Han Li forced a bitter smile. Although he had dealt with the fellow from the Giant Sword Sect, there was still one major trouble to handle!
The green-robed girl's slender and delicate figure, her pale and frail face, and the panic in her eyes—all of it was clearly imprinted in Han Li's vision the moment he cast a slight glance. It was obvious she had been thoroughly frightened.
He did not respond to the girl's question. Instead, he bent down and picked up the storage pouch from the dead man's body. Then, with a flick of his fingertip, a small fireball struck the corpse, instantly reducing it to ashes. After that, he used the Azure Condensing Mirror to withdraw the cyan light that had trapped the silver blade and golden blade, freeing them before storing them away.
Only then did Han Li turn around and walk toward the girl with an expressionless face.
The moment the girl saw Han Li truly approaching her, the already pale face lost even more color. She couldn't help shrinking back in fear, retreating a few steps.
"What are you? Come any closer, and I won't be polite!" The green-robed girl finally mustered her courage, reaching into her storage pouch and pulling out a small black sword, pointing it at the advancing Han Li. But Han Li could tell at a glance that this sword was nothing more than a worthless mid-grade magical artifact. It seemed that the yellow silk handkerchief was her only top-grade magical artifact!
"Is this how you treat someone who saved your life?" Han Li suddenly rubbed his nose and smiled.
"Saved my life?" The girl was momentarily stunned. She was somewhat confused by Han Li's abrupt change in demeanor, as if she hadn't quite grasped the situation yet.
"You really are forgetful! If I hadn't intervened just now and saved you from that man's sword, why would I have needed to commit murder to silence witnesses?" Han Li said, half-amused and half-frustrated.
"Oh... I'm so sorry. I... I got scared and forgot!" The girl suddenly remembered, her face flushing red as she explained hurriedly, looking completely flustered and stammering. It was quite pitiful to see.
"It's nothing! But it really is remarkable that after we met briefly at the South Conference, we can meet again here!" Han Li waved his hand and said warmly. For some reason, whenever he saw this girl's shy appearance, he felt particularly affectionate, as if facing his own little sister.
"My name is Han Li. May I ask how to address you?" Han Li asked casually.
"I... I'm Han Yunzhi." The girl hesitated for a moment, then still said it with a flushed face, feeling extremely shy about revealing her name to this young man.
"Han Yunzhi? A very nice name, it suits you well!" Han Li repeated the girl's name and chuckled softly.
"Is it?" Han Yunzhi's face reddened again.
"But, Miss Han, how did you join Spirit Beast Mountain and come to participate in the Blood Trial?" Han Li asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Well..." A troubled expression appeared on Han Yunzhi's face, and she hesitated without speaking.
"Haha! If it's inconvenient, then there's no need to tell me. I was just asking out of curiosity!" Han Li said understandingly, which made Han Yunzhi quite grateful.
"That's right, let's go into the stone hut and harvest the spirit herbs! It's better not to leave things to chance, lest others come here!" After chatting casually with the girl for a few moments, Han Li suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, Han Yunzhi first nodded repeatedly, but then said somewhat shyly in a low voice:
"Brother Han, could you let me have those Sun Fire Flowers? I only want these flowers. I won't take a single extra thing!"
"Of course, no problem. Even if you hadn't asked, I was planning to do that anyway!" Han Li smiled and agreed readily.
"Thank you so much, Brother Han!" The girl's face immediately lit up with joy as she thanked him repeatedly, her gratitude toward Han Li growing even stronger.
"In that case, Miss Han, why don't you go pick the Sun Fire Flowers first? Don't let me accidentally take them!" Han Li suggested with a natural expression.
"All right!" The girl found this reasonable, so she bowed to Han Li before turning to walk toward the stone hut.
But just as the girl turned around, she suddenly heard Han Li sigh, and then felt a pain at the back of her neck. Her vision went dark, and she lost consciousness, falling toward the ground. However, just before hitting the ground, someone caught her from behind.
It turned out that Han Li had seized the moment when the girl turned around to suddenly move behind Han Yunzhi, gently striking her neck to knock her unconscious, then catching her soft body in his arms.
Holding the girl's delicate body and inhaling her faint fragrance, Han Li's heart couldn't help but stir! He couldn't help but lower his head and press a kiss on her fragrant cheek. But then reason returned, and he bit his tongue slightly, immediately clearing his mind. Then, looking at her beautiful face, he couldn't help but smile bitterly!
