Dragon Tamer - Chapter 50
Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
Zhu Minglang had not expected a group of Cliff Vultures would be living nearby. The bait he had hunted with much effort was torn away, piece by piece. It felt terrible, as if he was the one whose flesh was being ripped away!
Heiya had already rushed forward, trying his best to protect the corpse.
However, the Cliff Vultures were very agile. They didn’t try to tangle with the Black Mosasaurex at all, immediately soaring to the skies after nicking a piece of meat.
Not only that, they even knew enough to have a few of them draw Heiya’s attention away to allow the other Cliff Vultures to clip away the important parts of the pseudodragon corpse…
“Houhou!!!” Heiya was thoroughly enraged. He opened his mouth wide, gathering an extremely powerful force in his lungs, and releasing it at the Cliff Vultures.
Ancient Dragon Battle Skill, Splitting Roar!
The Splitting Roar ripped one of the greyish brown Cliff Vultures to shreds. Its thick feathers scattered, and its flesh and blood scattered in the air. It couldn’t be any more dead.
Even so, it didn’t change the situation. Those cunning Cliff Vultures didn’t care whether their companions lived or died. Not only that, they were snatching the pseudodragon corpse even more fiercely after its death!
Shortly afterwards, the delicious-looking pseudodragon corpse was ripped into a mess of rotten meat, leaving only the worthless bones and skin behind.
Heiya bared his teeth in anger, wishing he had grown a pair of wings as well and could fly above the trees, then bite every last one of those Cliff Vultures to death.
Zhu Minglang could only smile bitterly.
Indeed, humans were not the only species in this world to possess intelligence. These old hunters in the forests were very clear on how to avoid the strong and achieve their goals!
Fortunately, Zhu Minglang was no fool, either. He had actually tampered with the pseudodragon’s flesh.
It wasn’t some brilliant method, only some spices. He had thought to marinate the meat first if they failed to lure any good prey and preserve it for Heiya.
Tracking the Cliff Vultures who could fly might be difficult, but following the uniquely scented spices was very simple. The scent would always scatter in the air, and would point them in the right direction, no matter how faint it was!
“They dare steal our things. Let’s mess up their nest!” Zhu Minglang humphed coldly.
“Ouwuwu..!” Heiya immediately responded, his anger from before disappearing without a trace. -As expected of my master, so smart!-
“Return to the spirit domain first. I’ll chase after them with Baiqi,” Zhu Minglang extended his palm, recalling Heiya to his spirit domain.
Afterwards, he Summoned out Baiqi, who looked sleepy.
Ever since this little fellow broke out from the ice cocoon, he was always sleepy. There were really few times when he was in good spirits.
However, after hearing Heiya and Zhu Minglang were bullied by a group of Cliff Vultures, the look in Baiqi’s eyes became different. He immediately transformed into the battle form of a White Ice Morning Dragon. Although he wasn’t huge by any means, he could still ferry Zhu Minglang on his back by relying on his control of the wind.
“Do you smell the spices? Just follow the scent,” Zhu Minglang instructed Baiqi.
Baiqi’s sense of smell was very strong. Even though the Cliff Vultures had left some time ago, he could quickly find their trail.
——
After flying out of the pine forest, the woods ahead became even more primitive. They could often see some unknown ancient trees that had grown to great heights, much taller than the sea of trees around them. Incredibly thick vines hung from their branches, colorful birds gathering around them.
They were already deep into the forest. Zhu Minglang realized he was risking himself.
However, returning empty-handed was not an option. They would find the Cliff Vultures’ nest very soon; the vultures’ crest feathers were luxury items in the city. Zhu Minglang had seen some tailors in the smithy treating them like jewelry.
“There’s actually a cliff here!”
The branches and leaves were like waves in the sea, varying in height, spreading out unevenly through the vast land. A cliff rising prominently from the ground appeared in the expansive forest where ancient pine trees and ancient fir trees met.
The cliff was rather majestic, but only a very small portion of the steep rocks was visible. The whole cliff was covered by ancient pine trees, vines, and moss, hidden in the verdant surroundings.
Many creatures inhabited the tall cliff. Zhu Minglang discovered a few Cliff Vultures fighting near the cliff wall at the halfway mark of the cliff. They were fighting over the pseudodragon meat Zhu Minglang had obtained with much difficulty!
“Their nest is halfway up the cliff. Can you hide your aura and fly over?” Zhu Minglang asked little Baiqi.
“Yuu!…” little Baiqi replied, indicating that concealing his aura was very simple. However, he couldn’t stay in this form, and needed to transform into his petite white dragon form.
“Then find somewhere and put me down. We’ll slowly make our way over,” Zhu Minglang said.
The Cliff Vultures were very crafty, and would never show pity to their companions.
The best way to catch them all in one fell sweep was to trap them in their nest. Otherwise, it was very easy for them to escape in different directions.
They should be splitting the loot in the nest at this moment, with only a few Cliff Vultures on the lookout. It was a good opportunity to clear their nest!
If they finished this job properly, Zhu Minglang would make a small fortune!
——
Zhu Minglang arrived at the side of the cliff. He noticed fissures on the wall, as well as many vines. Climbing his way up wasn’t a difficult task.
With little Baiqi at his side, Zhu Minglang felt much braver. When they saw some poisonous snakes or birds, the creatures would flee after just a stare from Baiqi.
