This is a place with severe water scarcity.

Xu Mu sensed that about several dozen meters away, a man was lying weakly on the ground.

His legs were kicking erratically.

In most cases, this kind of behavior was a sign of impending death.

Xu Mu immediately walked over and found the man’s lips cracked and dry, his cheeks flushed a deep purple.

He was severely dehydrated.

Xu Mu took a bottle of mineral water from his backpack, twisted off the cap, and poured a little into the man’s mouth.

“Cough! Cough!”

The man suddenly started coughing, and because of that, his closed eyes opened again.

“Water! Please! Give me water!” the man begged.

Xu Mu didn’t hesitate much and handed him the mineral water.

The man immediately sat up and tilted his head back, gulping down the water noisily.

In just over ten seconds, he finished the entire bottle.

“Is there more?” the man looked at Xu Mu.

“There is, but I won’t give it to you. Judging by your condition, this place is seriously short of water,” Xu Mu said calmly. “Tell me what happened, and I might share half of it with you.”

As he spoke, he pulled out another bottle of water from his backpack.

“Alright! I’ll tell you everything,” the man said, picking up the empty bottle from before.

He tilted his head back, drank the last few drops, and then began to recount his ordeal to Xu Mu.

It turned out he was a herb collector hired by Xu Ningbing to search for rare medicinal treasures.

Herb collectors were a relatively niche profession; their employers provided photos of the herbs, and they were responsible for finding them.

They often took on large orders, and sometimes finding a single herb could earn them tens of thousands in rewards.

This time, they had discovered this mysterious place.

There were three of them in total. Although they entered the thick fog together, they got separated.

The primeval forest was vast and had no signal. Even with markers, he couldn’t find the others.

Inside the forest, it was oppressively hot, with temperatures unusually high, making his throat feel like it was on fire.

He carried a large container of water with him and tried to ration it, but it ran out long ago.

Though it was a forest, there was almost no water to be found.

He tried chewing fresh leaves and plants to extract moisture, but it was far from enough.

Just when he felt he was about to die of thirst, he remembered the herbal medicine in his bag.

He ate one that looked juicy, but it knocked him out cold.

When he woke up, it was just now. He didn’t know how many days he had been unconscious, but he felt certain that without Xu Mu’s water, he would have died.

“Let me see your backpack,” Xu Mu said, reaching out his hand.

“Here,” the man handed it over.

Xu Mu opened it and immediately spotted a small blue flower.

Only about half a fist in size, it looked a bit like a sunflower, and its spiritual energy was overwhelming.

A seventh-grade Blue Sunflower!

The primary rare medicinal herb used to make the Qi Sea Pill. Unexpectedly, there was one right here.

Besides the Blue Sunflower, the rest of the backpack was filled with some low-grade rare medicinal herbs.

Among them were some basic herbs Xu Mu had previously asked Xu Ningbing to find.

“Where did you find this?” Xu Mu asked, holding up the Blue Sunflower.

“Deep in the forest. I don’t remember exactly where. I just thought it looked nice, so I picked it,” the man replied.

The man struggled to raise his hand and pointed in a direction. "I remember coming from that way."

"Alright, just lie down here and rest for a while."

Xu Mu held the blue aster flower in his hand and placed another bottle of water in front of him. "One bottle of water for one flower. Deal?"

"Of course, deal!"

The man immediately grabbed the mineral water. Not just for a bottle of water—

Even a bottle cap’s worth of water, he would trade for it.

People were on the verge of dying of thirst; what use was a flower to them?

"Good."

Xu Mu stood up and headed toward the primeval forest ahead. If blue asters grew here, he would search carefully.

To make the Qi Sea Pill, the blue aster was the most abundant and essential ingredient.

The pill’s distinctive blue color came from the blue aster.

Xu Mu stored the blue aster in his storage space, then took out two more bottles of mineral water and put them into his backpack.

He stepped into the forest’s interior. The fallen leaves around him gave off a thick, rotting, fermented smell.

The trees were tangled and complex; high branches intertwined, blocking out the sun.

Yet despite this, the surrounding temperature made him feel as if he were baking on a hot stove.

After walking some distance, Xu Mu raised his hand to wipe his forehead, noticing it was slightly damp.

"My body’s already starting to sweat—how are the others holding up?"

Xu Mu whispered to himself, now even more worried about Xu Ningbing.

Once he saw her, he was determined to give her a good scolding.

Suddenly, Xu Mu spotted a cave in the distance.

He first used his senses to check and found no one inside, so he headed toward it.

The cave entrance was round, about one and a half meters in diameter.

Xu Mu bent down to enter.

Inside, the cave was empty. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a corpse in a corner.

"Places like this are definitely death traps."

Xu Mu said, then exited the cave and continued climbing higher.

From a higher vantage point, he could see farther; he needed to understand the terrain around him.

Without a sense of direction, wandering around here would only waste his energy.

Suddenly, a sound came from the treetops in the distance.

Using his senses, Xu Mu detected two people approaching.

Moments later, a man and a woman appeared in front of him.

The man was a muscular tattooed brute wearing a tank top, his lips cracked and dry.

The woman had dyed blonde hair, a round face, and was slightly overweight.

"Kid! Got any water in your backpack?" the brute asked hoarsely.

"No," Xu Mu replied calmly.

"Hand over your backpack. Let me see it!"

The brute reached out, stepping toward Xu Mu.

"Why should I let you look?"

"Because I can kill you!"

The brute sneered, stomping his foot hard enough to leave a deep pit in the ground.

Xu Mu’s eyes instantly turned icy cold.

Whoosh!

The brute lunged at Xu Mu, his fist as big as a sandbag aiming straight for his face.

Xu Mu just slightly shifted his body, dodging the punch.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out.

Xu Mu’s hand grabbed the man’s face, lifting him off the ground as if by magic.

Boom!

Xu Mu slammed him forcefully into a nearby tree.

His head slammed violently into the tree, causing it to shake violently as a shower of leaves rained down.

Xu Mu released his face, and he collapsed weakly to the ground, blood staining the bark.

The woman nearby watched in horror, her eyes wide with fear. She hurriedly raised her hands and dropped to her knees. "Please, have mercy."

Xu Mu walked toward her, his expression calm as he asked, "Have you seen a lone woman? Long hair, very fierce."

Xu Ningbing had deliberately mentioned that she had put on a disguise, so Xu Mu didn’t know how to describe her appearance and simply described her figure instead.

"No, I haven’t seen her."

The blonde woman shook her head, then looked up at Xu Mu, swallowing hard. "Big brother, please, can you give me some water? I’m willing to trade my body."

"Sorry, my standards are a bit higher."

Xu Mu spoke and prepared to leave.

"Big brother, I beg you."

The blonde woman immediately stepped forward, grabbing Xu Mu’s leg and slowly pulling herself up. "I promise I’ll make you... very satisfied!"

Boom!

As the blonde woman’s hand touched Xu Mu’s chest, she suddenly unleashed a hidden force.

"Hahaha! Kid! You’ve fallen for it, haven’t you?"

The blonde woman grinned wickedly.