Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

Liu Xingmo rode Bao Hei, galloping through the old forest.

The decaying leaves had piled up to a thickness of half a meter underfoot. Stepping on them felt like sinking into old cotton wool, leaving soft footprints with each step. The pungent smell of black soil and the faint sweetness of rotten wood wafted through the air.

The roots of the old tree crisscross, weaving a dense, impenetrable net on the ground.

Some protrude halfway from the ground, forming arches; others spread horizontally, appearing and disappearing among the decaying leaves.

Despite its enormous size, Baohei still appeared tiny in the world of giant trees. It was like a nimble hedgehog, navigating the labyrinth between tree roots and rocks.

Liu Xingmo felt an irrepressible anticipation in his heart.

Although this divination was rather rushed, the luck I accumulated was less than half of the last one, so the baby might not be doing very well.

But after all, it's an adventure and treasure hunt, and the feeling of the unknown is what makes people most anxious.

Sumali looked back at the road they had come from: "We need to hurry. Today is the last day. We must be back at camp by noon and reach Tiegu Pass by nightfall."

"I know, I'm keeping track of the time." Liu Xingmo took out a compass and checked the direction.

At the same time, he recalled the images that were transmitted to his mind during the divination.

Withered yellow, dirty, dilapidated... and a murky red.

It didn't look like a good omen, but I couldn't help but go and take a look anyway.

After running for more than an hour, we arrived at a remote mountain valley.

The bottom of the ravine was covered with scattered pebbles, and the sides were lined with dense shrubs. This place would be a mountain stream in the summer, but the water would dry up in the autumn and winter.

Liu Xingmo stood up straight on the turtle's back and looked around.

"Go back!" Sumali grabbed his arm, her voice low but unusually serious.

Liu Xingmo was taken aback, but decided to listen to his companion.

Baohei turned around on the spot and followed the path he had come from back into the dense forest.

Only when the shadows of the ancient tree's withered branches blocked out the sunlight, and only the footsteps of the old turtle remained in the labyrinth of roots, did the unknown danger seem to be shaken off.

Liu Xingmo asked in a low voice, "What's wrong, Mary?"

"There's no mistake, the smell of human blood came from that place just now."

"Huh?" Liu Xingmo was startled, urging his contracted beast to quicken its pace, and then asked, "Do we have a chance to save them?"

"It's too late. There's a slight putrid smell in the blood. It's late autumn now, so the time of death was about three hours ago," Sumali said with certainty.

She comes from a vampire family, so her judgment of blood is beyond question.

Liu Xingmo transferred all his blood energy to Bao Hei beneath him, allowing it to continue accelerating.

Divination cannot distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong. This treasure is probably a dead person's relic. We're better off without that kind of thing.

More importantly, the intelligence conveyed dangerous signals.

First of all, to have run to such a far location, there must be someone with second-tier strength leading the team.

Secondly, the fact that no one was there to collect the bodies meant that the entire group would be wiped out before the signal flares could even be fired.

Finally, the timing is off. It was early morning three hours ago; how could that team have been murdered in the ravine?

Liu Xingmo took out the blood-activating medicine and gulped it down.

On the other side, Sumali hung the machete at her waist and held the rifle in her hand.

Her tone was very serious: "A wild animal attack wouldn't waste food. And the smell of blood over there... is most likely man-made; the killer probably hasn't gone far."

Liu Xingmo gripped his gun tightly, quickly analyzing the situation: "It's most likely that group of spies. Fortunately, the situation is still under control. If they had Tier 3 combat power, they could cross the jungle on their own. Since they're hiding instead of running away, they're probably only Tier 2 and wouldn't be able to return to their hometown in winter. The previous battles were probably fought through deception and ambushes."

Having figured this out, Liu Xingmo breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Even those at the second tier are still afraid of bullets and can be repelled.

With a little care, you can get back to camp safely.

Just then!

"Whoosh—!" A sharp sound pierced the air.

"Bang—!" An explosion and flames appeared in the sky.

Someone fired a signal flare; it was very close!

Sumari didn't look up, but stared at the shadows. She raised her gun and fired from the swaying turtle's back.

The bullet streaked across the sky and disappeared into the dark depths of the grass.

Immediately afterwards, a figure pounced out, crushing the dead wood with its foot, and shot towards the running turtle like a frog catching flying insects.

Liu Xingmo handed his gun to Su Mali, then grabbed two handfuls of lime and splashed them forcefully—this was used to mask the smell during hunting.

The snow-white dust was like clouds and mist, and the figure who entered it covered his face with his hands. He swayed and failed to jump onto the turtle's back, instead crashing into the side of the shell.

Bao Hei's massive body staggered.

The attacker was thrown back and rolled among the dead leaves.

"Bang!"

Sumari raised her gun and fired again.

Blood splattered from the attacker's body, but he managed to get up and escape into the shadows of the tree roots.

Liu Xingmo breathed a sigh of relief.

We were being followed! The enemy tried to ambush us while the signal flare was drawing their attention! Luckily, they were repelled!

So many things happened in the blink of an eye; Bao Hei hadn't even run a few steps.

Looking up, the shredded paper from the signal flare fluttered in the wind.

Liu Xingmo made a quick decision: "Let's join up with another group! They've fired a signal flare; reinforcements will arrive sooner or later. These thugs won't dare linger!"

Baohei turned around and ran towards the location where the signal flare was launched.

Layers upon layers of tree roots blocked the way, leaving only a narrow path for passage.

Bao Hei was furious. He ran beyond his limits, leaping and bounding like a rabbit.

From the dark shadows behind, a continuous rustling sound emanated. Arrows and darts were occasionally shot at, most striking the tortoise shell with a clanging sound.

Liu Xingmo and Su Mali lay down, using the cargo on the turtle's back as cover to deflect the hidden weapons.

At the same time, they quickly reloaded and opened fire, taking turns firing into the shadows.

Soon, the sounds of fighting could be heard from ahead. Booms and cries of agony rose and fell.

At this critical moment, a pure white figure descended from the sky.

Its broad wings stirred up a storm of dead leaves, and its sharp beak aimed straight at the enemy leader.

Liu Xingmo carefully looked up; no more hidden weapons were coming from behind.

He controlled Bao Hei and moved to another battle zone.

This is a slightly spacious rocky area in the dense forest, overgrown with withered yellow weeds several meters tall.

The grass was flattened and leaves lay scattered, a scene of utter devastation, with many people lying in pools of blood. Among them were three people whose faces were covered and who were dressed in matching black uniforms.

A huge egret stood in the middle of the field, its slender, long claws firmly pressing down on a man in black.

Liu Xingmo carefully walked over and greeted her, "Instructor Bai Ting, thank you for arriving in time."

"Young man, you're here too." The egret stretched its slender neck, looked around, and said in a clear voice with a hint of sorrow, "You're wrong, I'm late."

At this moment, a man, supporting his limp left arm with his right hand, swayed as he walked over, his eyes fixed on the man in black at the feet of the egret.

He said angrily, "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

The egret raised its claws and tore off the veil covering the man in black's face.