Medicated Bait

Evening.

Chen Mu went home carrying two fish, frowning.

He had happened to run into a fisherman at East Market and had struggled to snatch up two fish for one hundred and forty copper coins.

Then a steward from some wealthy household showed up and bought the entire basket of fish.

Even if he had wanted to buy more, there were none left.

"Two fish aren't enough either."

Chen Mu was troubled.

The Cured Meat stored in his cellar had been completely eaten up.

Every day, he could only rely on eggs to supplement his protein.

The Body Tempering Technique consumed too much energy; eggs alone could not sustain it.

"I need to find a way to get some meat."

Chen Family Village Back Mountain.

A faint scent of dampness mixed with rotting branches and leaves lingered in the dense forest.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground.

A glistening droplet fell from a green leaf into a palm-sized puddle.

Splash!

A large foot stepped into the puddle, sending muddy yellow water flying everywhere.

Chen Mu scanned the path around him, hacking through obstructing branches and leaves with his mountain-cleaving blade as he continued deeper into the forest.

He had spent the entire morning wandering through Chen Family Village Back Mountain, hoping to hunt some game and replenish his meat supply.

Due to the lack of nutrition, the number of times he could cultivate his skills each day had already begun to decline.

"Too bad I don't know how to track prey."

Experienced hunters could identify animal trails and knew the general ranges where different prey moved about.

Chen Mu knew nothing. Entering the mountains was purely a matter of blind luck.

He had thought that once he entered the mountains, he would quickly encounter some prey.

Sadly, he did not have a protagonist's luck.

He could only keep circling through the mountains in search of something.

"How great would it be if I ran into a wild boar?"

With his current Tier 3 throwing ability and the Threaded Iron Lotus Seeds, taking down a wild boar would be effortless.

By evening, Chen Mu returned to the hunters' Wooden Cabin carrying an unidentified bird no bigger than two fists.

With an unwilling expression, he plucked it, gutted it, and cleaned it.

After all that work, he finished it in just a few bites.

If he had not brought provisions, he might have gone hungry!

"I refuse to believe it. I'll keep going tomorrow!"

Two days later.

Chen Mu left Chen Family Village with a basketful of Thousand Beard Grass on his back and two wild rabbits in hand.

He had resigned himself to it.

After wandering for two days, the game he had caught was not even enough to feed him.

The two rabbits in his hands had even been bought from hunters in the village!

"Nothing is ever that simple."

Chen Mu thought dejectedly.

"If it comes to it, I'll find a hunter and learn from him for a couple of months."

He had Proficiency, so what he feared least was learning skills.

But in two months, he could grind the Body Tempering Technique all the way to the Bone Strengthening Realm.

Chen Mu hesitated slightly.

On the way, he passed by a small river.

As he crossed the bridge, he spotted an angler on the riverbank and immediately went over.

He had originally wanted to buy some fish, only to find the man had caught nothing.

How could an angler dare come back empty-handed?!

If you can't catch fish, just throw in a bottle of explosives and blast some out!

Chen Mu left with a disappointed expression.

As he walked, a sudden idea came to him.

"If I can't catch fish, I can not only blast them—I can use medicine to catch them too!"

He was someone with Medicine Crafting!

After giving it a little thought, a vague plan began to take shape.

Chen Mu hurried home excitedly.

Over the past half month or so, his Medicine Crafting had accumulated over eight thousand Proficiency.

If he gritted his teeth and allocated a little more time to Medicine Crafting, he would soon break through to the Second Tier.

Second Tier skills underwent a qualitative transformation.

That vague plan of his might very well become clear.

It would only take three to five days. He could afford the time.

Next came the familiar routine again.

Chen Mu shut himself in at home and reread those several dozen medical books from beginning to end.

He went out once in the middle, spending five taels of silver to buy several new medical books through Jie Jia's channels.

Five days later, Chen Mu closed the last medical book.

A stream of insights suddenly emerged in his mind.

The properties of all kinds of medicinal ingredients, how to enhance certain effects, how to weaken certain toxicities, and how to combine them to create new functions.

He had even glimpsed a hint or two of the Secret Medicine for the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique, which he had never been able to make sense of before.

"This time, it's really done."

Two days later, Chen Mu arrived at the Bailang River outside Qingshan County with a large bamboo basket on his back and a wine jar in his arms.

He made his way familiarly to a stretch of Deep River Bend.

Over the past two days, he had already scattered specially made bait here.

It was meant to attract more fish to come feed in this area.

He opened the wine jar he had been holding against his chest.

He poured the specially prepared Drunken Bait—a mixture of wine, medicine, and cooked White Wheat—into the river.

This Drunken Bait was a Secret Medicine he had made using Second Tier Medicine Crafting.

It could quickly drug fish into a stupor without killing them.

Even if people ate the fish, there would be no toxic side effects.

A quarter hour later, a layer of fish with white bellies floated across this stretch of Deep River Bend.

"Haha, time to scoop them up!"

Chen Mu grabbed the long-handled net he had prepared in advance and got to work.

He only stopped when the large bamboo basket could hold no more.

There were still quite a few fish on the water's surface, each one constantly rolling and flopping as if drunk.

I should have brought another bamboo basket. Chen Mu thought regretfully.

Fortunately, these fish would not die.

Once they recovered after a while, they would be lively again.

Chen Mu packed up his things, tightly sealed the mouth of the bamboo basket, slung it onto his back, and excitedly headed back to the city.

Ping'an Ward, Chen Family.

Only then did Chen Mu realize that he had forgotten something.

How was he supposed to store so many fish?

Even if he wanted to keep them alive, he did not have a fish tank.

And the journey back from the riverbank was not short. Nearly half a basket of fish had already died.

If he did not process them quickly, they would soon turn fishy and rot!

"What a blunder. I didn't think this through."

Without stopping to think further, Chen Mu immediately emptied out a rice jar.

He filled it with water and kept the fish that were still alive inside.

As for the dead ones, he quickly gutted and scaled them, washed and salted them, then lit a fire to smoke them. He wanted to turn these fish into Smoked Fish Jerky to extend their storage life.

After a long bout of work, he finally finished processing everything.

"I wonder if this will work."

It was his first time smoking fish, and he was far from confident.

The next day, Chen Mu sniffed the strong fishy stench of salted fish with a dejected expression.

"It failed."

He had already done his best.

Unfortunately, his Culinary was only Tier 1 and could not help with smoking fish.

"Good thing I still have nearly half the fish alive."

There was now another water jar beside the rice jar.

Quite a few fish swam in both water-filled jars.

"I'll have to buy a few more water jars."

For now, Smoked Fish Jerky did not seem particularly reliable.

The best way to store the fish was still to keep them alive.

"What should I do with these fish, then? Throw them away?" Chen Mu looked at the half-finished smoked fish hanging from the wooden rack.

"I wonder if anyone in East Market wants them?"

Though they smelled somewhat fishy, they had been salted with spices and coarse salt, so they had not completely spoiled.

In fact, if they were placed somewhere with enough wind, they would soon air-dry into genuine dried salted fish.

Unfortunately, Chen Mu's home clearly did not fit that condition.

East Market's vendor street.

Chen Mu wore a bamboo hat and a set of old brown clothes.

He had also covered his face with a cloth mask.

He had smeared medicinal liquid over the skin on the backs of his hands and neck, dyeing it a reddish brown.

He looked exactly like a weather-beaten fisherman.

After finding a shady corner, he opened his fish basket and let out a loud shout.

"Smoked Salted Fish! Thirty copper coins each! First come, first served!"