Chapter 111: The Bravest Adventurer, From the Sky… Part 2

Min Xingwen was pitching a tent nearby and laughed. “There’s a smallish Mineral Beast den close by with materials from the task list.”

Xie Jianxun was curious. “Materials in a Mineral Beast den?”

Captain: “Plenty. The Wild Zone has all kinds. Boss, you want mostly ores, but our tasks include wild herbs, beast parts, rare bugs, etc.”

Xie Jianxun: “Bugs?! Insects?”

Captain: “The research institute wants them for specimens.”

While they talked, the assistant had already set up his own tent independently. Short in stature, he worked methodically, though he struggled a bit tiptoeing to set the ridgepole.

Tuls stood by helping, and Ela thanked him politely.

Captain: “Afternoon free activity, don’t go far. Action starts tonight.”

Xie Jianxun went to open his tent pack but was stopped by Ela. The little one opened his big cute eyes and said seriously that it was his first time sleeping outdoors—he might be scared and wanted to share a tent with Xie Jianxun.

Xie Jianxun eyed the tent, gauged the size, and saw it could fit them both, so he agreed.

He even smiled gently at him for being scared, but Ela countered: “Can’t kids be afraid of sleeping alone?”

Xie Jianxun had an epiphany, agreeing it made sense.

The Captain came over and asked Xie Jianxun: “Boss, with us or with others?”

Xie Jianxun looked around—the eight-person Wild Squad split into three teams for different tasks.

He quickly asked, “What are the tasks?”

The Captain pointed to the Deputy Captain first. The capable girl shouldered a half-person-high pack and headed southwest with another member. “They’re rock-climbing experts, going to the waterfall cliffs for the institute’s rare mushrooms—the farthest, might not return till evening.”

He pointed to two others nearby: “They’re tracking small Mineral Beasts for their… dried droppings.”

The Captain phrased it politely; Xie Jianxun raised his brows high.

Min Xingwen added hastily: “Medicinal use.”

Xie Jianxun said tactfully, “If there’s demand, there’s a market.”

Captain: “As for us—see these trees?”

Everyone listening looked up at the treetops he indicated. The tall trees had dense canopies, sunlight filtered thin, not blinding at all.

Captain: “These treetops grow a fruit—that’s one of our targets. Which group, Boss? Ones you pick yourself are free; ours cost extra since we have to gather more.”

After this rundown, Xie Jianxun oddly felt like he was at an agritourism spot, tons of projects to try… it really was a spring outing!

Tuls raised his hand first: “I’ll go with the Boss!”

Xie Jianxun lowered his head and asked, “Sir, which one do you want to try? Or would you prefer to rest in the tent area?”

The Captain replied, “There’s a big group event tonight for the whole squad. You could conserve your energy and go big when night falls.”

From his tone, the evening group activity sounded far more impressive than the daytime ones.

Xie Jianxun asked curiously, “What are we doing at night?”

The Captain said, “A night raid on the Mineral Beast Nest!”

They quickly made their decision, and Xie Jianxun joined the Captain’s small team for a simple taste of the “high-altitude fruit picking” activity.

Meanwhile, You Liang had left with the “cliff surfing” group.

The Captain handed out safety ropes to everyone participating. Ela didn’t join; he said he’d obediently wait at the base of the tree for Xie Jianxun to come down. Even Tuls strapped on a safety rope, which creased his high-end suit pants.

Xie Jianxun said, “We’ve already ventured into the wilds. Do we really need to wear suit pants?”

Tuls insisted, “Boss, this is my only outfit fit to be seen in!”

Xie Jianxun lowered his head to strap on his own safety rope. Tuls remarked, “Boss, you’re not nervous? This tree is so tall.”

What was there to be nervous about? The Little Adventurer had gone bungee jumping more than once before—and without safety ropes, no less.

Now with full safety measures in place, it was even more relaxing and enjoyable.

Xie Jianxun said, “I’ve bungee jumped before.”

Tuls lavished him with praise. “Whoa, Boss, you’re amazing. You’ve been through so much at such a young age.” He chattered on endlessly before adding glumly, “Otherwise, maybe I should stay down here? This tree might be a bit too high…”

Xie Jianxun looked at him in surprise. “Weren’t you great at climbing trees to catch cats before? Since when are you afraid of heights?”

