Ever since discovering the Spirit Spring, Mofeng’s daily routine besides pilfering spirit herbs consisted of coming here to secretly drink the spiritual liquid erupting from the spring eye.
Even though he drank one percent of that massive pool of spiritual liquid each time, it would rapidly refill itself. That sweet, luscious spiritual liquid tasted better than any beverage he had ever consumed. Furthermore, Mofeng discovered that absolutely nobody came to patrol the Spirit Spring area.
In truth, it was not that the Red Fox Guard failed to patrol the Spirit Spring. Throughout the entire Spirit Herb Garden, spiritual sense was most heavily concentrated right here. Unfortunately, Mofeng was a sly veteran who simply ignored spiritual sense, which explained why the Red Fox Guard had failed to detect him for so long.
"Get the hell out of here, all of you!"
Snuggling cozily in his tree hollow, sleeping soundly and planning to steal some more spirit herbs today, Mofeng was abruptly awakened by this furious and oppressive voice.
"It seems an extraordinary fellow has arrived this time."
"When I grab the herbs this time, I must be careful, extremely careful."
From that voice, Mofeng knew that the person who had appeared in the Spirit Herb Garden was unquestionably immensely powerful. Therefore, Mofeng waited inside the tree hollow for a full hour before stealthily crawling out, sticking out his little head to look left and right.
"Eh?"
"Nobody is here."
When Mofeng poked his little head out of the tree hollow, he discovered that the center area—which normally had someone coming by to patrol every half-hour—did not have a single soul around.
Although somewhat puzzled, Mofeng didn't care about such details. With nobody around, he could finally eat to his heart's content. Lately, because of the arrival of those women, he had only been able to eat tiny morsels of spirit herbs each day, and for most of the time, he had to rely on drinking the Spirit Spring to fill his stomach.
Seizing this opportunity, Mofeng scampered out of the tree hollow in a flurry of scuttling sounds and set to work upon the surrounding spirit herbs.
Actually, evading divine perception did not even truly showcase Mofeng's slyness. What made this fellow utterly shameless was that while devouring these spirit herbs, he could consume every last one of them without making the slightest sound. After all, as far as Mofeng was concerned, with so many guards about, if the noises he made while stealing food were detected by those people and exposed, how could he possibly deserve to be called a sly veteran?
When Mofeng had eaten his fill, his eyes lit up slightly. He spotted a spirit herb radiating a glowing halo right before him.
"Goodness me, is this thing about to become a spirit monster?"
Mofeng approached the glowing spirit herb, staring at the multicolored glossy fungus before him as unworthy drool dripped from the corner of his mouth. Generally speaking, the more vibrant something looked, the more toxic it was. But did that matter to Mofeng? Thinking of this, Mofeng directly extended his wicked little hand and plucked the multicolored glossy fungus right off.
"!!!"
The moment he took a bite, Mofeng’s eyes widened to their limits. That flavor was simply beyond the power of language to describe. All in all, it tasted better than any delicacy he had ever eaten. For a moment, Mofeng even felt somewhat reluctant to finish it quickly. This was also the first time since coming to the Spirit Herb Garden that Mofeng felt reluctant to devour something immediately.
"Eat slowly, eat slowly."
"Hehe~"
Happily clutching the multicolored glossy fungus—which was even larger than himself—in his arms, Mofeng ambled forward on his toddler's waddling footsteps, swaying as he made his way toward the Spirit Spring. His mood could only be described as marvelous. Clasping this multicolored glossy fungus in his arms, not only was it incomparably delicious, but the moment it entered his belly, his cultivation power instantly surged by a notch.
That was precisely why Mofeng was feeling so wonderful. And yet, human beings—once they grow complacent—are prone to taking a tumble. Sure enough, Mofeng, who was hugging the giant multicolored glossy fungus in his arms, took a direct spill. To avoid damaging the giant fungus in his embrace, Mofeng hastily executed a spin, letting his own back hit the ground first.
"This is bad!"
Though this fall did not produce any particularly loud noise, a vague sense of unease welled up inside Mofeng, and he had a lingering feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
"Hmm?"
Di Cangli was soaking in the Spirit Spring, gradually closing her charming, alluring eyes to take a light nap. After all, the entire Spirit Herb Garden was enshrouded by her spiritual sense, so she had nothing to worry about. However, the tiny, faint motion produced when Mofeng tumbled to the ground caused Di Cangli to instantly snap open her eyes, and her entire figure vanished from the Spirit Spring. The garments that had originally been scattered beside the Spirit Spring likewise disappeared without a trace.
"!!!"
As Mofeng tried to get up while clutching the giant multicolored glossy fungus in his arms, he discovered an exquisite, peerless visage hovering right above him. Words like "capturing fish and dropping geese, eclipsing the moon and shaming flowers, possessing the beauty of an immortal" were utterly inadequate to describe the breathtaking beauty of the woman before him.
The two of them remained like this: one lying flat on his back with limbs splayed, hugging a giant multicolored glossy fungus larger than his own body; the other bending over, leaning down, and lowering her head to gaze at him.
Mofeng, clutching the giant multicolored glossy fungus, stared wide-eyed at Di Cangli, who had suddenly appeared beside him. The two of them engaged in a mutual staring contest, time seeming to freeze at that exact moment as the air fell dead quiet.
Oh crap! Oh crap! I'm completely done for! I'm totally finished! I've been caught red-handed, and this time my cover has completely blown! Hasn't he basically turned into a helpless monkey now?
Lying spread-eagled on the ground with the giant multicolored glossy fungus clutched to his chest, Mofeng stared up at Di Cangli, who was leaning over to lock eyes with him, panicked to the extreme.
As for Di Cangli, she looked down in utter astonishment at the bare-naked little kid before her, who was hugging a multicolored glossy fungus larger than himself.
Wait, a giant multicolored glossy fungus?
At this thought, Di Cangli shifted her gaze toward the multicolored glossy fungus clutched in Mofeng's arms. Meanwhile, Mofeng's attention had remained entirely focused on Di Cangli. Seeing her look down at the giant multicolored glossy fungus in his embrace, he flashed her an utterly harmless, naive smile: "Abba-abba."
Hearing Mofeng emit that heart-melting baby coo, Di Cangli redirected her gaze back to his face.
"Awoo~"
Accompanied by this "awoo" sound, Mofeng opened his little mouth and took a ferocious bite out of the giant multicolored glossy fungus he was holding. Then, with lightning speed and in the blink of an eye, the giant multicolored glossy fungus that had been cradled in Mofeng's arms—larger than his own body—instantly vanished, disappearing entirely into Mofeng's little belly.
Di Cangli rubbed her eyes in sheer disbelief as she watched the giant multicolored glossy fungus suddenly vanish from Mofeng's arms. Afterward, looking at the naked Mofeng before her, her eyes filled with utter astonishment and confusion. Could it be that her eyes had deceived her just now? This little creature in front of her hadn't been holding her Soul-Nourishing Ganoderma—which she had cultivated for over a thousand years—in his arms at all?
Watching the slightly dazed Di Cangli before him, Mofeng held his breath, stealthily flipped over, and began crawling away on tiptoe.
Huh? Mofeng had just wanted to sneak away while Di Cangli was in a daze, but he never expected her to snap out of it so quickly. Before he could make his escape, and just as he had flipped over and crawled two steps, he felt the back of his neck seized by a soft, tender jade hand.
Then, she hoisted him right up into the air.