Lu Wuyuan, the happiness teacher, turned around and looked around. He found that the drone was still there and realized that Su Xi and the others were still watching him.

After giving the other party a safe signal, Lu Wuyai immediately got up from the ground and started running down the hill.

At the same time, Yu Mengrou returned from the forest, carrying a large amount of green plants in her hands, and a special smell filled the air.

Su Xi pinched her nose and said, "Why does it smell so pungent?"

Yu Mengrou didn't have time to explain and told her to quickly take the drone back.

“This is a balsam. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but its roots, stems, and leaves still have a sulfurous smell,” Yu Mengrou quickly explained.

"Sulfur." ​​Su Xi was taken aback. After careful examination, it was indeed very similar to sulfur.

Suddenly, Su Xi understood what to do.

"You go first, I'll go to the forest. We're running out of balsam flowers." Yu Mengrou, breathless, turned around and began searching for balsam flowers in the nearby forest.

Meanwhile, Su Xi had already recalled the drone, then tied the balsam flowers with a rope and brought them to the mountain peak as quickly as possible.

A few minutes later, Lu Wuyai stood under a big tree, looking at the drone hovering in mid-air and the strange plants that smelled of sulfur, and his eyes lit up.

Soon, Lu Wuyai scattered the balsam flowers everywhere, and even rubbed some on himself.

However, the number of balsam flowers that a drone can deliver at one time is limited, and some gray venomous snakes are still chasing Lu Wuyai.

He had no choice but to continue wandering in the forest, occasionally stopping to let his feet adjust to the feeling of being suspended in the air.

The second batch of balsam flowers arrived, and Lu Wuyai scattered them in the forest, but mostly applied them to his own body.

Half an hour later, Lu Wuyai sat on the ground, no longer surrounded by a gray snake.

"Finally, it's over." Lu Wuyai breathed a long sigh of relief.

But when he focused his attention, he noticed the sound of snakes flicking their tongues still nearby. Clearly, the snakes hadn't entered the forest yet and were likely waiting for him outside.

The drone never delivered balsam flowers to him again.

Here, at the foot of the mountain, Su Xi and Yu Mengrou watched the drone's power and felt incredibly oppressed. In reality, it was out of power. As for the circuit board, it was all in the backpack Lu Wuyai was carrying.

Unable to contact him or obtain any information about Lu Wuyai, the two women could only take out their binoculars and try their best to find his location on the mountain peak.

At this very moment, on the mountain peak, Lu Wuyai was strolling through the forest when he unexpectedly discovered a large quantity of Dendrobium officinale.

"Sure enough, Su Xi and Yu Mengrou were right; there really are a lot of Dendrobium orchids growing on the nearby rock face." Lu Wuyai was secretly surprised. He took a small hoe and pulled out the tree roots.

At the mountaintop, Lu Wuyai discovered even more Dendrobium officinale, which was an unexpected bonus for him.

But the biggest problem now is how he should get down the mountain.

There were many venomous snakes on the way here. Tang Xin's drone disappeared after it delivered the balsam flowers last time.

"Did it break down again?" Lu Wuyai was speechless for a moment.

Sitting on the mountain cauldron, he realized that it was almost dusk and he needed to hurry down the mountain, because with this time, the sulfurous smell emanating from the balsam flowers on his body had faded considerably.

The mountain at the foot of the mountain is tilted, and its summit is wedged against the opposite mountain. It looked particularly strange before.

There was no way back to the original path. For Lu Wuyai, the only way out was the mountain opposite.

"Luckily, I brought a lot of ropes." Lu Wuyai walked to the opposite mountaintop and glanced down. He felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

Everyone has a fear of heights; it just depends on the person's height.

Lu Wuyai took a breath. The summit of this new mountain was also covered with trees, forming a dense forest.

As Lu Wuyai walked along, stepping on the big trees, he finally covered one-third of the mountain's height.

Immediately afterward, Lu Wuyai did not rest. After choosing a large tree, he tied a knot in the trunk and began testing the total length of the lifeline he carried.

