26: Chapter 26 Wind Chime Flower

After walking more than a hundred zhang, the sounds of the argument were no longer audible. Lin Xuan released the Herb-Seeking Mouse again and unfolded the map to confirm his position.

"Now it is time to go to the 'wind bell flower Slope'." He looked toward the northwest.

According to the map given by Chen Hao, there was a gentle slope over there where wind bell flowers grew. It was now the afternoon, so the fog should be slightly thinner, making it the perfect time for harvesting.

He chose a longer but more concealed route to avoid the direction those three people might have taken.

Along the way, he maintained his Breath Concealment Technique, his footsteps light and slow, moving through the fog like a shadow.

As he drew closer to the slope, the fog indeed gradually thinned.

Visibility expanded from ten zhang to twenty, then thirty zhang. The shapes of the trees became clear; they were strange trees with twisted branches and pale bark, their leaves sparse.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse suddenly became excited and rushed up the slope.

Lin Xuan followed and soon saw the first wind bell flower—it was a vine plant that twined around low shrubs, with flowers shaped like upside-down bronze bells, pale blue in color, with delicate wavy patterns on the edges of the petals.

When a gentle breeze blew, the flowers swayed softly but made no sound.

"It is not yet time for the 'bell ringing'." Lin Xuan remembered Deacon Wu's guidance: wind bell flowers only emit a sound similar to wind chimes when they are in full bloom and are blown by wind at a specific frequency.

Harvesting them at that time yields the best medicinal effect.

He looked at the few plants in front of him; the flowers were only six or seven tenths open, so it was not the best time. After digging them up and placing them into his Beast Taming Space...

...he was just about to continue upward to look for more mature flower clusters when his Earth Listening Technique captured voices coming from the top of the slope.

It was not a beast, but human voices. And there was more than one group.

Lin Xuan immediately crouched down, using the bushes to hide his figure, while pushing his Breath Concealment Technique to its limit.

"...Senior Brother Zhao, we discovered this patch of wind bell flowers first." A cold, clear female voice came from the top of the slope.

"Just because you found it first, it belongs to you? Junior Sister Sun, the rules in this canyon are not based on first come, first served." A slightly hoarse male voice replied, his tone carrying a smile but lacking any warmth.

"Then what does Senior Brother Zhao want?"

"Simple. This flower patch is not small; our two teams can split it equally. Or... according to the old rules, we have a spar, and the winner takes seventy percent."

Lin Xuan quietly moved up a few steps and looked through a gap in the bushes.

The top of the slope was a relatively open grassy area where the fog was very thin.

Standing on the east side were three people, two women and one man, all wearing Qingmu Peak attire.

The leader was a tall female Cultivator with delicate features but a cold expression, carrying a long sword on her back, with the cultivation base of Middle Stage of Qi Refining Level 2.

The man and woman behind her were both at the Peak of Level 1 Qi Refining.

On the west side was a group of four, with mixed attire; there were members from Houtu Peak and Sharp Metal Peak, and one person wearing a gray magic robe of unknown origin.

The leader, Senior Brother Zhao, was a square-faced man dressed in Houtu Peak attire, at the Late Stage of Qi Refining Level 2, arms crossed, with a playful smile.

The three people behind him were also at either the Early Stage of Qi Refining Level 2 or the Peak of Level 1 Qi Refining.

Between the two teams was a lush patch of wind bell flowers. The flowers were already eighty or ninety percent open, and the pale blue sea of flowers swayed in the thin fog, estimated to be at least a hundred plants.

"Zhao Tie, don't go too far." Junior Sister Sun of Qingmu Peak said coldly, "There are four of you and three of us; is this spar fair?"

"If you think it's unfair, we don't have to fight." Zhao Tie spread his hands, "Then we'll split it equally. But Junior Sister Sun, I'll say this first—even if we split it, we'll have to 'watch' while you gather the flowers. In case you 'accidentally' pick a few too many, it would damage our harmony."

The threat in these words was obvious. The male Disciple from Qingmu Peak couldn't help but step forward: "Zhao Tie, you are going too far!"

"Hey, you can't say it like that." A thin, tall Disciple from Sharp Metal Peak behind Zhao Tie said sarcastically, "In the canyon, it is the law of the jungle; your Qingmu Peak wouldn't be so ignorant as to not understand that, right?"

The atmosphere immediately became tense.

Lin Xuan observed quietly from behind the bushes. He did not want to intervene in this conflict—neither team was weak, and getting involved would be of no benefit.

His gaze swept over the patch of wind bell flowers, estimating whether he could pick up any leftovers if he waited for them to reach a result.

Just at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

In the wind bell flower patch, a few of the most lush flower vines suddenly moved without any wind. It was not the swaying caused by the wind, but as if something was moving rapidly beneath the vines!

"Watch out!" Junior Sister Sun reacted extremely quickly, her long sword instantly unsheathed.

Almost simultaneously, the flower patch exploded!

Three vines as thick as water buckets burst out of the ground. The tip of each vine split into four petals, revealing dense, tiny barbs and viscous liquid inside, lunging toward the nearest person like a huge mouthpart!

