Red Flower
The five peaks on the Wu Mountain didn’t look anything alike. The one which produced the Black Dragon Saliva was the one closest to the Wushan tribe, and if you were to go further then there would be a high possibility of running into people from other tribes.
That’s the reason why Su Ming stayed here for most of the time, only when he really needed to harvest some rare herbs would he go even further.
Su Ming is staring at the mountain peak where thick smoke was coming from, the name of this peak is the Black Fire Peak.
Legends said that there are gigantic flames on the mountain peak, and it was the center of the Fire Barbarian Land in the early days. Time pa.s.sed and what had happened was now just a legend, but, people would still be able to feel the burning waves if they got close enough to the peak.
Su Ming wasn’t too unfamiliar with the Black Fire Peak, he had come to this place many times before, and he had even met someone from the Black Mountain tribe… if he didn’t have an agile body then he probably would’ve been killed back then.
The Black Fire Peak is very close to the Black Mountain tribe, and the Black Mountain tribe and the Wushan tribe have been enemies for many generations. Both tribes are similar in size, and the hunter groups are always fighting cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y battles.
Su Ming’s eyes brightened up, and after a couple of seconds he turned his vision towards the Black Fire Peak that was far away. He walked a short distance to a shallow area where there are a few big rocks, Su Ming moved the rocks and something was revealed on the ground.
That’s a crude bow!
The bow had a very rough look, the bow string was the size of a finger, and it was giving a feeling that is had a very strong power hidden within.
A bow, only members from the Wushan tribe’s hunter group can possess a bow, it is very difficult for the other tribe members to obtain one. Su Ming exchanged some materials and herbs for this bow, and he never brought it back to the tribe, he hid it out here instead. Only Lei Zhen knows about this secret.
Su Ming’s eyes brightened as he picked up the bow, he grabbed the five sharp arrows hidden underneath the big rock. The tip of the arrows were made from stone, and Su Ming had been sharpening them whenever he had the time.
Su Ming placed the five arrows in the bamboo basket on his back and carried the bow with his arms. He whistled to the little monkey as he pointed at the herbs he drew on the ground.
The little monkey seemed to understand what he meant, it showed its teeth and started dashing forwards, turning into a red figure.
Su Ming had a cautious look on his face as he started following the monkey. They both disappeared after a few steps.
Su Ming was no match for Red in terms of knowledge regarding the whereabouts in this Wu Mountain… Time pa.s.sed by, and Su Ming’s bamboo basket had already been filled with herbs, this was all because of Red’s guidance.
There are 8 different herbs, and there’s quite a lot of each, all of them looks similar to the carving Su Ming had seen. He couldn’t recognize them clearly, so he just picked whatever looked familiar.
“You said there is another similar herb here?” The sun was about to set, Su Ming and Red were in a forest close to the Black Fire peak, he pointed to a swamp full of black mud and looked towards Red.
Red nodded his head and showed some gestures to Su Ming with its hand, then it pointed to the sun which is going to set soon.
Su Ming squatted down and stared at the swamp, he held his breath and started concentrating, and he was waiting for the sun to set completely. Time pa.s.sed, and the light in the forest was mostly dim, he couldn’t see further than 3 meters.
Right now there was complete darkness, and suddenly bubbles started appearing in the swamp, and there was a red light that could barely be seen swimming fast underneath the swamp, this weird scene sent shivers down Su Ming’s spine, but he still remained calm and didn’t move at all.
He stared at it, following the red light under the mud, and saw it appear slowly from underneath, to his surprise that’s some red flower buds, the roots of it was hiding in the mud, the swimming red light was the movement of its roots.
Flower buds emerged from the bottom of the swamp, Su Ming saw them bloom, and a fragrance that can’t be explained with words could be smelled, Su Ming smelled on a small portion of the fragrance and he immediately felt like his blood was boiling, as if there was fire covering his body.
Red who stood next to Su Ming roared anxiously, and without any hesitation, Su Ming dashed forward and grabbed the closest red flower, in his hand he held a sharp knife which he used to smoothly split the flower from its roots, then he placed the flower in the bamboo basket.
After successfully completing this action he immediately backed off with his flexible body and started running away from here together with Red, going full speed.
A loud roar could be heard from the swamp after Su Ming left, all the red flowers turned into flower buds and went back into the bottom of the swamp, and after that, red blood exuded from the muddy swamp, filling the surroundings with a b.l.o.o.d.y smell.
Su Ming and Red escaped with all their speed, and they didn’t stop until it was completely dark. They stopped near a big tree, and with some help from the moonlight they checked out their harvests for the day.
