Liang Yuan scanned the surroundings, noticing the forest nearby was eerily quiet.
Besides the sound of wind and rain, there was not even the slightest noise of any mutated creatures.
This was very unusual, considering this was deep into the Yangshan. Even the patrol teams rarely ventured this far in.
Only Liang Yuan, with his exceptional skills and courage, dared to roam Yangshan freely.
Liang Yuan walked several dozen meters further when he suddenly saw many large pine trees toppled over in front of him.
On the ground, there were rows of giant footprints!
These footprints resembled human footprints but were barefoot rather than shoe prints.
The prints were huge. By Liang Yuan’s estimation, each foot must be nearly a meter in length.
He quickly calculated that the owner of these footprints must be at least seven meters tall!
"Is it the Black Gold Giant Ape?"
"No, that Black Gold Giant Ape is at least ten meters tall!"
Liang Yuan swiftly followed the trail of footprints, tracking them rapidly.
The footprints were numerous and messy; some of the older ones had turned into puddles filled with rainwater.
Soon, he tracked the footprints to a gigantic cave; some of the prints led inside.
Liang Yuan looked at the cave and thought, "Is this its lair?"
He immediately activated his Earth Escape Skills and quickly burrowed into the ground.
Moving rapidly underground, he soon entered the cave.
He did not emerge from the ground but instead used his Spiritual Power to scan the entire cave.
The cave was much larger than he had expected.
It was similar to the underground chambers in the mining area, with a small entrance but vast inside.
Liang Yuan noticed many monkey cries within.
His Spiritual Power covered fifty meters around him but still couldn’t completely map out the cave.
Within his scanning range, he had already found no less than seven monkeys!
Most of these monkeys had already mutated, their sizes much larger than before the Great Flood, with the smallest being around two meters.
The largest were even six to seven meters.
"Are these monkeys part of the Black Gold Giant Ape’s clan?"
Liang Yuan speculated, thinking that since monkeys are naturally social animals, it made sense for the Black Gold Giant Ape to have kin.
He had not realized this before but now discovered there was a whole group of monkeys here in Yangshan!
If these monkeys were to leave the cave and roam freely, they would pose a significant threat to the people in the shelter.
A murderous intent immediately surfaced in Liang Yuan’s eyes; these monkeys could not be allowed to live.
In fact, many monkeys were highly aggressive.
Before the Great Flood, news reports of monkey attacks were common.
There were even incidents of monkey theft in neighborhoods near Yangshan, one of which had caused a huge sensation in Linjiang City.
In that case, the monkeys had stolen not food but a newborn baby.
Luckily, the theft was discovered in time, preventing a tragedy.
However, the baby was still injured by the monkeys. Since then, Yangshan Scenic Area had tightened control over the wild monkeys.
All the households in the neighborhoods around Yangshan had installed burglar-proof windows.
Thinking of this, Liang Yuan did not hesitate and immediately took action.
A Spirit Shock was instantly unleashed.
Buzz—
In an instant, a terrifying wave of spiritual energy swept through, roaring like a massive wave crashing onto the monkey pack.
Boom, boom, boom...
The monkeys fell one after another without even a chance to scream, dropping like stones from the pillars and walls.
The continuous thudding sounds immediately stirred the alarmed cries of the remaining monkeys.
Unfazed, Liang Yuan began slaughtering the other monkeys.
Just then, a sudden, fierce struggle of Spiritual Power managed to barely resist his Spirit Shock and then dashed toward the cave entrance.
Liang Yuan flicked his gaze and the next moment, he shot out from the ground.
Whoosh—!
With a swift movement, he left an afterimage in the air, reappearing above the fleeing monkey.
Boom!
With a slight gesture, fifty points of Power erupted, and the sound of Qi Burst roared.
A terrifying force propelled like a bullet, hitting the monkey’s head with a boom.
The next moment, the monkey’s head exploded with a crack, revealing a tough Skull.
Liang Yuan glanced at it and immediately let out a sound of surprise.
The Skull was covered with intricate patterns; it was a Rune Bone!
Liang Yuan picked up the bone and stored the Black Ape’s body in his inventory.
He then turned back into the cave and collected all the other monkey bodies.
While doing so, he also checked whether there were any other monkeys with Rune Bones.
Unfortunately, Runes are not so easily formed, and Liang Yuan did not find any more.
However, in a corner, he found a small monkey about a meter tall.
This little monkey seemed to have just been born and hadn’t even opened its eyes yet. It was sleeping soundly in the arms of a dead mother monkey.
Liang Yuan was about to deal with it when he suddenly paused, considering, "This monkey is so small, I wonder if it can be trained as a pet."
Taking a moment, he remembered Huang Han’s Golden Python.
Huang Han had a Beast Taming Ability, allowing her to communicate with the Golden Python, making them a formidable team in battle.
If she could tame this monkey, could it enhance her combat power?
Thinking further, Liang Yuan considered that if he could tame a group of these monkeys, they could form a potential army.
"There must be more monkeys in Yangshan. Next time I encounter them, I’ll capture a few for research. This little monkey, I’ll give to Huang Han to see if she can raise it."