"Being beautiful is such an advantage! No need for much dressing up to be absolutely stunning!"

Looking at the lovely Xueyao, Hu Xiaobei couldn't help but sincerely admire her.

Then, Hu Xiaobei cheerfully spoke up, "Auntie, you're ready so quickly!"

"It's not like I'm going to a matchmaking session; I don't need to fuss over my outfit, so naturally, I was quick!"

"Right, let's go. I want to see what this Mysterious Land really looks like."

"Okay! Follow me!"

"Sure!"

During their conversation, the two of them walked together along the path next to the Medicinal Garden, heading into the deep mountains behind the tribe.

…

After the two of them disappeared into the distance one after the other, three young men with grim faces emerged from the corner!

These three were the ones hired by Zhang Batian to deal with Hu Xiaobei!

After accepting the task from Zhang Batian, they followed Hu Xiaobei to Miaojiang…

"Big brother, we've been watching for a while now; isn't it time to make a move?"

"Yeah! Let's finish the task earlier, so we can leave this godforsaken place sooner. It's not fit for humans!"

Hearing the unison of complaints from the two, the man at the front slightly furrowed his brow...

Soon after, he nodded, "Now that we've gathered sufficient information about Hu Xiaobei, indeed, it's time to prepare for action!"

Previously, he had not been in a hurry to act against Hu Xiaobei because he wanted to gather more information before striking.

Now, his patience wore thin bit by bit, so he was ready to kill Hu Xiaobei outright to finish the task and leave this place as quickly as possible.

…

Seeing that he finally agreed to take action, the other two burst into excited laughter...

"Haha, big brother, you should have agreed with us earlier!"

"Exactly! Miaojiang is so boring; we should have finished the task and left this damned place long ago."

They had never been to Miaojiang before!

Thus, they were initially very interested...

But now, they had lost all interest.

Because there was nothing entertaining to do here...

Seeing their excitement, he coolly reminded them, "Don't be too careless. You've seen Hu Xiaobei in action before; his strength is not ordinary."

Hearing the reminder, the two scoffed with disdain.

"Yes, we have seen him before, but there's no way he could be our match."

"Indeed! Big brother, you don't need to worry too much!"

Giving them a look, he nodded, "I also don't think this Hu Xiaobei could be our match, but we still need to avoid capsizing in a gutter! All right, let's hurry up and follow them. If we lose them, we won't have the chance to act."

"Okay!"

After nodding hastily, they quickly set off…

Soon, the three men were rapidly following their trail...

…

"The mountain forests of Miaojiang are truly a treasure trove!"

Walking in the quiet forest, Hu Xiaobei was a little astounded.

At that moment, Hu Xiaobei and Xueyao had only walked a few hundred meters, but Hu Xiaobei had already discovered many various medicinal materials around, many of which were fine specimens!

Hu Xiaobei knew that if he gathered them all, it would certainly be a great fortune.

While he was feeling nostalgic, Hu Xiaobei heard Xueyao curiously ask, "Xiaobei, I heard from Lian'er before that you came here to find medicinal materials. I don't know what you plan to look for? If you tell me, maybe I can help you."

"Really?"

Hearing Xueyao's question, Hu Xiaobei's eyes lit up!

Quickly, Hu Xiaobei replied, "Auntie, what I'm looking for is a medicinal material called Green Beauty Fruit. Have you heard of it before?"

"Green Beauty Fruit? I've never heard that name. Perhaps it's known by a different name here in Miaojiang. Describe what it looks like to me."

After listening to Xueyao's response, Hu Xiaobei described the appearance of the Green Beauty Fruit in detail.

After describing it, Hu Xiaobei looked at Xueyao and noticed she was thinking intently...

"I feel like it rings a bell, as if I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't quite remember where."

Hearing Xueyao's words, Hu Xiaobei quickly said, "No problem, auntie, take your time thinking about it. We have plenty of time."

"Okay! Then I'll think carefully!"

While speaking, Xueyao started pondering again…

After listening to Hu Xiaobei's description, Xueyao indeed felt that she was familiar with this Green Beauty Fruit.

She knew she must have seen it somewhere before, but where exactly, she could not say for sure…

"Hopefully, Auntie Xueyao can remember where she saw the Green Beauty Fruit before!"

Muttering to himself, Hu Xiaobei watched her with sparkling eyes…

Five minutes later, the two of them continued deeper into the mountain forest…

About an hour later, they arrived next to a narrow mountain path encircled by tree roots…

…

After stopping, Hu Xiaobei glanced at the steep cliffs not far away and squinted his eyes.

The place was rarely visited by anyone; looking over, one could see no clear path at all…

Rubbing his nose, Hu Xiaobei complained, "Auntie, the paths here are really poor. Don't you clear them out from time to time?"

