The end of the world: mountain and sea disasters

Chapter 72 The terrifying monkey king!
Facing the oncoming monkeys.

Yu Ke couldn't stay on the airship and pretend to be dead, hoping that they would pursue the Moon Leopard and let him go.

God knows if there are other irrational aberrations in the monkey group. It has never been his style to sit back and wait for death.

While the roars of the monkeys were still some distance away.

Yu Ke maneuvered the airboat to quickly approach the nearest giant tree, picking up dead branches and leaves from the river along the way, covering up his backpack and sundries. At the same time, he took out a bottle of spray specially made by the Forestry Protection Bureau to mask the smell, and calmed himself down. The boat sprayed in a circle.

I don’t know how effective it will be, but it’s better than nothing.

After completing the preparations, Yu Ke climbed up the nearby giant tree with the sharp-toothed bow and arrows and the Leviathan ax on his back. He used the horizontal branches to leap and move, and evacuated to the previously discovered hot spring forest area as quickly as possible.

The trees in that area still retain a lot of foliage, making it undoubtedly a good place to hide.

Without the burden of backpacks and other sundries, Yu Ke quickly found a more suitable hiding spot, located among the canopy above the hot spring.

The dense foliage provides excellent cover, and the rising heat generated by the hot springs can also mask the smell to a certain extent.

just
Where does the smell of meat come from?

Yu Ke squatted among the branches and shrugged his nose. After running here, he always felt the smell of cooking meat nearby.

After thinking about it, my eyes turned to the hot springs still bubbling at my feet.

Before Yu Ke could take a closer look, a roar in the distance attracted his attention.

The angry monkeys were already chasing him close.

Hastily raising the telescope, Yu Ke quickly captured those figures among the giant trees nearly a hundred meters high.

Their body shape is generally similar to that of adult men, except that their limbs are longer and thicker. When moving high in the giant tree, their bodies appear to be extremely light and extremely fast.

They either grab hold of the vines and swing around, or they step on the branches with their feet and move forward like walking on a tightrope. Some of the more daring ones use all four limbs at the same time, either running or jumping. If they are not careful here, they may fall into pieces. Running among the high-altitude tree canopies, it's like walking on flat ground.

There were about thirty monkeys in the group, roaring and scurrying through the forest, shaking branches everywhere to create momentum, as if they wanted to use this method to intimidate the Shadow Moon Leopard and force it to come out of its hiding place.

Obviously, this group of monkeys also knew how ferocious the Shadow Moon Leopard was, and they could not withstand the lethality of the latter's surprise attack in the dark.

As time goes by, the distance between the two sides shrinks.

Yu Ke observed more details. He noticed that the fur of these monkeys seemed a little special. At first glance, it looked gray-white, but when running at high altitudes, it was obvious that the inner layer had faintly visible dark blue hairs.

I think this should be the reason why they have excellent water properties.

When the monkeys came close, Yu Ke tried not to make any noise. He didn't want to become the target of being hunted.

The camouflage of the airship is very successful. At least there are no monkeys to destroy it yet. Their attention is focused on finding the Shadow Moon Leopard, and they are not very interested in strange-looking dead things.

As long as the Shadow Moon Leopard leaves here, the monkey group shouldn't stay too long.

However, what happened next made Yu Ke realize that his idea was probably wrong.

The monkeys continued to create momentum around them, but after a while they were unable to force the Shadow Moon Leopard to appear.

According to Yu Ke's speculation, they should choose to leave and go to other forest areas. Unexpectedly, the group of monkeys that wandered around in a large circle did not leave, but began to gather towards Yu Ke.

This made Yu Ke nervous. Could it be that his hiding place was discovered?
Holding the sharp-toothed longbow and holding two arrows in his right hand, Yu Ke stared closely at the ape dangling from a vine seven or eight meters away.

If possible, he wanted to avoid conflict with the monkeys.

But if the situation really reaches an irreversible point, he will never show mercy.

Just as Yu Ke was bending his bow and readying an arrow, murderous intent gradually rising in his heart, he saw the ape that was heading towards him suddenly opened its mouth and shouted a few times, then turned around and jumped down from the branches of the tree, grabbing the vines in the air and descending quickly.

What is this doing?
His eyes followed the ape's movements downwards. Yu Ke watched as it squatted down to the exposed roots of a giant tree above the hot spring water. He put his claws into the water and stirred it for a while. He actually took out a vine and pulled it up with all his strength. .

After a while, a hind leg of the beast was pulled out from the hot spring water. He used his hands and feet to peel off the fur on the leg. He tore off large pieces of meat that had been cooked by the hot water at the bottom of the hot spring and stuffed it into his mouth. He grinned and ate it. Very happy.

Its action soon caused a chain reaction. Other apes no longer wandered around, but came down from the trees and surrounded the hot springs, fishing for meat tied with vines, or simply jumping in and taking a bath to relieve their fatigue. .

Only then did Yu Ke suddenly realize where the meaty smell he had just smelled came from.

It turns out that the hot springs are used by the apes as natural soup pots and baths, used for cooking food and bathing, which can relieve fatigue and fill their stomachs. Several of them are carrying the carcasses of wild birds and pythons, squatting in the trees and binding them with vines. The food apes are the best proof of this.

The previous actions of creating momentum now seemed to have the purpose of driving away the Shadow Moon Leopards and protecting this hot spring.

Yu Ke felt numb.

He wanted to hide here to avoid the monkeys, but he didn't know that this place was the bathing center built by their party.

Now his situation was similar to that of the neglected towel and slipper manager at the bathing center. As long as he didn't move, no one would care. If he really stood up, he would immediately attract attention.

