Chapter Thirteen: The Jade Phoenix Divine Tree

  The howling of the little wolf seemed to be getting closer and closer. Looking at the ancient wisteria in front of him, which had been growing for many years, Helianuo used the stone axe in his hand to clear a path, while secretly scolding the little wolf for always running into such remote places. However, as he listened to the howling in the distance getting more and more intense, he couldn't help but worry about the little wolf's safety. He didn't have time to complain, so he swung the stone axe in his hand even faster, desperately chopping away at the obstacles as he rushed towards the direction of the howling.

  As the road ahead gradually widened, Helian Nuo swiftly rolled up his worn-out animal hide sleeves, grasped the stone axe tightly with both hands, and loudly shouted: "Don't be afraid, Dunchi, big brother is here to save you!", his feet not stopping for a moment. With a flash of lightning, he leaped over the last obstructing wild vine in front of him, his eyes scanning around for Xiaotian Lang's whereabouts. At this glance, he was stunned on the spot.

  But then, a large empty space appeared in front of them. The small Sky Wolf was still fiercely barking and scratching the sandy ground with its paws, exuding an aura of ferocity but not daring to take a step forward. At this moment, it saw the reinforcement, Helian No, appear, and the small Sky Wolf no longer hesitated. With a push from its hind legs, it charged forward, clearly waiting for this moment. Seeing the small Sky Wolf pounce with its teeth bared, Helian No, who had been stunned on the side, finally came to his senses and rushed over to grab the small Sky Wolf's tail, using both arms to pull it back. He shouted loudly: "Dunzi, stop!" The small Sky Wolf's fierce attack was thus forcibly pulled back by its tail. Originally extremely angry, it turned around, baring its teeth, ready to flare up in anger, but when it saw that the one holding its tail was Helian No, the reinforcement, its anger dissipated by half. However, it still let out a few discontented growls towards Helian No, seemingly blaming him for not only not accompanying itself to battle but also stopping it. Helian No could only helplessly pat the small Sky Wolf's head, his eyes fixed intently on the front.

  What was it that shocked Helen so much?

  Following Helian's line of sight, a gigantic tree stood towering, even after living in the depths of Youyue for seven years, Helian had never seen such a massive ancient tree. The ancient tree was not very tall, but its branches and leaves were extremely vast, with dozens of people able to encircle the main trunk, which split into dense branches that almost covered tens of miles of land. The branches were filled with five-colored flowers, each as large as a round plate, with transparent liquid flowing between the stamens, and countless butterflies fluttering about, at first glance, it seemed as if the flowers had bloomed in mid-air, blooming in the air itself.

  But what caught Hellen's attention was clearly not these...

  Only on a relatively thin branch, a small white and chubby little girl was standing upright, looking like she was only four or five years old. At this time, she was using her small white hands to hold a half-meter-high wooden cup to collect the juice from the flower stamens. Her movements were extremely skilled and delicate. The girl was wearing a small skirt made of feathers and animal skin, which although simple in material, was far more exquisite than the crude beast cloak on Hellen's body. She had a pair of very lively big eyes, a small nose, and thin lips, not beautiful but exceptionally cute. At this moment, those big eyes were staring at Hellen with fear, her round face pale from fright, the wooden cup in her hand tilted unknowingly, spilling a transparent liquid down the side of the cup, scattering into the air. Suddenly, a refreshing fragrance wafted through the wind into Hellen's nose, making him feel refreshed and comfortable, he couldn't help but sniff several times, but the scent had already been blown away by the wind. Looking at the nearby mound, he saw that it was also desperately sniffing something in the air, and couldn't help but lower his head to mock: "Little dog, usually you're not afraid of anything, who knew today you'd be scared by this weak little girl and wouldn't dare come forward? It's really laughable! Ha ha, do you want to taste what's in that wooden cup too?" The small wolf on the ground swallowed its saliva and hastily nodded in response to Hellen's suggestion. Hellen laughed and stood up, walking towards the little girl. For some reason, the small wolf behind him still didn't dare come forward, tucking its tail and lying quietly on the spot, staring at the cup in the girl's hand with envy.

  To think that Helianthus was just a teenager in his past life, accustomed to a life of luxury. Later, although he fell into begging, he never really understood the world, otherwise how could he not have thought that the girl in front of him was just an ordinary girl? How could she possibly be alone in this place called the "land of death" by the people of the world, and how could she make the young wolf, who was about to become a sacred beast, so fearful? If Helianthus had thought of these things today, then none of the subsequent entanglements or tragic stories would have occurred.

