111: Chapter 111: Taking the Lead While Slacking Off

Two more days passed in a flash.

Lin Mos Squad appeared on a hillside where medicinal herbs were growing vigorously.

Lu Mengmeng pinched a handful of silvery grass roots, looked at the rolling mountains in the distance, and asked, "Boss, we've already walked outside the search range of Duanyun Mountain. Won't there be a problem?"

"Searching over there is just a waste of effort. It's better to dig for some medicinal herbs," Lin Mo said without raising his head, his small shovel carefully digging up a ginseng plant.

"Hurry up and dig, don't slack off. Let's go to the eastern valley in the afternoon to take a look. It's humid there, and there might be quite a few rare medicinal herbs hidden."

Teacher An Nuolan and Teacher Shen Yao leaned against a tree trunk, watching the team members skillfully identify and dig up the medicinal herbs, shaking their heads helplessly.

Teacher An Nuolan said softly, "If Captain Gu finds out we're slacking off so openly, there's no telling how much we'll get scolded."

"Who cares about her?" Teacher Shen Yao raised an eyebrow. "Lin Mo said the Sect ruins aren't in Duanyun Mountain, so wasting time hanging around there is truly a waste."

"Sigh, alright, anyway everyone listens to him now."

Teacher An Nuolan sighed, scanned her surroundings, and suddenly asked, "By the way, where did Da Chun go?"

"Where else could he go? Lazy people have too many excuses," Lu Mengmeng muttered while grunting and digging up a purple-leaf grass.

As soon as she finished speaking, a loud "crash" suddenly came from the other side of the hillside.

Immediately following that was Niu Dachun's terrified scream: "Holy crap! Brother Mo, help! Such a big snake!"

Everyone was startled and whipped their heads around to look.

They saw Niu Dachun pulling up his pants, running for his life towards them.

The most terrifying thing was that a blue-black giant python as thick as a water bucket was following behind him.

Its scales shimmered with a cold light in the sunlight, and it had two horns on its head, flicking its forked tongue.

"It's, it's a Snake Flood King!"

Teacher An Nuolan drew her blade instantly, her Soul Power condensing into sharp blade radiance, and she shouted sternly, "Retreat quickly!"

Lin Mo and the other four ran for their lives.

Lu Mengmeng, like an enraged lioness, cursed while running: "Big idiot Da Chun, what did you do? You can even attract a beast just by taking a dump!"

Niu Dachun followed behind with a wronged expression: "This can't be blamed on me! Who told it to hide in that pit!"

"Arrow Rain Storm!"

The "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sound of breaking wind suddenly rang out.

A dense rain of Soul Power arrows enveloped it like a rainstorm.

It was Teacher Shen Yao who had taken the lead in using her Earth Rank Soul Skill.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft..."

The arrow rain struck the giant python's scales fiercely. It didn't penetrate deep into the flesh, and while it didn't cause serious injury, it temporarily blocked its pursuit.

Teacher An Nuolan held her Fire Kirin Blade and charged forward, slashing at its head and drawing a line of blood.

Lin Mo finally found a moment to look back, then shouted: "Damn it! This isn't a Snake Flood King, it's a Snake Flood Python!"

With his understanding of exotic beasts, he identified its species at a glance.

"Let's kill it together! This snake gall is a great item for Body Refining!"

Hearing him say it wasn't a Snake Flood King, everyone breathed a sigh of relief while simultaneously turning around and assuming a fighting stance.

Who would have thought that after the Snake Flood Python ate Teacher Shen Yao's Arrow Rain Storm and Teacher An Nuolan's blade strike, it seemed to be in pain.

Without even thinking, it suddenly turned around and ran away.

"Damn, is Brother Snake this cowardly?"

Lu Mengmeng's eyes lit up; she loved this kind of opportunity to beat a dog that had fallen into the water.

"Brothers, kill it."

The seven of them immediately followed closely behind, chasing the Snake Flood Python into a dense forest.

The seven people and the one snake chased and fled for several minutes.

In the end, the Snake Flood Python panicked and ran into a rock wall in front.

With a "boom," it actually smashed open a hidden cave and darted inside, leaving a trail of afterimages.

"Eh? It went in!"

Lu Mengmeng wanted to follow it inside without thinking, but was grabbed by Lin Mo.

"Wait a second, you blockhead."

"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled.

Lin Mo pointed to the area around the cave entrance, his face showing a mix of surprise and joy: "There's a saying, 'unintended willows cast shade'... It seems like we were slacking off and caught a big fish."

