True Purpose

Pig-head Humanoid San Zong turned his head in another direction, still keeping his eyes closed as he said, "About thirty meters diagonally ahead, there's Mandala Sky Fruit, at least five hundred years old."

"There's also plenty of Red Pine Forest Ginseng. The deeper you go into the woods, the older the Red Pine Forest Ginseng gets."

"Farther away, there's Longevity Grass, Zu Si Hemp, Iron Skin Dendrobium, and Knotfragrant Euphorbia."

"Oh, right. Knotfragrant Euphorbia is extremely toxic. You humans will get dizzy even from smelling it. I wonder if there'll be a chance to bring them all back to the plantation and grow them..."

The more Xia Chujian listened, the brighter her eyes became. She could not help saying to Ye Shijie over the Squad Channel, "Ye Dui, do you think he can smell where the Blood Kirin is?!"

Xia Chujian realized that all the things this Pig-head Humanoid had smelled were plants. The Blood Kirin was a plant too, so perhaps there was a chance. Ye Shijie knew that was what Xia Chujian was after.

He curled his lips and said, "He'd have to have seen a Blood Kirin and smelled it before he could know, right? Do you think he looks like the kind of Humanoid who's seen a Blood Kirin?"

Something as precious as the Blood Kirin was exclusively enjoyed by the Imperial Family. Ye Shijie simply could not imagine what possibility there was for this lowly Humanoid Slave to have any connection with such an exalted Imperial treasure.

"Captain, ask him. What if..." The hope Xia Chujian had just mustered was crushed by Ye Shijie again, but she still refused to give up and made one final attempt.

Ye Shijie casually asked, "Have you seen a Blood Kirin?"

He had intended to hear this Pig-head Humanoid deny it, so Xia Chujian would finally give up.

Instead, San Zong opened his eyes and stared at Ye Shijie in surprise. "How did sir know San Zong has seen a Blood Kirin?"

"...What?! You've really seen a Blood Kirin?!" Even Song Mingqian was astonished. He came over with his gun raised and pressed it against San Zong's pig head.

With two guns trained on his head, San Zong flopped to the ground with a thud, unable even to kneel properly.

Only the Small Dog beside him remained rather brave, hopping around in the snow on its little legs and barking furiously at Song Mingqian.

But it was too tiny. The little puppy's cries had no intimidation whatsoever. Instead, they made Ping Qiong, who had been silent all this time, itch to pet it.

San Zong hurriedly shielded the Small Dog with one arm and trembled as he kowtowed to Song Mingqian. "Sir, please be magnanimous and don't hold it against Small Dog..."

"If sir wants to hit, scold, or kill someone, do it to San Zong. Don't hurt Small Dog..."

"Small Dog is still little... it doesn't know any better..."

Apparently, in his eyes, every normal human was "sir"! Song Mingqian gave a snort of laughter and slowly put away his rifle. "Even if I'm not pointing a gun at you, someone else is. Don't think this will make us lower our guard!"

Li Fu walked over, bent down, and grabbed San Zong by the collar, lifting him up with one hand. Smiling, he said, "Don't listen to Song Mingqian's nonsense. This little fellow looks awfully familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"

Li Fu was two meters tall. Standing before San Zong, who was only around one-forty-five, he was truly like a giant.

San Zong trembled even harder as he looked at Li Fu, who was as tall and brawny as a Brown Bear.

After a while, he finally said in a quivering little voice, "...San Zong is a Humanoid Slave. Since birth, San Zong has never left the plantation. You are humans, so you probably have never seen San Zong..."

"Is that so? Maybe I remembered wrong." Li Fu scratched his head, looking completely relaxed as he unhurriedly asked, "By the way, where did you see the Blood Kirin? I heard that stuff is very rare..."

San Zong's little pig face had looked utterly honest until then, but he puffed out his chest and said with a touch of pride, "San Zong is the best farmer at the plantation!"

"Back then, the plantation director brought over a Blood Kirin with seeds and told San Zong to see whether it could be cultivated."

"San Zong separated the seeds and tried for half a year, but failed to grow it. That Blood Kirin was later dried and sent away."

Ye Shijie watched the Pig-head Humanoid San Zong coldly and continued asking, "Why didn't it grow?"

"Because the Blood Kirin has extremely high environmental requirements. Even the slightest contamination will kill it."

"Although the plantation's soil is the finest Black Soil in the entire Beichen Star Region, it still cannot meet the Blood Kirin's environmental requirements."

Song Mingqian understood a little about cultivation and asked curiously, "Couldn't it be grown in a sterile environment?"

San Zong shook his head solemnly. "No. The Blood Kirin cannot survive in a completely sterile environment either. San Zong tried it."

"One time, a Blood Kirin was almost mature, but someone sprinkled a little Dirty Thing onto its leaves. The Blood Kirin immediately withered and decomposed, leaving behind not even a scrap."

Xia Chujian's heart pounded wildly.

Suppressing her excitement, she said to Ye Shijie over the Squad Channel, "Ye Dui, have him draw what a Blood Kirin looks like. If he's really seen one and even tried cultivating it, he should know what it looks like."

Ye Shijie nodded and said to San Zong, "All right. Draw a Blood Kirin for us in the snow and broaden our horizons."

San Zong hurriedly knelt on the ground and began drawing with an arrow shaft.

His drawing was crooked and clumsy, clearly showing that he had never received formal art training.

Yet it was remarkably lifelike, capturing every detail of the rare plant known as the Blood Kirin with absolute accuracy.

