Hearing the sound, everyone's expression hardened, and they immediately drew their weapons, ready for battle.
Soon, they discovered the source of the screams.
Among the mercenaries at the front of the group, three lay lifeless on the ground, their faces ashen like ice sculptures.
Each had a dark wound on their neck.
"It's a Crimson Ice Serpent!"
The mercenaries in the group looked around and quickly spotted it. Hanging upside down from the branches above the three mercenaries were Crimson Ice Serpents.
Crimson Ice Serpents were a common magical beast on the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Their attribute was ice, and their ice contained a chilling poison.
Those poisoned, if not treated within half a day, would have their blood frozen by the poison until death.
"Damn it!"
The three bitten men were all mercenaries from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. Mu Li's face was extremely grim, and he shouted angrily, "Attack together! Tear these three beasts to pieces!"
"Yes!"
Hearing Mu Li's order, the members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group responded loudly, and then launched a variety of attacks on the three Crimson Ice Serpents!
A first-tier magical beast, its strength was similar to that of a human at the Dou Zhe realm.
Therefore, under the combined attack of dozens of people, the three Crimson Ice Serpents were quickly beaten to death.
However, after killing the three Crimson Ice Serpents, no magical core was found, which made Mu Li's face even more unpleasant.
The others in the group, seeing this scene, subconsciously looked at Xiao Lei, their eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
Not long ago, Xiao Lei had warned that there were magical beasts ahead, and it had come true in a short time.
The guys from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had been mocking Xiao Lei before, but they didn't expect their karma to come so quickly.
The Wolf Head Mercenary Group was one of the three major mercenary groups in Qingshan Town, known for its domineering behavior and causing much trouble for other mercenaries.
Seeing them suffer a setback, the others were somewhat gleeful.
At the same time, they paid even closer attention to Xiao Lei, who had detected the magical beast's tracks ahead of time.
In the center of the group, Little Fairy Doctor glanced in Xiao Lei's direction, but didn't show any particular reaction.
Despite this, Mu Li, who had been watching Little Fairy Doctor closely, revealed a dark glint in his eyes, harboring resentment towards Xiao Lei.
This was both because Xiao Lei had warned them about the magical beast, causing the Wolf Head Mercenary Group to be humiliated, and because Little Fairy Doctor had paid more attention to him.
"Little Fairy Doctor, thank you for your trouble,"
Mu Li said, suppressing his emotions. He had the three poisoned mercenaries carried to Little Fairy Doctor's side, his face regaining its gentle smile.
Little Fairy Doctor nodded slightly and began treating the three men's cold poison, temporarily halting the group's movements.
"Brother, you were right! With your abilities, you'll be very valuable in the Monster Mountain Range! Interested in teaming up with us and making some money there?"
The mercenary who had previously insulted Mu Li approached Xiao Lei again, speaking admiringly.
"Thanks for your kind offer, but I don't have any plans for that right now," Xiao Lei shook his head slightly, politely declining.
The man seemed somewhat disappointed upon hearing this.
After the attack by the Crimson Ice Serpent, the mercenary team had become much more cautious.
Moreover, everyone trusted Xiao Lei even more.
Therefore, the middle-aged man who had previously accepted Xiao Lei into the team approached him again, politely requesting that Xiao Lei help with early warnings, promising an extra reward in return.
Xiao Lei, wanting to maintain a good relationship to facilitate the man's chances of winning, agreed.
With Xiao Lei's warnings, the team could always anticipate monster attacks, making their journeys very smooth. This made almost everyone in the team extremely grateful to Xiao Lei.
Xiao Lei, the youngest member, seemed to have become the leader of the team without anyone noticing, which aroused Mu Li's jealousy and resentment.
"Everyone, we're almost at the herb-gathering area. Please take a break. You've all been walking for so long and you must be tired."
After walking a little further, Little Fairy Doctor's gentle voice suddenly rang out in the quiet group.
Upon hearing the voice, the entire group stopped in their tracks, gazing at the woman in the white dress whose smile was utterly pure, and nodded obediently in agreement.
After a brief discussion, a dozen mercenaries dispersed to guard the surrounding area, while the others sat down to recover their strength, which had been greatly depleted from the journey.
While resting, the mercenaries couldn't resist chatting.
"Speaking of which, I've ventured into the Monster Mountain Range so many times, but I've never had it this easy!"
"Who says otherwise? Before, when doing missions in the Monster Mountain Range, we'd often get ambushed by monsters if we weren't careful. This time, we were well-prepared and took the initiative to surround and kill the monsters!"
"Haha, it's all thanks to Brother Xiao Lei's abilities
!" "Yes, we're all indebted to Brother Xiao Lei this time!"
"Damn it, how am I supposed to live without Brother Xiao Lei?!" "
Disgusting, get lost!"
"Haha!"
"..."
Seeing everyone praising Xiao Lei so highly, Mu Li in the crowd had a dark look in his eyes and prepared to go talk to Xiao Lei.
"Hmm? Where did that kid go?"
Mu Li was about to go find Xiao Lei when his brows suddenly furrowed. When he discovered that Little Fairy Doctor was also gone, his face darkened even more!
...
A little earlier in time.
In the mercenary team's rest area, not far away, was a small grove of trees.
Xiao Lei, who had been idly listening to the mercenaries' boasting and banter, suddenly noticed Little Fairy Doctor heading towards the woods.
So, Xiao Lei made an excuse to leave the mercenary group and head towards the grove as well.
After passing through the grove, Xiao Lei found himself facing a steep cliff.
Below the cliff, lush green forests stretched out, quite beautiful.
Xiao Lei glanced around but didn't see any trace of Little Fairy Doctor.
Could it be that she had already discovered the cave and gone down to investigate?
A thought struck Xiao Lei, and he stepped towards the edge of the cliff.
Suddenly, Xiao Lei spotted a plant blooming with pale white flowers on the cliff edge.
Within the blooming flowers, there was a greenish-red fruit.
This was… a white orchid fruit?
It seemed the cave containing the flying combat techniques and the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture was nearby.
On the day Xiao Lei left the Xiao family, he won a copy of the "Spiritual Material Treasure Mirror" from Xiao Xun'er. It contained detailed information on all the spiritual herbs and rare treasures of the Dou Qi Continent.
During his travels, Xiao Lei had memorized all its contents, so he recognized the spiritual herb before him at a glance.
However, the white orchid fruit was not yet ripe.
Xiao Lei ignored the white orchid fruit and continued forward, reaching the very edge of the cliff. The steep precipice came into view.
Between the cliffs were scattered rubble, haphazardly growing strange trees, and some bone-like objects.
On the cliff face, a figure in a white dress was laboriously lifting a horizontal log, leaning it against a certain spot on the cliff, seemingly trying to conceal something.
That figure in white was none other than Little Fairy Doctor.
Xiao Lei stared intently and could vaguely see a dark cave entrance there.
Little Fairy Doctor had just put down the crossbeam when, as if sensing something, she abruptly looked up, her eyes meeting Xiao Lei's. Her expression stiffened slightly.