Chapter 79: Unexpected Harvest!

  "You're my little apple, no matter how much I love you, it's not enough..."

  On this earth, this song, like "Terror", was once sealed as a "divine melody". The tune and lyrics are all easy to recite, very cheerful. From developed cities to remote villages, wherever there are people, you can hear this song, it's really popular for a time.

  The song expresses the singer's infinite love for someone or something they like, and this song is sung by Xiao Yun for 'Jiu Xiang'.

  With a flourish, he seemed quite pleased with himself. But Hong Ke Xin couldn't help but burst out laughing at what she heard, "What are you singing? Nursery rhymes?"

  There's no doubt that this is a popular song, but listening to it makes people feel very happy and carefree. Hong Ke Xin even has the urge to dance along with the music.

  Xiao Yun didn't even notice Hong Ke Xin, and just played on her own. As soon as the music started, all the depression in her heart seemed to be swept away, feeling extremely relieved and smooth. Once she began singing, she couldn't stop.

  Hong Ke Xin sat beside him, her hands supporting her cheeks, her head nodding to the beat, her mind completely blank, as if she had spaced out, and before long, she found herself humming along with Xiao Yun.

  "What's that delicious smell?"

  Suddenly, a strong fragrance wafted over, bringing Hong Kexin back to reality. Hong Kexin wrinkled her nose and looked intoxicated.

  "Clang!"

  Xiao Yun pressed down on the strings, and the sound of the guqin came to an abrupt halt. Apparently, he too had caught a whiff of the unusual fragrance. He sniffed hard, and indeed it was exceptionally fragrant, with the sweetness of osmanthus, the elegance of jasmine, the subtlety of gardenia, and a hint of rose's fervor, leaving one savoring the aftertaste endlessly.

  "Zuò yīn guǒ?" = "What's wrong with you?"

  Xiao Yun and Hong Ke Xin exchanged a glance, both of them widened their eyes and exclaimed in unison.

  Having played so many heavenly tunes before, none of them had ever brought a fragrance. Who would have thought that playing "Little Apple" casually would bring an unexpected surprise.

  Zu Yin Guo liked to listen to beautiful music, and as soon as he heard the music, he would emit a fragrance that made people linger and forget to return. At this time, suddenly smelling the fragrance, the two naturally connected with Zu Yin Guo.

  Xiao Yun put away the Jiuxiao, suddenly stood up, didn't say a word, and rushed out of the cave, following the fragrance to find outside the valley. Hong Kexin also followed closely behind, hurrying along.

  ——

  "Xiao Yun, slow down, be careful you might get hurt!"

  The sky has brightened, and the sunlight pours into the mountains and forests, filling every place with vitality. Following the lingering fragrance in the air, Xiao Yun searches through the mountains and forests, heading towards the east where the sun rises. Hong Ke Xin closely follows behind Xiao Yun, occasionally reminding him.

  Hong Ke Xin couldn't understand Xiao Yun's feelings at this moment, Zu Yin Guo was extremely important to Xiao Yun, and whether he could live a safe life depended entirely on Zu Yin Guo. No matter if the fragrance was emitted by Zu Yin Guo or not, he had to go find it. At this point, his mind only had three words: "Zu Yin Guo". What danger? He couldn't care about that anymore.

  She stopped in her tracks, sniffing the air with all her might. After such a long time, the scent had faded so much that it was almost impossible to continue identifying the direction.

  "Don't run so fast, this place is full of monsters everywhere, what if we bump into one?" Hong Kexin caught up, panting slightly, with dense beads of sweat already covering the tip of her nose.

  Xiao Yun furrowed her brow, "The flavor is gone!"

  "Huh?"

  Hong Ke Xin sniffed and indeed, there was no smell anymore. "It should be around here, didn't you just play a tune? Try playing it again!"

  Xiao Yun nodded and immediately sat down cross-legged, playing the "Little Apple" she had just played, while Hong Kexin stood on one side, keeping watch.

  As the cheerful song sounded, the leaves and flowers around seemed to be shaking slightly with the beat of the music. The familiar fragrance came quickly, but Xiao Yun didn't rush, waiting until the scent became thicker before stopping the tune.

  "What's wrong with you? Hurry up!"

  She stood up and found Hong Kexin standing beside her in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking about. Xiao Yun quickly pulled her sleeve to bring her back to reality.

  "Huh? Oh!"

