Chapter 1139: The Robbery Has Come

He Lingchuan and Hu Min's group did not get involved. After replenishing their fresh water, they continued northward.

Along the way, they encountered many teams and witnessed demon hunters capturing bear demons, but none of them were the White Bear King.

Two days later, they arrived at the foot of White Fur Mountain.

Old Liu had been riding a horse for two days and was almost bow-legged, groaning in pain whenever he brought his legs together. Although Ah Luo gave him some medicine, the group still had to rest for half a day before continuing into the mountains.

Luminous Grass only grows on high-altitude peaks, meaning they had to venture deep into the mountains.

White Fur Mountain had been unvisited for many years, so the paths were long gone, and tall grass, taller than a person, grew everywhere.

It had been a bright sunny day when they set out, but somehow, as they walked, the sky became overcast.

During this season, the vegetation on White Fur Mountain was lush, with wildflowers blooming across the slopes, and mulberries and wild apricots hanging heavy with fruit. Bees and butterflies fluttered everywhere, accompanied by the chirping of insects and birds.

After walking a few miles, Hu Min said to He Lingchuan:

"Something's not right. There aren't even any wild rabbits or roe deer here."

In these mountains, roe deer were usually abundant and wouldn't even run from people. Yet, the group hadn't seen a single one their entire journey.

Even rats were scarce.

Menban also said, "Liutiao mentioned that small animals usually gather most under the apricot trees, coming to pick fallen apricots."

However, under the White Bear King's long reign, herbivore populations on White Fur Mountain were pitifully low.

He Lingchuan also had a strong feeling that their group was being watched.

Something was secretly observing them.

Their journey was smooth; they encountered neither demons nor larger predators like tigers, leopards, bears, or wolves.

Experienced hunters knew this was never a good sign.

It indicated that the creatures in the mountains were being secretly restrained by some power.

This power was also very strong.

The Giant Deer Kingdom had already appointed local mountain spirits, a power that mountain spirits should possess.

The original mountain spirit of White Fur Mountain was a giant wild boar, but it had been killed by the White Bear King many years ago. The position of mountain spirit remained vacant for over a decade until the Giant Deer King ascended the throne and re-appointed a five-clawed maple tree as the White Fur Mountain spirit.

The sun quickly set, and nighttime in the mountains was not suitable for further travel, especially with an ordinary civilian in their group.

He Lingchuan found an open space by the water to set up camp. The group then established defensive measures around the campsite, not only setting traps but also deploying formations, primarily for warning.

Hu Min deployed a simplified version of "scattering beans into soldiers." By scattering specially refined beans at the entrances and pathways around the camp, they would emit loud, baby-like wails of pain if anything non-human stepped on them.

With man-eating demons everywhere, no one dared to be careless.

The crying beans sounded twice during the night, but upon inspection, it turned out to be just small rodents passing by, a false alarm.

The next day, before dawn, they continued towards the main peak.

At this point, He Lingchuan particularly missed his rock goat mount. That little creature climbed mountains as easily as walking on flat ground; among other things, it could effortlessly carry an ordinary person up treacherous peaks.

Old Liu climbed for two hours and was completely exhausted. White Fur Peak was so steep that a mere glance made him dizzy.

There was no other way, so He Lingchuan had to assign a guard to carry him up the mountain.

They finally reached above the sunlight line by Shenshi (around 3-5 PM).

Further up, the air became thin, making it difficult for ordinary people to approach. From this point, He Lingchuan tied a red string around his wrist and began chanting the secret code to connect with the Luminous Grass as he walked—

"Prosperity and auspiciousness!"

"Hey, prosperity and auspiciousness, where are you?"

Hu Min and the others followed behind, trying to suppress their laughter. Their leader, with his rear end sticking out, rummaging through the undergrowth in the desolate mountains while continuously shouting this slogan, presented a truly touching picture. They wondered what Old Liu's father was thinking when he agreed upon such a secret code.

After shouting like this a dozen times, He Lingchuan suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint light glowing from a thicket of bushes in his peripheral vision.

He gestured to Hu Min, who immediately crouched low and sneaked over to investigate.

About ten breaths later, Hu Min slipped back and whispered, "It's a glowing plant!"

They found it.

He Lingchuan quickly approached and indeed saw an unusual small plant among a cluster of red-flowered rock jasmine.

It resembled a budding tulip, but its head was bowed, and the soft light from its calyx shone through the petals, like a lantern.

Luminous Grass!

This was the extraordinary plant He Lingchuan had pursued in both the Panlong World and reality, and today he finally saw it with his own eyes.

The other guards quickly stopped. The Luminous Grass only allowed the creature it was connected with to approach; if an unauthorized person got too close, it would immediately flee.

This miraculous little plant, like the mountain spirit, could move freely on White Fur Peak.

He Lingchuan, however, found it strange. He remembered the spider demon sisters saying that Luminous Grass was as white as snow, without a trace of discoloration. Yet, the Luminous Grass before him had red veins covering the surface of its pure white calyx, like capillaries, giving it an eerie and beautiful appearance.

Even the light radiating from its calyx was pale red.

Was this a variant?

A short piece of red string was tied to the Luminous Grass.

He Lingchuan tiptoed forward, bending down and crouching towards the Luminous Grass.

From a distance, it looked as if the man and the plant were bowing to each other.

As he cupped his hands and held them beneath the calyx, the flower slowly opened, and a faint glow fell into his palm.

