"Fever?" Bai Jiao, being a doctor, was exceptionally sensitive to symptoms. He stepped forward and asked, "What kind of fever is it? Is it on the forehead or all over the body? Are there any other symptoms? Like vomiting?"
He had studied the medical history of Brant Star. In the earliest primitive times, tribes generally had only one doctor—the shaman, a highly respected figure second only to the chief. He had read many cases where, when the shaman couldn't cure someone's illness, the conclusion was often that the Beast God was going to take that person away.
He used to lament the backwardness of ancient medicine when he read about it; even the simplest cold could take a person's life.
The current situation was almost identical to what he had read in books, and he couldn't stand idly by.
"How did you know?" A dark-skinned man looked at him in surprise. "White hair? Are you a physician from the White Feather Clan?"
"I'm not from the White Feather Clan, but I am a doctor," Bai Jiao said calmly, his pace unhurried. "May I go see the sick Kabu?"
The man was very interested, but Bai Jiao and his companions' origins were too mysterious, and he dared not take the risk. The other companions offered their opinions, and the group discussed for a long time without making a decision.
Xie Sen looked at the hesitant appearance of these burly men and couldn't help but speak up: "We mean no harm. If you're worried about us going in, you can carry Kabu out. Anyway, you all think he's going to be taken away by the Beast God, so why not give it a try?"
This suggestion made the dark-skinned man's eyes light up: "Wait, I'll go find the chief."
Not long after, he came out. With him came the short-haired chief. The two of them carried a wooden plank, on which lay a tall, thin man. At this moment, his face was flushed from fever, his lips were dry and cracked with white edges and a bluish center, and he was frowning and muttering in his sleep.
The short-haired blond man placed the wooden plank on the ground, stood up, and looked at Bai Jiao expectantly: "Are you really a doctor? Can you really save Kabu?"
Bai Jiao said, "I'll do my best." He squatted down beside Kabu, carefully examining his eyes, mouth, and tongue. Then he took out an antidote pill from his backpack space, fed it to Kabu, and took out a bottle of water, lifted Kabu's head, and slowly fed it to him.
The surrounding natives were stunned. One of them knelt down in front of Bai Jiao with a thud: "You can actually conjure things out of thin air! Divine messenger, you must be a divine messenger. Are you here to save us?"
The people next to him knelt down with tears in their eyes: "We're saved! We're saved..."
Bai Jiao was startled and waved his hand, saying, "You've misunderstood. I'm not a divine messenger."
Long Teng chuckled and said, "The things were taken out of the spatial backpack, not conjured up." As he spoke, he opened his palm, and the next moment a bottle of water appeared in his hand. "See, I can do that too." He unscrewed the cap and took a sip.
"Cough cough cough..." Suddenly, a cough came from Kabu's throat, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on him. They saw his tightly closed eyes slowly open, blink unfocusedly, and finally land on Bai Jiao's handsome face.
He raised his hand and gently touched Bai Jiao's loose white hair, a strange light shining in his eyes: "Divine messenger, have you come to take me away?"
Bai Jiao tucked her hair behind her ear, stepped back and stood up, saying: "I am not a divine messenger, and you are still alive."
"Kabu!" The short-haired man rushed to Kabu, grabbing his shoulders excitedly. "You're alright! You're really alright! That's wonderful!"
He quickly stood up, facing Bai Jiao, clenched his right fist, bent his arm, and placed his fist over his heart. "I am Kawi, the leader of the Lion Clan. Kabu is our clan's shaman, my brother. Thank you for your help. You will be a friend of our Lion Clan forever."
Bai Jiao said, "You're welcome." He took out three more pills, glanced at Kawi, and then took out a small medicine box, packed them in, and handed it to Kawi. "He's still very weak. Give him this three times before each meal tomorrow."
Kawi thanked him gratefully and solemnly accepted the medicine box. "Thank you. Did you really take these things from your backpack? Why didn't I see a backpack?"
Bai Jiao pointed to the white jade bracelet on his wrist. "This is it. It's different from your backpack."
Kawi looked at the bracelet in surprise, completely unable to understand how it could hold so many things.
Bai Jiao didn't intend to explain; even a day and a night might not be enough to clarify. He said, "Take Kabu back to rest. More rest is good for his health."
Kawei snapped out of his daze and ordered his men to carry Kabu back. Kabu kept looking at Bai Jiao. Seeing that they were about to leave, he asked weakly but quickly, "What's your name? Which tribe are you from?"
Kawei knew his brother best; he was clearly interested in this female. Feeling a headache coming on, he quickly said, "They're not from the Yamu land. You should go and rest." He urged the tribal warriors to carry Kabu away quickly.
