"Your Jiuxun, you have veered off course; we are currently replanning your route."
Famu climbed out of the riverbed. The water ahead had become very shallow. If he continued to walk, he would stir up the silt at the bottom of the river, and then the animals on the riverbank would notice that a big guy had come into the water.
He began to crawl on the mountainside, his belly scales clinging to the rocks, his muscles moving his body slowly to mask the sound of his scales rubbing against the ground.
To avoid disturbing the Pygmy Marmosets, Famu deliberately took a longer route to the back of the woods.
The area ahead is marked as the location for the Furnace-Core Creatures.
The Scepter System shut down, Famu focused his mind. He lay on a hollow in the mud, the mountain forest was very quiet, and the Furnace Core relayed the conversations from the treetops back to him.
Famu heard "Lord Chichio".
"I never expected you to gain Lord Chichio's favor," Arlen sighed. "When will I be so lucky? By the way, did you meet Lord Kiki in person?"
"Of course not. As everyone knows, no rainforest creature has ever seen Chichio in person, and no one even knows which family Chichio belongs to," the Pygmy Marmoset on the Oak Tree replied.
"We adapted Ross's death into a poem and spread it around, making a fortune. We didn't have to worry about food for the entire rainy season. Some Furnace-Core Creature even offered high prices to find out who Black Typhon was who killed Ross. That was the Dead Sun Armor Ross, War Believer. No rainforest creature dared to defy such a being, and so he was killed in the Mara River," said the Pygmy Marmoset on the Ke Tree.
"Isn't Typhon terrifying and formidable?" Arlen said casually.
"Typhon, who can kill Ross, is truly terrifying," said the Pygmy Marmoset in the Oak Tree.
The huge shadow behind the forest seemed to twitch.
Famu lowered his heart rate, and his entire body's activity quickly subsided—this was Typhon's state during the ambush.
The dwarf monkeys' conversation was about him.
This is an intelligence network in the rainforest. These Pygmy Marmosets are exchanging information. The Pygmy Marmosets on the Ke Tree and Oak Trees are fully aware of what is happening on the Mara River, as if they have witnessed it firsthand.
That happened on a stormy night, deep in the Mara River. How could these little guys, hundreds of kilometers away, possibly know?
Famu continued listening.
The Pygmy Marmosets began to talk about the delicious fruit on the tree, which guests were exceptionally generous, and where a disaster was happening. Lightning had struck the Ancient Tree, and the entire forest was ablaze. The Pygmy Marmosets said that the death of the Dead Sun Armor Ross had angered the Red God Nia, and that this fire was a calamity sent down by Nia.
The family members shared food and talked about recent events in the rainforest.
After talking for a long time, Famu didn't hear anything more about himself. By the standards of the Pygmy Marmoset, Famu's hunting of the old Crowned Heron in the forests of the lower Mara River was also a major event in the rainforest, slightly less significant than Famu killing the Dead Sun Armor, Ross.
Since they didn't discuss it, it means their information network doesn't extend to the lower reaches of the Mara River, but is limited to the middle reaches of the Mara River system and the nearby swamps covered by the Akalai Mountains.
Although these Pygmy Marmosets are Furnace-Core Creatures, they are classified as level two creatures by the Scepter System.
But let alone Headscar, even a White-Faced Monkey could easily kill them. How can they roam the rainforest without being hunted by other predators?
Famu, lurking in the shadows, looked up at the sky.
The sky had darkened, and the little Pygmy Marmoset in the Sacred Land Tree was asleep. Only the pygmy monkey Arlen Allen was still chatting with his two companions. They were brothers from the same family. Arlen inherited his father's Sacred Land Tree, while his two brothers left to live elsewhere. They still maintained a close relationship.
The phrase Famu heard most often was "As everyone knows."
These monkeys really love to say what's common knowledge.
He thought it was about time.
Leave at least one Intelligent Species of Pygmy Marmoset to ask some questions.
Famu set his sights on the one in the Oak Tree; that Pygmy Marmoset was the most composed and knew the most.
"Actually, a generous guest asked me for information about Typhon." Arlen held a Lizard and Lizard on its belly.
This is all the food they stored in the trees.
"Could it be that Black Typhon?"
