It was covered in dirt, only one chi long, yet it had three heads and six arms, resembling a monkey, but it seemed not to be. What kind of creature was this? Little Shi Hao was puzzled and at the same time alarmed. All living beings within a hundred thousand li had perished. How could such a strange and odd 异种 survive? It should not be simple!
The big lake had dried up. The mud at the bottom, after drying in the sun, had become as hard as stone. One of this creature's legs was buried in the mud and now seemed to be sealed in the stone, unable to be pulled out.
All the surrounding mountains were broken. It seemed that they had been swept by a huge weapon, destroying the entire mountain range. All the mountains were left with only the lower halves.
It was precisely because of this violent change in the mountain terrain that the big lake had dried up. This big marsh was now lifeless, no longer having the scene of vast and continuous blue waves from the past.
The three young birds circled, sometimes rushing into the clouds and sometimes approaching the bottom of the lake. Little Shi Hao, sitting on Ziyun's back, stared below and took out some food from the animal skin bag and threw it down.
This creature seemed to be starving. It picked up the dried meat that fell beside it and devoured it in a few bites, then showed a longing look and looked up at the sky.
"It doesn't seem dangerous, but this creature is a bit strange. Ziyun, lower a bit to take a closer look." Little Shi Hao said.
Ziyun 俯冲 down and circled above the dried lake bottom. Little Shi Hao's arm glowed, and patches of runes appeared, sprinkling a large shower of light rain onto that creature.
This creature, resembling a monkey and only one chi long, widened its eyes, a little nervous and also somewhat confused. The light rain drenched it, making it completely crystalline and nearly transparent.
This was an application of bone inscriptions, capable of detecting the strength and weakness of an opponent. Little Shi Hao immediately let out a surprised sound and said, "It has suffered severe injuries. There are complex runes inside its body, but they have almost been wiped out. I can't see the rest. It's blocked by a mysterious force."
After confirming there was no danger, Little Shi Hao jumped down and landed on the ground. The three young birds chirped softly, circling in mid-air, their bodies glowing, on full alert and ready to fight at any time.
"This lake has been dry for over a year. Could it be that it has been trapped here without food or drink all this time?" Little Shi Hao was surprised.
The lake bottom was hard and solid, no different from stepping on rocks. This one-chi-long creature had chrysalis-like skin nearby, and a small part of it had just fallen off.
"Could it have undergone some kind of transformation and just broken free? Sealed in the mud, it must have been trapped for at least one or two years." Shi Hao showed a surprised expression.
"Squeak..." The three-headed and six-armed creature chirped and waved its six arms together, begging Little Shi Hao for food.
Little Shi Hao untied the bag and handed over a handful of dried meat, saying, "What kind of creature are you and why were you trapped here?"
The small monster, about one chi long, widened its big eyes. While devouring the food, it thought hard, and finally showed a blank expression. It even forgot to eat. It rubbed its head vigorously, looking very frustrated and seemingly dissatisfied with itself.
"Ah, you really are transforming. Another piece of old skin has fallen off."
The old skin of this creature was stained with hard chunks of mud. After a few pieces of hard skin fell off one of its arms, shiny fur was revealed, shining brightly, like golden satin, much more pleasing to the eye than the dusty old skin.
It was very weak and had just recovered not long ago. It still couldn't pull out the sealed leg and from time to time showed a confused expression, scratching its ears and cheeks, trying hard to remember something.
Little Shi Hao was curious. His arm glowed again, sprinkling another shower of light rain on it.
"Squeak..." It immediately screamed, as if frightened. Its entire body shone brilliantly, and the broken and complex runes inside flickered, enveloping it, making it impossible to investigate.
"Could it be that it was severely injured and had no choice but to undergo transformation, thus barely surviving?" Shi Hao stared at it, thinking that this creature was seriously injured.
"Click"
This monkey-like creature suddenly shone with golden light all over its body. Its entire body cracked, and there were continuous clicking sounds. All the old skin fell off, revealing its true form.
And in this process, its three heads and six arms blurred and quickly transformed into one head and two arms, returning to a normal appearance.
"Ah, it has changed. Could that have just been a precious technique!" Little Shi Hao was shocked.
Shaking off the pieces of old skin and retracting the precious technique, its entire body shone brilliantly. It broke free from the sealed leg and squeaked non-stop. Its body also shrank and was only over three inches tall.
This was astonishing. How could the change be so great? It was completely like a different creature. It was chubby, like a golden fist. If pushed, it would probably roll around like a golden ball.
It still resembled a monkey, but became round, golden, and fist-sized. Its pair of big eyes were particularly lively, not smaller than Little Shi Hao's big eyes. Every time it blinked, it would sparkle with a glistening light.
"So cute!" Little Shi Hao immediately picked it up and placed it in the palm of his hand, rubbing and squeezing it, causing a stream of golden light to flow.
