The carcass of the siege beast, riddled with holes from the flying sword, fell to the ground. Wen Wen salvaged a few pieces of usable fur, then plucked out its teeth and claws, leaving the rest.
Its body was so tough, it should be able to make some decent protective gear.
"Save me... save me."
A faint female voice drifted over, immediately drawing Wen Wen's attention.
"This is a human voice. How can there be humans on Qi Ling Mountain..."
Before the barrier was broken, there were indeed dozens of vehicles passing by that were attacked by monsters. It wasn't strange for some survivors to be here, but it had been a long time, how could humans still be alive now.
Despite his doubts, Wen Wen planted a long spear near the siege beast's corpse and immediately headed towards the sound.
All his abilities were on standby; even if he encountered an ambush, no one could stop him.
After walking only a few dozen meters, Wen Wen found a ponytailed girl tied to a tree. Her body was entwined with vines, and the large tree behind her was likely a plant-type monster similar to the Whispering Tree Spirit.
Wen Wen said with a calm expression, "I don't know if you have consciousness, but you didn't attempt to breach the barrier, so you're not on the kill list. If you release that girl, I won't kill you."
At this point, ordinary tree spirits posed no threat to Wen Wen; killing it would be quite easy for him.
The tree spirit's body trembled like a sieve, but it made no sound and showed no intention of releasing the girl.
"It's scared, but its branches are not under its control, and it cannot communicate with me... Either it's truly weak, or this woman was intentionally tied here, and this tree spirit is just a scapegoat."
Wen Wen's lips curved upwards; the situation was becoming interesting. A hunt with a few twists was more engaging than just hacking and slashing at whatever he saw.
Several water cards materialized in Wen Wen's hand, which he then flicked towards the tree spirit, severing the vines and freeing the girl.
As he had expected, the tree spirit did not resist at all during the entire process, which meant it was incapable of resistance.
Wen Wen leaned closer to examine, and discovered that the tree spirit's mouth and the connections of its branches had been severed, only to be reattached by some unknown viscous substance.
If it hadn't been for Wen Wen, someone might have directly killed the tree spirit without discovering the anomaly. This meant that the girl was deliberately let to be rescued by someone or some monster.
"Heh heh, then I'll play along with your script and see if there are any surprising discoveries."
Then, Wen Wen, feigning ignorance, approached the girl and began to inquire about her identity.
The girl took a few steps back. In her eyes, Wen Wen might have been even more terrifying than ordinary monsters, but since he was at least human, she spoke with some fear:
"I, my name is Fu Xuerou. A few days ago, several of us were driving through here when our car was attacked by monsters, and I was kidnapped by an eel monster to a cave beneath a deep pool."
Wen Wen glanced at Fu Xuerou with a peculiar expression. An eel... and it captured but didn't kill...
It wasn't his fault for thinking that, considering how much attention that previous news had garnered.
Wen Wen put away his playful demeanor and opened his hunter terminal to check. He eventually found that there was indeed a missing person outside the Qi Ling Mountain range named Fu Xuerou.
"Continue, what happened that led to you being tied up here?"
Fu Xuerou nodded and said, "That monster didn't seem to want to kill me, it just locked me and my sister in a cell in the cave."
Speaking of the cell, Fu Xuerou shivered, clearly indicating that it was a place that terrified her greatly. "That cave has many such cells, and in each cell, there are rotten corpses or withered bones..."
"That eel monster seemed to have a special interest in me. Yesterday evening, it brought me out of the pool and was holding some special items, as if preparing to set up some ritual."
"After that, it encountered another monster, and I took the opportunity to escape. Then, I accidentally got tied up here by this strange tree. Can you help me rescue my sister? I know how to find that pool."
Fu Xuerou finished recounting her ordeal, but Wen Wen didn't know how much of it was true. At least according to the records, she was an only child...
However, Wen Wen still pretended to be fooled by her and agreed to help her rescue her sister, acting like a demon hunter brimming with a sense of justice.
The two headed towards the pool Fu Xuerou had mentioned. Wen Wen followed behind her. Tears welled up in Fu Xuerou's eyes, making Wen Wen feel like a great villain persecuting an innocent girl.
At first, Wen Wen didn't notice anything, but soon he sensed that a monster was subtly following behind him.
Its movement was strange, and it maintained a sufficient distance from Wen Wen. Its aura concealment was almost perfect. If not for the special aura it carried, which was similar to those that had been marked, it would have been difficult for Wen Wen to detect it.
This indicated that it had approached the barrier's edge, and Fu Xuerou was likely captured by it at that time.
But Wen Wen couldn't quite understand why Fu Xuerou would help this monster deceive him, and judging from her expression, she didn't seem to be under any control.
After walking for a while, Wen Wen grew impatient. Time was precious and couldn't all be wasted here. He grabbed Fu Xuerou by her clothes and flew into the sky, heading rapidly in that direction.
When the pool could be seen in the distance from the air, Wen Wen suddenly stopped. To Fu Xuerou's astonishment, Wen Wen grabbed her by the neck.
"The pool is just ahead. I don't know what you've set up there, but considering my cooperation throughout this journey, could you tell me?"
As he approached the pool, Wen Wen's containment officer badge gave off a faint premonition, indicating that there was something in that direction that could threaten him, but not necessarily fatally.
That's why Wen Wen stopped advancing; he wanted to at least figure out what was there before proceeding.
"I... I..." Fu Xuerou stammered for a while, but couldn't form a complete sentence.
Wen Wen rolled his eyes. He had her by the neck, of course she couldn't speak.
Fu Xuerou composed herself and said, "I didn't lie to you. My sister..."
"You don't have a sister at all. Never mind, if you don't want to say it, I'll ask myself!"
Wen Wen snapped his fingers and activated the ability of his minion, Rodny. Its ability could mentally manipulate ordinary people, with effects superior to hypnosis.
After Wen Wen used his ability, Fu Xuerou's eyes suddenly flashed with intense affection, and she said to Wen Wen,
"That's my home with Shanshan. Someone took our home, and I want you to get our home back for us!"