Chapter 53 – Zhuyan

Its entire body was covered in soil, and although it was only a foot long, it had three heads and six arms. It looked like a monkey, but at the same time it seemed like it wasn’t. What kind of creature was this? The little guy began to be doubtful and apprehensive; no creature within a circumference of one hundred thousand li survived, so how could this kind of strange creature have survived? It definitely wasn’t simple.

The huge lake was dried up, and even the mud at the bottom had solidified into rocks. This creature had a leg buried underneath the mud. It seemed like it was sealed within the rock and was unable to pull it out.

The surrounding mountains were all broken, as if someone used a huge tool to flatten the area. All the mountains were destroyed to the point that only half the mountains remained.

This large lake also dried up due to the violent transformations of these mountains, becoming lifeless. It could never again contain waves that reached the sky or be the vast body of water it had once been.

The three young birds spiraled. Sometimes they would rush into the clouds, and sometimes they would hover near the bottom of the empty lake. The little guy sat on Zi Yun’s back and stared downwards. Then, he grabbed some food from his beast skin bag and threw it downwards.

This creature looked like it was starving. It picked up the dried meat by its side and ravenously devoured it in a few bites. Then, it expressed that it wanted more by raising its head towards the sky.

“This creature doesn’t seem dangerous, but it is a bit strange. Zi Yun, descend a bit further so I can have a better look,” said little Shi Hao.

Zi Yun dove down and spiraled within the dried lake. The little guy’s arms shined and symbols appeared. He drizzled down a large rain of light onto that creature.

The figure that looked like a foot long monkey widened its eyes. It was a bit nervous and puzzled. The rain of light poured over, making its body sparkling and translucent.

This was a technique that used the Bone Text to probe its opponent’s status. The little guy let out a surprising cry on the spot and said, “It’s suffering from a great injury. There are complicated symbols within its body that are almost gone. I can’t see the rest properly since it is being blocked by a mysterious power.”

After he ascertained that there were no dangers, little Shi Hao leapt down and landed on the ground. The three young birds gently cried and spiraled in mid-air. Their entire bodies lit up and they waited on the side as they were prepared to fight at any time.

“This lake has been dry for over a year. Could it have been trapped here without anything to eat or drink?” The little guy was astonished.

The bottom of the lake was as hard as a mountain rock. This foot long creature had silkworm-like skin, and there were portions of it that had just been shed off in front of it.

“Could it be that it underwent some type of transformation, and only finished just now? After being covered up in mud, it must have been sealed for at least a year of two.” Shi Hao said with a surprised expression.

“Zhi zhi…” The three headed, six armed creature lightly howled. Its six arms waved together towards Shi Hao, hinting that it wanted something to eat.

The little guy opened his bag and handed over some more dried meat before asking, “What kind of creature are you, and why are you trapped here?”

The little foot long monster stared with its perfectly round eyes. It wolfed the food down as it pondered, and in the end it revealed a blank expression. While pondering, it realized that it actually forgot to eat, and began to rub its head with all of its strength. It seemed to be extremely angry as if it was extremely unsatisfied with itself.

“Ya, you’re actually transforming. Another chunk of your old skin just fell off.”

This creature’s old skin stuck to the hard and dry mud. After some of the old skin shed off from its arms, it unexpectedly exposed new and shining fur. The fur was brilliant and splendid like golden silk, and it was much more pleasing to the eye than the muddy old fur it previously had.

It was extremely weak, and after coming to, it didn’t even have the strength to free its sealed leg. In addition, it was grabbing its ears and scratching its cheeks while trying hard to recall something.

The little guy was curious. His palms shone, and a rain of light once again drizzled out onto its body.

Zhizhi… It immediately began to scream out, and it seemed to be terrified. Its whole body became sparkling and translucent, and the complex broken symbols inside it flickered. The symbols wrapped itself around the creature, and it was no longer possible to examine it.

“Could it be that you suffered a serious injury, and in order to survive, you had to undergo a transformation?” Shi Hao watched and felt that this creature was seriously injured.

Kacha!

This monkey shaped creature suddenly shined brilliantly all over. Its entire body cracked and the sound of snapping echoed through. All of its old skin fell off, exposing its real body.

Furthermore, during the process, its three heads and six arms became indistinct, and rapidly transformed into an ordinary appearance with one head and two arms.

“Ya, a transformation. Could that just have been a precious technique?!” The little guy was amazed.

After shaking off the old skin and retracting the precious technique, its entire body glittered. It struggled and freed that sealed leg. It shrieked incessantly and it became even smaller. It was now only three inches tall.

This was too shocking. How could there be such a huge change? It looked like a completely different creature took its place. It was plump like a golden fist, and could be rolled around like a golden ball.

It still looked like a monkey, but it became golden, round, and fist-sized. It had a pair of spirited large eyes that were as large as Shi Hao’s, and each time it blinked, sparkling rays of light would shine.

“So cute!” The little guy cupped it in the palm of his hands right away. He pinched and rubbed it, making golden light flow out.

Zhi zhi zhi… The golden ball tried to struggle free. It widened its large eyes and shrieked non-stop.

Zhi… wu! The little guy directly stuffed a piece of dry meat into its mouth and it immediately stopped shrieking. It looked like a reincarnated demon that was starving. It held the food in its palms and rolled around as it nibbled quickly.

