Lin Xiao Tian was chatting with the two women when he heard a voice from outside; it turned out Xiao Ming had arrived.
"I have to head into the mountains first," Lin Xiao Tian said to the two women.
Afterward, Lin Xiao Tian made arrangements for the upcoming matters and offered to take the two women into town, as he was sure there would be no shortage of gossip in the village, and Lin Xiao Tian was worried it would affect them.
Neither of them objected, but the road was not yet fully repaired and would take another month or two.
After appeasing Zhang Cui Hua and Li Gui Hua, Lin Xiao Tian left the house.
"Xiao Ming, you really came fast." Lin Xiao Tian spread his hands.
Xiao Ming felt wronged.
He really didn't know if Lin Xiao Tian was praising him or scolding him.
He was a full half-hour late for Lin Xiao Tian.
"Xiao Tian, others will be here soon. We'll make arrangements to enter the mountains later," Xiao Ming said, still a bit out of breath.
Lin Xiao Tian thought there was still some time, so he went to Li Er Guai's house to take a look.
Li Er Guai's house was empty. Lin Xiao Tian called him and learned that Li Er Guai had taken Zhang Xue Fen into town. This was their first child, and Li Er Guai was very cautious and had prepared early.
Lin Xiao Tian chatted with Li Er Guai for a while longer. By this time, most of the Lin family members had also arrived. Lin Xiao Tian then prepared to enter the mountain.
Dozens of people had come this time, and it was impossible for all of them to go in. Lin Xiao Tian picked out a few of the more skilled ones, including Xiao Ming and Liang Xu, for a total of five people.
Lin Xiao Tian had them all take the pills to resist the miasma. After bidding farewell to Zhang Cui Hua and Li Gui Hua again, they entered the Black Mountain.
Compared to Kunlun Valley, the biggest problem in Black Mountain was the miasma. The deeper they went, the denser the miasma became, to the point where even the pills couldn't block it.
Fortunately, Lin Xiao Tian didn't plan to go into the depths this time. Thousand-year-old medicinal herbs didn't require going that far inside.
With Lin Xiao Tian's excellent divine sense, he quickly found many precious medicinal herbs.
Thousand-year-old ginseng.
Thousand-year-old reishi.
...
In just a few hours, Lin Xiao Tian found no less than ten types of thousand-year-old medicinal herbs.
Seeing the herbs being collected one after another, Liang Xu, Xiao Ming, and the others were stunned.
Even if they didn't recognize the herbs, seeing such large ginseng and reishi, they knew they were not ordinary. When they learned that Lin Xiao Tian said they were thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, everyone couldn't believe it.
Thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, obtained so easily?
You must know that last time the Lin family tried to gather thousand-year-old medicinal herbs for Lin Xiao Tian, even their own family only managed to contribute two plants; this was the Lin family's treasure.
And the remaining one was exchanged for half of the Fang Group.
And now Lin Xiao Tian said he found over a dozen thousand-year-old medicinal herbs?
Doesn't this mean that in just a few hours, they had obtained nearly ten Fang Groups?
The herb gathering went very smoothly. As they were about to prepare to return, Lin Xiao Tian arrived at a familiar place.
It was here that he had met Li Xue.
If he remembered correctly, there should be a snake hole ahead.
Since it was still early, Lin Xiao Tian decided to go in and take a look.
Hiss!
After taking a few steps, a sharp hissing sound came from inside the cave.
Xiao Ming and the others immediately raised their pistols, ready for battle.
Although the journey had been smooth, they had all heard the legends of Black Mountain, which was home to many formidable beasts.
Lin Xiao Tian told everyone to retreat and moved forward alone.
"Xiao Tian, there's something in this cave. Let us handle the scouting!" Xiao Ming stopped Lin Xiao Tian.
"No need, I can do it alone." Lin Xiao Tian waved his hand.
He had already seen with his divine sense that there were only a few small snakes inside, likely the offspring of that white viper.
"Xiao Tian, let us go! You are powerful, but you are our commander, and you cannot be in any danger." Liang Xu also stopped Lin Xiao Tian.
Seeing their persistence, Lin Xiao Tian had no choice but to say more, only warning them to be careful.
Xiao Ming was responsible for scouting ahead, while the others formed a four-sided encirclement around Lin Xiao Tian.
The closer Xiao Ming got to the cave, the louder the hissing became.
Finally, a furious hiss was heard, and the commotion inside the cave intensified.
"Damn it, where did this white snake come from!" Xiao Ming cursed.
"Are you alright?" Lin Xiao Tian shouted from outside.
"I'm fine. This white snake is quite fierce, but it can't do anything to me. You guys wait outside, and I'll come out when I've cleared it." Xiao Ming replied.
About a minute later, Xiao Ming's voice came again.
"No problem, you can come in."
The group advanced in an orderly fashion. Lin Xiao Tian and Liang Xu entered the cave, while the others guarded the entrance.
The cave was not deep, but it was quite large, enough to accommodate more than ten people.
Lin Xiao Tian scanned the cave meticulously with his divine sense. The next moment, he let out a surprised exclamation.
"What is this?"
Lin Xiao Tian moved in the direction of a small snake.
The small snake lunged to bite Lin Xiao Tian, but Lin Xiao Tian was much faster and easily subdued it.
Xiao Ming and Liang Xu rushed over, wanting to get the small snake off Lin Xiao Tian, as it had coiled around his neck.
But Lin Xiao Tian didn't mind.
His attention was entirely on the small snake.
After sensing it again, Lin Xiao Tian confirmed his judgment: this little white snake actually had the aura of a dragon!
You must know that even its mother, the white viper, after growing for a hundred years, only possessed the aura of a snake. Yet this small one already had the aura of a dragon.
This meant that if the little white snake grew up, it would at least become a flood dragon!
Lin Xiao Tian had already witnessed the power of a flood dragon; becoming one meant having a strength of at least the Foundation Establishment stage.
However, Lin Xiao Tian was more concerned about why the little white snake had the aura of a dragon.
Unfortunately, the little white snake was not yet intelligent, so Lin Xiao Tian couldn't ask it.
"Can we install cameras here?" Lin Xiao Tian asked Xiao Ming.
"Yes, but we'll have to go back and prepare. Also, there's no signal in Black Mountain, so we'll have to come into the mountains every so often to retrieve the footage."
Lin Xiao Tian nodded, "Then prepare and install them here."
After finishing this, Lin Xiao Tian was about to leave.
But before he took a few steps, he suddenly turned his head and found the little white snake following him.
Lin Xiao Tian looked back at it, and the little white snake bared its fangs and hissed at him menacingly.
Thus, the little white snake followed them all the way to the boundary of Black Mountain. Seemingly affected by something, it could only stare blankly at Lin Xiao Tian.
Lin Xiao Tian thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something.
He reached into his bag, and a black bead appeared in his hand.
Upon seeing the bead, the little white snake became agitated and hissed incessantly on the spot.
Lin Xiao Tian smiled.
"Little thing, you've got good taste."
The black bead was the demonic core of a low-level demonic beast. Lin Xiao Tian was not stingy and directly threw it to the little white snake.
The little white snake swallowed it in one gulp, then threatened Lin Xiao Tian with a few more hisses before leaving contentedly.
"That beast is truly ungrateful," Xiao Ming couldn't help but curse.