Beastmaster: I'm really just a forest ranger

Chapter 264 The Fruit Factory's First Offline Gathering

It was sunny on March 12.

Three days have passed since Chen Yuan returned from the mysterious forest.

Yunnan Province

LS City.

"It's so warm." Stepping out of the airport, Chen Yuan, who came from Qin Province, immediately felt the temperature difference between the two places.

The temperature in the Qinling Mountains is extremely low during this season, with heavy snowfall and howling winds. You must wear a thick coat when you go out, and even then, there is a possibility of freezing to death.

twelve
In LS City in May, the average temperature is around ten degrees Celsius, so Chen Yuan only needs to wear a light jacket.

Looking up at the azure sky, the weather was clear and the white clouds drifted lazily by.

"Another new location unlocked," Chen Yuan remarked.

During his student years, he was too busy studying to travel much, but after becoming a beast tamer, he traveled to other places more frequently.

My trip to Yunnan Province was at the invitation of Li Junyue to attend the fruit factory's first offline gathering.

They had known each other for some time, and Li Junyue, grateful for their help, had invited them to visit LS City several days ago.

Li Junyue happened to be on vacation these few days, so the other three traveled a long way to LS City.

Since Jiang Wenning and Chang Yuhuan's flights were around the same time as Chen Yuan's, the three of them met successfully in no time.

Chen Yuan had met both of them offline before, so they weren't strangers. Jiang Wenning was a lively and cheerful person, and she quickly overcame the awkwardness and unfamiliarity of meeting Chang Yuhuan for the first time. The two of them laughed and joked all the way.

After a short wait, an SUV pulled up in front of the three of them.

The passenger door opened, and a well-built man, about thirty years old, with a square face, stepped out.

"Everyone, get in the car."

Looking at the three people he was seeing for the first time, Li Junyue's resolute face broke into a big smile, and he extended his hand in invitation.

The three sat in the back seat. Jiang Wenning gently patted the car door with a smile and said, "Brother Xiyue, this car isn't cheap."

Li Junyue, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and smiled: "It was provided by the ministry."

He then pointed to the young man in the driver's seat and introduced him, "This is Kobayashi."

With his handsome features and youthful appearance, Xiao Lin turned around and greeted them with a smile. But when he saw the three of them, he was slightly taken aback and wondered to himself, "These are Captain Li's friends? They look about my age."

Since joining the Criminal Investigation Department, they have been busy for more than two months.

These past few days have finally been a break for their ninth group. Xiao Lin had been planning to take his girlfriend on a trip to a nearby city, but today he was called by Captain Li to pick up some friends.

There's no way around it; the captain has spoken, and who dares to disobey?
But Li's three friends are a bit too young. How did Li get to know them?
Having followed Captain Li for some time, Xiao Lin knew very well that Captain Li's lifestyle was extremely dull and monotonous, like that of an ascetic.

He spends all his time training and with his wife and children; he has absolutely no entertainment activities.

But as a team member, he didn't need to pay too much attention to Li's life. He just wanted to get Li and the others to their destination as soon as possible and then pick up his girlfriend.

He had already planned out the itinerary for the next few days: first, he would take his girlfriend to visit the Erhai River next door, and then they would sit by the Erhai River in the evening to talk about life and have a deep spiritual exchange.
Thinking of this, Xiao Lin's face lit up with a silly smile, but fortunately Li Junyue's voice pulled him back to reality in time: "Xiao Lin, let's drive."

"Okay, okay." Kobayashi nodded and started the car, heading towards downtown LS.

Lishui Airport is some distance from the city center. As the car slowly moved forward, the magnificent scenery, unlike that of Shaanxi Province, rushed past the car window.

Li Junyue glanced at the three people in the back seat through the rearview mirror. He wanted to start a conversation, but he opened his mouth and hesitated to say anything.

The experience of meeting online friends in person was too novel for him, and he, who was not good at socializing, couldn't find a suitable topic to talk about.

Chen Yuan silently admired the scenery outside the window; he was also not one to initiate conversations.

