The first night passed peacefully.
The morning sunlight filtered through the treetops, scattering into the forest.
"Finally, it's daylight..."
Wang Zilin hadn't slept well all night, his heart was in a constant state of fear. Now he finally relaxed and said to Li An:
"You go eat first? I'll stay here and keep watch."
They couldn't make it through the night, so the two of them had to stagger their eating times during the day and go back to their place to have meals.
Since last night, they hadn't had a drop of water or grain of rice, and Wang Zilin was very hungry, but he was still prepared to wait a while longer until Li An finished eating before he went.
Though he harbored deep hatred for Li the Skinner, he clearly understood the disparity in their statuses and felt somewhat afraid of Li An, subconsciously wanting to curry favor.
Li An, however, said, "You go first."
Generally speaking, if Fan Jie stayed the night at Zhang Susu's place, he wouldn't make his way back to the mountain until noon.
Upon hearing this, Wang Zilin was extremely happy and said, "Okay, I'll be right back after eating, I won't waste any time!"
He limped away.
Li An watched his back and couldn't help but furrow his brows.
Keeping this guy alive is not going to be easy.
He got up and once more scouted the surroundings.
Not far to the left of the shack, in a pile of scattered rocks, there was a hidden pit, seven or eight meters deep.
From the shack, it was safe to escape by jumping into this pit for hiding.
To the right was a small mountain stream, with a pond enough to squat in, equipped with a straw pipe for breathing, making it hard to detect.
Further back in the woods, there was a large ancient tree with lush branches and leaves which were also relatively safe to climb.
But these plans were based on the assumption he was alone, now he had to reassess each route, considering carrying a cripple, and determine where was most suitable...
He deliberately let Wang Zilin tag along because keeping Wang Zilin alive was useful!
After mapping it out in his head, Li An suddenly went to the Spirit Bells set up by Fan Jie, carefully untied the rope, collected some of the Spirit Bells, and then quickly darted into the depths of the dense forest.
Thanks to the recent exploration, he moved swiftly, penetrating as far as eight li (a Chinese mile), then he found several key spots and tied the Spirit Bells securely.
The alarm sound of the Spirit Bells could travel a distance of ten li, but the trees in between reduced it to eight li at most.
If something really did happen, he could know in advance from eight li away.
This distance… was enough for him to do a lot of things.
Moreover, according to Li An's deduction, placing the Spirit Bells here not only warned him but also deterred the enemies because discovering Spirit Bells in such a forest would certainly make them cautious and slow down...
Li An would thus have more time.
...
Close to noon, Wang Zilin hurried back, a bit embarrassed, he said:
"Immortal Fan asked me to clean their chamber pots and wash their sheets, so it took a bit more time, sorry."
For the past year or two, besides the labor of harnessing the clouds and making rain, Wang Zilin had been handling all kinds of odd jobs like cleaning chamber pots and washing clothes for Fan Jie and Zhang Susu. He did it all.
"Hmm."
Li An didn't say much, got up, and left.
...
Upon returning to the foot of Spirit Plant Mountain, to Li An's surprise, Fan Jie had not yet left.
In the next room, Zhang Susu's voice was hoarse!
Could it be that Fan Jie thought Zhang Susu would also die in the coming great event, so he decided to use her to the fullest while she's still alive?
This absurd notion flashed by, and Li An quickly grasped the truth: Fan Jie should be frantically expelling poison.
Although he had found a temporary way to suppress the Fire Poison, it still carried dangers anytime, and Fan Jie's only option was to discharge it into Zhang Susu's body as much as possible.
Li An washed the pot and cooked. After eating, he began brewing "insecticide soup" again.
The thick stench quickly spread out.
"Damn it, why are you stewing that sh*t soup again?!"
Fan Jie kicked Li An's door open, his belt not even fastened properly, and angrily asked.
"Immortal elder, there are too many mosquitoes and bugs in the forest, can't sleep at all at night... so I'm brewing some herbal soup to kill them."
Li An added, "Sorry, sorry."
Fan Jie was raging inside but could do nothing, so he just said, "Make it quick!"
Then he turned and hurriedly went up the mountain.
He couldn't stay here any longer, simply couldn't!
Shortly after Fan Jays left.
Zhang Susu snuck into Li An's place, tears filling her eyes, her flush seemed to almost turn into patches.
"Li An, I'm dying, he's going to kill me..."
She lamented mournfully, "He came down early this morning like a madman, eight times, eight times!"
"I feel like so many places on my body are burning with fire, it hurts so much… please save me!"
Li An's heart skipped, "He didn't come down last night?"
"No, he only came down during the day..."
Li An thought for a moment and realized that Fan Jie must also have figured that the enemies would most likely attack at night, so he must have stayed on the mountain at night to keep watch, only daring to come down during the day to expel poison with Zhang Susu.
He said with difficulty, "Sister Susu, I'm really not confident about your illness..."
