The following morning, the camp was livelier than usual.
Several mercenary groups had decided to leave the outer region of the Magic Beast Mountain Range before noon.
Supplies were being packed, horses were prepared, and loud voices filled the clearing as everyone hurried to finish their own tasks.
Xiao Feng remained one of the few people who seemed completely unaffected by the commotion.
He sat beneath a tree with a map spread across a flat stone.
It wasn’t a treasure map.
Nor was it marked with secret inheritances.
Instead, he had carefully copied the surrounding terrain from memory.
Rivers, cliffs, herb fields, beast territories—anything worth remembering found its way onto the rough parchment.
“You’re making your own map?”
The Little Fairy Doctor had approached without him noticing.
Xiao Feng nodded.
“The maps sold in cities are too simple.”
She glanced down.
The drawing was surprisingly detailed.
Even the places where medicinal herbs commonly grew had been marked with different symbols.
“You remembered all of this?”
“I forgot half of it.”
She looked at him strangely.
“If this is half, I’d like to see the complete version.”
Xiao Feng laughed.
“So would I.”
Not far away, Xiao Yan had finally escaped another morning of training.
At least…
That was what he believed.
He had barely sat down beside the stream before Yao Lao spoke.
“Rest enough?”
“I’ve been resting for less than a minute.”
“Excellent.”
“…Why does that sound dangerous?”
“It means you’re ready.”
Before Xiao Yan could ask another question, a small pebble suddenly shot toward him.
Instinctively, he tilted his head.
The pebble missed by less than an inch.
Another came immediately after.
Then another.
Xiao Yan hurriedly jumped to his feet.
“Teacher!”
“What?”
“You’re throwing rocks at me!”
“I’m training your reactions.”
“By attacking me without warning?”
“Exactly.”
“…”
Xiao Yan suddenly missed carrying the heavy ruler.
Around midday, the Little Fairy Doctor organized the herbs collected over the last several days.
Others had to remain fresh.
A few especially delicate ingredients needed to be stored separately.
As she worked, Xiao Feng quietly helped sort them without being asked.
Neither spoke for quite some time.
The silence wasn’t awkward.
It was simply comfortable.
Eventually, Xiao Feng picked up a small crimson flower.
“I’ve seen this three times.”
The Little Fairy Doctor glanced over.
“Red Moon Grass.”
“It always grows near damp rocks.”
She nodded.
“Mostly.”
“But not always.”
Xiao Feng turned the flower slowly.
“Then what decides where it grows?”
She stopped arranging herbs.
“…I’ve never thought about it.”
“I don’t know either.”
He placed the flower back into the basket.
“But there must be a reason.”
The Little Fairy Doctor couldn’t help smiling.
“You really do question everything.”
“If nobody questions ordinary things…”
He shrugged.
“…everyone eventually forgets they’re extraordinary.”
She laughed softly.
“I suppose that’s why your diary is so strange.”
Xiao Feng nearly answered before stopping himself.
Diary?
Then he realized she had only meant his habit of constantly writing notes.
Fortunately.
That afternoon, several mercenaries invited Xiao Feng to join a hunting expedition.
He politely declined.
Instead, he wandered toward a nearby stream.
Not because he expected to discover anything remarkable.
Sometimes walking without a goal helped him think.
The forest was unusually peaceful.
Small beasts scattered as he passed.
Colorful birds rested among the branches overhead.
Nothing seemed dangerous.
Then, beside the stream, he noticed something.
Several animal tracks overlapped near the muddy bank.
One belonged to a deer.
Another to a wolf-like beast.
A third…
He didn’t recognize.
Xiao Feng crouched.
The footprints were old. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
At least two days.
He quietly sketched them inside his notebook before continuing on his way.
If he couldn’t identify them now, perhaps he would someday.
Knowledge rarely arrived all at once.
Sometimes it accumulated one observation at a time.
As sunset approached, the camp gradually settled into its usual rhythm.
Mercenaries returned with their catches.
Laughter echoed around several campfires.
Someone began telling exaggerated stories of beasts that were clearly twice their real size.
Another insisted he had once escaped a Rank Four Magical Beast using nothing but courage.
Nobody believed him.
Least of all his companions.
Even Xiao Yan found himself laughing after overhearing the story.
“It’s impossible.”
Yao Lao’s calm voice echoed from the ring.
“What is?”
“That man.”
“…”
“He claims courage defeated the beast.”
“So?”
“He actually fainted before the fight began.”
Xiao Yan stared.
“…How do you know?”
“I happened to be nearby.”
For several seconds, Xiao Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or pity the storyteller.
Eventually…
He did both.
Night quietly descended upon the mountain range.
The stars gradually appeared overhead.
Xiao Feng sat alone near the edge of the camp, finishing the last few notes in his journal.
Today’s observations were ordinary.
A medicinal plant.
Unknown footprints.
Changes in local terrain.
Nothing earth-shattering.
Yet he wrote them down anyway.
Experience had taught him something simple.
Great discoveries were often built from details everyone else ignored.
Closing the notebook, he leaned back against the tree and listened to the sounds of the forest.
No cultivation.
No schemes.
No hidden inheritances.
Just wind moving through ancient trees.
For one peaceful evening…
That was enough.