests a chef's abilities. Although Lin Lin meticulously put all the ingredients and seasonings into the pot, and after adding spring water, all he had to do was wait quietly, after putting the lid on, Lin Lin couldn't help but doubt himself. Had he added too much water? Had he added too little seasoning? Should he have added another mushroom? Should he have used more force when cutting the ingredients?

After checking the bubbling broth inside the pot again and finding that everything seemed fine, Lin Lin finally turned his attention to Jin Leigong.

This guy still has quite a few external injuries that haven't been treated. It'll take quite a while to make soup, so we can use this time to finish the surgery that wasn't done yet.

……

My whole body was a mixture of pain, numbness, and itching, making me extremely uncomfortable.

Jin Leigong opened his eyes with some irritation; the uncomfortable feeling all over his body made him want to throw a tantrum.

But after opening its eyes, it was somewhat stunned.

What a clear sky, what warm sunshine! It feels like it's been ages since I've seen weather like this...

Jin Leigong instinctively wanted to stand up, to run freely and enjoy the warmth of the sun, but his weakness and powerlessness pulled his attention back to reality.

Jin Leigong shook his head slightly. Not only was his body weak and powerless, but his head was also dizzy. What was wrong with him?
As time passed, Jin Leigong gradually regained consciousness and recalled the events leading up to his unconsciousness.

Yes, it was supposed to be fighting that monster high in the sky! After giving that guy a hard claw to the face, it was also knocked away by the Azure Dragon and then lost consciousness.

It seems it was lucky; what was thought to be a certain death turned out to be a miraculous survival.

Jin Leigong looked at the sun in the sky again. The clear sky was cloudless. Such weather had never appeared since Lanlong appeared.

Does this mean that Lanlong is dead? Or at least driven away? That it has successfully avenged itself and reclaimed its territory?
Thinking of this, Jin Leigong's mood immediately became cheerful, and even the physical pain seemed to have no effect on it at all.

If it weren't for its utter exhaustion, it would have liked to stand up, raise its head, and let out a long howl to announce to the scattered members of its pack:

We've won! We can go home now!
"Brother Lin Lin, it seems to be awake?"

Suddenly, a clear sound woke Jin Leigong from his ecstatic mood, and he realized that there were other lives around him.

Jin Leigong immediately tried to put on a vigilant stance to deal with the threat, despite his injuries and weakness, but relaxed again after hearing another voice that followed.

"Don't move around. You're badly injured. If you move, your wound will reopen!"

It had a very deep impression of that voice. In the previous battle with Lanlong, if the owner of that voice had not been there, the outcome would probably have been no different from any other battle before.

Of course, more importantly, the varied intonation and rhythm of the other person's voice, when it reached its ears, became something it could understand, allowing it to truly feel that the other person had no ill intentions towards it.

Golden Thunder God's golden eyes darted around. Through its left-hand view, it could see a pile of burning flames not far away, and two figures sitting beside the flames. These two figures had greenish-blue carapaces growing on their bodies. If it weren't for their completely different body structures, Golden Thunder God would probably have thought they were two underdeveloped Thunder Wolf Dragon cubs.

At that moment, Jin Leigong looked at them, and they looked back at him.

Jin Leigong didn't move, he just lay there and growled from his throat. He looked no different from a fanged hound, except that he was a bit bigger.

"Ah, yes, we're the ones who saved you. Otherwise, it could have been some other person or monster, right?"

The relatively stronger figure took a few gulps of something, then stood up and walked towards Jin Leigong. As he walked, he pointed to the blood-stained vine platform at his feet, and the numerous large and small, densely packed, reddish-brown pebbles scattered on it:
"It took Yoko and me a lot of effort to get these things out!"

Jin Leigong then turned its gaze to the reddish-brown pebbles on the ground. It recognized them as fragments that had been swept up by the gale and embedded in its flesh when it finally entered the whirlwind. Thinking of the pain these things caused, its gaze towards the two figures softened considerably.

"Uluru..."

A deep sound came from Jin Leigong's throat.

"Thank you? Don't you know that you have to show your belly when you say thank you?"

Jin Leigong: ?

Nonsense! It's clearly only when a subordinate shows their belly to a superior that they're being respectful!
Hmm... no, this should only be a rule within their Thunder Wolf Dragon clan. These two aren't Thunder Wolf Dragons. Perhaps in their clan, expressing gratitude really involves showing one's belly?

Jin Leigong was immediately caught in a dilemma. When had he, the king of the Thunder Wolf Dragons, ever shown his belly to any other creature?

However, its gratitude to these two people was genuine and sincere, without a trace of falsehood. Putting aside the fact that they saved its life, just considering the previous battle against Lanlong, without their presence, it would not have been able to truly recover its lost territory. They not only owed it a great debt of gratitude, but also to the entire clan.

Ungrateful acts are something only humans do; they're simply not in the dictionary of monsters—at least not to monsters with the intelligence to understand what "gratitude" means.

Jin Leigong hesitated for a moment, then suddenly let out a heavy sigh.

Forget it, its dignity as the king of Thunder Wolf Dragons has been trampled on by that Storm Dragon countless times. What need is there for it to exist in the face of its savior and the benefactor of its entire clan?

Feeling a vague sense of humiliation, it moved its paws, trying to turn over and expose its belly as Lin Lin had said.

"Alas! Wait!"

A bead of sweat appeared on Lin Lin's forehead, and he quickly called out to Jin Leigong.

No, I was just joking, why are you taking it seriously! However, considering Jin Leigong's current mental state, Lin Lin suspected that if he revealed that he was joking, he might be slapped away by the enraged Jin Leigong. So he decided to play it safe.

