The Evernight Forest!
A clear line separated day and night, just like the moon. Half of Nanming Planet was always night, while the other half was always day.
Xia Fei turned on the night vision system, and a pair of thin glasses popped out to cover his eyes.
The last Adjudicator to arrive had increased his speed after entering the Evernight Forest, and the tracks he left behind were getting harder and harder to distinguish.
"We can't go on like this. Tracking is too slow." Xia Fei crouched down and looked at a shallow footprint. Next to it was the footprint of some large feline. The deeper he went into the Evernight Forest, the greater the interference from other animals, making it extremely difficult to track.
"Then what do we do?" Sun Zhan asked.
"Let's take a gamble."
"Gamble?"
"Yes. Let's bet that their destination is that pool in the heart of the Evernight Forest. My speed is many times faster than theirs, so if our destination is the same, I'll surely be able to catch up to them." Xia Fei very calmly analyzed.
Speed was Xia Fei's special ability. Though he was also very good at tracking, tracking enemies would slow him down a lot. It had been seven days since the massacre of the Nanming Workers' Association, and the enemies could reach their goal and leave at any time. Time was tight, and he needed to find them as soon as possible.
"Are there any other strange places in the Evernight Forest aside from that pool?"
Sun Zhan thought about it. "There are, but the strangest is still that pool. It nourishes all living things, which is very strange in itself."
Xia Fei nodded. "Right now, I'm going to use my speed ability to get close to that pool. If I don't come back in two hours, it means that there's something strange around the pool. You can follow the familiar path and get there, but remember: Don't act recklessly. Protect yourself and don't act recklessly."
Sun Zhan nodded. "I understand."
Holding Furball close to his chest to avoid damaging it at high speed, Xia Fei's feet flew, quickly approaching the heart of the Evernight Forest under the guidance of the electronic compass.
The trees were getting denser and denser, and many of them were over a kilometer tall, with a diameter longer than dozens of people's arms.
There were all sorts of strange flora and fauna, as well as rare medicinal herbs.
However, Xia Fei did not stop in his tracks. It was not like the herbs would run away from the forest, so it was better to deal with the invaders first.
The weeds on the ground were already taller than Xia Feis height, so it was very inconvenient for him to move forward. Furthermore, he was unable to observe his surroundings. Xia Feis two feet pushed off the ground and leaped onto a tree branch, stepping on the branches in midair to move forward as nimbly as a monkey.
The mountain in front of him gradually grew taller. Xia Fei reached the peak and looked down.
Surrounded by several mountains, there was a pool with a diameter of over eighty miles. The dark pool was so deep that the bottom could not be seen. On both sides of the pool were towering trees and steep mountain walls. Silence!
Crouching on a branch that was more than five hundred meters above the ground, Xia Fei scanned the pool at the foot of the hill.
"Powerful energy fluctuations are coming from the pool water. These plants should be relying on the pool water that is filled with energy to grow." Gui Ying said.
Furball could also feel the energy in the pool, greedily drooling. If not for Xia Fei stopping him, this fellow would surely have rushed down the mountain to drink all the water in the pool.
"Someone is hiding here!"
* Whoosh! *
Xia Fei suddenly made his move. The Dragonscale Hectoslasher transformed into a two-handed blade, and Xia Fei pounced toward a patch of grass like a bolt of lightning!
The weeds that were taller than a man were cut down by Xia Fei with two slashes, one close to the ground and the other at waist height.
Like a cutting machine, the blades of grass fell one after another, leaving only the roots behind.
"No one? That's impossible. I clearly sensed someone hiding in the grass, spying on me, "Xia Fei muttered to himself in shock.
"Kid, you're getting faster and faster. You nearly took this old man's life." An old voice rang out.
Xia Fei turned his head and saw an old man sitting on a tree branch, holding a bowl of red braised meat in his hand as he spoke to Xia Fei.
"Old man Yuchi!" Xia Fei's eyes flashed as he exclaimed in surprise.
…
On a large tree at the top of the hill, Xia Fei and Yuchi Dao sat side by side on a branch, observing the movement of the pool at the foot of the hill through the dense foliage.
A bowl of red braised meat was not enough, so Yuchi Dao took out a pot from his spatial ring and used an alloy ladle to shove it into his mouth.
"Do you want to try some? The red braised meat I made is very tasty," Yuchi Dao said with a mouth full of grease.
Xia Fei glanced at the fatty pieces of meat. Each piece weighed at least half a kilogram, half fat and half lean. There was even a layer of skin attached to them, and it was extremely greasy after being soaked in grease.
"You should eat it yourself. This stuff is full of fat and cholesterol. I can't enjoy it." Xia Fei hurriedly shook his head.
Yuchi Dao rolled his eyes at Xia Fei. "You don't know how to enjoy life. This is the meat of a spotted boar. I hunted it myself in the woods yesterday."
No matter what Yuchi Dao said, Xia Fei remained unmoved. Feeling bored, Yuchi Dao stuffed two pieces of fatty meat into his mouth before putting away the pot and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.
"In the blink of an eye, it's been over a year since we last met. Old man, why have you wandered all the way to Planet Nanming? Were you the one who piloted that Adjudicator Union frigate? "Xia Fei asked.
"Oh, it's like this. The current president of Nanming Association, Sun Guang, is a junior of mine. His father gave me many good fruits back in the day, so we can be considered old acquaintances. Later, when Sun Guang became the sect master, he never stopped giving me gifts. Come to think of it, I owe Nanming Association quite a favor.
"Though Nanming has been giving me gifts all these years, he has never made any requests. It was only a month ago that Sun Guang suddenly said that the sect might be in trouble and hoped that I could come to Planet Nanming to stay for a few days.
