Chapter 114: Treasure Hunt

“A cave?”

Lifting his eyebrow, Xiao Yan watched the Fairy Doctor with great interest as he said, “You were trying to enter it a moment ago, weren’t you?”

“Yes but the cliff is too steep. I cannot get in.”

The Fairy Doctor threw a glance at the eager Xiao Yan and said blandly, “I can share this secret with you but you better not have any ideas about trying to pocket it all. Otherwise, I will not allow you to smoothly obtain the things. Believe me, my strength may not be comparable with you but as a two star Dou Zhe, you cannot be considered to be strong within the entire Qingshan Town.”

Seeing the seriousness on the Fairy Doctor’s face, Xiao Yan smiled, touched his nose and teased, “Originally, I had intended to knock you out and go down myself. But seeing your confidence... to be on the safe side, I better dismiss this notion.”

Hearing this, the Fairy Doctor snorted and threw Xiao Yan a cutting gaze. She did not expect that this person actually possessed such an idea.

“Do you want me to try now?”

Taking a step forward, Xiao Yan stared at the dangerous position of the strange branches before tilting his head and asked.

“Forget it. We have already been away from quite a while. If we do not return, Mu Li will become suspicious. The medicinal herb picking team will be staying at the Magic Beast Mountain Range for a night so why don’t we come tonight?” Shaking her head, the Fairy Doctor voiced her thoughts.

“Mu Li. He’s Wolf Head Mercenary Company’s young master, right?”

“Yes.” The Fairy Doctor nodded her head slightly, obviously unwilling to talk more about this person. After staring at Xiao Yan, she softly asked, “Your name?”

“Xiao Yan.”

Without saying a word, the Fairy Doctor nodded, turned around and walked towards the dense forested area.

Watching the graceful figure slowly disappear into the shadows, Xiao Yan simply shrugged. He turned around and once again threw his gaze at the barely visible cave entrance and excitedly waved his hands. When he was conversing with the mercenaries back at Wu Tan City, he had been very interested in this kind of adventure and treasure hunting. Was it not for his agreement with the Fairy Doctor, he would have immediately left the group and searched for the treasure alone.

After a quiet laugh, Xiao Yan also turned around and headed towards the dense forested area. He did not expect that his random stroll would actually grant him such a big reward.

By the time the pair had returned to the troop, they found that the resting mercenaries were already gathered and waiting.

“Fairy Doctor, if you were missing any longer, we would have sent people to look for you.”

Seeing the Fairy Doctor walking out from the dense forested area, a figure hurried over. However, his footsteps paused when he noticed Xiao Yan appearing behind her. He asked with a smile, “Who is this young boy?”

“He’s one of the mercenary guards. I coincidentally met him.”

The Fairy Doctor replied nonchalantly before softly continuing, “Young Master Mu Li, let’s get going. There’s still some distance to cover before we arrive at our destination.”

“Ke ke. Alright.”

The young man who was addressed as Young Master Mu Li nodded with a smile. He shifted his body and allowed the Fairy Doctor to pass. However, when Xiao Yan was walking past, he reached out his hand and halted him.

Pressing his eyebrows together, Xiao Yan tilted his head to eye the handsome looking young company master and asked with a smile, “Is something the matter, Young Master Mu Li.”

“Hehe, I’ve no ill intention. You should be that young two star Dou Zhe, right? I’ve heard from my subordinates that your talent is great.” With a smile, Mu Li slowly asked.

“I am merely lucky.” Glancing at the seemingly warm smile on Mu Li’s face, Xiao Yan replied indifferently.

“Do you have an interest in joining the Wolf Head Mercenary Company? Our Mercenary Company will give an outstanding talent like you preferential treatment. After all, one’s life is always in danger in this Magic Beast Mountain Range. It would be good if someone were to take care of you.” Mu Li laughed, his ten fingers crossing over each other.

Listening to Mu Li’s obvious attempt to recruit him, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and shook his head. He replied, “Haha, sorry. I’m a wild and lazy person. If I were to join your company, I might end up giving you quite a lot of trouble and disappoint you.”

“Ke ke, it doesn’t matter. Little brother, if you were to change your mind in the future, you can come find me anytime. The honored positions of the Wolf Head Mercenary Company will always be open to those who are strong.” Hearing Xiao Yan’s rejection, Mu Li smiled and waved his hand in a manner that showed his lack of concern.

With an apologetic face, Xiao Yan sidestepped Mu Li and hurried back into the skirmishers unit at the front.

