"Whew...... It's hot! It's hot! Finally crossed the hot stone area, and before he stopped to stabilize his breath, Xiao Zuoqing's feet kept switching on the ground. If it weren't for the presence of the seniors of the Little Hunting Group, the girl would even have the urge to take off her feet.

After a long night of waiting, the magma gushing out of the ground condensed into a temporarily stable crust. The volcanic rock was still sizzling out of the pores, and anyone looking down from the sky would be able to see that the area was redder than the surroundings, like a patch of disproportionate color on the mountainside.

Those walking on it certainly don't feel the subtle differences in the color of the rock, but the burning heat under their feet is real. The rocks resemble a gigantic baking pan for any creature that dares to step into it. The hunters had to run all the way to get out of the lava-scorched area before they were burned to their senses.

"Are you all okay?" The little head of the regiment held the handle of the hammer with both hands, and his chest rose and fell incessantly. The girl felt the sweat running down her forehead burn, and she moved her body uncomfortably from side to side, tearing off the inner lining of the hunting suit that was sticking to her body.

"It's enough to come to this kind of ghost place only once, and I won't take a second volcano commission in my life." Nie Xiaoyang lifted his mask and wiped the water stains on his face indiscriminately, "When I think of the primordial lords on the volcano having to spend their lives here, I feel a little sympathetic to them. ”

"Those monsters have lava shells and heat dissipation organs, and we don't. Hell, even if I die in a thrilling hunt......" Kuma said weakly. Standing on the edge of the hot stone area, the stout hunter could feel his life force evaporating with sweat.

"Thank you hunter ancestors, at least we were lucky along the way." Lina crossed her hands lightly. The heat on the rock layer has not dissipated for a long time, and there is clearly a layer of liquid lava under everyone's feet, and most of the magma rising from the depths of the earth is rich in minerals, which has a fatal attraction to the surrounding rock species and ichthyosaurs, plus the small monsters that did not have time to leave when they erupted, it is not an exaggeration to say that there is an undercurrent surging under this thin layer of rock crust.

Not to mention the risk of being attacked by the high-level ichthyosaurs lurking in it, even if any lava beast breaks the rock shell from below, it will also cause the hunters to fall into the dead red deep pool in an instant. Being safe and sound on the way can only be said to be thanks to the great hunter ancestors.

"Hey! That's not what you said before you left......" The cat blew her beard and pointed at Lina with a palm of flesh. Hearing the Shadow Hunter's narration, and then looking back at the road they had walked, the young people were shocked and couldn't help but be afraid.

"I said it would be a little dangerous, but this is already the fastest way up the mountain." The huntress played with a stone that she had copied at some point, "Otherwise, we would still be wandering around the mountainside, and then going down a certain fork in the road into a dead end, and I don't know what year or month it will take to go up the mountain." You're hunters too, so you wouldn't want to take even this little risk, would you? …… No, I'll give you this, I picked it up on the road. ”

The Shadowhunter threw his hand, and the stone flew in an arc among the young people. Feng Manyun pulled out the sword and lightly stabilized the stone on the back of the knife. The hunter looked closely, but he didn't see any clues: "It's just ordinary volcanic rock, why did you deliberately leave this behind?" ”

"Smell of blood?" The female Ailu snorted and stood up alertly on her master's shoulder, "Where did you find it?" ”

"More than a hundred meters ago, when you little ghosts were still complaining about the hot feet on the ground." The purple-clothed hunter pouted behind him, "The disintegration of the ground will only spread down the mountain, and it is almost the edge of this subsidence just now. The blood couldn't tell if it was a human or a monster, but last night's battle must have taken place around here. ”

"The Golden Lion?"

"If I had to guess, my team ran into the dragon here, but there shouldn't be a winner." Lena looked up at the top of the cloudy volcano, "No matter how much that monster tosses, it will end up on the top of the Devil's Fury, and of course, it's partly up to the Shadowhunter's intuition. She took the lead and climbed further up, and waved her hand back, "You guys, let's go when you have enough rest, you won't come here to think about giving up, right?" ”

"As long as you give the order, I can shoot through her head without hesitation." The female archer whispered to the regimental commander as she stepped past her.