One rope after another hung down the mountain. Finally, where Lu Wuyai looked, the other end of the rope did not touch the ground; in fact, it was quite a long vertical distance above the ground.

Seeing all this, Lu Wuyai was really troubled.

After much deliberation, Lu Wuyai pulled back the rope, looked at the jagged peaks beneath his feet, gritted his teeth, and decided to climb down again.

This time, however, there were no dense groves of trees, only some scattered grass along the way.

For Lu Wuyai, there was no other way.

Having left the forest atop the mountain, Lu Wuyai began his first attempt to descend the mountain.

As the saying goes, going up a mountain is easy, but coming down is hard. And that's absolutely true.

Just looking down at the mountain below made Lu Wuyai feel dizzy. He had just lifted one foot when he stopped a second later.

Lu Wuyai clung to the last tree on the outskirts of the forest, constantly thinking about where to land next.

Ten minutes later, Lu Wuyai gritted his teeth, finally turned his body around, pressed his chest against the jagged mountain peak, and began to climb down like a toad.

Perhaps the forest soil had weathered too much, leaving a layer of gravel on the road. Lu Wuyai slipped for a moment, and was so frightened that he almost lost his mind, thinking he was going to die.

Fortunately, the path along the way was as he had expected.

Lu Wuyai stopped, noticing a lump on the sole of his foot. It was a clump of weeds growing in the rocky soil, taking root and sprouting there.

"Call up."

Lu Wuyai let out a sigh of relief. The road ahead might be even more difficult.

Once his body had stabilized, Lu Wuyai lowered his head. He had made some plans in the forest before, but the actual execution was more dangerous than he had anticipated.

He saw a large tree in the distance. It was the only tree growing on this rocky peak, apart from the forest.

His goal was actually very clear: to reach that big tree and then use all the lifelines to lower himself to the ground.

Initial assessments suggest that the rescue ropes should be sufficient. The only remaining challenge is how to safely reach the location.

At this moment, Lu Wuyai had an arrow ready to be shot.

Soon, following the predetermined route, he took his second step after leaving the forest.

He was still gliding down the mountain, but this time, perhaps due to the greater friction, Lu Wuyai actually stopped halfway down.

After moving slightly, a large amount of sand began to fall. Lu Wuyai glanced at the spot beneath him, tilted slightly, and immediately slid down again.

A minute later, Lu Wuyai arrived at the second parking spot and felt relieved.

Three minutes later, Lu Wuyai stopped on a protruding rock. He had intended to rest for a while, but a sudden gust of wind blew up in mid-air, startling him so much that he almost burped.

"Just hang in there a little longer," Lu Wuyai muttered to himself, but his legs were spinning and no one could calm down.

The next part of the mountain path was an arched rock. Lu Wuyai could only see the large tree growing outwards; he couldn't see anything else clearly.

Two minutes later, Lu Wuyai grabbed a rock and dangled in mid-air. When he looked down, perhaps due to an optical illusion, he felt as if the big tree was within reach.

"I had no choice but to give it a try."

At this moment, Lu Wuyai had nowhere to run. The only way to survive in his presence was to grab onto that big tree as his body fell.

Of course, the tree must also be strong enough.

As soon as Lu Wuyai let go, he felt like he was going through a roller coaster.

Howling.

A deafening roar came from the strong wind in his ears. Then, Lu Wuyai reached out and grabbed him violently. The immense tearing force made him groan in pain.

Fortunately, his physical condition far surpasses that of ordinary people, so he can withstand this level of strain.

In the end, Lu Wuyai was lucky enough to grab onto a big tree and used the trunk to tie the rescue rope on his back to the tree trunk.

At this point, he could see that although one end of the rescue rope wasn't touching the ground, it wasn't too high off either. Given his skill level, he should be able to reach the ground safely.

Soon, under the twilight lights, Lu Wuyai began to move slowly towards the ground along the rescue rope.

Here, Su Xi and Yu Mengrou had already spotted Lu Wuyai through their binoculars. They had reached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by the incessant barking of the Marshal.

