Chapter 58 Chapter 58 "Eating unclean things may...
"Let's go back and gather with the main force first, report the situation to the teacher, and then decide whether to go deeper." Jiang Qing stood up and patted Zhu Tianba on the back.
Zhu Tianba immediately understood and tapped the ground lightly with his front hoof. His body, which was originally half a person's height, instantly shrank to half a foot in size. He jumped lightly back into Jiang Qing's arms, resting his chin on her wrist, his eyes still staring vigilantly at the dark crevice deep in the skeleton.
While Zhao Peng and Li Xiu were still marveling at the skeleton of the golden-armored rhinoceros, Lin Qingzhou had already collected a few wind-blooming grasses and put them into his container.
"Let's collect some samples, record the surrounding environment data, and then leave this area as soon as possible." Jiang Qing said quickly to the three people.
No one has any objections.
Several people acted quickly.
Lin Qingzhou was in charge of the skeleton area. She carefully collected a few pieces of dark gold scales and some bone fragments and put them into a special sample bag.
Zhao Peng and Li Xiu took out Lingtong and took a few photos of the surrounding area to record the surrounding terrain and vegetation.
After collecting the data, the team did not dare to stay any longer and returned to the gathering place along the original route.
On the way back, they encountered several waves of strange beasts, most of which were at the level of stone-scaled leopards. Occasionally there were more difficult ones, but they were all within everyone's control.
Back at Eagle's Beak Rock, where the main group had gathered, the other groups were also returning, reporting their findings to the two teachers. Most of their reports were observations of low-level exotic beasts, or samples of unique landforms and vegetation.
When Jiang Qing's team came forward, led by Lin Qingzhou, and calmly and clearly reported the discovery of the remains of the golden-armored rhinoceros and Zhu Tianba's abnormal reaction, the scene suddenly became much quieter.
"Golden-armored rhinoceros? High-level Immortal, or even Earth-level?" Teacher Sun's brows furrowed. She quickly manipulated the energy detector in her hand, pulling up historical data. "Theoretically, this level of beast shouldn't appear in this area, let alone an unnatural death... The residual energy readings do show unusual fluctuations, but they're very weak and intermittent."
Teacher Qin, standing aside, added, "In short, we must be more cautious in the upcoming exploration. All teams must maintain open communication and are strictly prohibited from acting alone."
After gathering, the study team adjusted their route. In the afternoon, Mr. Qin personally led the team to the "Spirit Crystal Shallow Mining Area" in the canyon where the energy fluctuations were more stable.
The mist along the way gradually thinned, and the spirit crystals embedded in the rock walls transformed from dull fragments into fist-sized crystals with a pale green halo. Zhu Tianba's condition had improved significantly, no longer as tense as before, but he never left Jiang Qing's side.
Sometimes when Jiang Qing bent down to record the distribution of spirit crystals, it would use its little hooves to pick off the gravel stuck on her trouser legs.
When encountering a steep section of the road, it will rush to the front in advance, use its ability to gently smooth out the bumps on the ground, and help her steady her steps.
In the evening, the team set up camp in the leeward side.
The bonfire was lit, dispelling the chill of the canyon night and a hint of uneasiness.
The students sat together, eating dry food and discussing what they had seen and heard during the day, their voices unconsciously lowered.
Jiang Qing took out the jerky given by Jiang's mother, tore it into pieces, and fed it to Zhu Tianba.
It ate more slowly than usual, and from time to time it looked up at the deeper darkness of the canyon, which was shrouded in even thicker darkness.
As the night deepened, the bonfire crackled, stretching the shadows of Jiang Qing and Zhu Tianba very long.
"Something is following us." Zhu Tianba's voice sounded in Jiang Qing's mind.
Jiang Qing's heart tightened. Just as she was about to stand up and inform Teacher Qin, Zhu Tianba gently bit the corner of her clothes and shook his head: "It's not close yet. I can block it. Don't panic. If you panic, it will detect your mental fluctuations."
