Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Took the Bait
Seeing that no one objected, Bai Mo got straight to work and harvested the majority of the Ling Grass.
Even for someone with Lanshan’s boisterous nature, his eyes went wide.
When he came to his senses, he quickly schooled his expression, though the corner of his eye couldn’t help but twitch.
’I may be unrefined, but I still know when to be prudent. Shopkeeper Bai is a little too confident.’
’For the sake of the future, he always had to think one step ahead.’
Ma Bizi and the others, on the other hand, wore expressions that suggested this was all to be expected.
A Pill Master is a Pill Master, after all. That level of confidence was just one step short of burning his own bridges.
Lanshan chose this moment to remind him, "Shopkeeper Bai, we don’t have the right conditions to light a furnace here..."
Without turning his head, Bai Mo waved a dismissive hand and continued folding the Ling Grass and tying it in knots.
"It’s fine. No furnace needed. A little processing will do the trick."
With that, he had someone go gather some firewood and mud from outside.
The others didn’t understand his methods. They could only watch as Bai Mo took out a few more medicinal herbs, pounded them into a pulp along with the Ling Grass, and encased the mixture in mud.
Finally, he placed it in a shallow pit, much like one would prepare a beggar’s chicken, and built a fire on top of it.
After watching, Ma Bizi said admiringly, "Unconventional, yet effortlessly skillful."
Lanshan glanced at him and breathed a small sigh of relief.
’No matter what, this venture was finally getting everyone on the same page.’
After about a quarter of an hour, Bai Mo let the firewood burn out completely without adding any more fuel.
Once the last wisp of smoke died out, Bai Mo pulled the mud ball out from the embers.
He broke it open, and a clean fragrance with a faint bitter note wafted out.
The scent instantly refreshed everyone’s spirits.
"Is it ready?" Lanshan asked urgently.
Bai Mo nodded. He crumbled the dried mud, mixed it with the greenish substance inside, and with a few light rubs, formed several small, earthen pellets.
"From that batch of Ling Grass, this is the most essence I could possibly extract."
’If not for my growing mastery in preserving medicinal efficacy, this small amount of Ling Grass would have been truly difficult to process.’
Qin Ying took one of the pellets. Smelling the unique, clean fragrance it gave off, she thought it reminded her of a lady’s perfumed sachet.
A fond thought bloomed in her mind, only to be immediately snuffed out.
’Cultivators who regularly venture into the Celestial Barrier Mountain can’t afford to carry any distinct scents.’
’This would fetch a good price in Immortal Arrival City!’
’The young ladies from the wealthy families in the city would surely love something like this.’
Shen Yang, however, asked, "How do we use it?"
Bai Mo said, "The pellets dissolve in water. You can figure out the rest."
A moment later, Lanshan had tied one of the pellets to a crude bamboo fishing rod and was holding it suspended over the pool.
After a moment’s thought, he decided against it and moved the pellet closer to the edge of the pool instead.
Ma Bizi whispered to the person next to him, "Is this really going to work?"
The leader of the Giant Spear Demon Hunting Team let out a soft "mhm" in approval of Lanshan’s approach.
"The scent of Ling Grass is extremely pervasive. This just might work."
Lanshan remained perfectly composed, turning a deaf ear to their conversation.
Qin Ying had gone out to find some wild game, taking Wang Hu with her.
Since there was nothing else to do, there was no harm in trying.
The remaining six pellets were back in Bai Mo’s hands. He began dripping the sap from the stalk of a plant onto them.
This method would prevent the Ling Grass essence from spoiling as much as possible.
Just as he finished his task and was about to put the pellets into a pill bottle, Bai Mo’s ears twitched sharply.
Ma Bizi and the others were even quicker to react, their relaxed muscles instantly tensing.
BOOM!
The previously calm surface of the water had barely rippled when a silver-gray figure crashed up from below.
It sent a massive spray of water everywhere.
Lanshan had already started yanking the rod back the moment he sensed it, but the pellet was still swallowed by the creature as it shot upward.
SMACK!
A massive fish, as thick as a grown man’s waist, slammed into the stone wall and flopped right in front of Bai Mo.
