Free Web NovelChapter 155: Chapter 150: Index Finger Peak
Before bed, Zhao Lin took a piece of cooked pig liver from his food pouch, chewing it slowly to savor the unique and alluring aroma.
Pig liver was a love-it-or-hate-it affair. Those who enjoyed it considered it a delicacy beyond compare.
But those who disliked it found the texture waxy and the taste impossible to stomach.
Zhao Lin belonged to the former group.
After he finished eating, he lay down fully clothed.
The tree trunk was thick and flat, and the dense branches and leaves meant there was no danger of him falling off.
Zhao Lin settled into a comfortable position. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a piercing whistle cut through the air.
He shot up and saw a firework soaring into the sky not far up the mountain, its brilliant colors dazzling against the night.
In the darkness, two figures could be faintly seen racing toward the spot at an astonishing speed.
Most likely, a disciple had encountered an exotic beast and lit a signal flare.
’Should I go take a look?’
’This is the time when nocturnal creatures are active, so traveling is risky. However, if an elder or deacon kills the exotic beast and I hurry over now, the Essence Soul might still be warm.’
At this thought, Zhao Lin quickly climbed down from the tree and raced toward the scene.
He strained his hearing, preemptively avoiding any living creature he detected, moving like a bat through the darkness.
In less than half an hour, he reached a slope on the mountainside.
Deep in the woods, the undergrowth was thick.
There seemed to be quite a few spectators hiding in the shadows. Zhao Lin himself detected the faint sound of breathing from a spot dozens of feet away.
"Zhang Jin, you really should have gotten a clearer look before setting off the flare."
"The roe deer are docile and harmless to people and livestock. You don’t need to worry if you encounter one. I explained all of this before we entered the mountains."
"Yes, yes, of course. This disciple was just so nervous. I thought I’d encountered a vicious beast, and it kept following me, so I... I couldn’t help it..."
Under the moonlight, an elder named Lu Tu and a deacon were speaking with a disciple.
Next to the three of them stood a large beast, a cross between an ox and a deer, with antlers like tree branches. Its ears twitched as if it were eavesdropping on their conversation.
Zhao Lin listened for a moment and quickly pieced together what had happened.
It turned out that the disciple, Zhang Jin, had found a cave and decided to spend the night there.
He hadn’t realized the cave was already occupied. Its owner was an exotic beast known as a roe deer.
The roe deer returned in the middle of the night to sleep, trapping Zhang Jin inside.
Zhang Jin couldn’t see clearly in the cave. He vaguely made out a massive beast and, terrified, struck it twice with his beef-tendon cudgel. But the beast didn’t seem to feel any pain and even charged at him.
Terrified, Zhang Jin scrambled to escape, only to find the beast chasing relentlessly after him. With no other choice, he lit the signal flare.
Zhao Lin shook his head slightly. ’Zhang Jin was lucky it was a roe deer. If he’d run into a ferocious exotic beast, he probably wouldn’t have made it out alive.’
Most disciples of the Wuxiang Institute came from wealthy families and had no wilderness survival experience. They naively assumed caves were secluded, quiet, and perfect for spending the night.
They didn’t realize that if you get trapped inside, there’s no way to even run.
The bright moonlight shone on the roe deer, and Zhao Lin recalled what he knew about this particular exotic beast.
Nature created all things. While many exotic beasts were ferocious and cruel, there were also docile and harmless ones.
The roe deer fed on tender branches, mushrooms, and berries. Its temperament was similar to most herbivores, with one exception: it was extremely curious.
This roe deer had likely not seen a person in years, which was why it had chased Zhang Jin out of sheer curiosity, wanting to get a better look.
Perhaps finding the scene uninteresting, the roe deer listened for a moment longer before swishing its tail and ambling away.
"As long as you’re alright. You should find a different place to spend the night."
Elder Lu Tu said to Zhang Jin, then raised his eyes to the surrounding shadows. "There’s nothing to see here! All of you, disperse and get some rest!"
Having lost interest in spectating, Zhao Lin silently retraced his steps and returned to his perch in the tree.
「At the crack of dawn the next morning.」
Zhao Lin rose early, quickly washed up, and started heading up the mountain.
Since it was the second day, the herbs at the summit would have certainly been picked clean. Therefore, he wasn’t in a rush. He moved in a zigzag pattern along the mountain’s southern face, trying his best not to miss any herbs.
Index Finger Peak had a peculiar shape, like a greatsword slanted into the earth. Its southern, sun-facing side had a gentler slope and wasn’t too difficult to climb.
The sunless northern side, however, was a sheer, extremely steep cliff, in some places even overhanging.
As the sun rose, Zhao Lin discovered three stalks of Cold Condensing Grass in a wetland area.
Cold Condensing Grass was a cold, yin-attribute herb. It was a suitable supplementary ingredient in concoctions for Cold Yin Type Cultivation Techniques, helping martial artists stimulate the related energies.
Martial cultivation concoctions were actually divided into two categories. The first helps a martial artist break through to the next Cultivation Realm, like the Moisturizing Pill or the Wuliu Pill.
The other category is used to aid in practicing a Cultivation Technique, such as General Soup.
Concoctions made with Cold Condensing Grass fell into this latter category.
After the sun was fully up, Zhao Lin found a Water Yin Lotus under a rock in a small stream. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The Water Yin Lotus was another yin-attribute herb that typically grew in cold, damp, and shady places. It wasn’t exceptionally rare, but since he had stumbled upon it, Zhao Lin wasn’t about to leave it behind.
When it came time to compare their hauls, if the top-tier herbs were equal, the deciding factor could be the total number of herbs collected.
"This Index Finger Peak is interesting. It seems like only Cold Yin Type herbs grow here," Zhao Lin muttered to himself, glancing up at the peak.
...
「Yanxing Mountain Range, Qianqiu Mountain.」
Xiang Bao trod on a carpet of dead leaves, walking through a poplar forest with his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.
His face was haggard and his eyes were bloodshot. He clearly hadn’t slept all night.
SWISH!
A figure suddenly flashed out from behind a large tree up ahead, appearing before Xiang Bao without a shred of warning.
Xiang Bao jumped in fright and retreated two steps. When he saw the person’s face, he exclaimed joyfully, "Brother! I finally found you!"
The newcomer was powerfully built, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. He bore a striking resemblance to Xiang Bao. It was none other than his older brother, the inner court disciple Xiang Shaofeng.
"How did you know I was here?"
Xiang Shaofeng frowned, his tone severe. "The exotic beasts on Qianqiu Mountain are ferocious. We martial artists of the Blood Realm can handle them, but you’d be risking your life if you ran into one!"
"Brother, this is important."
Xiang Bao quickly explained, "In past years, the mountains assigned to each institute for the Autumn Harvest were always close together. I figured it would be the same this year."
"At home, besides Grandfather, our Silver-spotted Fox has spent the most time with you. I brought it to the paths commonly used for the Autumn Harvest, and just as I hoped, it picked up the scent you left yesterday. That’s how I found you."
Xiang Shaofeng snorted impatiently. "What could possibly be more important than the Autumn Harvest that you’d come all this way to find me?"
"If an elder finds out, we’ll both be punished!"
Xiang Bao gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Brother, someone robbed me of the herbs I gathered for the Autumn Harvest!"
"What?"
Xiang Shaofeng was taken aback. "There’s someone in the Wuxiang Institute stronger than you? Was it Zhong Yewu?"
"No. Zhong Yewu is no longer a match for me."
"Then who was it? Don’t tell me you were ganged up on? Which division were they from?"
Xiang Bao lowered his head in shame. "It was neither. It was a new disciple."