Tuls defended himself. “Boss! You have to see what kind of height this is. The trees I climbed were at most two or three stories tall—falling from them wouldn’t kill you… This one… uh, at least ten stories?”

They walked another two or three hundred meters forward. The Captain spotted a fruit-laden tree through his binoculars and immediately ordered the small team to stop.

The best tree climber went up first to set safety anchors for those behind.

Xie Jianxun tightened his safety harness and tempted Ela. “You really won’t give it a try? You could brag about it to Yiwen later.”

Ela: “…”

He said coolly, “I don’t play children’s games.” As if bragging to friends about novel things was something kids did.

Since Ela refused, Xie Jianxun didn’t push.

He pinched Mr. Assistant’s little cheek. Up ahead, the Captain called out, “Boss, if you can’t hold on, just let go—I’ll catch you from below.”

Xie Jianxun gave a thumbs-up to show it was no problem, then followed right behind the first climber, stepping onto the tree bark.

With the safety anchors and specialized gloves assisting, Xie Jianxun mimicked the movements of the person ahead, climbing step by step upward.

A squad member called to him while climbing, “Boss, see the treetop canopy up there? Once we reach it, we’re golden—branches will keep us from falling, and we can sit and rest.”

Min Xingwen shouted from below, “Watch your stamina, Boss!”

Tuls unclipped his safety rope and cheered from the ground. “Boss, go for it! Boss, go for it!”

For a moment, Xie Jianxun felt himself slipping a bit… Probably because Mr. Tuls, who looked thirty, cheering him on was just too comical.

He thought it was funny but kept his hands moving, continuing to climb.

He was clumsy at first, but by imitating the others and applying force slowly, he unwittingly climbed over ten meters.

The wind halfway up the tree blew across his face, tousling some hair and making his face itch.

He instinctively glanced down and saw Tuls, the Captain, and the others reduced to tiny dots. Only then did he realize how high he’d climbed.

The person climbing below him called up, “Boss, can’t climb anymore?”

They had strong service awareness toward the paying sponsor who’d joined their group.

Xie Jianxun replied, “Nah, just pausing a bit.”

With that, he continued upward, even speeding up for a stretch.

The repetitive motions of climbing step by step led him, almost unconsciously, to the canopy.

The first squad member to reach the top unclipped a safety anchor from his waist, wrapped it expertly around the main trunk, hammered it in, and grinned.

“All good, Captain—we’ve reached the top!”

The Captain’s voice came faintly from afar. “…Be careful…”

The squad member taught Xie Jianxun how to navigate the interlacing branches, then climbed toward a nearby cluster to sit on a three-pronged bough and pick fruit.

In the blink of an eye, Xie Jianxun got whacked in the face by a small twig.

Right above was a half-ripe fruit, green-tinged yellow with glossy skin—he wasn’t sure if it was edible.

A treasure-hunter’s thrill washed over him. Xie Jianxun touched it fondly and decided to spare the little fruit, letting it grow a bit more.

The Little Adventurer’s eyes then locked onto the tallest branch.

It looked like the main trunk reaching straight for the sky—not thin at all, sturdy enough to bear his weight.

No sooner said than done. Xie Jianxun shifted slowly toward it, then stepped onto a horizontal branch and stood up.

The people watching from below grew tense.

Tuls: “Boss, be careful, Boss!”

Captain: “Boss, that might not be safe!”

Neither “Boss” reached Xie Jianxun’s ears. He grabbed the trunk, kicked off hard, and poked his head through the highest canopy.

In all directions stretched distant, undulating mountains. The sky loomed close, the sea of treetops rippling below like breathing waves.

Xie Jianxun half-sat on the branch, swinging his legs, wondering if he should free a hand to snap a photo of the vista.

Take the picture, sign his name boldly on the back, and proclaim himself “the bravest adventurer.”

A voice drifted up from below.

It was Ela.

His low voice carried penetratingly, straight into Xie Jianxun’s ears.

“Xie Jianxun, come down.”

Xie Jianxun focused and spotted a fully ripened fruit atop the highest canopy—golden yellow, within arm’s reach.

He grinned, plucked it in one go, and slid cleanly down the safety rope.

His fluffy black hair streamed back, his golden bird-like eyes descending from the tree, trailed by a long gray safety rope like a wind-swept tail feather.

He landed on the ground, and everyone crowded around. They watched as he held out the golden fruit to Ela.

“Look,” he said lightly, “a star I plucked for you from the sky. What do you think?”