"Squeak, squeak..." The golden ball struggled vigorously, staring with its very large eyes and chirping non-stop.
"Squeak... Wuu!" Little Shi Hao directly stuffed a piece of dried meat into its mouth, immediately stopping its screams. It was like a starving ghost reborn, rolling around in his palm while holding the food and chewing rapidly.
Shi Hao grabbed its monkey tail. As a result, this golden ball remained motionless, hanging there, holding the food and chewing non-stop, not paying any attention to him.
Little Shi Hao immediately laughed, very happily. He played with it, turning it over and over, having a great time.
Finally, the golden ball became angry, but not because of this. Instead, it was because the food was all eaten and it found that Little Shi Hao was not conscious enough to not give it more.
"Hahaha..." Little Shi Hao laughed happily and handed it another piece of dried meat. As a result, the golden ball ignored everything again. No matter how it was pinched or shaken by its tail, it didn't care. Hanging there, it held the food with its pair of small paws and continued to chew.
Ziyun, Dapeng, and Xiaoqing were all stunned. They landed and stared at this golden ball with strange gazes. Just now, this creature had three heads and six arms. That was a supreme precious technique from ancient legends, which made them very nervous. But now this ball was like this. With food, it didn't care about anything else.
After finding such a creature, it was naturally impossible to gain insights on the battlefield. Little Shi Hao, holding the golden ball by its tail, sat on Ziyun's back and rushed towards Stone Village.
"Whoosh..." With a strong gust of wind, the three young birds landed on the green grass by the lake. A group of children gathered around, showing curious gazes.
"What is this? A newly opened-eyed baby monkey? How come it's cast like gold, with fur so shiny that it blinds the eyes."
"It's so round. If placed on the ground, it can roll."
"Wow, it can really eat. It doesn't get angry even when its tail is pulled. It just knows to bury its head and chew."
The lake was beautiful, blue and clear. The grass on the shore was green and lush. In the distance, some big birds with bright and colorful feathers were pacing, and auspicious beasts appeared from time to time.
A group of children sat cross-legged on the grass, staring at this creature and laughing from time to time.
Finally, the golden ball directly burrowed into Little Shi Hao's animal skin bag and didn't stop eating. Only then did the children realize something was wrong.
"Good heavens, it's only the size of a fist. How could it eat such a large bag of food? How could its small belly hold it all?"
"What kind of monkey is this?"
The exclamations here attracted the attention of the adults. Shi Feijiao and others came over.
"It's not a monkey. It knows how to transform. When it was first discovered, it had three heads and six arms and even shed a skin like a golden cicada." Little Shi Hao explained.
"What, three heads and six arms? That's a supreme precious technique from legends!" Shi Feijiao was shocked. In recent years, following the chief for cultivation, he had learned a lot of secrets.
"Unfortunately, it almost died. The runes inside its body were broken and can't be observed." Little Shi Hao regretted.
At this time, several very old elders of the clan were alarmed. The words "three heads and six arms" stunned a group of old men. Chief Shi Yunfeng also came and crouched down to take a close look.
"Squeak..." The golden ball was angry and chirped non-stop because the food was all eaten.
"Pop", a child threw a red fruit and hit it. As a result, it became obedient again, sticking its butt up and burying its head in chewing. Letting everyone do as they pleased.
"This thing is not simple!" The chief took a look and was startled, showing a solemn expression.
"Chief, what kind of monkey is this?" A child asked.
"In ancient legends, there was a peerless fierce beast called Zhu Yan, resembling a monkey, with red feet and a white head. Whenever it appeared, it indicated that a region was about to fall into chaos."
Everyone was startled and couldn't help but step back. Was this golden ball so fierce?
"It's... a peerless fierce beast from ancient times?!" Everyone's hearts pounded violently. This was a bit terrifying. Unless a god came, otherwise, who could subdue a fierce beast from ancient times.
"That's not right. Its head isn't white." The snotty kid spoke.
"Naturally, it can't be a fierce beast from ancient times. It should be a remnant. Maybe its bloodline is not pure. Somehow, it has suffered severe injuries." The chief said.
But even so, it still made a group of people's hearts jump. No matter how impure the blood was, as long as it could be called an ancient remnant, it was still a terrifying creature that could rampage through the wild land.
The only thing that could make people breathe a little easier was that this golden ball seemed harmless and was the entire embodiment of a food lover, without any dangerous aura.
Moreover, it had suffered severe injuries and the runes inside its body were broken.
"It's a pity that the supreme precious technique from the legends was destroyed along with it." After calming down, a group of people all felt very regretful.
"Hey, it has horns on its head." Little Shi Hao touched its head. Not only did he not find white hair, but also discovered a pair of small protrusions among the golden fur. This was a bit different from Zhu Yan.
Only upon careful inspection could it be noticed that a pair of small protrusions were hidden in the fur, shining with light. With careful identification, it could be seen that they were a pair of unicorn horns.