If he could find out, Xi Yunting would have found out too. Soon, the team quietly changed their formation and strictly guarded against sudden attacks from all around. Chen Xiao's heart was also lifted, and he became more and more nervous. This was a place with many fierce beasts. If the practitioners were not careful in fighting, they would be chased by the fierce beasts and both sides would be injured.
However, the man was just spying in the dark as Shi Ming said, and had no intention of showing up. After walking tensely for a while, the creepy feeling of being watched in the dark suddenly disappeared. Chen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that the other party had left.
With this incident, Chen Xiao became even more cautious about what was going to happen next. If the other party suddenly came out to attack them when they were taking action, it would really be a life-threatening crisis.
After worrying for a while, Chen Xiao then remembered that both Xi Yunting and Shi Ming did not seem to be unprepared, so they must have a good plan to deal with it, so he put his mind at ease.
They set out early in the morning and stopped to rest and set up camp in the evening. This was Chen Xiao's first time experiencing such an intense journey. They were not given any time to rest or eat at noon. They really ate while walking. When the people next to him took out food one after another, Chen Xiao thought they were hungry and waited until noon to rest. In the end, Tong Nuonuo poked him and signaled him to eat quickly, and he finally reacted.
When he was finally able to set up camp, Chen Xiao's physical strength and endurance were almost exhausted. Fortunately, he had gone through two rigorous training sessions before, otherwise Chen Xiao would never have been able to hold on to the end. This was no longer a battle that could be won with willpower, but a pure physical battle. Only now did Chen Xiao understand why Du Rong had said that the land route was not suitable for ordinary people to travel. It would take more than a year, and even if he was given three to five years, he might not be able to reach Hanshan City - and that was if he just walked without encountering a battle.
That night, Chen Xiao and the other two still camped alone. Both sides kept a distance and took a rest.
The next morning, just after dawn, the team set out again. This time, they reached the designated destination in less than an hour. Xi Yunting asked someone to call Chen Xiao and Tong Nuonuo to his side. Shi Ming did not object and allowed the two to listen to the next arrangements.
Shi Ming's team has eighteen people, most of whom are high-level monks, and the rest are all in the foundation-building stage. This is a mature team, with a tacit understanding and clear division of labor. In a while, the high-level monks will be led by three foundation-building monks to the orchard to pick white spirit fruits. Once a conflict occurs with the black-tailed bat monkey, the three foundation-building monks will be responsible for building a line of defense, and the rest of the high-level monks will not have to worry about it. Shi Ming directly assigned Chen Xiao and Tong Nuonuo to this group and asked them to follow the high-level monks to pick.
The other group, which consisted of the people who had previously served as scouts, would be on guard and provide support from the periphery. Once the cat-beast appeared, they would lead it away and take it away from the Bailing Fruit Forest. If the two sides got separated, they would not need to wait for each other and would directly return to the campsite where they had camped last night to reunite.
When Tong Nuonuo heard that they might get separated, he immediately felt like he was facing a great enemy. He followed Chen Xiao closely, fearing that he would get lost again. If he got lost this time, he wouldn't be lucky enough to meet someone who went into the mountains to hunt. It was also impossible for him to stay in one place for too long and let someone find him.
Chen Xiao looked at Tong Nuonuo with some worry, patted his hand and said comfortingly: "Follow closely, don't panic even if you can't find me by accident, just find someone and follow him."
Tong Nuonuo took a deep breath and nodded solemnly: "I understand."
Chen Xiao thought for a moment and said to Tong Nuonuo, "If you get separated from everyone, you can make a fire with some dry grass or branches and leaves that will produce thick smoke. When you see the smoke, my brother and I will naturally come to find you. But remember, you must pay attention to your own safety and never light a fire at night."
With such a clear plan, Tong Nuonuo felt a little more confident, and her nervous expression was no longer as unnatural as a wax figure.
After assigning the tasks, Shi Ming gave an order and everyone was divided into two teams, each of which began to prepare. After a while, Chen Xiao's team hid themselves, crouched low, and approached the Bailing Fruit Forest under the cover of trees and grass. Shi Ming's men were efficient and quick, advancing quickly and silently. Chen Xiao and Tong Nuonuo were clumsy, and unknowingly they were pulled behind the team.
Soon, they arrived near the Bailing Fruit Forest.
The trunk of the white ling fruit tree grows straight, the tree is tall, and the branches are not very dense. The leaves are straight, and the branches stretch out in all directions. At first glance, it is a very suitable place for primates to climb and live. At this time, there are many fruits hanging on the branches. Each white ling fruit is the size of a walnut, with a pointed head and a round bottom. It looks like a fig, but the skin is white.
The area of this white spirit fruit forest is not small, but the trees compete for living space, resulting in large distances between them and sparse density. Because these white spirit fruit trees are too tall, they have to climb up the trees to pick them. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty and slows down the efficiency. Fortunately, they are all practitioners, so climbing up the trees is easy for them.