Lu Wuyai, who was descending the rescue rope, also heard the marshal's roar. He subconsciously looked down and saw that the black dog on the ground was particularly conspicuous, while Su Xi and Yu Mengrou were a little hard to see.

"There's still a bit of distance." Lu Wuyai took a breath, and in the next instant, he accelerated his descent.

Finally, when he reached the end of the rescue rope, Lu Wuyai looked down at the ground again. The vertical distance was about three stories high.

“Lu Wuyai.” Su Xi shouted from the ground, “Jump down.” Branches and weeds spread below.

Hearing this, Lu Wuyai was still a little nervous, but this was the last step.

He immediately loosened the rope and fell downwards. Soon his back hit a hard tree branch; the overlapping branches provided some elasticity, so Lu Wuyai didn't feel as bad as he had imagined.

The moment Lu Wuyai fell, Su Xi and Yu Mengrou immediately went over to help him up and then got off the mat.

Seeing that the other party was moving freely, the two women visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Recalling his terrifying experience, Lu Wuyai couldn't help but sigh, secretly rejoicing that he had survived and feeling incredibly lucky.

"You idiot." Su Xi was almost in tears. On such a high mountain, if you're not careful, it could be the difference between life and death.

Lu Wuyai patted Su Xi on the shoulder and comforted him for a few words. Turning around, he noticed that Yu Mengrou's eyes were also red.

"By the way, where's your drone?" Lu Wuyai asked.

"The battery's dead, otherwise I would have contacted you already." Su Xi took out the exhausted drone from her backpack, and Lu Wuyai was speechless again.

After changing the drone's battery, it grew increasingly dark. The three of them decided to find a clean patch of forest and pitch their tent for the night.

Upon taking stock of the harvest, Lu Wuyai discovered that the yields of honeysuckle and dendrobium orchids far exceeded the amounts Song Xiaoyou had previously told him.

“Now only dandelions and gastrodia elata are left,” Lu Wuyai said.

The two women nodded. These were the only two herbs needed for the second stage of plant essence production. However, the quantity of Paris polyphylla was limited, and it needed to be collected.

"Let's eat something and rest for a bit. We'll continue exploring this forest early tomorrow morning."

Lu Wuyai felt that there were more herbs in this forest than they had expected; otherwise, they might have been able to find the remaining two herbs.

Goodnight.

Lu Wuyai crawled into the tent, but he couldn't sleep that night. His previous experience of sliding down the mountaintop had kept him in a state of high excitement all night.

Lu Wuyai squinted for a while until the early hours of the next day. Before he fell asleep, the two women woke him up and began another day of searching.

The forest beneath the rocky peaks is vast, with very few normal-sized hills.

Lu Wuyai carefully controlled the only drone to search for fodder in the mountains.

In fact, they brought five drones with them when they came out; the other two were still in the car.

However, at this point, the vehicle was still two full days' journey away, making it impossible for the two drones to make another round trip.

Therefore, this is the only one left among them, making it exceptionally precious.

Su Xi originally intended to take control, but considering her driving skills, Lu Wuyai decided to do it himself.

Soon, the two women and the marshal searched the forest, while Lu Wuyai used a drone to weave through the branches, looking for herbs.

“There’s ginseng here,” Lu Wuyai heard Yu Mengrou’s voice.

"If there are any, then pick one. I'll go check out the front." Su Xi's voice came from a different direction.

The forest beneath this stone peak is filled with a variety of lush medicinal herbs. The deeper you go, the more surprises you'll find.

On the day they left Shiqiu, Song Xiaoyou told them that if possible, the third stage of plant essence would require the use of Polygonum multiflorum and Acorus calamus.

Here, Lu Wuyai discovered a plant called He Shou Wu.

The drone landed on a lush grassland. Beside it grew a clump of plants with oval leaves. There weren't many of them, and similar weeds were mixed in nearby.

When he pulled it out, he saw some blurry roots, and Lu Wuyai was certain that it was Polygonum multiflorum.

