Vertical sun.
Xiushan, somewhere in the dense forest, the wild grass is green.
The green dew slid down the green leaves and fell on the face of a young boy, falling into pieces.
Tick!
The boy's delicate brows frowned slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes with a dazed expression.
"Surprised."
Ji Ning forced himself to sit up from the ground and looked around, his face a little pale.
Yesterday, after he fought his way out of the alley, he was quickly wanted by the Yamen. There were even troops from other places chasing him into the mountains to encircle and suppress him.
Fortunately, he was familiar with the terrain in the mountains and fled deeper into the mountains as hard as he could, finally throwing off his pursuers.
But not long after, he also fainted due to his severe injuries.
Now, wake up.
The rest of the life.
But, where is this place?
Ji Ning frowned and looked at the surrounding mountains. He had probably entered the middle part of Xiushan.
The distance from the Taoist temple was not to mention a hundred and eighty thousand miles, but at least about five or six days' journey, and that was while his own injuries were in a stable state.
But now, he is extremely lucky not to die, so how can he rush in this dense forest full of dangers? Whenever he encounters any monster, no, even an ordinary beast, he will become what the other party calls him. food!
"The top priority is to find some healing herbs."
After understanding this, Ji Ning immediately set his sights on the mushroom growing among the rocks under an old pine tree ten meters away.
This thing is very common in the mountains. Although it has no medicinal value, it is very nutritious and can be found everywhere.
He and his senior brother used to make soup with this thing.
Ji Ning was weak, gritted his teeth, and moved bit by bit towards the mushroom, leaving a long trace on the cold, wet ground covered with mud leaves.
After eating the mushrooms, Ji Ning was still not satisfied. He spent a lot of effort to move another big stone, grabbed the beetles and centipedes below and put them into his mouth. After chewing them with a twisted expression, he turned his gaze again. On the wild fruits grown in the bushes not far away.
Ji Ning moved on the ground again.
On the way, I drank a few mouthfuls of dew from the weeds.
In this way, after barely eating half full, the boy found a piece of land that was slightly dry and illuminated by the sun, and sat down cross-legged, like a real person sitting on a futon.
He put his hands together, drawing the true energy of heaven and earth into his body, and slowly recovered from his injuries.
…
It's a new day.
Ji Ning opened his eyes, slowly exhaled a breath, stood up and briefly stretched his muscles.
After eating mushrooms for two days, his body has recovered somewhat. Although he is still seriously injured, he can at least walk.
"I'm lucky that I didn't encounter any monsters in two days, but it's no longer suitable to stay here for a long time."
Ji Ning looked pale and used tree branches to clean up the scene repeatedly before slowly leaving.
During the past two nights, he could often hear the horrifying howls of wolves and the roars of unknown monsters. There was even a tiger monster as big as a small mountain passing him five meters away.
If the other party hadn't been hunting for prey at the time, he would have been discovered.
"Looking at the direction of the sun, the way back to Taoist Temple should be this way."
Ji Ning tore some tree bark and put it on his body to act as armor. He deliberately avoided the road and plunged into the grass nest full of thorns. Every step he took was extremely difficult.
After an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually turned dim, and the dense forest in front of us finally came to an end.
In front of Ji Ning, a gentle hill appeared. Just as he was about to climb over it, he suddenly heard a slight rustling sound.
"Boss, it's true. Where can we find people in this inhospitable place?"
"Yes, the boss wants to camp here. I really don't understand. What if we encounter some wild beast in the middle of the night? Wouldn't it be over for us brothers?"
Ji Ning's expression condensed, and he hurriedly knelt down to hide it, and at the same time poked his head out slightly.
On the hilltop not far away from him, two men in burlap clothes walked slowly up, one tall and one short. The short one was holding a bunch of fruits in his hands, and the tall one had a simple face and shouldered shoulders. Carrying freshly cut firewood.
"Humph, the boss wants to use the wood here to make a fire. It just rained. This wood is not the little hooves in the brothel. Can it be burned!"
There was a burst of contempt in the short man's mouth.
They are an adventure group active in the Beijun area. The team is basically composed of practitioners who have entered the first level and have successfully established their bones. They form a group to hunt down some low-level monsters and sell them for animal elixirs and furs. born.