However, hiding here is not without gain. From his current position, he can clearly see the status of the monkey group. Yu Ke found that the monkeys used the hot springs very regularly. They obviously knew which areas of the hot springs were hot enough for cooking and preserving food, and which areas of the hot springs could be used for bathing without scalding themselves.

Especially the largest hot spring in the southeast. Judging from the various decorations and bones on the surrounding giant trees, it is most likely the exclusive territory of the king of the monkey group. No ape dares to approach it.

This made Yu Ke wary.

Being able to occupy the entire hot spring forest deep in the Jinghu Forest is absolutely extraordinary!
It's a pity that the hot spring in front of me, which should be called a blessed place, cannot escape the fate of being infected.

Yes, Yu Ke just tested the water quality here not long ago. Pandora's infection has spread here, and the monkeys are inevitably affected.

The Moon Leopard attempts to clear the infection by hunting aberrations, but this approach ultimately treats the symptoms rather than the root cause.

What Yu Ke could see now was that there were at least five apes in the monkey group whose backs and necks had undergone strange changes, and bright flowers gradually broke out of their flesh and blood, eroding their corpses.

The apes seem to be aware of the dangers of this mutation. Infected apes are often surrounded by their own kin who constantly comb their hair, pluck flowers from their bodies, and then rinse them with boiling hot spring water in an attempt to disinfect them.

However, this process was obviously extremely painful. The infected apes kept struggling and even began to hurt their own species.

Their sanity is gradually collapsing due to Pandora's infection, and they are completely controlled by the latter. Once their counterattack harms their own kind, it will immediately lead to a larger-scale infection.

At that time, the entire monkey group will be destroyed.
There is nothing Yu Ke can do about this, he can only find Pandora as soon as possible. Killing it may put an end to this infection.

The problem is that he can't walk at all now, and he has to find a way to attract the monkeys' attention.

Just when Yu Ke had a headache, the sudden agitation of the monkeys gave him a perfect opportunity. The monkey who was cleaning the flowers for his companions in the north of the hot spring suddenly jumped up and let out a sharp roar.

Immediately afterwards, a black shadow suddenly fell from the canopy of the tree, and his claws easily smashed the head of the infected ape. Taking advantage of the frightened monkeys, they stepped on the roots of the giant tree and evacuated into the distance.

Shadow Moon Leopard!
This guy didn't leave just like Yu Ke.

It's just that Yu Ke didn't leave because he wanted to avoid the conflict and continue looking for Pandora, while it was lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to eliminate the infected apes.

Frankly speaking, what the Shadow Moon Leopard did was a good thing. At least the rate of infection among the monkeys would be slowed down.

However, in the eyes of normal apes, the Shadow Moon Leopards were attacking their companions, and the ensuing rage swept through the entire group of monkeys. The apes that had just calmed down suddenly started making noises and attacked the Shadow Moon Leopards.

This is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to evacuate.

Yu Ke did not hesitate, ran out of the tree canopy where he was hiding, and went straight to the location where the airship was previously hidden.

Roar! ! !
As soon as he took a step forward, Yu Ke heard a roar from behind him.

Yu Ke subconsciously looked back and saw that the Shadow Moon Leopard actually circled back and appeared in the hot spring that he had discovered before. No ape dared to approach, and there were many decorations and bones.

The moment their eyes met, Yu Ke clearly felt that the Shadow Moon Leopard was staring at him.

The monkeys are coming around, why don't you run away?
After experiencing communication with the Jinghorn Deer King, Yu Ke knew that extraordinary creatures like this generally possess high intelligence.

The Moon Leopard's behavior of leaving and returning must be to convey some special message to him.

What do you want to tell me?
Yu Ke frowned. Logically speaking, he should leave immediately, but his intuition told him that he might gain more by staying here.

Noticing that Yu Ke had stopped, the Shadow Moon Leopard suddenly turned around, stepped on the roots of the giant tree with its two front legs, leaned forward, and roared towards the hot spring in front of it.

This is the roar from the overlord on the outskirts of Jinghu Forest, and it is full of power.

Even the apes stopped in their tracks, as if they were frightened and did not dare to approach.

But in the next second, a thick column of water suddenly gushes out from the hot spring, forcing the Shadow Moon Leopard back, crushing the branches and roots of the giant trees along the way.

Yu Ke half-closed his eyes and felt the hair on his back stand up.

I saw a thick arm covered with navy blue bristles protruding from the hot spring, grabbing the trunk of the nearby giant tree, and the five fingers easily dug into the trunk like kneading dough. The hot spring raised a huge water mass, and a ferocious face emerged from it. emerge.

A huge head poked out from the gap between the giant trees, with a pinched nose and a flat forehead. On the left and right were two narrow and erect ears, with a thunderous mouth, and white fangs protruding from the lips. It was as fierce as an evil ghost, and its face was covered with dark blue hair. , there is water flowing between the mouth and nose.

Only those deep sunken eye sockets.

At this moment, it is full of different colors of light, turning left and right, as if looking for something to disturb its rest.

Needless to say, this is the king of the monkeys!
What's even more terrifying is that as more and more of its trunks leave the hot spring, Yu Ke can already see that the abdomen and shoulders of the majestic body, which is about three feet tall, are covered with flowers.

The flowers on its abdomen have been torn into disarray, barely showing any further changes, but two twisted tumors have grown at the junction of its shoulders and neck. The fascia covers them, and something is vaguely visible. It's squirming inside!

It was only at this moment that Yu Ke finally understood why the Shadow Moon Leopard would go and come back. He deliberately exposed himself by the river before, probably to keep him and let him take the initiative to hide here and see the scene in front of him.

The monkey king's mutation has reached its final stage, and it may become a deformed beast like the human-faced owl at any time.

Shadow Moon Leopard wants Yu Ke's help to eliminate this particularly terrifying beast!

(End of this chapter)