Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Little Red was about the thickness of a thigh, making it a giant snake.
Coupled with its triangular head and ferocious red markings,
everything about it exuded an aura of “I’m not to be messed with.”
However,
under Li Zhuo’s influence,
Little Red had also become extremely cautious.
Even when slithering through the mountain forest, it maintained the quietest movements.
This state made Little Squirrel extremely disdainful.
Several times it wanted to speak up and correct the great snake’s twisted reasoning and heresies,
but it was left dizzy from the heavy blow of Puppet Soldier’s favor.
This made Little Squirrel extremely frustrated.
It had no expectations for this trip down the mountain.
It only hoped to return to the mountain quickly to properly tend to the wheat field.
Under Puppet Soldier’s guidance,
the little snake only took two days to crawl to the location where Li Zhuo had discovered the Spiritual Plant.
Looking from afar,
a vivid green little plant swayed in the wind from a crack in the rock.
“That’s it!”
Little Squirrel was inwardly excited: “Quickly pluck that plant, and let’s hurry back!”
But then it saw both Puppet Soldier and Little Red motionless, seemingly observing something.
“Hey, can’t you just pluck it directly? You guys…”
“Shush!”
Little Squirrel opened its mouth, then finally stopped speaking.
Instead, it lay sprawled on Little Red’s back,
its hand on its forehead, as if it had lost all its spirit and energy.
Puppet Soldier and Little Red, however, continued to observe.
Because Li Zhuo distinctly remembered that
this little plant was originally hidden in the rock crevice, with no traces of any living beings active around it.
But now,
the little plant had not only grown out of the rock crevice, but there were also many footprints around it.
Some of the nearby plants were also broken.
This indicated that there were living beings active nearby, and they had also taken an interest in this Spiritual Plant.
This was definitely not good news!
Therefore,
Puppet Soldier and Little Red were extremely cautious.
They waited quietly.
After a full half-day,
a Leopard-shaped creature indeed appeared here!
It was about five feet long, with a yellow body and black spots.
A wisp of small flame flickered abruptly on its head.
“This, this is actually a Fire Leopard.” Little Red’s voice was very low, afraid of attracting the Leopard’s attention.
Li Zhuo, through Puppet Soldier, asked, “Is a Spirit Beast… very strong?”
“No, this kind of Spirit Beast isn’t strong; it’s just very peculiar. Even its racial talent has nothing to do with combat.”
Little Red quietly explained a few sentences, and Li Zhuo was initially confused.
“Very greedy?”
“Loves delicious food?!”
“What does ‘chef skills’ mean?”
“The flame on this Leopard’s head can replace various spices?!”
Then,
the small Puppet Soldier’s eyes lit up.
“This Leopard is of great use to me; capture it!”
“Be careful not to make too much noise; it’s not safe nearby.”
“Act after careful deliberation, block the Leopard’s escape route in advance.”
“It’s best to succeed in one strike and not give the Leopard a chance to resist…”
“Awooo~~~”
Before Li Zhuo could finish speaking, he heard the Leopard suddenly let out a howl.
Miserable, plaintive, low.
Li Zhuo and Little Red were startled.
They quickly looked up.
They saw the Leopard rolling on the ground, clutching its neck.
Its eyes were rolled back, and it was foaming at the mouth.
It was clearly showing signs of poisoning.
“Uh…”
Li Zhuo and Little Red were bewildered.
Little Squirrel, however, clapped its hands: “Done, let’s go home!”
“How did you do that?!” Li Zhuo was greatly astonished.
The Squirrel opened the snakeskin pouch hanging on Little Red’s back and pulled out a fruit.
“Didn’t you say this Leopard was very greedy, so I fed it a fruit.”
Li Zhuo was a bit confused: “Isn’t this just an ordinary fruit?”
The fruit in the Squirrel’s hand was not a five spirit fruit, but an ordinary fruit from the three fruit trees in the Safe Zone.
It shouldn’t be poisonous.
Hearing Li Zhuo’s words,
Little Squirrel became a bit shy.
After some hesitation, it rummaged through the snakeskin pouch again.
It pulled out a tiny red berry.
“I smeared a little bit of berry juice on the fruit…”
“Damn it! Are you crazy?! This berry can really kill you!”
