When Lu Lin slowly opened his eyes, he saw Ren Tian standing guard over him. Lu Lin smiled at him. "Thanks, Brother Ren."
"No problem. Though it was the captain who noticed you advancing just now."
"Lu Lin, I'm not trying to lecture you, but next time you're about to advance, could you give us a little warning? You were just eating some roasted meat, and then, without a word, you suddenly advanced. That's a bit too much of a strain on a man's heart."
"My fault, my fault. Next time I advance, I'll be sure to give you a heads-up, Brother Ren."
Lu Lin cupped his hands toward Ren Tian, then hurried over to thank everyone else one by one, especially Zhou Shenming and Li Mo.
Zhou Shenming had been the first to notice the fluctuations in Lu Lin's qi and blood.
Huang Li, meanwhile, was the one who had brought back the Jumping Deer.
"Brother Huang, thanks for hunting that deer."
Huang Li's mouth twitched. He really had hunted the Jumping Deer specifically to nourish Lu Lin. Ren Tian had hinted earlier that Lu Lin came from a fairly ordinary family and had only just become a Martial Artist, with hardly any savings.
Deer meat happened to nourish the spleen and replenish qi, warm the kidneys, and strengthen yang. It wasn't of much use to High-level Martial Artists, but it might help someone like Lu Lin, who had only just advanced.
He hadn't expected Lu Lin to ride that surge of energy straight to the Mid-level Martial Artist rank.
"It's no trouble. If you like deer meat, Lu Lin, I'll hunt one for you every day from now on."
Lu Lin was speechless. The big brothers in Dragon Saber Squad were just too enthusiastic. One Jumping Deer a day—he was afraid he'd get over-nourished and have a nosebleed every day.
After Lu Lin's incident, everyone relaxed a little. The Yang brothers even superstitiously called it a good omen.
Lu Lin had only just entered the mountains and already reached the Mid-level Martial Artist rank. This mission was sure to go smoothly.
Here's hoping.
After eating the roasted meat, everyone tidied up the site. Then Li Mo told them what he had learned from scouting.
"Baiyin Mountain covers a vast area and has complicated terrain. The foothills are still lush with trees, but there's little vegetation halfway up the mountain. I found traces of a tiger pack. There should also be several large herds of Iron Bone Bulls, along with some ordinary first- and second-order birds and small Monster Beasts."
"What about the Red Moon Earth Bear?" Zhou Shenming asked.
Li Mo shook his head. He hadn't found any trace of the Red Moon Earth Bear.
It had been expected that they wouldn't find any trace of the Red Moon Earth Bear.
Monster Beasts weren't unintelligent. The Red Moon Earth Bear was a special breed among Monster Beasts, and aside from not being able to speak, its intelligence was no weaker than that of an ordinary human.
With its birth imminent, it would surely conceal its whereabouts to keep its enemies—or humans—from finding it.
This mission wasn't particularly dangerous for Dragon Saber Squad. But finding a Red Moon Earth Bear that could hide itself in the vast expanse of Baiyin Mountain was certainly going to take a lot of work.
Still, however difficult it was, they had to search. It was their line of work, after all.
Once they had tidied up the site, everyone shouldered their backpacks and set out to search.
Zhou Shenming had instructed them that, as long as they were sure there was no danger, they should let Lu Lin handle some of the Monster Beasts to build up his combat experience.
But from noon until night, they didn't encounter a single Monster Beast. They came across plenty of ordinary rabbits and mountain mice, but those creatures weren't worth fighting.
Martial Artists could cover ground quickly. They had crossed the first mountain in the Baiyin Mountain range in just one afternoon. Now, as dusk fell, Zhou Shenming told everyone to stop and rest, and to set up camp.
Monster Beasts were most active at night. If they rested early and went out to search after dark, they might find traces of the Red Moon Earth Bear.
Lu Lin didn't know if he was too excited or if advancing to Mid-level Martial Artist had left his qi and blood surging, but he wasn't sleepy at all. He was wide awake.
Seeing him like that, Zhou Shenming paired him with Huang Li to stand guard. If they encountered danger or a Monster Beast approached, they had to raise the alarm immediately.
The others gradually fell asleep. Huang Li wasn't much of a talker, either; he sat there holding his longbow, quietly lost in thought.
With nothing else to do, Lu Lin put on his Light Armor and started practicing the Mad Ox Strength Fist in the open space.
He let out a bellow with every punch, and the sight of Lu Lin doing this naturally caught Huang Li's attention.
But Huang Li wasn't like Ren Tian. Though he was curious, he simply watched without making a fuss.
The Mad Ox Strength Fist's progress slowly ticked upward. Watching his proficiency keep rising, Lu Lin grew more and more excited.
What could be better than the joy of seeing hard work pay off?
The Monster Beasts of Baiyin Mountain were being considerate, too. Their calls rose and fell all around them, but not one came near their temporary camp.
At one point, Ren Tian got up to relieve himself. Seeing how energetic Lu Lin was, he silently praised him, then went back to his tent to sleep.
Young people these days really had energy to spare.
As Lu Lin practiced into the early hours of the morning, he began to sense that something was wrong.
Faint gusts of cold wind seemed to be blowing around them.
Lu Lin glanced at Huang Li, sitting nearby, and took a couple of quick steps over. "Brother Huang, I feel like something's off."
"Mm, I know. It's just a few White-headed Wolves. Don't panic."
Huang Li was completely calm. He was a marksman, and his eyes were his greatest strength. He'd sensed something was wrong even before Lu Lin said anything.
But when he saw that only a few White-headed Wolves were coming to attack, he didn't think much of it.
White-headed Wolves were common Monster Beasts spread throughout the Wilderness outside Dongshan City. Their combat strength was average, and pack members were generally between first and third order. But they had their strengths: they were cruel by nature, fiercely loyal to their pack, and bloodthirsty and frenzied.
Sometimes, even when mortally wounded, a White-headed Wolf would still bite off a chunk of its prey.
"Lu Lin, there are three over there. I'll take care of them. There are two more in this direction, both first order. You handle those. If you can't manage, just let me know."
Watching Huang Li's calm demeanor, Lu Lin asked, "Brother Huang, shouldn't we wake the captain and the others?"
"No need. They're just a few little wolves. I'll finish the fight in three minutes."
"But be careful. Don't push yourself. Getting hurt out here is a real hassle."
"Got it, Brother Huang."
Lu Lin swallowed nervously and took out the pitch-black E-rank Battle Saber Ren Tian had given him.
Strictly speaking, this was Lu Lin's first real fight. Killing Scarface earlier had only been an act of self-preservation, not a proper battle.
After spending so long getting used to the darkness, Lu Lin followed Huang Li's directions for a couple of steps. He could just make out two pale heads poking out of the dark grass.
The most distinctive feature of White-headed Wolves was the patch of white fur atop their heads.
Now, as he looked at the two White-headed Wolves, every bit of information about them vanished from Lu Lin's mind.
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