Chapter 112: Entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range
A huge group of people were walking through the quiet forest. There were numerous pairs of alert eyes that continued to scan the dark hidden spots of the surrounding forest while hands tightly gripped the weapons at various waists, ready to handle any sudden occurrences.
As veteran mercenaries that had survived the Magic Beast Mountain Range for many years, even though many of them were cooperating with each other for the first time, they were still able to maintain a basic understanding with each other. When they briefly exchanged glances, they could recognise the signs of both safety and danger from the other party’s eyes.
The huge black sword’s heaviness and its strange ability to suppress Dou Qi caused Xiao Yan to have difficulty travelling. Each time his feet landed on the ground, it would sink into the soft soil. After travelling for a short distance in this manner, he had begun to pant and sweat.
Xiao Yan wiped the perspiration from his face and turned around to stare at the heavily guarded ‘Thousand Medicine House’ medicinal herb gathering team. After randomly sweeping his gaze over the team, his gaze finally landed on the lady in white at the center who appeared to be like a moon being crowned by the stars.
At that moment, the fragile beauty who was known as the Fairy Doctor had coincidentally straightened her back as she lightly wiped away the beads of perspiration that had gathered on her forehead. Her light gasps for air, together with her pretty face, formed a picture of tender loveliness.
Witnessing the Fairy Doctor presenting such an image, some of the surrounding mercenaries gained a reckless motivation to carry her straight to their destination. However, they knew that even if they wished to carry her, the Fairy Doctor would decline their offer with a smile.
When everyone’s gaze had gathered onto the Fairy Doctor, a slightly handsome young man who was full of smiles, moved away from the group of mercenaries. He lowered his head and said something to the Fairy Doctor.
After a brief conversation, the Fairy Doctor simply smiled and shook her head before continuing the journey on foot.
Despite being rejected by the Fairy Doctor, the young man did not show the slightest bit of anger on his face. Instead, he let out a faint smile, waved his hand as he called out, “Members of the Wolf Head Company, we are now about to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Don’t screw up!”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Upon hearing the young man’s call, dozens of huge men surrounding him immediately responded in unison. The disciplined tone attracted numerous side long glances. Even the Fairy Doctor glanced backwards.
Being extremely satisfied with the response, the young man slightly smiled and hastened his footsteps to catch up with the Fairy Doctor. Walking alongside her, he enthusiastically provided her with close protection.
“Dammit. All he relies on is his father’s position as the head of the Wolf Head Mercenary Company. Does he think that he can win the Fairy Doctor’s heart just because of this?” Eyeing the young man who could get close to the Fairy Doctor and conversing with her, one of the mercenaries beside Xiao Yan immediately quibbled with a voice full of jealousy.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over the young man. His eyes finally landed on a badge on the latter’s chest; on it was a carving of a wolf head with a single eye.
Leaping his gaze over the young man, Xiao Yan noticed another thirty plus mercenaries with the same badge and blinked. It appeared that the group was part of the Wolf Head Company, one of the three big mercenary companies in Qingshan Town.
Seeing the extent of protection that the Wolf Head Mercenary Company offered to the members of the medicinal herb gathering team, it was obvious that they were specially hired by the ‘Thousand Medicinal House’ to offer their protection. Moreover, it appeared that the trust the ‘Thousand Medicinal House’ placed on the Wolf Head Mercenary Company was much greater than that placed on the other mercenaries ahead. Otherwise, the Medicinal House would not have let them be their personal bodyguards.
Xiao Yan slowly withdrew his gaze. He was not interested in the young man and the Fairy Doctor. Thus, he simply shook his head and with his heavy footsteps, once again stepped towards the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
Everything was quiet outside of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. However, not long after the Company entered the Magic Beast Mountain Range, a small scale attack by the Magic Beasts was cruelly played out before Xiao Yan’s eyes.
The attackers were three First Ranked Magic Beasts known as Scarlet Ice Snake. These Magic Beasts frequently appeared at the edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range and possessed the ice attribute; within them was an ice poison. If one was not treated within half a day of being poisoned, this poison would freeze the blood within the victim’s body and result in death.
The three rank one Magic Beast Scarlet Ice Snake hung on three branches. With lightning like speed, they took the mercenaries by surprise, swiftly and easily poisoning three of their members. Instantly, the three member’s faces turned an icy pale. Their legs and hands became cold as they collapsed.
Realizing that they were being attacked, everyone immediately angrily struck back. A moment later, the three rank one Magic Beasts were unsurprisingly killed by the group of mercenaries. Upon finding no monster cores within their corpses, the mercenaries could only let out a slightly regretful sigh. In the wild, it was common to suffer serious injuries and be unrewarded after killing the Magic Beast. Thus, they did not hold much hope of finding anything.
