The Highest Bounty

Chapter 177: The Vipers And The Cat Look At Each Other In The Eye

The name ‘bloodthirsty abyss demon’ was known to many as an abyssal creature that walked upright on two feet like humans. Nevertheless, unlike humans, they were over thirty meters in size and had six arms and three eyes. They were extremely bloodthirsty and liked to tear their prey to pieces; they loved watching blood spurt around.

Such creatures were far from lovable. It had been given to Camilia as a gift by an admirer who knew that she had built a free reserve. He had helped her seal the beast in a volcano.

The beast was fed once a month, and it was extremely tough. Other than when it was fed, it slept in order to avoid burning more calories.

However, it had now gone into a frenzy, out of everyone’s expectations. Its cry was shrill and it hit the volcano’s walls frantically as if it was suffering drastic pain.

Although the nature reserve had professional veterinarians, they always kept a respectful distance away from the abyssal creature. Nevertheless, even if they could get close to the creature, they would not be able to treat it. That was because most drugs made by humans proved ineffective on the creature.

Upon hearing the bespectacled lady’s words, a large number of people chose to take a detour. Some people also felt unsafe and began to retreat to the exit. Gu Ding and his crew could not see anything from the video projection other than the ugly creature slamming wildly against the wall and screaming. They could not see anything else and thus, they took a detour.

They had come to see rare species, not to engage in pointless battles.

The bespectacled lady was clearly very familiar with the free reserve. She steered the group away from the volcano and offered some advice on a few safe routes they could take.

“Have you visited this free reserve many times before?” Gu Ding accosted her after seeing that the bespectacled lady had chosen the same route as his crew.

“I come here to relax when I’m not that busy with work.” The corners of the bespectacled lady’s mouth curled up slightly. “What about you guys? You all look like tourists.”

“Do we look that touristy?” Gu Ding laughed.

“It’s not that. It’s just that this place is where singles, couples, or families with their kids often come. Very few peers come in groups. Those who come in groups usually consist of only two kinds of people, school students led by teachers and old people who organize such trips themselves. For teenagers like you, especially since you’re in a group of five, your normal pastime should be going to a pub or going to a party at someone’s house or even having a small party at your own house. You wouldn’t go to such places like this normally, so you can only be tourists.” The bespectacled lady analyzed them thoroughly.

“Wow, what an impressive analysis.”Gu Ding thought that the woman did not seem easy.

“Which of these circumstances do you fall under?” Lilliath instinctively felt a little repelled by the woman. Although it was Gu Ding who initiated the conversation, Liliath vaguely sensed that the woman had approached them with some kind of purpose.

The bespectacled lady’s eyes fell on Lilliath. She smiled faintly. “I’m sort of a spinster.”

“Why don’t you get married, big sister?” Elsa asked out of the blue. She was curious about the question since she had been raised to marry a strong man as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Liliath smiled to herself. She initially wanted to raise the question, but Elsa did it before her.

“I enjoy being single. There are no constraints. I’ve been with a lot of men, and without exception, every man has bad habits that you can put up with for only a short period of time. Those bad habits only get bigger and bigger in your eyes each day until a point you can’t stand them. My choice is, when I can’t stand them any longer, I change who I sleep with. Then, if I can’t stand it once again, I’ll change to another man. The situation would be different if I was married because marriage is sacred, and you can’t just abandon your husband. I can’t seem to make that commitment to anyone, so I choose to stay single.”

Lilliath blinked a few times upon hearing the bespectacled lady’s words. She found herself unable to refute the woman’s strange views.

“Doesn’t a woman have to be married to be happy? If not, she’ll end up a desperate old lady who would’ve been single all her life.” Elsa remembered that her mother had said the same thing to her almost daily.

“That point of view is not necessarily correct, whether one becomes a desperate old lady depends on their attitude toward life. I know a lot of women with bad marriages who end up as desperate old ladies.” The bespectacled lady was not stingy with her opinion on the topic.

The bespectacled lady’s words made Elsa think deeply.

“Big sister, which area are you going to?” Lilliath asked out of the blue, wanting to avoid going on the same route as the woman.

“What about you?” The woman’s eyes fell on Gu Ding when she asked the question.

