A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Director Xiang forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice trembling:

"It's a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding! These mushrooms... I pick them every year, and every family eats them. They just look a bit ugly and scary, but they're not poisonous, really not poisonous! I'd swear on my ancestors for eighteen generations!"

Ji Zuodao didn't say anything, but just smiled and slowly picked up another string of roasted mushrooms from the ground.

He blew off the dust, flicked his wrist, and held the bunch of mushrooms up to the director's nose:

"Okay, uncle, is that what you mean...?"

"Then you can eat this skewer."

"You ate, didn't lie down, and are still jumping around..."

I believe you.

"Not only do I believe you, but I also kowtow to you to admit my mistake, and I'll even compensate you for your emotional distress, giving you this amount."

He held up two fingers and waved them in front of the director's eyes, his smile innocent and harmless.

"How about that? Fair enough?"

Director Xiang's facial muscles twitched violently as he looked at the mushrooms so close to him, emitting a strange aroma. His Adam's apple bobbed, and a barely perceptible hint of panic flashed deep in his eyes.

"No need... I really didn't lie to you, this mushroom..."

"eat."

Ji Zuodao interrupted him, his voice still carrying a smile, but suddenly mixed with a chilling icy edge.

The bunch of mushrooms was pushed forward another half step, almost poking the director's lips.

The guide's breathing became rapid, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He glanced at Ji Zuodao's smiling face, then at the several college students beside him whose faces were pale and whose eyes were filled with doubt and fear.

Finally, his gaze fell on Ji Zuodao's back.

The big black dog that had been lying down had somehow stood up, silently, like a sculpture blending into the darkness.

Only the dog's eyes, glowing eerily in the firelight, were staring at him without blinking.

It's like looking at a piece of fatty meat.

The honesty, panic, and pain on the guide's face receded like the tide.

Instead, a fierce look appeared!

"I'll eat your mother—!"

He suddenly sprang up! His five fingers formed claws, carrying a ruthlessness and speed unlike that of ordinary mountain people, and went straight for Ji Zuodao's heart!

It happened without warning, as fast as lightning!

Several college students didn't even see the movement clearly; they only heard a short, teeth-grinding whooshing sound!

Faced with this fatal blow that could rip out one's heart, Ji Zuodao neither dodged nor evaded!

He even had the leisure to flip his wrist, pull the string of mushrooms back into his hand, and stuff it into his mouth with remarkable ease, his cheeks instantly puffing out.

I chewed it twice.

At the same time, he casually and nonchalantly extended the bare bamboo skewer, still dripping with juice from the mushrooms he had just eaten, towards the guide's outstretched hand.

The movements were not fast, even a bit slow.

The angle wasn't particularly tricky; it was just straightforward.

But it was precisely this casual delivery—

"Pfft!"

A soft sound.

The bamboo skewer pierced the guide's palm with perfect precision, penetrating through the center of his hand, with half of its blood-stained tip protruding from the palm!

"Awooo—!!!"

A piercing scream, so mournful it was inhuman, instantly shattered the silence of the mountain forest!

The guide's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. He stood frozen in place, like a wild beast with its claws pinned down, trembling violently!

Ji Zuodao kicked off with his right foot.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

The guide was thrown backward as if he had been hit head-on by a heavy truck. His feet left the ground and he flew backward.

With a "crash," it broke several low shrubs.

It rolled around on the ground seven or eight times before finally stopping, collapsing in a pile of fallen leaves a dozen meters away, only able to twitch.

"Heh...heh..."

The guide collapsed to the ground, his mouth emitting a pumping sound like a bellows.

But those bloodshot eyes, filled with pain and fear, were fixed on the dark depths of the forest.

A strange, sharp hissing sound, like scratching a blackboard with fingernails, squeezed out of his throat:

"Chirp—Gurgle! Gurgle—!!!"

It didn't sound like human speech, but more like the cry of a dying wild beast.

As soon as the cry started—

"Shhhh—!"

"Rustling sound—!"

The once lifeless dense forest suddenly came alive!

Countless bushes began to shake violently from all directions!

It was as if countless things were moving, leaping, and approaching at an astonishing speed!

The sound of the wind, the rustling of leaves, and a kind of suppressed, malicious panting...

Like a tidal wave, it instantly surrounded the small camp!

"What is that?!"

"What do we do?! We seem to be surrounded by something!"

The college students were terrified. They huddled together back to back, their hands trembling as if they had Parkinson's disease, clutching the branches and skewers in their hands, as they looked around at the violently shaking bushes in terror.

The wind in the forest seemed to have stopped, leaving only the omnipresent, suffocating rustling sound and the increasingly close low breathing.

The pressure was like death gripping everyone's throat.

Amidst the panic and chaos, only Ji Zuodao remained standing, slowly licking the last bit of mushroom juice from the bamboo skewer.

Then, he looked up.

His gaze swept straight past the swaying bushes and landed precisely on a particularly tall, leafy old tree at the edge of the camp.

The tree's canopy cast a deep, impenetrable shadow under the sunlight.

At that moment, in that shadow, a pair of eerie, scarlet eyes silently opened.

Then came the second pair, the third pair...

Many figures could be barely made out, hanging upside down on the horizontal branches in an illogical posture.

Its one leg is curled up, hooking onto a branch.

Its entire body was covered in dirty, tangled black fur.

A wrinkled, inhuman-looking face, stretched to its ears and revealing a mouthful of fine, sharp teeth, was looking down at the camp.

Especially the person staring up at the fire, the only one who looked up at it.

Ji Zuodao blinked, and a bright smile slowly bloomed on his face, a smile that even carried a hint of surprise, like "meeting an old friend in a foreign land."

He raised the blood-stained bamboo skewer in his hand and waved it enthusiastically at the person in the tree, as if greeting an old friend.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the deathly silence and low breathing of the forest, carrying an undisguised joy:

"Yo-ho!"

"A mandrill?"

"It's been so many years since I've seen one alive."

The Ailao Mountains are a region of high mountains and dense forests, and legends of mountain demons have been passed down since ancient times.

The older generation says that this thing is a mountain spirit, with one leg, a human face, and the ability to mimic human speech. It is cunning and fierce, and its strength is astonishing.

In earlier years, people living near the mountain were often harassed by it.

It was common for them to knock on the door in the middle of the night, trick people into opening it, and then swarm in to steal food and injure livestock.

The bolder ones even dare to pounce on people from behind when they are alone, using the sharp, hook-like claws on their single foot to rip out their hearts and livers.

Many elderly people in the nearby villages have witnessed or heard their elders recount the terrifying scenes of mandrills descending from the mountains and causing trouble.

In those years, the terrifying stories about mandrills were a nightmare that kept local children from going out at night.

Strangely enough, starting more than ten years ago, the number of sightings of mandrills in the mountains has been decreasing year by year.

In recent years, they have almost disappeared.

Occasionally, herb gatherers or explorers claim to have heard strange noises or seen dark shadows, but these are mostly considered to be illusions or mere hearsay.

Young people simply consider it an old-fashioned supernatural tale, the same kind of thing as "Grandma Bear" or "Mom Tiger," used to scare children.

The villagers discussed it privately, with some saying that the ecological environment had changed and the mandrills had moved away;

Some say they were driven away by something even more powerful;

Others say that the mountain god appeared and took away these scourges.

Opinions vary, and no consensus can be reached.

The truth is...

Hehe, the truth is—

It tastes amazing.

It's so good that you can't forget it.

Good thing, it allowed that little rascal who was growing up, had a huge appetite, and was full of curiosity about all new protein sources to taste its wonderful flavor.