“We haven’t found dandelion and gastrodia yet, but we’ve found this first.” Lu Wuyai put the he shou wu into his backpack, recovered from his fatigue, and began looking for other fodder.

As the drone flew through the forest, Lu Wuyai searched for fodder more and more often.

As for Su Xi and Yu Mengrou, their backpacks were gradually filled up as well.

As Lu Wuyai was passing through a deserted forest and preparing to leave, he noticed several white "little umbrellas" floating in the air. Upon closer inspection, he realized that these were not the dandelions he was looking for.

"The wind."

Lu Wuyai raised his head and looked ahead. The direction the wind was blowing from indicated that the dandelions were likely growing in that direction as well.

After shouting to the two women in the distance, Lu Wuyai quickly ran forward.

A few minutes later, he saw a large number of white "umbrellas" being blown by the wind on a cliff, flying in all directions.

Reaching the edge of the cliff, Lu Wuyai lay down on the ground and looked around. He noticed a large number of dandelions growing along the cliff edge. After they bloomed, they were blown by the strong wind and spread out like willow catkins.

Soon, Lu Wuyai found a large tree nearby with a lifeline, tied it tightly, and began to fall down the cliff.

The rock face where the dandelions grew wasn't actually far away. After descending a certain distance, Lu Wuyai could reach them with just his fingertips.

After collecting all the dandelions in the bag, Lu Wuyai breathed a sigh of relief. This time, as long as they obtained one more dose of Gastrodia elata, their journey could temporarily come to an end.

Thinking this, Lu Wuyai felt a sense of relief from his exhaustion.

But just as he was about to climb up, a burst of laughter suddenly came, which sent chills down his spine.

Soon, he saw a purple-haired monkey appear on the cliff, holding a stone knife in its hand, and rubbing it against its body.

"Yes," Lu Wuyai cursed. How could there be man-eating monkeys here?

There was no time to think too much; Lu Wuyai had to drive away his opponent now, or he would just kill the monkey.

But in the blink of an eye, his heart began to feel cold.

From afar, a series of sharp screams came to his ears; they were clearly from man-eating monkeys.

It can't be wrong.

This sound was etched in Lu Wuyai's heart, especially after his hearing became more acute, when he was able to distinguish between ordinary monkeys and man-eating monkeys.

I never expected there to be so many man-eating monkeys here.

At that moment, Lu Wuyai realized that if he didn't want anything to happen to him, the only way was to escape from here before he was surrounded.

Soon, Lu Wuyai used all his strength to grab the rope and pushed against the rock surface with his feet. His body seemed to float up suddenly, and one hand gripped the cliff edge.

Upon seeing the sudden appearance of human hands, the man-eating monkey, which was rubbing its stone knife against the lifeline, let out a scream and then bit Lu Wuyai's hand hard.

yes.

A heart-wrenching pain made Lu Wuyai gasp for breath. He considered letting go, but then realized there was an abyss below. If he let go, he would never see the sun again the next day.

Therefore, he could only endure the intense pain, quickly reach out with his other hand, grab the rock, and lift his body off the cliff.

As soon as he landed, Lu Wuyai grabbed the man-eating monkey by the neck, pulled hard, and threw it off the cliff.

After a while, Lu Wuyai could no longer hear the other party's roar. A large chunk of flesh had been bitten off his finger, making it look terrifying.

Just as Lu Wuyai was about to leave, a group of man-eating monkeys of all sizes appeared in the forest. They sat in the treetops, looking at Lu Wuyai with indifferent eyes, devoid of any emotion.

Lu Wuyai drew his gun, feeling very nervous, but still chose to pull the trigger.

With a bang.

A bullet was fired from the gun barrel, instantly killing a man-eating monkey, which fell to the ground.

But this scene made Lu Wuyai even more vigilant.

"Why are these monkeys so calm?" Lu Wuyai took a breath and felt that these man-eating monkeys were different from the ones he had encountered before.

Coo coo coo.

Suddenly, a peculiar sound rang out in the forest. Soon, Lu Wuyai saw the man-eating monkey on the treetop change its face like a face-changing act in Sichuan opera, turning from a red face to a blue face with fangs.

