Chapter 968: Surrounded By Danger
Translator: Lordbluefire
Sun Mo drew his sword and took a step to stand in front of Murong Mingyue, looking in the direction of the voice.
The Retaliation Storm didn’t show any reaction. This showed that the other party had no intention of launching a sneak attack. However, since this person could remain in hiding quietly until now and then appearing without any fear, he must have great confidence and strength.
“No need to take care of me!”
Even though Murong Mingyue said that, she still felt very happy inside at having been shown concern.
A green-skinned aboriginal who seemed to be getting on his age appeared in the library, wearing a big cloak that was woven from the feathers of various birds. He also wore a necklace strung with rocks, shells, and bones.
His long hair was combed into a braid and then tied into a bunch neatly behind his back.
“He seems to be an important figure!”
Sun Mo’s gaze landed on the aboriginal’s crutch. Other than that, there weren’t any other weapons. However, Sun Mo didn’t dare to let down his guard.
“You said that this language is called the Xisi language? Can you talk more about it?”
The aboriginal smiled amicably.
“I’m sorry, I haven’t come across the relevant content.”
Sun Mo shook his head.
“Oh!”
The aboriginal assessed Sun Mo. “There’s no hurry. There’ll be plenty of time to understand it slowly in the future. Don’t worry, I’m someone who admires scholars the most. I won’t harm you.”
“You are?”
Sun Mo frowned slightly. Judging from what this person was saying, he seemed to plan on having them stay here.
“I’m the Greenhaze Tribe’s elder, Mu Feng. Please take these alchemical pills.”
As the elder said this, he took out two cherry-sized medicinal pills from his pocket, handing them to Sun Mo.
“I’m sorry, my mother told me not to recklessly eat things given by others!”
Sun Mo rejected.
“Pffft!”
Murong Mingyue knew that she shouldn’t be laughing in such a situation, but she couldn’t hold it in. She didn’t expect that Sun Mo could make jokes as well.
“You better eat it. Otherwise, I can only kill the two of you.”
The elder smiled like an amicable grandfather. However, the words he said made one’s hair stand from the chill.
This place was the Greenhaze Tribe’s holy ground.
Their ancestors had warned them to watch over everything here. Therefore, when the Nine Provinces’ people invaded their land, the Greenhaze aboriginals strengthened the defense around this place.
However, there were too many invaders and the aboriginals suffered great casualties. They had no choice but to seek reinforcements.
When Mu Feng came, he heard the sounds that Sun Mo made in the sewage pipes. Therefore, he came chasing over to check things out.
He had planned on killing them, but it turned out that the two of them had the sacred land’s map. They started exploring the place with great familiarity.
Then, there were the events that had taken place in the library.
When Mu Feng saw that Sun Mo could actually understand those books, he was both extremely astonished and elated. His family was able to assume the position of the elder in the tribe for generations because their ancestors could understand a portion of the words and had passed them down.
(If I can grasp all this knowledge, wouldn’t I be able to bring the tribe to glory? We might even be able to attack and take over the countries belonging to the other races.)
Mu Feng looked at Sun Mo like he was looking at a huge treasure.
“Let her go first!”
Sun Mo activated Divine Sight.
Warning: Strong foe. Please escape quickly!
Mu Feng smirked.
“You should thank me for my benevolence. Otherwise, you’d have been dead by now, becoming flower fertilizer.”
After saying that, Mu Feng smashed his crutch hard onto the ground.
Bang!
After the sound rang out, it was as if some plants that were in deep slumber were awakened. The floor under Sun Mo and Murong Mingyue’s feet suddenly broke, and vines that had thorns on them darted out, entangling their bodies.
Sun Mo swung his sword!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The vines were chopped off and saps splattered. However, even more of them came out, and in an instant, bound the two of them.
“Be my slaves for your entire lifetime!”
Mu Feng was very composed.
“This is bad!”
Sun Mo’s scalp turned numb. The enemy was so powerful that he had no chance to even retaliate. Things didn’t seem to be looking good!
Just as Sun Mo was racking his brains to find an excuse to calm Mu Feng down, a large number of bugs suddenly flew out from the surrounding bookshelves. A portion of them pounced toward Mu Feng, while the rest of them lay on the vines that had bound Sun Mo and Murong Mingyue, chewing the vines up at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye.
Hua!
A few vines suddenly darted out from Mu Feng’s body, weaving into a cage and protecting him. The flower buds on the vines instantly bloomed.
Pffft!
After that, a green fog spewed out. When those gu-bugs came into contact with it, they immediately died.
In an instant, a large stretch of densely packed bugs fell on the ground, looking like a bug carpet.
“Who are you?”
Mu Feng looked at the elderly with a solemn expression.
“I’m just an insignificant old man.”
After the Green-robed Ancestor said this, he looked toward Sun Mo. “You owe me a life. It shouldn’t be considered overboard to ask you to use 20 years to repay me, right?”
“I don’t wish to acknowledge a teacher. What’s the use of you binding me by your side?”
Sun Mo was perplexed.
