The Dead

After Xiang Tingchun announced his plans for the coming spring, discipline within the Thousand Household Office became significantly stricter.

Daily drills doubled, and leaving the camp required prior leave requests.

Even the Hundred Household Commanders were no longer allowed to spend their days feasting and idling; they had to participate in the drills as well.

However, the military mens were very obedient.

This was because they had finally achieved a life where they were well-fed and warmly clothed.

Those who pursued martial arts could also drink more Blood Replenishing Soup to improve their skills.

For ten consecutive days, Chen Sanshi practiced martial arts in the military colony.

Skill: Basic Soldier Spear Technique (Minor Accomplishment) Progress: 550/2000 Effects: Fierce spear momentum, astonishing stamina, abundant vital energy, unusual phenomena in blood. The Tiger Heart and Tiger Meat were long gone, and the Nine-Turn Blood Replenishing Soup had been completely consumed. Fortunately, his proficiency had greatly increased.

Buying medicinal ingredients had also become much cheaper.

The Nine-Turn Blood Replenishing Soup was now available in the barracks, selling for only fifteen taels of silver.

But it was still a drain on his finances.

"I have to go hunting again."

"It's a bottomless pit!"

If it weren't for practicing martial arts, Chen Sanshi would probably have become a wealthy man by now.

"White Deer!"

Hunting a White Deer, after setting aside what he needed for himself, could fetch hundreds of taels.

Not only would he have enough resources for Minor Accomplishment in Blood Tempering, but he would also be well-prepared for Bone Tempering.

However, White Deer were not that easy to catch.

The Travels of Mountains and Rivers was a book from a thousand years ago. Since its publication, countless people had rushed to the Tiger Head Mountain Range to hunt, and it was a miracle they weren't extinct.

He had inquired and heard that the Tailei Martial Arts School had searched for half a month without finding one.

Chen Sanshi went to the pharmacy. "Are there any spirit mushrooms sold in the barracks?"

White Deer were known to favor Treasure Mushrooms.

Officer Jiang quickly found a brown spirit mushroom from the storeroom. "A 20-year-old Black Spirit Mushroom. Grinding it into powder and adding it to medicinal soup can enhance the effects of Essence Replenishing Soup. It costs ten taels of silver."

"Do you have any fresh ones?"

Chen Sanshi looked at the spirit mushroom, which was clearly dried for a long time.

"Heh, you're lucky, we actually do."

Officer Jiang took out another box, containing a fiery red spirit mushroom. "This was just delivered by the Yunhe Martial Arts School this morning. It's a 30-year-old Crimson Cloud Spirit Mushroom, twenty taels. However, it's for healing and doesn't help much with increasing vital energy."

Chen Sanshi said, "It's fine, as long as it's considered a Treasure Mushroom."

"Treasure Mushroom?"

Officer Jiang shook his head. "It needs to be at least a hundred years old, costing fifty taels per mushroom. A 20-year-old spirit mushroom can't be considered a Treasure Mushroom. We don't have such expensive medicinal ingredients at our Garrison for now; you'll have to buy them elsewhere."

"Fifty taels?"

Chen Sanshi was shocked by the price.

The bait alone was worth fifty taels, and there was no guarantee of catching a White Deer.

It was only because the Tailei Martial Arts School offered a very high bounty that those disciples were willing to spend so much to catch one.

Chen Sanshi, for the time being, really couldn't afford that much silver.

He decided to try his luck first and figure something else out if it didn't work.

Having made up his mind, Chen Sanshi requested leave from Wang Zhi and left the barracks with his bow and arrows.

"Shitou!"

As he passed by Yanbian Village, Zhao Qiao caught up to him.

"Uncle Zhao, aren't you going hunting in the mountains?"

Chen Sanshi was somewhat surprised.

Once the Northern Border's harsh winter arrived, the mountains would be heavily snowed in, making it difficult to hunt anything.

Hunters should be most diligent in late autumn.

Zhao Qiao had a bitter expression. "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare!"

"Don't dare?"

Chen Sanshi asked, "What's wrong? Is someone bullying you?"

"It's the Witch God Cult!"