"What's going on?"

Lu Wuyai felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head, raising goosebumps all over his body. This was nothing more than a desert island version of Fantastic Beasts.

"Bang bang bang".

Soon, the roar of gunfire echoed through the forest, driving the man-eating monkeys into a state of extreme violence. They cared nothing for the lives of their companions. It seemed that only Lu Wuyai existed before them.

"Are these monkeys crazy?" Lu Wuyai tried to leave the cliff, but was quickly driven back by the monkeys. He even changed two magazines.

There were at least twenty corpses on the ground, but Lu Wuyai's wounds had long exceeded that number.

Moreover, most of the wounds were on his face, making him look particularly fierce.

"Lu Wuyai".

Just then, two women who were searching for medicinal herbs in the forest ran over. Seeing Lu Wuyai's face covered in blood, they almost thought he was dead.

"Stop coming!" Lu Wuyai roared, still firing bullets at the monkey.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, almost thinking that a monkey had cracked his skull open.

Afterwards, the marshal also jumped out of the forest, making crunching sounds. When he spat it out, he realized it was actually a monkey.

Woof woof woof.

The marshal's arrival plunged the precarious situation into a prolonged state of anxiety.

The marshal charged across the cliff, his massive body flying past a group of monkeys on the periphery before crashing off the cliff.

At that moment, the number of man-eating monkeys around Lu Wuyai decreased by half.

"Woof woof"

The marshal seemed very agitated and bit a man-eating monkey to death. Blood splattered all over Lu Wuyai.

"Go quickly." Lu Wuyai, enduring the intense pain on his face, patted the marshal's body and urged him to take him away quickly.

Ten minutes later, the three people and one dog arrived in the forest, followed by man-eating monkeys.

Lu Wuyai then realized this was a big problem. Although he didn't know why the other party was targeting him, he had no choice but to cut off their tail.

Looking back, Lu Wuyai drew his gun and fired again. The two women, also carrying crossbows, kept pulling the triggers. A rain of black iron arrows shot towards the monkey.

It must be said that the power of the bullets is still quite astonishing.

After three magazines were launched in succession, more than a dozen cannibalistic monkey bodies reappeared in the forest.

Half an hour later, Lu Wuyai and the others walked briskly through the forest. At this moment, those "tails" had completely disappeared.

Lu Wuyai was covered in blood, rubbing his body against the trees as he walked. The stench of blood from the man-eating monkey was the most disgusting thing he had ever smelled in his life.

After finally finishing, it was already noon. The two women collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted.

Frowning, Lu Wuyai looked around and said, "I'm going to wipe in the forest. Be careful."

After saying that, Lu Wuyai began to take off his clothes as he walked. The monkey blood on his body had congealed into clots, making it difficult to wash off.

In the sunlight, a strong body was revealed. Lu Wuyai spread his clothes on the ground and used a stone to remove the blood clots.

"Hissing sound."

Lu Wuyai took a breath and touched the wound on his face. He was injured this time, and it was said that he would be disfigured.

"These monkeys definitely did it on purpose." Lu Wuyai felt a tearing pain in the wound on his face, not knowing how serious the injury was.

He took some water out of his backpack and poured it onto a cotton towel. Lu Wuyai carefully wiped his cheeks.

After a while, the tissue turned bright red, indicating that Lu Wuyai's injury must be very serious, but neither Su Xi nor Yu Mengrou told him.

Returning to where they had stopped, Lu Wuyai found Su Xi and Yu Mengrou disinfecting their tools; they seemed to be preparing to treat his wounds.

It's very simple. Lu Wuyai lay on the ground and let Su Xi handle it.

"Just bear with it." Su Xi bit her lip, unable to bear watching any longer. Lu Wuyai's face was covered in too many wounds.

For some reason, the monkeys only scratched Lu Wuyai's face.

When the medical alcohol seeped into the wound, the stinging sensation made Lu Wuyai's face contort in pain.

