Last night, the earth had just experienced tremors, tearing open a long gash. It had undoubtedly startled countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the forest. The few people resting near the fissure had personally experienced the earthquake. At that time, they were inside a cave, constantly worried about rocks falling from above. If struck, they would be severely injured at best, and if the entire cave collapsed, they would all accompany each other to the underworld.
Fortunately, no matter how violently the earth shook, the cave did not collapse, and they managed to preserve their lives.
However, at the crack of dawn, the ground began to tremble again, which was enough to induce post-traumatic stress disorder. Almost everyone believed that an earthquake had occurred at this moment; otherwise, why would the ground rumble and shake incessantly?
After waking up, Shen Feng couldn't help but look around. Finding nothing, he instructed Lu Xian, "I'll go check the situation. You all stay here. If there's danger, just run. I have a feeling this loud noise is related to the treants."
With that, Shen Feng activated his ability and flew into the sky on a glider. Shen Feng no longer knew where the loud noise was coming from, so he could only search around the forest. Fortunately, there were no mutated birds around, otherwise, Shen Feng would have been attacked.
As Shen Feng searched the forest, he suddenly caught a glimpse of treants below. Treants, dozens of meters tall, were moving through the forest. However, the passage on both sides of the fissure was already over fifty meters wide, making it impossible for the treants to erect a suspension bridge.
"Strange, where did these treants come from? They shouldn't be able to get out," Shen Feng wondered, even doubting what he saw.
In the cave where the mutated plants were located, the exit passage was blocked by a massive fissure fifty meters wide. This span was too great for a suspension bridge to bear. The reason was simple: although vines could grow fifty meters long, without anything to rely on, they would simply lie limp on the ground.
In Southeast Asia, there is a leguminous plant called "Guo Jiang Long" (Overcoming the River Dragon), which is said to extend across a twenty-meter-wide river, making it world-famous. Crossing a fifty-meter-wide chasm was completely impossible.
As Shen Feng was pondering, he suddenly saw a huge cave appearing on the ground. The cave was dark and must have appeared recently. This was evident from the fresh appearance of the surrounding exposed ground. In such a situation, it was as if the ground had been suddenly torn apart by a massive external force, eventually collapsing and revealing such an opening.
Upon seeing this newly appeared cave, Shen Feng suddenly understood. No wonder the treants could emerge from underground; it turned out the treants had found a way to dig a new exit. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for them to come out.
Shen Feng tried to lower his flying altitude to observe the newly appeared cave up close.
However, as Shen Feng lowered his altitude, the treants immediately detected his movement and began to swing their vines incessantly, as if trying to snatch Shen Feng from the sky. When more than a dozen treants swung their vines together, it looked like countless hands were waving.
Seeing this, Shen Feng immediately sensed danger and stopped lowering his altitude, instead quickly using the wind to fly away.
Upon returning to the camp where everyone was gathered, they immediately came forward, bombarding him with questions, all concerned about whether something unexpected had happened.
Shen Feng quickly recounted what had happened. It wasn't a big deal, just the treants digging a new passage. Upon hearing this news, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed it wasn't another earthquake, but the treants digging a new tunnel.
When Xiao Sheng heard this news, he smiled and said to those around him, "Since the treants have dug a new path, it will be even easier for us to attack the mutated plants. Everyone prepare yourselves. For the next two days, we will observe the treants' movements. When the time is right, we will use the terrain to kill the treants directly."
Everyone immediately got busy. Although their previous battle with the treants had failed, and they had lost four brothers during the rescue operation, they hadn't known how powerful the treants were before. They had suffered losses due to being caught off guard. Now, everyone had discovered the treants' weakness: their internal fragility. They would die if subjected to a powerful impact. Therefore, the members of the Ability Administration were now filled with confidence.
To enhance their combat effectiveness, Xiao Sheng once again invited Shen Feng to join the plan, offering generous rewards. "Shen Feng, as long as you help me complete the mission of capturing the mutated plants, I will reward you even more when we return to the country."
Xiao Sheng's promise carried significant weight. If Shen Feng agreed, he would undoubtedly receive substantial rewards in the future. Xiao Sheng's credibility was also unquestionable; there was no need to worry about him making empty promises.
However, Shen Feng did not accept Xiao Sheng's invitation. Instead, he directly stated, "You all go and do your best. I still need to take care of Xu Xing. Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan also don't have time. We'll be heading back in a few days. You'd better report your safety to Rongcheng now, telling them you are safe. If anything else happens, I won't be involved."
Xiao Sheng could only lead his subordinates to gather information and prepare to act once they had it.