This time I came to Baiyu Town for a shockingly large tomb, but the tomb had not yet been opened, so I conveniently accepted Ji Ning's wanted order.
A group of more than 20 people used the special method of searching for dragons and tapping their acupoints to explore the area.
Then, the clue was cut off.
The tomb is dead, but the person is alive.
In the vast mountains, how easy is it to find an ordinary person who doesn't even have a level of cultivation?
"Maybe that kid has been eaten by the monster!"
The short man sounded indignant, obviously very dissatisfied with the leader's decision to enter the mountain early.
The tall man smoothed things over and said consolingly: "Forget it, let's go back to the camp first. I feel uncomfortable after being bitten by this snake, so I need to take medicine quickly!"
As he spoke, he glanced at his ankle, which had turned purple.
The thin man took one look and shook his head with fear. Fortunately, in their line of work, they had all the medicines they took with them when they went out.
Otherwise, the average person might not survive more than two days in this mountainous jungle.
"Camp?"
In the darkness, Ji Ning listened to the conversation between the two and raised his eyebrows slightly.
What he lacks most now is food and medicine. If he can get some from this group of people, it will definitely be great, but I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to implement, especially in his current state. If he is discovered, he will definitely be the only one. A dead end.
"But even if I escape this disaster, it may not be smooth sailing for me on the way back to Taoist Temple. If I don't have the power to restrain the chicken by then, the trouble will be even greater."
Ji Ning sighed and decisively chose to follow.
In his current state, he can at most be considered able to walk, and there cannot be only one team chasing him into the mountains. Even if they all escape, they will inevitably encounter wild beasts and wolves. It is impossible to escape by relying on luck.
In the final analysis, you have to become stronger yourself.
Following the two people over the mountains, they traveled more than a hundred meters and came to an open space with sparse trees. There were many tents set up here, and more than ten people were busy one after another. There were also fences surrounding them with wood. They were obviously new. felled.
"It's not a small scale."
Ji Ning raised his eyebrows. The team in front of him looked unusual. Moreover, they all wore uniform clothes with a large word "Kui" embroidered on them. They did not look like locals from Qingquan County.
"Boss, we are back!"
I saw two people, one tall and one thin, walking back to the camp and greeting a man with a beard loudly. After some exchanges, they both started doing their own things, knocking, chopping wood and making fire in the camp. There were racks for skinning and roasting the beasts brought in, and everything was going on in an orderly manner.
After a while, it slowly became dark.
Each piece of animal meat is also roasted, the oil is sizzling golden and exudes an alluring aroma.
Everyone in the camp ate meat, drank wine, and only four people were left on guard. They were in a relaxed mood. They didn't feel like they were in the mountains at all, but rather like they were in a restaurant in the mortal world. They seemed not to be afraid of danger at all.
"Boss, how long do we have to stay in the mountains!"
"Yes, boss, if we can't catch that kid for a day, let's not withdraw for a day!"
In the camp, there were faint doubts from the crowd, but there were just some signs of commotion before they were suppressed by the leading man.
"What are you yelling about? Eating meat can't stop your mouths!"
The man was carrying a big sword on his back, sitting on the top wooden block, holding a tiger leg in his hand, staring at everyone coldly and scolding:
"I can't bear this little bit of pain. Do you still want to go to Longtan Peak to fight for the opportunity? If you want to leave, get out as soon as possible. I don't need waste in my team!"
For a moment, everyone was silent.
The thin man who complained the most was even more embarrassed. He lowered his head and did not dare to look directly into the man's eyes.
"Eat quickly, be on alert after eating, and get to know the environment in this mountain as soon as possible!"
Seeing that no one was taking the lead, the man snorted and continued to concentrate on eating the meat. The pressure that enveloped him also disappeared, and the thin man immediately secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Longtan Peak?"
On the other side, among the trees, Ji Ning keenly captured the key information from the man's mouth.
He couldn't help but think of the gold paper he took out from the box under Jiang Chuan's chair. The time and place recorded on it was also Longtan Peak.
If a team of practitioners from other places can come here, what will happen in the next few days?
Ji Ning frowned, took out the bone token and the gold paper, and looked at them over and over again, but still couldn't see the reason, so he could only shake his head.