Zhu Minglang stepped in the crevices, his hands holding onto the vines. He was rather athletic, and with a decent foundation, he quickly climbed up close to the Cliff Vultures’ nest, using a withering old pine tree as cover.
“Can you draw the Cliff Vultures on the lookout away without alarming them?” Zhu Minglang asked.
Little Baiqi’s icy starry eyes shone slightly. An unusual wind gradually rose around the cliff, the strong wind blowing at the space along the cliff, assaulting the lookout Cliff Vultures.
The wind wasn’t weak. Even flying creatures like the Cliff Vultures found it hard to maintain their balance, and were forced onto the old trees to take cover from the sudden wind.
“Chance!” Zhu Minglang immediately jumped out. He stepped on the protruding rocks and grabbed on a vine, sliding down.
Zhu Minglang descended in front of the cave, and immediately made his way inside. The strong wind outside also stopped at that moment.
Zhu Minglang soon frowned after entering the cliff cave. “There’s wind… there should be another exit.”
If this was the only exit, Zhu Minglang would have directly swept his way inside. Forget about the few Cliff Vultures outside; every one inside could forget about escaping!
Alas, the Cliff Vultures’ cave had another exit, the circulating wind was the best evidence.
He needed to seal the other exit!
While he had not yet been discovered, Zhu Minglang walked deeper into the cave. The inside wasn’t as dark as he imagined. There were large cracks on the cave’s ceiling, allowing the sunrays to shine within.
The Cliff Vultures were gathered in the spacious area inside the cave, splitting up the pseudodragon meat. Zhu Minglang could tell that those Cliff Vultures had become Demon Spirits. With a certain level of demon cultivation, every piece of pseudodragon meat they digested would increase their strength by a notch. Perhaps their feathers would be replaced by stronger ones the next time they shed, allowing them to withstand the attacks of other ferocious beasts.
Hmph, the law of the jungle dictated that the strong prey on the weak. Did they really think they could steal food right from the mouth of a tiger just because they had some smarts?
Zhu Minglang had already spotted the other exit. All he needed to do next was to have Baiqi erect an ice wall to seal both exits, and the rest could be left to Heiya. He still had a stomach full of anger yet to be vented!
“Yu…” Little Baiqi suddenly called out very softly, looking up and focusing on the crack with sun rays slipping through!
Peng!
A loud noise rang from above the crack. Countless rock bits and ash fell, scaring Zhu Minglang.
The light suddenly disappeared, and with that the cave turned very dark. Zhu Minglang looked through the crack in astonishment, and he barely made out a huge claw covering the biggest opening of the crack. Fortunately the crack was rather long and narrow, and a tiny bit of light reached him, allowing him to see.
“A dragon claw?” Zhu Minglang gasped, sucking in a breath of air.
He was wondering why the Cliff Vultures chose to nest on halfway up the cliff. It turned out a stronger creature had occupied the peak of the cliff. Judging by the shape of the claw, it was clearly a dragon!
A dragon cliff!
This was a dragon cliff!
This bunch of Cliff Vultures was a dragon’s neighbor, perhaps the dragon’s subordinates!
Looking at the bunch of Cliff Vultures, they had indeed paid no heed to the powerful predator living upstairs, as expected. With the exception of when the ash fell, scaring them into flapping their wings a few times, their mealtime wasn’t affected at all.
Zhu Minglang had originally planned on cleaning up the Cliff Vultures, but he didn’t dare Summon the Black Mosasaurex so casually anymore. That fellow above the crack would notice the Black Mosasaurex’s aura very quickly… This was its dragon cliff, hello!
“What kind of dragon is it? An adult Green Forest Dragon?” Zhu Minglang began trying to identify the dragon by its claw.
Judging from the surroundings, as well as the shape and color of the claw, there was a good chance it was a Green Forest Dragon.
There were many vast forests in the Lichuan Plains. Within them, Green Forest Dragons were the most common wild dragons. Zhu Minglang had also heard the Ancestral Dragon City State’s Nan Family had a sacred forest that was a noble and mysterious dragon breeding ground.
Some important members of the Nan Family had the opportunity to enter the sacred forest for a trial. The lucky ones could directly bring a dragonling out, and the capable ones could even tame adult Green Forest Dragons directly!
Of course, Zhu Minglang had heard all of this from Li Shaoying and Nan Ye. The Li Clan was the Ancestral Dragon City State’s royal family, governing everything. The Nan Family was a Dragon Tamer Family. They were not interested in anything other than dragons.
Zhu Minglang didn’t make any reckless moves.
Given little Baiqi’s strength, although he should be able to overwhelm the adult Green Forest Dragon easily, there wasn’t much meaning in slaying the dragon. A living dragon was much more valuable than a dead dragon.
Since this cliff belonged to a dragon, then this Cliff Vulture cave was part of a dragon’s den!
Most Great Dragons won’t be guarding their hoards all the time. Oftentimes, they will have some vassal species nest near their hoards, such as Griffins, Venomous Sparrow Pseudodragons, Rock Snakes…
At this moment, Zhu Minglang suddenly recalled the descriptions in a certain book. What was that book called…
The Way of Money?
It was that book he had randomly picked up in the library, written by some nutcase author!
However, his description of a dragon’s den was true! The Cliff Vultures were the guardians of the dragon’s hoard!
Looting a dragon’s den is the fastest way to earn money!
Zhu Minglang never expected such a day to befall him, even in his dreams!