Chapter 7: Giant Salamander
Behind it trailed a long, flat tail, and its smooth black skin glistened under the water.
This mutated beast’s head was as large as their heavy-duty truck, ovoid in shape and gradually flattening towards the sides.
“It’s a Giant Salamander!”
A look of delight appeared on Jiang Ning’s face.
She looked at the Giant Salamander as if she were seeing an old friend again.
Hearing her call out the name of this mutated beast, Li Xiang looked at Jiang Ning with an expression of terror.
Li Xiang: “…”
This is a B-rank mutated beast, a Giant Salamander! What are you so delighted about?!
“Are you trying to get us killed faster?” Li Xiang asked her grimly.
“Weren’t you the one who wouldn’t run just now?” Jiang Ning’s expression was strange. “I couldn’t even drag you away.”
“Giant Salamander! It’s! A B-rank mutated beast!” Li Xiang pointed behind him, his emotions running high.
“It’s B-rank?” Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow.
She really couldn’t figure out how the interstellar era ranked these ‘mutated beasts’.
“You didn’t know it was B-rank?” Li Xiang frowned in confusion, looking her up and down. “Then how did you know this was a Giant Salamander?”
“It’s obvious,” Jiang Ning said.
“The skin on the Giant Salamander’s back is smooth, the folds on its neck are distinct, there’s a spinal groove running down the center of its back, its limbs are relatively slender, and the palmar and plantar tubercles are prominent—”
“Stop, stop, stop, where did you learn all this?” Li Xiang’s brows furrowed into a knot.
Jiang Ning took a deep breath, and just as she was about to speak, Li Xiang interrupted her.
Li Xiang seemed to recall their last encounter. “Don’t say it. I know you’re just going to say it’s from a book.”
Jiang Ning smiled.
The meaning was obvious.
Li Xiang once again felt the sting of silent mockery.
Damn it, when he got back this time, he was going to have his mom buy him a book about mutated beasts to read.
While the two were talking, the Giant Salamander’s ovoid head turned from side to side, its eyes darting around as if searching for something.
Suddenly, it let out an agitated cry and paced back and forth in the swamp.
With a casual flick of its three-meter-long tail, it knocked over the truck Scarface and his group had parked.
The truck looked like it was about to come crashing down on Jiang Ning and Li Xiang.
“Jiang Ning!”
“Li Xiang!”
Two voices called out at the same time.
Hearing the commotion, the Yan father-son duo and the Li couple rushed towards them, along with Scarface and his group.
Jiang Ning was quick-witted, dragging Li Xiang back to dodge.
Clang—
After tumbling a few times, the truck came to a dead stop less than half a meter in front of the two of them.
That was close!
She had almost checked out again.
Jiang Ning’s heart pounded wildly, her chest heaving violently.
She hadn’t forgotten how unjustly she had died the last time.
Yan Zhou and the others arrived in front of the two. His figure shielded them, while Uncle Li and Auntie Li quickly helped Jiang Ning and Li Xiang up from the ground.
Li Xiang was so scared he had almost lost his soul.
It was only after Uncle Li pulled him up that he came to his senses.
“You two find a safe place to hide first.” Yan Zhou looked warily at the Giant Salamander in front of them. A sword condensed from earth had appeared in his hand.
Li Xiang looked worriedly at the Li couple. Seeing them nod as well, he made up his mind and sprinted more than ten meters away.
Jiang Ning followed closely behind.
Only after the two kids had left did Scarface and his group arrive belatedly.
“Yan Zhou, let’s just call it a day. This is a B-rank mutated beast!” Scarface’s face showed hesitation.
Yan Zhou and his group could go looking for death if they wanted, but he didn’t.
If it were an ordinary C-rank mutated beast, it would be one thing, but this was a B-rank mutated beast.
With just the few of them, they were no match for it at all.
“Scarface, are you scared?” A smirk played on Yan Zhou’s lips.
Scarface fell silent.
Duh, of course he was afraid of dying.
But he would never admit this to Yan Zhou. Otherwise, where would his, Scarface’s, pride be? Where would his authority be?
Scarface could only try to persuade him earnestly, “Let’s leave quickly while this mutated beast isn’t enraged. We’d have a better chance with a C-rank target.”
“No.”
Yan Zhou refused directly.
How could he back down after finally encountering a B-rank mutated beast?
If he sold this mutated beast at the market, it would probably fetch a lot of money.
Seeing that Yan Zhou wouldn’t be persuaded, Scarface had no choice but to issue a threat. “Yan Zhou, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re an A-rank ability user. Let me tell you, a newly awakened A-rank ability user is useless. People praise you a couple of times, and you really think you’re a genius?”
Yan Zhou was busy sizing up the mutated beast before him and paid no attention to what Scarface was saying.
Scarface could only fume helplessly.
“Pearl, they’re not leaving, but we are!” Scarface said to the short-haired woman following behind him.
The woman didn’t move.
“Pearl?” Scarface looked at her in surprise.
Black Pearl stared intently at the mutated beast’s eyes, her own filled with greed.
“Pearl, I’m warning you, the Giant Salamander is not something you and I can handle,” Scarface said with a frown, about to grab her.
Black Pearl dodged Scarface’s pull, took out two short blades from behind her back, and stood beside Yan Zhou.
“Scarface, you and I are both bounty hunters. There shouldn’t be anything more tempting than money, right?” Black Pearl’s smile was crazed.
Jiang Ning, who had retreated more than ten meters away, crossed her arms and observed the situation over there.
Unlike Jiang Ning’s calm demeanor, Li Xiang appeared extremely agitated.
