Rand and his group closely followed behind Xia Yan. Suddenly, Rand asked Xia Yan, who was walking at the front, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Are you asking me?"

"Of course, who else could I be asking?"

"My name is Xia Yan, is there something wrong?"

"Xia Yan? What a strange name... How did you end up in this forest?"

...

He couldn't just tell others that he was a reincarnator, waking up in the Baiye Forest.

So, he decided to use the classic plot twist often seen in some novels, where the male lead is initially considered a useless waste by his family and is heartlessly abandoned. This would be his explanation for appearing in the Baiye Forest.

"They kicked me out of my family because my magic power is too low. They suspected that I wasn't their biological child, so they threw me into this forest to fend for myself."

"Your family is really heartless... to throw such a young kid like you into the most dangerous forest on the continent. You must be really lucky to have survived all this time."

...

It was true that Xia Yan was able to survive in the Baiye Forest mostly thanks to his lucky streak, but a small part of it was also due to his own efforts.

If he had been too scared to move when he first encountered the silver wolf, perhaps many things wouldn't have happened, including meeting Manling.

And if we were being honest, luck was also a part of one's abilities.

"What luck? It's simply my struggle to survive..." Xia Yan muttered in a voice only he could hear.

Rand seemed to have heard Xia Yan muttering something and frowned, asking, "What did you just say?"

"...Nothing."

Rand glanced at him but didn't say anything else. Instead, he specifically instructed, "When we reach the territory of the Tree Spirits, you go in first and scout for us, got it?"

Xia Yan obediently nodded, "Understood."

After that, there was no more conversation, and the atmosphere within the group became somewhat tense.

Xia Yan vaguely sensed that these people seemed to have ill intentions towards him, and their eyes held a mix of pity and disdain, as if he were a fool.

It made him feel uncomfortable, but soon these people would realize who the real fool was.

...

Soon, Xia Yan took the group to the vicinity of Manling's territory. They stopped here and dared not go any further.

"Kid, take this. When you go in and reach the Tree Spirit's side, put these things under the Tree Spirit's tree, understand?" Rand took out several thumb-sized white crystals from his pocket and handed them to Xia Yan, telling him to put them under Manling's tree.

As he held the white crystals in his hand, Xia Yan felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen these things before, but he couldn't recall where.

"What is this?" he asked.

"You don't need to know so much! Shut up and do as I say!" Rand's sudden anger made Xia Yan obediently close his mouth and stop asking questions. Anyway, he wasn't going to do as Rand said. Once he returned to Manling's territory, he would casually throw these things away as trash.

"So, I should go now?" Xia Yan confirmed Rand's meaning one last time.

He nodded, and Xia Yan stepped into Manling's territory with the white crystals that Rand had given him.

After passing through a dense thicket, Xia Yan's figure disappeared from the sight of the other four people.

At that moment, the archer among the four, named Stet, suddenly asked, "What if this Tree Spirit really doesn't attack this kid and he doesn't do as we said, but hides in there and doesn't come out?"

"Hmph, let's see how long he can hide in there! We'll wait here until he comes out!" Rand said fiercely as if he had absolute confidence in the success of his plan.Back at Manling's territory, Xia Yan felt like he was returning home, as this was the safest place for him.

Manling's vines reached out to him, and its ethereal voice echoed in his mind, "You're back?"

"Yes, I'm back!"

"But why do you still have the scent of other humans on you? And... you're injured?"

Manling carefully noticed the faint wound on Xia Yan's neck. Although it had healed, the lingering scent of blood still faintly permeated the air.

"Nothing escapes your notice, Manling... I'm sorry, it's my fault. I didn't listen to you and encountered some human adventurers while wandering around. Among them was the person who escaped into our territory last time. They threatened me to come back here and asked me to leave this white crystal under your tree."

Xia Yan took out the only white crystal he still had and showed it to Manling. He had already discarded the rest when he first entered, but he wanted Manling to confirm what it actually was.

"Oh, so it's a magic crystal containing explosive magic. But its quality is poor, and it can only be used once. They probably wanted to completely destroy my main body."

Manling immediately recognized what Xia Yan was holding in his hand.

No wonder it looked familiar to him; it was the ultimate weakened version of the red magic crystal in his own hand.

Xia Yan casually threw the white crystal away. It was worthless to him.

"These bastards, I knew they had no good intentions... But don't worry, Manling. I didn't tell them anything about you. Now that I'm back, I'll stay here and not go out anymore! They wouldn't dare to come in, let's see what they can do to me."

"They indeed can't do anything to you, but since they've harmed you, I can't let them off so easily."

After saying that, Manling's vines stretched out towards the distance, passing through the trees and heading straight towards the location where Lande and his group were. By the time the four of them reacted, it was too late. The vines had already bound their bodies, dragging them towards Manling.

They never imagined that the tree spirit's vines could reach them here!

Soon, Lande and his group once again met Xia Yan, except this time, the roles were reversed. Their lives were now in Xia Yan's hands.

With just a word from him, Manling could instantly kill the four of them.

"Manling, when did your vines become capable of reaching so far? I remember these four should be outside your territory, right?"

Xia Yan was surprised to see Manling bring the four of them back, as their location should have been out of reach for Manling's vines.

He had previously measured the maximum distance the vines could extend, which was about fifty meters. Xia Yan had marked the farthest position to ensure he didn't accidentally wander out of the vines' protective range.

But clearly, the location of the four people just now was definitely beyond the maximum reach of the vines. This meant that Manling's vines could now extend even further than before.

"All thanks to you. During this time, I hunted many magical beasts and regained some of my strength, so now my vines can reach a larger area."

Xia Yan's guess was spot on. Manling's vines were indeed capable of reaching farther... and it was all thanks to him.

But putting that aside, how should he deal with these four people that Manling brought back?

"So, you're in cahoots with this tree spirit! You despicable human, betraying your own kind and conspiring with evil demons to harm your own people! I feel nothing but sorrow for someone like you!"Rand was tightly bound by the vines of Manling, unable to move. Frustrated, he could only vent his anger by cursing Xia Yan, who was nearby.

Others joined Rand in standing on the moral high ground of humanity to angrily rebuke Xia Yan.

However, no matter how harsh their words were, Xia Yan remained indifferent, as if he hadn't heard a word.

In his eyes, Rand and the others were merely making a final struggle. When they grew tired, they would naturally shut their mouths obediently.

At the same time, he saw the true faces of this group of people-greedy, selfish, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, only chasing after personal gain... Perhaps they were the fools that would exist in every world.

Whether in the past life or in this world, it was inevitable to encounter such people, and they had always been the type of people Xia Yan despised the most.

...

...

"Have you finished cursing? If you've had enough, then there's no need to keep you around. You can all become nourishment for the vines."

Xia Yan looked coldly at the four people and said.