"It's a Man-eating Flower Vine! A First Order Low Grade Peak Yao Beast plant!" Zhao Tie's expression changed drastically. While retreating violently, he formed hand seals, and an earth wall rose in front of him.

But the vines were too fast. The thin, tall Sharp Metal Peak Disciple was the closest; he only had time to turn sideways before his left arm was entangled by the vines.

The barbs instantly pierced into his flesh, and he screamed as he was dragged into the depths of the flower patch!

"Save—"

The voice cut off abruptly. From within the flower patch came the teeth-aching sound of chewing and the crisp sound of bones breaking.

Everyone was terrified.

"Retreat! Quickly retreat!" Junior Sister Sun shouted sharply, leading her two fellow Disciples in a rapid retreat.

The remaining people on Zhao Tie's side also retreated in a panic.

The Man-eating Flower Vine did not pursue; the three vines swayed slowly above the flower patch, as if showing off, or perhaps waiting for the next prey.

The top of the slope fell into a deathly silence. There was only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the flower patch and the faint, nauseating sound of swallowing.

Lin Xuan held his breath behind the bushes, his heart beating violently.

A First Order Low Grade Peak Yao Beast plant is equivalent to a Level 3 Qi Refining Cultivator, and they are gregarious! The three vines just now might only be a part of it.

He looked at the beautiful sea of flowers, feeling a bone-chilling coldness at this moment.

wind bell flowers and Man-eating Flower Vines are symbiotic—Deacon Wu's notes had mentioned this possibility, but the probability was extremely low; he didn't expect to actually encounter it.

On the slope, the two teams retreated to thirty zhang away, staring at each other, still shaken. The thin, tall Disciple was already silent, and no one dared to go and save him.

"Now... what do we do?" The male Disciple from Qingmu Peak's voice trembled.

Junior Sister Sun stared fixedly at the flower patch, the veins on her hand gripping the sword bulging.

Zhao Tie's face was livid; losing a team member meant this trip to the canyon was a huge loss.

After a long time, Zhao Tie gritted his teeth and said: "Let's go! We can't stay in this place!"

He turned and left with the remaining two, without any hesitation. Junior Sister Sun looked at the flower patch a few more times, then sighed: "Let's go too."

The two teams left in a hurry and soon disappeared into the fog.

The top of the slope returned to silence, with only the slowly swaying vines of the Man-eating Flower Vine and the still beautiful sea of wind bell flowers remaining.

Lin Xuan did not move. He continued to lurk behind the bushes, waiting patiently.

A quarter of an hour, two quarters of an hour passed.

The Man-eating Flower Vine gradually retracted back into the ground, and the flower patch returned to tranquility, as if nothing had ever happened.

But Lin Xuan knew that the danger was still there.

He carefully observed the sea of flowers and finally discovered some patterns:

A few wind bell flowers at the edge of the patch grew significantly differently; the vines were thicker, and the leaf color was darker.

Those should be the camouflage of the main body of the Man-eating Flower Vine.

"A symbiotic relationship... the Man-eating Flower Vine hunts, the corpses nourish the wind bell flowers, and the fragrance of the wind bell flowers helps the Man-eating Flower Vine attract prey." Lin Xuan understood the ecology here.

He slowly retreated, giving up on this flower patch. Although it was a pity, it was not worth risking his life for it.

After retreating to a safe distance, Lin Xuan unfolded the map again, marked this location, and wrote "Danger · Man-eating Flower Vine".

The sun had already moved to the west, and the fog began to thicken again.

He calculated the time; he had entered the canyon for nearly four hours, so it was time to find a safe place to spend the night.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse suddenly tugged at his pant leg and signaled toward another direction.

Lin Xuan followed it for a short distance and discovered an inward-recessing rock wall on the back of the slope, with protruding rocks above shielding it, forming a natural small cave.

The entrance was narrow, only allowing one person to enter by bending over, but inside it was two zhang square, dry and clean.

"A good place." Lin Xuan nodded with satisfaction. He first set up a simple warning charm at the entrance—using a thin thread to string a few small bells and hanging them at the entrance. He also sprinkled a layer of insect-repellent powder inside the cave.

Finally, he took the stone golem puppet out of the Storage Pouch and injected spiritual power into it.

The Puppet quickly enlarged, turning into a five-foot-tall stone man, standing quietly inside the entrance. Lin Xuan set the command to "attack any intruder".

After doing all this, he finally let out a sigh of relief, sat down against the rock wall, and took out dry rations and water.

Outside the cave, the fog churned, and the sky grew dim. The night of the canyon was about to arrive.

Lin Xuan chewed on the Yao Beast dried meat, recalling today's experiences: he had harvested cloud mist grass and water-condensing stone, witnessed the battles and conflicts of other Disciples, and avoided the threat of the Man-eating Flower Vine.

Stable, cautious, with gains and no danger.

This was exactly the rhythm he wanted.

He closed his eyes and began to circulate the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art.

From outside the cave, the faint hissing of unknown Yao Beasts could be heard, but under the protection of the stone golem puppet, this small cave seemed exceptionally safe.

The twenty-day trip to the canyon; the first day had passed smoothly. And the real exploration would only just begin tomorrow.