He couldn’t hear the conversation over there, but from their silhouettes, it seemed Scarface was having a conflict with Yan Zhou. The group was not cooperating well, and they remained at a stalemate for a while.
“What’s wrong with Scarface? He always messes up at critical moments,” Li Xiang grumbled.
It wasn’t until the dark-skinned, short-haired woman took out two blades that the stalemate was broken.
Scarface and the remaining few bounty hunters from East District 1 reluctantly took out their respective weapons.
The group followed Yan Zhou’s previous arrangement, each performing their own duties.
Only, the person teaming up with Yan Zhou had been replaced by Black Pearl.
Yan Zhengxiang and the Li couple attracted the Giant Salamander’s attention from three different directions. Yan Zhou released his psychic energy, and countless clumps of mud, as if they had substance, shot out from the swamp, binding the Giant Salamander’s limbs. Seeing this, Black Pearl charged towards the Giant Salamander’s face with a blade in each hand.
The remaining few from East District 1 were responsible for cutting off any potential threats from the side for Black Pearl, ensuring she could smoothly get close to the Giant Salamander.
The plan was perfect, but they had underestimated the strength of a B-rank mutated beast.
The Giant Salamander slightly lifted its claw, and the mud ropes that had been tightly binding it instantly disintegrated into a pile of soft mud.
Just as Yan Zhou’s psychic energy was about to control the surrounding swamp again.
The next moment, the cartilage on the Giant Salamander’s foreclaws gradually became sharp.
It struck out at an extremely fast speed towards a buzz-cut man at the front of the team.
Fortunately, he was quick-witted and dodged to the side, narrowly escaping.
The first strike missed.
The massive Giant Salamander stomped its foot, and the earth-shattering vibration was felt even by Jiang Ning, who was tens of meters away.
The few from East District 1 were caught off guard and staggered.
The Giant Salamander followed up with a tail whip.
The flat, long tail struck one of them in the abdomen.
The man immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward.
He propped himself up with one hand, unable to get up for a long time.
“Xiao Fei!”
His companion glanced worriedly in his direction.
The next moment, the Giant Salamander whipped its tail again, sending the person who had just spoken flying as well.
“Damn it, I told you to change the target, but you wouldn’t listen!” Scarface cursed loudly.
“All the injured are my men!” Scarface stared at Yan Zhou with hatred.
Having to control his psychic energy to release his earth ability while also keeping an eye on his teammates, Yan Zhou’s forehead was inevitably covered in fine beads of sweat.
So, challenging a B-rank mutated beast is still too difficult?
…
After a few rounds, Jiang Ning, from a distance, finally noticed that something was wrong.
This mutated beast didn’t seem to want to get entangled with them; it seemed to just want to shake them off quickly.
Jiang Ning circled to the other side and took another careful look at this Giant Salamander.
“Jiang Ning, what are you doing? You’re not thinking of running away, are you?” Li Xiang looked strangely at Jiang Ning, who was walking to another spot.
She ignored Li Xiang’s words and went to a hill that was convenient for observing the Giant Salamander’s tail.
The cloacal vent of a male Giant Salamander is a longitudinal slit, while a female’s is circular, and her body is slightly smaller than a male’s.
The Giant Salamander continued to attack Yan Zhou’s group with its tail, which gave Jiang Ning a clear view of its rear.
Upon looking, Jiang Ning discovered that this Giant Salamander was actually a female, and its abdomen was slightly swollen. This was a female about to lay eggs.
She realized something and sprinted towards Yan Zhou.
Li Xiang, who had followed her out of curiosity, was completely bewildered. He was once again left behind by Jiang Ning.
Li Xiang stopped and rolled his eyes. He really shouldn’t have been with Jiang Ning!
“Yan Zhou, let this mutated beast go,” Jiang Ning said, panting, as she ran up to the group.
“Jiang Ning?” Yan Zhou was stunned for a second. “What are you talking about?”
“Let this Giant Salamander go,” Jiang Ning repeated.
“As long as we put down our weapons and don’t actively attack it, it naturally won’t attack us anymore.”
Before Yan Zhou could speak, Scarface roared, “Do you know what you’re saying?”
He was also injured now.
A spark of fighting spirit ignited in Scarface. “It injured so many of our people. How can we just let it go like this?”
“Exactly,” the others chimed in.
“We’ve come this far, how can we just back down now!”
“You little brat, if you can’t help, don’t cause trouble, or I’ll be the first to feed you to the mutated beast.”
The Li couple’s situation was also not optimistic. Uncle Li advised, “Jiang Ning, we can’t give up. Don’t cause trouble here.”
“Kid, leave quickly!” Black Pearl, who was usually a woman of few words, glanced at her.
“Li Xiang, you’re just in time. Quickly take Jiang Ning away!” Uncle Li said.
The belatedly arrived Li Xiang, however, saw the horrifying wounds on his parents’ bodies and stood frozen.
“Li Xiang?” Uncle Li called out again, his tone filled with disappointment.
“Jiang Ning, you two should leave first. I’m not giving up on this mutated beast,” Yan Zhou sighed. This time, he didn’t speak up for Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning cleared her throat, her red lips parting slightly. “I’m not trying to persuade you to give up on this mutated beast.”
“Then what do you mean?” Yan Zhengxiang’s mouth moved faster than his brain.
Perhaps it was due to the deep impression Jiang Ning’s knowledge had left on him last time, but Yan Zhengxiang’s first sentence was not a rebuttal, but a question about the hidden meaning in her words.