Free Web NovelChapter 131: Chapter 108: Encountering the Crimson Flame Tiger
That strange, unhappy feeling welled up inside her again.
Ali didn’t know what this feeling was called, but she had a rough idea of what was going on.
So, she squatted by the fire, hugged her knees, and said nothing, just staring over with an aggrieved look.
Lin Mo quickly noticed her gaze. Seeing that innocent and pitiful expression, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
’I haven’t even done anything, but she’s acting as if I bullied her.’
Fortunately, she was easy to placate. He waved to Feney and walked over to her.
Nothing needed to be said. The moment he sat beside her, Ali’s expression immediately brightened. She scooted over, moving closer to Lin Mo until she was nearly pressed against him.
The Little Wolf Girl had a silly, happy grin on her face. She cheerfully took out bread and jerky from her backpack and looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.
She had learned how to make them long ago, but she still preferred eating the "burgers" Lin Mo made with his own hands.
Alton, Solan, and the others got up one by one. They were unfazed by the scene before them; after all, their captain had walked in on the two of them sleeping in the same bed many days ago.
After a simple breakfast, they continued on their journey.
They had two quests left to complete for this adventure. One was the most difficult: hunting a Crimson Flame Tiger. The other was a gathering quest: collecting Hemostatic Grass.
Neither quest had a fixed location and required searching, but since the areas where each could be found were close to each other, they could tackle both at the same time.
They maintained the same formation as the day before. Since they were now in the Deep Forest Area of Loran Forest, they proceeded with extra caution.
Their resting spot from the previous night wasn’t far from their destination, and they soon entered an area where Hemostatic Grass was known to grow.
Solan pulled a distinct-looking plant from the ground. After examining its leaves, he shook his head. "A pity. It’s just an ordinary three-leaf clover..."
Hemostatic Grass looked very similar to this plant, but the edges of its leaves were finely serrated, and its stem was thicker than a clover’s.
Lin Mo had just reviewed these details the previous night.
"Found one!"
Ali was the first to find a stalk of Hemostatic Grass, which she placed in her backpack.
"I’ve got one over here, too..."
Rick also pulled a stalk from the ground, confirming its identity before carefully stowing it away.
"Stay vigilant, and don’t wander off too far."
Alton called out the reminder, staying close to Solan’s side.
Lin Mo also stood near Feney. In their party, she and Solan were the most Fragile and in greatest need of protection.
"Ah—!"
Feney suddenly cried out, stumbling back several steps and bumping right into Lin Mo’s chest.
Lin Mo looked closely and saw it was a snake.
It was about two meters long and jet-black. Though it looked intimidating, it was just a common, non-venomous forest snake.
Just as Lin Mo was about to step forward and handle it, Feney suddenly gripped her staff. With a SWISH, she swung it down, precisely striking the snake’s head.
The forest snake’s eyes rolled back in its head, and it was knocked unconscious.
’That was some serious force.’
"I... I’m sorry. I’m still not used to this..."
Feney turned and apologized profusely. It was unclear whether it was from guilt or fright, but her eyes welled up with tears.
"It’s alright. All rookies are like this."
Though his own reaction hadn’t been this extreme, Lin Mo recalled often being startled by snakes when he first started adventuring.
After seeing them more often, he’d gradually gotten used to it. Besides, they always carried antidotes for common types of snake venom, so even if someone was careless enough to be bitten by a venomous snake, they had a way to handle it.
After searching a wide radius, they ultimately only found seven stalks of Hemostatic Grass.
This was how it was with more common quests. Adventurers passed through every few days, so even in areas where the plant once grew densely, it became difficult to find much later on.
Of the seven stalks they had just gathered, several were clearly recent sprouts.
"Let’s keep moving. The search area for this quest is pretty big..."
Gathering quests were relatively safe, just tedious. Staring at the ground for hours on end would make your eyes sore.
After a busy morning, by the time it was nearly noon, they had found a total of 19 stalks of Hemostatic Grass.
"Eighteen, nineteen... Not bad. Earning 19 Gold Coins from a single E Level gathering quest is quite good."
Alton carefully placed the collected Hemostatic Grass into a cloth bag. "We’ve searched this area pretty thoroughly. Now we can focus on finding the Crimson Flame Tiger."
In fact, the territory they had covered that morning was already considered an area where the Crimson Flame Tiger might appear. However, the quest lacked precise information, so finding their target was still proving difficult.
"Captain, if we keep going, we’ll almost be in the central part of the Deep Forest Area, won’t we?"
Carson sounded a little worried; they had never ventured this deep before.
"You’re right, we need to be careful. We can’t go too deep..."
Alton nodded. His team had a decent chance against a sub-adult Crimson Flame Tiger, but if they ventured too deep and ran into a fully grown one, it would be no laughing matter.
An adult Crimson Flame Tiger had a Threat Level of at least Level 3, and could even reach as high as Level 5!
Generally speaking, however, such a creature wouldn’t be active in the outer parts of the Deep Forest Area. They tended to roam in or around the Core Area.
Their midday break didn’t last long. Though searching for herbs that morning had been tedious, it hadn’t taken much of a toll on their Physical Strength. After a short rest and a snack to replenish their Energy, the group set out once more.
Once again, Carson and Ali took charge of scouting. Carson climbed to the treetops, peering into the distance through a gap in the leaves.