He could vaguely guess that something big was going to happen at Longtan Peak on May 17th.
At that time, there will inevitably be a bloody storm in the world of cultivation.
However, he is not qualified to care about such things yet. The most important thing for him now is to think about how to fill his stomach.
Gulu!
Ji Ning rubbed his belly, licked his lips, and stared at the flickering bonfire.
He wished he could rush out and have a feast right now, but in the end he could only think about it.
Ji Ning reluctantly moved his head and turned his attention to a tent.
After a long period of crouching and observing, he has discovered that the team's medicines, clothing, dry food, and even weapons will be placed here, and will be guarded by dedicated personnel.
The man who sat at the top and ate meat, quite majestic and with a sense of natural coercion, also slept next to the material tent.
All he had to do was sneak in while the moon was dark and the wind was high.
The difficulty is not too high, and once discovered, it will be the end of death. There is no luck. Everyone in this adventure group seems to be a practitioner, and even the worst ones have opened several orifices. Anyone can They looked no worse than him, and there was no chance of them surviving against him.
"We can only wait patiently."
Ji Ning took a deep breath, endured the cold and hunger, and closed his eyes silently.
The half-waned moon shines through the clouds, casting a slightly cold light.
A gust of cold wind gently blew the grass in the woods, and there was a sparse sound, as if some animal was passing by stepping on the fallen leaves.
The time at this moment is already past midnight.
In the adventure group, those who were supposed to be on guard also dozed off.
Ji Ning, who had been crouching in the dark for a long time, finally found an opportunity, tiptoed over the fence, arrived at the camp, and then walked straight to the tent where a lot of supplies were stored.
"The young face looked a little pale under the moonlight, and Ji Ning was so nervous that his palms became sweaty.
Because the leader of the adventure group in this camp was sleeping next to the supplies tent, and the curtain was still open.
This means that once he makes a little noise and disturbs the other party, the latter can easily catch him and execute him on the spot, or send him back to Whitefish Town.
It can be said that the level of danger now is only higher than when he was in the gambling house!
"call!"
Ji Ning held his breath and concentrated. He carefully observed every step he took for several breaths, and only dared to make sure there were no problems before he stepped down. This was the case all the way, without making a sound, just like a ghost floating in the air.
Ji Ning came to the tent where the supplies were stored. He turned his head and glanced at the man next door who was sleeping with his eyes closed. After seeing that the man showed no intention of waking up, he safely opened the curtain and walked into the tent.
Because there were some bonfires not far outside the tent, we could see clearly what was going on inside.
After Ji Ning walked in, the first thing he saw at his feet was a whole piece of wolf monster meat.
Ji Ning, who had been hungry all day, had his eyes wide open. His mouth was constantly secreting saliva, and his eyes were turning green. He wanted to jump on it and have a feast, but in the end he still held back.
He turned his head, walked past a large pile of weapons, and came to the innermost part of the tent. There were many wooden boxes stored here. When he opened them, he saw that they contained the exclusive clothing of this adventure group. The logo embroidered on it was the same as the one outside. Those people were wearing the same clothes.
Next to the clothes, there were piles of medicinal herbs, of various types, some of which even he, who grew up in the mountains, had never seen before.
Ji Ning looked solemn. With the help of the weak firelight, he carefully selected some medicines that could treat internal injuries. He opened the water bag on the spot and swallowed it directly. Then he took out a cloth bag and filled it with medicines that could treat external injuries and internal injuries. Everything that is useful is packed in.
Finally, Ji Ning looked at the homemade straw clothes he was wearing, smiled, then took it off and put on the new clothes, even his shoes, and brought a knife.
After doing all this, he took the cloth bag and carefully retreated to the entrance of the tent.
The aroma of animal flesh flooded into his nostrils again.
"You're already here, don't worry about eating some."
Ji Ning swallowed his saliva, cut off a large piece of the animal's leg with a knife, and then chewed it hungrily. His face was full of satisfaction, and he was even about to shed tears.
In this world, all painful things can be relieved by eating meat. He is convinced of this, especially after eating wild fruits for two days.
Ji Ning devoured the food and was so unhappy.
So much so that he didn't realize it at all.
Just behind him, there was a strong shadow, slowly approaching!
