Treasure

"It still won't work." Chen Mu examined a brown pill the size of a duck egg.

It contained fish, White Wheat Rice, nuts, fats, salt, honey, and medicinal ingredients meant to nourish the body and preserve it.

Chen Mu wanted to create a high-calorie, nutrient-rich, long-lasting travel ration in preparation for the journey ahead.

The idea had come from compressed biscuits from his previous life.

Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, he still failed.

It was edible, though the taste was lacking. Its preservative properties were poor, and the medicinal benefits were minimal.

"Still, it can raise Proficiency."

Developing a new formula raised his Proficiency by fifty or sixty points, nearly as much as reading medical books.

After more than half a month of work, his Medicine Crafting had risen past nine thousand. He was close to breaking through to Tier 3.

"I'll rest tomorrow." Chen Mu turned to look at a bamboo basket full of failed products.

"I need to get rid of these."

The market at the settlement beneath East Mountain.

Chen Mu wore a conical hat and covered his face with a cloth, once again assuming Yang Zhi's disguise.

He went to his usual spot, spread out his stall, and laid out the failed rice balls.

Then he plopped down on the ground and quietly waited for customers.

"Brother Yang, selling rice balls again? Two coins each, right? Wrap up ten for me."

No sooner had he sat down than a skinny old man with a goatee approached from the neighboring stall.

The man's surname was Liu, and everyone called him Old Liu Tou. He was a Local Doctor and a Wandering Doctor.

He sold bruise medicine and Great Strength Pills at the market. He often entered the mountains to gather herbs and also bought them from laborers.

Chen Mu had set up his stall here largely because of Old Liu Tou's medicinal herbs.

"Mhm." Chen Mu nodded gruffly, looking like a man of few words.

Combined with the birthmark disguise on his face, he gave off a rather cold and ruthless air.

Old Liu Tou had long since grown familiar with him and paid it no mind. He handed Chen Mu an oil-paper packet. "Take a look. Are these the herbs you mentioned?"

Chen Mu opened it and glanced inside, his brows lifting slightly.

He set down the packet, swiftly wrapped ten rice balls, paused, then added two more for free.

He took out thirty copper coins and handed them over together with the rice balls.

Old Liu Tou immediately nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at one end of the street.

Several Yamen Runners carried away a stretcher in a hurry.

People gathered at the street corner, chattering about it.

"What happened?" Chen Mu nodded toward the departing stretcher and asked.

"A wild beast attacked someone." Old Liu Tou was used to such things. "It was pretty gruesome, though. I heard the beast tore out the man's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and all that."

"It's normal to encounter fierce beasts when people reclaim land deep in the mountains. Luckily, there's Qingfeng Temple. It would be far worse if they ran into a Malevolent Spirit."

Chen Mu could not help nodding.

Qingfeng Temple truly had its methods.

Thousands of laborers had gathered in the wilderness for several months, yet not a single Malevolent Spirit incident had occurred.

The two chatted idly.

Chen Mu scanned the bustling street from the corner of his eye.

With a thousand people opening up the mountains, game, herbs, minerals, and all manner of natural materials were constantly being discovered.

Nothing especially precious appeared here, but common materials were plentiful, making it convenient for him to find ingredients for his formulas.

"Any wild boars today?" Chen Mu asked suddenly after looking around for a while.

"Not anymore. Old Zhang Liu sold out early this morning." Old Liu Tou was an old hand with well-informed connections. "You want one?"

"Mhm." Chen Mu nodded.

"The Zhang brothers wiped out a Wild Boar Nest with distiller's grains mixed with Meng Han Yao. There'll definitely be more tomorrow."

"Where does he live?" Chen Mu asked after thinking it over.

"You're going to his house? That makes sense. A butcher would leave some meat for himself, at least." Old Liu Tou understood, then shook his head. "But it'll definitely cost more."

Chen Mu calmly shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

He needed to run a test. The money had to be spent.

"Head east. His place is at the easternmost edge of the Shantytown."

"It's close to Little Bailang River, which makes it convenient to slaughter and wash livestock."

"Ask around once you get there, and you'll find it."

Chen Mu nodded his thanks, then quietly continued selling rice balls.

The rice balls were made with generous ingredients, sweet, fragrant, and filling. Anyone who bought one knew they were good.

He had many repeat customers, and they sold out before long.

Chen Mu greeted Old Liu Tou, packed up his stall into the bamboo basket, slung it over his back, and headed east.

The eastern side of the settlement.

Following directions from passersby, Chen Mu found the home of the butcher, Old Zhang Liu.

