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This made Jian Mo realize that although beast-world civilization was different from what he had imagined, it was still a civilization, and not nearly so backward.

A lot of people had come along this time, and Jian Mo stayed close to Wu Jiong.

They had made a point of bringing the Flying-Winged Beast, too.

The Flying-Winged Beast was used to going out with them, chirping "jiu, jiu, jiu" all the way and frequently rubbing against Jian Mo to ask for snacks.

Jian Mo had brought fried fish chunks, fried pork, stir-fried Flour Fruit cakes, preserved fruit, and other things the Flying-Winged Beast liked to eat.

It had discovered that if it rolled around in front of Jian Mo a few extra times, turned its belly up, tilted its head, and chirped at him, it would most likely get food. Now it had learned that trick well.

Jian Mo had also noticed that the Flying-Winged Beast had been acting cute much more often, but he simply couldn't resist it.

Who could resist a giant ball of fluff showing its soft belly and asking for pets?!

After a day and a half of travel, they reached the edge of an unclaimed stretch of land beside the True Scarlet Tribe.

The area was actually quite large, nearly half the size of the Riverside Tribe's territory.

Qing Kuo rode on his mate Di Ya in beast form. Looking into the distance, he called up to the sky, "Should we head south or north now?"

Wu Jiong sat on the Flying-Winged Beast with his arms around Jian Mo. "Rest here for a while. Jian Mo and I will ride the Flying-Winged Beast over to take a look."

Patrolling from the air on the Flying-Winged Beast was certainly convenient. They could see what was below them from far away.

No one objected.

So Wu Jiong set off with Jian Mo on the Flying-Winged Beast.

They had spent plenty of time feeding and playing with the Flying-Winged Beast over the past two days. It had become more and more well-behaved, following spoken instructions and going wherever they pointed without them needing to pull the reins.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong didn't need to devote their attention to steering the Flying-Winged Beast and could focus on looking down.

The forests, mountains, lakes, and everything else below lay in full view. Perhaps because there was no pollution, the water here was very clear. Even looking down from high above, they could see straight to the lakebeds.

The branches of the Flour Fruit plants looked a little like lotuses, but their leaves were much smaller, and both the leaf stalks and leaves were covered in dense, sharp thorns. They didn't look very friendly to people.

Jian Mo looked at several lakes. The Flour Fruit branches on the lakebeds were all bare, with only a few scattered yellowish-brown fruits hanging from a handful of branches.

The gatherers must have missed them.

Disappointed, Jian Mo looked away and turned to Wu Jiong.

Wu Jiong's expression was calm. The bare branches didn't seem to have affected his mood.

When he saw Jian Mo looking at him, he said, "Let's make a circuit first and see if we can find any Flour Fruit branches that haven't been picked."

The two of them were so close that they could hear each other well enough at a normal volume.

The warm air from Wu Jiong's breath brushed Jian Mo's ear, turning it a little red. "Then let's fly that way. There are more lakes over there."

Jian Mo pointed to one side, where lakes of all sizes shimmered quietly in the sunlight.

Wu Jiong had no objection. He patted one of the Flying-Winged Beast's wings. "Jiujiu, change direction."

The Flying-Winged Beast chirped, "Jiujiu!"

If they had traveled on the ground, they would probably have had to wind around, wasting a lot of time.

Flying through the sky, they could travel in a straight line, unhindered by the terrain, and move much faster.

They flew over lake after lake. Flour Fruit grew at the bottom of nearly every one, and all of it had been picked clean.

Jian Mo grew a little nervous, afraid that so many people had come all this way only to return empty-handed.

While Jian Mo was lost in thought, Wu Jiong patted the Flying-Winged Beast's wing. "Jiujiu, fly over that mountain."

Jian Mo looked up and saw a tall mountain looming across their path.

The terrain here was low, and only short shrubs and grass grew on the mountaintop. There was no snow.

Jian Mo asked, "Is the land on the other side of the mountain unclaimed too?"

Wu Jiong held Jian Mo securely with one hand. "Yes. There's a shallow lake in the hollow between the mountains. The mountain paths are hard to travel, so not many sub-beastmen go to that lake."

Sub-beastmen were far weaker than beastmen, so they were indeed unlikely to cross mountains with carrying baskets on their backs to gather Flour Fruit that tasted bad.

Jian Mo brightened. "I hope the Flour Fruit there is still around!"

The Flying-Winged Beast didn't look particularly fast in flight, but it actually covered a great distance in no time.

As soon as it carried Jian Mo and Wu Jiong over the mountain, Jian Mo caught sight of one corner of the lake.

The lake reflected the blue sky and white clouds, and a breeze sent ripples sparkling across its surface. The scenery was beautiful.

But Jian Mo immediately spotted the dark green Flour Fruit branches in the lake. He straightened slightly with excitement. "There really is Flour Fruit in this lake!"

Wu Jiong said, "It looks like the Flour Fruit there hasn't been picked yet."

Jian Mo asked, "You can see it?"

Wu Jiong said, "I can see yellowish brown on the branches, but I can't be sure."

"We'll know once we take a look." Jian Mo couldn't help patting the Flying-Winged Beast beneath his hand. "Jiujiu, let's fly lower!"

The Flying-Winged Beast readily cooperated, flapping its wings quickly as it flew toward the lake. "Jiujiu!!!"

When they flew closer, even Jian Mo could clearly see the Flour Fruit below this time.

The Flour Fruit grew at the ends of the branches and leaves. From a distance, it looked a little like loquats at harvest time.

Few wild fruits grew so abundantly.

Jian Mo said excitedly, "Look, the Flour Fruit is still on the branches. No one's picked it!"

Wu Jiong said, "I see it. It's all over the lake. This is a good haul."

Jian Mo took several careful looks, then said once he was certain, "Should we go back and bring the others over?"

Wu Jiong said, "All right."

Before Wu Jiong could give an order, the Flying-Winged Beast had already understood their conversation. It turned around and flew straight back toward the place where the rest of the group was resting.

Jian Mo smiled and patted the Flying-Winged Beast's neck. "Good Jiujiu."

The Flying-Winged Beast chirped happily, "Jiujiu!"

With the Flying-Winged Beast, it didn't take them long to turn back.

When everyone understood that there was a shallow lake in the mountain hollow, full of enough Flour Fruit to fill all the carrying baskets they had brought, they sprang to their feet and eagerly urged the others to set out.