After the Scarlet Ice Snakes were killed, the three mercenaries who were inflicted with the ice poison were quickly transported to the back where the medical herb gathering team was gathered in order for the Fairy Doctor to personally remove the poison from their bodies.
With the encounter from the Scarlet Ice Snakes’ attack, the Mercenary Group became even more careful. Nevertheless, it was impossible to totally avoid the Magic Beasts in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, which was densely populated by the Magic Beasts.
During the next half a kilometer that the group covered, they were attacked by three waves of Magic Beasts. Luckily, the large number of mercenaries outnumbered the Magic Beasts and they managed to repel the three attacks at the expense of more mercenaries suffering light injuries.
Being part of the scouting Company at the front, Xiao Yan could not avoid participating in one of the battles. However, in a direct confrontation with a First Ranked Magic Beast, he paid the price of a numbed hand.
Seeing the cunning Magic Beast fleeing after Xiao Yan’s futile attack, Xiao Yao clenched his teeth angrily. If it was not for his Dou Qi being suppressed by the huge sword, he would definitely have killed that Magic Beast.
Even though he allowed the Magic Beast to escape, the strength that Xiao Yan displayed had resulted in the surrounding mercenaries looking at him with admiration.
“Little brother, you are quite strong, To actually be able to hold your ground against a Snake Tail Leopard that is known for its strength…”
“Tsk tsk, being so strong at such a young age… I can’t image how strong he’ll be in the future.”
“Ha ha, this guy should be the youngest two star Dou Zhe in this group, right? Looking at his strength, it seems that it’s really true.”
The surrounding mercenaries’ cheers caused a small commotion within the group. When the gaze of the mercenaries fell on the young man with the huge sword, their questioning glint was replaced with something else in their eyes.
In this circle, where one’s strength determined one’s status, as long as one exhibited a strength that surprised others, one would attain their respect. This was a simple and direct rule.
Xiao Yan simply smiled at these cheers. Within his smile, there was neither arrogance nor satisfaction. He simply followed the group and silently continued to advance towards the medicinal herb picking site.
“Everyone. We are already close to the herb picking site. After walking for so long, everyone must be tired. Please take a short rest.” After traveling some distance more, a gentle and crisp female voice suddenly called out from within the quiet group.
The advancing footsteps slowly came to a stop as the entire group ceased advancing at the same time. Turning around, they faced the innocently smiling young lady and obediently nodded their heads.
After a quick discussion, over ten mercenary were scattered towards the surrounding areas to act as lookouts. The remaining people simply sat down and started recovering the strength they had consumed during the journey.
Sitting on the ground, Xiao Yan slowly released his breath. He lifted his finger, prompting a Strength Recovering Pill to appear in his hand. He swept his gaze across his surroundings then raised his head and yawned. His palm covered his mouth as he did so, transferring the pill into his mouth. He then quickly swallowed the pill without leaving any sign of him having done so.
Once the pill was in his body, its effect swiftly spread all over his body. Xiao Yan leaned against a tree and closed his eyes, allowing the medicinal effect to quickly replace the depleted Dou Qi in his body.
With the help of the ‘Strength Recovering Pill’, Xiao Yan managed to quickly returned to his peak form. Surrounding him, the other mercenaries were still waiting for their strength to recover.
After whispering in his heart about how good it was to have the pill, Xiao Yan stood up. He whispered to the surrounding mercenaries about going to relieve himself before slowly heading towards the densely forested area by the side.
Within the densely forested area, the light had significantly dimmed. However, this place had been scouted by the other mercenaries beforehand, so Xiao Yan was not concerned about being suddenly attacked by a Magic Beast. His gaze swept across his surroundings, searching for a suitable training spot.
Following Xiao Yan’s surveyance of his surroundings, he began moving deeper into the densely forested region. After walking for a distance, the dim surroundings suddenly brightened. He lifted his head and discovered that he had exited the small densely forested area. In front of him was a precipitous cliff. The bottom of the cliff was filled with lush greenery, providing a beautiful scenery.
Xiao Yan’s gaze swept across the top of the cliff before suddenly halting. He rubbed his nose as he headed towards the cliff edge where a type of vegetation with blooming white flowers stood.
This particular vegetation had pale white flowers. Among these booming pale white flowers, a crimson fruit was stealthily hidden while emitting a faint medicinal smell.
After scanning the vegetation carefully, Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise. After which, he lowered his body and extended his hand to the plant, intending to pluck it.
Just as his hand came into contact with the vegetation, a jade white hand suddenly stretched out from the other side of the cliff, targeting the same plant only to grab onto Xiao Yan’s hand instead.
After the jade-like hand came into contact with Xiao Yan’s hand, it idled briefly before being withdrawn in a lightning fast manner. A moment later, a pretty face appeared from the other side of the cliff and appeared before the dumbfounded face of the squatting young man with a flustered one.