Chapter 124
Su Jing carried Xiao Jin through the woods, with five mining robots following behind in a fan shape. The scanning light of robot number 3 gently swept across the layer of decaying leaves, pausing briefly each time a pale red spot of light touched a spiritual herb.
This is a "spiritual herb marking" mode that Su Jing specially set up to make it easier to collect herbs later.
Suddenly, the little golden cat on her shoulder became restless. Its short golden fur stood up slightly, its little paws gently tugged at her collar, its black eyes stared at a cluster of tangled vines on its right, and it made soft "squeak" sounds in its throat, clearly sensing something was wrong.
"What's wrong? Is there danger or a monster?"
Su Jing immediately stopped, raised her hand and pressed the handle of the laser gun, and Robot No. 3 instantly expanded the scanning range to the vine bushes.
A few seconds later, the robot's display screen popped up with the message: "[Detected a fourth-tier friendly monster, 'Spirit Fox,' current status: anxious (increased heart rate, disordered energy fluctuations), no intention to attack]."
Following the scanning light, Su Jing saw a spirit fox, about 1.2 meters long, pacing anxiously beside the vines.
It was pure white, with a touch of pale red at the tip of its tail. Its ears drooped, and its tail, which should normally stand straight, was now tucked tightly between its legs. It would growl at the vines from time to time, its voice full of urgency, and its claws were digging shallow holes in the ground.
"It seems to be looking for something." Su Jing bent down and put Xiao Jin down. Xiao Jin immediately darted to the fox's feet, circled it twice, then turned back and barked at Su Jing twice, pointing its little paws into the depths of the vines.
The spirit fox seemed to understand what Xiao Jin meant, and also looked at Su Jing, its pale purple eyes full of pleading. It even lowered its head and gently rubbed its head against the back of Su Jing's hand, a friendly signal.
"Did you leave the cubs inside?" Following Xiao Jin's guidance, Su Jing walked to the vine thicket—
The vines here are thick and dense, with tiny barbs on their dark green surface, making it difficult for sunlight to penetrate; it's pitch black inside.
She signaled Robot No. 3 to activate "high-intensity light mode." The pale white beam of light illuminated the depths of the vines, and sure enough, she saw three palm-sized little foxes huddled next to a clump of Qi-gathering grass. One of them had its hind legs entangled in vines, and the more it struggled, the tighter the vines became, emitting a faint "woofing" sound.
"Don't panic, I'm here to save you." Su Jing took out her golden crystal dagger and carefully parted the barbed vines—
The dagger was sharp; it cut the vines with a single stroke, but didn't damage the little fox's fur.
She first took the entangled little fox out, then used her fingertips to activate a trace of ice-type magic, condensing a thin layer of ice on its reddened hind legs to relieve the pain;
Seeing that the danger had passed, the other two little foxes timidly approached and slipped into Su Jing's palm.
When Su Jing placed the three little fox cubs in front of the spirit fox, the spirit fox immediately shielded its cubs with its body, its pale purple eyes filled with gratitude. It let out a soft whimper to Su Jing, then picked up a sapling of a thousand-year-old spirit herb from the side and gently placed it at Su Jing's feet.
This was the most precious thing it could offer. Su Jing's communicator instantly popped up a notification: [Fourth-tier spirit fox's favorability: Stranger → Friendly, current cumulative number of friendly monsters: 6 (First-tier Little Goldfish, Second-tier Green Deer, Third-tier Black Bear, First-tier Spirit Grass Rat, First-tier Grass Guardian Rabbit, Fourth-tier Spirit Fox)].
After walking about 1 kilometer, a heavy "thump-thump" sound suddenly came from ahead—the sound of hooves stepping on decaying leaves, but with a noticeable limp.
Su Jing told the robot to slow down, and only after getting closer could she see clearly: a fifth-tier rock sheep about 2.5 meters tall was moving its feet with difficulty. Its body was grayish-black, and the curved horns on its head shone with a light gray light. Its left foreleg was obviously swollen, and dark red blood seeped out from the hoof seam and dripped onto the decaying leaves. Upon closer inspection, she could see a metal spike about 5 centimeters long stuck in the center of the hoof—an alloy fragment that had been blown away during the battle with the ferocious beast king, deeply embedded in the hoof flesh.
"Its hoof is pierced by a metal spike, and it needs to be removed."
Su Jing had Robot No. 5 retrieve a medical kit from her spatial storage. Inside were disinfectant wipes, hemostatic herb powder, and a small pair of silver crystal tweezers—precise tools she had specially prepared, suitable for treating this type of wound.
The ibex seemed to know that Su Jing was going to help it, and obediently lifted its left foreleg and placed it on a flat rock. Although it was trembling slightly from the pain, it did not move an inch.
Su Jing first used a sterile cotton pad to wipe away the blood and decaying leaves on the hoof, revealing the tip of the metal thorn—the thorn tail was serrated and stuck very deep; pulling it out directly would tear the hoof flesh.
She took out the gold crystal dagger, carefully made a small cut around the thorn, then used silver crystal tweezers to grasp the thorn's tail, gently rotated it half a turn, and after the thorn loosened, quickly pulled it out, and dark red blood gushed out instantly.
She immediately sprinkled hemostatic herb powder on the blood, which solidified the moment it came into contact with the blood, and the bleeding stopped quickly.
The ibex lowered its hooves and tried to take a couple of steps. The limp was noticeably less pronounced. It lowered its head to Su Jing and gently touched her shoulder with its curved horn, as if to express its gratitude.
The communicator notification reads: [Tier 5 Rock Sheep Affinity: Stranger → Friendly, Current Total Number of Friendly Monsters: 7].
Over the next two hours, Su Jing used Xiao Jin's senses to help three low-level monsters solve their problems: in a forest of dead trees, she helped a first-level gray rabbit monster find a carrot cellar buried in snow.
Under an ancient tree, help the second-tier Red-bellied Squirrel Demon remove the nut stuck in the crevice of the tree (carefully use the robot's mechanical arm to pick it out).
Beside a pool of water, help a level one hedgehog demon untangle the thorns wrapped around its back (freeze the thorns with ice-type abilities, and they will fall off with a light touch).
Each time you help one, the total number of communicators increases by 1. When you've helped all the hedgehog monsters, a dazzling golden notification suddenly pops up on the screen:
The main quest "Gain affinity with 10 friendly monsters within 72 hours" has been exceeded! Current total number of friendly monsters: 10 (Tier 1 Little Goldfish, Tier 2 Green Deer, Tier 3 Black Bear, Tier 1 Spirit Grass Rat, Tier 1 Grass Protector Rabbit, Tier 4 Spirit Fox, Tier 5 Rock Sheep, Tier 1 Gray Rabbit Demon, Tier 2 Red-bellied Squirrel Demon, Tier 1 Hedgehog Demon). Overall score increased to 98 points, currently ranking 1st in the dungeon!
Su Jing breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the prompt. Just as she was about to have the robot organize the collected spiritual herbs, the little golden cat in her arms suddenly became violently agitated. Its little paws gripped her collar tightly, its black eyes stared in the southwest direction, its nose twitched rapidly, and it made excited "squeak" sounds in its throat.
Following Xiao Jin's gaze, she saw a faint green halo flickering in the woods to the southwest—that was the energy fluctuation that only occurs when a large number of spiritual herbs gather. Clearly, Xiao Jin had sensed a hidden area of spiritual herbs, which would be a good foreshadowing for the next chapter's gathering.
"Looks like there's more surprise waiting for us." Su Jing patted Xiao Jin's head, signaled the robot to follow, and headed southwest.
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