"You were able to come here, so you can definitely leave. You should leave quickly. What I said before was true; you'll die if you don't leave," Kawei said heavily after Kabu left, his attitude completely different from before.
Xie Sen asked, "What exactly happened? What did you mean by the Beast God's wrath?"
Kawei looked eastward with a serious expression: "The Beast God is angry. The plants on the Holy Mountain are growing wildly, even attacking us and preventing us from climbing the mountain. It no longer protects us. In another full moon, the rainy season will arrive, and the floods will wash away our tribe. We will all drown!"
Xie Sen thought to himself, "It's definitely related to wood energy." If Kawei looking eastward was just a coincidence, the rampant growth of plants was undeniable; it was definitely affected by wood energy.
However, he was still surprised: "The rainy season's water volume is so high? We'll drown if we don't go up the mountain?"
"The Yamu Continent is surrounded by seas. During the rainy season, the water level rises, and the current plains will become a vast ocean. Only the Holy Mountain can protect us. But now, it refuses to protect us." Kawei clenched his fists tightly.
Xie Sen realized the seriousness of the situation, his expression filled with worry. If it weren't for saving him, Adan's energy wouldn't have scattered to various places, and the Yamu Continent wouldn't have suffered such a disaster. He had to retrieve the energy as soon as possible!
"The Holy Mountain is nearly 300 kilometers away from here. How do you know about the situation there?" Xie Sen asked.
Kawi looked at him in surprise: "Does 300 kilometers refer to the distance? Didn't you come from somewhere else? How do you know the location of the Holy Mountain?"
Xie Sen was taken aback, thinking that this person was quite perceptive: "We saw it when we came."
Kawi didn't suspect anything and explained: "The Eagle Clan tribe is not far from us. They often go to the Holy Mountain to pick wild fruits and exchange them for prey with us. They brought the news back. After I received the news, I went to see it myself and only returned to the tribe yesterday. That's when Kabu was injured."
Xie Sen suddenly understood and said to the other companions: "Let's rest first, how about we go to the Holy Mountain tomorrow?"
"Great!" Long Teng said excitedly, "I've never fought with plants before! He said plants can attack, I'm so curious!"
Bai Jiao nodded: "Since there are edible wild fruits, there should be other plants as well."
Maine nodded: "I'll go with you."
Liu Chen remained silent and did not express his opinion. His purpose for this trip was only to guide Maine and Long Teng. It was their first time flying a spaceship and they were going on a long trip, which was really worrying. His presence was to prevent them from having any problems, just in case.
He didn't need to concern himself with or participate in any of their actions.
Kawi said, "Don't go! Many animals in the mountains are running away, and the plants will attack people. The Holy Mountain is very dangerous now!"
Seeing his anxious expression, Xie Sen smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, we'll be careful."
Kawi watched them board the spaceship with a worried look on his face. They had saved Kabu, and he didn't want anything to happen to them.
"Chief, don't worry, they all seem very powerful, almost like legendary divine messengers. Maybe they can even save us!"
"Yes, Chief, they know it's dangerous but they still go, they must be very confident."
Kawi nodded, "May the Beast God bless them!"
The next morning, bright light shone through the glass onto the beds in the spaceship's lounge. Xie Sen turned his head and glanced at them, a look of joy in his eyes. He hadn't seen this kind of natural light for several days and felt a little nostalgic.
Maine wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his neck. "Good morning."
Xie Sen turned around, gently biting his chin, his eyes crinkling slightly. "Good morning. What's for breakfast? Congee or potato pancakes?"
"Congee," Maine kissed him on the lips. Just then, a loud eagle cry came from outside the window. Maine frowned, jumped off the bed, and went to the window to look out. "A giant eagle flew into the Lion Clan's territory."
Xie Sen immediately thought of what Kawi had said yesterday. "Could it be a messenger from the Eagle Clan?"
"Possibly."
After washing up, the two went to the kitchen to make breakfast. The five of them ate breakfast together. After breakfast, Xie Sen and the other three disembarked from the spaceship, while Liu Chen stayed behind to guard and check the ship. As soon as
Long Teng jumped off the spaceship, he summoned the flying dragon beast, Da Hei. Da Hei excitedly flew around twice in the air, letting out a light dragon roar, before landing. It nuzzled Maine, curled up next to Long Teng, and looked around curiously.
"Their tribe and their attire are almost identical to ours in ancient times," Bai Jiao remarked, looking at the tribe enclosed by clods of earth and branches.