The dozen people did not talk, but only used their eyes to signal each other and dispersed, each finding a tree to climb up. Chen Xiao and Tong Nuonuo did not follow each other's actions, and the two climbed up a thick white spirit fruit tree together. Chen Xiao moved quickly, hugged the trunk with his arms, and used his legs, feet and waist to climb up quickly. Tong Nuonuo was carrying a mechanism box on his back, which affected his movements. Although his speed was a little slower than Chen Xiao's, he did not make any mistakes and climbed up smoothly.
When the two climbed halfway up, they encountered a thick tree trunk. Chen Xiao grabbed the branches and stepped on the trunk to walk into the tree canopy. At this time, he was already seven or eight meters above the ground. If he had walked at a height of two or three floors above the ground in his previous life without any safety measures, Chen Xiao would definitely be very nervous. But now, even if he accidentally fell, it would not be a big deal.
Chen Xiao and Tong Nuonuo, each on one side, began to reach out and pick the Bai Ling fruit they could. The fruit was ripe, and it was plucked from the branch with just a slight pull. Holding one in his hand, Chen Xiao stood firmly and broke it open with both hands. The skin was white, very thin but very tough. The flesh inside was dense and tight, and light yellow. Only the core was like a red-heart kiwi, with a radial light red.
Just the appearance of it made Chen Xiao's mouth water. He smelled it and it had a green and astringent taste. Walking to the other side, Chen Xiao approached Tong Nuonuo and asked, "Can this Bai Ling fruit be eaten?"
Tong Nuonuo was stunned by his question and said hesitantly: "I only know that it can be used as medicine directly or as a cooking ingredient. I don't know if it can be eaten directly."
It seems that it cannot be eaten directly. Chen Xiao regretfully gave up the idea of putting it in his mouth to taste it. After all, it is used for alchemy. Who knows if there will be any adverse reactions after eating it. But Chen Xiao thought about it again. Since this is the habitat of black-tailed bat monkeys, maybe they live here just for this kind of white spirit fruit. Then this fruit should be edible. Generally, what animals can eat can also be eaten by humans...
Tong Nuonuo poked him gently: "Pick them first and ask when we get back." Chen Xiao agreed with her. No one would say anything if he grabbed a handful and didn't hand them in.
The two of them took their respective sides and started to work. Chen Xiao took it off and stuffed it into the storage box, but Tong Nuonuo couldn't be so convenient. He pulled it off and threw it directly into his lapel. Looking around, the practitioners in the surrounding trees did the same thing.
After more than a quarter of an hour, the intruders were discovered by the black-tailed bat monkeys. After a sharp cry, a large group of animals with gray bodies and black tails appeared in groups.
Chen Xiao now has good eyesight, and he can see the appearance of this creature clearly from a distance. They are larger than macaques, with faces like foxes, long and pointed, and bat wings under their arms. They jump from one branch to another nimbly, and glide directly over if the distance is far. The wings are too thin and too small to support flight, but the gliding distance is far enough, allowing the bat monkeys to quickly pounce.
Since they had been discovered by the bat monkeys, the people here no longer hid. The three foundation-building stage practitioners went straight over and fought with the bat monkeys. Chen Xiao was at the back, far away from the battle line, so he could see everything. There were a lot of bat monkeys, and they were very agile. If they crossed that line of defense, the rear would immediately fall into chaos.
After taking a look, Chen Xiao stopped looking and quickly picked the white spirit fruit. The sharp cries of the bat monkeys and the various sounds of the true essence hitting the trees during the foundation-building period attack were in his ears. Chen Xiao tried to ignore the movement around him and adjusted his position with Tong Nuonuo. The two of them could see each other's backs, which greatly improved their safety.
As he was picking the fruits faster, he heard a high and sharp whistle. Chen Xiao had heard this voice once before, from a scout in Shi Ming's team.
Tong Nuonuo's face changed, and he immediately said, "The cat beast is coming!"
This speed was beyond everyone's expectations. They had only been here for less than 15 minutes, and retreating now was not enough to cover the cost of this operation. Everyone was unwilling to give up. Now they could only hope that the people outside would lead the cat beast away and buy them some more time.
"Awoo--" a sound similar to that of a leopard and a little bit like that of a lion sounded, shaking the earth, and the Bailing fruit tree seemed to be unable to bear it and trembled. Chen Xiao quickly stretched out his hands to hug the trunk, and looked in the direction where the sound came from with some worry.
At this time, someone in the crowd shouted, "Hurry up and pick the fruits. We must retreat in half an hour!"
Half an hour is the limit for the outer periphery to hold back the cat beast. If the time is longer, the distance will be too far, and the cat beast will give up the pursuit and will most likely turn around and kill back to the Bailing Fruit Forest.
Just as Chen Xiao and others were busy picking the white spirit fruit, there was a commotion at the front line. The bat monkeys' calls became even sharper, and a large bat monkey with a layer of white on the tip of its hair appeared. Chen Xiao took a look and guessed that it should be the bat monkey king. The originally solid defense line was somewhat unable to resist because of the appearance of the lucky monkey king.
Tong Nuonuo stopped picking and turned to look over there. He said solemnly: "That bat monkey king is not simple, he might be a demon cultivator!"
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