He pretended to walk around casually and walked to a bush not far away from her, pretending to be vigilant.
Sure enough, there was something fishy about Joaquin. She stood in front of the giant tree and dawdled for a long time. Even Daenie had climbed up with the help of Angelina and the others, but she still hadn't moved a single step.
"Joaquin, come up!" Angelina's sleeping bag was on another tree next to Joaquin's. Locke had carried her up at the very beginning.
"I'll check if there's anything unusual around," replied Joaquin. Angelina didn't think too much about it and went straight into her sleeping bag. They were all exhausted today, especially when it came to mental power. They needed a good rest to replenish their energy.
Bob and Chris were the only ones left under the tree. Due to their injuries, they didn't need to keep watch tonight, but they had to set up the perimeter and traps before they could climb up the tree to sleep.
Locke's eyes never left Joaquin. She stomped her feet in annoyance, but she didn't dare to climb up for a long time. Locke tried his best not to laugh out loud.
He wasn't in a hurry, so he watched her secretly to see if she had any ideas.
The cold night wind blew past and Joaquin's fair calves under her fiery red dress were immediately covered in a layer of rash. Although it was still early June, the nights in the salt forest weren't pleasant. It wasn't as warm as the nights in Princeton, and there were only gusts of cold wind.
Joaquin couldn't wait any longer. She gritted her teeth and held onto the protruding burl on the trunk with one hand. She stepped on the branches and leaves of the giant tree and forced herself to climb up.
The giant tree was twenty metres tall, and the sleeping bag that Angelina had laid out for her was fifteen metres away. It was a relatively stable position and the leaves could block most of the wind at night. It was an excellent location.
However, Joaquin didn't think so. She felt like she had been climbing for a long time, but the sleeping bag was still so far away from her position. Her arms were so tired that she didn't want to move, and her calves were a little twitching.
She stopped to take a breather on the tree branch and looked down by accident. "Ah!" She was almost ten metres away from the ground. It was her first time climbing so high, so she screamed out of fear.
Fortunately, his voice was low, and there was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves. No one else heard it except Locke.
Joaquin, who was shocked by the scene in the sky, quietly hugged the tree in front of her and didn't dare to move her feet. She only calmed down after a long time.
Joaquin only came back to her senses when her feet were numb. She pursed her lips and slowly climbed up.
Locke, who was standing under the tree and enjoying the scenery, couldn't help but admire Joaquin's stubbornness. Putting everything else aside, Joaquin's courage to overcome her fear without asking for help was worthy of his respect.
Courage was one thing, but whether or not he could complete it smoothly was another. Finally, when he was less than a meter away from his sleeping bag, Qiao Jingang heaved a sigh of relief. His ankle went soft, and he lost his balance and fell straight down.
She didn't scream as she fell. Her limbs were still in the position of climbing a second ago, and she was about to hit the ground.
Even if this place was a swamp, Joaquin would have sprained her ankle if she didn't break her bones.
He reacted at the last moment and rushed towards the spot where Joaquin had fallen.
Because it happened too quickly, he didn't have time to open his arms to catch her. He could only roll on the ground and act as a human cushion for her.
Bang! Joaquin landed squarely on Locke's body.
Locke's body was stiff, so it wasn't a big deal to be hit. However, there were two lumps that obstructed his breathing.
Locke smelled a fragrant breeze, and his nose was blocked. He could tell from the tip of his nose that the two lumps were very soft.
His cough woke Joaquin up from her shock. She was still wondering why she didn't feel any pain when she exhaled through her nose. She blushed instantly when she felt a warm breath on her chest.
She hurriedly stood up and saw Locke under her.
Her red dress was deformed under the pressure, revealing her curvaceous figure. However, the two of them weren't paying attention to these details.
"Are you alright?" Joaquin stretched out her hand and pulled him up. He didn't look like he was being crushed. Instead, he looked like he was about to suffocate to death.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Said Locke after he calmed himself down. But as soon as he raised his head, his eyes turned to the side again. Joaquin's current appearance was a little tempting. He didn't expect her to have such a good figure.
Moreover, he knew what he hit his head with just now, so he was a little embarrassed.
"Okay." Joaquin came back to her senses after seeing that Locke was fine. Not only were her clothes messy, but there was also some mud on her dress.
Joaquin, who had always been a self-reliant person, felt a little uncomfortable now. She was very uncomfortable to be seen in such a mess by Locke.