Fortunately, this feeling only lasted for a moment.

Afterwards, Su Xi carefully cleaned the scabs off Lu Wuyai's face, trying her best to wash his cheeks without reopening the wound.

Yu Mengru, who was sitting next to him, could no longer watch. He searched for the Pegasus's tracks in the nearby bushes by himself.

Half an hour later, Lu Wuyai got up from the ground and felt that his face didn't even look like his own anymore.

Su Xi breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Lu Wuyai, whose face had obviously improved, and said, "Your body's recovery ability is really good."

"It still hurts." Lu Wuyai shook his head and touched the unevenness on his face. He didn't need a mirror to know that he was now disfigured.

The three of them did not stay there for long and soon began to walk deeper into the rocky mountain.

They didn't stop until dusk.

Lu Wuyai and three others were on the outskirts of the forest, where they stood amidst a patch of rocks and grass, which looked much cleaner than they had imagined.

"Let's rest here tonight," Lu Wuyai said, casually tossing the tent aside before leading the marshal on patrol.

Tang Xin and Yu Mengrou exchanged a glance, then began to set up the tent and gathered some firewood nearby to start a fire and cook.

As Lu Wuyai returned from afar, dusk began to fall.

"We don't have much fresh water left. We can only last for one more day at most," Yu Mengrou told him.

The water source was constantly being depleted. During this time, they found no new fresh water, and even fruit was scarce. This gradually made Lu Wuyai understand why the forest on this stone peak, though seemingly vibrant, was rarely seen with animals.

There is no water source here, nor any substitute for water, so animals are rarely seen here.

This also explains why there are so many undisturbed herbaceous plants in the forest.

"Tomorrow," Lu Wuyai said. "We'll go back tomorrow."

“But what about Gastrodia elata? If we can’t find Gastrodia elata, we won’t be able to develop the second stage of plant essence,” Su Xi asked.

Lu Wuyai also felt a headache coming on, but it was still necessary to go back. Without fresh water, they would die of thirst in this forest, and the man-eating monkeys that had appeared today were also one of the factors that made him uneasy.

"Let's get back to the car, get some fresh water, and then we'll set off to search," Lu Wuyai sighed.

After making the agreement, everyone began to eat and rest. The marshal in the forest also lay quietly on the ground, occasionally wagging his tail to shoo away some insects and ants.

The next day, everyone got up very early and set off home as soon as it was light.

The speed is significantly faster now compared to when we arrived.

Passing by the site of yesterday's fierce battle with the man-eating monkeys, Lu Wuyai noticed that the corpses on the ground were gone. This surprised him and sent chills down his spine.

“Faster,” Lu Wuyai said.

After that, everyone jogged slowly, only slowing down when they got tired, and finally compressed the two-and-a-half-day journey into one day.

As dusk fell, Lu Wuyai spotted the vehicle hidden under the leaves, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Wuyai, his mouth parched, opened the trunk and took out a bottle of mineral water for each person. After gulping it down, he felt much better.

"Let's rest here for a while, and then we'll drive to another place."

At five o'clock, the sky began to darken, as if it was going to rain.

Lu Wuyai then roughly determined the direction, started the car, and began to drive there.

At the same time, Yu Mengrou took out the drawing of Gastrodia elata on it, along with a few words written by Song Xiaoyou.

"Gastrodia elata mainly grows in damp places in forests and prefers a cool and humid environment."

After reading it, Yu Mengrou folded the pages again and said to Lu Wuyai, "Let's look for some terrain with a lot of humus; maybe we can get something from it."

“Alright.” Lu Wuyai nodded, wondering where on the deserted island there would be more humus.

Soon, a heavy rain began to fall, and the car drifted away in the rain. By seven o'clock, darkness had completely enveloped the deserted island. Lu Wuyai turned off the car lights and parked in a small grove of trees.

Hearing the sound of rain outside, I wondered where the marshal had gone.

It rained heavily all night and it didn't stop the next day.

The view through the rain was destined to be less than pleasing, but time was of the essence. Lu Wuyai and the others decided to set off immediately, bravely venturing into the forest to search for the Pegasus's trail.

