"Zhou Shen? What was he doing here?"
Su Xian was slightly taken aback. In his memories,
Zhou Shen had never seemed to enter the mountains to gather medicinal herbs. How had he joined the herb gatherers' party?
Just then!
Yesterday's man walked out of Azure Cloud Medical Hall with another person.
The man beside him shouted,
"Everyone! Recently, the few Cat Demons around the outskirts of Green Dragon Mountain have been running rampant!"
"They've caused heavy casualties among our medical hall's herb gatherers!"
"So! Our Azure Cloud Medical Hall has spent a fortune inviting all of you martial artists to enter the mountains together!"
"Slay those Cat Demons and protect the safety of our herb gatherers!"
"I'm Qin Yunsheng! My cultivation is at the early Tendon Refining Realm! I'm the person in charge of this operation!"
As soon as he came forward, Qin Yunsheng began introducing himself and explaining the reason for the operation.
"The man beside me is my junior brother, Qing Yan! He's also at the Tendon Refining Realm! The two of us will be responsible for your safety during this operation!"
Qing Yan wore a smile as he looked at everyone and nodded slightly.
Looking at the man, Su Xian thought to himself, As expected, he's a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist!
As they looked at the two Tendon Refining Realm martial artists, the expressions of the surrounding herb gatherers and hired martial artists gradually calmed, and their unease eased somewhat.
With two Tendon Refining Realm martial artists present, slaying the Cat Demons should be as good as settled!
In contrast, Su Xian's brow furrowed beneath his mask.
With these two Tendon Refining Realm martial artists truly mobilized, slaying the Cat Demons on the outskirts should be a piece of cake.
Why hire so many martial artists and herb gatherers to enter the mountains together?
Su Xian felt that something was definitely fishy!
Afterward, Qin Yunsheng and Qing Yan divided the several hundred people nearby into six groups.
Each group was equipped with two Muscle Forging Realm martial artists as leaders. The rest were Skin Grinding Realm martial artists and herb gatherers.
Su Xian looked at the herb gatherers under his command. Zhou Shen was among them.
"May I ask this brother's name?"
Within Su Xian's group, another Muscle Forging Realm martial artist looked at him and asked softly.
"Ye Fan!" Su Xian casually made up a false name.
"So you're Brother Ye! My name is Deng Lin. During this operation, the two of us can watch each other's backs. It'll be safer that way!"
Deng Lin laughed heartily and introduced himself.
Su Xian nodded slightly. If they encountered those two Peak Second-Rank Cat Demons,
and another Muscle Forging Realm martial artist held one of them off, then even if he had yet to break through to the Tendon Refining Realm,
he was confident he could slay both Cat Demons!
Afterward, Qin Yunsheng and Qing Yan paid the promised silver to everyone present.
They then led everyone out of Blackwater County and set off toward Green Dragon Mountain.
When they reached the foot of the mountain,
"Everyone! We'll split into six routes! You only need to search for the Cat Demons around the outskirts!"
Qin Yunsheng gave a loud order. "If you find a Cat Demon, don't act rashly. Come find me!"
"Yes!" everyone replied in unison.
The several hundred people then split into six groups and advanced toward the outskirts of Green Dragon Mountain.
After entering Green Dragon Mountain, the vegetation around them gradually grew denser, and the green became more abundant!
All kinds of birdsong rang out without end.
"Go gather herbs! Move as a group! If anything happens, shout loudly! I'll be there at once!"
"You all go with those herb gatherers as well!" Deng Lin gave his orders after entering the mountain.
He had the many Skin Grinding Realm martial artists gather herbs together with the herb gatherers.
He and Su Xian would keep watch nearby. If anything stirred, the two of them could hurry over to help!
As everyone reached the outskirts of Green Dragon Mountain, many herb gatherers began gathering herbs!
The Skin Grinding Realm martial artists nearby kept watch for any movement.
By noon, the sun blazed overhead!
Its rays pierced through the mountain's abundant vegetation, leaving scattered patches of light on the ground.
Many herb gatherers took out the dry rations they carried and began eating.
Su Xian also took out his own dry rations and ate a few bites.
Deng Lin did the same on the other side.
"Brother Ye! Could it be that the Cat Demons received word and hid themselves?" Deng Lin asked softly with a smile tugging at his lips.
All morning, with so many of them, they had not encountered a single demon.
Perhaps the Cat Demons had seen how numerous they were and hidden themselves!
Su Xian did not reply. It was not impossible.
After all, once they became part of the Demon Race, their intelligence increased. Perhaps they had seen how numerous the group was and abandoned the slaughter,
intending to wait until someone left the group before launching an attack?
Just then, a scream rang out from not far away!
Su Xian immediately set down his dry rations and ran toward the scream. Deng Lin followed close behind.
In just a moment, Su Xian reached the place where the scream had come from. A Skin Grinding Realm martial artist lay on the ground,
his stomach torn open by a gaping hole, his internal organs already gone.
Several herb gatherers stood around him, their faces bloodless as they stared trembling at the corpse before them.
"What happened?" Deng Lin asked with a frown as he looked at the scene.
"My lord! This martial artist said he was going to relieve himself and left the group! Who would have thought that in just a moment, he'd end up like this!"
One of the herb gatherers trembled, his voice quivering as he spoke.
Deng Lin's expression turned displeased. He had clearly already said they were to act as a group.
He had never expected them to lose someone just like that!
Deng Lin snorted coldly and stepped forward to examine the corpse. After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Su Xian.
"It feels like a Wolf Demon did this!"
"That race loves human internal organs most of all. It should be a Muscle Forging Realm Wolf Demon!"
"Otherwise, this man should have made some noise. He wouldn't have died so silently!"
Su Xian nodded slightly. These injuries indeed did not look like the work of a Cat Demon.
There were four major Demon Races in Green Dragon Mountain: Fox Demons, Wolf Demons, Yellow Weasels, and Tiger Demons.
Among them, Wolf Demons most loved eating human internal organs!
"My lord, what should we do?" a Skin Grinding Realm martial artist asked Deng Lin.
"Continue moving! Remember, don't leave the main group alone again!" Deng Lin said in a deep voice.
In the afternoon, Su Xian's group traveled some distance along the outskirts of Green Dragon Mountain.
They encountered neither Cat Demons nor any other Demon Race, and everything was perfectly safe.
"Brother Ye!" Deng Lin suddenly came looking for Su Xian.
"I feel that Wolf Demon is still nearby! Why don't we use bait to lure it out? The two of us can join forces and kill it!" Deng Lin proposed.
"I'll be the bait and lure that Wolf Demon out directly!"
Su Xian was stunned when he heard this. When he first heard the proposal, he had assumed Deng Lin would choose a herb gatherer as bait.
He had not expected Deng Lin to be such a good person. He was actually willing to use himself as bait?
"Sure!"
Su Xian nodded in agreement. He could also faintly sense that the Wolf Demon was not far from them.
Since Deng Lin was willing to act as bait, Su Xian would naturally play along!
After all, if they could not kill a Cat Demon, killing a Wolf Demon would be fine too!
"Good!"
Deng Lin found a herb gatherer and exchanged clothes and equipment with him.
After pretending to get into an argument with several herb gatherers, Deng Lin left the main group.
Before you continue