Xie Sen smiled. He knew little about the history of Brant Star, only that modern humans were once orcs. Orcs? Well…
just as he was thinking this, a cry of an eagle echoed from the Lion Clan tribe. A giant eagle soared into the sky, heading towards them. The tribe's wooden gate opened, and a giant lion charged towards them.
The giant eagle swooped down a short distance away, transforming in the next instant into a tall, gray-haired man with deep, gleaming eyes that fixed on Xie Sen and Bai Jiao.
The giant lion followed a step behind, abruptly transforming into a man as it approached—it was Kawei.
"Wow! So cool!" Long Teng exclaimed excitedly. "Could our ancestors have done that too?"
Bai Jiao smiled and said, "Yes, our ancestors were beastmen."
Kawei stepped forward, about to speak, when he saw the flying dragon beast beside Long Teng and exclaimed in surprise, "Dragon?"
Long Teng smiled and said, "It's a flying dragon beast, my contracted beast."
Kawei didn't understand, thinking that the contracted beast he was referring to was like a pet, and was shocked. How powerful must someone be to treat such a powerful creature as a pet?
Even knowing how powerful they were, he still said, "This is Ferser of the Eagle Clan. He just went to scout out the situation at the Holy Mountain this morning." He looked eastward with a worried expression. "More and more animals are coming out. The closer you get to the Holy Mountain, the more dangerous it
becomes. You can't go there." Ferser's gaze lingered on Xie Sen and Bai Jiao, his eyes shining. "I heard you're from another continent? That's amazing. Oh, what beautiful females. Forgive my impertinence, but I've never met two females more beautiful than you two. That white skin…"
Xie Sen's lips twitched. This seemingly sincere praise did not make him happy.
Maine, with his arm around Shesen's waist, looked at him coldly: "Look away."
Forser paused, "Sorry, I just couldn't help praising him, I didn't mean to seduce him." He then looked at Bai Jiao.
Bai Jiao had a handsome face, his white hair making his skin appear even whiter, giving him a somewhat aloof air. He smiled politely at Forser and looked at Kawi: "Thanks for the reminder, but we still have to go."
Long Teng, sitting on the back of the dragon, waved to them, quite impatiently: "Let's go!"
Forser glanced at the dragon and suggested: "It might be inconvenient for you all to go together, shall I give you a ride?"
"No need," Maine refused cleanly.
Kawi, seeing them get on the dragon's back and about to leave, became somewhat anxious. Xie Sen smiled at him, "The flying dragon can fly, so even if there's danger, we can come back safely. Don't worry, we have a companion here. If anything happens, please keep an eye on him." "
Of course," Kawei nodded solemnly. "You saved Kabu; you're lifelong friends of the Lion Clan."
The flying dragon flew into the sky and quickly headed east. It was fast, but it didn't fly very high so that Xie Sen and the others could see the ground.
In less than half an hour, groups of animals were running below. Xie Sen said, "Just as Kawei said."
Bai Jiao said, "It's fortunate we have the flying dragon; otherwise, going across from the ground would have been very dangerous."
The flying dragon flicked its tail, quite proud.
As they approached, the Holy Mountain revealed its full form. It resembled a giant hemisphere, expanding infinitely horizontally and vertically. The mountain's curves were very smooth, giving it a strangely gentle feel.
The closer they got, the more animals appeared on the ground, and the more frantic their progress became. Xie Sen frowned as he looked at the sacred mountain: "What on earth happened?"
His question was soon answered. They reached the edge of the mountain and looked up. There was almost no light in the forest; the entire forest was exceptionally gloomy.
Xie Sen felt the heat on his right shoulder, knowing that wood energy was inside. He gently stroked the scales of the flying dragon beast: "Fly up and check the situation." The flying dragon
beast flicked its long tail and quickly ascended. Although the mountain's curve was smooth, its height was considerable. The flying dragon beast flew until it reached above the mountain's highest point before stopping.
"Wow! What a huge flower!" Long Teng pointed to the mountaintop.
Almost the entire mountain was covered by a golden flower. The flower was brightly colored and extremely large. If one were not standing at a high vantage point, one would never guess its true identity.
They were just above the edge of the petals when the dragon suddenly swung its tail and flew towards the center. Xie Sen quickly pressed his palm against its scales, shouting, "Big Black, don't move!"
However, the dragon was incredibly fast, having already passed the edge of the petals and reached above the flower.
Suddenly, a flat, triangular object, about the size of an arm, with white edges and a black body, shot out from the flower, aiming sharply at the dragon's eyes. The dragon quickly twisted to dodge the attack, and the four people behind it were instantly thrown outwards by its movement.