Shi Hao grabbed the monkey’s tail, but this ball of gold seemed unaffected. It allowed its body to be suspended there while holding and nibbling on its food, completely ignoring him.

The little guy immediately smiled. He was extremely happy, and he was having the time of his life as he fiddled and rolled it around back and forth.

Finally, the ball of gold became angry, however, it wasn’t because it was being played around with, but rather because it ate all its food. He found that the little guy wasn’t paying attention and didn’t continue feeding it.

“Hahaha…” The little guy happily laughed and handed over another piece of dry meat. The result was that the ball of gold didn’t care about anything else again. Whether he lifted it up and rubbed it around, or swung it by the tail, it didn’t care at all. It simply allowed itself to be played with, and used its pair of claws to hold the food while engrossing itself in nibbling.

Zi Yun, Da Peng and Xiao Qing were all stunned. They descended and stared at that ball of gold and showed an expression of surprise. Just a moment ago, this creature had the appearance of three heads and six arms due to the effects of a legendary precious technique. Although this made them very nervous, right now this ball of gold was acting like nothing else mattered as long as it had food.

After finding this creature, they naturally couldn’t go and obtain insights from the battlefield now. The little guy grabbed the golden ball’s tail, sat on Zi Yun’s back, and charged towards Stone Village.

Wu… Strong winds surged. The three young birds descended onto the grass by the lakeside. A group of children surrounded them with a look of surprise on their faces.

“What is this, a newborn monkey? Why does it look like it was forged out of gold with such shiny and dazzling fur?”

“It’s so round. If you put it on the ground, it would probably roll.”

“Wow. It can eat so much. Even if you pull its tail, it wouldn’t get angry. It only knows how to immerse itself in nibbling.”

The beautiful lake was a clear dark blue, and green grass decorated the shore like cushions. In the distance, a few big, beautiful, and brightly-colored feathered birds paced back and forth. Sometimes, incredible beasts would appear.

A group of children formed a circle on the grass and stared at the creature, laughing from time to time.

Its mouth never stopped and finally, the golden ball directly dug into the little guy’s beast skinned bag. Unexpectedly, it ate an entire bag of dried meat, and only at this moment did the children feel that something was strange.

“Heavens, it’s only the size of a fist. How can it eat such a large bag of food? How can its belly fit all of that?

“What kind of monkey is this?”

These alarming cries drew the attention of the adults, causing Shi Feijiao and the other adults to walk over.

“It’s not a monkey. It underwent some transformation. When I found it at first, it had three heads and six arms, but it shed its skin like a golden cicada” explained the little guy.

“What! Three heads and six arms? That’s a supreme precious technique only heard of in legends!” Shi Feijiao was shocked. During these past few years of cultivating with the chief, he learned many mysterious things.

“What a pity. It almost died and the symbols within its body broke. The technique can no longer be researched.” The little guy was regretful.

At this moment, several older clan elders were startled. The words “three heads and six arms” made the elders distracted. Chief Shi Yunfeng also came over, and he crouched down while he carefully observed.

Zhi zhi… The ball of gold was angry and never stopped shrieking because it ran out of food.

With a pa sound, a child threw down a red fruit from its hands, and then the creature became obedient again. It held up its butt and immersed itself in nibbling, allowing everyone do whatever they wanted to it.

“This thing isn’t simple!” The chief took a quick look and jumped back in fear, showing a serious expression.

“Chief, what kind of monkey is this?” some children asked.

“This isn’t an ordinary monkey.” Shi Yunfeng explained as he lifted up its two small legs and carefully observed. Everyone else followed in observing and were surprised to find that both its feet were scarlet-colored like burning charcoal. If one didn’t look carefully, it would have been hidden beneath its golden fur. One could only find that its feet were extremely bright-red like the color of fire if they lifted up its golden fur.

“Is it actually something from legends?!” The chief trembled with shock like he was face to face with a peerless terror.

“Grandpa chief, what is it?” asked little Shi Hao.

“In an ancient legend, there was a peerless vicious beast named Zhuyan. It was shaped like a monkey with scarlet feet and a white head. Its appearance foretold which place would end in chaos.”

Everyone jumped in fear and couldn’t help but take a step back. How could this golden monkey be so fearsome?

“It’s… an archaic vicious beast?!” Everyone’s hearts were thumping violently. This was a bit scary. Unless a deity came, who could handle an Archaic vicious beast?

“Wrong. Its head isn’t white,” the nasally kid said.

“Naturally, it can’t be an archaic vicious beast. It should be a descendant, and its blood perhaps isn’t pure. We don’t know why it suffered such a serious injury,” the chief said.

With this, everyone became fearful. Even without the purest of blood, as long as it could be called an Archaic Descendant, it could still rampage through the desolate lands like a terrifying creature.

The only thing that relieved the people was the fact that this golden ball seemed harmless. It was just a food whore without much dangers to it.

In addition, it also suffered a heavy injury that shattered the symbols within its body.

“It’s a pity that the supreme legendary precious technique was broken as well.” After calming down, the group of people all felt very regretful.

“Yi, there’s a horn on its head.” The little guy rubbed its head. Not only did he not find any white hair, he actually found a pair of little protrusions inside its golden fur.

He only found it after careful examination: a pair of little protrusions stuck out of its fur as they radiated and flickered. They only found out it was a pair of horns after close examination.