"Careful. This beast has eaten people."
As Lian Youming focused his attention and kept his guard up, the Junk King's voice drifted into his ears.
Neither startled nor alarmed, the old man sat on a charred log and casually dug up another piece of Yellow Essence to chew raw.
"Look at its eyes. Both pupils are bloodshot. It's vicious beyond measure. Besides hatred and rage, there's a desire in its eyes to devour you. It must have eaten human flesh."
The little beast, meanwhile, hurried toward its mother with cries of "ee-ya" the moment it escaped his grip.
The mother bear had been extraordinarily agitated, but at the sight of this, she gave two answering calls, hugged her cub to her belly, and rolled back and forth on the ground like a ball of flesh, utterly delighted.
Lian Youming, meanwhile, wiped his hands in disgust and paced around, saying gravely, "This thing's a little hard to deal with. It practically qualifies as an expert in body conditioning."
The Junk King nodded. "These beasts are usually only half a person's height. This one must have eaten flesh and blood and dug up plenty of rare mountain herbs. Its vital energy has grown strong, so its frame has grown too. It's nearly a meter thirty or forty. It's vicious, too. During famines, these things come down the mountains and carry off children. Mostly, they pry open their skulls and eat their brains raw. Savage, venomous creatures. They can fight tigers and wolves."
Though enraged, the mandrill's eyes darted around. It glanced at the mother bear, then at Lian Youming. Actually knowing how to seek advantage and avoid danger, it gave a strange howl, turned, and fled into the vast mountain forest.
Only then did the Junk King leisurely add, "Forgot to tell