Lesser Fish Marrow Blood

"You're finally back." The village chief's expression relaxed as he said to the others, "Everyone, go on home for now."

When Wu Laoliu rushed back with the news, the village chief had immediately summoned all the able-bodied young men in the village, ready to support Da Bao and Chu Danqing.

Fortunately, the two of them returned safely.

After the crowd dispersed, the three of them headed toward the village chief's home.

Along the way, Da Bao spoke up. "Black Hollow wants food. It specifically asked for Little Chu, or else it wants ten girls."

The village chief's face darkened at those words.

"Village Chief, do you mind explaining?" Chu Danqing asked at the right moment.

"It's laughable, really." The village chief's face twisted into a bitter smile. "A Mountain God taking a bride has long been customary, but the one in our back mountain is a Cave God. It does not marry—it eats."

"It likes girls in the bloom of youth most."

"Yet we have never even seen what the Cave God looks like. All we have encountered are some of Its underlings."

"I imagine you've heard of Fallen Blossom Cave in our Xianghua Village, Chu."

"The name alone sounds rather elegant and refined, but our village is called Xianghua Village."

At this point, bitterness filled the village chief's face.

"Da Bao. Can't you beat it?" Chu Danqing glanced at Da Bao. This situation was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

Da Bao's earlier performance had clearly had a suppressive effect.

"Only its underlings fear Da Bao," the village chief said. "You needn't worry, Chu. This matter will not drag you into it."

"But you truly are extraordinary, Chu. The Cave God actually singled you out?"

The village chief was puzzled as well. How had an outsider become such a prized morsel that even the Cave God, which had always favored young girls, had taken an interest in him?

"Maybe it was just a passing whim." Chu Danqing did have a suspected target. He was utterly ordinary; if there was anything different about him, it was the two skills on him: Summoning Basics and Basic Summoning Art.

So he suspected the attraction came from those skills.

The three soon returned to the village chief's home, where the chief invited them to have some late-night food.

As they ate, Chu Danqing told the village chief about the White Dragon Fish.

The village chief pondered for a long while before saying, "We let them leave too early."

"Chu, you and Da Bao have worked hard all night. Get some rest first."

"I'll notify the others and have them block the upper reaches overnight. At first light tomorrow, we'll drain the water and deal with that vile creature."

The village chief understood the meaning of not delaying when urgency called.

Chu Danqing looked at the darkness outside. "It's pitch-black out there. What if something unexpected happens—"

"It's fine. So long as that vile creature lives, my heart will not rest easy." After saying that, the village chief rose to leave. Then, seeing the corpses of the White Dragon Fish Offspring, he added, "Da Bao, once you're done eating, carry these to Jiang the Butcher's house."

"Have him stew all three little vile creatures into soup first thing tomorrow morning. Before we encircle that beast, everyone must have at least two big bowls."

After hearing this, Da Bao swallowed his food in a few mouthfuls and nodded. "Okay."

"Take your time eating, Chu." With that, the village chief left.

Da Bao also wolfed down the rest of his food, hoisted the White Dragon Fish Offspring onto his shoulder, and followed him out.

With only himself left, Chu Danqing sped up his own eating.

He was eager to get back and open the treasure chest.

Once he returned to the side room at the village chief's house, Chu Danqing finally took out the treasure chest.

"Hope it gives me something useful."

You opened: Treasure Chest (Common Grade), obtained: Lesser Fish Marrow Blood, Paradise Points ×100

Lesser Fish Marrow Blood

Type: Consumable

Quality: Common

Effect: Upon use, immediately restores 10% health and grants +1 Constitution for 1 minute.

"Giant Salamanders don't seem to have fish marrow blood, though. Then again, the White Dragon Fish wasn't really a Giant Salamander."

"But it's good stuff—something for saving my life." Chu Danqing had merely played a supporting role in the fight, but he knew he was fragile.

The health it restored was less than Wolf Blood, but its prefix was immediate recovery. He had no idea how long Wolf Blood's "extremely slow" actually was.

"If only the attribute boost could be turned into extra health restoration."

The duration was only one minute. Even five minutes would not have made it seem so useless; even three minutes would have worked.

After putting away the consumable, Chu Danqing waited for Da Bao to return.

He understood his situation. Fallen Blossom Cave had been eyeing him all along.

Thinking of that, he could not help but mock himself. "I've become Tang Monk's Flesh."

"The Summoning System having no summons is really miserable."

"More importantly, I need to consider my own situation." Chu Danqing was thinking about something.

That was Xianghua Village's stance.

Fallen Blossom Cave had demanded a choice: ten girls, or him, as a sacrifice.

The village chief, Da Bao, and the others would most likely side with him, but Xianghua Village had more people than just them.

The other villagers were the true overwhelming force.

"So, I need to strike first!" Chu Danqing's expression turned grave.

By striking first, he did not mean attacking the people of Xianghua Village. He meant attacking Fallen Blossom Cave.

If he solved the problem at its root, there would be no so-called choice left.

Even if Xianghua Village did not choose to hand him over to buy peace, Chu Danqing could not possibly stand by and watch ten fifteen- or sixteen-year-old children be eaten by some so-called Cave God.

Xianghua Village had been like this before he came, and it was still like this after he came. Wouldn't that mean he had come for nothing?

If the White Dragon Fish could be killed, he refused to believe Fallen Blossom Cave could not be filled in.

Before long, Da Bao pushed open the door and came back.

"Little Chu, sleep. Tomorrow, kill bad thing." After saying that plainly and concisely, Da Bao lay directly down on the bed.

"No rush. Let's talk about Black Hollow first." Chu Danqing was not sleepy yet. As a young man from modern times, few people went to sleep before eleven.

"Okay, Little Chu. Ask." Seeing this, Da Bao could only sit up straight.

"What's the situation with Black Hollow's underlings?" Chu Danqing first asked about what concerned him most.

Those underlings were actually the rustling sounds he had encountered that night.

"They're a bunch of little dwarves. Very brittle. One punch turns them into meat pancakes."

"Little Chu could kill them with rocks too. There are just lots of them, and their bites hurt a lot." With his limited vocabulary, Da Bao described them while gesturing with his hands.

As Da Bao gestured, Chu Danqing noticed that the place where Da Bao had been clawed by the White Dragon Fish earlier had already scabbed over.

After one night's sleep, it would heal completely by tomorrow.

That kind of recovery ability was simply not something an ordinary person could possess.

It was utterly unbelievable.

"Besides the little dwarves, there's also a big white monkey. It's even stronger than the bad thing."

"The village chief said it's Black Hollow's chicken shreds." Da Bao did not understand why chicken shreds were not eaten, but he repeated the words exactly as he had heard them.

Chu Danqing understood, though. It was Priest, not chicken shreds. Da Bao's intelligence was limited, so he could not understand the distinction.