Chapter 100: Changes in the Forest (First Update)

On a distant mountaintop, a deer shimmering with divine light paced back and forth, while nearby, the herd busily dug into the soil with their hooves, transplanting various saplings and flowers.

Within a dense forest, a small group of young men and women were meticulously examining the woodland under the cover of night, led by an elderly man.

“Lin Ling, this place is truly magical. Look over there! What are those? They’re so adorable!”

“Hmm?” Lin Ling followed the direction pointed out by her friend Deng Ziya and soon spotted several small, glowing mushroom-like creatures standing upright on the ground not far ahead, their caps emitting a faint luminescence under the moonlight.

The tiny mushroom figures, waddling on short legs, hurried toward the base of a large tree. Upon reaching the roots, these four or five mushroom heads rooted themselves firmly into the soil and remained motionless.

“Such interesting little creatures. If you’re interested, you can take charge of observing and recording their behavior from now on,” Professor Qin said with a smile, having noticed the scene his two students were focusing on.

“Hehe, that sounds great. Thank you, Professor.”

“Professor, are these mushroom heads mutated as well? Were they once ordinary mushrooms?” Deng Ziya asked curiously, moving closer to the mushrooms and directing her question to Professor Qin behind her.

“That’s hard to say. Maybe they are, maybe not. Honestly, I haven’t observed this place much more than you have,” Qin replied with a chuckle. Then, turning to address the other young researchers and students nearby, he added, “As I told you before you arrived, our main focus here is on investigation and documentation. Be careful not to provoke the deer herd’s displeasure, and of course, it’s best to avoid collecting anything that moves.”

“If something can move, it likely means it was induced by Ling Xiao’s influence, and some may even be favored by Ling Xiao. So without knowing Ling Xiao’s preferences, I urge you all to proceed with utmost caution.”

“Understood, Professor.”

“No problem, Professor, we understand.”

These mostly young men and women had only been here for a day. After initial negotiations and confirming that Ling Xiao showed no hostility toward their hundred-strong team, Professor Qin had arranged for these additional researchers to join him. Their purpose was to provide extra hands to help collect, observe, and record all the abnormalities within this forest.

Regarding manpower, whether it was Professor Qin or the higher authorities, they feared any accidents happening, so they held to the principle that having more people didn’t necessarily mean better. Thus, the hundred-person team remained at about one hundred and twelve members.

Within this group, the largest contingent was soldiers, numbering around seventy, followed by professors and researchers specializing in biology and zoology. Lastly, there were personnel from the Purple Moon Research Institute, officially assigned under Professor Qin’s leadership.

Although part of the same group, everyone focused on their own tasks, rarely gathering together. Most of the time, they operated in small teams and only returned to camp for rest.

Ultimately, the initial fears and anxieties regarding the deer-inhabited forest had long since dissipated. Through interaction, the deer herd mostly treated them with indifference. Some even showed a certain closeness to humans, likely due to prior captive breeding.

Of course, alongside those indifferent or friendly to humans, some deer harbored aversion. Many sika deer had memories of having their antlers removed during captive rearing. Though not extremely painful, the experience was unpleasant enough to leave a mark.

As these creatures gradually gained intelligence, some captive-bred herds developed a dislike for humans. However, sika deer are naturally gentle, so even when averse, their behavior rarely went beyond avoiding humans or occasionally snorting at passersby.

Professor Qin looked somewhat helplessly toward several pairs of eyes quietly observing their group from the darkness nearby.

“Recording and investigation are secondary. The real challenge now is how to establish effective communication with Ling Xiao,” he sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

Communication with the small deer had been anything but smooth. Over the past two weeks, they had tried every possible method, but not only was communication elusive, even getting close to the deer was impossible.

Whenever they attempted to approach, the surrounding herd would block their way. And if they tried air-dropping by helicopter, they feared it would cause misunderstandings with the deer.

Therefore, the only feasible goal for now was to quickly build some kind of rapport and understanding with the herd. At the very least, they needed to befriend one or two of the larger sika deer.

Regarding the status of each deer in the herd, Ryan now categorized them into three main classes rather than ranking them hierarchically.

The first class consisted of ordinary sika deer, no taller than three meters.

The second class included secondary sika deer, those between three meters and the size of Ling Xiao.

The third class, naturally, was the leader of the herd—Ling Xiao herself.

Currently, Ryan knew of only about ten secondary sika deer in the herd, but the abilities these ten had recently exhibited were enough to attract official attention.

Still, the attention was limited. Despite their large size and unique powers, they were far weaker compared to Ling Xiao.

In fact, these secondary deer were not even as powerful as many of the strange creatures Ryan had encountered within the domain.

They were no match for firearms, which naturally failed to pique Ryan’s deeper interest.

His curiosity about them was limited mainly to sampling their fur and conducting DNA analysis.

What fascinated Ryan the most, however, was Ling Xiao herself and the small fairy that accompanied her constantly.

Ryan still couldn’t determine how many abilities the little fairy possessed, but from the existing surveillance and records, it was clear that she could manipulate plants.

Under Ling Xiao’s influence, thorny vines and creepers writhed as if the fairy were in her banshee form.

Flowers, vines, and creepers all twisted and grew into various shapes according to the fairy's will.

As a result, within the first ring of the forest park Ling Xiao had built, many flowers and plants were controlled by the fairy to form wreath-like shapes.

Floral wreaths of all kinds took shape, vines draping between trees, making the first ring of the forest park breathtakingly beautiful.

The floral fragrance attracted butterflies, which were then bred by Ling Xiao under the fairy’s enchantment. Even now, one could frequently see butterflies the size of an adult’s palm fluttering across the forest canopy.

In short, after these two weeks, the forests near the original corridor had undergone even greater transformation.

The fifth ring of the forest park was constructed beside the original forest corridor. This was not only intended as a new home for Ling Xiao but also, more importantly, served to guard this domain.