Before getting off the vehicle, Lu Wuyai tested the drone's flight performance in the heavy rain, but one of them was eventually destroyed.

"Be careful in the forest," Lu Wuyai warned.

Su Xi and Yu Mengrou nodded and each took out an umbrella from their backpacks. These were obtained through exchanges with other survivors and could be used now.

As soon as they got out of the car, the three of them saw the marshal.

The heavy rain turned it into a drowned dog, and it no longer looked as handsome as before.

call

Seeing this, both women couldn't help but laugh. The marshal looked really funny.

Lu Wuyai kept urging him on, because walking in the rain was much more difficult than he had imagined.

Five hours later, they entered a muddy area. Although the trees blocked out the sky and sunlight, the soil underfoot was too loose and gave off a strange smell.

“There’s so much animal excrement here.” Su Xi covered her nose and even tore off two pieces of paper to plug her nostrils.

Lu Wuyai frowned as well. He noticed a pile of fresh droppings under a large tree nearby. He muttered to himself that the environment of this wild forest was completely different from the forest under the stone peak they had previously visited.

"Everyone be careful."

“We know.” Yu Mengrou touched the crossbow bolt in her sleeve; she had specially packed one when she went out.

Lu Wuyai walked ahead of them. The forest felt relatively open, but the rain greatly obstructed the view.

They had to keep bending over to search for the Pegasus.

An hour later, Lu Wuyai got up from the ground, holding a Paris polyphylla plant in his hand, which was quite a great harvest.

Su Xi approached him and placed a wooden box in the backpack on his back.

There were two wild ginseng roots in the wooden box, and they were in very good condition. They were extremely rare outside the deserted island, but here, they were not difficult to obtain.

“Yu Mengrou also dug up a he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) plant,” Su Xi added.

Where is she?

"She's with the marshal, let's go too, there's a basin over there."

After hearing Su Xi's words, Lu Wuyai shook off his muddy hands and followed her to find Yu Mengrou.

After traversing a narrow mountain path, the terrain ahead had a noticeable slope. Lu Wuyai grabbed Su Xi's hand to prevent her from accidentally falling.

Perhaps because the path down the mountain was too slippery, Su Xi rushed to Lu Wuyai's side.

Lu Wuyai felt the other person's tenderness and almost wanted to kiss him.

"Speak slowly," Su Xi complained. If Lu Wuyai hadn't grabbed her hand, she could have walked away peacefully.

Lu Wuyai swallowed hard, secretly wondering if Su Xi had recently been "exploited" by him a second time. His physique was even more exaggerated than in the comics.

As if sensing the other person's naked eyes, Su Xi glared at her fiercely and told her to behave herself for the next few days.

"Go quickly, go quickly."

Su Xi nudged Lu Wuyai, urging him to leave quickly. She had already seen the figure in the basin.

So Lu Wuyai perked up and tried his best not to get distracted. The most important thing now was to find the Gastrodia elata.

In the basin, Yu Mengrou was searching for medicinal herbs. The earth was pitch black and reeked of decay.

“Black soil.” Lu Wuyai also noticed this. When it comes to soil rich in humus, black soil is the first choice.

This unexpected discovery immediately lifted the spirits of the three of them, but they soon realized that it was not black soil at all, but a piece of soil contaminated with a large amount of animal excrement.

"That's disgusting." Su Xi quickly dodged and ran back the way she came.

As for Yu Mengrou, she also looked disgusted. She lifted her leg, looked at the sticky liquid on the sole of her foot, and almost gagged.

But Lu Wuyai discovered that although this was not a very large piece of land, the soil did indeed contain a lot of humus.

"Don't rush off, let's go inside and take a look," Lu Wuyai said.

The two women pinched their noses; they really didn't want to leave.

Lu Wuyai thought for a moment, then took out two plastic bags from his backpack and gestured for the other person to wrap the shoes.

This way, the shoes wouldn't directly touch the ground, and both women felt a little more comfortable.