Maine held Xie Sen tightly in his arms, and Long Teng grabbed Bai Jiao's arm, protecting her.
"Get out of the flower's range," Maine said to the dragon, watching the flat, triangular object shoot out from the flower again. The dragon
flew outwards, dodging the triangular objects, but after dodging one, another appeared immediately. It wasn't afraid of being hit, after all, it had solid scales, but the people on its back didn't, so it couldn't take the hits head-on and could only nimbly dodge.
Xie Sen staggered, but Maine held him firmly. He glanced down, his heart pounding with anxiety. At this height, being hit by a falling object would be fatal.
"Lower," Maine said, one arm around Xie Sen and the other steadying him.
The flying dragon descended rapidly, its attack momentarily ceasing. However, before the group could even breathe a sigh of relief, the flower grew even taller, its blossoms tilting as if its head were tilted, continuing to launch flat objects at them.
Xie Sen had a flash of inspiration and summoned the watermelon vine, commanding it to form a net above them, blocking the triangular objects.
It did block them, but the triangular objects attacked very quickly. When they collided with the vine net, the edges created immense friction, severing the vine. After blocking once, the vine was broken in half, insufficient to withstand the next attack.
Bai Jiao said, "It turns very slowly." The only time it stopped attacking was when the flower turned.
"Rise to the middle, then descend from the other side," Maine immediately ordered.
His words immediately made everyone understand his intention; this way, if the flower wanted to track them, it would have to turn 180 degrees, taking a long time.
The dragon beast reacted swiftly. The instant Maine finished speaking, its body suddenly rose higher, dodging attacks as it flew towards the highest point. Then it flew towards the middle, preparing to follow Maine's instructions and descend from the other side.
"What thick branches!" As it passed the highest point, Long Teng's eyes gleamed as he looked at the branches revealed by the flower's tilted head.
At this moment, the flower tilted its head to the side, and since they were above and temporarily safe from attack, the group had a chance to chat. Xie Sen looked around: "Below it is a forest, and when it turns, its branches will hit the trees in the mountains. No wonder it turns slowly."
Bai Jiao nodded and added, "Its flowers are huge, and when it veers to the side, the trees will also block its flower calyx. If we land low enough, it can't attack us." He frowned as he spoke, "But there are too many wild beasts below, and it's not safe at low altitudes."
Maine pondered, staring into the interior of the forest: "It might be safest inside."
When they passed the midpoint where the flower's branches were, Xie Sen's right shoulder felt extremely hot. He covered his right shoulder and stared down: "What I need is below its branches."
The flying dragon instinctively stopped: "Should we go down?" The mountaintop, which had been covered, now had gaps because the flower had turned, and they could find gaps in the trees to go down.
"Hurry up," Bai Jiao urged before making a decision, "It turns upwards very quickly!"
Just then, two triangular creatures attacked them at the same time. The flying dragon flew forward, and Xie Sen summoned a vine net. Before the triangular creatures could attack, he directed the vine net to wrap around them in mid-air.
The first vine to touch snapped instantly, but it stopped their advance, and the vines behind them successfully wrapped them up.
"Great!" Long Teng laughed.
"Roar~~~" Suddenly, a deafening lion's roar came from the mountains below. The flower, which was turning its head, stopped abruptly. The next moment, the mountains echoed with the mournful cries of various birds and beasts. Maine's
expression changed drastically. He looked down, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Flying Lion Beast."
Xie Sen's eyes lit up with joy, but then he said with concern, "It seems to be fighting."
Bai Jiao nodded: "Judging from the noise, it is indeed fighting. The flower's reaction is strange, it may be related to it. It's too dangerous for us to go directly down to the middle. Why don't we land from the outside and then approach the middle to observe the situation?"
Xie Sen also thought this was a good idea. He looked at Maine, who nodded: "Okay."
The Flying Lion Beast flew away from the middle and landed in a sparsely vegetated area about ten kilometers away. Before landing, it deliberately let out a roar to intimidate the wild beasts.
The area around their landing site was unusually quiet, making the distant roar of the lion all the more distinct.
Seeing that everything was alright, Xie Sen summoned a watermelon vine. The vine shot up in front of him, carrying two flat triangular objects. He retracted the vine, and the two objects fell to the ground.
Long Teng curiously picked them up and examined them: "What are these? Can weapons grow inside flowers?"
Xie Sen stared at the triangular objects, finding them increasingly familiar, as if they were—enlarged sunflower seeds! Then, he suddenly realized that if the flower were shrunk infinitely, wouldn't it be a sunflower?
