Monster Beast Forest.
After escorting the caravan to the Source Shaman Department, Lu Yan and Jian Yunchuan led the people into the forest.
The monsters in the forest were restless.
After idling for a winter, the monsters, hungry for a winter, revealed their claws one after another —
"Howl..."
"Howl howl..."
As the group entered the monster beast forest, listening to the incessant noise, they felt extremely awkward.
"This, this sound doesn't seem right?"
"Did we come at the wrong time?"
They encountered a monster on the way, ready to fight, but the monster ignored them, rushing towards another female monster, engaging in indecent activities on the spot.
This...
They were busy with something.
You can't just go over and pick a fight.
Lu Yan and Jian Yunchuan didn't expect this, both speechless for a while.
"No wonder the people from the Source Shaman Department looked at us strangely before departure."
"Should we still fight?"
Jian Yunchuan, somewhat troubled, wiped his forehead, listening to the forest's various sounds and observing the monsters uninterested in fighting with them. He deeply felt that it was not the right time. He said to Lu Yan, "Shouldn't we go back and come again later?"
Lu Yan nodded.
...
Yusu still didn't know that Lu Yan and the others had encountered a "problem."
Only after hearing Chi Nan's words did he realize that his way of doing things was different from others. He paid attention, thinking he should be more careful in the future to avoid exposing himself.
After a few days, the caravan returned from the east.
Yusu looked at Lu Yan and them with a puzzled look, "Why did you come back?"
Jian Yunchuan and the others showed a bit of embarrassment.
Yusu: "??"
Chi Nan suddenly showed a suddenly enlightened expression, "I forgot to remind you."
Yusu: "What happened?"
Chi Nan: "Now is the season when the monsters are in heat."
Yusu: "..."
Yumeng, with a bitter face, said, "Brother Yusu, didn't you see how desperate those monsters are? We all showed our fists, but they ignored us, busy fighting with the female monsters."
Yusu was speechless for a long time.
This reason was something he hadn't expected.
It seems they'll have to wait for some time before letting everyone go for training again.
...
Not needing to go for training, Yumeng and the others were quite happy, picking up hoes and going to work.
Compared to going out for training, they preferred to work with the people in the village, not having to leave their family, lovers, and, most importantly, not having to leave their beloved Lord Yusu.
However, they couldn't stay around Lord Yusu for too long, or they would face the deadly gaze of Lu Yan.
"The leader always monopolizes Lord Yusu. Why glare at us?"
"It's been more than a day or two."
"Speaking of which, don't you find it strange? The leader is so possessive of Lord Yusu, like he's treating his own wife. Could it be that he likes Lord Yusu?"
"Cough!"
"Why?" The person speaking looked around, puzzled by the strange looks from those around him. "Did I say something wrong?"
Yumeng leaned over, whispering, "You didn't say anything wrong. In fact, we all think so too."
Yushan also approached, "Recently, we also feel that the leader is acting strange."
This matter started from the small grove.
It was on some night when everyone happened to meet in the small grove and talked about Lu Yan. They never saw Lu Yan go through the small grove with anyone, and considering Lu Yan was almost twenty-two, it was abnormal.
Then Yuying appeared, shocking everyone with her words:
"Leader Lu likes Lord Yusu."
"I invited Lord Yusu to spend the night, and I was almost killed by Leader Lu."
"Later, I found that his gaze towards Lord Yusu was not right."
"He must like Lord Yusu."
No wonder they say women are sensitive in this regard.
Since that evening, everyone has been discussing this matter secretly.
Yumeng and the others initially didn't believe it, but later, seeing that Lu Yan indeed intentionally or unintentionally approached Yusu, finding excuses to touch Yusu's hand and noticing the increasingly intense gaze, especially after Yusu's eighteenth birthday, they couldn't help but believe that Lu Yan liked Yusu.
"But this is just speculation. What if we're wrong?"
"So, we are still in the observation phase."
The person who spoke earlier, shocked, quietly joined Yumeng and the others in watching Lu Yan walking towards the village with Yusu. They saw Lu Yan raise his hand to help Yusu remove something from his hair, and his gaze was unexpectedly tender.
"Ah—"
This person took a sharp breath.
This... this seems really strange!
...
Yusu didn't notice the strange looks everyone recently gave him and Lu Yan.
The main reason was that Yufeng returned from the Barbarian Tribe Forest, bringing back the disciple of the Barbarian Tribe's great shaman, Li Ye.
Li Ye: "Lord Yusu, my teacher is very happy to receive the cotton seeds you sent. We have selected the planting area, but we would like you to guide us on how to plant. Could you please lend us someone knowledgeable?"
