Leading the Way (Continued)

Pengxi asked in surprise, "Aren't there many pepper-scented herbs outside? Why don't you go outside and pick some?"

Jian Mo amused and exasperated. "Our tribe has very few resources; we can't just rush to other tribes to gather them."

Pengxi: "You can go to those unclaimed areas. Do you know the area where the Ice River Tribe and Qin Sea Tribe meet? There are some there."

Jian Mo really didn't know. "Are you sure there's pepper-scented grass there?"

Pengxi nodded firmly. "We saw it when we arrived; it's a huge area, and nobody goes there."

Duan'an added, "That place is too far from Bing Jiang and the two tribes, so I guess they wouldn't want to go. Those pepper-scented grasses should still be there."

Jian Mo was intrigued. "Shall I ask if I can go and pick them?"

Pengxi: "Definitely. That place doesn't belong entirely to the Ice River Tribe, nor entirely to the Qin Sea Tribe. Nobody will bother you."

Jian Mo realized that it was probably a place like a salt lake, a place that everyone went to, so no one cared.

However, compared to the salt lake, it is extremely remote, so no one goes there and nobody cares.

Jian Mo smiled and said, "If we have any, we'll go take a look when we have some time."

Pengxi suggested, "Why don't we go tomorrow? Who knows what might happen if we wait too long? Besides, you guys have Flying-Winged Beast, right? Riding them won't take long; we can make a round trip in a day."

Jian Mo thought about it and agreed, "I'll ask my partner."

Pengxi: "Go ahead, we can show you the way."

Jian Mo smiled and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

Pengxi and Duan'an stayed Riverside Tribe.

There are empty houses in the tribe that they can stay in, but they need to pay a small fee.

The two casually gave the Riverside Tribe a piece of cloth and moved into the best house.

Jian Mo led them to their accommodations and couldn't help but marvel at how generous the Tianning Tribe was, a wealthy tribe renowned for its pottery making.

After settling the two sub-orcs there, Jian Mo went home and asked Wu Jiong about the border between the Ice River Tribe and Qin Sea Tribe.

Wu Jiong wasn't sure if there was any pepper-like grass there, but he was certain that going there wouldn't cause any trouble.

Jian Mo immediately slapped her thigh and said, "In that case, let's not stand on ceremony and make a trip tomorrow? Jiujiu has been in the tribe for so long, it's gotten quite fat, it'll be good for it to lose some weight."

Wu Jiong: "It's not fat, just quite sturdy, and looks much stronger than the Flying-Winged Beast of the Tianning Tribe."

Jian Mo looked at his calm expression and said, "You're being way too protective of your own."

Jian Mo finally understood why the Flying-Winged Beast were on good terms with him; they were so protective of their own, he wouldn't tolerate a single word they said.

Wu Jiong: "That's just the truth."

Pengxi and Duan'an were very excited to be able to take Jian Mo and the others to pick pepper flowers, so they came to their house early the next morning to freeload breakfast.

While eating breakfast, Pengxi said, "Doctor Jian Mo, you'd better bring two big bags; there are really a lot of pepper buds there."

Duan'an: "Yes, yes, you can also take some food with you. If you don't finish picking today, you can stay there for the night and continue picking tomorrow morning."

Jian Mo: "If that's what you mean, then I'm really looking forward to it."

Pengxi: "I'm not kidding you, the whole mountain is covered in pepper buds. I didn't even know you liked this stuff. If I had known, we would have gone down and picked some on the way here and brought them back for you."

Not only did Pengxi and Duan'an have breakfast at Jian Mo, but their Flying-Winged Beast also ate their fill Jian Mo.

Jian Mo looked at the Flying-Winged Beast's protruding belly with some concern. What if it really ate too much? Would it still be able to fly later?

It turns out that food does not affect the Flying-Winged Beast's ability to fly.

After their Flying-Winged Beast Dala ate its fill, it could not only fly, but fly very fast, flying ahead and Jiujiu as it led the way.

Seeing that the two sub-orcs rode on the Flying-Winged Beast without any problems, Jian Mo figured that when they returned, he could try riding on Jiujiu's back alone.

Jiujiu is so well-behaved, a little training shouldn't be a problem.

The two groups flew north for half a day, eventually arriving in a place unfamiliar to Jian Mo.

They sometimes come to the Ice River Tribe and have visited the Qin Sea Tribe a few times, but they never take this route and have never been to this place.

After all, both tribes are very large, and their border is very long, so it's perfectly normal that they had never been here before.

Jian Mo was sitting on Jiujiu, half asleep. After some time, he suddenly smelled a strong, domineering, pungent, spicy smell.

Looking down from Jiujiu's back, Jian Mo was awestruck to see that the entire mountainside was covered in blooming pepper flowers.

It is a translucent orange-red flower that looks very vibrant and has a strong visual impact. It looks just like the azaleas that bloom all over the mountains in his hometown in spring.

However, the pepper flower is larger, more vibrant, and has a stronger fragrance than the azalea flower.

Jian Mo looked down in surprise and said to Wu Jiong behind her, "So many?!"

The orcs had very keen hearing, Pengxi shouted from the front, "We all said we had it, we weren't lying to you, right?"

Jian Mo: "Yes! Thank you for bringing us here!"

Pengxi laughed, "You're welcome, this isn't our tribe's territory either."

The two Flying-Winged Beast slowly descended.

The peppered grass has thorns, so they dare not get too close and land on the edge.

Everyone dismounted from the Flying-Winged Beast's back and stood beside the pepper-flower grass.

Once down there, Jian Mo and the others could see the pepper flower more clearly. The translucent flower appeared even more vibrant, and the stamen in the center of the flower was releasing a spicy aroma.

Because of the spiciness, the area is exceptionally clean; ordinary insects and wild animals simply don't come near it.

Jian Mo reached out and picked two flower stamens, smelled them, and confirmed that these were the pepper stamens they used daily—they were ready to be picked.

Pengxi and Duan'an also helped them pick for a while, but they quickly lost patience with picking.