Reborn as Xiao in another world, targeted by the little red bird

Feeling that Red Xiao was in a low mood, Xiao asked in his heart: "What's wrong with you?"

Hong Xiao didn't say anything and rarely paid any attention to him.

Xiao hissed and thought to himself: Could it be that I asked Hong Xiao to memorize the contents of the book before going to bed, and the latter just memorized it all night long?

Not that bad... Well, when did he become so obedient?

After a while, Green Xiao spoke: "Last night, he went to hunt the Willow-Devouring Earth Dragon, but..."

"Shut up!"

Before Green Xiao could finish his words, Red Xiao interrupted him angrily.

"You have no business meddling in my affairs," he shouted angrily.

After hearing this, Xiao probably understood.

It must be because Red Goblin returned empty-handed.

Given Hong Xiao's personality, he probably felt ashamed but didn't want to make it public, so he could only be emo secretly by himself.

Xiao tried to comfort them, "They're all saying there aren't many outsiders in town anymore. Many of them are probably here for the Willow-Devouring Earth Dragon. I reckon most of the Willow-Devouring Earth Dragons outside the Sand Sea have been captured."

Then, he heard Hong Xiao change the subject very abruptly: "I remember everything in the booklet."

"Uh... okay?" Xiao didn't know how to answer for a moment.

After this little episode, Xiao quickly tidied himself up and went downstairs to meet up with Baili Ling and his group.

After finishing breakfast in the inn, they left the place where they had stayed for two nights under the leadership of Baili Ling.

The group passed through several alleys, and the low wall surrounding the town came into view through the gaps between the houses.

They had reached the edge of town.

Xiao noticed that not far ahead, there was a small bluestone house, and a man with a crooked nose was standing in front of the house.

The man looked to be in his forties or fifties. His exposed skin was copper-brown and covered with wrinkles, like a piece of wind-dried bark.

It was now bright outside, but for some reason he was still holding an unlit lantern in his hand.

And judging from his appearance, he seemed to be waiting for someone.

Not only Xiao, but everyone else in the team also gradually noticed the suspicious man.

At this moment, Baili Ling spoke up, "The man in front is the guide who will lead us through the Black River Sands in the next few days. Everyone in town calls him Old Man Hu."

Only then did everyone understand the other party's identity and put away their guard.

The group walked up to Old Man Hu, who swept his eyes across everyone's faces one by one, and then turned in other directions.

Xiao followed his gaze and saw another group of people approaching.

I guess that is the second wave of people that Old Man Hu is going to bring.

Soon, the two groups met in front of Old Man Hu's house. Xiao stood beside Baili Ling, silently looking at the strange young men and women opposite him.

There were seven of them in total, four men and three women, who looked to be in their twenties or thirties. They were all high-spirited and unrestrained, so Xiao easily detected the approximate strength of the opponent.

Among the seven people, there were two who exuded a king-level aura. One was the young man in white standing at the front of the team, and the other was another smiling young man standing at the end of the team, two meters away from the people around him, as if he was isolated by everyone in the team.

They are disciples of a certain sect.

Xiao immediately came to a conclusion.

Just as Xiao was observing these sect disciples, they were also looking at the people on Xiao's side, but most of their eyes were focused on Baili Ling, and they didn't pay any attention to Xiao next to him.

In their opinion, Xiao did not exude a very strong aura, so he should be just an ordinary person, and most likely the employer of Baili Ling's team.

Being able to hire a team of five king-level warriors to escort him, this handsome young man must be the young master of some local aristocratic family. There is no need to pay too much attention to him.

On the contrary, Baili Ling's realm is higher than the strongest among them, which makes them a little afraid.

The two sides looked at each other for a moment, and the young man in white walked forward. He had a heroic look on his face and a string of bone beads hanging around his neck.

The young man in white extended his hand towards Baili Ling and said calmly, "Nice to meet you again. Please bear with me for the next few days."

Baili Ling extended his hand back and shook it: "It's a pleasant journey."

When the young man in white walked back to the group, Xiao asked in a low voice, "Who is he?"

Baili Ling also lowered his voice and replied, "His name is Yang Ce. He is the strongest among these people and the one who makes the decision."

Xiao nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

"Cough cough!"

After the two sides had a brief exchange for a while, Old Man Hu cleared his throat loudly, immediately attracting everyone's attention to himself.

He slowly said, "The Black River Sands are extremely dangerous right now. If you want to leave safely, all actions must follow my command."

Someone from the sect disciples started to make a noise, "There are more than a dozen of us, and with so many king-level experts around, what danger could there be?"

Before Old Man Hu could say anything, Yang Ce, who was standing at the front of the team, turned around and glanced at him. The person who was speaking seemed to mutter something and then shut up.

Xiao watched the scene silently.

Although Yang Ce is the boss, it seems that not everyone in his team obeys him.

Hopefully this won't become a problem.

Old Man Hu ignored this little episode. He emphasized his words several times that if everyone encountered strange phenomena in the desert, they must listen to his command. After that, he led the team out of the town and headed west.

In the year of silence, the wind stopped and the sand was still. The Black River sand should have been dead silent, but dust was raised inside and a series of "rustling" sounds were heard.

There were six people on Xiao's side, seven people on Yang Ce's side, plus Old Man Hu who led the way, a total of fourteen people. Each of them rode his own mount, galloping behind Old Man Hu's camel, marching in a mighty manner in the yellow sand.

At first glance, it looked like a tide of beasts migrating in the desert.

Xiao rode on Chixing and ran on the outside of the team, very close to Hu Laodi's camel.

He noticed that even after leaving the city and entering the desert, Old Man Hu was still holding the unlit lantern in his hand.

He couldn't help asking, "What's the use of that lantern?"

Before Baili Ling could reply, a familiar, frivolous voice rang out, "That lantern is filled with a special oil. Besides providing illumination at night, it can also trick the mutant withered willows into thinking we've been marked by their kind, thus discouraging them from attacking us."

Does the mutated dead willow have the ability to mark prey?

Xiao quickly extracted the useful information from this sentence. He turned his head and saw a smiling young man who had appeared from nowhere. Under him was a large golden leopard with complex black patterns.

I always feel that this leopard looks a little familiar.

Xiao's gaze shifted from the leopard to the young man's smiling face.

He had seen this face in the group of sect disciples before. He was the only one of the two king-level disciples there, and he seemed to be isolated by the whole team.

Why did he come to talk to me?

Xiao asked doubtfully, "Who are you?"

"Bai Jie." The young man, smiling, bowed to Xiao. "I wonder if this young master knows that it has another effect."

"what?"

The puzzled look on Xiao's face intensified.

Young Master?

I?

Did this guy misunderstand something?

Then, he heard the other party say, "It can also attract the willow-eating earth dragon that feeds on mutated dead willows."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao felt a strange breath entering his perception range.