This was the first time Zhu Tianba spoke to her in such a tone.
Jiang Qing took a deep breath, suppressed the anxiety in his heart, and slowly transferred his mental power to him: "I'm not panicking, and you don't have to force yourself. If something is wrong, we will find the teacher immediately."
She could clearly feel that as soon as her mental power touched Zhu Tianba's energy field, the white light trembled, as if it had received support, and the barrier that was originally shaking stabilized instantly.
Zhu Tianba looked up at her, his amber eyes reflecting the light of the campfire and her figure: "I know, we are together."
The two of them stood quietly by the campfire, one staring at the darkness vigilantly, the other silently transmitting his mental power, forming a tacit understanding that did not require words.
Not far away, Li Xiuzheng and Lin Qingzhou were sorting out the spirit crystal samples collected during the day, and Zhao Peng was feeding energy crystals to the Iron-Armored Bull. No one noticed the abnormality of the man and the beast.
When the shifts changed in the second half of the night, it was Jiang Qing and another boy in the class's turn to keep watch.
The boy sat by the campfire, yawning, and complained from time to time that the nights in the canyon were too cold.
Jiang Qing never let her guard down, and Zhu Tianba lay at her feet, seemingly taking a nap, but his ears were always facing the darkness, and even his breathing maintained an even rhythm.
"Your pet is really well behaved. It doesn't make any noise in the middle of the night." The boy glanced at Zhu Tianba and joked with a smile, "My flamingo always likes to make noises in the middle of the night, which keeps me awake at all."
Jiang Qing was about to speak when Zhu Tianba at his feet suddenly raised his head and grunted towards the depths of the canyon.
The voice was very soft, but it carried an unquestionable deterrent force. Even the flamingo that was napping not far away suddenly raised its head and stared vigilantly in the same direction.
"What's wrong?" The boy also keenly noticed that something was wrong and woke up instantly.
Jiang Qing stood up, held Zhu Tianba's back, and said softly, "It's okay, it might be the sound of the wind blowing through the cracks in the rocks."
She didn't tell the truth.
Zhu Tianba just said in her mind: "That thing is still there, it's waiting for us to separate."
When the boys' attention returned to the bonfire, Jiang Qing squatted down and gently touched Zhu Tianba's forehead with his fingertips: "Are you tired? Do you want to go back to the Seal of Contract and rest for a while?"
Zhu Tianba shook his head, rubbed his head against the palm of her hand, and gently stepped on the back of her hand with his little hoof.
Jiang Qing smiled gently.
As daybreak approached, the hidden energy finally disappeared completely.
Zhu Tianba relaxed, lying at Jiang Qing's feet, his breathing gradually becoming longer.
It had been on guard all night and finally had a short rest.
Jiang Qing carefully took off his coat and covered it on the cat, moving so gently as if he was afraid of disturbing its dream.
In the early morning, as the team packed up camp and prepared to continue their journey deeper, Teacher Qin suddenly gathered everyone together. "Last night, the energy detector detected three abnormal fluctuations, all coming from deep within the canyon. We suspect the activity of high-level exotic beasts."
Teacher Qin: "Next, we will split into two teams. One team, led by Teacher Sun, will stay in the shallow mining area to collect spirit crystal samples. The other team will follow me to explore deeper. Please sign up voluntarily."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Peng was the first to raise his hand: "I, the Ironclad Barbarian Bull, can sense the earth veins and explore the way. I will go with you to explore."
Lin Qingzhou also nodded: "I will go too. If there is any poison injury, I can handle it."
Li Xiu hesitated for a moment and glanced at Jiang Qing: "I...I'll go too. I can record the behavior of the strange beasts."
The three of them looked at Jiang Qing at the same time after they made their decision.
Jiang Qing looked down at Zhu Tianba in his arms.
It had woken up and was looking at her with its bright golden eyes.