While she was tidying up her clothes, Locke suddenly said, "How long have you been looking at me?!"
Asked Joaquin coldly, ignoring the mud sticking to her dress and the risk of exposing the two red spots on her chest. Her expression was extremely unfriendly. She couldn't believe that Locke would be so coincidental as to rush over and catch him.
Locke reacted quickly to Joaquin's question. "Huh? What did you say? I didn't see anything. I was just setting up the perimeter. "Locke then pointed at the spot where he was just now. There were also the items that Locke had stored there for security purposes.
"Really?" Joaquin asked suspiciously again when she saw the pile of items.
"Really!" Locke said firmly. He wouldn't dare to admit that he had peeped at Joaquin's embarrassing look.
After looking at Locke's eyes for a long time, she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that he didn't seem to be lying. The atmosphere instantly became harmonious. "Thank you!" said Joaquin. This was probably the first time she thanked Locke.
"You're welcome!" Locke hurriedly said. He had a guilty conscience, so he didn't notice that it was the first time Joaquin thanked him.
After wiping her dress for a long time with a handkerchief, the stains on her dress didn't fade, so she gave up. She had a change of clothes in her spatial ring, but it was only convenient for her to change in her sleeping bag.
She couldn't possibly change her clothes in front of Locke, right?
She still had to climb the ten-meter-tall tree. Joaquin stood in front of the tree and hesitated. The fall just now had left a huge trauma on her. Now that she looked at the tall tree, she became even more nervous.
"I think your leg is crooked. Let me help you up!" Locke obviously knew why Joaquin hadn't moved for a long time. He also felt guilty, so he came to her rescue.
"Huh? How can I do that? There's no need for that. " Based on Joaquin's character, if she could do it, then she could do it. If she couldn't, then she couldn't.
Since he knew what was going on, he didn't waste any time and grabbed her by the waist. Just like how he helped Billie climb a tree, he shifted and brought her to her sleeping bag.
Joaquin didn't look up at Locke throughout the entire process, perhaps because she was still frightened by the previous experience or because she was embarrassed. She just hugged his chest like a little girl.
In the blink of an eye, Joaquin let go of Locke's hand.
"I'm sorry, I dirtied your clothes." She saw that some of the dirt on her clothes had gotten on Locke's chest.
"It's fine, it's fine. My clothes are dirtier!" Locke waved his hand.
There was indeed more mud on his clothes, but it was all on his back. It was caused when Joaquin fell and hit him, causing his back to be in contact with the ground.
The dirt on his chest was caused by Joaquin rubbing against him.
Locke put her on top and felt that it wasn't appropriate for him to stay in this awkward situation. He said goodbye and jumped back to the tree. He still had to keep watch tonight, so he needed to find a good vantage point.
As he jumped off the tree, he heard someone murmuring, "Thank you, Locke." It was Joaquin.
It was the first time he heard the domineering Joaquin speak to him so softly. Locke raised his head and looked at the tree, wanting to see her expression. Unfortunately, she had already crawled into her sleeping bag and didn't give him a chance.
His curiosity wasn't satisfied yet, so he left and found a place with a good vantage point to keep watch tonight. He took out his clothes from his spatial ring and changed.
After changing into his new clothes, he saw that Bob and Chris had finally finished setting up the cordon and traps. He shouted at them, "Apply some potions and go to bed early!"
Their injuries looked terrifying, but it wasn't a big problem with the powerful self-healing ability of low-rank Knechts. With the potions that Angelina had distributed to each of them, their injuries would probably be mostly healed by tomorrow morning.
"Okay!" Bob responded while Chris casually chimed in. He was currently in a state of heartbreak even though he hadn't started dating yet.
The quagmire at night was indeed not quiet. All kinds of birds and beasts gathered here. Most of the water in the saline forest was alkaline, so other creatures couldn't drink it normally except for certain species.
The small quagmire had unexpectedly become a place of contention for many creatures. Fortunately, they were more than ten metres above the ground, so most major monsters couldn't disturb them.
Locke wasn't interested in watching the battle below. He just had to be careful not to let the birds disturb the people who were sleeping soundly.
Fortunately, the two apes they encountered during the day didn't show up. They were experts at climbing trees, so if they did show up, Locke wouldn't be able to stop them alone and everyone would probably be disturbed.
The fierce battle only happened under the tree at night. He cheered himself up and drank a refreshing potion, waiting for dawn to arrive.