  Taking a step back, if the one standing beside Helianuo right now wasn't the still young and inexperienced Xiao Tianlang who only knows how to rely on his beast's instincts to sense a hint of danger, but rather the erudite Gong Sunliang or the far-sighted Helian Shuang, or even the centuries-old Sacred Beast Tianlang, they would easily perceive that this seemingly ordinary little girl has an extraordinary and even terrifying background. However, Gong Sunliang is currently in seclusion, Helian Shuang is not by their side, and even Tianlang has already returned to the Sacred Land. That's why if there's a word with no meaning in this world, many people like to treat "if" as the last comfort for themselves.

  He Lianuo slowly approached the little girl, who was backing away in fear. Seeing that she would fall off the tree if she moved any further, He Lianuo stopped and tried to put on a gentle expression. "Little sister, what are you doing here all alone? Where's your mom? Come down from the tree and I'll take you to get some delicious food!" he said softly, holding out his hand. The little girl was easily deceived and handed over her wooden cup to He Lianuo. Just as she was about to climb down the tree, He Lianuo suddenly grabbed the cup and ran to Xiao Tianlang's side. He tilted the cup back and poured half of its contents into his mouth, feeling a warm liquid flow down his throat and into his stomach. It was incredibly comfortable and relaxing. He had been tempted by the aroma of the liquid in the girl's cup from the start, but he didn't have any containers to collect it himself. So, he took advantage of the opportunity to borrow the cup while helping the little girl, without even thinking about being polite. He thought that he would just go back up the tree later and get another cup for the little girl as compensation. He Lianuo was still somewhat honorable, remembering to pour the remaining liquid in the cup into Xiao Tianlang's mouth. Xiao Tianlang's entire body of silver fur stood on end, and his mouth let out a series of low growls.

  On this side, the two brothers were relieved, but on that side, the little girl had already slid down from the tree. She stared at the two men who were drinking the juice she had collected with great difficulty, and first she was stunned, then suddenly she burst into tears without saying a word. He Lianuo thought the little girl would scold him for a few words, but he didn't expect her to cry as soon as she came up. He panicked, patted his head, and ran to the girl's side, saying apologetically: "Little sister, don't cry, I'm not a bad person. The juice in your cup is too tempting, and I couldn't help but drink it. It's okay, brother will climb the tree again to collect another cup for you." After finishing speaking, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to climb the tree. However, the girl stopped crying, and with a sobbing voice, she said: "Who is your sister? Who wants to be called brother by you? You are so shameless, and you actually robbed someone's hard-earned collection of Yu Huang liquid for the first time you met them! Do you think this is something that anyone can collect if they want to? Look at this Yu Huang tree, which has countless flowers on it. Although each flower contains juice, only a few hundred flowers with a jade-like color are suitable for making Yu Huang liquid. It's not easy to find those few jade-colored flowers among the millions of flowers, is it as easy as you said? You two drank up the Yu Huang liquid in my cup in just a few mouthfuls, but I collected it for several months and only accumulated this much. How can you return it to me?" The girl became more and more heartbroken as she spoke, and after finally holding back her tears and finishing her speech, she snatched the cup from He Lianuo's hand, turned around, and ran into the tree thicket, disappearing from sight in an instant.

  Kellen's arms were still in the posture of climbing a tree, his open mouth couldn't be closed for a long time. He was inexplicably scolded by a little girl and ran away, leaving him stunned on the spot. Kellen looked blankly at the direction where the little girl disappeared, then lowered his head and cast an inquiring gaze at the small Sky Wolf lying beside him. The small Sky Wolf gave him an innocent expression, and since his partner couldn't give him any clue, Kellen could only sit down next to the small Sky Wolf with a sigh, muttering to himself: "Who did I provoke? In this deep forest where people rarely set foot, I finally met a little girl of similar age to myself. I was thinking of developing her into my long-term playmate, but who knew that jokingly snatching a cup of water from her would be some precious Jade Spring Liquid? Just as I wanted to apologize, she had already run away without a trace. Alas, it's really an unlucky year!" The small Sky Wolf listened patiently to Kellen's complaints, its tail patting Kellen's buttocks from time to time, seemingly comforting him.

  Suddenly, He Lianuo jumped up from the ground and shouted: "I've got it!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and ran wildly along the original road, Xiao Tianlang was startled and reacted after a while, then chased after He Lianuo's back shadow and disappeared into the dust.