“And Tie Xiong too!”
“Their… these are their bodies!”
After a girl’s startled cry, she fainted on the spot.
The white-browed elder hurried forward. Upon a closer look, his liver and gallbladder split. Six corpses, all of them students and mentors from Longzhen Beast Taming Academy!
“Ah! How could this happen!”
Previously, after entering the forest, they had split into two groups. They were all confident, thinking that even if there were berserk contracted beasts in the forest, they could handle them. But they never expected that out of more than a dozen people, seven would die in one night!
Autumn Summer’s guess was confirmed, and he sighed inwardly. While he lamented that he would inevitably be held accountable, he also grieved for these young lives.
Zhao Biao, full of youthful vigor, angrily said, “I said long ago that this place is dangerous. Why did your academy still mess around blindly! Now people are dead, and you’ve harmed us!”
“Little Zhao!” Autumn Summer reprimanded him and looked at the white-browed elder. “Instructor Zhou, my colleague is being impolite. Please forgive him.”
He paused and continued, “Assistant Chen Fei had contacted me earlier, saying that some students from Longzhen Beast Taming Academy were coming for training. Although I tried my best to stop them, you still came in the end.”
He gave a wry smile. “In this situation, the training must be terminated. There are likely more terrifying berserk contracted beasts in this forest than we anticipated, and the situation has exceeded expectations.”
Zhou Qiu sighed and nodded. “The strength of the monsters in this forest also exceeded my imagination. Last night, we encountered over a thousand berserk [marching ants]. I summoned four contracted beasts in succession, but I was still no match.” He looked at the people behind him. “One of us was unlucky and was devoured alive.”
“Over a thousand berserk [marching ants]?!”
Zhao Biao’s eyes widened, his hair standing on end, a sense of fear spreading in his heart.
In the past few days, they had encountered berserk [marching ants], but there were only a few dozen of them. They were eliminated by him and Autumn Summer in a flash. However, it still took some effort during combat. These beasts, relying on their numerical advantage, swarmed forward with indiscriminate attacks, showing no beastly nature, and were extremely troublesome.
But at this moment, the other party was talking about over a thousand berserk [marching ants]!
Zhao Biao and Autumn Summer exchanged glances. Both of them were Advanced Beast Tamers, and the instructor from Longzhen Beast Taming Academy was clearly also of Advanced Beast Tamer strength. However, in front of that berserk [marching ant] swarm, he was vulnerable. Therefore, it was likely that the three of them joining forces would also be futile.
“Contact headquarters and request support!” Autumn Summer decided decisively.
Before Zhao Biao could even make the call, Zhou Qiu said with a wry smile, “No need to try. There’s no signal in this forest.”
After a moment, Zhao Biao’s phone emitted a series of beeping sounds, indicating the call had not gone through.
Autumn Summer frowned, pondering a solution.
Just then, an angry curse rang out.
“You good-for-nothings! You hire beast tamers and take our employer’s money, but what can you do? You can’t even deal with some low-level beasts!”
“Listen to me, if you can’t get me out of here today, then you two won’t be able to work as beast tamers anymore!”
Upon hearing this, Autumn Summer and Zhao Biao’s expressions changed simultaneously. They looked towards the source of the sound.
They saw a tall young man with fiery red hair.
Zhao Biao immediately couldn’t stand it and shouted, “Who is this punk!”
“Young Master Tu Tian, at this critical juncture, please don’t cause more trouble!” Zhou Qiu apologized. “I am truly sorry to both of you. My students are extremely frightened and have lost all composure.”
He pointed at Tu Tian and said, “This is the third young master of the Tu family in Longzhen. Please, the two of you must do your best to lead us out of here. After we get out, the academy will surely reward you handsomely.”
“The Tu family of Longzhen?” Autumn Summer pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “The Tu family where Master Tu Xiu resides?”
“Hmph!” Tu Tian snorted coldly. “It seems you have some knowledge. Tu Xiu is indeed my father!”
Upon hearing this, Autumn Summer and Zhao Biao’s expressions changed.
A chill ran down Zhao Biao’s spine. Fortunately, he was stopped. If he had made a move and hit someone, even if he managed to leave this forest, he would not only lose his future but also not know how he died!
Autumn Summer quickly said, “Instructor Zhou, there is no time to delay. Let’s set off quickly. it will be even harder to get out of this area at night.”
Zhou Qiu agreed, and the group continued to move forward. They walked for half an hour.
Suddenly, a faint and fragrant scent of grass and trees wafted from the forest, refreshing their minds and spirits.
In the nearby grass, several small contracted beasts resembling squirrels were nibbling on tree fruits with relish.
Sensing the intruders, they seemed startled and scurried back into the grass, only revealing their large eyes, peering at the newcomers through the gaps in the leaves.
The invasion of berserk contracted beasts during this period had made them skittish.
As they walked further, they suddenly saw a lush green tree standing in the center of the forest, looking as vibrant as if it were about to drip. Unlike other trees that reached hundreds of feet tall, this tree was no more than three meters high.
Visible green mist coiled around its trunk. Strangely, although there was only one tree, it was covered with all sorts of flowers, each with a different shape and color.
From afar, the flowers emitted a refreshing fragrance that was intoxicating. This fragrance seemed to be a special blend, making one linger.
As the group looked around, they noticed that many of the flowers on this tree had already been picked, leaving only some withered blossoms and buds.
“What is this?” Zhou Qiu’s eyes widened as he looked at the tree, then he exclaimed in surprise, “Is this the legendary Dongting Flower?!”
The others were drawn by Zhou Qiu’s words and looked over.
Autumn Summer, being older, examined it carefully. His reaction was the same as Zhou Qiu’s. He exclaimed, “This is truly a Dongting Flower! I’ve seen it in books!”
A young lady beside them, having not seen much of the world, asked curiously, “Brother Tu Tian, aren’t these just some pretty flowers? Why are Instructor Zhou and the others so excited?”
Tu Tian frowned, seemingly trying hard to recall something. “I vaguely remember reading in a book I saw before that Dongting Flowers are a rare flower that grows on Dongting Trees. They sprout and grow on the same tree, but each blooming flower differs in color, appearance, and even taste. They grow in no fixed location and bloom every twenty years.”
Suddenly, Tu Tian’s expression became excited. “That’s right! Dongting Flower is the most important ingredient for attribute pills!”
“If I pick it and take it back, my father will surely praise me!”
Thinking of this, Tu Tian charged towards the Dongting Tree without a second thought, fearing he would be too late and someone else would pick it.
Watching the figure charge forward, Autumn Summer, Zhou Qiu, and the others exchanged glances.