Zhao Qiao's voice held both anger and fear. "In the past ten days, people have been disappearing from the countryside every day, especially hunters from the surrounding villages. Many haven't returned after going into the mountains."

"Uncle Zhao, are you sure?"

Chen Sanshi said solemnly, "I personally participated in the mission to apprehend members of the Golden Bell Temple. Ninety-nine percent of the Witch God Cultists were killed on the spot. Even if one or two escaped, they absolutely couldn't cause any more trouble."

"Could it be that a Great Worm or a Black Bear came down the mountain to eat people?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Zhao Qiao said emotionally, "There were no bodies, do you understand, Shi Tou? Not even a single bone was found! Even if it was a Great Worm, it should have left some bones!"

"Uncle Zhao, please calm down," Chen Sanshi said soothingly. "Did you report it to the authorities?"

"Yes, of course, we did," Zhao Qiao replied. "The county magistrate said he would investigate and told us to wait, but nothing has come of it. Just yesterday, young Li from the next village risked going up the mountain to hunt a wild chicken for his pregnant wife, and he hasn't been heard from since!"

Chen Sanshi frowned.

Even if there were still one or two Witch God Cultists, they couldn't have caused such a stir.

This clearly indicated another group was involved!

Could the Golden Bell Temple have been just one of them?

But it didn't make sense for so many people to infiltrate Poyang at the same time.

Furthermore, he hadn't heard any news in the military camp over the past few days about any troops being dispatched to hunt Witch God Cultists.

"Uncle Zhao, don't worry," Chen Sanshi said. "I will report this to my superiors once I return."

"There's also another matter," Zhao Qiao said, sounding a bit embarrassed. "Shi Tou, could you let us accompany you up the mountain?"

"Winter is coming soon, and we haven't secured charcoal or winter clothes for our homes. But with the current situation, how would we dare to go up the mountain? You know martial arts and can even kill a Great Worm. With you, we wouldn't be afraid."

It seemed he had been waiting on this road for a long time.

Perhaps he had waited for several days before finally catching Chen Sanshi leaving to hunt.

"Of course, you can," Chen Sanshi agreed readily.

"Thank you, Shi Tou," Zhao Qiao said, a little choked up.

A month ago, Chen Sanshi had brought grain and asked him to guide him up Second Mountain.

A month later, he was the one who needed the young man's protection.

Soon, Zhao Qiao called Wu Da and Zhuang Yi over, and the four of them set off up the mountain together.

They parted ways at the same stream.

Chen Sanshi instructed, "Uncle Zhao, if you encounter any danger, fire a signal arrow. I'll rush over as soon as I hear it."

"Okay, Shi Tou. You be careful too. Although... we can't help you much," Zhao Qiao said.

Chen Sanshi turned and disappeared into the forest.

Had so many people died? Was it a bit exaggerated?

It made him a little nervous.

However, after walking two miles forward, he didn't find anything unusual.

There were still many martial arts disciples hunting.

The people from Tailei Martial Arts School were still searching for the White Deer.

"Go back and tell Commander Wang to help investigate," Chen Sanshi said, concentrating as he began to search for traces of the White Deer.

It wasn't like before, when Uncle Zhao would point out the general direction for hunting Great Worms or Black Bears.

This time, he had to rely entirely on himself. Even with the Tracking skill, it would likely be troublesome.

After all, the book didn't mention where White Deer lived. The Tiger Head Mountain Range stretched for thousands of miles; finding one would take an unknown amount of time.

"Let's search deeper," Chen Sanshi decided.

Ordinary deer liked to live in secluded places.

White Deer were still deer; their habits might not be too different.

Chen Sanshi began to traverse the mountains and cross the ridges.

By afternoon, he had crossed two mountain peaks without spotting any sign of the White Deer. However, the trees and vegetation became denser, leaving almost no room to walk.

Gazing into the distance, he could see a valley about five miles ahead, quiet and deep.

"Let's go take a look."

Chen Sanshi took a deep breath and moved quickly, preparing to go inside and investigate.

Before he could get close, several disciples in long robes rushed out, forming a human wall to block his path.

"Stop!"

"Don't go any further!"