"Your injuries are still quite severe, so it's best not to move around too much. We can talk about thanking you later when you've recovered!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Leigong breathed a sigh of relief, stopped using his claws, and lay back down like a lump of mud.

Lin Lin breathed a sigh of relief, then took out various potions from the package and walked towards Jin Leigong's head.

"Now that you're awake, drink these medicines. That should help your injuries heal faster."

Lin Lin unscrewed a bottle of Recovery Potion G and held it below Jin Leigong's nose. "Come on, open your mouth, ah~"

Jin Leigong didn't open its mouth immediately. Caution is paramount in the wild. It has almost never eaten anything it doesn't recognize. Even though it trusts Lin Lin and the other person who saved it, this habit is hard to break.

It sniffed lightly, discerning the ingredients of the so-called "medicine." The bitter aroma was somewhat familiar, seemingly similar to the green plants it would find to eat after being injured. It also carried a sweet scent emanating from a honeycomb, which it seemed to recall occasionally seeing that clumsy, blue-furred bear eat... It should indeed help treat the injury, right?
With that thought in mind, Jin Leigong opened his mouth and let Lin Lin pour bottle after bottle of medicine into his mouth.

After being forced to drink countless bottles of medicine, Lin Lin finally took two steps back.

ended?
Jin Leigong licked his own sharp teeth with his tongue, sensing the signals transmitted by his taste buds.

Hmm... it seems that the ingredients of some of the medicines are not quite the same, not the same as the original ones?

However, Jin Leigong didn't care much about this, because it clearly felt a cool sensation in its body as the medicine entered its stomach. The feeling of weakness and powerlessness seemed to have lessened considerably, and the pain from the numbness and itching all over its body was suppressed a lot, while the numbness and itching intensified a bit.

Jin Leigong has extensive experience in this regard; he believes that numbness and itching are signs that wounds are healing, which is a good thing.

Beside her, Yoko held a wooden bowl filled with mushroom soup, watching the two communicate seamlessly, and couldn't help but be slightly lost in thought.

Brother Lin Lin is amazing! I've never heard of anyone else who can communicate with monsters like Brother Lin Lin!
But... is this really communication?

Is it necessary to show your belly when saying thank you?
Does Jieyun Village have this custom? Or is it that they don't actually communicate without barriers, but rather they are talking past each other, relying entirely on body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions to communicate, and that what they actually say is not important, so they are just talking randomly?

Watching Lin Lin begin to administer the medicine to Jin Leigong, Ye Zi also lowered her head and took a sip of the mushroom soup, her pretty nose wrinkling almost imperceptibly.

Ugh, it's so salty... I'll make the soup next time... Lin Lin should just stick to what he's better at: eating...

……

Although Lingfeng was devastated and left in ruins during the great battle, the destruction brought by Lanlong was temporary. After it left and everything returned to calm, the environment here changed almost every day, and the Lingfeng area seemed to burst forth with a vitality greater than ever before.

First, moss and lichen spread everywhere, enveloping the tree debris torn apart and scattered by the gale, painting it with vibrant green life. Then, all sorts of vines and herbs climbed up from the crevices of the rocks and under the rubble. Broken trees sprouted new buds, and scattered spores, encountering damp, decaying wood, quickly grew into clusters of red and white umbrellas...

The abundant vegetation quickly attracted all sorts of flying insects and small environmental creatures, followed by a multitude of small herbivorous or omnivorous monsters. Small predators such as the dog dragons came attracted by the scent, but they were soon driven away again by the thunder wolf dragons that were gathering again towards the Spirit Peak area.

"Awooo!"

A golden light leaped nimbly through the mountains, crackling with electricity.

The golden light continued to rise, finally stopping at the much shorter summit of Lingfeng Mountain, revealing the majestic golden thunder wolf dragon. It held its head high and let out a powerful roar.

The sound spread far and wide, and could be clearly heard throughout the entire area surrounding Lingfeng.

Sunlight poured down on it, as if draping it in a golden armor. The newly grown scales also took on a golden hue with a hint of green. The regenerated carapace, damaged and then restored, looked even more exaggerated, and the dragon's overall aura appeared even more wild and domineering.

(Just realized I forgot to post a picture of the Golden Thunder God; the difference in appearance between it and the Overlord is really not that big.)
After a roar, Jin Leigong crouched slightly, and two figures jumped off its back one after the other.

After Lin Lin reached out to help Ye Zi up, he looked up at the other's head, which was lowered and meeting his gaze, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"You're really resilient. Such a serious injury, and you've healed completely in less than a week. I wish my master had such a strong self-healing ability as you."

"Roar……"

Jin Leigong let out a low roar.

"That's only because you're physically strong enough to use so much medicine. There's a limit to how much medicine can work. For us small bodies, using too much medicine would have the opposite effect."

Thinking of his master's injuries, Lin Lin couldn't help but sigh and shake his head slightly.

"Anyway, thank you for taking us for a ride. Soaring through the mountains with such a large drop in elevation is a different kind of thrill than flying."

"Roar……"

"Alright, that guy Lanlong probably won't dare to come back. From now on, live a good life here in Lingfeng with your clan!"

Lin Lin stood atop the mountain, gazing at the scenery of the surrounding peaks. Then, he reached out and patted Jin Leigong's forepaw, which was almost as big as his own, and pointed in a direction:
"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Remember to remind the Thunder Wolf Dragons in your clan not to wander off in that direction unless absolutely necessary."

"Roar?"

“That’s our ‘Spirit Peak’, Jieyun Village. For my clansmen, seeing you is the same as how you feel when you see Lanlong. I also want to protect my clan, but I am not willing to turn my blade against my former comrades who fought alongside me.”

Jin Leigong followed and stared in that direction, pondered for a moment, and then let out a short, low roar.

(End of this chapter)