It was a Wooden Cabin with a fence made from logs as thick as an arm surrounding it.

A pigpen had been partitioned off on the eastern side of the yard. The ground was covered in black mud, and the stench was overpowering.

Several black-skinned wild boars snorted and rooted about inside.

On the western side stood a stone platform. Three tall, lean men sat around it, eating pig ears and peanuts while drinking.

"Old Zhang Liu?" Chen Mu, disguised as Yang Zhi, asked coolly.

"Who are you?" The three men set down their cups, rose to their feet, and eyed Chen Mu with unfriendly expressions.

"Are the pigs for sale?" Chen Mu asked calmly.

Their expressions immediately softened.

"They're sold out for today. Only these ears are left, and they aren't even enough for the three of us. Come back tomorrow."

"I want a live pig." Chen Mu pointed at the pigpen.

The three men were surprised, but they did not ask further. "Pick one."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Mu said, "The biggest one."

"That one weighs over three hundred jin. Ten taels of silver," Old Zhang Liu said.

"Fine." Chen Mu agreed without hesitation.

He then strode over to the pigpen and inspected the animals.

Not only were the wild boars unafraid of strangers, they glared at Chen Mu furiously. If they could have jumped out, they might have charged him twice already.

Seeing Chen Mu agree so readily, Old Zhang Liu froze, then felt a pang of regret.

I asked for too little!

After thinking it over, he was too embarrassed to raise the price.

If he butchered and sold it by portions, he would only make seven or eight taels anyway.

Now he could save himself the trouble and earn two extra taels. Thinking of it that way made him feel better.

Old Zhang Liu put the matter aside and was about to call his brothers over to bring ropes and help tie up the pig.

Bang!

Chen Mu punched the wild boar squarely on the forehead.

The boar, which had been squealing moments before, rolled over and collapsed.

He then reached in, grabbed one of its front legs, and lifted the three-hundred-jin wild boar out of the pen as if it were a chick.

With a casual swing, he tossed it into the large bamboo basket on his back.

He threw ten taels of silver to Old Zhang Liu and left without a word.

Old Zhang Liu and the other two stared with their eyes wide open.

Fuck! What terrifying strength!

The western side of Little East Mountain.

Chen Mu deliberately stayed far from the Altar construction site on the eastern side and chose a hollow neither too close nor too far from Qingfeng Temple.

He pulled out the large wild boar, then took a broken Wooden Basin from the bottom of his bamboo basket.

The Sleeve Sword flashed and opened a bloody hole in the boar's neck.

The boar woke in pain and was just about to struggle.

Sshk!

Chen Mu calmly waved his hand.

The Sleeve Sword slid in along its back and neck, piercing its hard spine as easily as tofu and instantly severing the spinal nerves.

Holding the boar by a hind leg, he raised it one-handed to drain the blood.

Once the Wooden Basin was full, Chen Mu set the boar down and retreated ten meters with the bamboo basket.

He put on the Sheepskin Gloves, carefully took a Wooden Box from the bottom of the basket, and removed a Crimson Leather Pouch from within.

This was the strange item he had obtained from the Round-Faced Daoist.

Chen Mu guessed it was a magical artifact.

The Little Paper Man was too eerie, and he did not dare test it lightly.

As for dripping blood to claim it as his master? Forget it. He did not think he had a protagonist's fate.

After studying it for a month and testing it in different ways, he had confirmed that the pouch absorbed blood.

This time, Chen Mu intended to feed it until it was full and see how it reacted.

From ten meters away, he threw the pouch into the basin of pig blood.

Glug, glug...

The pouch sank to the bottom and began bubbling.

The blood level dropped at a visible rate. Before long, it was completely clean. Not even a trace remained in the gaps of the Wooden Basin.

Chen Mu moved closer to inspect it, then picked up a stick and poked the leather pouch.

The pouch did not react at all, and the Paper Man he feared did not jump out either.

However, after a few pokes, he managed to work open the mouth of the pouch.

He still did not dare reach inside with his hand.

He found another stick, used the two sticks like chopsticks to grip the pouch, then turned it over and tipped it out.

Crash...

A large pile of items poured from the tiny opening. The half-meter-wide Wooden Basin was filled nearly halfway in an instant.

Chen Mu: "..."

A treasure!

Before he could react, the Black Cord on the pouch contracted, sealing its opening shut once more.

Chen Mu used the sticks to place the pouch back into the Wooden Box.

He tossed both the Wooden Basin and the wild boar into the bamboo basket, slung it onto his back, and swiftly departed.