"No," Allen shook his head, "It's about Green Typhon, the one in the Green Swamp, Tessa's most favored offspring, the Bronze Lady Starre."
This piqued the curiosity of the other two guys. "Who found out?"
"I can't say, that's the rule," Arlen seriously.
"We've told you everything Chichio's message. Don't you trust our brotherhood?" The Pygmy Marmoset on the Ke Tree frowned.
Arlen sighed, "Promise me you won't tell anyone."
"Okay, we promise you."
"I swear by the name of the Rainforest Messenger."
"This..."
"I am breaking the rules of the Rainforest Messenger by revealing the client's name to a third party. Unless you swear an oath in the name of the Rainforest Messenger, I can hardly tell you anything about that client," Arlen said, looking at his two brothers. "If my client finds out I've leaked information, he'll tear me to pieces, and I won't receive any pity or forgiveness."
"Alright, we swear, in the name of the Rainforest Messenger."
The two Pygmy Marmoset slightly, and then Famu heard chanting coming from the treetops.
It has a tone similar to that of Ancient Mud Language.
"With Green Vine, Morning Dew, and Light Breeze as our messengers—we hereby swear an oath in the name of Rainforest Messenger."
"The matter entrusted to me is like the veins of a leaf hidden in the palm of my hand, not revealed to the wind. The secrets I have heard are like roots buried deep in the soil, not proclaimed to the sunlight."
"If I break this oath, may my tongue wither like a dead vine, may my ears and eyes be shut like rotten wood, may no one in the rainforest ever call my name again, may I be as silent as stone, a withered skeleton in the mud, not even deigning to be eaten by tree ants."
"With the canopy of trees, the riverbed, and the rainforest that bears witness to the messenger's footsteps, this oath, like intertwined roots, will remain steadfast until death."
"Are you satisfied now, Arlen?" the Pygmy Marmoset in the Ke Tree asked discontentedly.
Arlen nodded repeatedly, "My client is also a Typhon."
"The Bronze Bloodline of the Mara River?"
"No, she's an outsider, just like the Black Typhon who killed Ross. She's set her sights on the Daughter of Bronze's territory."
The other two messengers were silent for a moment. "Is it a young Typhon, searching for a place to settle?"
"It's far more terrifying than that. She's a baptized warrior," Arlen replied in a deep voice. "Have you forgotten? Before his baptism, Typhon had no way of knowing about the Rainforest's spies. Those Typhon Priests kept us very secret, not revealing a single word about the Rainforest Messengers to their descendants. Only after reaching adulthood, after Typhon had been baptized in the Sea of Doern, would he know of our existence in the King's Territory."
"Ha." The Pygmy Marmoset on the Ke Tree sneered, "Those Typhon Priests are just afraid that the messengers will take away their livelihood. We know more and see further than those priests. Many Loremasters serve as scholars and advisors to the Dead Sun Armor, but in Typhon's territory, we are just lackeys who have gained some protection. Of course, those priests will be wary of us."
"That's right, they're wary of us." Arlen smiled, proud of his own wisdom; even the Typhon Priests, who were a hundred times his size, were wary of him.
But soon, his smile faded, because the thought of his client made him tremble.
"Since Typhon is already an adult and has been baptized, why would she set her sights on the Daughter of Bronze's territory? She clearly has the right to establish her own territory."
"Why aren't you saying anything?" The two Pygmy Marmosets on the treetop both looked at Arlen.
Arlen took a deep breath. "I don't know."
"We've already made a vow; you have no need to hide anything, Arlen."
"Please allow me a moment to catch my breath," Arlen said softly to his two brothers, leaning against the tree trunk. "I was so focused on investigating that foreign Typhon that I neglected to look into the Mara River. It turns out he came here to hunt."
Hunting?
"Yes, my client enjoys cannibalism, feeding on the Furnace Cores of her own kind, so she commissioned me to find adult female Typhons in the Mara River system; lone males are also acceptable."
"Bronze Lady Rui is her favorite food."
After saying that, Arlen felt a chill run down his spine. He felt a cold, icy gaze, as if his client was lurking in the darkness, watching him and ready to tear him to pieces upon seeing that he had betrayed him.