Jiang Wenning and Chang Yuhuan, on the other hand, were still chatting enthusiastically, but the topic was limited to things that girls are interested in, such as makeup and taking photos, and the two of them couldn't get a word in edgewise.

after awhile,

Li Junyue, who considered himself the host, finally overcame his inner awkwardness and mustered up the courage to speak: "I will have four days off this time. I will accompany you to stroll around the city today, and we will rest here tonight."

"I'll take you to Deqing County tomorrow; they have the most delicious mushrooms there."

Chen Yuan nodded: "Okay."

Some time ago, Li Junyue was promoted to captain of the ninth group of the seventh branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, responsible for handling and resolving special and extraordinary incidents in and around Deqing County.

Chen Yuan was familiar with Deqing County, which has several famous snow-capped mountains and nature reserves. After the spiritual energy was restored, a wide variety of wild pets were born there, making it a key monitoring area in Yunnan Province.

While it is certainly not as large or famous as the Qinling Mountains, the snow-capped mountains here are majestic and spectacular, and some of them can still be climbed, thus attracting many mountaineers and beast tamers.

Jiang Wenning raised her right hand, voicing her doubts: "Brother Yue, aren't mushrooms only available during the rainy season? It's already December, are they still available?"

Li Junyue forced a smile: "That was true before, but it's different now."

After a slight pause, Li Junyue slowly explained, "There are now a large number and variety of fungal pets living there. Many of these fungal pets regularly drop fungi, and this is not affected by the climate."

"So, we can enjoy fresh and delicious mushrooms anytime from now on."

Upon hearing this topic, Xiaolin subconsciously licked his lips and followed up, "Yes, the mushrooms dropped by these fungal pets are much more delicious than the ones we used to have. They're incredibly nourishing when used to make soup, and some special mushrooms can even enhance mental strength."

At this point, Kobayashi paused slightly, gripping the steering wheel even tighter: "It's quite dangerous."

"Danger?" Jiang Wenning's eyes flashed with a thoughtful light. She tapped her chin with her finger and voiced her guess, "Does it mean we have to fight these pet beasts?"

"I suppose so." Li Junyue nodded in agreement with the guess, and explained in a calm tone, "Fungi pets usually live in groups and have fixed activity ranges. To find fallen fungi, you have to go to their habitat."

"And this inevitably leads to conflict with them."

"Fungi pets are usually of the wood or poison type. Their actual strength is not too bad, but they have a bunch of troublesome skills, such as Sweet Fragrance, Humus Explosion, etc."

"If you get hit in the wild, it will be extremely dangerous."

"Groan?"

It's unclear which word piqued the interest of the twin concubines, but they peeked out from Chen Yuan's chest pocket, their eyes gleaming.

Chen Yuan smiled slightly and patted the little guy's head, but was instead hugged tightly.

The tricky skills that Li Junyue mentioned were exactly what the twin concubines were good at.

"That's why these mushrooms are so expensive; ordinary people can't afford them at all." After Li Junyue finished speaking, Xiao Lin chimed in, the two of them bantering like a comedian, "and that's how the profession of mushroom picker came about."

Chen Yuan, the "mushroom picker," muttered these three words to himself, a guess forming in his mind.

Li Junyue didn't keep them in suspense and explained directly: "Simply put, they are beast tamers who specialize in going into the mountains to pick mushrooms. They can easily find the nests of mushroom-type pets by relying on the abilities of their pets, and then secretly pick the mushrooms and sell them to the outside world."

“A single ordinary mushroom can be worth thousands of dollars.”

Upon hearing the price, Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow, Chang Yuhuan gasped, while Jiang Wenning rested her chin on her hand and muttered, "This isn't expensive."

Chen Yuan glanced silently at Jiang Wenning.

Oh, I forgot, Jiang Wenning is from Shanghai, where the currency is different from other places.

In that place, a simple plate of fried rice can easily sell for several hundred yuan.

That's fine too, at least it doesn't cheat poor people.

