This unexpected conversation immediately caught the attention of the others.
"Old Liu, what did you just say? What about the one with black hair?"
"Yeah, what are you talking about? I don’t understand at all."
"I heard a bit. It seems that Old Liu asked Xiaofan if he has a girl he likes. Xiaofan didn’t get it, and then Old Liu said, ’I already know, it’s the one with black hair.’"
"What? Seriously!"
At this moment, even Chen Guodong, who was walking ahead, turned to look.
"Uncle Liu, what are you talking about?"
Chen Fan was both amused and helpless.
"Pretending, huh? You’re pretending here. I’ve seen it all."
The bald man said proudly: "I noticed yesterday, you were staring at her. Before we set off earlier, you looked at her again, made the poor girl so embarrassed."
"!"
Everyone was startled, their eyes fell on Chen Fan, and their smiles became ambiguous.
"It’s really not what you think."
Chen Fan shrugged, a bit helpless.
Explaining is just covering up, he feared the more he explained, the worse it would get.
"Right, right, indeed it’s not what we think."
"Are we thinking that?"
"Exactly, Xiaofan, we didn’t say anything."
"Don’t worry, we’ll keep your secret."
Several people showed an ’I understand’ look, and someone even bumped the bald man with a shoulder, asking in a low voice, "What’s that girl like? Pretty?"
Chen Fan shook his head helplessly.
Gossiping is human nature, let them be, considering they don’t have much entertainment usually.
The noise quickly faded away due to boredom. To conserve physical strength, the group silently advanced in the wilderness.
An hour, two hours, under the sun, Chen Fan’s eyebrows slowly furrowed, wouldn’t it be? Today’s luck wouldn’t be as bad as yesterday, right?
They walked this long without encountering any decent prey.
Just then, about three to four hundred meters away, there was a black shadow.
"There’s prey!"
Everyone else noticed it too, like a drought meeting a blessing, their spirits lifted.
"It seems to be an Iron Armor Rhinoceros."
Chen Fan’s voice rang out, a wry smile appearing on his face.
"What? Iron Armor Rhinoceros?"
"Iron Armor Rhinoceros?"
Upon hearing this, everyone seemed deflated, but still moved forward to confirm. It was indeed an Iron Armor Rhinoceros.
"No wonder you’re an archer. Xiaofan, you really have good eyesight." The bald man gave a thumbs-up.
Chen Fan smiled. After all, he has reached Body Tempering Third Layer, his physical constitution improved, naturally, he can see further and hear clearer.
"Let’s go around."
Chen Guodong said reluctantly.
Such a big guy, it’s best not to provoke if possible.
Chen Fan’s hand tightly gripped the longbow, a strong urge to shoot it surged within his heart. With his current strength, killing this giant should not be a problem. By then, not only could he gain a lot of experience points, but such a huge prey could feed the stronghold for days.
The only worry was its enormous size, like a heavy truck, even if shot, it would be hard to kill immediately. If it went berserk and chased others, the consequences would be dire.
"Forget it, let’s look for other prey."
Chen Fan released his tight grip.
At least wait until he reaches Muscle Refining Realm, when he can kill with one shot, then consider it.
"By the way, is that Iron Armor Rhinoceros the same one we encountered last time?"
Someone murmured, "It looks quite similar to that one."
"Who knows."
Gao Yang swallowed and cursed: "These beasts all look the same, who can tell them apart."
"Yeah, luckily we spotted it in advance, it’s a close call."
"If we don’t find any prey in another hour, let’s sit down for a meal and rest." Chen Guodong suggested.
"Yeah."
Everyone nodded.
"Xiaofan, how are you feeling? If you’re tired, take a rest first?" The bald man smiled at Chen Fan.
"I’m fine, Uncle Liu, let’s keep moving."
Chen Fan smiled.
With a Constitution of 46, it’s no joke, at least these two-plus hours of trekking barely affected him.
After walking for another hour, they finally encountered prey, two Desert Rabbits.
Chen Fan felt a bit helpless.
Just these few prey, it’s not good enough for exchange.
"Two Desert Rabbits are still good, enough to feed the stronghold for a day or two," Chen Guodong seemed to understand Chen Fan’s thoughts, comforting him, then looked at everyone, "Let’s have lunch here, rest and recharge, maybe we’ll find more prey in the afternoon."
Everyone sat cross-legged, took out jerky from their bags, and sipped water while eating slowly.
Idle while eating, they started gossiping again.
"Old Liu, I remembered, the girl you’re talking about with the oval face and long hair, her name is Meng Yu." Gao Yang nodded.
"Xiaomeng?"
A middle-aged man with a high nose bridge burst out next to him: "I know her, why didn’t you say earlier? This girl is really pretty, Xiaofan has good taste!"
Chen Fan rolled his eyes.
"Old Qin, you know her? That’s great, take Xiaofan to meet her, tell them Xiaofan is quite talented, both literate and martial."
"Exactly!"
The bald man seemed to enjoy stirring trouble.
"I remember she came alone," Qin Ming recalled.
"Alone?"
"So her parents?"
"Yeah."
Qin Ming sighed, "Probably something happened on the way, leaving her alone. This girl has had it tough."
"Yeah. Xiaofan, why are you still standing there? Seize the chance! Be a real man, don’t be shy!"
"Exactly, it takes initiative to make a story."
"More than that, you can even have kids."
"..."
Chen Fan was speechless.
Suddenly, he sensed something, turned to look southeast, and saw a group of people approaching.
"Someone is coming."
As soon as he spoke, the bald man and the others, who were joking around, also looked serious, picked up their weapons from the ground, and watched the direction.
After seeing clearly, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"It’s the Gu Family Stronghold people."
Chen Guodong explained while watching: "It’s a small stronghold with only thirty or forty people, led by Gu Jianghai, he’s a good person."
At this moment, the group on the other side also noticed them resting here. Both sides waved, greeting each other, then the Gu Family Stronghold group changed direction and moved on.
Apparently, they were merely acquaintances, in the wild, caution is important.
"Eh?"
Chen Fan noticed one person among them carrying a bow and arrow, showing a hint of surprise.
It was a young man, seemingly around his age.
The youth seemed to feel it, glanced at Chen Fan from afar, then turned his head and walked forward.
"This guy seems interesting."
Chen Fan thought secretly.