Perry and the little black cat climbed up the steep mountain road with difficulty. The rugged stone steps and scattered snow made the road particularly difficult to walk. The black cat behind him jumped and stopped from time to time, following him flexibly, but occasionally staggered a little because of the injury on his leg.
When the mountain road finally became a little flat, Perry's eyes passed through the wind and snow and vaguely saw two figures in front of him. He squinted his eyes to confirm, and a relaxed smile appeared on the corner of his mouth - it was Mike and Joyce.
"Mike! Joyce!" He waved and shouted, and ran towards the two people at a faster pace.
Joyce heard the shouting and turned her head first, her eyebrows slightly raised, and her face showed an expression of surprise and suspicion: "Henry?"
Mike also turned around, but before he could speak, Perry's eyes were attracted by the bright red blood on his sleeves. His face darkened, and he walked forward quickly, staring at Mike's arm: "Mike, what's wrong with your hand? Is it injured?"
Mike waved his hand nonchalantly, his voice was so relaxed that it seemed as if he didn't care about the wound at all: "It's okay, I was accidentally scratched by a branch. It's just a minor injury, don't worry."
But Perry didn't believe it. He keenly noticed that Mike slightly turned his body when he said this, as if he wanted to cover something deliberately. Perry grabbed Mike's arm and directly lifted his sleeve. Sure enough, a deep wound appeared in front of him, the skin around the wound was torn beyond recognition, and the blood had already soaked the temporary bandage of gauze.
"Branches?" Perry frowned, his tone filled with anger and helplessness, "It was clearly scratched by claws! What happened?"
Mike opened his mouth and was about to explain, but Joyce came over, patted Perry on the shoulder, and smiled nonchalantly: "Don't be nervous, it was really an accident. We encountered a little trouble on the way, and we solved it. Mike's hand speed was not fast enough, so he was scratched."
"Scratched?" Seeing their sincere look, Perry chose not to ask any more questions.
He sighed, slowly raised his hand, and cast a healing magic. Warm blue light overflowed from his palm, slowly covering Mike's wound, and the bleeding place gradually stopped bleeding, and the cracked skin began to heal little by little, leaving a faint mark.
Mike smiled and scratched the back of his head: "Don't make such a fuss, I can still move, it's not a big problem."
Joyce didn't interrupt, but just stared at Perry's movements of casting healing magic with interest. He seemed to be thinking about something, with a faint smile on his lips, but he quickly concealed it.
"Thank you." Mike moved his arms, with a bit of sincerity in his tone, "Although I can heal myself, after all, I am a doctor, and your healing magic is indeed faster than mine."
"That's right." Perry nodded belatedly, as if he had just remembered Mike's professional identity, "You can heal yourself, so was I wasted just now?"
"How can you say that," Mike showed a relaxed smile, "It's quite troublesome to heal yourself, so it can be regarded as saving some energy for me."
After healing the wound, the three continued to climb up the steep mountain road. The cold wind became more and more fierce, rolling up fine snowflakes and hitting their faces, making people shiver with cold. Joyce walked in front, occasionally looking back at Perry who was following behind. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his tone was a little curious: "By the way, Henry, how did you fall from such a high place? And, aren't you cold?"
Joyce's eyes fell on Perry, and she noticed that he was not wearing a windbreaker to keep warm. With just thin clothes, he didn't show any signs of coldness. This abnormality made him even more curious.
Perry quickly turned his brain, thinking about how to explain. He made up an excuse: "My windbreaker was destroyed by the giant bird. Fortunately, there are plants nearby that can be eaten and keep warm, otherwise I must have frozen to death."
Joyce raised her eyebrows, with a little doubt in her tone: "Oh, really? Unexpected luck. But how did you escape from the giant bird?"
Perry explained the situation at the time in a calm tone. He didn't talk about the cooking book, and he also mentioned what he saw in the cave.
Joyce listened with a vague smile on his face: "Oh, the cave entrance? So, did you find anything interesting?"
Perry realized that this might arouse the other party's interest, but in order not to reveal the secret of the cooking book, he just nodded and said: "Well, the cave is full of runes, which looks like a seal or something."
