Chapter 110: Gourd Baby, Gourd Baby, Six Melons on One Vine?

Qin Menglan, as one of the "other divine demon walkers," felt nothing of vital energy or the like. She merely observed the others calmly.

Usually, she would be the first to step forward, trying to gather everyone to complete the task, then inviting them to join "Approaching Science."

But now, Mom's on vacation, not working. Just act normal—no need to deliberately get closer.

Having to complete the same task doesn't mean you're companions.

A mature divine demon walker must clearly recognize this and find suitable collaborators during a mission.

Qin Menglan is quite mature, so she's now observing.

Among the six people, Qin Menglan knows three.

Standing beside her, with the same low black ponytail tucked into her clothes, is a woman named Li Qing, a member of Approaching Science, but she doesn't do tasks—she only attended one gathering once, and Qin Menglan has a slight impression of her from that one encounter.

The second is a young man with an ordinary appearance and gentle demeanor.

Qin Menglan is fairly familiar with this person, also a member of Approaching Science, similar in composition to Tang Luo, not usually stationed, willing to complete tasks and attend gatherings.

This person's codename is Painter, Painter Gu Feng.

The third person made Qin Menglan's eyes narrow slightly—this one's style is completely different from everyone else's.

Tall and broad, standing two meters high, with dark skin and a bald head. Though here to complete a task, he wears only a white tank top, camouflage pants, and black round-toed leather boots. His exposed muscles are piled in blocks, looking very impactful.

Qin Menglan knows this person—Diamond, a divine demon walker who has severed ties with Approaching Science, keeping to themselves like well water not mixing with river water.

Such divine demon walkers usually have considerable strength and are not to be underestimated.

The other three men, Qin Menglan doesn't know.

Following custom, everyone introduced themselves briefly—some short, like Diamond, who just said those two words.

Others gave longer introductions.

Among the strangers, one with a bright smile, calling himself "Garen," even introduced his own skills, revealing he is a Fate Holder.

If everyone guessed correctly, his Fate Fragment is Garen.

Demacia's Power·Garen, from a game that can't connect to remote servers, as the saying goes: "One generation's version, one generation's god; generation after generation plays Garen," a fairly well-known character in the game.

"If you want to show off, you could be more open about it; if you want to keep it secret, don't say anything." Qin Menglan couldn't help reminding him—professional habit.

This Garen, wanting to show off yet also keep it secret, leaves people speechless.

"Ah, you know I'm—?" Garen almost blurted out.

"They also know." Qin Menglan said.

Painter Gu Feng, the other stranger, and Li Qing all nodded.

"Alright, about the task, does anyone have any opinions?" Gu Feng said, ignoring Garen brother.

"I won't go with you guys; everyone do their own thing." Diamond spoke first, then turned and walked away.

"Hey—" Gu Feng shouted, couldn't stop him, so just let him leave.

All we can hope is that this muscle-bound guy doesn't train so much that his brain turns to muscle too, then charges around and ruins the mission.

This time it's a rescue mission.

The task is consistently simple yet vague: rescue Grandpa, get him out of danger.

Who Grandpa is, where he is—no one knows.

They are located beside a pool, with no ghostly shadows in sight around them, and no signs of any human-made paths leading outward.

If Tang Luo were with them, they could draw a conclusion from two different tasks.

What is Tang Luo doing now?

Tang Luo is watching the Heavenly Roar Dog beat the tiger.

Why is the Heavenly Roar Dog hitting the tiger? Because the tiger ran into it himself.

Tang Luo, with the Heavenly Roar Dog, is just "strolling around," hasn't found any related clues or discovered anything, when a White Forehead Blue-Eyed Beast leapt out from the thicket.

Following a gust of foul wind, it truly came lunging at them.

Then, the Heavenly Roar Dog swung a paw—its massive paw's afterimage flashed past.

The tiger was slapped away.

After the paw strike, the Heavenly Roar Dog landed on the ground, facing the tiger, and let out a low growl.

The tiger, its head tilted to one side, staggered to its feet, actually still having fight left in it.

"What is this, a demon that doesn't look like a demon?" Tang Luo looked at the tiger.

Part of its head was sunken in, twisted into a strange angle, yet it didn't die—this vitality, even minor demons might not match.

Yet Tang Luo felt little demonic aura from it.

"Meow!"

The Heavenly Roar Dog, its dignity challenged, let out a cat-like cry, charged at the tiger, and swung another paw.

This time it wasn't just a slap—it shot out sharp "claws."

Facing the enraged Heavenly Roar Dog, the tiger had no room to dodge or resist, and was directly torn into several pieces.

Dark red blood stained the ground.

The Heavenly Roar Dog tilted its head—could it still not die?

Just then, as its hindquarters collapsed and it fell sideways, the tiger's tail on the ground sprang up and exploded.

The fur shot out like steel needles, scattering in all directions.

