Chapter 851: Somewhat complex, not affected in the slightest

"Mm, then let's set off!"

Su Hang nodded, and the two headed toward the foot of the mountain. Just as they reached the mountain gate, they ran into several young women. Among them, one was about sixteen years old, with a beautiful appearance and dressed in blue, looking quite extraordinary.

Seeing Zhou Zhiruo, the woman was stunned for a moment, then immediately came up to greet her. "Junior Sister Zhiruo, you..."

As she spoke, the woman's gaze shifted to Su Hang, her expression somewhat complex.

"Who is this?" the woman asked, knitting her willow-leaf brows.

Zhou Zhiruo smiled faintly. "Senior Sister, I forgot to introduce him. This is Big Brother Su. I asked him to accompany me to retrieve the Ice Silkworm Grass."

"You call him Big Brother?"

The woman was surprised, only then noticing that Zhou Zhiruo was actually holding Su Hang's arm. She immediately widened her eyes, looking at Su Hang in disbelief. "Young Master Su, this... what is going on?"

At this time, two other women nearby also crowded over, looked at Su Hang and Zhou Zhiruo, and were all surprised.

Su Hang said with a faint smile, "This is my friend."

"So it's a friend." The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "Zhiruo, you are ignorant; how can you be so reckless?"

"Senior Sister, I..."

"What 'I' what? Hurry up and let go. You two, a lone man and a lone woman, staying together in the mountains—if this gets out, what kind of decorum is that?"

Zhou Zhiruo was so anxious her face turned red. Just as she was about to explain something, the woman scolded her and interrupted her words. "What are you still standing here for? Hurry into the mountain."

With that, the three of them hurried into the mountain, obviously worried about being caught.

Zhou Zhiruo stomped her foot. "Hmph, how annoying. I am not being reckless. Big Brother Su, let's go."

"Hey!"

Su Hang was somewhat between laughter and tears. "Aren't we going to pick herbs?"

"Picking herbs doesn't require so many people. It's fine with just me, my sister, and A-Lian. Besides, the mountains are so dangerous; bringing so many people would actually be more inconvenient for us."

Zhou Zhiruo swung her arm and pulled Su Hang along as they walked.

Su Hang was helpless and could only follow behind.

Heading north all the way, they crossed a large mountain and arrived at a swampy area, where the swamp was overgrown with reeds.

A thick, poisonous miasma drifted over the swamp. Ordinary people would not survive half a minute if they stepped into this area, but Zhou Zhiruo seemed immune to this poisonous fog, and they walked all the way without being affected in the slightest.

Before long, a huge ancient tree came into view. This ancient tree was seventy or eighty meters tall, its canopy blocking out the sky and sun, its thick trunk lush with branches and leaves, and scattered with dense tree holes that made one's hair stand on end.

On the open space in the center of the trunk grew a towering ancient tree with a diameter of about two meters, its branches lush, the leaves presenting a dark green color as if they had been soaked in deadly poison.

This ancient tree was called the Soul-Withered Tree. It was rumored to be formed by absorbing hundreds of grievances and vengeful spirits, and it was extremely poisonous; ordinary people would surely die if they approached it.

Zhou Zhiruo took the herb hoe out of the bamboo basket in her backpack. "Big Brother Su, please help me chop some Soul-Withered Tree wood, preferably about a foot long."

"This Soul-Withered Tree wood, even a foot of it is considered precious; chopping it is too much effort." Su Hang shook his head. Although the Zhou family was a family of alchemists, Soul-Withered Tree wood was rare, and naturally, the Zhou family would not have too much of such a treasure.

Zhou Zhiruo pouted her pink lips. "Then what should we do? We can't just come here for nothing; we didn't bring any tools."

"I have some!" Su Hang smiled slightly.

As he spoke, he opened his palm, and a pitch-black withered branch lay in his hand. It looked plain and unremarkable; if one did not look carefully, it would be absolutely difficult to discover. ===== CHAPTER 853 =====