“You can leave at any time under these circumstances,” Lu Wuyai said helplessly.

"Hurry, hurry." Su Xi pulled Yu Mengrou's hand, held up an umbrella, and began searching for possible medicinal herbs nearby.

Lu Wuyai followed behind them, using his hoe to dig through the soil, hoping to find the gastrodia elata they needed among the dense weeds.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he realized the heavy rain had stopped. He put away his umbrella and saw that they were surrounded by dense trees. At this moment, they were no longer on the "black soil".

"Find nearby Gastrodia elata and confirm tonight's campsite."

It was already getting dark, and I estimated that in another hour, dusk would envelop the earth again.

Lu Wuyai walked alone in the forest. After the heavy rain, many bacterial colonies sprouted from the soil, and numerous strangely shaped "little umbrellas" appeared densely nearby.

In addition, weeds appeared at a visible rate. A heavy rain gave birth to many lives.

Here, Su Xi and Yu Mengrou were walking in the forest. Looking around, the forest was shrouded in mist, full of moisture. They wondered if it was because of the rain earlier.

At seven o'clock, the three of them gathered in the forest again. Lu Wuyai found a relatively dry foothill and decided to spend the night there.

As he left the forest, Lu Wuyai took a special look at the misty depths.

"Let's go there and take a look tomorrow."

Gastrodia elata mostly grows in moist and damp soil.

As night falls, the forest is filled with the roaring sounds of animals.

Unable to sleep, the two women opened the tent and asked Lu Wuyai if he was asleep.

"I don't know." Lu Wuyai said, holding a green fruit in his hand, a blue halo appearing around his pupils.

"I can't sleep at all."

Emerging from the tent, Lu Wuyai gazed at the dark forest and the clouds in the sky, guessing that it would rain again tomorrow.

At that moment, wild beasts roared one after another in the forest. If it weren't for the marshal guarding the tent, they would already be fighting some of the beasts.

Woof woof woof.

Lu Wuyai heard the sound of a dog barking and soon saw a dark figure jump out of the forest.

The marshal, with a corpse dangling from his mouth, threw it at Lu Wuyai's feet. It was a wild wolf; he had been killed by it.

Strangely enough, although the marshal and general were both sheepdogs, they rarely ate bloody food. Under normal circumstances, they mainly ate Lu Wuyai's marching rations for energy.

That night, dawn broke amidst the howls of wild beasts.

When Lu Wuyai came out of the tent, a light drizzle started to fall again. The sky was clear and the wind was gentle, with birds occasionally flying by.

Why?

Lu Wuyai stretched and immediately woke up the two women in the other tent.

Su Xi and Yu Mengrou didn't sleep well all night. When they stepped out of the tent, they still had faint dark circles under their eyes.

"So early." Su Xi glanced at her watch and realized it was only six o'clock. When she looked at Lu Wuyai, her eyes suddenly turned into resentment.

"It's getting late. We need to get up early and set off. We don't have much food or fresh water."

Lu Wuyai urged the woman to hurry up and wash. It had rained yesterday, and there was plenty of rainwater in the forest. There was no need to waste the fresh water they had brought.

The marshal was already urging them on from the forest ahead, and several dogs were barking from time to time, seemingly getting impatient.

Ten minutes later, three people and a dog entered the forest, and their bodies were quickly covered by the mist rising from the forest.

"Su Xi, Yu Mengrou!" Lu Wuyai called out. The mist came so suddenly. They were caught off guard. When they stretched out their hands, they couldn't see their own fingers, and their eyes were filled with white.

But soon, two women's voices rang out beside Lu Wuyai. Following the voices, Lu Wuyai successfully found them, then took out a life rope from his backpack and tied it around all of their ankles.

"Everyone be careful," Lu Wuyai said.

Su Xi and Yu Mengrou also looked serious, but they weren't too worried; they were just afraid of getting lost.

At this point, Lu Wuyai looked down at the soil beneath his feet. Although it wasn't the so-called black soil, it looked quite fertile, and there was a faint, strange smell in the air.