Chapter 36 The Stunned Duo, Zhang Quan and His Companion

Lu Hao: "..." I really am just tying myself to this!
Did you think I actually want to be your blood brother?
Lu Hao's face was pale, and his heart was racing with anxiety. If his judgment was wrong and Yu Yan wasn't as formidable as he believed, he would lose his life today in the Fuzhu Rock Woods. The last time they recklessly ventured near this thicket, it had cost them several lives.
There were two left with broken limbs, and since nobody in the squad knew any medicine,
they eventually died from blood loss and infection.
Lu Hao had no desire to meet such an end, but opportunities always came hand in hand with tremendous risks. If he never took any chances, how could he ever achieve a leap in strength? His son might spend the rest of his life as nothing more than an ordinary person.
Lu Hao glanced enviously at Yun Duo'er and Tang Siqi, who was following behind Tang Yan, sulking quietly.
These two young girls, since they were brought along by Yu Yan and Tang Yan, must be rather capable. Unlike his son and Hao Guangming’s boy, who, every time they ventured out, could only stay inside the villa for safety.
A few minutes later, while Zhang Quan and Lu Hao were filled with trepidation,
Yu Yan’s group finally arrived at the Fuzhu Rock Woods. "Didn’t you say as soon as we get close, the howling hogs would come out?"
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhang Quan, whose face was set in grim determination. To be honest, this look suited him quite well. Even those shifty, villainous eyes seemed less offensive now.
"#$%&*!"
"%&%%$&**$##..."
"%%$,#$#@@!"
Speak of the devil, and the devil appears.
Yu Yan had barely asked Zhang Quan when a massive herd... hmm, Yu Yan found herself at a loss for words to describe the creatures she saw. They were red as flames and looked like pigs, but their size was rather small.
The largest wasn’t even as big as those miniature pigs some people kept as pets before the world fell to the dungeon.
A whole horde of these fiery, miniature pigs surged toward them, mouths spewing curses in some unknown language. The scene... was unexpectedly quite amusing! For a moment, Yu Yan felt her plan to slaughter them for meat was positively wicked.
How much meat could such tiny pigs provide, anyway?
Probably not enough for herself, Yun Duo'er, and the Tang family to each have two bites.
Sinful, truly sinful!
"%&**&&..."
One of the miniature pigs—no, howling hogs—spat a small fireball at Yu Yan, cursing as it did. Before it could reach her, Tang Yan intercepted, flipping his palm and sending an identical fireball into the air.
With a loud "bang," the two fireballs collided and exploded.

Sparks scattered across the howling hog’s body, and it winced in pain.
Howling Hog: "???"
What on earth? Its own fireball actually hurt itself? The hog couldn’t believe it and spat out another two fireballs, this time aiming straight for Tang Yan.
"Dad, let me help you!"
"No need."
Tang Yan glanced indifferently at his daughter, making Tang Siqi’s cheeks flush with frustration. She turned her head away in a huff: If you don’t want help, then fine, hmph! Tang Yan shifted his gaze back, focusing on the herd of howling hogs.
Boss said she wanted to taste howling hog meat, so he couldn’t just cook them with explosions.
Fresh meat was far more flavorful!
Tang Yan quickly devised a method to incapacitate the hogs without ruining their meat. As a spirit vein enhancer who had absorbed a seventh-grade Fire Rhinoceros Blood Crystal, and even tasted a fragment of a twelfth-grade Heavenly Spatial Lotus,
Tang Yan’s current power may only be first-grade, but his physical strength rivaled the fourth-grade profound rank.
The fireballs from the hogs could only hurt him if a dozen struck the same spot simultaneously—otherwise, they couldn’t scratch him.
With this realization, Tang Yan became downright audacious.
He didn’t even bother using his bloodline technique "Blaze Burst," since it consumed his spiritual energy.
Instead, he charged straight into the herd, relying on his physical advantage and the seventh-grade Featherleaf Banyan to overwhelm any hog below third-grade. He struck swiftly and cleanly, slicing through the throats of the howling hogs one by one.
Soon enough, the ground was piled high with hog corpses.
Zhang Quan: "..."
Lu Hao: "..."
Utterly bewildered—is this really the same ferocious herd of hogs that once drove them away with no chance to fight back? Why did they seem like weak chicks before Tang Yan, lacking all the wild brutality they showed days ago?
Yun Duo’er watched, her mouth watering—finally, she could follow her mother into a high-level dungeon.
Usually, she was the one getting pummeled by monsters, always needing her mother’s protection. When had she ever encountered such weak creatures? Yun Duo’er’s eyes gleamed with excitement. "Jin Jin, let’s join in!"
"Crack crack boom!"
Thunder roared as Yun Duo’er deployed her newly refined lightning ability.
These hogs, mostly first to third-grade, were perfect training fodder for her first-grade lightning powers. Yun Duo’er played gleefully, and Jin Ling was not to be outdone—its golden spikes bristled, and wherever its vine body swept, it left behind shriveled, bloodless hog corpses.
On Yu Yan’s shoulder, Xiao Qing joined the fray.
"Caw~"

A distinctive cry echoed from Qu Ru.
Xiao Qing darted like lightning, mercilessly tormenting any first-grade hog it caught. When facing second or third-grade hogs, it skillfully employed guerrilla tactics: advancing when the enemy retreated, harrying when they held ground, ambushing when they were tired, and pursuing when they fled.
Having just hatched, it possessed great potential, but its grade was only a pitiful first.
Its wind blades couldn’t even cut the skin of second-grade hogs.
Fortunately, it wasn’t fighting alone; its young master and Jin Ling were by its side!
Xiao Qing’s Qu Ru eyes, bright as green beans, flickered as it stuck closer to its little master.
Even Tang Siqi, who had been sulking behind Tang Yan, finally joined the hog-hunting ranks.
Tang Siqi had refined sixth-grade Fire Rhinoceros meat, and her second-grade fire powers allowed her to launch a dozen fireballs.
Her fireballs lacked the explosive force of Tang Yan’s "Blaze Burst"—they were about as powerful as the hogs’ own. If she entered the dungeon alone, she’d undoubtedly be tormented by the hogs, but now she followed Yun Duo’er’s lead.
Every time Yun Duo’er unleashed a lightning sphere, Tang Siqi would toss a fireball right after.
It didn’t matter whether she could actually kill a hog—she just threw them for fun!
Zhang Quan and Lu Hao were thoroughly numb by the end.
Zhang Quan had instant movement abilities, so he wasn’t in any real danger. Gripping his dagger, he decided to join in. Whether or not he could slay a hog didn’t matter—how could he miss such an adrenaline-fueled event?
Only Lu Hao was left, bewildered amidst the chaos.
Everyone else was out hunting hogs—what should he do?
Should he join the fight? Lu Hao was self-aware; although the hogs seemed helpless against Tang Yan’s group, that was only because those people had real skills or potent weapons.
Yun Duo’er, Tang Siqi, and Zhang Quan all had abilities and could protect themselves.
If Lu Hao tried, he wouldn’t be hunting hogs—he’d be the hunted! He had no doubt that the battered hogs would swarm him like sharks to blood—after all, who doesn’t prefer the softest prey?
Lu Hao had no intention of offering himself up as bait to comfort these now thoroughly frustrated howling hogs.