While Xiao Sheng was busy, Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan also began their operations, hunting for marmots everywhere. However, the marmots were too cunning, and after a long period of effort, they had caught very few, making Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan feel like giving up.
In the morning, the forest and plains around Qiu Ming were bathed in sunlight. However, by noon, a strong wind began to howl. The temperature, already in the teens, required wearing down jackets to ward off the cold. Under the fierce wind that started at noon, the temperature dropped even more severely. Lu Xian's ability was heat sensing, and he estimated the temperature to be around three to four degrees Celsius.
"The temperature is too low; this is a cold wave moving south. I estimate it will snow again tonight. We should go back; it's too miserable out here," Lu Xian said urgently.
Qi Ling Shan also readily agreed with Lu Xian's suggestion. Seeing the temperature continuously dropping amidst the howling wind and the sky becoming overcast, it was likely to snow. Continuing to stay outside meant they couldn't catch marmots and would suffer from the cold. Returning was the sensible thing to do.
"Let's go back, let's go back!" Qi Ling Shan echoed.
The two then quickly returned to the camp. However, on the way back, they saw four white figures rushing towards them. Upon closer inspection, Zhang Zi was chasing behind these four white figures.
"Qi Ling Shan, Lu Xian, help me catch these Arctic foxes. I'll give you one after I get their fur," Zhang Zi shouted loudly upon seeing people blocking the way ahead.
Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan were initially willing to help. Zhang Zi seemed to be hunting, and in the mountains, food was necessary. It was impossible to find wild fruits at this time of year, so they could only look for edible things on the mountain. There were quite a few prey animals in the forest, and Zhang Zi had clearly set her sights on a few foxes.
However, at this moment, the four white foxes ran behind Lu Xian and lay down, panting and looking at the approaching Zhang Zi. The foxes looked as if they had been domesticated, behaving very obediently.
Upon seeing these four foxes, Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan immediately understood. These were the Arctic foxes that had pulled the sled before. They hadn't expected them to be here.
Then, Qi Ling Shan said seriously, "Miss Zhang Zi, you might have misunderstood. These Arctic foxes are not wild; they are ours. We even used them to pull a sled before, so Miss Zhang Zi, this is a wasted trip for you."
As soon as Qi Ling Shan finished speaking, Zhang Zi became displeased and said, "Fine, you're trying to double-cross me. I was planning to give you one white fox, but you're the truly capable ones, asking me to give up and not giving me even one. This is too much."
In Zhang Zi's view, her hard-earned Arctic foxes had been targeted. There were four of them, and at most, they could be divided equally. But in Qi Ling Shan's words, they were all their domesticated animals. This was excessive. Hoarding resources was an act that incurred the wrath of both gods and men. Zhang Zi then intended to teach the two in front of her a lesson.
Lu Xian earnestly explained, "Miss Zhang Zi, you've truly misunderstood. We're not lying to you. If we hadn't raised these foxes, why would they be hiding behind us now?"
Zhang Zi frowned, looking at the two in front of her, and suddenly said, "Since you say you raised them, then call them by name. If they react, I'll believe you."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan hesitated. It wasn't that they lacked confidence in the foxes' reactions, but they hadn't named the foxes before. How to address them now was a serious issue.
Qi Ling Shan thought for a moment, turned around, pointed at the four white foxes, and scolded, "You detestable things, I told you not to run around, but you didn't listen. Be careful, or a hunter will catch you and skin you!"
Qi Ling Shan was quite clever. It didn't matter if he hadn't named the foxes; he could simply refer to them as "detestable things."
The four foxes, after being scolded, looked very wronged and cooperatively lay on the ground, whimpering. They often nudged Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan's trouser legs with their mouths. Zhang Zi, seeing this, also realized that if they were wild foxes, they wouldn't be able to perform so many actions. Thus, after thinking this through, Zhang Zi believed their words.
"You guys are really something. Since you raised them, why don't you put collars on the foxes' necks? Without collars, how would anyone know they are domesticated? Next time I see an animal without a collar, I'll freeze them to death," Zhang Zi complained.
Originally, Zhang Zi intended to skin the white foxes to make fur coats. After all, this was Siberia, and some insulation was necessary. Moreover, the fur of white foxes looked valuable, and such a good thing should not be damaged. Therefore, Zhang Zi did not use her abilities while catching them to avoid damaging their fur. The result was that in that moment of hesitation, the four Arctic foxes had found their owners.
Out of respect for their owners, Zhang Zi did not make things difficult for these foxes.
After escaping from the hands of the ability users, the Arctic foxes closely followed Lu Xian and Qi Ling Shan's footsteps. Judging by their physique, they had been well-fed these past few days, each with round faces, almost like puppies.