Chapter 60: Chapter 60: First Journey
A wild mountain forest.
In this godforsaken place, you couldn’t even find a hunter’s shack or a forgotten shrine.
Bai Mo looked up to see a dense canopy of overlapping branches and leaves blocking out the sun completely.
Above, there were numerous beehives and coiled snakes, while ants the size of rice grains marched in formation.
The Cultivators of the Demon Hunting Team were long accustomed to this scenery. Even Qin Ying’s expression was unchanged.
However, the group members constantly had to brush off the bugs and small snakes that landed on them. Although they didn’t think much of it, there were still some complaints.
"This medicinal powder from Jiu Lou the Rogue is getting worse and worse. Is that bastard really passing off shoddy goods as the real deal?"
Han Meng, who had purchased the powder, couldn’t help but complain.
They frequented Celestial Barrier Mountain year-round, so insect-repelling powder was a necessity.
Ma Bazi chimed in, "Don’t overthink it. This powder I’m using isn’t from Jiu Lou. It’s the good stuff from the Chaoyun Commerce Association."
"And it’s no different, is it?"
Qin Ying walked beside Bai Mo. Seeing how calm and composed he was, without any of the miscellaneous bugs and insects on him, she felt a bit envious.
"Don’t mind them. The powder the Demon Hunting Team uses is always carefully chosen."
She explained, "It can’t be too weak or too strong."
"Too weak, and it’s useless. Too strong, and it’ll attract the attention of Demon Beasts. A gruesome death would be getting off easy."
"It’s probably a special season right now, which is why these insects are so active. It’s not usually like this."
Balancing the potency of the powder was Jiu Lou the Rogue’s bread and butter.
A reputation is not something you can easily tarnish.
As they spoke, the group passed through a grove of trees with dangling, vine-like branches.
Their visibility was poor, and everyone’s pace slowed. Bai Mo’s eyes, however, lit up.
"This is a Blood Core Rong!"
"The core of this type of tree often produces a ’blood core.’ They’re about the size of a fingertip and can be used in Alchemy."
Hearing this, Lanshan replied without turning his head:
"Who knows how many of these massive trees you’d have to chop down to find a single blood core. That’s why they’re able to grow so large."
"If you’re interested, Shopkeeper Bai, we can try felling a few on our way back."
Just as he finished speaking, a snake as thick as an arm, hanging upside down from a tree they had just passed, lunged and coiled toward Lanshan.
Lanshan’s eyes went cold. He shot out a hand and grabbed it right behind the head.
The snake’s body instantly wrapped around Lanshan’s forearm, winding into several tight coils and squeezing hard.
Shen Yang took a step forward and drew his short blade.
With one powerful slash, he lopped off the snake’s head, which Lanshan was holding straight.
The head was thrown to the ground, its pinkish-white flesh exposed. Its mouth instinctively opened and closed twice.
Lanshan gripped the snake’s body, unwound it, and tossed it in front of Shen Yang.
The latter crouched down, skillfully sliced open the body, and probed inside with two fingers, searching for the gall bladder.
Ma Bazi nodded.
"We’ve barely entered the mountain and we’re already in business. Even if we don’t sell this snake gall, we can keep it for ourselves..."
Before he could finish, Shen Yang’s body jolted as if electrocuted. His hand trembled and shot back, and he retreated two steps.
Everyone’s gaze snapped toward him in unison.
Shen Yang’s face was grim. "There’s something inside."
With that, he sliced the snake’s body completely open with his blade.
Inside the snake, besides the blood-streaked organs, were large, mottled green-and-yellow bees crawling everywhere.
Several were crawling on the gall bladder, which was clearly a lost cause.
"No wonder it dared to attack me. Let’s go, leave it."
Lanshan’s expression didn’t change much as he spoke.
In such unbearable agony, how could the snake have had any rationality left?
And so, the group continued on.
It was Bai Mo’s first time seeing bees that liked to burrow into living creatures, and he was curious.
"What species of bee was that?"
Han Meng shook his head. "Never seen them."
Ma Bazi chuckled and said, "Just so you know, Alchemist Bai, Celestial Barrier Mountain is full of things no one has ever seen before."
"You just have to get used to it. No need to know where they come from."
The Mountain Entrance Map truly lived up to its name. They had been walking for half a day without encountering any real danger.
Part of that was because they hadn’t gone too deep into the mountain.
But even Ma Bazi and the others frankly admitted that the route Lanshan was leading them on was a top-tier path into the mountains.