Jiang Wenning looked around, her face gradually showing excitement, and her voice rose: "How about we go mushroom picking in the mountains tomorrow?"

The other three had not yet answered, but the Twin Flower Concubines nodded, looking very interested.

Chen Yuan pressed its head down again and said earnestly, "We're here for tourism, so let's not waste our time on trivial matters."

Upon hearing this, the twin concubines, who always obeyed Chen Yuan's every command, shook their heads with resolute eyes: "Yinyin."

That's studying, not some random nonsense.

Only by learning more skills can we better protect "Mom"!
Chen Yuan was speechless for a moment and could only nod in agreement.

Oh well, since the child likes it, let her be. Anyway, it won't hurt if she learns a few more poison skills; at most, her future opponents will be even more miserable.

Chen Yuan agreed, and Chang Yuhuan had no objections either, but Li Junyue hesitated slightly. He was very familiar with the surrounding environment of Deqing County. There were indeed several large groups of fungal pets living nearby. Because of this, picking fungi was extremely dangerous, and one could be attacked by poisonous gas if one was not careful.

Even mushroom hunters usually only operate on the fringes, tracking lone mushroom pets or small groups, and rarely venture directly into the territory of large groups.

But then he thought again that there was no need to seek out large groups, and with Chen Yuan traveling with him, they could face any dangers or accidents with ease, so he nodded and said, "Okay."

The group engaged in an in-depth discussion on this topic, and before they knew it, they had arrived at Lishui Ancient City.

"Captain, I'll be going now." Kobayashi parked the car and addressed Li Junyue, "If any unforeseen circumstances arise..."

Before he could finish speaking, he shook his head rapidly: "No, let's avoid any special circumstances. I want to rest for a few days."

Li Junyue nodded seriously: "Okay."

After saying goodbye, Xiaolin waved, got into a taxi, and quickly drove away.

As soon as Xiaolin left, the four of them instantly lost the awkwardness of concealing their identities and returned to the ease and naturalness they had when chatting online.

Jiang Wenning even joked, "Not bad, Watermelon, you're really showing off your leadership style now."

Despite Jiang Wenning's joke, Li Junyue's expression turned serious, and his tone was sincere: "I have to thank you all for this. Without your initial help, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Wenning waved her hand to interrupt him: "Xigua, let's wait for the emotional part, let's go have a big meal first!"

Li Junyue smiled slightly and nodded emphatically: "Okay."

I led the three of them into the bustling ancient city and sat down at the restaurant I had booked in advance. The waiter quickly brought out plates of local specialties.

The group enjoyed the food while chatting and discussing.

Chen Yuan summoned the shrunken Spark and Cola, Chang Yuhuan summoned the Water Spirit Turtle, and Jiang Wenning also summoned the Ice Crystal Illusion Cat. Then the three of them looked at Li Junyue in unison, but then tacitly looked away.

Li Junyue's ink tree spirit is three or four meters tall, making it difficult for it to move around in this small private room.

"Ow~"

Cola was naturally outgoing and strode up to the Water Spirit Turtle and Ice Crystal Cat, waving its paw.

Hello everyone~
"Woo~"

The water turtle was a little shy, nodded gently, and then quietly lay down next to Chang Yuhuan.

"Meow."

The Ice Crystal Cat's eyes were cold and clear. It nodded slightly, but then suddenly remembered something. It looked around with its reserved gaze, and only when it did not see the figure did it turn its gaze away.

"Ow!"

Upon seeing the Ice Crystal Cat's movements, Cola remembered its story with the Electric Flying Cat and quickly waved its paws.

Electric Flying Cat didn't come this time!

"Meow?"

Ice Crystal Cat glanced at Cola with a puzzled look.

It was just wondering why it hadn't seen Runrun Duck.

Cola:"."

Far away in Xuanhe Village, Dian Dian, the flying cat huddled in its wooden house, suddenly sneezed and looked up in confusion: "Dian Dian?"

Is it too cold?
Inside the private room, the fruit factory's first offline gathering was in full swing.

The little ones gathered together to play, and the four of them chatted and laughed.