Bai Mo was so startled that he dropped the pill bottle. Unable to dodge in time, he ended up instinctively wrapping his arms around the fish’s body.
The pill bottle fell to the side, and the pellets rolled out.
Bai Mo felt the immense, unparalleled strength of the fish in his arms. After a few violent struggles, it wriggled free from his grasp.
The moment Ma Bizi got a clear look at the fish, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he prepared to leap forward.
But Shen Yang, who was closer, was faster. He pounced like a tiger, landing squarely on top of the massive fish.
He immediately felt the same immense force.
He gritted his teeth, determined to hold on, but the fish’s tail whipped around and slapped him squarely in the face—twice.
His mind went blank from the blows, and the great fish was about to escape.
But Han Meng had already charged forward. Aiming for the fish’s flaring gills, he drove his short blade in with both hands.
"AHH!!"
Ma Bizi’s heart-wrenching scream startled everyone.
He rushed over and pulled Shen Yang aside. He watched as blood poured from the fish’s gills and mouth, seeing that it was about to die.
"Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! With that one stab, you’ve destroyed most of this fish’s value!"
Ma Bizi said, his voice laced with anguish.
Lanshan hurried to Bai Mo’s side, looking him over with concern.
"Shopkeeper Bai, are you hurt?"
Bai Mo picked up the pill bottle and the scattered pellets from the ground and put them away safely.
"I’m fine. This fish is really something else. If we were in the water, ten of me wouldn’t have been enough to stop it from dragging me under!"
’This big fish was just too greedy. If it had only gone for Lanshan’s pellet, it wouldn’t have met such a fate.’
’But since it took the risk of coming ashore, there was no way it was getting back.’
The group moved away from the pool.
Ma Bizi still wore a look of utter anguish.
Lanshan clapped him on the shoulder.
"You’re a grown man. Why the long face?"
"You recognize this fish?"
’Anything the Li family bothered to hide here couldn’t possibly be ordinary.’
Ma Bizi said, "Do you all remember what happened at Dong’s Fish Stall last year?"
Lanshan’s brow furrowed in thought, but before he could place it, Han Meng chimed in:
"You mean when those Cultivators started a brawl in the city, and the enforcement squad stepped in and personally executed them?"
"I heard the two owners of Dong’s Fish Stall were killed in the chaos."
Ma Bizi nodded.
"I was there when it happened."
"It was a couple of out-of-town Cultivators. With the stall owners dead, the enforcement squad lost a lot of face, so they were executed on the spot."
He pointed at the huge fish that Lanshan was now holding up for inspection.
"The whole incident started because of this thing!"
Everyone looked surprised, but Han Meng suddenly realized something.
He checked his own condition for a moment, then looked up in disbelief.
"My Blood Curse... it’s gotten worse."
At these words, even Bai Mo found the situation absurd.
"This fish is a Demon Beast!?"
Ma Bizi sighed. "That’s right. Its skin can be used as a base for Talismans, and its flesh and blood are top-grade restorative tonics."
"I’ve heard that eating it is extremely beneficial for Cultivators. But once the fish dies, all its mystical properties dissipate very quickly..."
Lanshan just laughed.
"And here I was wondering what the big deal was. Looks like this fish is all ours, then. What a perfect chance to satisfy our cravings!"
"Shopkeeper Bai, we’ll roast this fish to help you calm your nerves!"
Bai Mo didn’t stand on ceremony. "In that case, it would be rude to refuse."
Ma Bizi still couldn’t get over it.
’He remembered that back then, the Cultivators fighting over it had offered the fish stall a high price of eighty Spirit Stones!’
At the mouth of the cavern, they had a fire built and lit in moments.
Shen Yang took out a dagger and made a cut along the fish’s spine, then carefully began to peel back its skin.
The silver-gray skin came off in one neat piece, revealing crystalline white flesh underneath.
Even the worldly, experienced members of the Demon Hunting Team couldn’t help but be impressed.
They had never seen flesh of such quality before.
Bai Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly. With his Pill Master’s insight, he immediately detected the Spiritual Qi contained within the flesh.
The Spiritual Qi was incredibly pure, and it carried a cold, yin-type aura.
Many hundred-year-old, cold-natured medicinal herbs couldn’t produce an essence this pure.