  Hong Kexin came to her senses, smelled the strange fragrance in the air, was stunned for a moment, and then hastily followed Xiao Yun to run towards a high mountain on the right.

  ——

  It's getting closer and closer!

  Crossing the mountains, Xiao Yun had a premonition that the source of the fragrance was getting closer and closer. The mountain road was extremely difficult to walk, but Xiao Yun didn't care, exerting all his strength to perform "Pursuing the Moon with Colored Clouds". Before long, he stopped in front of a misty valley.

  "It's right here!"

  A stream flowed out from the valley mouth, gurgling and flowing down the mountain. The surrounding trees were not lush, and the flowers and grasses were sparse. The valley mouth was covered with a thin layer of fog, exuding an air of mystery. Xiao Yun was certain that the strange fragrance was wafting out from this very valley in front of him. Excited, he lifted his legs and headed towards the valley mouth.

  "Hey!"

  Hong Kexin rushed forward and quickly stopped Xiao Yun.

  "What's wrong?" Xiao Yun was taken aback.

  Hong Kexin said, "Are you crazy? The mountains are full of miasma and toxins. Look at this place, the grass and trees are so withered and dying. If we go in like this, what if we encounter danger?"

  Xiao Yun hesitated for a moment, then took out two detoxification pills. "These are the detoxifying spiritual medicines given by our sect's seniors. We'll each take one, and we won't have to worry about any poisonous substances or miasma."

  "That won't do!" Hong Ke Xin firmly blocked Xiao Yun's path, "Didn't your sect's seniors ever tell you that wherever the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Kind grows, there must be spiritual beasts or demonic beasts guarding it? Even if this valley really has some Ancestral Sound Fruit, we can't be so reckless. Do you still remember that demonic bear from yesterday? What if we encounter another powerful demonic beast, we won't even think about escaping!"

  After listening to Hong Kexin's words, Xiao Yun calmed down a bit. Mu Tianen had indeed reminded him that the Zuyin fruit was a rare spirit plant, and where it grew, there would definitely be powerful demonic beasts lurking about. However, even if he knew there was danger, Xiao Yun still had to go in - this was a matter of great importance for his entire life. If he couldn't get the Zuyin fruit, his whole life would be mediocre.

  "What do you think we should do? Why don't you go in and take a look first?" Xiao Yun said to Hong Ke Xin.

  "What? Are you kidding me!" Hong Kexin rolled her eyes and passed him a white eye.

  "Then don't block the way, you wait here, I'll go in and take a look!" Xiao Yun threw down a sentence, directly bypassing Hong Kexin, heading towards the valley entrance.

  "Hey, you..."

  Hong Kexin hastily stamped her foot and created a large pit on the ground, helplessly following Xiao Yun into the valley.

  ——

  "Whoosh..."

  Through the faint white mist, I heard the sound of water echoing, and what appeared in front of me was a mountain valley that wasn't particularly large. The three sides were all cliffs, with slightly gentler terrain on both left and right sides. The air was very humid, and it seemed like rain was floating in the sky.

  The cliff in front is very steep, and a waterfall falls from the top of the 50-60 meter high cliff, like a galloping horse, majestic, far away, it looks like a white ribbon hanging on the edge of the sky.

  The terrain in the valley is relatively flat, and under the waterfall there is a pool of water. The pool water constantly overflows, forming a stream that flows out from the valley, flowing towards the outside of the valley.

  The fallen leaves caress the dusty earth, the grass and trees by the roadside are sparse, the scenery in the valley is not particularly beautiful, what really catches Xiao Yun's attention is a few lush small trees on the left cliff.

  The cliff wall slants outward, more like a slope, not steep at all. At about twenty meters from the ground, three small trees are growing. If you don't look closely, you might think they're tea trees, but when you get closer, you'll be quite surprised.

  Three small trees, each with seven branches, hung with seven quail egg-sized fruits, surrounded by seven small flowers, each flower surrounded by seven leaves, in the morning sunlight, blooming with seven colors, like a natural work of art, looking both pleasing to the eye and strangely extraordinary.

  "Seven fruits, seven leaves, seven flowers, Zu Yin fruit, it's really Zu Yin fruit!"

  The fragrance was indeed emitted from those three small trees, and the shape of the tree was also identical to what Mu Tian'en had told himself, with seven fruits, seven leaves, and seven flowers. It was undoubtedly the Zu Yin fruit.