“When people interact and eventually become friends, they need a process in which they understand each other. I know the reputation of a dark great teacher doesn’t sound nice, so you are instinctively repulsed toward me. But I firmly believe that after we spend some time together, you’ll understand my character.”
The Green-robed Ancestor said very sincerely, “Besides, even if my character isn’t good, my knowledge can’t be faked. If you’re smart, you’ll understand that you won’t lose out from staying by my side.”
The Green-robed Ancestor only wanted to pass down his legacy. Otherwise, all of his learnings would go to waste after he died.
“I don’t wish to lie to you. I killed Lu Wuyin.”
Sun Mo was still too young and didn’t want to rely on other people’s charities to live on.
“…”
The Green-robed Ancestor was stunned, then a hint of disappointment and hurt flashed past his face. However, his expression then turned into one of consolation.
“The fact that you can kill Wuyin proves that my judgment is right. You’re a genius who is worth recruiting.”
The Green-robed Ancestor sighed.
“…”
Sun Mo was speechless. He came from modern society after all and didn’t understand the Green-robed Ancestor’s mindset.
However, Murong Mingyue could. To great teachers, what was scarier than death was to become an unknown character.
Writing books and passing down one’s knowledge was the sign of a Saint. It was the pursuit of every great teacher.
Although the Green-robed Ancestor found it regretful that his student had died, he could accept it if he could find an even greater genius.
“If I’m not wrong, you should have killed Wuyin after making use of some botany knowledge, right?”
The Green-robed Ancestor sniffed. “You should have carried some kind of peak-grade medicinal herbs on you, right?”
“En!”
Sun Mo didn’t deny it.
The Green-robed Ancestor smiled and then suddenly stomped on the ground.
Boom!
The entire floor sank down by an inch. Then, a lot of wood chips splattered out from the gaps.
These were vines that Mu Feng had let out. He had planned on launching a sneak attack but was seen through.
“Aboriginal, let’s go out and fight. Don’t spoil these books.”
As the Green-robed Ancestor said this, he dashed out toward Mu Feng.
This Dark Dawn’s Doyen was really domineering. He let the entire floor sink down, but the bookshelves were unharmed at all. Not even a single book had fallen off.
(Hmph!)
Several tens of vines darted out from Mu Feng’s body, lashing out toward the Green-robed Ancestor. At the same time, one of them went to capture Sun Mo.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Sun Mo slashed out incessantly with his sword, finding it very difficult to handle this attack. But very soon, Mu Feng drew back this vine as well and went all out to deal with the Green-robed Ancestor.
“The other party is a Half-step Saint. In our Nine Provinces, he is a strong expert that is second only to Saints. To think that you still allow yourselves to be distracted, how much do you look down on him?”
Murong Mingyue sneered.
She was actually hinting to the aboriginal elder to hurry up and go all out, to leave them be.
There was no need for Murong Mingyue to tell him that. Mu Feng understood the moment they started fighting that this was a strong opponent he had never met before.
“Oh right, there are a lot more great teachers like him in our Nine Provinces!”
After Murong Mingyue said that, Mu Feng threw out his ultimate technique. He was one of the two top-notch experts with the best battle prowess in the Greenhaze Tribe. Therefore, he mustn’t let himself be killed here.
“I must make use of my familiarity with the surrounding areas to gain an advantage. I mustn’t take them on alone.”
Mu Feng performed his ultimate technique, wanting to scare off the Green-robed Ancestor. However, the other party, being a member of the Dark Dawn, didn’t fear a tough battle.
“Hurry up and move!”
Sun Mo and Murong Mingyue retreated. The two of them knocked down the surrounding bookshelves in unison. At that moment, all the books were sent flying.
“B*stards!”
The elder was enraged, but the vines still shot out to catch those books.
The Green-robed Ancestor’s gu-bugs also flew toward those books. After catching the books, they placed them back on the shelves.
Sun Mo and Murong Mingyue took advantage of this opportunity to flee.
After running aimlessly for 15 minutes, the two of them came to a stop.
“That was really a sin!”
Murong Mingyue felt reproachful as she was also someone who loved books.
“What’s the use when we can’t get them?”
Sun Mo was very practical. The Green-robed Ancestor said that he had saved Sun Mo, but that wasn’t true. As long as Sun Mo were to grasp the Xisi language, that elder wouldn’t bear to kill him.
“What should we do next? Do we leave?”
Murong Mingyue was torn. It was dangerous to sneak back and get some books. But if they were to wait until the fight between the Saint Gate, Dark Dawn, and the aboriginals was over, they might not even have an opportunity to pick up any loots.
“Find An Xinhui and the others. We should leave together.”
Sun Mo checked the map and realized that there was another building complex not far away from this place, so he headed over to search the place. However, he had only passed through two corridors when they came into the Virtuous Academy’s group.
“Teacher Sun?”
Lu Qiushi cupped his fists together, looked behind Sun Mo and feeling a little surprised. “Where are your students?”
“I didn’t let them come.”
Sun Mo threw a glance. Lu Qiushi’s group had a total of 25 people. They should be the main team of this famous school.
“Teacher Sun takes so much care of your students!”
Lu Qiushi said politely, “Given your capabilities, you must have some takeaways, right?”