Su Ming was pretty excited, there are a lot of herbs in the bamboo basket. He kept recalling the quenching and dispersing scene in his mind, and antic.i.p.ated that he would be doing it soon.
“It’s a shame I don’t know what the effects of that Enlightenment pills are… But, it shouldn’t be too bad!” Su Ming licked his lips as he stared at the two herbs in the bamboo basket.
The two herbs almost looks identical, they’re like the same herbs, both are red, and the only difference being that one has six flower petals, and the one has five.
Su Ming doesn’t know what this herb is for, it’s something completely unknown to him, and it was the only ingredient required for the Enlightenment pill that he had never seen before… But, luckily Red had seen it before, that’s how Su Ming was able to find it so quickly.
“Which one is the real ingredient for concocting the pill……” Su Ming furrowed his eye brows, the one with 6 flower petal was the one he had obtained in the swamp. He recalled what happened when the flower started blooming, Su Ming had a feeling that if he ate the flower now then he would immediately die.
He put all the herbs back into the bamboo basket and laid down on the tree branch, then he took a bite out of a wild fruit and started staring at the stars in the sky. He breathed in the forest smell and started paying attention to the sounds of the birds and animals. It felt like he had become a part of this forest, and this feeling made him incredibly comfortable.
Red was tidying his hair while cautiously paying attentions his surroundings.
They spent their night on the tree branch.
Dawn arrived and the sun has risen, the forest was still filled with darkness, and the fog was still floating around. Su Ming and Red left the big tree and started rushing towards the Black Fire Peak.
Su Ming didn’t stop paying attention for a moment, he carried his bow along the way with a cautious look on his face, and Red was influenced by this as well. They were both very careful, and when the sky was completely up and the fog in the forest disappeared, a huge mountain peak appeared before Su Ming, the mountain was brown, and it was constantly sending out heat waves.
A thick black smoke was being emitted from the peak of the mountain.
“Black Fire Peak…….” Su Ming mumbled to himself, he carefully looked at his surroundings, then he jumped onto the mountain with some hesitation. He was prepared for this, there are herbs underneath his feet that can conceal the heat, and he didn’t stop climbing towards the mountain peak.
Although he was climbing fast, he never stopped being cautious, he was even more cautious now that he was ascending the mountain. Some time pa.s.sed, and he has reached the middle of the mountain. Red who was behind him started making some soft noises while climbing.
Hearing Red’s alert, Su Ming moved to the side and hid within a crack that was close to a cliff without any hesitation, both his legs clenched to the mountain, he grabbed his bow with his right hand and picked one arrow with the left hand fast, all of this was done in a split second, and Red had followed Su Ming and was currently leaning on him.
Su Ming was breathing slowly, a cold gaze could be seen in his eyes. In this place, if he meets anyone from the Black Mountain tribe, then it will be a fight for life and death.
A few minutes later, chatting could be heard accompanied by the sound of falling rocks.
“It’s so early, why did they ask us to dig these stupid rocks… what’s the purpose….”
“You’ve been complaining all day, this is an order from the tribe chief, we have to do it accordingly. Oh, and have you heard that Grandfather is going to break through…?”
“I heard someone in the tribe saying so. Grandfather looks different now, he looks frightening.”
“Do you think us digging these stones has anything to do with Grandfather?”
The two men were getting closer, and then they slowly moved away. Su Ming was hiding in the crack, and he didn’t move until he noticed the men were gone. Only upon realizing that the two men were gone could he relax.
“The Black Mountain tribe’s Grandfather had a breakthrough… I remember Grandfather telling me once that the Black Mountain tribe Grandfather was already the Eight Level of Blood Condensation, but he knows an evil Barbarian skill, that’s why he can barely fight with Grandfather.” Su Ming decided to inform Grandfather about this when he returns to the tribe.
Sometime later, after making sure the man had gone far away, Su Ming continued ascending the mountain. The little monkey behind him grabbed his cloth.
Su Ming turned around and looked at the little monkey, the little monkey’s face was filled with excitement as it was pointing towards the end of the crack, there was a small cave emitting some heat waves.
Su Ming looked at the cave for some seconds, then he gave up the idea of continuing going up the mountain. He got closer to the small cave and examined it carefully, then he took the bamboo basket and placed it in his hands, then he walked towards the small cave, Red following behind.
The cave was small, and if it wasn’t for Su Ming’s thin body then he wouldn’t be able to get in. A normal sized Barbarian wouldn’t be able to enter.