"This woman attacked our companion in front of me, do you think I want to see her alive?" Qin Shuiyu shook his head, "It's just that we still need her, whether we want to get close to that dragon family, or see that poaching group called Reverse Scale, maybe we have to negotiate with those villains." We've gotten here, and if we do it now, we're all back to square one. ”

"It's not on the territory of the union, and I really don't have the confidence to do anything, so let's take one step at a time." Xiao Yang's shoulders drooped, and he pulled himself up and walked forward.

"Manyun-" Seeing that the purple-clothed hunter had already walked far ahead, the regiment commander called out, and Feng Manyun put down the sword in the vigilance, "Regiment leader?" ”

"As for the incident you mentioned earlier...... the girl asked in a low voice, "Is there really an ancient dragon activity on this mountain?" ”

"I've only met that level of will once, and that was on the Thundering Sand Sea two years ago, and I won't be mistaken—it's still here." The Xishu hunter looked over the smoke-strewn volcano and nodded in confirmation, "I haven't left since I noticed that lightning last night. ”

"It must not be a coincidence that two creatures that are rarely seen in the hunting ground appear on the volcano at the same time." Jia Xiao leaned his head over and said, "I don't believe that the poachers had the guts to trouble Gu Long from the beginning, maybe even their intelligence was wrong. ”

"The woman was well disguised, but she could see that she was more anxious to see her companion than we were. She must have felt it too, the situation on the volcano was beyond the control of that half-underground hunting group. Feng Manyun looked at Lina in the distance, who was unaware.

"Just in case, can you make out where that ancient dragon is? Roughly fine. The regimental commander asked.

"I can......'t do it," the white-clothed hunter said helplessly, waving his hand, "I'm not sealing the dust, and I can't find the ancient dragon's hiding place as soon as I close my eyes." To be honest, I didn't even figure out what happened to me. ”

It wasn't until in the sea of sand, without borrowing any external force, that the Xishu hunter broke through the almost irresistible law of rank and forcibly overcame the medicinal effect of Emon by will, that Feng Manyun realized that something terrible seemed to have happened to him. At that time, the boy hoped to have an ancient dragon-level monster as a mentor, but in the past two years, the only object he could learn from was himself.

"My ...... I don't know what to call it. The young man had a confused look on his face, "It seals my negative feelings during the fight, pain, fear, and so on. And feeling the strength of the monster's fighting spirit is just an incidental ability. It always appeared in my head like a pinprick, but after so many battles, I still couldn't use it on my own initiative. ”

"It's okay, don't force it." The head of the regiment made a gesture that everything was fine, "But if you find anything next, remember to warn us as soon as possible." ”

…………

"I thought your regimental commander wouldn't let you come near me again." After being stared at by Xiao Zuoqing for nearly ten minutes, Lena finally couldn't stand it anymore and took the lead in speaking to the little girl.

The girl didn't say a word, but her eyes were like two glass balls soaked in water, reflecting the purple hunting suit of the Shadow Hunter.

"Spare me, I can feel the murderous eyes of your predecessors when you walk this distance," Lena waved her hand impatiently, "I would advise you to return to their midst." ”

Despite being nearly a third smaller than Lena's, Qing'er stubbornly tossed her legs upside down, trying not to be left behind too much by Lena, as if she was chasing a terrifying beast.

"I know, I know! You're not afraid of me. The huntress tried to make a vicious expression, but was obscured by the dust mask, and only her half-squinted eyes were still exposed, "But aren't you worried that I'll tie my hands and feet and throw them out again?" This time, I promise, you won't get away with surviving again. ”

"You won't hurt me." The female flutist finally spoke, "Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken us all the way up the mountain." ”

While still near the lava line, the group rampage through the volcano, narrowly missing poachers and monsters on several occasions. But after seeing Lina, except for the male fire dragon that was expected last night, the group never encountered any danger, although Xiao Zuoqing didn't say it, but they all really saw it in their eyes.