Hearing this, Zhang Susu could sense the underlying meaning in Li An's words, and she directly kneeled in front of Li An, "Li An, use whatever methods you have, I won't blame you, I won't blame you!"
Li An reluctantly nodded, "Alright."
He took out a small bag of black powder from his pocket—this was ground from two mixed spirit pills.
"While he's not here, dissolve this powder in water and apply it to the spot that hurts the most on your body."
"The spot that hurts the most?"
Zhang Susu was taken aback for a moment, but then she understood, her face turning even redder, and she nodded, "Okay."
She took the black medicinal powder from Li An and gratefully said, "Li An, thank you!"
"You've saved my life. In the future, I'll treat you like a little brother. All my extra earnings will be yours!"
After saying this, she prepared to turn and leave.
"No, right here! Quickly!"
Li An calmly instructed.
He had to ensure that Zhang Susu applied the medicine correctly.
Zhang Susu showed a trace of humiliation on her face, but she bit her lip, starting to unbuckle her pants while saying, "Hurry up, Fan Jie will be coming down the mountain soon..."
Li An was taken aback, hurriedly stopping her, and pointed to the large wooden tub he used for bathing, "Go over there and do it yourself!"
Zhang Susu was momentarily stunned, her face instantly reddening further, realizing she misunderstood Li An's intention...
She quickly took a bowl of water and hid behind the wooden tub.
Li An didn't turn around to look, leisurely brewing the medicine.
"This medicine is colorless and odorless, and I can't feel anything when applying it. Li An, is it really effective?"
Zhang Susu put on her pants and came out, her eyes filled with some anxiety.
Li An said, "I don't know. Sister Susu, you should return."
"Remember, don't tell him about this. You wouldn't want Fan Jie to know you've been here, right?"
Zhang Susu nodded emphatically, "I understand."
After she left, Li An got up and rinsed the bowl she used several times with water, ensuring no trace was left behind. Only then did he pour the boiled medicinal soup into a wooden bucket, carrying it out to leave.
"By the way,"
Li An suddenly reminded, "Sister Susu, when you're free, you might want to gather more green lotus leaves. They're quite beneficial for you, but be careful. The mud there is deep, and if you fall in, no one will find you."
Zhang Susu felt somewhat perplexed but just nodded casually and left.
...
The evening quickly arrived.
Li An, accompanied by Wang Zilin, was spreading the medicinal soup around.
Once cooled, the scent of the medicinal soup wasn't strong for humans, but for wild animals and spirit beasts, it remained quite pungent!
This could effectively restrict some spirit beasts' paths to a certain extent.
...
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
...
"Li An, do you really think there will be danger here?"
The night fell. Over the past few days of spending time with Li An, Wang Zilin's fear had slightly subsided, and he asked,
"If there's a tiger, what should we do..."
Li An closed his eyes to rest, using the Super Sensing Skill to its fullest extent, his ears monitoring the subtle changes in the air, ignoring him.
"I truly regret coming to the Profound Yang Sect. I would've been better off staying at home. I have a younger sister, only seven years old. She's so adorable, and I could've helped my parents take care of her at home. Life was tough farming every year, but it wouldn't be as bad as it is now..."
Wang Zilin rambled on, "Now my leg is broken, and after two years, I'm still at Qi Refining First Layer. If my parents knew how miserable I am, how sad would they be..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sob.
"Shut up!"
Suddenly, Li An opened his eyes sharply.
"Huh? What's wrong..."
Wang Zilin was terrified, "Don't scare me... the Spirit Bell didn't ring."
The Spirit Bell Li An set up eight miles away, its sound reaching here was extremely faint, like the chirping of insects, which Wang Zilin couldn't hear at all!
"I think I heard the sound of an exotic beast... run, run quickly!"
Without hesitation, Li An grabbed Wang Zilin, pulling him out of the hut and towards the piles of scattered stones.
Just a few dozen steps out, Li An suddenly lost his footing, pulling Wang Zilin with him as they both fell into a pit.
They struck the rocky walls within the pit and, upon reaching the bottom, Li An instantly lost consciousness.
"Li An..."
Wang Zilin, also dazed from the impact, tried to get up, but suddenly felt a stone hit the back of his head, and his vision went black, causing him to faint.
After he collapsed.
Li An suddenly opened his eyes, then leaped out of the pit.
"Eight miles, fifteen minutes, that's enough!"
——With the enemy approaching, the leaders were undoubtedly lower-level spirit beasts. Coupled with the thickets and dense forest, along with the ridges and hills obstructing their way, Li An had calculated that from the Spirit Bell's location to where he and Wang Zilin were hiding would be about this time.
In reality, when the Spirit Bell rang, the enemy would likely be alerted, slowing down to investigate, giving Li An more time to act.
But he only gave himself fifteen minutes!
He must complete it within fifteen minutes!
Li An turned and dashed towards Spirit Plant Mountain, his figure leaping through the forest like a panther, disappearing in the blink of an eye!
...