The others looked in the direction he was pointing.

Only then did they notice that there were faint carved traces on the rock wall at the edge of the cave entrance, which were definitely not formed naturally.

They were clearly traces of human construction!

"This, this couldn't be such a coincidence, right?"

The seven of them looked at each other, all with dumbfounded expressions.

Teacher An Nuolan stepped forward, reached out to touch the blurred carvings, and felt a cold sensation on her fingertips: "This really does seem to be man-made..."

"What should we do? Should we go in and take a look? Or should we just send a message to Captain Gu and the others?"

"Let's send them a message, so they don't use this against us later." Lin Mo wasn't in a rush.

Two hours later.

Over a hundred people stood in a spacious stone cave, with a stone-carved gate right in front of them.

"Shuiyue Sect... it actually exists!"

While everyone was marveling, their gazes toward Lin Mos Squad became increasingly strange, and they were muttering in their hearts.

They had either been fighting beasts to the death or crawling through dense forests searching for clues over at Duanyun Mountain, exhausted like dogs, without even finding a single hair of the ruins.

Yet this squad, which had been slacking off outside all day, had stumbled upon the real thing by accident. What kind of situation was this?

Captain Gu Miaoyu had actually known for a long time that Lin Mos Squad hadn't been searching properly in Duanyun Mountain for the past two days.

She just assumed they weren't strong enough to help, so she didn't pay much attention to it.

But the current situation...

She looked at the stone-carved gate inscribed with "Shuiyue Sect," and the corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Ahem."

Seeing that everyone's gaze was glued to his squad, Lin Mo quickly changed the subject.

"I really didn't expect that the Shuiyue Sect would be hidden in these mountains."

He deliberately raised his voice, wanting to pull everyone's attention away from them.

Captain Gu Miaoyu's gaze fell on the inscription on the stone gate, her expression complex.

She took a deep breath, turned to look at Lin Mo, her tone a mix of helplessness and wry amusement: "You... how on earth did you find this place?"

"This..." Lin Mo put on a "purely coincidental" expression and spread his hands, saying, "Oh, it's a coincidence. We chased a Snake Flood Python and ended up inside. That guy is still curled up inside; it's probably the 'gatekeeper beast' of these ruins."

Good grief, slacking off was one thing, but they actually had the leisure to chase after an exotic beast?

This wasn't like coming to execute a mission; it was clearly like coming for an outing...

Everyone muttered to themselves.

Their gazes, however, turned in unison to look inside the mountain gate.

Inside the gate, it was pitch black and bottomless; no one could say for sure what was hidden inside.

Qin Changfeng of the Qin Family couldn't help but click his tongue: "Chasing an exotic beast and crashing into the ruins? This luck... you have to admire it."

The representative of the Tu Family also laughed and joked: "It seems that in the future, when searching for ruins, we'll have to learn how to catch exotic beasts first."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere on the scene eased up quite a bit.

Captain Gu Miaoyu cleared her throat and her expression turned serious: "Alright, luck is luck, but this time you really did perform the greatest service. Let's record the first merit for this mission to the Eastern Martial Soul Academy."

"First merit?" As soon as these words were spoken, many people revealed expressions of amazement and envy.

Who could have thought that the most critical first merit of this mission would be taken by such a "slacking-off squad"?

Bai Yuntian listened from the side, his teeth itching, and he was about to suffer internal injuries from holding back his frustration.

Lin Mo smiled and didn't respond.

Whether it was the first merit or not wasn't important; what was important was whether there were ancient martial arts classics inside.

Captain Gu Miaoyu didn't delay any longer and said loudly: "All squads, prepare! Check your equipment and communicators, and follow me into the ruins! Keep alert; the situation inside is unknown, and unauthorized actions are strictly prohibited!"

"Yes!" everyone replied in unison, their previous complex emotions replaced by tension and anticipation.

Over a hundred people walked into the stone-carved mountain gate in an orderly fashion, and a long-sealed ancient aura rushed toward them.

Perhaps it was because it had been buried underground for hundreds of years.

The air also carried a faint musty smell and the stench of soil.

Lin Mos Squad followed in the ranks. Lu Mengmeng excitedly clenched her fists and whispered to Lin Mo: "Boss, will there be lots and lots of treasures inside?"

Lin Mo patted her head and lowered his voice: "You'll know once we go in. Remember, talk less and observe more. Our goal isn't any treasure; as long as it's books, you must show them to me."

"Okay, Boss. I promise I'll even show you a piece of toilet paper if I find one."

Lin Mo: ...