Hearing this, Joyce stopped walking and turned to stare at him, with a flash of excitement in her eyes: "Rune? Are you sure it's a rune? You actually found such a hard-to-find place as the intersection of the sealed ice dragon?"
Perry nodded, but still maintained a light attitude: "Well, it can't be considered a discovery, after all, I was captured."
Joyce obviously didn't intend to let go of this topic. He pondered for a moment, then showed a meaningful smile: "I really want to go and see. However, since we are looking for Moon Shadow now Grass, let's do the business first. We can talk about other things after we finish picking herbs. "
Mike frowned and interrupted the conversation between the two: "Don't waste time. This mountain is not a place for people to stay at night. We must complete the task before dark."
The three of them quickened their pace tacitly and headed towards the top of the mountain. The mountain wind became more and more fierce, mixed with the biting cold, and kept blowing in the face. The rugged mountain road was covered with gravel and thin snow, and every step made people feel unstable. Perry looked down and saw that the little black cat was always following him closely. Its steps were brisk and flexible, and it did not retreat even in the face of steep terrain and biting cold wind.
"What's the matter with this cat?" Joyce finally couldn't help but speak, pointing at the little black cat with her chin as she walked, with a hint of curiosity in her tone, "Why is it following you?"
Perry looked back at the pair of small eyes flashing with vigilance and agility, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and answered in a relaxed tone: "I met it on the road. It was injured, and I helped it treat it. I guess it felt safer to follow me."
Joyce raised her eyebrows, looking back and forth between Perry and the little black cat, with a little doubt and playfulness in her eyes, "The monsters on this mountain are more dangerous than each other. It's really not easy for this little guy to survive until now."
"Maybe it's just luck." Perry responded casually, but his eyes unconsciously glanced at the little black cat. It seemed to understand the content of their conversation, stopped and looked up at Joyce, then lowered his head and continued to catch up with Perry on his short legs, as if he had recognized him as a "protector".
Joyce saw this and snorted lightly. Although she was still a little confused, she didn't continue to ask.
As the mountain road gradually became steeper, every step under the feet needed to be extra careful, and they might slip if they were not careful. The cold penetrated through the clothes and pierced the bone marrow. The sound of the wind was like a sharp whistle circling around their ears, urging them to speed up. Perry could feel the coldness in the air getting stronger and stronger, and even saw white mist between breaths.
"Time is running out, we have to get it done before dark." Mike broke the silence, his voice was low but with a hint of urgency. His hands had already clenched the weapon, and his eyes were warily scanning the surroundings. Even though the wound had healed, it was obvious that the previous attack had left him with a psychological shadow of vigilance.
"Agree." Joyce nodded, and the ease on her face disappeared, replaced by seriousness and concentration, "Wait until dark, there will be more things on this mountain than just the giant bird. We must not delay too long."
The three of them quickened their pace again, heading towards the top of the mountain with a clear goal. The little black cat was still following Perry, and its movements seemed more alert, with its ears erected from time to time, as if it was also alert to the movements around it.
"Finally we're here." Mike whispered, his breathing a little hurried.
Perry stood aside and couldn't help asking, "You guys went so hard up the mountain, why don't you just use teleportation? Isn't it more convenient?"
Mike looked up at him, smiled, and explained, "The teleportation array is very convenient, but the premise is that the frequency is stable. The seal here will interfere with the magic frequency, especially the magic of space teleportation. Are you willing to take this risk?"
Perry nodded thoughtfully.
Mike also nodded in agreement: "Don't waste time, this place is not very safe after dark."
Hearing this, Perry didn't ask any more questions. He walked aside, observed the actions of Joyce and Mike, and learned from them to help plant Moon Shadow Grass. The little black cat still followed him, sniffing the grass from time to time, and seemed to be full of curiosity about these glowing plants.
"Hey, little guy, don't walk around." Perry bent down and gently carried the little black cat aside.
The little black cat squatted obediently beside them and did not try to get closer, but its eyes, which were full of agility, were still closely watching their movements, as if it was secretly memorizing every step.
The three of them cooperated tacitly and soon planted the Moon Shadow Grass properly. "Okay, the mission is completed. Now, we can think about how to get down the mountain."