Dark Moon Era

The Herrocky Mountain Ridge was so extensive that no one was able to tell how big it actually was.

Firstly, in the Purple Moon era, some of the most precious gifts from the old civilization had somehow lost its functions, including but not limited to satellites and the ability to launch one into the sky, the devastating firearms, the world wide web, and so on.

If some of the precious inventions could have remained, the old civilization would not have been wiped out overnight and the people of Purple Moon era would not have gone through a declination period. Ultimately, human beings would not have reverted to the primitive way of living.

Secondly, in the Purple Moon era, control over this world had been taken away from the hands of humans by all types of unimaginable vicious beasts.

Humans could no longer travel long distances in the sky. Traveling over 500 meters in the air was a privilege that belonged to only a handful of people. In order to travel more than 3,000 kilometers, one would have to use the precious large flyer.

As for distances further than 3,000 kilometers, humans could only dream of it because, in terms of probability, the further the distance, the higher the chances one would run into danger. Not even a super advanced large flyer could protect the passenger from the said danger.

The surface area of the Herrocky Mountain Ridge was definitely larger than 3,000 km, so the people in the Purple Moon era could not imagine how the old civilization could have measured every peak and crack of the mountain precisely.

Of course, there were scientists who tried to map out the entire world via various methods, but all of them failed.

However, there was a scientist that claimed that the Herrocky Mountain Ridge had a total of 56 branching ridges, which consisted of all sorts of complicated terrain, including grasslands, jungles, stony jungles, swamps, and even deserts that spanned tens of thousands of kilometers.

Yes, it sounded like bullsh*t and it really was.

Judging from the geographical records of the old civilization, no mountain ridge could reach this scale and have all these kinds of different terrains.

Moreover, the Herrocky Mountain Ridge was not even the largest mountain ridge on this planet. It did not even make it to the top five.

The scientist who made such bold claims only replied to the world calmly, “Believe it or not, those are the facts, and the fact is that I’ve spent 20 years measuring the entire Herrocky Mountain Ridge with my legs.”

“He measured the Herrocky Mountain Ridge with his legs?” Ro Xin closed the book in her hands.

It was a precious notebook with all sorts of description and extracts, and was one of Ro Xin’s most valuable items. She longed for knowledge as she wanted to know more about this world. However, what she had was limited and the burden that came along with it was heavy. All she could do was read and see as much as she could in any way accessible to her.

It was the rainy autumn season in the Santos Branching Ridge. The drizzle was relentless and it had been days since it started, but the rainy season was the best season there was, especially on the Santos Branching Ridge. Many plants that bore fruits would ripen in the season. Those were a rich source of food for her group and many more useful herbs would be available. The season was a gift from the heavens.

“Isn’t the rain a little lighter yet?” Ro Xin kept her notebook away in the pocket of her beast pelt and walked out of the cave that she used as a temporary shelter from the rain.

She looked at the sky and savored the rain. The rain was a lot lighter, so one might not even feel the drizzle without heightened awareness.

It had been three days since the rain started, and the weather should take a break soon. That was what her many years of experience in the Herrockey Mountain Ridge told her. Otherwise, Ro Xin would not have come out alone today to collect herbs.

The ground was still wet outside the cave, but it did not stop her. With a wooden staff in her hand, she moved swiftly and steadily. Having grown up in the mountains, she got used to all types of mountain terrains and learned how to walk on slippery, bumpy paths.

She had to hurry. Otherwise, the field of ripe octa-fruits with red stamens would be ravaged by some mutated insects or beasts.

The Santos Branching Ridge was not as peaceful recently. Fully armed patrols would appear from time to time, baffling people with their mysterious intentions.

In relation to that, those beasts and insects that lived in the mountains got riled up, or maybe they sensed some unusual presence with their sharp intuition, hence the agitated mood that caused them to stray out of their original territories or caves.

A field of ripe octa-fruit was a huge temptation to beasts and insects because they were the best herb to recover energy and stamina. Sensitive ones would never hesitate to devour the whole field.

“Is this all just to capture that Tang Ling?” Ro Xin grumbled. She could not help but voice her complaint since it was rather difficult for her to locate a field of precious herbs.

Her news network was rather accurate though. Being one of the Ro Drifter Group members, she would always pass by some large safety sector or even safety city. Sometimes, her group would cross paths with some adventurers or merchant groups, so she was well-informed about the latest news.

Tang Ling’s incident was almost on every newspaper headlines, and it had happened near her current location. Two days earlier, a friendly merchant group brought the latest newspapers over, informing her about the news.

The Ro Drifter Group never stepped out of the Herrocky Mountain Ridge since it was the only territory they were familiar with. Therefore, be it Tang Feng, the Dragon Army, or Tang Ling, Ro Xin was uninterested in all of them. She just wanted to maintain the peaceful life of her group.

With that in mind, Ro Xin traveled to the ledge of the mountain. Before that, she saw the field of octa-fruits with red stamens from a distance, so she marked it down in her mind.

When the field of red entered her sight again, she smiled.

Thankfully, the field was still safe from damage. If she could harvest all the fruits back and make some vigor pills by mixing them with other herbs, the warriors of her drifting group could grow stronger.

If things went her way, her drifter group would have the required strength to enter the Ninth Ruins that was marked somewhere in the mountain ridge before winter. The Ninth Ruins was a lifelong wish of the Ro Drifter Group, a goal that they wished to reach. All she had in mind was access to the Ninth Ruins and nothing else.

Excitedly, she arrived before the field of octa-fruits. She plunged her wooden staff deep into the group as support and carefully squatted down to scan the area.

