The sun had risen three pole-heights high. Blue sky, white clouds.
Sunlight shone down upon the earth. The Yellow Dragon River rolled on in its long course, and the dense jungle along the riverbank merged into a verdant ocean.
Atop a Beast-Catching Tree, vines clung to the crown, where several leaf-cages hung raised high like clustered river mussels.
Suddenly, one of those cages shuddered violently.
Pfft.
A crimson Moon Blade shot out from within, slicing through the leaves.
A young girl, dressed in pale robes, her body sheathed in a layer of white illusory armor, emerged from the leaf-cage.
She was nimble and agile. Her toes tapped lightly from branch to branch as she leaped through the air, finally landing safely on the ground.
It was Bai Ningbing.
Throughout the entire process, the Beast-Catching Tree did not stir a single branch — deathly silent.
Bai Ningbing glanced at the Beast-Catching Tree, and a memory of Fang Yuan's words from yesterday floated unbidden into her mind.
"Against any prey that escapes, the Beast-Catching Tree will never attack again. A beast capable of breaking free is already beyond what the tree can handle. Though the Beast-Catching Tree possesses no intelligence, this evolved instinct allows it to better adapt and survive."
"Achoo."
Bai Ningbing couldn't help but sneeze. She rubbed her nose while scanning her surroundings with sweeping eyes.
This grove of Beast-Catching Trees mostly held their leaf-cages high above their crowns, like so many emerald shells.
"Seems the smell of blood on the shallows drew in quite a few wild beasts. This Beast-Catching Tree grove had a bountiful harvest last night." Bai Ningbing mused to herself as she stretched her limbs and rolled her head.
She had slept terribly the night before. The crocodile corpse had been rock-hard, and the night air was bitterly cold. Despite her extreme exhaustion, she had been woken by the cold several times.
As a result, she had dark circles under her eyes and looked washed out. But after a night of cultivation, her physical strength had recovered to more than half.
Right now, she deliberately stood in a patch of sunlight, using its warmth to drive the residual cold from her body.
"Bai Ningbing, let me out." A voice came from nearby — it was Fang Yuan. He could hear the commotion perfectly well without even needing the Earth Listening Flesh Ear Grass.
Bai Ningbing's gaze drifted toward another Beast-Catching Tree. Atop its crown, the leaf-cage that had swallowed Fang Yuan sat right where it had been.
She smirked inwardly but said nothing. Instead, she closed her eyes to rest, basking in the sunlight, deliberately stalling.
A full quarter-hour passed before she finally shot out a blood-colored Moon Blade, severing the vines.
The shell-like leaves bumped and clattered against the trunk on their way down before crashing to the ground.
Bai Ningbing strolled over at a leisurely pace, then summoned another Blood Moon Gu to slice open the leaves. Only then did Fang Yuan crawl out.
"What took so long? I've been awake for ages — even did some cultivation." Fang Yuan's face was ruddy, his spirit brimming with vitality.
The clothes he had pulled out the night before, along with his cloak, had already been put away.
Bai Ningbing let out a cold hum. Fang Yuan's condition was somewhat unexpected.
She had assumed he, like her, had slept badly — cold and starving. That was why she had dragged her feet, wanting to torment him a little longer.
She hadn't expected him to look so well.
"It's getting late. We still have ground to cover today — let's eat first." Fang Yuan spat out the Tushita Blossom and produced, one by one, coal stones, an iron frame, an iron pot, a water skin, dry flatbread, and other supplies.
His movements were deft. In short order, he had a pot of meat soup simmering.
Then he foraged nearby, plucking a large handful of tree mushrooms from the mossy trunks of the Beast-Catching Trees.
These mushrooms were shriveled and elongated, tinged with deep purple or black.
Bai Ningbing watched Fang Yuan toss every last one into the pot and couldn't help but question him. "Wild plants aren't something you can eat carelessly — they're very likely to be poisonous."
"Mm, you're right." Fang Yuan nodded. "You don't have to eat any."
Bai Ningbing sneered. "If you're poisoned, I don't have any healing Gu on me."
Fang Yuan's expression remained placid. He took out a ladle and, under Bai Ningbing's watchful eye, gulped down a large mouthful of the meat soup.
Bai Ningbing snorted coldly.
Only after Fang Yuan had drunk five or six mouthfuls did she finally confirm the soup was safe.
She took the ladle and tried a sip herself. Her eyes lit up ever so slightly.
The soup was far better than yesterday's — it had a rich, savory depth!
Her gaze immediately shifted to the tree mushrooms floating on the surface. Clearly, the difference was entirely thanks to that handful of mushrooms.
She couldn't help stealing a glance at Fang Yuan. He sat on a rock, head bowed as he sipped his soup and gnawed on dry flatbread, looking thoroughly full of energy.
They had slept in exactly the same environment. Comparing his vitality to her own disheveled state, an emotion she didn't even want to admit surfaced in her heart — a sliver of grudging admiration.
Of course, had she known that Fang Yuan had secretly pulled out his cloak and clothes to keep warm during the night, that would undoubtedly have been an entirely different emotion.