"I'll go too." Jiang Qing raised his hand. "Tianba's ability can handle emergencies."
Zhu Tianba immediately jumped up and down excitedly and circled around in her arms.
......
The road deeper into the canyon was harder to walk than imagined. The rock walls became steeper and steeper, and the fog became thicker again, making it difficult for even sunlight to penetrate.
After walking for more than half an hour, Zhu Tianba suddenly stopped, his mane standing up, and looked ahead vigilantly: "There is a spirit crystal vein ahead, but... there is a 'death' aura next to the vein."
Jiang Qing immediately stopped the team and told Teacher Qin about Zhu Tianba's discovery.
Teacher Qin's face was solemn. He asked Lin Qingzhou's Flowing Phoenix to fly forward to investigate. Not long after, the Phoenix flew back, and the light around it dimmed a little.
Obviously he was in danger.
"There is a spirit crystal vein ahead, but there is a strange beast's corpse in the middle of the vein. The spirit crystals around it are polluted and gray-black." Lin Qingzhou told everyone what he saw and heard when Liuguang brought back.
She said in a deep voice, "There's a black aura lingering around the body, and I'm not sure what it is yet."
Everyone approached the vein cautiously, and sure enough, they saw a huge wind-patterned python lying in the center of the vein.
The corpse had begun to rot, the scales had lost their luster, and the surrounding spirit crystals were the same gray-black color as the golden-armored rhino skeleton.
"The same situation as with the Golden Armored Rhino?" Zhao Peng frowned. "Why are there so many of them in this canyon?"
Zhu Tianba jumped down from Jiang Qing's arms and walked to the body of the wind-patterned python. The white light around him lit up again and slowly enveloped the body.
This time, Jiang Qing clearly saw that when the white light touched the corpse, black mist escaped from the corpse and was dispersed bit by bit by the white light.
"Well...it's not backlash." Zhu Tianba's voice was unprecedentedly serious, and Jiang Qing's heart trembled when he heard it.
Zhu Tianba said, "Someone is using the spirit crystal veins to forcibly inject energy into the exotic beasts, causing them to mutate. These exotic beasts can't bear it and explode and die."
"Forced energy injection?" Li Xiu was shocked. "Who would do that?"
Zhu Tianba did not answer, but walked deep into the vein and used his little hooves to dig up a piece of rock.
Hidden under the rock was a crystal with an emerald green luster. It had similar energy fluctuations to the crystals condensed from the beast core source power that Jiang Qing had seen twice before.
But it is somewhat different from the previous two.
From Zhu Tianba's perspective alone, this emerald green crystal has no attraction to him.
Jiang Qing turned his head and looked at it.
Zhu Tianba noticed her gaze and slowly turned his head.
"Why are you looking at me? I won't eat this stone." Zhu Tianba said in an innocent tone.
Jiang Qing keenly sensed something unusual in Zhu Tianba's tone: "Why don't you eat?"
Zhu Tianba said as a matter of course: "This stone is contaminated. Eating something unclean might give you diarrhea. I don't want to eat it."
Jiang Qing: “…”
That makes some sense.
Jiang Qing squatted down and began to re-examine the emerald green crystal.
It was indeed of the same origin as the beast core power that Zhu Tianba had absorbed before, but deep within its luster there was a hint of turbidity, as if ink had been dropped into clear water.
Li Xiu thought of something. She moved closer to Jiang and pointed to her pocket: "Jade, the Compass Jade."
Jiang Qing reacted and quickly took out the compass jade.
She pointed the green spoon at the emerald green crystal, and the spoon twitched.
Although there was a reaction, it was weak.
This also further confirmed what Zhu Tianba said about the crystal being "contaminated".
What would be the pollution?
During Jiang Qing's previous discussions with Teacher Chen Ming, he only knew that the beast core source power could infect other animals and plants, but he had never heard of anything that could reversely infect the beast core source power.
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