“A little.” Sun Mo said humbly, “I won’t be disturbing you guys then.”
After Sun Mo said that, he continued to go on his way.
“What should we do? Sun Mo’s goal seems to be that herb garden as well!”
Li Fenghua frowned.
“We can’t possibly kill him, can we?” Lu Qiushi felt upset. “We can’t even win against him in a fight.”
“We can attack him together!”
A male great teacher suddenly interjected, saying a sharp line.
“Forget it.”
Lu Qiushi was the grandson of the Virtuous Academy’s headmaster. He came from a great family and didn’t dare to make enemies recklessly.
“But wouldn’t it be letting him off too easily if we allowed him to get it?”
Li Fenghua felt upset.
Their group had ascertained that it was a herb garden and thus gave off the signal to get everyone to gather and harvest the plants.
“Sun Mo might not know that place!”
Lu Qiushi wasn’t very ambitious. He knew that given their school’s capabilities, even if they were to get into the ‘B’ grade this year, they might still end up dropping back next year. Therefore, it’d suffice if they could sustain their grade.
Because of that, they should just try to get their hands on more valuable items, the more the better.
Everyone prayed, but what they feared came true. Sun Mo headed straight for that herb garden without any hesitation. Lu Qiushi couldn’t sit still any longer and quickly gave chase with their group.
“Teacher Sun, please hold on!”
Lu Qiushi called out.
“Teacher Lu, is there anything I can help you with?”
Sun Mo had guessed it.
“Erm…”
Lu Qiushi was an honest person and found it embarrassing to say it out openly. However, Li Fenghua went straight to the point. “Teacher Sun, we were the ones who discovered the herb garden in front.”
“Then what are you guys doing here?”
The hidden meaning in Murong Mingyue’s words was very clear. (Since you guys have discovered it, why didn’t you harvest them?)
“Our scout is already there.”
Li Fenghua explained.
“That’s a coincidence. Our scout is there too.”
With her mind, Murong Mingyue controlled a puppet who was scouting in front to head to the herb garden and wait for them.
“Teacher Sun, you’re someone of status as well. Why are you doing this?”
Someone reproached.
“Do you know what kind of herbs there are in the herb garden? What if there wasn’t anything valuable, but we ended up fighting upfront, tensing our relationship with each other? Don’t you guys think that it’d be a loss?
Sun Mo’s words were spoken with the meaning of preaching from a superior height.
Even Li Fenghua didn’t deny this. It was because given Sun Mo’s reputation, it was true that not many people wouldn’t want to offend him.
“Forget it, let’s stop fighting and head over to the herb garden first!”
Lu Qiushi played the role of the mediator.
Sun Mo shrugged and then turned to leave.
“Brother Lu, you’re too soft-hearted.”
Li Fenghua complained.
“Sister, we as great teachers should work together and place greater importance in teaching students, not on personal benefits.”
Lu Qiushi was considering getting Sun Mo to be a guest teacher at their school for a month.
Buzz!
Priceless Advice erupted. It was because this was what Lu Qiushi really thought.
Murong Mingyue turned back and her lips twitched. “He’s a good guy!”
“Good people don’t live a long life!”
Sun Mo was planning to go one round and leave if he didn’t find An Xinhui. As for snatching secret treasures? With the teleportation gate, he was in no hurry.
This building complex should be called a botanical garden.
Therefore, other than herbs, there were also plenty of unknown plant species that were transplanted and nurtured by the Xisi people.
Even with Sun Mo’s knowledge, he didn’t recognize a lot of them.
“They are all unknown species of darkness. We’ve struck it rich.”
Li Fenghua was very excited.
If they managed to study these plants thoroughly, they’d be able to publish a book. Moreover, they’d definitely be able to become a major character amongst the great teachers in the botany domain.
“Why isn’t Sun Mo excited?”
Lu Qiushi felt puzzled.
“That’s right. I heard that he is a grandmaster-level botanist.”
Li Fenghua frowned too.
“Could it be that he could recognize all these plants?”
Lu Qiushi thought of a possibility.
“Are you kidding?”
Li Fenghua rolled her eyes. “Even a great ancestor-level botanist wouldn’t be able to recognize something that hasn’t been seen before. Let’s go and discuss with him how we should distribute them.”
It was true that Sun Mo wasn’t excited. The plants here must have been planted for the sake of research or for making medicine. This meant that the Xisi people understood them well, and thus there should be relevant information on them in that library.
“Teacher Sun, can we have a discussion?”
Lu Qiushi squeezed out a smile.
“No need. Feel free to help yourself. I’ll leave after taking a look around.”
Sun Mo’s words caused all the teachers and students from the Virtuous Academy to feel stunned.
“What does that mean?” Li Fenghua blinked. “There’s no trick in his words, is there?”
It was because no matter how she thought about it, Sun Mo shouldn’t be so generous.
“As expected, Sun Mo knows these plants!”
Lu Qiushi sighed.
“This won’t do! I must ask him!”
Li Fenghua caught up to Sun Mo with quick steps, but she had just opened her mouth when she saw Sun Mo swinging his sword and slashing in her direction.