“We’re going to the viper’s territory,” Gu Ding said as he did not see Lilliath winking at him.

“What a coincidence, me too.” The bespectacled lady had a look of surprise on her face. “Since we’re heading to the same place, let’s get to know each other better. My name is Kaya.”

“My name is Gu Ding, over here is Biggie, Lilliath...” Gu Ding introduced his crew members one by one.

“Big sister Kaya, what do you do for a living?” Lilliath was trying to find something wrong with this woman. Lilliath felt that she was too well disguised.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know my profession.” Kaya deflected the topic.

“Would you like to know what our profession is?” As soon as Lilliath said this, she saw Gu Ding frown.

“Lili...” Gu Ding shook his head at Lilliath. “We all came here to relax. Some topics are better left untouched.”

Lilliath did not want to go on because she knew what Gu Ding meant. “I know there’s something wrong with this woman’s identity but there’s no need to tear each other up by asking about it.”

“I’ll take you to the viper’s territory.” Kaya knew her identity was under suspicion, but she did not panic even in the slightest bit. Instead, she acted as if nothing had happened.

“Excellent!” Though her identity was still a mystery, Gu Ding did not see her as an enemy because he did not perceive her as hostile. Since she had intentionally offered to tag along, she had to have a purpose. They might as well walk with her and see what she was up to.

...

Vipers were the offspring of dragons that had bred with other species, so there were many kinds of vipers.

There were two subspecies of dragons in the nature reserve. One was a golden-winged dragon horn beast while the other was a crowned dragonhawk. Both vipers were Rank-12 Gene Bodies and were two of the most powerful vipers in the nature reserve.

When they were first sent to the nature reserve, the two dragons caused trouble everywhere; they completely destroyed the entire nature reserve within just a few days. When Camilia learned of it, she took it upon herself to keep the vipers under control. After that, the two huge beasts finally stopped their troublemaking. That was why both vipers were left free to run in the reserve.

Upon entering the two vipers’ territory, Gu Ding and his crew could feel a subtle pressure pressing against them.

All of a sudden, the sky darkened and Gu Ding looked up. A pair of huge wings could be seen sweeping over their heads, blocking the sky. With a long, clear cry, the crowned dragonhawk swooped down on them.

Gu Ding and his crew immediately got ready to retaliate.

When the crowned dragonhawk was about to land, it flapped its wings and came to a halt right in front of them. Gu Ding then noticed that the creature was incredibly large; its wings were at least two hundred meters long.

After glancing at Gu Ding and the others, the crowned dragonhawk’s gaze fell on Kaya. When it saw her, it hesitated before stretching out its head to her.

Kaya touched the dragonhawk’s crowned head. It seemed as if she and the viper were on good terms. The dragonhawk had swooped down not to attack but because it recognized Kaya.

“You know each other? !” Gu Ding was surprised.

“I used to come and feed them whenever I had the time, but I haven’t come here for a while.” Kaya turned to the dragonhawk. “Why is there only you...”

Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a long scream from not too far away. Kaya recognized it as the golden-winged dragon horn beast’s scream.

At the same time, Gu Ding saw a yellow shadow flash in front of him, and the tiger-striped kitten landed on top of his energy barrier. Before Gu Ding could remove his energy barrier, the little thing waved its paw, and a crack appeared on the energy barrier. Then, it leaped and landed on Gu Ding’s shoulder. Shortly after, the tear in the energy barrier disappeared without a trace. The whole scene happened in a flash.

Kaya looked strangely at the kitten on Gu Ding’s shoulder.

The dragonhawk’s eye also fell on the little cat thief. Its eyes glinted in an unfriendly fashion.

Before long, the huge, golden-winged dragon horn beast landed on the ground. Its eyes that were larger than Gu Ding’s head, were somewhat unkindly fixed on the little cat thief that was on Gu Ding’s shoulder.

The little cat thief sat on Gu Ding’s shoulder, gazing quietly into the eyes of the golden-winged dragon horn beast. Its tail was slightly flapping in rhythm, and its eyes showed little signs of fear.

“What’s the matter? Surely the little cat thief did not steal those two vipers’ food?” Gu Ding had a bad feeling.