In the evening, the setting sun on the top of the mountain has not yet faded, and the moon has already hung on the willow branches.
The coldness in the mountains sweeps outward from the prostrate Dawu Mountains, bringing bursts of bone-chilling chill.
Even though Shen Xiu's Qi and blood are abundant and he has reached the second level, when encountering the chill from the mountains, fine goosebumps still pop up on the skin of his body inadvertently.
Now, he arrived near the Dawu Mountains, fifty miles north of Taixi City.
This mountain range across Heyang County is more than thousands of miles long and is extremely rich in medicinal materials, thus supporting batches of medicinal collectors down the mountain.
What Shen Xiu did was to be a medicine collector.
This was the last mission he had ever accepted.
He guessed that the employer who entrusted the task should be a rich woman, because the content of the task was to take a beauty fruit from the mountain.
That is the main ingredient specially used to refine Zhuyan Dan.
As for where, the rich woman provided information on the route and location to find the beauty fruit. The map was relatively detailed, and it seemed that she had spent a lot of money to buy it.
Women really go to great lengths to pursue beauty.
After walking forward for a while, some smoke curled up, and the dilapidated huts came into view. A small town with herb gatherers, hunters, firewood farmers, etc. as the main force, relying on Dawu Mountain, began to slowly appear.
Shen Xiu had learned before that there was a place to stay at the foot of the Dawu Mountains here called Yangjia Town.
It's almost evening now, and obviously we can't stay outside any longer. Who knows what kind of things there are in this wild world where demons and evil spirits exist.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the town, a young man wearing a shabby red robe suddenly came over from the roadside with steps that he didn't recognize, and stopped in front of Shen Xiu.
His eyes arrogantly glanced at Shen Xiu's body, and he said lazily, "One penny into town."
Shen Xiu took out a prepared piece of broken silver and handed it to the young man. The young man in red robe showed a satisfied smile and waved his hand for Shen Xiu to go in.
Before coming here, Shen Xiu had already inquired about information about this small town.
It is said that the ancestors of the local Yang family first settled here, and later gathered the surrounding refugees and individual households to establish such a small town here.
With the idea of being prepared for danger in times of peace and taking precautions, they sent people to guard day and night to protect the safety of Zhenshan residents. Shen Xiu didn't know what the protection method was.
However, since he was new here, he didn’t want to attract attention, so he naturally followed the rules here.
Entering the town, you will see a dilapidated street with potholes, dark dirty water, and mosquitoes raging.
The hygiene is beyond words.
Stretching into the distance, there are some equally dilapidated shops and pubs on both sides.
This dilapidated appearance is almost incomparable with the Guiyan Town that Shen Xiu visited before.
Outsiders call it a town, but it is more appropriate to call it a larger village.
Chen Xiu went into a nearby tavern with wine flags hanging on it.
I found that the tavern was very dilapidated and the environment inside was in a messy state. Many tables and long stools were cracked with thin cracks, and the bowls, chopsticks, and wine glasses were all covered with wanton scars.
But even so, the shabby tavern was still mostly full, mostly men wearing shabby clothes.
Among them are those who carry medicine baskets to collect herbs, some who use hatchets to chop wood, or those who carry bows on their backs for hunting. They are all kinds of men who are looking for a living.
While they were drinking and eating meat, with cups and bowls mingling on the table, they were boasting wildly and shouting about their opinions.
There is a lot of humidity in Dawushan Mountain, and it is even colder and damper during the rainy season. Some men drink a pot of hot water to warm themselves before entering or leaving the mountain. This is a common practice among mountainside residents.
After all, even if nothing happens, just drinking a little wine, bragging, and trying to survive can be considered a fun time.
Amidst the ups and downs of shouts and the exchange of drinks, Shen Xiu walked to an empty table and put down the long knife behind his back.
In an instant, eyes with different expressions were cast from other tables.
Most of the people who can make a living by collecting herbs here are familiar faces. When a foreign face appears here, it is like a black pig thrown into a herd of white pigs. They will soon find out.
After all, there are only so many people in this small town, and they see each other countless times every day, so they are naturally very familiar with each other.
Unconsciously, Shen repaired the exposed corner of the hundred-forged sword on the table, a strange look flashed in his eyes, and his greed was beyond words.
For those of them who lick blood from their knives and go up the mountain to worship gods, risks are always there. Sometimes it is extremely normal to find some fat sheep to beat the autumn wind.
Chen Xiu was not afraid of those gazes, and even after seeing those gazes, he exposed the entire blade of the sword to let them see what kind of knife it was.
Some smart people recognized the value of this sword, and then looked at Shen Xiu's confident attitude, which was unusual for ordinary people.
Naturally, you will think of this person's confidence, and you will naturally consider whether your own strength is enough and whether you can swallow it.
In the tavern, there were indeed fewer unfocused glances. Some people calmed down, while others were still staring at Shen Xiu's young face.
His eyes were thinking, not knowing what he was planning.
Ignoring the different expressions, Shen Xiu ordered a large plate of beef and a pot of wine and ate slowly. After eating and drinking, his body gradually warmed up.
All that's left is to go out and stay in a hotel.
Not far after he walked out of the tavern, he immediately noticed two little thieves following closely behind him. Their whereabouts were barely concealed, and they looked very blatant.
Passing by a fence, Shen Xiu punched.
With a loud explosion, the solid wall was like paper, and a big hole opened in an instant.
Such power made the two thieves behind him look at each other, think about their own physical strength, and leave decisively.
After finding a not-so-good hotel, Shen Xiu made do with the Hundred Forged Knife for the night. After asking for directions, he left the town and headed towards the Dawu Mountains.
There are thousands of peaks in the Dawu Mountains, some big and some small, some famous and some unknown.
What Shen Xiu went to this time was the Scarlet Blood Peak at the end of the mountain range.
The Red Blood Peak is about six to seven hundred meters high. It is in the middle of the Dawu Mountains and is not worth mentioning in front of the main peaks that are over a thousand feet high. It can only be regarded as a small slope.
It is named because the mountain has unique characteristics and is mostly made of red stones. When falling rain, it looks like it is stained with blood.
Gu Xuan set off, and when a large swath of red came into view, he arrived at the Crimson Blood Peak, the mission target location.
He recalled the map route he had seen in his mind, identified a direction from it, and walked deep into the jungle.
According to the map he observed before, the location of the Liu Yan Guo plant is in the stone forest at the end of this jungle.