Seeing the red berry from the hundred-poison bramble ball, Li Zhuo was furious.
This poisonous creature had extremely strong innate abilities.
It could easily poison and kill weak creatures that dared to swallow its berries.
Little Squirrel had suffered several big losses because of this, yet it still dared to mess with the berries.
It was truly too reckless.
Li Zhuo severely reprimanded it.
Little Squirrel, in turn, felt wronged.
“You always say I’m reckless, and that the cultivation world is full of dangers.”
“My ears are calloused from hearing it so much.” Little Squirrel pointed to its ears, looking aggrieved.
Li Zhuo, however, didn’t notice any change in the Squirrel’s ears.
“Last time you told me to increase my physical resistance, so I started exercising.”
“I didn’t eat this berry… I didn’t swallow it whole, but licked it little by little.”
“I have to say, it really is quite effective~”
Little Squirrel’s words made Li Zhuo feel a bit ashamed.
“Cough, cough cough! Uh… Little Red! Quickly go check on that Leopard, don’t let it be poisoned to death, then dig up the Spiritual Plant, and come back quickly.”
“Yes!”
Little Red was very obedient and immediately crawled forward to check.
“Master, this Leopard is still alive.”
“Good!”
Li Zhuo was very satisfied, then said: “Take the Leopard and the Spiritual Plant home! Pay attention to the return route, and make some disguises. Don’t let anyone follow us back.”
“Yes, Little Red understands!”
Little Red crawled forward, digging out the Spiritual Plant little by little with its tail.
Little Squirrel, meanwhile, held a small berry, its eyes revealing a look of satisfaction.
A few drops of glistening saliva dripped from its mouth.
It swallowed its saliva.
The Squirrel finally couldn’t resist, extended its small red tongue, and carefully licked it.
Then, it propped its chin on its hands.
A look of contentment!
That intoxicated expression made Li Zhuo stunned for a moment.
Then, he cursed inwardly.
This fellow truly couldn’t change its nature.
What increasing resistance? It was clearly just greedy!
Li Zhuo, through Puppet Soldier, glared fiercely at Little Squirrel.
His original sense of guilt also vanished into thin air.
Taking advantage of this time,
Little Red had also dug out the Spiritual Plant and used its tail to tie up the poisoned Leopard.
Li Zhuo felt the remaining faint magical power of Puppet Soldier.
He shook his head.
Then he directly cut off the connection.
Little Red, meanwhile, carried the Leopard, the Spiritual Plant, Little Squirrel, and a snakeskin pouch.
Rustling, it crawled back into the mountain.
…
Another half-day passed.
Suddenly, a clear voice came from afar.
“Leopard~”
“Where did Leopard go~”
The voice came closer and closer.
Before long,
a young girl broke through the dense forest and stopped at the spot where the Leopard had fainted.
It was the red-clothed girl from Wanqi Pavilion who had crafted a breastplate for Li Zhuo.
The girl looked at the messy ground, then at the rock crevice.
She scratched her head.
A bit troubled.
“Leopard had promised to come back to the Sect with me, so why is it gone?”
“I didn’t find anything on this trip out; won’t I be laughed to death when I go back?”
“So annoying, I knew I shouldn’t have come out.”
The girl squatted on the ground, frowning and drawing circles.
The small fire-attribute beast beside her suddenly spoke in human words: “You can exchange treasures with the Sects outside the mountain, and when you return to the Sect, just say you obtained them through your training.”
“That’s right! I can use…” The girl’s eyes first lit up, then she seemed to remember something, and her voice became low again, “But I don’t have anything to exchange~”
“Wanqi Pavilion’s treasures definitely won’t do, and Cultivation Techniques are Sect secrets, not to be exchanged. Only a copy of Array Method Initial Decipher might be acceptable, but the small Sects outside the mountain don’t have any Genius Disciples who can Cultivation the Dao of Formation…”
After muttering for a while, the red-clothed girl seemed to discover something.
She stood up and brushed the dust from her skirt.
Then, with her hands on her hips,
she shouted towards the dense forest: “I really don’t believe I can’t find any treasures!”
Then,
she pointed at the marks on the ground and said with some confidence: “This is the route Leopard took, let’s go find it~”