The reason Li Qing told Pan not to speak so loudly was that he saw signs of someone having lived here: charred tree branches, several weapons scattered nearby, and a winding path leading to a secluded spot. These all indicated to the three of them that someone had stayed here not long ago.

Since someone had been here before, shouting and making noise without knowing whether the three had gone far would be a huge problem for them.

Pan was startled by Li Qing's serious expression and immediately stopped talking. He and Atuna began to search for traces of Daohua in the vicinity.

Li Qing glanced at the strange bird and reminded it to be careful, to alert it immediately if there was any movement around it, before finally focusing its attention on what was ahead.

"Wheat...Wheat, is that you?"

Just then, the sound of rice blossoms suddenly came from the woods.

Li Qing was startled and immediately asked the woods, "Daohua, how are you?"

After a moment of silence, rustling sounds came from the other side of the rice paddies.

Soon, rice flowers peeked out from the grass in front of Li Qing.

"Pan, Big Bird, you're both here..."

To Li Qing's relief, Daohua was not seriously injured, but she looked a little frightened, her face covered in sweat.

Just as Daohua was about to exclaim in surprise, his mouth was immediately covered by Li Qing, who rushed in front of him.

Covering Daohua's mouth, Li Qing scolded, "Keep your voice down!"

"oh oh……"

Daohua lowered her head in remorse.

"I know I was wrong, Wheat."

Ignoring Daohua's apology, Pan rushed up to her and asked rudely, "Daohua, do you know how worried we were about you? You've been gone for so long, do you know how worried I was!"

Daohua immediately turned around, lowered her head and said to Pan, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave for so long. I didn't expect to get lost, and then I ran further and further away and ended up here."

As he spoke, Daohua became more and more heartbroken, and his voice grew softer and softer. But it was clear that he was very grateful to the three of them for bringing the strange bird to save him: "When I realized that I was getting further and further away from you, I was lost and had no idea how to get back. Luckily, you were there. If you weren't there, I'm afraid I would never have been able to get back."

Daohua was very young, and even Pan treated him like a younger brother. Seeing how sincerely Daohua was admitting his mistake, he felt sorry for him and couldn't bear to scold him. So he said seriously, "In that case, hurry up and come back with us!"

"Wait a minute."

Li Qing raised his hand and said.

"wheat?"

Li Qing shook her head and whispered to Daohua, "Did something happen before we arrived? Why were you hiding in that place?"

"wheat!?"

Daohua was startled, and his body instinctively wanted to shrink back.

really.

I guessed right.

Daohua did indeed see something.

Otherwise, he would have no reason to hide in the woods.

Li Qing said gently, "It's alright, Daohua, just tell us. We're here, we won't hurt you."

Daohua could only stammer, "When I first arrived here, I saw a lot of tall and strong people walking into that path together. There were so many of them, and they all looked fierce. I was afraid of being seen by them, so I hid."

Could these people be the same group of people who saw signs of human habitation on the back of the strange bird? Perhaps... this group of people is the same group that harmed the strange bird.

"They didn't spot you, did they?"

Pan asked.

Daohua shook her head vigorously and said definitively, "I was the one who spotted them first, and then I hid. I swear they definitely didn't see me!"

"That's good," Pan said, crossing his arms and scolding without any politeness, "Well, you're lucky this time!"

Daohua was in the wrong, so he could only lower his head in shame.

So, what exactly lies ahead?

Li Qing stood up and looked ahead.

He was still a little confused about the purpose of this group of people coming here. Whether it was to harm the strange bird or to set up camp in the vicinity, what exactly was their goal?

Pan frowned and said, "Maizi, we've finally found Daohua, and besides the strange bird, there are only three of us. Wouldn't it be better if we didn't go over there?"

Li Qing grinned and said, "I didn't say I was going to go and take a look, I just wanted to ask."

As she spoke, she looked at Daohua and asked, "Did you notice what kind of noise they made after they went into that place?"

After thinking carefully for a moment, Daohua replied, "I seem to hear some sounds of knocking on rocks, and the sound of people talking, but the language they are speaking is very strange, and I can't understand what they are saying."

"Strange? What's strange about it?" Pan asked, puzzled.

Atuna asked, "Do they speak another language?"

Daohua said blankly, "I'm not really sure either."

Then, looking at Li Qing with a guilty expression, she said, "That's all I know."

Li Qing smiled gently at Daohua, patted him on the back, and comforted him for doing a good job. In his heart, he had already connected some things from Daohua's words.

Different languages.

In Li Qing's memory, the only tribes that spoke a different language from their own were those on the other side of the Liangmeng River. The sound of stones being struck that Daohua heard was very likely the sound of mining the so-called...Qinuo Rock!

Mishan Tribe!

After leaving the Qingye tribe, Li Qing encountered so many things along the way that he almost forgot about Manghu's past experiences.

At the time, Li Qing was very puzzled as to what kind of rock Qinuo Rock was that could cause the Mishan tribe to consume so much manpower, even going so far as to capture slaves from other tribes to mine it. Now that Li Qing thought about it again, he was even more puzzled by the Mishan tribe.

Did their tribe really go down to such a place for the sake of Kino Rock?

So... why did they attack the strange bird?

"Wheat, wheat!"

Pan shook Li Qing's arm and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Ah, sorry." Li Qing then realized that he had been too engrossed in thinking about the problem and quickly shook his head, saying, "After listening to Daohua's words, I was thinking about something and didn't notice it."

"Is there anything wrong with what Daohua said?" Pan asked curiously.

Li Qing shook his head and said, "It's not that there's anything wrong, it's just..."

Atu's voice suddenly came urgently, interrupting Li Qing's next words: "Shh, listen quickly, someone is coming out of that path!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qing immediately shut his mouth. The moment he did, he heard the sound of footsteps treading on leaves coming from the direction A Tu Na had indicated. Sure enough, someone was walking towards them!

Instantly, Li Qing's face turned ugly.