This was not a problem, so Yusu brought Hexiong over.
After understanding Li Ye's intentions, Hexiong nodded and said, "I understand. I will have two people who have experience in planting cotton accompany Li Ye to the Barbarian Tribe Forest."
Li Ye was delighted, "Thank you."
Hexiong said, "You don't have to be polite. Come with me, and I'll introduce them to you."
After Li Ye followed Hexiong, Yufeng had something to tell Yusu.
"I found that they also had a difficult time during winter in the Barbarian Tribe Forest. The lizards from the southern desert crossed the wilderness during winter and kept attacking the southern part of the Barbarian Tribe Forest."
Yusu frowned, "How are they doing?"
The Barbarian Tribe Forest had never sought help, so Yusu guessed they could handle it.
Yufeng: "With your help reinforcing the magical barriers, they managed to withstand the attacks from the desert lizards. However, they did suffer some casualties."
Yusu: "Have those desert lizards retreated now?"
Yufeng: "They have, but the Barbarian Tribe's great shaman said that there seemed to be some disturbance in the desert during winter. They couldn't investigate what happened."
Disturbance?
Yusu: "Any unusual signs?"
Yufeng shook his head, "Not really. The great shaman divined and didn't find any ominous signs. It's just his intuition; something significant might have happened in the desert during winter."
Yusu understood. If there's time, he would go take a look later. Moreover, the desert area was quite large and covered in yellow sand. If something did happen, it would likely be quickly buried by the sand again.
...
The next day, as usual, Yusu got up early to offer incense to the God Bai Ze.
Vaguely, he perceived some images again, a region covered in yellow sand.
Underneath that area covered in yellow sand, he saw a cave.
There was something golden flashing inside.
He didn't see it clearly. When he came back to his senses, the image had disappeared.
Yusu was somewhat surprised. What is this...
He quickly looked up at the statue of the God Bai Ze, smiling, "God, the kid didn't see it clearly just now. Can you give me another hint?"
The statue of the God Bai Ze remained as silent as a mountain.
Clearly, it didn't intend to provide Yusu with another hint.
After waiting for a while and not receiving a second perception of the image, Yusu had to give up.
It was strange. Every time he had this kind of perception, it was when he was offering incense to the statue. Could it be a necessary condition?
It seemed that in the future, when going out, he would have to carry the statue of the God Bai Ze with him.
Yusu temporarily set aside this thought and recalled the image he "saw" just now.
If everything goes as expected, it should be related to the disturbance the Barbarian Tribe's great shaman mentioned.
There is a cave beneath that desert, and there is also something golden inside, perhaps a treasure.
"But perhaps there is also something dangerous."
Should I go take a look?
Yusu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to go and see.
He believed that God Bai Ze wouldn't give him hints for no reason. Even if there was some danger, it was worth exploring. Since Lu Yan and the others' training trip was temporarily canceled, it should be no problem for him and Lu Yan to go explore, or maybe they could bring Little Xuan Niao along.
After deciding, Yusu informed Lu Yan and Jian Yunchuan about this matter.
Lu Yan: "In the desert? Did you see clearly what that golden thing is?"
Yusu shook his head, "I didn't see it clearly."
If he had seen it clearly, he wouldn't need to pray for God Bai Ze to remind him again.
Jian Yunchuan said, "Since it's a reminder from God Bai Ze, it must be something good."
Jian Yunchuan's thoughts were much simpler. Due to his faith in the deity, he naturally wouldn't doubt any potential issues and encouraged Yusu to go and see.
"How about I go with you?" Jian Yunchuan suggested.
Now that he was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had the ability to protect Yusu and the others if they encountered danger. The only concern was that if all three of them left, the village would be without a high-level cultivator, and Jian Yunchuan was worried about the village's safety.
Ever since he learned about the numerous dangers surrounding this land, his mindset had become much more cautious.
Yusu said, "Lu Yan and I will go explore first. If there's any danger, we'll use voice transmission symbols to inform you."
Jian Yunchuan agreed, "Alright then."
Yusu and Lu Yan packed their things and soon set off.
They had been to the desert before, so they were familiar with the area. They quickly flew on their swords and arrived above the oasis they had visited last time.
Little Xuan Niao, being there for the first time, perched on Yusu's shoulder and looked down with disdain, "It's all sand everywhere. What treasure can there be here?"
Little Xuan Niao's disdain made sense. Except for the oasis, this desert was barren.
Yusu said, "The treasure is buried under the cave. It's underneath."
But now, the problem was that he didn't know the exact location.
They would have to search bit by bit.
And the desert was so vast. It was uncertain how long it would take to find it.
Yusu said to the all-species spirit, "Remember to activate the scanning."