Go, Little Flying Stone!

Sometimes, blunt weapons actually did more damage than sharp ones. If they smashed a chunk of flesh to pieces, there would not even be any way to stitch it back together.

Even with part of its neck limp and unsupported, the Mountain Monkey could still control its body and move. It abandoned its attack on Zhang Zhuang, who had it trapped, and whipped its meter-long neck back around, lunging at Zuo Cheng'an's face.

With no bones getting in the way, its neck could now bend a full 180 degrees!

Zuo Cheng'an drew his ruler and held it across his body to defend himself, planning to play it safe before attacking the air sac beneath the Mountain Monkey's throat.

But Zhang Zhuang had already drawn his dagger. Taking advantage of the moment when the Mountain Monkey attacked Zuo Cheng'an, he slashed at the air sac in its throat!

Greed glittered in his eyes. "The first kill is mine!!"

Shit!

They were competitors to begin with, and his side was already at a disadvantage in both numbers and overall strength. If the other side gained another item with a decent effect, they might very well throw caution aside and attack them right there on the vehicle!

Just then, a clear shout rang out from inside the sightseeing vehicle:

"Little Flying Stone! Go!"

Little Flying Stone, the freebie she had picked up when buying Little Seven, traced a C-shaped arc through the air, trailing a white afterimage as it struck the Mountain Monkey.

Little Flying Stone seemed to have the ability to automatically target an enemy's weak point, too.

It pierced the air sac in the Mountain Monkey's throat with perfect precision.

"Great job, little stone!" Li Yueqiu beckoned. "Come back!"

After landing its hit, the little stone returned to Li Yueqiu's hand with an afterimage trailing behind it.

"Fuck! Kill stealer!!" Watching Little Flying Stone streak past him, Zhang Zhuang could not help cursing!

But Li Yueqiu paid no attention to what he said. She took out the Willow Branch that had suddenly appeared in her backpack. "Look, Brother Zuo! It dropped an item! Catch!!"

Zuo Cheng'an glanced at the Willow Branch's attributes. It was a support item similar to a compass.

Immediately losing interest, he waved a hand.

"Just keep it yourself."

He had thought it might be a handy weapon, but it turned out to be nothing more than a white cane that pointed the way.

"Okay! Long live Brother Zuo! Long, long live Brother Zuo!"

Li Yueqiu did not know that Zuo Cheng'an had already examined every last detail of the item's attributes. She was secretly moved that she had found such a powerful backer.

Hearing Li Yueqiu's words, Zhang Zhuang seethed.

He, a player on the First Heavenly Ladder, had actually had his loot stolen by someone Not Yet on the Ladder.

Li Yueqiu excitedly waved her newly acquired branch item, bouncing up and down on the spot. She even lashed a Mountain Monkey that tried to pounce on her.

The Mountain Monkey cried out in pain and stretched its neck out to bite Li Yueqiu.

"Awoo-baa!" Mo Dou leaped high into the air. Hard ram's horns grew from his head, and he rammed into the Mountain Monkey, knocking it off balance and over the cliff.

But he had charged too hard, and he was about to fall after it.

Reacting swiftly, Li Yueqiu grabbed Mo Dou by the scruff with one hand and caught the harness made of cloth strips with the other, hauling him back up.

"Whimper..." Mo Dou's scalp tightened, and the pull made his eyes roll back.

On the roof,

The Mountain Monkey in front of Zhang Zhuang and Zuo Cheng'an instantly went limp all over after the air sac in its throat burst. It was utterly dead.

A monster that had survived having its neck smashed had actually died just like that, without a sound.

An unusual fragrance drifted from the Mountain Monkey's ruptured air sac.

Zuo Cheng'an had barely caught a trace before the fragrance dispersed on the wind.

With the dungeon's guaranteed first-kill drop already gone, Zhang Zhuang had no desire to stay on the roof.

Picking his moment, he hooked the Mountain Monkey occupying his seat inside the vehicle with the plug on his electrical cord. Working with his teammates, he threw it over the cliff, then returned to his original seat.

There had not been many Mountain Monkeys in this group to begin with, only about eight. Each person could handle one and easily finish them off.

Soon, the Mountain Monkeys on the vehicle were either dead or had fallen off. On the players' side, only Li Yueqiu had suffered a scratch on her thigh after getting distracted while helping Zuo Cheng'an deal with the Mountain Monkey.