It had only been two days and the octa-fruits had ripened. The faint purple leaves had deepened and the white fruits that were shaped like an octagon were waving in the air with their red stamens at the top. The red stamen remained even after it bore fruits and looked a little cute from the outside.

The sky was clear. The field was at the ledge of the mountainside while the shrubs and scattered bushes were also clear. Upon a closer check on the shrubs, the last bit of unease in her heart was discarded.

Ro Xin smiled and grabbed her staff with one hand as she started to collect the octa-fruits with the others. Due to the octa-fruits hanging way too close to the ledge of the mountain, she had to adjust her staff’s position to allow her to collect bigger and better-looking fruits.

Ro Xin was quick. There was no delay in her movements at all. Being alone in the wild, even if she was in her most familiar territory, she could not stop accidents from happening. The only way to overcome them was to be quick and lower the chances of unexpected things happening. It was one of the iron rules of living in the mountains.

However, regardless of how careful she was, the unexpected happened!

Ro Xin felt her hand sting all of a sudden. Glancing at it, chills went down her spine. An Eroy blue hemp centipede sprung out from the ledge of the mountain and bit her finger.

The Eroy blue hemp centipede was a common Level 1 mutated insect in the Santos Branching Ridge. It was poisonous and its venom could send one into an uncontrollable twitching spree fast. This type of centipede was one of the rare ones that lived in colonies as the first would always attract a second.

Usually, Ro Xin would have some antidote in her pouch, but she was stuck in a rather sticky situation. She was hanging over a slippery cliff, clinging onto a wooden staff with one hand and barely maintaining her balance.

Without a second thought, she retracted her bitten hand and strenuously removed her pouch single-handedly. She watched as a dozen more centipedes crawled towards her while she laboriously opened the pouch to search for the antidote.

There was a centipede on her leg biting her flesh painfully, followed by a second one.

Ro Xin’s body started to twitch uncontrollably. She gripped the antidote, but the uncontrollable twitches prevented her from holding onto it tightly. As she tried her best, a dozen more centipedes crawled onto her, injecting their venom generously into her body, hence increasing the intensity of the twitching.

Will I die here, killed by the venom of some lousy blue hemp centipedes?

Not only did Ro Xin twitch, but she also started to lose control of her body. Her hand was releasing the wooden staff and the fierce twitches coupled with the slippery surface slowly made her slide to the edge of the mountainside.

“Aaahh!!” Ro Xin screamed as her heavily twisted fingers could no longer grasp the wooden staff and she rolled over the field of octa-fruits, making her way to the ledge.

It was at that moment that a figure rushed over and grabbed her by the arm with an unusually cold grip. With a powerful pull, Ro Xin was dragged back up.

Before she could get a clear look at the figure’s face, the figure quickly removed the centipedes from her body and put them on his arm.

One, two, three…All the centipedes were put on his arms, back, and body. He forced the centipedes to inject venom into his body. A few seconds later, the centipedes fell off his body with a twitch and died.

“Do you need help?” The delightful voice of a male with a tinge of youth tinkled in Ro Xin’s ears.

The figure was in a black hood with half of his face covered, but she had no other choice other than placing her trust in this mysterious man.

“Inside my pouch, the wooden bottle with the round bottom…pour me some of the powder.” Ro Xin revealed where the antidote was. Although she had been lifted up, her twitches continued and she could not perform any movements.

It must be hideous for her as a girl to be seen twitching incessantly like this. Ro Xin was concerned about her image, but she had no choice under such circumstances. The mysterious man did not say anything and quickly searched for the antidote to pour into Ro Xin’s mouth.

After the slightly spicy antidote entered her throat, the twitching immediately slowed down. Less than 20 seconds later, she regained control over her body. She consumed more of the antidote powder and applied some on the bite wounds before she slowly recovered.

Phew, what a dangerous encounter! It seems like I wasn’t careful enough. 

Tidying her hair and clothes, Ro Xin acknowledged the man, “Thank you.”

“Feel better now?” the man asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then, I’ll be leaving.” The man skipped the chatter and turned around.

Ro Xin looked at his back and saw the centipede carcasses all over the ground. She thought of something and asked instinctively, “Hey, are you…?” She wanted to ask whether the man was poisoned, but it seemed a little invasive.

The man heard her cry out, so he wanted to turn about, but somehow, his body shook and fell to the ground instead. He lost his breath and his body started to twitch.

“The venom! It must be the venom of the blue hemp centipedes!” As a herbal healer, Ro Xin was able to tell from the symptoms at first glance, but she ignored her occupational habits and ran over. She removed the man’s hood and mantle and when she saw the condition of the man, she cried out in shock.

The man only had a singlet underneath, and other than his neck and face, his entire body was icy blue in color. The different shades of blue covered all his body and were mixed with a thread of dark brown.

Ro Xin was very familiar with the dark brown color. It was a symptom of the centipede venom.

What is this guy doing? Did the blue hemp centipedes poison him so deeply? What kind of body does he have? How can he fight off this much venom?

The man was twitching non-stop on the ground and it was one of the signs of the centipede venom working its way through his bloodstream. If not cured in time, his organs would start to twitch and he would die from a cardiac seizure.

Without a second thought, Ro Xin fished out a little knife from her pouch and cut him where the dark brown was the deepest. Then, she grabbed her antidote, turned the man over strenuously, and was about to pour some antidote into his mouth.

However, when she saw the man’s face, she was stunned for a second.

It’s him? The wonder kid that dominated all the headlines in the newspapers, Tang Ling? Why is he here in the Santos Branching Ridge in such a terrible condition? He even injected the blue hemp centipede venom in his body madly and worsened the poisoning! What happened to his body?

Ro Xin had a vague idea of what was happening to Tang Ling, so without further ado, she poured the powder into his mouth.