The Heavenly Roar Dog's body became a blur, dodging those hairs.

The fine hairs fell on the ground and nearby trees, leaving small pits the size of a finger, their power not less than gunfire bullets.

Tang Luo extended his left hand, using a block—an invisible force formed a crescent-shaped "shield"; the hairs hit the shield and turned into wisps of strange black smoke.

Not only these, but the remaining hairs did the same.

For a moment, this small area was shrouded in black smoke, obstructing vision.

In the sudden black mist, a black afterimage lunged at the leaping, dodging Celestial Hound, swift as lightning.

"Roar——"

A suppressed roar came from within the black mist.

After a moment, the Celestial Hound returned to Tang Luo's feet and dropped the "thing" it had been holding in its mouth.

Tang Luo waved his hand, stirring up a strong wind that accelerated the dispersal of the black mist, then lowered his head to look at the object the Celestial Hound had brought over.

It was a snake.

A very strange snake, its body covered not with scales but with a layer of flesh, yet it did not look like a skinned snake; rather, it seemed to have grown this way naturally.

Moreover, only the half near the head was flesh, while the "lower half" was a bone, appearing like a spine, the spine broken in the middle with a smooth fracture.

"A snake parasitizing on a tiger's spine?" Tang Luo furrowed his brow.

A snake's tail as a thing, Tang Luo had seen before. But this thing before him, he had truly never seen nor heard of.

Even in the Recipes·Classic of Mountains and Seas, there was no record of any ingredient with a tiger's body and a fleshy snake as a tail.

"Meow." The Celestial Hound called out again.

"You think so too?" Tang Luo stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Meow."

"Then let's try…… wait, no fire." Tang Luo thought of a serious problem, "Doggy, do you know how to drill wood for fire?"

"Meow?"

"Look at you, you're already a mature doggy, yet you don't even know how to drill wood for fire—how is that acceptable?" Tang Luo lamented, "Well, this time I'll teach you. From now on, you must learn to cook infinite delicacies under limited conditions in the wild. Let me tell you, back when I journeyed westward, many times I couldn't even find an affinity."

"Some places, few people, rare to have a few, when Wukong appears, he scares people half to death."

"Even the master's looks can't save it. I say, Wukong, why can't you truly take human form? It's not that you can't—being a bit shorter doesn't matter……"

"You're like this, neither human nor monkey—are you deliberately not seeking affinity, wanting to starve the master to death?"

"So saying, the master's achievements today are all thanks to those few unworthy disciples who were literally forced into it."

Tang Luo began processing the ingredients while reminiscing about those tumultuous years of the past, which were his lost youth.

"That whatever, go find a water source."

"Meow." The Celestial Hound responded and instantly vanished from sight.

Two hours later.

By the river, Tang Luo said to the Celestial Hound, "How is it, is my cooking still not bad?"

"Meow." The Celestial Hound nodded, even if it didn't taste good, it would say it did—besides, the flavor was indeed not bad.

"This isn't my true skill, after all, even a skilled wife can't cook without rice. Later, with good ingredients and ample seasonings, that's when it'll truly be delicious." Tang Luo washed his hands clean, stood up, and walked upstream along the river.

If there were any human habitation in this deep mountain old forest, it would mostly be near water sources.

After advancing along the river for about half an hour.

Tang Luo discovered a solitary little hut, not far from the river, built of stone and wood.

Outside, there was still a circle of fencing that felt symbolic of a great nation's actual use.

"So it's this snake spirit!"

Tang Luo clenched his right hand into a fist and struck his left palm.

Upon seeing this solitary little hut, he knew what this mission was about.

Calabash Brothers!

Indeed, this kind of task requiring the suppression of a snake spirit most likely refers to the snake spirit in the Calabash Brothers.

Outside the hut, in the small courtyard enclosed by the fence, a calabash rack was erected. Lush branches and leaves, like a small green shed, with several calabashes hanging, faintly visible.

Again suppressing a snake spirit, and seeing such a calabash outside this little hut—if not the Calabash Brothers, what is it?

Quickening his pace, he entered the courtyard. Tang Luo did not rush to look at those calabashes, first pushing open the half-covered wooden door and entering the hut.

"Indeed, grandfather has already been taken by the fairy." The hut's interior was empty, with no one inside.

It also appeared that no one had lived there for a period of time.

"But……"

Stepping out of the hut, Tang Luo looked at the calabashes on the rack, "Why are all these calabashes green?"

The hanging calabashes did not display various colors; instead, they were all green, giving a feeling of not having fully grown.

Moreover, Tang Luo counted them—only six calabashes, not seven.

"Where is Eldest Brother? Has Eldest Brother already run away? Can you speak? Give a response."

Tang Luo said to the calabashes.

The hanging calabashes gave no response, making Tang Luo feel like an idiot.

Meanwhile, the Celestial Hound was running around in the courtyard, doing who knows what.