42: Chapter 32: Poison Gland (4k)_3 42: Chapter 32: Poison Gland (4k)_3 Slosh—

Larry disapprovingly flung the poison-covered liquid from his One handed Hammer onto the adjacent meadow.

“This thing should still be usable…”

Looking at the metal hammer head in front of him, severely deformed under the Rusted Monster’s corrosive saliva as if gnawed on by mice, he muttered.

His arm was already wrapped with a thick circle of bandages.

“Larry, what are you doing there?

Come and help!”

Behind him, Doris was packing up their luggage and called softly in a low voice.

“I’m coming!”

The commotion from the battle and the stench from the Insect Blood made this place no longer safe.

They needed to quickly set up camp elsewhere before it got completely dark.

On the other side, Xia Nan stood in front of a Rusted Monster’s corpse, his Beheading Longsword behind him already wiped clean.

At this moment, he frowned as he carefully flipped through the adventurer’s manual in his hand.

“Rusted Monster…

Rusted Monster…”

“Why isn’t it here?”

After finally ending the battle, he certainly didn’t want to give up the loot in front of him so easily.

From Xia Nan’s relatively shallow adventurer knowledge, this bug was so large that the chitin armor with its impressive defense should fetch a lot of money.

However, given the current situation, the armor was too heavy to carry back.

Even if he buried it somewhere and left a marker, those keen-scented creatures in the Mist Forest would likely dig it up and eat it by the time they finished their task and returned.

Therefore, he wondered if there was anything on the Rusted Monster that was easy to carry and valuable in the market that he could collect.

But the adventurer’s manual in his hand didn’t have any records about this kind of demon.

“This is a bit tricky now.”

He contemplated worriedly.

Just then, seemingly sensing Xia Nan’s thoughts,

Wood, dressed in black leather armor, silently approached.

Unlike his previous vigilance and silence along the way, he took the initiative to speak, his tone calm:

“The most valuable part of the Rusted Monster is its Poison Gland located in its upper left abdomen.”

“It’s dark purple, thumb-sized, quite obvious, just flip a few more times and you’ll find it—it has a tough exterior, not easy to break, just put it in a cloth bag, but make sure not to place it with metal items as it may corrode them.”

“As for the shell, I’d advise against it.

Firstly, it’s inconvenient to carry, and secondly, due to the Mist Forest environment, it will quickly decay once the creature dies unless you have preservation materials.”

“If you ever have a chance to visit the towns near the Dwarf settlements and encounter this type of bug, you can also take their antennae.”

“Much like cutting off a goblin’s left ear, the Dwarves there will reward you with additional bounty.”

It was the first time Xia Nan heard Wood speak such a long sentence.

Knowing the other person was helping him, he couldn’t help but express his gratitude:

“Thanks a lot.”

He drew a Dagger from his waist, just about to hurry up and collect the Poison Glands.

However, the Half Elf Hai’an had already approached.

“Look, I’ve already dug out the Poison Glands from the other three bugs for you, together they should amount to a decent sum.”

His fair hand was stained with thick Green Insect Blood, holding three dark purple oval organs in his palm.

Xia Nan couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned at his words.

“You…”

“Consider it compensation for this mission,” the Half Elf said, placing the Poison Glands into a cloth bag and stuffing it into Xia Nan’s hand, smiling, “After all, we agreed beforehand, just the outskirts of the Mist Forest, nothing risky would happen.”

“Yet we ran into a demon of the Rusted Monster’s level, you can’t expect me to pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Moreover, you just saved me…

as for this, after the task is done, back in Neum…”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Xia Nan interrupted with a wave of his hand.

He wasn’t the type to repay kindness, his actions in the battle were merely opportunistic.

They were teammates, his own situation at the time wasn’t too dire, he couldn’t just watch the other die.

Therefore, he wasn’t particularly concerned about the so-called “life-saving grace.”

Instead, he was more interested in the three Poison Glands the other held.

“Wonder how much they’ll sell for when we get back,” Xia Nan, whose savings before the trip were only 24 Gold, 2 Silver, and 7 Copper, pondered.

Meanwhile, next to them, Wood looked at the Rusted Monster’s corpse on the grass, his expression even more solemn despite the battle’s end.

“These bugs usually inhabit the Dark Territory caves.”

“Why did so many suddenly appear in the Mist Forest?”

“Who drove these Rusted Monsters from their habitat?

Or is something here attracting them?”