"Huh...... The people who came out of the training camp were naïve idiots like you, no wonder the Hunters' Guild couldn't be what they are now. The heavy crossbowman sighed in a strange tone, "Everyone seems to have grown up in a honeypot, I've almost learned to kill by your age......," she beckoned, "Come closer, I'll teach you a lesson." ”

Xiao Qing'er shook her head, but retreated a little further.

"Poof, your brain isn't completely broken." Lena said this, and retracted her hand curtly, "I've seen a boy who's as old as you are now. ”

"Your brother?"

"No, what the hell...... I haven't seen my parents. "I told you, I'm a craftsman, and that guy is the youngest apprentice in the workshop, a mischievous mischief who likes to sneak back to the workshop after closing and make a mess of the bench and the coke ovens. ”

"Anyway, he sneaked into the hunting forest alone to find a glowing ore that would produce bubbles—a half-truth often found in small villages."

"Is there a stone like that on the mainland?" Xiao Zuoqing asked in disbelief.

"Look, it's exactly the same as your face now." Lena sneered, "I didn't find any broken stones, but the kid saw a monster, the kind that wasn't even included in the book. The monster was blind and very seriously injured, so he found some food and herbs for the monster, and fed it for more than half a month. ”

"And then?"

"Of course it's cured, although the child is not a doctor, the monster's recovery power is much stronger than that of humans." The Shadowhunter spread his hands, "Only later did he discover that the rare species didn't like to eat wild fruits and roasted meat, but something else. ”

"Gollum-" Qing'er's back froze, and her footsteps paused: "In the end...... Is it still a monster? ”

"That's right, it's still a monster after all." Lena repeated before reaching out and pointing at the tip of the girl's nose, "No matter how much you like a beast, it won't change its nature because of you, and neither do we. ”

The girl thought for a moment, as if she had touched the key: "This is what you are stealing...... The reason for the Shadowhunters, right? ”

"No, of course not! I'm a craftsman, so I don't care about the lives of those stupid villagers. The huntress lifted the corner of the mask and spat hard to her side, "I did end up with the beast, but I was only concerned about the excellent properties of its materials. All the monsters I hunted were materials for making hunting tools. ”

"What I'm trying to say is that a kid your age is not qualified to judge what is good and what is bad, just listen to someone you trust." The crossbowman gestured in the direction of the small hunting group, and the young men were gathering together to discuss something, occasionally throwing an unkind look at this side, "You should be afraid of me, like the little ghosts over there." ”

The Shadowhunter said, his attention returning to the path ahead, no longer looking at the girl beside him.

"What about you, is there anything you're afraid of?" Seeing that Lena put on a posture that no one would approach, Xiao Qing'er still asked unrelentingly.

"Go...... Don't hang around in front of me, like a flying beetle that doesn't know whether to live or die. The Shadowhunter became irritated, "I'm a bad person, what am I afraid of?" ”

The moment he said it, this sentence became Lina's biggest regret today.

On the uphill slope of the volcano, a cluster of blue electric light slowly lit up in front of everyone's eyes, and the light blew away the sulfur gray cloud that shrouded the mountain, reflecting the snow-white hair on the monster's body. The unicorn slowly paced in the direction of the hunter, its hooves and volcanic rock colliding with the brass bells.

"What the hell ......" It wasn't until the monster completely appeared in front of the people that the little hunters reacted, and the young people's weapons were unsheathed one after another, but they were still not as alert as the shadow hunters had trained for many years. After listening to Sen Luo's description, how could Lena not know the origin of the mysterious monster in front of her. The heavy crossbow was in hand, and the bullet was aimed in one go, and just as the huntress was about to pull the trigger, a glare flashed in front of her eyes. Lena's arm went numb, and the crossbow flew out of her hand far away, and the heat dissipation shell turned into a bright red steel plate, sticking together softly, obviously exceeding the limit of the load.