It was hard to accurately describe the shape of this light; perhaps it was olive-shaped, or perhaps teardrop-shaped.

He Lingchuan felt it was as light as nothing, and warm to the touch.

He took out a pre-prepared crystal box from his pocket, placed the light inside, and let out a sigh of relief.

Finally! It went so smoothly.

He then tied the red string from his hand onto the Luminous Grass, untied the string from the plant's stem, tied it to his own wrist, and then whispered the next secret code.

This completed the renewal of the contract.

Old Liu quickly urged, "It's done, it's done, let's go quickly!"

Although it was summer, the low temperatures on the snowy peak made him stamp his feet from the cold.

He had been constantly on edge, fearing both the sudden appearance of mountain demons and that this group would kill him to silence him after acquiring the Luminous Lamp.

In these wild, desolate mountains, if they decided to kill...

"Don't rush," He Lingchuan said, uttering the words Old Liu least wanted to hear. "We have guests."

Guests? What guests?

Old Liu cried out in dismay in his heart, thinking He Lingchuan really intended to silence him, but then he saw He Lingchuan's guards also turn around, not looking at him, but towards the back of a large rock.

Gigantic, sky-reaching rocks were everywhere here.

No sooner had He Lingchuan finished speaking than five or six people indeed emerged from behind the large rock.

"Eh?" These people looked somewhat familiar. Old Liu immediately remembered, "Aren't you the outsiders who came looking for me a few days ago?"

The leader of this group was in his early twenties, imposing in demeanor, wearing a headscarf like his companions, and large brass earrings. A broken eyebrow on his left side gave him a slightly fierce look.

Two brown-headed gulls flapped their wings and landed behind him.

Now He Lingchuan knew who had been secretly watching him.

This person was quite polite: "Hand over the Luminous Lamp, and we won't have to resort to violence."

Without the red string himself, he needed to wait for He Lingchuan to obtain the Luminous Lamp before he could swoop in and claim it.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Fu Tianlin, and I come from the east," the man said gravely. "My family is waiting for the Luminous Lamp to save their lives. I hope you will part with it."

"Waiting for the Luminous Lamp to save their lives?" He Lingchuan sneered. "Aren't we all?"

There was nothing more to say; it was time to act.

As soon as Fu Tianlin took a step forward, a large, oval shield appeared in Menban's hand, which he immediately flung towards the opposing group.

In a fight, it's always best to strike first.

The shield was massive, but its speed was by no means slow; no one dared to reach out and catch it, everyone scattered to get out of its way.

It was the first time they had seen such a large projectile.

After Menban's favorite square shield was destroyed, Liutiao had found him this new Xuan Gui Shield at the Fat White Man's equipment shop. Its quality was superior to the old one, but its price was also shockingly high.

This shield could be used as a flying disc; when thrown, it automatically retracted into a rounded Xuan Gui shell, its edges as sharp as a knife, capable of rotating and cutting. If an enemy failed to dodge properly, they could easily be cut in half at the waist.

The Xuan Gui Shield flew in a circle and returned to its owner's hand, reverting to its oval shape.

Although this attack drew no blood, it disrupted the opponents' formation and rhythm. The guards, who had long worked under He Lingchuan, now silently drew their weapons and charged.

Hu Min, with a sinister move, raised his hand and sent a sleeve arrow toward an enemy opposite him.

His timing was precise; the opponent was busy dodging the Xuan Gui Shield and didn't notice the sleeve arrow arriving the moment the large shield moved away.

With a soft hiss, a hole was pierced through his mouth.

This arrow was quite malicious, entering through his left cheek and exiting through his right, causing him so much pain that he couldn't open his mouth to scream.

Fu Tianlin hadn't expected such a fierce opening from this group. Seeing Menban raise his shield to strike again, he flicked his wrist, sending out two white lights that clanged against Menban's large shield.

He Lingchuan had good eyesight and immediately saw that these were actually two ice balls, which shattered into eight pieces upon hitting the hard surface.

White frost immediately appeared at the impact points and quickly spread across the shield's surface. Fu Tianlin then launched several more ice balls at the group; everyone quickly dodged them, but frost patterns still appeared at the impact points, and the frost grew thicker and thicker, solidifying into ice.

A chill instantly emanated.

Surrounded by the cold, everyone's limbs seemed to disobey them, as if they had endured severe cold in winter—their bodies stiff, and their reactions delayed by half a beat in everything they did.

In a battle, such a delay could be fatal.

Menban faced even greater trouble; no matter how he slammed it, the solid ice on the shield wouldn't break, instead growing thicker and heavier as it accumulated!

Worse still, the frost had spread past the shield's surface and was rapidly extending backward, soon reaching his hand.

He had no choice but to abandon the shield and fight.

In just about ten breaths, the Xuan Gui Shield had frozen into a large block of ice.

Menban fought and cursed simultaneously, "That damn fatty, he scammed me again!"

When the Fat White Man from Yunzhen Island sold him this Xuan Gui Shield, he had thumped his chest and guaranteed that the shield was not only durable but also resistant to various divine powers and spells.

High-quality shields all possessed this "blocking" ability; otherwise, any divine power adhering to the shield's surface could spread behind it, making it impossible for them to use the shield to defend against enemies.

Meanwhile, Fu Tianlin headed directly for He Lingchuan. A Panlong guard rushed to intercept him, but grunted in pain, clutched his right arm, and rapidly retreated two steps.