The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#565 - Unlucky Job

The last time Lu Jing came to Nightingale River Valley was when he came to choose a messenger.

At that time, his impression of this place was that it had beautiful scenery, singing birds and fragrant flowers, and was very leisurely.

As the place where the academy usually raises nightingales, not only are there no large animals here, but not even a single wild cat can be seen.

If Ye Gongmei hadn't told him personally, Lu Jing would never have known that this nightingale paradise actually hid a veritable ferocious beast.

According to Ye Gongmei, that ferocious beast actually didn't have a very fierce temper. Most of the time, it was busy sleeping, and when it woke up, it would go to forage for food. And its food was also very special, neither meat nor grass, but a kind of red soil unique to Nightingale River Valley.

It truly lived by eating soil.

And Lu Jing is now going to meet this ferocious beast that lives by eating soil.

However, when he came to the place where the ferocious beast often haunted, he couldn't see the latter's shadow.

Lu Jing wasn't in a hurry either. He first set up the great formation, and then went to a stone wall not far away, using a small knife to dig out a full two catties of blood-red soil from the cracks in the rock wall, and scattered them in the center of the great formation.

After doing all this, Lu Jing felt that everything was ready, so he hid behind a stone wall not far away, quietly waiting for the main character to appear.

But what Lu Jing didn't expect was that instead of waiting for the main character, he waited for a group of uninvited guests.

They were a group of disciples, both male and female, and without exception, they all looked like they were armed to the teeth.

Some held swords, some held talismans, and some, like Lu Jing, had prepared materials for setting up a formation.

Especially a woman in a purple dress, after arriving here, scanned the surroundings and her expression suddenly changed.

Her companion asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone has arrived one step ahead of us," the purple-skirted woman's face was a little ugly, "and has set up a formation."

When everyone heard this, their expressions also changed slightly. One of them said, "Are you sure?"

"There's no mistake, and the formation he set up is more powerful than mine. It's definitely not beginner level," the purple-skirted woman said with a solemn expression.

"Intermediate formation?"

The companions looked at each other, "Everyone has only just established their foundation not long ago. Is there someone among the newcomers who can use an intermediate formation?"

"Most people's secret power is not enough to drive an intermediate formation, but don't forget that there are three A-grade talents in this year's newcomers, and one suspected of having a perfect foundation."

"Especially that Xia Huai, I've seen her drive an intermediate formation, although only for a few breaths, but if there are other people to cooperate, those few breaths are enough to do many things."

"Then are we going to be preempted this time?" The others showed anxious expressions when they heard this.

"We've prepared for so long, and tried a full nine times. It would be too unlucky if we lost at the last step," someone complained.

The others also showed unwilling expressions.

On the contrary, the purple-skirted woman who had spoken first had already calmed down again, and shook her head.

"The strange object guarding that thing is very strong. It's not so easy to defeat, otherwise we wouldn't have tried so many times without success before, so I think we should still have a chance."

"Do you mean we should wait for them to fail and then go up?" someone said.

"I actually prefer to join forces with them," the purple-skirted woman said, "Because although we have made more preparations this time than in the previous few times, but you ask yourselves, do you really have the confidence to get what we want?"

As soon as she raised this question, the others fell silent.

Indeed, that strange object was too powerful, far exceeding the other strange objects in the academy. They had fought with that strange object several times, and in theory, they should have figured out the other party's strength and methods.

However, the actual situation was that the more they fought, the colder their hearts became. This time, they said that they had made full preparations, but in fact, they still had no confidence in their hearts.

If they could have a few more strong reinforcements, which could increase their chances of winning, it would not be a bad thing.

It's just that the things they get will be less, but it's better than nothing.

Because it seems that the secret that originally belonged only to them has now been targeted by others. The more it is delayed, the more people will know about it.

At this time, cooperation naturally becomes the only option.

After figuring out the pros and cons, everyone no longer had any objections.

So after a while, the purple-skirted woman raised her head and said loudly, "I wonder which fellow student is here, can you come out to meet us?"

Lu Jing was busy consuming his secret power at this time, so he didn't really have time to deal with people.

But after hearing this sentence, he still stood up from behind the rock. There was no way, since the other party took the initiative to speak, and they were all fellow students, he couldn't pretend to be deaf, so he could only reply, "It's me."

As he spoke, he walked out from behind the rock.

Lu Jing doesn't show up often, but every ten days or half a month, he can always cause some trouble, and he has long become a prominent figure in the academy.

This made them both worried and happy. What they were happy about was that they might be able to get that thing today, but what they were worried about was that the other side was full of experts, and how much could they get on their side.

However, after waiting for a while, no one else appeared except for Lu Jing.

Someone with an impatient temper simply asked directly, "Lu Daxia, where are your companions?"

"Oh, I came alone," Lu Jing said.

Everyone was stunned, alone? But soon someone reacted and cupped their hands, "Lu Daxia, is this your first time here?"

Lu Jing nodded, "Apart from the time I chose a messenger, this is indeed my first time here."

"Then no wonder," the purple-skirted woman nodded, "Let Lu Daxia know that the strange object is very strong. If you are alone... I'm afraid you are not its opponent either."

"It doesn't matter. If it's really that strong, I couldn't ask for more."

The woman didn't take Lu Jing's words to heart, and only felt that the other party was putting on a brave face, so she asked according to the results she had discussed with her other companions, "Since the opponent is so strong, I wonder if Lu Daxia is interested in joining forces with us?"

"Join forces? Join what forces?" Lu Jing only felt a burst of inexplicable feeling.

He came here to find the ferocious beast in order to consume his secret power more efficiently, so from beginning to end, he had never considered joining forces with others.

"Naturally, it's to join forces to deal with that strange object."

"You also want to deal with that strange object?" This time it was Lu Jing's turn to be surprised. He didn't expect that someone would be competing with him for this unlucky job.