He first gently leaned the girl against the stone hut's wall, then flashed into the hut. A moment later, after sweeping the spirit herbs clean from the room, Han Li walked out again. He picked the girl up once more, his figure flickering several times before disappearing among the nearby rocky formation.
In a natural cave near the summit of the ring-shaped mountain, Han Li laid the girl flat on the ground, then sat cross-legged nearby, closing his eyes to rest.
Han Li finally opened his eyes, a flash of light passing through them. His body, which had performed the extremely fast movement technique, had finally recovered some strength. Only then did he take out a palm-sized exquisite silver box from his storage pouch.
Han Li stared at the silver box, lost in a trance.
After a while, he silently opened the lid, revealing a neatly arranged row of silver needles inside! They were exactly the acupuncture needles he used to employ often when he was at the Sect of Seven Mysteries.
Han Li raised his fingers and gently stroked over the silver needles of various sizes. The figures of Doctor Mo, Li Feiyu, and others appeared vividly before his eyes. Life at Caixia Mountain and Spirit Hands Valley seemed as if it had only been yesterday. This couldn't help but fill him with emotion!
Han Li's thoughts finally returned after a period of distraction. He steadied his mind, and with nimble fingers, drew out a thin silver needle with practiced ease.
Then, Han Li looked at the girl, then at the silver needle in his hand, a look of resignation appearing between his brows.
"Miss Han, if not for this Worry-Free Needle Technique, which can clear a person's short-term memory, I really wouldn't know how to handle the matter of leaking secrets! Although I believe you would sincerely keep my secret for me, there are too many accidents in this world. Perhaps you might inadvertently let something slip, or someone might use secret techniques to extract this information from you without your even knowing. I have to be cautious!" Han Li murmured to himself.
Then, he took out a red porcelain bottle from his storage pouch, poured out a fire-red pill with a peculiar fragrance, and without hesitation, slipped it into the girl's mouth.
"Fortunately, I still have the Forget-Dust Pill I casually prepared before. That way, I can perform the Worry-Free Needle Technique without worry. Although there might still be some risk, there shouldn't be any major problems. You'll simply forget everything that happened within half a day. I never expected that this needle technique I learned from Doctor Mo's belongings would one day be used in the cultivation world." Han Li stroked the girl's silky hair and said tenderly.
Several hours later, Han Li walked out of the cave with a pale face and quickly hid in a nearby large tree, focusing intently on the cave entrance.
A quarter of an hour later, Han Yunzhi walked out holding several Sun Fire Flowers, looking completely bewildered. After glancing around a few times at the cave entrance, she placed a hand on her forehead, and a strange expression gradually appeared in her eyes.
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something important. She hurriedly placed the Sun Fire Flowers into her storage pouch and left the place in a hurry, running toward the foot of the mountain.
Shortly after she left, Han Li jumped down from the tree. Looking in the direction the girl had disappeared, he sighed deeply, then walked slowly toward the dense forest on the other side.
The third day in the Forbidden Zone finally passed, and the arrival of the fourth day was far from as smooth for Han Li.
Either he encountered other powerful demon beasts blocking his path, or the information was incorrect, and the locations where spirit herbs grew did not have the specific herbs Han Li needed. As for the demon beasts guarding the spirit herbs, they had suddenly increased as well. In just over half a day, Han Li had killed three mid-rank demon beasts and two upper-rank demon beasts in succession, leaving both his physical strength and magical power severely strained!
Now, Han Li stood beneath a massive boulder, estimating his gains. Although the quantities of the three types of spirit herbs had not yet fully reached his target, they were barely sufficient. Even if he left the Forbidden Zone now, it would not be an unacceptable outcome.
Moreover, the Yellow Maple Valley records clearly indicated that there were no more locations with immature spirit herbs. The remaining places he could find were all from information he had traded with the ugly man Zhong Wu, and there were still quite a few!
However, Han Li had previously been afraid that the intelligence might be false and didn't dare go to these places, fearing he would waste his time on a fruitless trip. But now, as Han Li scanned these external sources of information again, he immediately discovered that not far from his current position, there was indeed a hidden location with quite a few spirit herbs.
Not only were there immature spirit herbs there, but there should also be many mature ones. This made Han Li quite tempted. According to his calculations, even if the mature spirit herbs at that location hadn't been harvested by Zhong Wu, they should have been taken by others long ago. But the immature spirit herbs should still be there!
Since it was still early and he had no other clear destination, why not make this trip to check it out? Even if the information proved false, he would lose nothing!
As soon as this thought crossed Han Li's mind, he could no longer restrain himself. After resting briefly, he launched himself into the air and set off.