His lips twitched; he felt something was amiss—perhaps it just looked similar.
Even so, he couldn't resist taking one from Long Teng's hand to examine it. Then, he used his thumb to firmly tap the edge, and a crisp 'snap' rang out, revealing a small hole in the surface of the flat triangular object.
Xie Sen looked at the 'weapon of mass destruction' with a complex expression. He quickly peeled off the outer shell along the hole, revealing plump, white flesh, exactly the shape of a sunflower seed!
He leaned closer to smell it, and a faint aroma of sunflower seeds wafted over. He took a bite, and the familiar taste of sunflower seeds filled his taste buds. It wasn't the sweet aroma of roasted seeds, but it had its own natural fragrance.
Mei Yin snatched the sunflower seeds from his hand, pinched his chin, and said in a deep voice, "Spit them out!" His eyes were filled with unease, "What if I get poisoned?"
Xie Sen held his hand and reassured him, "It's okay, I won't eat random things. These are sunflower seeds, they're edible. If you don't believe me, ask Bai Jiao, they're non-poisonous."
Bai Jiao took the sunflower seed kernel and examined it carefully, then broke off a piece and tasted it: "It's definitely not poisonous. I've seen descriptions of sunflower seeds in ancient books, but they weren't this big."
Xie Sen said, "This is the first time I've seen such big ones either. It must be related to what I'm looking for."
Mei Yin's expression relaxed slightly. Long Teng cracked open the large sunflower seed in his hand with a few snaps, then took two bites, his eyes shining: "Mmm...delicious!"
Long Teng saw that the piece Xie Sen had eaten earlier was now in Bai Jiao's hand. So he broke off half of the melon seeds and gave one to Maine: "We'll eat one, and they can eat one."
The four of them quickly finished the melon seeds, and Long Teng was still a little unsatisfied: "Ah, how about we fly up again and let it attack us?"
Xie Sen laughed: "It's stuck here and can't move, no rush. Let's check the situation of the Flying Lion Beast first, and when the sounds of battle subside, we'll slowly approach it."
Long Teng thought it made a lot of sense, and he laughed and patted Maine's shoulder: "Hahaha, aren't you excited? I was super excited when I saw the Flying Lion Beast."
Maine glanced at him: "Yeah."
Xie Sen couldn't help but smile when he heard this, but the corners of his mouth froze as soon as they curved into a smile. A sudden heat swept through his body from his heart, the temperature was so high that it almost burned him.
He couldn't help but groan, his body slumping downwards. Maine quickly caught him, his pupils contracting sharply: "Ah Sen!"
Xie Sen sensed the panic in his voice and wanted to smile at him, but his consciousness was engulfed in an astonishing heat. He bit his tongue, regaining a sliver of clarity, and grabbed Maine's sleeve, revealing a reassuring smile.
Maine's complexion showed no improvement. He hurriedly called to Bai Jiao, "Come quickly and see what's wrong with Asen? Could he be poisoned?"
Bai Jiao's expression was tense as he carefully examined Xie Sen, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. "It's not poisoning. A sudden high fever is too strange, unless..." He paused abruptly, "No, that doesn't make sense."
Maine looked anxious. "What exactly happened?"
Bai Jiao took Xie Sen's pulse and then took out a stethoscope from his backpack. Finally, he said, "Although it doesn't make sense, there's no better explanation than this." He looked at Xie Sen's left shoulder. "Could you take off his clothes?"
Maine noticed his gaze and immediately understood. "You mean this is a reaction to the awakening contract?"
"Yes, but I can't be sure, after all, he has already awakened." Bai Jiao said.
Recalling the scene of his awakening of the Flying Lion Beast, Main said in a deep voice, "It might be a second awakening. Asen is a plant-type beast master; his beast markings are on his right shoulder." As
he spoke, he pulled down Main's right shoulder collar, revealing a five-colored peony with vibrant red and yellow petals and duller petals.
Main frowned: "No change, it's the same as before." He was with Xie Sen every day and even knew the appearance of the five-colored peony better than Xie Sen himself.
Bai Jiao looked at the five-colored peony in surprise, and Long Teng leaned over and said, "Could Asen's awakened beast markings not be on his right shoulder, but somewhere else?"
Main didn't speak, but instead pulled up Xie Sen's right shoulder collar, then pulled down Xie Sen's left shoulder collar, revealing a pattern faintly appearing on his originally fair skin. "It really is a second awakening!" Bai Jiao breathed a sigh of relief
. "His awakening reaction is very strong; we need to find a place for him to rest properly."
Long Teng smiled and took out a folding tent from his backpack: "I'll set up the tent."