Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

—

A small boat was gliding quickly across the waves on the spacious lake.

The boat soon reached the shore. The Foehn Hunter Squad were relieved after reaching the shore, and stopped to get a breather.

“It’s my first time being so close to a Carnage Poisonous Salamander!” Xie Hao exclaimed.

“Zhong Li, what are you doing?” Gu Ying asked.

“I’m digging out its poison glands. They are extremely valuable. Speaking of which, why is this thing’s skin so thick? I can’t even slice through its belly with my Deathstrike Magic Equipment!” Zhong Li said.

“You should slice through the wounds, dumbass,” Gu Ying advised him.

“You’re right!”

Zhong Li soon noticed a deep gash under the Carnage Poisonous Salamander’s belly. It was a lot simpler to cut its stomach open by slicing through the wound.

The filth inside the Carnage Poisonous Salamander’s bloated belly poured out from the opening. A strong smell immediately spread into the surroundings!

“That’s… so disgusting!” Gu Ying turned her head away.

Only Zhong Li would bother dissecting demon creatures for their loot. However, he did earn a fortune from looting demon creatures. Without doing so, he would never reach the Intermediate Level, given how lazy he was with his cultivation!

“Boss, take a look at this!” Zhong Li exclaimed. He seemed to have discovered something unusual amid the thick ooze.

“Are you asking for death?” Gu Ying cursed him.

“I’m not joking, you really have to take a look at this. We might have made a huge discovery!” Zhong Li was overjoyed.

Zhong Li ignored how filthy the contents were. He proceeded to dig out some eggs from the mess while he was talking!

“Why are there so many infants of Salamander Demons inside its stomach? Do these shells belong to the Salamander Demons, too?” Gu Ying recognized some of the parts. She immediately looked confused.

“Was the Carnage Poisonous Salamander eating the infants of the Salamander Demons?” Xie Hao wondered.

“I doubt it, these eggs are intact!” Zhong Li refuted.

“But why are there so many shells in its stomach?”

Gu Ying observed the contents closely. After giving it some thought, she said slowly, “This is a female Poisonous Salamander that is carrying a huge number of the Salamander Demon’s eggs.”

“This is huge, we should tell Fan Mo at once. We might have cracked the mystery of how the Salamander Demons are reproducing!” Zhong Li exclaimed.

“Mm, I think so too!” Gu Ying smiled.

“Holy shit, what the hell is this!?” Xie Hao suddenly let out a scream.

Xie Hao was inspecting the mess too. He suddenly found a human leg in the pile!

The human leg was covered in ooze. It had yet to rot seriously, meaning that it was eaten not long ago.

“Did…did the Carnage Poisonous Salamander eat humans too?” Zhong Li boldly inspected the leg.

“There should be other parts too. It seems like the leg was only eaten recently. The flesh hasn’t been digested.”

“You guys are disgusting. Can you stop messing around?” Gu Ying said, covering her mouth.

Zhong Li did not mind getting his hands dirty. He tried to piece together the human parts, but the corpse was already beyond recognition…

“Let’s bury it!” Big Nose said.

“Wait, we might know the guy…” Zhong Li suddenly said sternly.

“Seriously? How did you even recognize him?”

“Take a look at this!” Zhong Li had found a dirty badge. He cleaned it off with water.

The badge was made of metal, so it was not easy to digest it. The pattern on it was easily discernible. Even its colors did not fade away.

“It’s the badge of the Cangjin Hunter Squad!” Gu Ying recognized the badge instantly.

The Cangjin Hunter Squad was quite close with the Foehn Hunter Squad. Their leader, Lan Jin, was an old friend of Gu Ying’s. Gu Ying never expected the person eaten by the Carnage Poisonous Salamander to be a member of the Cangjin Hunter Squad!

Strange, weren’t the members of the Cangjin Hunter Squad with Lu Zhuo and Li Yumei? How did this guy end up in the Carnage Poisonous Salamander’s stomach? Were they in some kind of trouble?

“Should we investigate it? He looks so messed up!” Xie Hao exclaimed.

“Are you out of your mind? That thing almost ate us too, and you’re asking us to go somewhere dangerous again? Besides, do you even know where the Cangjin Hunter Squad went? The creature must have eaten him somewhere else!” Big Nose pointed out.

“I think I know where they went,” Zhong Li said.

“How do you know?” Gu Ying asked with a confused look.

“I found these Demon Water Leaves in the Carnage Poisonous Salamander’s stomach. My mentor told me that there’s only one place in the Thousand Islands Lake where I can find these leaves. It’s a cave on an island that is connected to the lake below. It’s the only place where these Demon Water Leaves can grow,” Zhong Li said. He picked some irregular-shaped leaves that were partially digested out from the pile of filth.

It was not difficult to identify the Water Demon Leaves. Xie Hao and Gu Ying had seen them before, too. The Water Demon Leaves were sold at a high price on the market, but not many people knew where to find them, nor did they have the courage to explore the dangerous cave.

“We should look into this. The Cangjin Hunter Squad did share a quest with us when we were struggling financially back in the days. We shouldn’t turn a blind eye, knowing their lives might be in danger,” Gu Ying stated.

“Leader, shouldn’t we worry about ourselves first? That’s a Carnage Poisonous Salamander!” Big Nose disagreed immediately.

“Hey, Big Nose, why are you afraid? Did you forget we have Wolf Grandpa with us? Did you already forget how he took out the Carnage Poisonous Salamander?” Zhong Li said.

“That’s right, we might be able to find more valuable loot, too!” Xie Hao said excitedly.

The Foehn Hunter Squad was feeling much bolder, since the Flying Creek Snow Wolf was around to guarantee their safety.

They were not far from the Cave Island. It would not take them long to reach it with their boat. Zhong Li purposely wrote a letter about their discovery of Salamander Demons eggs in the Carnage Poisonous Salamander’s stomach. He tied the letter on a branch and brushed it with a special scent that would attract the Post Eagles!

It was a rather simple way of communication for the Hunters when their phones had no signal. The Post Eagles would just follow the scent and bring the letter back.

Gu Ying was also worried that the Cangjin Hunter Squad would be wiped out by the time they made it back to Minghu Outpost. It was better to investigate the matter first, while relaying their discovery to Mo Fan with the help of the Post Eagles.

—

Zhong Li was a living map of the Thousand Islands Lake. The Cave Island was very secluded, yet he still managed to find it. The Foehn Hunter Squad tensed up as they drew closer to the Cave Island…

The scent of blood had spread in the air…

————-

{Author’s Note: The sequence involving Lu Zhuo at the Cave Island happened first before the Foehn Hunter Squad encountered the Carnage Poisonous Salamander. I didn’t write the chapters chronologically. Some readers can understand, but others are quite fussed about it, so I’m clarifying it here!}