Cave

As the herb-gathering party ventured deeper, a confident-looking young man suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "Wolf Head's men, stay alert! We've entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range now, so keep your eyes peeled!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Hearing the young man's voice, the dozen or so burly men around him immediately answered in unison.

The young man turned back to glance at Little Doctor Fairy, who was not far behind him, feeling very pleased with his performance.

"Damn it, that idiot. If his father weren't the leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, I'd have beaten him up today no matter what."

"Exactly. We're already in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, yet he's still being so flashy. Is he afraid the magical beasts won't be able to find us?"

Someone in the party cursed under his breath.

There were three major factions among Green Mountain Town's mercenaries, each with around a hundred members. Most of their members were Dou Practitioners, while the leaders of the three mercenary groups were all Dou Masters. In Green Mountain Town, such strength was already the greatest, and ordinary people could not afford to provoke them.

Therefore, although some people were dissatisfied with the young man's behavior, none of them dared to speak out.

They could only watch their surroundings more carefully, praying that no magical beasts had heard the earlier shouting.

But things did not go as they wished. Before they had traveled very far, the herb-gathering party was attacked by three first-rank magical beasts.

They were magical beasts known as Red Ice Snakes. They were common in the outer regions of the Magical Beast Mountain Range and were a rare type of ice-attributed magical beast.

Red Ice Snakes carried a terrifying cold poison in their bodies. If a victim was not treated in time, the cold poison would freeze the blood in their body until they died.

The three first-rank Red Ice Snakes hung from the tree trunks. As the party passed beneath them, they suddenly dropped down toward three mercenaries. The moment they landed on the men, they would inject their cold poison into their bodies through their fangs.

"Watch out!" Xiao Yun had already noticed the Red Ice Snakes. He picked up three pebbles and hurled them the moment they leaped down.

The pebbles struck the Red Ice Snakes' heads with perfect accuracy, blowing them apart.

Their lifeless bodies fell into the crowd, immediately causing a commotion.

"Red Ice Snakes!"

"If we'd been bitten, we might have died here today!"

Beside the Red Ice Snake corpses, the three middle-aged men had pale faces and felt their hands and feet turn cold.

They looked at Xiao Yun, who had stepped in, and said gratefully, "Thank you, brother."

Xiao Yun nodded without saying anything.

Little Doctor Fairy's face was somewhat pale. Most women feared snakes, and she was no exception. Looking at Xiao Yun, who had resolved the attack, she felt a favorable impression of him rise in her heart.

A middle-aged man who had entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range many times analyzed, "It seems our voices attracted the Red Ice Snakes. From now on, everyone should try not to make any noise and proceed quietly."

"Right. Everyone, keep your mouths shut."

Mu Li, the young leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group who had spoken earlier, had an ugly expression. He felt those words had been directed at him.

He wanted to find the person who had spoken, but the man was cunning and had already blended back into the party. With the cover of several friends, Mu Li had no way of finding him.

The herb-gathering party soon continued onward. After that attack, everyone in the group became even more cautious.

Afterward, the party encountered several more magical beast attacks, but they drove them back by relying on their numerical advantage.

After traveling cautiously for so long, everyone was growing tired.

Seeing this, Little Doctor Fairy said to everyone, "Everyone, we're already very close to our destination. Let's rest for a while and set out again once we've recovered our strength."

After Little Doctor Fairy spoke, the party quickly stopped. Following a brief discussion, more than a dozen mercenaries began standing guard against magical beasts that might suddenly appear, while the others sat down where they were and began recovering their depleted strength.

Little Doctor Fairy seemed to be hiding something. After everyone rested in place, she glanced around, and once she confirmed no one was paying attention to her, she immediately headed into the dense forest.

But she did not know that Xiao Yun had noticed her sneaking away and followed her.

Following Little Doctor Fairy through a stretch of dense woods, Xiao Yun found himself facing a rather steep cliff.

Seeing this, Xiao Yun immediately understood why Little Doctor Fairy had left the party.

It seemed Little Doctor Fairy had found the cave beneath the cliff that contained the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

Arriving at the edge of the cliff, Xiao Yun looked down at the steep drop below.

Between the sheer cliff walls were countless small rocks and many wildly growing trees. On those trees were weathered bones from some unknown magical beast.

Xiao Yun's gaze swept across the cliff face before finally stopping at a section of rock hidden by trees. Extending his soul power downward, he took in the scene there.

Little Doctor Fairy was holding a torch as she entered a cave.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Yun chose not to go down. Instead, he waited where he was for the woman to climb back up.

Not long afterward, within Xiao Yun's soul perception, Little Doctor Fairy emerged from the cave with a dejected expression and began climbing upward.

After withdrawing his soul power, a small, jade-like white hand soon appeared before Xiao Yun.

"Need a hand?" Xiao Yun asked.

The sudden voice startled Little Doctor Fairy, and she nearly lost her footing.

Her delicate face emerged from below the cliff, her eyes holding a trace of panic as she looked toward the person crouching before her.

For a moment, the two pairs of eyes met atop the cliff.

Xiao Yun was directly in front of Little Doctor Fairy. If he did not move aside, then if she wanted to climb up, she could only ask him for help.

"Um, could you pull me up?"

After they stared at each other for a moment, Little Doctor Fairy was the first to break the silence, asking softly.

Xiao Yun nodded as if nothing was wrong. Reaching out to grasp Little Doctor Fairy's outstretched hand, he gave a slight tug, and she sprang up from below the cliff, landing on the mountaintop.

"Thank you." Since he had helped her after all, Little Doctor Fairy thanked him.

"Mm." Xiao Yun nodded, then looked down the cliff and asked, "What did you go down there for?"

A smile appeared on Little Doctor Fairy's face. "Some precious medicinal herbs grow on steep cliffs. I went down to see whether I could find any."

Her words were flawless. An ordinary person would not be able to find any loopholes in them.

Xiao Yun nodded in agreement, then said something that surprised Little Doctor Fairy.

"Then did you find any medicinal herbs in the cave below?"

Little Doctor Fairy's expression changed slightly. She grabbed a handful of white powder and threw it at Xiao Yun.

Facing the attack, Xiao Yun waved his right hand, directly using Dou Qi to stir up a gust of wind that blew the white powder away.

Little Doctor Fairy looked astonished. She hurriedly reached out to grab another handful of powder, but Xiao Yun was faster. He directly reached out with both hands and seized hers.

"A girl shouldn't play so many dirty tricks. No one will want you otherwise," Xiao Yun said to Little Doctor Fairy with a smile.

Feeling the powerful force in his grip, Little Doctor Fairy instantly knew she could not break free.

However, she did not panic. With both hands restrained by Xiao Yun, she viciously kicked toward his crotch.