A Slime in Wolf's Clothing

Chen Yu, hiding in the swamp, watched Seja slip in as well, silently shifting deeper into the mire before cautiously poking his head out to keep observing.

He had to admit, this Lizardfolk's vitality was truly tenacious—still moving even in this state, daring to let her wounds touch the filthy swamp water, as if infection was no concern at all.

Earlier, hidden behind a rock, he'd witnessed the standoff between these two groups of Demihumans, but quickly noticed a problem.

He'd listened to these Demihumans jabbering on for ages, yet couldn't understand a single word, leaving him completely clueless about their grudges.

So whether it was this female Lizardfolk or that Hunting Squad, he had no intention of stepping in to help.

But as luck would have it—whether the female Lizardfolk was fated to survive or just plain fortunate—that earlier Lesser Arrow Technique had accidentally triggered a new round of conflict between the Stinger Bees and the Digger Beetles.

The moment this group of Demihumans showed up, they angered the Stinger Bees, who treated them as invaders outright, raining down stingers like a sky full of stars.

At first, Chen Yu thought he couldn't handle the Stinger Bees because his slime was too weak, but now he saw that even these Demihumans were getting trounced by the Stinger Bee venom.

It seemed the Stinger Bees had good reason for occupying that taller Twisted Oak.

Watching the Hunting Squad scatter, three Demihumans fleeing wildly from the spot, the buzzing gradually faded, and the forest fell silent again.

Though not everyone had left—at least the female Lizardfolk was still hiding in the pond.

Chen Yu had never faced such an alien race before, so he didn't dare approach recklessly, instead staying hidden in the swamp to watch her.

Seja lay quietly submerged in the mud, only letting out a slow breath when she saw the Stinger Bees above calm down.

After recovering a bit of strength, she tiredly swam to the opposite shore, crawled onto land, and lay there panting.

"Putu must be watching over me."

Having brushed death, her body was utterly spent, but she forced herself up, knelt carefully by the bank in devout prayer, and murmured obscure prayer words from her mouth.

This prayer came from ancient Demihuman language, taught to her by her father. Though the general meaning had been lost in the distant passage of time, her father once said prayer was just a formality—as long as she kept a reverent and worshipful heart toward Putu, the swamp's gateway would always be open to the Lizardfolk.

After praying, Seja slowly opened her eyes, a sorrowful expression on her face. "Father was right—Putu watches over and blesses us. But from now on, those Lizardfolk obsessed with the power of the Spirit of Scale and Claw will forever drown in the lies of strength woven by the Corrupted Morgul."

"Once I return to Putu's embrace, there will be no Lizardfolk left on the riverbank who revere nature..."

Thinking this, Seja unconsciously clenched her fists, her mind still replaying that bloody night—unable to forget the blood spurting from her father's chest, or the priest's merciless, cold face.

She knelt there, long unable to let go, but her attention was soon drawn to the green bubbles rising from the pond.

The sun's shadow shifted, morning light falling through the gloomy forest, barely dispersing the surrounding toxic mist. Rays pierced the gaps in the leaves, forming patches of light on the swamp and ground, landing on Seja.

Her body warmed, and even the cold blood inside her gradually heated up.

In the swamp, one slime after another surfaced from the pond, lazily basking in the sun, starting their day's feeding.

These slimes didn't seem afraid of Seja at all—in fact, they were quite close to her, boldly jumping into her arms to compete for sunlight.

This scene warmed her heart, slightly driving away the bad memories.

Seja cupped a slime in her hands, kissed it in thanks.

"Descendants of Putu, thank you. You prayed for Putu's gaze upon me."

Chen Yu, still hiding in the swamp, saw this. Watching the slimes unafraid of the female Lizardfolk, a flicker of surprise lit up his round eyes.

As a slime himself, he knew exactly how timid these slimes were—even a slightly larger beetle would make them tremble and freeze in place.

They were close to this female Lizardfolk—was it because she posed no threat?

Or did slimes actually have a symbiotic relationship with certain Lizardfolk?

Everything in Zeyarila was unknown to him, and guessing alone made it hard to understand this world.

After some thought, since his slime instincts weren't sounding any alarms, Chen Yu decided to show himself and try contacting this female Lizardfolk.

Of course, he wasn't without precautions...

On the swamp bank, Seja was still stroking the slimes in her arms when she suddenly noticed the slimes floating on the pond acting as if they'd met a predator, frantically swimming toward the shore, leaving a patch of empty water in the middle.

"A predator?"

Seja's face turned wary. She pulled off the canine-tooth necklace hanging around her neck and stared intently at the pond.

Ripples spread across the water, and a black carapace slowly emerged. She recognized it at once as a Digger Beetle's shell, adding a layer of disgust to her alert expression.

As a follower of Putu, she hated what the slimes hated—especially predators that hunted slimes.

She tightened her grip on the canine tooth in her palm, nerves taut, ready to strike at any moment.

But unexpectedly, the next second, from beneath the black carapace, a slime... a slime slowly emerged?

Huh?

A slime?

Seja's expression instantly shifted to bewilderment.

What was she seeing?

A slime wearing a beetle shell.

Was Putu playing a joke on her?

Her mind couldn't process it, and she stood there at a loss, facing the Armored Slime swimming toward her.

Staring at this sight that challenged her understanding, she was stunned for a long moment, inexplicably connecting it to how the Stinger Bees had suddenly driven off the Hunting Squad earlier.

Could it be...

Ripples of realization stirred within Seja's heart.

This slime had saved her?

The moment this thought surfaced, her amber vertical pupils trembled and brightened. She couldn't help reaching out with both hands to reverently cup the Armored Slime before her, once again murmuring words that were obscure and hard to understand.

What she didn't know was that the instant she lifted Chen Yu, he had nearly struck out. Only when he saw she was just muttering things he couldn't grasp did he hold back.

What the hell is she babbling about?

Chen Yu was puzzled. Since he couldn't understand, he decided to ask directly. Fortunately, he had long anticipated eventually encountering intelligent beings in Zeyarila and had practiced the Sound Transmission Technique early on, so now it could come in handy.

The "sound" transmitted by the Sound Transmission Technique wasn't something the ears could hear; it referred to the Voice of the Soul. It was similar in principle to divine sense transmission, but it required physical contact to function.

The Voice of the Soul acted upon the soul and the mind—it was the primal language shared by all living beings. No matter what language a creature spoke, they could understand it.

It could even extract the other party's Voice of the Soul in return, functioning almost like an automatic translator.

These days, the monsters in Xuxuantian were incredibly competitive. Even before taking human form, they practiced listening, reading, and writing, leaving the Sound Transmission Technique with no real use.

But it was perfectly suited for Zeyarila, where languages differed.

Still, what should he ask?

Chen Yu thought for a few seconds and decided to start with the simplest greeting.

He focused his mind, stirred his soul, and sent out a faint ripple.

"Hello, Lizardfolk miss."

Seja, who had been praying, heard the voice in her mind. She froze for a moment, then her eyes went wide.

"The... the slime spoke?!"