Looking further into the distance, the scenery became blurred and indistinct. His hometown, Hetou Village, was no more than a fingernail's size, completely invisible.
Just as he was marveling at the view from the mountaintop, "Yi Dong suddenly pointed into the distance, "Look, there seems to be someone over there."
Following Yi Dong's finger, they spotted a few small dark dots behind a pile of rocks in the distance.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei's heart sank. This was bad.
He had been so focused on walking on the mountain that he hadn't realized he had led these people to the summit.
If those people were Sun Jian and his group, then he had lost his usefulness by bringing them here.
If Sun Jian were to cut ties with him and disappear, that would be for the best. But he was afraid Sun Jian might have other ideas.
Thinking this, he touched the repeating crossbow in his bag.
"Xiaobei, let's just wait here. We'll go down after they leave."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head at Yi Dong's suggestion. "Have you considered this: Qingniu Mountain has so many paths. The fact that they appeared at the foot of the mountain, what does that tell you?"
"You mean they followed us up the mountain," Yi Dong realized.
"Exactly. It's very likely they followed us all the way. So their target is the summit too. Hiding there means they are waiting for us to go down."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go quickly," Yi Dong urged.
Chen Xiaobei untied his bundle and took out the repeating crossbow, holding it to his chest.
The two of them, acting as if nothing was amiss, slowly walked down past Sun Jian and his group.
Seeing them leave, Sun Jian let out a long sigh of relief.
Sun Gui, even more impatient, stood up and rushed towards the summit.
Chen Xiaobei and Yi Dong took the opportunity to look back several times. They could clearly see more than a dozen dark figures climbing towards the summit. Yi Dong said with a hint of relief, "You were right. They really are going up to the summit."
"Yes, if that's the case, then those people must be Sun Jian. We need to be careful when we see them in the future," Chen Xiaobei said with a worried expression.
As they spoke, they reached the dogwood forest. Sun Jian had been very meticulous; even in such a desolate place, most traces of their presence had been cleaned up.
Chen Xiaobei pointed into the depths of the dogwood forest. "It's in here, there are several large snakes and also ginseng."
Saying this, he took out snake medicine from his chest.
Yi Dong didn't hesitate and quickly snatched it. "I'll handle the medicine. You can be responsible for digging up the ginseng."
Chen Xiaobei didn't argue. After all, Yi Dong had been a soldier and was far more agile than him.
Yi Dong picked up a branch, tapping as he walked in. Soon, he spotted a cluster of bright red.
Seeing this red, Chen Xiaobei felt relieved.
Yi Dong took another step forward, and soon, two palm-sized snake heads rose from the grass.
Yi Dong didn't retreat. Instead, he took another step forward and deliberately used his stick to tease one of the snakes.
The snake coiled its body and lunged forward more than two feet. Suddenly, it sprang up and lunged at Yi Dong.
Yi Dong didn't rush to attack. He rapidly retreated two steps.
In a flash, the more than ten-foot-long snake landed where he had just been standing.
Yi Dong raised his hand, and a puff of white smoke instantly enveloped the snake.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei was filled with admiration for Yi Dong. If it were him, he would have attacked the moment the snake lunged.
Thinking about it now, if he had done that, the snake would have broken through the smoke in an instant, and the medicine's effect would have been diminished. But now, the snake had just landed and couldn't attack immediately, allowing the snake medicine to work to its full potential.
The snake medicine was indeed potent.
After more than a dozen blinks of an eye, the snake slowly fell to the ground and became still.
Having so easily dealt with a large snake, Yi Dong was full of confidence. He continued to move forward.
Chen Xiaobei took out the fine rope he had prepared, tightly bound the snake's mouth, then coiled its body and secured it with more rope. This way, even if the snake woke up, it would be difficult for it to escape.
With the help of the snake medicine, Yi Dong quickly dealt with four large snakes. He then circled the grass, tapping around.
Once he was sure there were no more snakes, Yi Dong let out a long breath and made a funny face at Chen Xiaobei.
At this point, Chen Xiaobei had already bound the four large snakes. Without delay, Chen Xiaobei hurried towards the cluster of bright red.
What a large ginseng!
It was bigger than any ginseng he had seen in Hulu Valley. By this estimate, this ginseng must be over a hundred years old.
What made Chen Xiaobei even more delighted was that around this large ginseng, there were clusters of smaller ginseng. Although most of them looked no thicker than a little finger, there were many, a whole patch of them.
This was great. If he could take all of them back and transplant them into pots, their future value would be immeasurable.
But these were things for later. Today, he could only take away four large ginseng plants. If Sun Jian and the others were standing on the summit, they could clearly see his every move. He couldn't stay here for too long.
Each of them carried two ginseng plants.
Yi Dong then cut a branch about six or seven feet long, threaded the four large snakes onto it, and they carried it together.
Yi Dong's idea was quite cautious. The branch was long, keeping the snakes a certain distance from both of them. Even if a snake suddenly woke up or broke free, they would have enough time to react.
Before noon, they had crossed the canyon. In Chen Xiaobei's estimation, if everything went smoothly, he could be home before sunset.
As they walked, at a bend ahead, Yi Dong suddenly stopped. He slowly bent down to place the snakes on the ground, then took out the repeating crossbow from his chest.
Yi Dong was in front, and Chen Xiaobei was behind. Therefore, Chen Xiaobei couldn't see what was happening ahead, but he could sense from Yi Dong's movements that he was very tense.
After standing for a moment, Yi Dong began to slowly retreat. Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei quickly followed suit.
Yi Dong took a step back, and Chen Xiaobei took a step back. Unconsciously, they had retreated more than twenty feet. It was then that Chen Xiaobei suddenly saw clearly.
At the bend ahead, three gray figures appeared.
Wolves.
They were wolves.
Three wolves.
Seeing these three wolves, Chen Xiaobei's mind suddenly flashed back to the night he and Da Lao Hei entered the mountains. In the middle of the night, three wolves had surrounded them.
Could these be the same three wolves from that night?
Chen Xiaobei remembered what Yang Chun had said at the time.
These three wolves must not have companions, otherwise, they wouldn't have left so easily.
Thinking this, Chen Xiaobei spoke, "Kill them."
Saying this, he pulled the trigger. Pfft, pfft, pfft. Pfft, pfft, pfft.
The repeating crossbow could be loaded with ten arrows. Chen Xiaobei fired them all in one go.
The wolf pack clearly hadn't expected Chen Xiaobei, behind Yi Dong, to suddenly attack.