Although it was not especially attractive, anyone who knew their stuff could tell at a glance that it was a Blood Kirin.

Ye Shijie pondered for a long while before slowly saying, "...Then you should be familiar with the Blood Kirin's scent too, right?"

San Zong hurriedly nodded. "I've smelled it! San Zong never forgets any plant he has smelled!"

"Good. Smell around. Is there a Blood Kirin nearby?"

But San Zong did not even try. He honestly said, "There is no Blood Kirin here. San Zong already smelled that."

Ye Shijie remained calm and collected as he continued, "So there isn't one here? Are you sure?"

He was asking this because he wanted Xia Chujian to give up.

He sincerely felt that mission was impossible to complete. It would be better to return sooner.

He was already satisfied with having used this mission to fleece the Association for a pile of excellent weapons.

Besides, failing this mission would not cost them points...

But none of them knew Xia Chujian's true purpose.

San Zong's words did not make Xia Chujian give up. Instead, they made her change her line of thinking.

"Ye Dui, he said there's no Blood Kirin here. Then ask him where there is one?!"

The corner of Ye Shijie's right eye twitched uncontrollably twice, but he still followed up. "You said there isn't one here. Is there one somewhere else?"

"There is!" The pair of black-bean-like eyes on San Zong's pig face lit up. "There was one where San Zong came from! That human sent San Zong to find the Blood Kirin!"

"Huh? You were actually looking for a Blood Kirin?" Ye Shijie's thick brows rose high. "Where?"

San Zong thought for a long time before saying miserably, "San Zong can't say where it is, but San Zong came from that direction and can lead you there..."

"After San Zong helped him smell out the Blood Kirin, he drove San Zong over here... to kill people..."

Xia Chujian truly grew anxious now. She said over the Squad Communication Channel, "Have him lead the way! I'll follow behind! Ye Dui, you don't need to go. If it's a trap, you can still provide support!"

Ye Shijie had actually been thinking the same thing, but he could not let Xia Chujian go alone.

He said coldly, "Enough. You'll provide long-range support. Number Three and I will go with him. Numbers Two and Four will be the second echelon."

Number Three was Song Mingqian, Number Two was Li Fu, Number Four was Ping Qiong, and Xia Chujian was Number Five.

In front of outsiders, the squad never used one another's names. They always addressed each other by their squad codenames.

"No! Ye Dui, I have to go!" This Time, Xia Chujian did not agree.

That was because her goal was not the Blood Kirin, but the Blood Kirin's companion plant, Kongsang! If that Blood Kirin had been nearby, there would indeed have been no need for her to go personally at once.

But judging by what the Pig-head Humanoid had said, that location was quite far from their Flying Vehicle. She had to go and see it herself.

Xia Chujian acted as soon as she made up her mind and immediately reequipped herself.

Earlier, inside the Flying Vehicle, the temperature had been relatively high, so she had worn only that one-piece Bulletproof Vest with a loose work jacket over it.

Now that she was going outside into the Exotic Beast Forest, where the temperature was minus eighty degrees, that was definitely not enough.

When she had gone to that Small Wooden House before, she had worn two coats over this outfit, both pieces of equipment issued by the Dark Night Hunter Association.

But this time, after thinking it over, she remembered that she had still felt rather cold wearing the alien beast fur coat issued by the Association last time.

She decided to wear the coat she had brought herself.

Her aunt had made this coat for her. It was made of the same material as the ivory-white knitted hat, unimaginably warm. The alien beast fur coat issued by the Association could not compare.

She was afraid of the cold and felt this one was more suitable.

Besides, ivory white was still white. With snow everywhere outside, it could serve as a layer of camouflage in an emergency.

These were among the few possessions she had.

Since she was traveling far from home, she had carried all her slightly valuable belongings with her.

Not that there were many.

Then she began fussing over what weapons to bring.

She took a Destroyer 800 Fully Automatic Submachine Gun from the Flying Vehicle's Ammunition Depot and found five belt magazines to strap around her waist, for a total of one thousand rounds.

They were rather heavy, but safety came first.

If she ran into a tough opponent like that horse-bodied Humanoid again, she had to fire enough bullets in the first instant to ensure she could kill it immediately.

But just as she was about to leave the Flying Vehicle's hatch, the corner of her eye caught sight of the sniper rifle case beneath the seat.

After thinking for a moment, she still dragged out the case from beneath the seat, opened it, and placed the Judicator No. 7 Sniper Rifle that had been leaning beside the seat inside.

The case contained all kinds of equipment designed for the Judicator No. 7 Sniper Rifle. It could be modified as needed, and she was used to it.

Only after slinging the rifle case onto her back and heading out did she feel at ease.

When Xia Chujian reached where Ye Shijie and the others were, Ye Shijie merely shook his head helplessly. "Then go. Number Four, you'll be responsible for long-range support."

He meant Ping Qiong.

Ping Qiong shrugged. "Sure, but I have to remind you that my marksmanship isn't as accurate as Number Five's."

She was naturally referring to Xia Chujian.

"It'll do. At least you won't be like Number Five and shoot up all my ammunition." Thinking about it made Ye Shijie's heart ache, and he could not help glaring at Xia Chujian again.

If nothing unexpected happened, this book would be released next Tuesday. There would be more updates after release.

Extra chapters would be added for tips, and targets would also be set for extra chapters based on Monthly Tickets and Hongxiu Tickets. (#^.^#)

Dear Readers, please help recommend and promote it! New book, new genre, new platform—the newbie author is begging for support! (^▽^)