In Hu Xiaobei's opinion, since this path led to the Mysterious Land, it should naturally be well-maintained…

Hearing Hu Xiaobei's complaint, Xueyao spoke softly, "We usually don't come this way, only during the recognition ceremony that takes place every four years! Moreover, we feel there is no need to maintain it, after all, such a challenging path is also part of the training. If the children in our tribe cannot even walk this mountain path, then they simply can't get the approval of the Mysterious Land to become a Wizard, right?"

"So it's all been deliberately toughened up, huh!"

After listening to Xueyao's explanation, Hu Xiaobei nodded in understanding...

"There's no other way, Xiaobei, you know, the competition among the various tribes in Miaojiang is extremely fierce, so if we don't set strict requirements for our young people, it's really possible for other tribes to completely overrun us."

"That makes sense! Alright, Auntie, let's keep going!"

"Okay!"

After agreeing, Xueyao followed behind as Hu Xiaobei led the way, and in that moment, Hu Xiaobei caught the scent of something foul...

"It seems to be some kind of poison gas!"

With narrowed eyes, Hu Xiaobei quickly drew out two acupuncture silver needles, scanning his surroundings swiftly.

Soon enough, Hu Xiaobei spotted a snake as thick as an arm hanging from a branch not far away!

The snake, flicking its tongue, was coldly sizing up Xueyao.

...

"Auntie, be careful, there's a snake!"

Knowing that it was about to strike, Hu Xiaobei quickly warned her!

"Huh?"

Upon hearing Hu Xiaobei's rapid warning, Xueyao instinctively raised her head and saw a snake staring at her menacingly!

"It's a venomous snake!"

Judging by the mottled patterns on the snake's body, Xueyao knew it was poisonous, which terrified her to the point of numbness.

"I... I should dodge now!"

Thinking this, Xueyao attempted to move aside, but found herself completely unable to do so, as her body had almost lost all control...

"It's over!"

With such thoughts, she closed her eyes in despair...

"Dare to touch my people? You're looking for death!"

As she closed her eyes to await her fate, she heard this cold growl...

Subconsciously, Xueyao quickly opened her eyes...

In that instant, she saw Hu Xiaobei standing in front of her, firmly protecting her.

"Where's the snake?"

With this thought, she looked at the snake only to find it pitifully hanging from the branch...

Upon closer inspection, Xueyao noticed an acupuncture needle, radiating a cold gleam, embedded in the struggling snake's tail...

"This... this is too accurate!"

After another look at the silver needle, Xueyao genuinely marveled.

Afterwards, looking at Hu Xiaobei's figure, she realized that with Hu Xiaobei around, she truly didn't need to worry, as he could shoulder any burden for her.

...

"Auntie, are you okay?"

Having confirmed that the snake no longer posed any threat, Hu Xiaobei turned with concern to ask her.

Hu Xiaobei knew that women were usually quite afraid of snakes, so he was genuinely worried that Xueyao would be frightened by it.

"No... I'm fine."

After saying this, Xueyao, looking at Hu Xiaobei, spoke with a sigh, "Xiaobei, you've helped me again, I really don't know how to thank you!"

"Well, you could consider offering yourself in marriage!"

Hearing Hu Xiaobei's suggestion about offering oneself in marriage, Xueyao's cheeks flushed instantly.

She quickly gave Hu Xiaobei a look and said, "What? That greedy? Isn't having my daughter enough?"

"Uh, Auntie, don't get mad, I... I was just kidding!"

"Hmph! Enough with the nonsense, we're not far from the Mysterious Land now, follow me!"

"Okay!"

Hu Xiaobei agreed and was about to step forward...

But without even lifting his foot, Hu Xiaobei frowned suddenly.

The reason for this was that Hu Xiaobei noticed Xueyao made no move to lift her leg, "Auntie, you... what happened to you?"

"Xiaobei, my... my foot seems to have twisted!"

"Your foot is twisted?"

With such surprise, Hu Xiaobei looked down...

Upon giving it a closer glance, Hu Xiaobei saw her ankle was indeed swollen. "Auntie, your ankle has really swollen up!"

"Really swollen? Maybe it happened when I saw the snake; I twisted it in a panic while trying to step back. What bad luck!"

As she spoke, she tried to move her ankle slightly.

In an instant, the piercing pain made her face turn slightly pale...

Seeing Xueyao in pain, Hu Xiaobei said with a smile, "Auntie, don't worry! You've forgotten, I'm a doctor, let me take a look now!"

"Take a look? What are you going to look at?"

"What else could I look at, of course your foot, to see how serious the injury is."

"This... let's forget about it!"

Xueyao, having understood Hu Xiaobei's intention, immediately refused. Her resolute refusal was because she knew a woman's feet should not be touched by a man so casually...

"Why forget about it?"

"Uh... no reason! Look, Xiaobei, let's go back, I'll apply some medicine. After applying medicine, we can come back again, it won't take much time, you..."

She couldn't finish her sentence because at that moment, she saw Hu Xiaobei squat down right in front of her...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.