The terrain here was completely unfamiliar to Li Qing. He didn't dare let Dahei run fast, but only let it walk forward at a brisk pace. After about a minute or two, Li Qing suddenly called Dahei to stop, jumped off Dahei, and walked towards the right fork of the three paths that had appeared in front of him. When he reached the rows of footprints, Li Qing squatted down.
These footprints are enormous and are definitely not the footprints of ordinary wild animals. They are most likely the footprints of a ferocious beast or a dinosaur.
Li Qing touched the footprints, testing the softness of the soil, trying to determine when the footprints were left.
Although he knew nothing about this, Li Qing soon noticed a very surprising detail: the footprints were very close together, which proved that the giant creature must have walked very "leisurely"!
"There really is something alive here!"
Li Qing exclaimed in amazement.
Perhaps this is a refuge for the creatures in the area surrounding the tribe... It seems that natural disasters have no effect on this place at all.
Li Qing could always deduce useful information from these subtle details. Although the creature's footprints were larger than Big Black's and might be very dangerous, this also proved that this was a suitable place for life! Otherwise, such a huge creature wouldn't have made this place its home. Wild animals have very keen intuition, and Li Qing believed that this place was definitely a treasure trove!
"I just saw a fork in the road and was wondering which way to go," Li Qing thought to himself. "Luckily, I saw a set of footprints. They came at just the right time. Anyway, I'll follow these footprints and keep going."
Li Qing pointed out the way to Dahei, then simply lay down on Dahei's back and enjoyed this moment of peace.
As Dahei ventured deeper into the area, Li Qing noticed that the "season" before him seemed to have changed. Just moments before, he had felt extremely cold, but now, Li Qing suddenly felt the surrounding climate gradually becoming hot, and the scenery around him also changed in an instant.
If the Black Crow Forest, or the place where Li Qing awoke with its towering trees, represents the season of "autumn," then this place is the height of summer. As far as the eye can see, it is full of vibrant green, which contrasts sharply with the somber color of the pine trees.
There was "no sun" here, but these green plants inexplicably grew extremely lushly. The trunks were thick and looked evenly lit, growing very well. The thick branches were full of leaves that were half the size of a person. The surrounding area was lush green grass, exuding a youthful vitality, making Li Qing want to roll around on the grass.
"What exactly maintains this environment?" Li Qing wondered. "You know, this place is at least several hundred meters below the ground, and sunlight can't reach that depth."
After arriving in this area, Dahei became much more lively. It happily ran to a brightly colored flower, lowered its head, and did something completely unlike a ferocious beast, greedily sucking up the nectar. After a while, it found the flower very delicious and simply swallowed the whole flower, stem and all.
Sniffing the air, Li Qing noticed a damp smell, which filled him with even greater joy. Could it be... a pond here?
This was so unbelievable that Li Qing even doubted whether he was dreaming and wanted to slap himself twice to bring himself back to his senses.
After all, all of this is both too "real" and too "illusory".
"Next, search the surrounding area and see if you can find a water source, Big Black," Li Qing instructed.
He didn't know how Atuna and the other two were doing, but he felt that in their current state, giving them some water might help, and besides... he himself was also a little thirsty.
Finding water was no problem for Dahei. Dahei lay down on the ground, sniffed around, and soon ran off in one direction.
The scenery here made Li Qing and Dahei feel happy. Sitting on the back of the fast-running Dahei, Li Qing admired the scenery on both sides.
It seemed as if they were the only people around. The surroundings were silent, with only the sound of Big Black stepping through the grass. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would blow, and if you paid close attention, you would see many white fluffy seeds floating in the air, making the scene seem even more gentle to outsiders.
As he ran, Li Qing suddenly noticed that Da Hei had slowed down. He was puzzled, but then he realized that something was rushing towards them from the bushes ahead.
"What is that?" Li Qing felt a surge of tension, wondering if it belonged to the owner of the row of huge footprints he had just seen.
Unlike the nervous Li Qing, the big black dog between his legs showed great enthusiasm for the guy behind the bushes, as if... there was an acquaintance inside.
"Is it the chief, Chu and the others?"
Li Qing asked curiously.
But they clearly fell in the exact opposite direction from him. It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it? The more Li Qing thought about it, the stranger it seemed. In the end, he still felt that he couldn't let his guard down. He cleared his throat and said to the guy inside, "Who is it? Come out now."
Whoosh!
An arrow flew straight toward Li Qing.
He cursed and dodged to the side.
"It's a person!?"
“That makes sense. There might be other people living in this kind of place,” Li Qing thought of the Qingye tribe. They lived in a very secluded place and didn’t like being disturbed. These people might be like the Qingye tribe. If he and Dahei rashly entered their territory, they would definitely consider them their enemies.
Thinking he couldn't afford to clash with them—this was their territory—Li Qing said, "We mean you no harm. We just don't know how we ended up here. If..."
Just as Li Qing was about to say that he would leave immediately if he had disturbed them, he heard a person laughing from behind the bushes.
Li Qing thought they didn't believe her, and said anxiously, "Please believe me, we're real..."
“Hahaha, Wheat, I didn’t believe it at first that I would see you in this place,” the voice said, “but now I believe it. I remember this voice very clearly.”
This...this person is!
Li Qing choked up.
The owner of the voice pushed aside the bushes, walked up to Li Qing, and said with a smile, "Not bad, when did you find such a strong partner?"
Upon seeing the person's face, Li Qing couldn't contain himself and exclaimed, "Li, is that you?"
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