Mountain Bandits' Firefight

The map on the beast hide was simple, marking Black Stone Village, West Mountain, the Earth God Temple, and the location of this Water Curtain Cave.

A circle had been drawn around the fox den on West Mountain, with the words "Blood Jade" written beside it.

A question mark had been drawn beneath the Earth God Temple.

The secret passage beneath the Earth God Temple might be connected to the "Hunter King" profession!

"Hunter King..." Lin Mo's eyes lit up. "This could very well be an opportunity to change professions!"

Just then, he noticed a small porcelain bottle in the pouch, which had been hidden beneath the beast hide and gone unnoticed earlier.

He picked it up and shook it. A faint rustling of powder came from inside.

When he pulled out the wooden stopper, a pungent, fishy stench rushed into his face.

"This is..." Lin Mo frowned and poured out a small amount into his palm.

The dark red powder was finely granulated, and its scent was somewhat like... dried blood?

Captives suddenly cried out, "Blood Badger Powder?!"

"What powder?" Lin Mo looked at him.

"Blood... Blood Badger Powder!" Fear filled Captives's eyes.

"Old hunters use it to deal with wolf packs!

I heard Dad talk about it. If a blood badger's glands are dried and ground into powder, scattering it can drive wild beasts mad and make them kill each other!"

Lin Mo's heart stirred.

He carefully poured the powder back into the porcelain bottle, then picked up a beetle crawling across the ground.

He sprinkled an extremely small amount of powder onto the beetle's back.

The beetle immediately began struggling wildly, its antennae flailing about. A few seconds later, it actually started gnawing on its own legs!

More than ten seconds later, the beetle twitched a few times and stopped moving.

"What potent stuff..." Third Clone sucked in a cold breath.

Lin Mo looked at Captives. "Does this powder work on people?"

"It... it does!" Captives hurriedly replied.

"But the effect isn't that fast, and it has to be inhaled or get into a wound.

Dad said that once, a hunter accidentally inhaled this powder, went mad and wounded his companions with an axe, then eventually died of exhaustion..."

Lin Mo carefully sealed the porcelain bottle and tucked it into his clothes.

This was good stuff.

"Recover Vital Blood first." Lin Mo made his decision. "Boil all the Bloodline Grass."

"Right away!" First Clone immediately got to work.

The rusty iron pot was set up, and all six Bloodline Grass plants were tossed in and boiled with water.

Lin Mo began checking his status.

[Name: Lin Mo]

[Level: 2 (130/200)]

[Vital Blood: 60/150]

[Status: Moderately Weak]

It had been exactly one Shichen since he expended Vital Blood to create his first clone.

Thus, his Vital Blood had automatically recovered by 10 points, rising from 50/150 to 60/150.

"The medicine's ready." First Clone poured the Dark Green medicinal broth into a broken pottery bowl.

The thick broth gave off an intense fishy sweetness, its color so dark that it was nearly black.

Lin Mo took it and drained it in one gulp.

Bitterness, fishy sweetness, and a burning sensation spread from his throat all the way down to his stomach.

But immediately afterward, a surging torrent of heat exploded within him!

[Consumed Bloodline Grass Medicinal Broth (Six Plants)]

[Vital Blood Recovery +60]

[Current Vital Blood: 120/150]

The feeling of weakness vanished at once!

Lin Mo looked at Captives. "How long do the mountain patrols usually stay at the Earth God Temple?"

Captives was much more obedient now. Enduring the pain of his severed finger, he answered:

"N-not necessarily. Sometimes they just take a drink of water and leave. Other times, they rest for a quarter of an hour and smoke a pipe.

But they never stay longer than half a Shichen. They have to hurry back for breakfast..."

"Breakfast?" Lin Mo keenly caught that word. "How many meals does Black Wind Stronghold have in a day?"

"Two meals... one at the hour of the snake, and one at the hour of the monkey."

It was nearly 9:00 a.m., and the hour of the snake was about to begin.

If the mountain patrol was still at the Earth God Temple, they should be leaving soon to return for their meal.

"Once they leave, we'll go to the Earth God Temple." Lin Mo made the decision. "We can't pass up any clues about the Hunter King class."

Lin Mo looked at Clone Two and Third Clone. "You two, go check the area around the Earth God Temple now. Report back immediately if you find anything unusual."

"Yes!"

The two clones accepted the order and left.

Lin Mo, meanwhile, leaned against the rock wall and closed his eyes to rest.

Time passed second by second.

About half an hour later, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the cave entrance.

"Main body! Something's happened!" Clone Two rushed into the stone chamber.

Lin Mo's eyes snapped open. "What happened?"

"Th-the Earth God Temple... there's fighting over there!" Clone Two said breathlessly.

"We hadn't even gotten close when we heard shouting and fighting inside the temple! We sneaked over to take a look, and it was two groups of mountain bandits fighting each other!"

Captives suddenly cut in, "It might be the Gray Wolf Gang! Those bandits from West Mountain have never gotten along with our stronghold!"

"The Gray Wolf Gang?" Lin Mo frowned.

"Yeah... they often cross the border to seize territory. If the mountain patrol ran into them, they'd definitely start fighting..."

Lin Mo's gaze flickered.

Two groups of mountain bandits fighting?

"How many?"

"About seven or eight people are fighting," Clone Two said. "The battle inside the temple is still fierce. Should we..."

Lin Mo cut him off. "Where's Third Clone?"

"He's keeping watch outside. He told me to come back and report."

"Let's go!" He stood up. "Clone One, Clone Four, and Clone Five, come with me. Clone Two, stay behind and watch the Captives."

"I want to go too..." Clone Two looked eager to fight.

"You just ran back. Rest." Lin Mo's tone brooked no argument. "Besides, someone needs to stay behind."

Five minutes later.

Lin Mo led the three clones back near the Earth God Temple.

Hidden in the woods, they could clearly hear the clash of blades and miserable screams coming from inside the temple.

Third Clone crept over from the other side and whispered, "They're still fighting! One of them is incredibly strong—he's holding his own against three!"

Lin Mo quietly poked his head out to look.

Two Corpses lay at the entrance of the Earth God Temple.

Shadows moved within the temple, and the metallic clashes came in rapid succession.

"Wait until the sounds stop before we go over." Lin Mo lowered his voice.