Lanshan accepted their praise and gave an order to Shen Yang and Qin Ying:
"Go hunt some game."
It was time to make camp.
Finding a spot with a pair of ancient trees to lean against, the group came to a halt.
Wang Hu set down the pack he was carrying, spotted a dead branch on one of the ancient trees, and reached for it with his blade.
Before long, a few campfires were blazing.
A metal box was placed over one, and soon the water inside was boiling.
A companion Ma Bazi had brought along instinctively crouched to one side to stand guard, with Han Meng taking up a position on the opposite side.
The forest was hot and humid, so Bai Mo sat by the fire, drying his slightly damp outer clothes.
He also took out the medicinal herbs he had gathered along the way.
He had spotted and collected a few herbs on the journey, thanks to his keen eye.
They weren’t very valuable, but it was better than nothing.
Lanshan plopped down beside him.
"Getting used to it, Shopkeeper Bai?"
Bai Mo nodded.
"It’s been fine. We haven’t had to fight at all."
Lanshan gave a wry smile and looked at the still-refined Bai Mo.
"What kind of powder are you using, Shopkeeper Bai?"
As soon as he asked, Han Meng, who was on guard duty, pricked up his ears.
Ma Bazi and the others looked over. They were also curious what kind of powder a Pill Master would use.
Bai Mo smiled.
"It’s a powder I mixed myself, based on the experience of my predecessors."
"It relies on the principle of repellent medicinal properties. This makes insects avoid it without producing a pungent smell."
"It works well, to be sure, but it’s not cheap. It wouldn’t be suitable for the entire Demon Hunting Team to use."
Hearing this, Han Meng seemed relieved.
Some Pill Masters just loved to concoct strange things, and you’d never guess their purpose until the time came to use them.
Lanshan and the other leaders, however, were put at ease.
The next leg of the journey would not be so safe.
They had been worried this Pill Master might not understand the subtleties and had haphazardly mixed some random insect repellent.
As they were talking, Shen Yang and Qin Ying returned, carrying the carcasses of a few small beasts.
Lanshan smiled. "It’s just meat boiled in plain water, Shopkeeper Bai. I hope you don’t mind."
"You jest, Brother Lanshan. Who can afford to be picky in Celestial Barrier Mountain?"
Bai Mo took charge of one of the small beasts, which resembled a wild boar.
He dug a pit and immediately got to work, but just as he inserted his knife to slice the animal open and bleed it, his hand paused.
Processing medicinal herbs was a far more delicate task than this, and Bai Mo’s sense of touch was second to none among the group.
Now, as his knife moved inside the small beast, the sensation transmitted through the blade was clearly wrong.
Lanshan had been keeping an eye on Bai Mo and immediately asked:
"What is it?"
He stood up and walked over.
Bai Mo applied pressure with his hand, slicing open the beast’s belly.
The bloody flesh parted, and with a flick of his knife, Bai Mo revealed the mottled green-and-yellow bees trembling and crawling inside.
Lanshan froze, then looked toward Shen Yang and Qin Ying.
"Where did you hunt this?"
Shen Yang pointed behind him.
"We made a half-circle. Just hunted what we came across."
The others also set to work, dissecting the remaining small beasts.
In the end, they found one more that also contained the mottled green-and-yellow bees.
"We’ve walked for a long time. What kind of swarm has such a large range?"
Shen Yang said aloud.
No one answered.
Lanshan, Ma Bazi, and the other leaders gathered together and conferred in low voices for a moment.
"It’s nothing. We’ll move out after we eat. We need to reach the resting spot before nightfall."
Lanshan announced.
His expression was a bit grave, but he didn’t seem overly worried.
So, no one else said anything.
The beast meat, boiled with only salt, truly didn’t taste good. Bai Mo paused for a moment as soon as he put a piece in his mouth.
But then he chewed and swallowed it down.
After they finished eating, the team buried the remains.
"Let’s go."
Lanshan took a mouthful of broth, swished it around to rinse his mouth, then swallowed. His expression was normal as he gave the order.
Everyone began to move out, with Wang Hu shouldering the pack.
They hadn’t gone far, however, when Bai Mo saw Shen Yang and Han Meng veer off course and approach some nearby trees.
Using their hands and feet, they scrambled up in just a few movements.
Qin Ying gave Bai Mo a gentle push.
"Let’s go, Shopkeeper Bai."
The others acted as if they hadn’t seen a thing.