The topic kept changing, from Li Junyue's difficult promotion to Jiang Wenning's hard work, then to Chang Yuhuan's bumpy photography career, and finally to the huge sensation Chen Yuan had caused during this period.

Fortunately, the topic had already been hotly debated online, and the focus quickly shifted to the itinerary for the next few days.

Li Junyue's eyes flickered as he slowly announced the itinerary: "We'll set off for Deqing County early tomorrow morning. Since Youzi is going to pick mushrooms, we'll go straight into the mountains."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "There are many villages in the mountains, and the guides in those villages are familiar with the local routes and environment. We can hire one, and they can also take us to find mushrooms."

“No problem.” The other three nodded.

"The next day, if you are interested, we can climb the nearby Puda Snow Mountain."

"This snow mountain is only a little over 5,000 meters above sea level, and its difficulty level is relatively low. Recently, quite a few people have been climbing it."

"A question." Jiang Wenning suddenly raised her hand, her eyes sparkling. "There must be many ice-type pets on the snow mountain, right?"

“Of course.” Li Junyue nodded, then put down his chopsticks, his voice growing deeper, “However, although the difficulty level of this snow mountain is relatively low, strong winds blow from time to time, very strong winds.”

Chen Yuan suddenly looked up.

Jiang Wenning asked, "How intense?"

Li Junyue's expression was serious: "It can easily sweep away pets weighing hundreds of kilograms."

Chen Yuan was stunned.

Is this what they mean by a lower difficulty level?
Noticing the change in everyone's expressions, Li Junyue composed himself and forced a smile: "It's alright, the impact of this strong wind is not widespread, we can just stay far away from it."

He paused, then added, "So far, there have been no reports of people being injured by strong winds."

"Unless...unless you're thinking of getting too close to a strong wind."

Li Junyue's explanation completely dispelled the three's concerns, and Jiang Wenning asked, "What about the third day?"

"As for the third day, we will..." Li Junyue hadn't finished speaking when the phone rang suddenly, interrupting his description.

Looking down at the caller ID, Li Junyue's expression immediately turned serious. He said softly, "Excuse me, I need to take this call."

After saying that, Li Junyue got off the table and went to a corner to answer the phone, while the other three tacitly stopped talking.

After a while,

Li Junyue: "Okay, I'll be right there."

After hanging up the phone, Li Junyue turned back to the three of them, pursed his lips, and hesitated to speak.

Chen Yuan smiled slightly and waved his hand: "It's alright, your professions are special, you don't need to worry about us."

Jiang Wenning nodded in agreement: "Yes, we can take a stroll around the ancient city of Lishui."

Chang Yuhuan nodded silently.

Li Junyue gave the three of them a deep look and said in a deep voice, "It's the New Star Society."

The three of them immediately turned to look at them with curiosity.

"The fourth team discovered a hidden outpost of the Nova Society nearby. Since we're resting in LS City, then..."

Jiang Wenning looked excited and quickly stood up: "It's that group of guys again, let's go too!"

But before she could finish speaking, Chen Yuan interrupted her, saying, "Okay, work is important, go quickly."

Li Junyue nodded emphatically, then turned and left.

Watching Li Junyue leave, Chen Yuan said calmly, "This is their internal matter. We haven't been given permission, so it's best not to interfere."

Jiang Wenning understood Chen Yuan's unspoken meaning, so she had no choice but to suppress her inner turmoil and nod.

After hearing the three of them talk about the New Star Society, Chang Yuhuan couldn't help but ask, "They should be able to resolve this smoothly, right?"

Chen Yuan smiled, his face full of approval for the Criminal Investigation Department's capabilities: "Don't worry, they are professionals at handling this kind of thing."

Upon leaving the restaurant, Li Junyue immediately dialed Xiaolin's number: "Emergency situation, head to Zhulin Road to meet me immediately."

Xiao Lin, who had just met his girlfriend, was shocked to hear this sudden news. He looked at his girlfriend, who was staring at him expectantly, and felt like crying.

(End of this chapter)