"You have to be reasonable. I've eaten his gifts for decades, and now that he's asking me to do something for him, of course I can't refuse, so I set off for Planet Nanming."
Xia Fei smiled. "Then, you arrived late and discovered that most of the people from Nanming Association had already been killed. In your anger, you chased those intruders all the way to this pool."
Yuchi Dao laughed happily. "Kid, how did you know?"
Xia Fei laughed. "Because you're Yuchi Dao. Isn't it always your style to be late?"
Yuchi Dao was speechless. "Why do you sound more and more like that mad dog Qin Mangs mocking me all those years ago? You really are Qin Mangs disciple; you even speak in the same tone as him. "
Xia Fei said, "First of all, I'm really not old man Qin Mangs disciple. Second, it's not like I'm the one who caused you to be late."
"Hah!" Yuchi Dao slammed his thigh. "This problem of being late is really troublesome. Wasn't I just late by a week, yet Nanming was almost wiped out."
Xia Fei shrugged. "It wasn't almost; it was already wiped out."
"No!" Yuchi Dao was unconvinced. "Sun Guang and his wife and daughter are still alive, being held captive by those powerful people in the forest by the pool.
Xia Fei looked in the direction Yuchi Dao was pointing and saw several figures moving in the forest. Due to the distance and the dense foliage, it was impossible to see them unless one looked carefully.
"Speaking of which, Xia Fei, how did you end up on Planet Nanming?" Yuchi Dao turned around and asked after he was done with his duties.
"Sun Guang's son, Sun Zhan, is a brother of mine. He hasn't been able to contact his family for the past few days and is very worried, so I accompanied him back to take a look."
"Oh, Sun Guang's disobedient son is still alive. That's a blessing in disguise." Yuchi Dao nodded as he muttered to himself.
Xia Fei asked, "Since you've already discovered the location of those intruders, why haven't you rescued the Sun father and daughter yet?"
Yuchi Dao laughed sinisterly. "There's no rush. Those fellows are very careful, and the pool is surrounded by hidden traps. It won't be a problem for me to barge in and kill them, but it won't be good if I end up implicating Sun Guang's family. Sigh, being late by a few days has already caused the deaths of all the disciples of Nanming Association. If even Sun Guang dies, how am I supposed to explain this to his old man?"
"You've come just in time. Let's wait until these guys are tired and resting. I'll attract their attention while you use your speed ability to quickly rescue the Sun Clan members. Then, we'll wipe out these eight brats in one fell swoop," Yuchi Dao said as he swung his fist.
"Eight people? Aside from you, I only found seven footprints. "Xia Fei was puzzled.
"Oh, there's one fellow who has lost his arms and legs and is being carried around like a human stick. His sound ability is very powerful, so you'll have to be careful when you move."
Xia Fei was enlightened. Sun Zhan had once mentioned that the eldest disciple of Nanming Association had lost his arms and legs because he had gone into the pool with his master, becoming a cripple. He was then kicked out of the association.
Presumably, the human stick Yuchi Dao was referring to was this eldest disciple. Back when he and Sun Guang explored the pool, they must have discovered some secret. Many years later, the eldest disciple had gathered enough strength to return to Nanming Planet, attempting to take over the pool in one fell swoop.
That was why the intruders had such a good understanding of Nanming Association, easily finding the secret chamber, and were unmoved by the valuable medicinal ingredients inside. It turned out that their goal was not the medicinal ingredients but the pool!
In this way, everything had a reasonable explanation.
Xia Fei explained his thoughts to Yuchi Dao, and the latter nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. Nanming Association is a small organization in the Alliance, so there must be a reason for it to be able to produce so many high-grade medicinal ingredients. Now that you've put it that way, I'm rather looking forward to finding out the secret hidden in this pool."
Xia Fei asked, "You've been tailing these intruders. Have you seen them doing anything out of the ordinary?"
Yuchi Dao thought for a moment. "These people seem to be very nervous about the pool. They've been pacing around the pool, but they haven't gotten close. Every hour, someone will throw something into the pool, and so on. Other than that, there's nothing else."
Xia Fei lowered his head in thought for a moment. "Old man Yuchi, why don't we wait here and see just what kind of secret this black pool has? Once these fellows uncover the secret, we'll make our move to rescue them."
"You're thinking of using them to uncover the secret of the pool?"
"That's right."
"That won't do. I'm indebted to Sun Guang's family, so let's save them first. If there really is some secret hidden in the pool, asking Sun Guang will be the same."
Xia Fei nodded. "Though this isn't as good as waiting here and waiting, it's still a safe plan. Let's make our move now. With the two of us working together, taking down these fellows will only take a few minutes."
Yuchi Dao shook his head like a rattle drum. "This old man just ate a big pot of braised pork, and I haven't digested it yet. You stay here and observe for now. I'm going to take a nap and rest up. We'll make our move in two hours. We must ensure that Sun Guang's family is safe."
Yuchi Dao spoke very seriously. It was obvious that he cared a lot about the lives of Sun Guang's family and was unwilling to take any risks. Xia Fei could only nod in agreement, allowing Yuchi Dao to rest up before making his move.
…
Time passed very quickly. Just as Yuchi Dao had said, every hour, a black shadow would approach the pool and throw something that looked like a package into the pool from a distance of seven or eight hundred meters. Then, it would immediately leave, unwilling to stay even a second longer by the pool.
It was always night on the other side of Nanming, so even with night-vision equipment, there was no way to see what was being thrown into the pool.
In the blink of an eye, three hours passed, and something strange happened!
White bubbles appeared in the pool, just like a boiling hot spring!
However, Yuchi Dao, who had gone to rest, had yet to return!
* Pa! *
Xia Fei slapped his forehead. "How stupid! Yuchi Dao's nickname is always late, and this time is no exception!"
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