Watching Xiao Yan hurriedly join the group, Mu Li’s eyes narrowed. In the depth of his eyes, a faint coldness could be seen. Evidently, Xiao Yan’s rejection had aroused some anger within him.

“Little boy. I hope that you will not disrupt my plans. Otherwise, I don’t care about your future achievements and will have you stay in this Magic Beast Mountain Range forever!” Mu Li clenched his fist. Not only did his voice not contain the warmth earlier, it was actually filled with an evil chill.

After the mercenaries had a brief rest, they once again continued the journey. The route they took this time around was much quieter than the one earlier. Along the way, they were met with Magic Beast attacks twice but neither caused too much of a disturbance.

The group finally arrived at their destination just as the sky was gradually becoming darker. It was a sunken basin that was covered with numerous medicinal plants.

There were many different types of medicinal plants growing within the sunken basin. The medicinal aroma floated in the air, which upon being inhaled, would immediately give one a refreshed feeling.

“Everyone, let’s set up camp here. Please be careful not to damage any of the surrounding medicinal herbs.” The Fairy Doctor turned around and gently smiled to everyone as she wiped the perspiration from her forehead.

Hearing the Fairy Doctor words, the surrounding mercenaries immediately gave a loud response and began enthusiastically setting up their tents.

Watching how just a sentence from the Fairy Doctor had motivated the mercenaries to work hard, Xiao Yan secretly whistled in his heart. It seemed that the position this lady held in their hearts was much higher than what he had expected.

Shaking his head, Xiao Yan gave another glance at the Fairy Doctor who had began instructing the medicinal herb gathering team on the unearthing of the medicinal plants before freely roaming around.

For some unknown reason, the sunken basin had a much richer and purer energy than compared to the outside. This had provided the necessary condition for many different medicinal plants to grow.

The basin was extremely wide and its internal terrain was something that even the ‘Thousand Medicine House’ had yet to fully explore. The current position that Xiao Yan and the others were occupying was only the exterior lane of the huge basin.

Xiao Yan explored the edges but he did not find any medicinal ingredient that he required. He disappointedly shook his head and glanced into the pitch-black interior. After a brief silence, he finally chose to obediently return. With his current strength, there was danger in every part of the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

When he had returned to the campsite, numerous white tents were already set up and the mercenaries were busying themselves with dinner.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the camp was the Fairy Doctor standing gracefully at the middle. By her side was Mu Li, who was following her closely.

During the time that Xiao Yan watched the pair, the Fairy Doctor and Mu Li diverted their gaze to him, seemingly having sensed his eyes. The three gazes clashed but the emotions within them were entirely different.

With a smile on his face, Xiao Yan nodded to the two before turning around and heading to the interior of one of the tents.

Watching Xiao Yan’s back disappearing, Mu Li faced the Fairy Doctor and with a grin said, “Brother Xiao Yan seems to have great training potential and is likely to have significant achievements in the future.”

“Maybe.” The Fairy Doctor smiled faintly, neither denying nor agreeing.

“I will go and check on the medicinal ingredients. As for the order in the camp, I will need to trouble you Young Master Mu Li.” The Fairy Doctor smiled to Mu Li and upon seeing the latter nod his head, she headed to a large tent in the middle of the camp.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Mu Li stared at the the Fairy Doctor’s elegant back until she disappeared from his sight. Finally, he unwillingly turned his gaze away, clenched his fist and lifted the corner of his mouth to form a strange smile.

The sun slowly descended behind the mountain and darkness encompassed the forest. The shadows of the leaves and branches intermingled and formed images of shadowy fierce beasts.

Following the darkening sky, the camp had also become quieter. Other than the mercenaries keeping watch, only the soft crackling of the firewood under the flame could be heard.

Under the quiet darkness, a tent suddenly moved slightly. A dark graceful shadow secretly exited and quietly escaped into the dark forest through a gap between the guards.

Not long after the black figure had left, another shadow exited from another tent and closely followed the former.

.....

The occasional wolf howl escaped from the dense forest, causing the mercenaries to shudder.

The two shadows a distance apart continued to walk briskly, steadily increasing their distance from the camp.

In the darkness, Xiao Yan lifted his head and with the help from the faint moonlight, stared at the graceful figure ahead of him. He chased after it, a faint smile on his face.

“The treasure hunt is about to begin...”

The lingering uneasiness in the darkness was dissipated by the excitement of the young man.