She had torn off every part of her clothing she could spare to make ropes to tie herself down.

There really was no extra fabric left to bandage her wound.

At this point, Zheng Ren generously offered up his own clothing.

After a series of ripping sounds, only two pieces of fraying fabric remained on his upper body, their connection hanging by a thread.

The fabric he had torn off was ripped into strips and handed to Li Yueqiu to use as bandages.

Looking at the clothing stained with dust, blood, and sweat, Li Yueqiu simply... could not bring herself to raise her hands.

There'd probably be an eighty percent chance of infection if I plugged the wound with this cloth, right? Better to just let it bleed. It'll clot in a little while anyway.

Clearly, Li Yueqiu had forgotten that her Constitution had already reached 7.

Never mind covering a wound with dirty cloth, she would be fine even if she jumped into the Ganges for a swim.

Just then, Zuo Cheng'an jumped down from the roof and back into his seat.

Seeing the blood from Li Yueqiu's leg already running down onto the top of her foot, he told her to hold out her hands and poured her a little tomato juice.

"It can heal injuries. Drink it, but don't waste it."

Li Yueqiu did not mind his disdain at all. Cupping the little pool of tomato juice in her palms, she stayed tense, terrified of letting even a little leak out.

In the end, she licked it clean without wasting a single drop.

Feeling the tingling itch at her wound, Li Yueqiu's pupils shook with shock.

Her first thought: Delicious!!

Her second thought: Oh my god, Brother Zuo actually shared such a miraculous healing medicine with me! Boohoo!

I've heard healing items are ridiculously expensive!

What have I done to deserve this?!

Wait. Li Yueqiu suddenly remembered that Brother Zuo seemed to have poured that tomato juice out of a Thermos just now, and he had not tilted it very far.

Having discovered a huge secret, Li Yueqiu covered her mouth and fell silent.

I don't know anything. That's right, nothing at all.

"Awoo-woof!" Catching the familiar scent, Mo Dou wagged his tail and approached Zuo Cheng'an.

He voluntarily lowered his head to reveal a bald patch on it.

He had accidentally scraped it while ramming the Mountain Monkey.

The corner of Zuo Cheng'an's mouth twitched at the sight of the wound, which was already almost healed, but he poured a little into his own palm as well.

Mo Dou licked happily. Smack, smack, smack, smack-

Li Yueqiu's leg wound was hidden by the seat.

As a result, Zhang Zhuang and the others did not see her injury rapidly healing.

Even if Zuo Cheng'an deliberately made a little noise, the Wavebreaker Guild members were no longer in the mood to sneak peeks.

They had shifted their focus from "watching what the players behind them were doing" to "staying alert for the next wave of Mountain Monkeys."

According to the Wavebreaker Guild's intel, they would face at least two waves of Mountain Monkey attacks on the way to Sunny Resort.

The more strength they displayed, the fewer attacks they would face.

In other words, Mountain Monkeys were creatures that bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Zuo Cheng'an also noticed a change in the comments scrolling across his vision.

[Wow, these players finished off the first wave of Mountain Monkeys in under two minutes. Pretty strong.]

[That woman holding the Willow Branch, I thought she'd get eliminated in the first attack. Didn't expect her to have skills too. One kick per Mountain Monkey, hahahaha! She sure can kick!]

[Yeah, I was stunned watching her. If she's that good at kicking, she must be good at squeezing her legs together too, right?]

[Not necessarily. I think the woman sitting in the second row is better at that. Every move she makes really gets your desires going.]

[Why hasn't that kid holding the Spatula died yet? He's blocking my view of the beauties!]

[They finished the first wave in two minutes. If they can keep that up for the second wave, there won't be a third, right?]

[Very likely. When they run into tough opponents, the Mountain Monkeys won't come down to test them again.]

There would be more attacks?

After reminding Li Yueqiu and Zheng Ren to watch out for attacks,

Zuo Cheng'an moved to a seat where he could see above the cliff and make out the health bars of the Mountain Monkeys hiding in the bushes.

That way, he would spot any Mountain Monkeys approaching immediately.

To Zhang Zhuang, this action was no different from declaring, "I know the dungeon's intel too."

Outwardly, Zhang Zhuang gave nothing away, but inwardly, he had already labeled Zuo Cheng'an and his two companions as members of the Dawn Moon Guild.