The Operation

Under the moonlight, Shen Mu began his operation.

Along with gathering Origin Mulberry Fruit, Shen Mu also searched for traces of Origin Cicadas.

This was the plan everyone had agreed on back at the Bamboo Shed: once they returned, each person would first search the Origin Mulberry Fields in the area under his guard.

That way, they could save time searching those areas during the operation the following night.

After climbing to the treetops of several Origin Mulberry Trees in succession, Shen Mu finally found an Origin Cicada.

The Origin Cicada was only the size of a thumb, with transparent wings and a body of emerald green. Having fed on the sap of an Origin Mulberry Tree, it was now resting on the tree trunk.

At night, its vision was impaired. Shen Mu captured it with little effort.

Suddenly realizing it had lost its freedom, the Origin Cicada let out a piercing cry in the night, its wings beating wildly as it tried to escape Shen Mu's grasp.

However, in the vast Emerald Cloud Valley, the sound of the Origin Cicada in his hand drew not the slightest attention.

In fact, cries from Origin Cicadas could occasionally be heard in the surrounding Origin Mulberry Fields. Evidently, some of its companions had fallen into the hands of the Guardians...

"Is this an Origin Cicada?"

Shen Mu looked at the Origin Cicada in his hand, a curious glint in his eyes.

That unknown Market Master was willing to pay one tael of silver to buy them. Clearly, the Origin Cicada's true value was far more than that.

"Once I advance to Ninth Grade Tendon-Changing, the resources I need won't be limited to monster meat anymore."

"Perhaps Origin Cicadas can also become one of the resources I use to improve my cultivation in the future."

Shen Mu murmured to himself.

However, having already been warned by Hong Jingcheng, Shen Mu naturally wouldn't try tasting an Origin Cicada again, nor use it to boost his blood energy.

Origin energy was violent. The slightest carelessness could sever one's meridians; in severe cases, it could even cause instant death.

That was also why anyone who wished to become a martial artist had to undergo the Boiling Blood Stage. Its main purpose was to strengthen the body until it reached the minimum level needed to contain origin energy.

Shen Mu tucked the Origin Cicada into the cloth pouch at his waist, then carefully searched for more. After confirming there were none on the tree, he began picking its Origin Mulberry Fruit.

Catching Origin Cicadas wasn't difficult. At night, with their vision impaired, they barely moved.

The difficult part was finding them among the lush branches and leaves of the Origin Mulberry Trees.

By the time the eastern sky had begun to pale, Shen Mu had caught only five Origin Cicadas. He had, however, gathered a plentiful harvest of Origin Mulberry Fruit—more than thirty pounds.

After brewing the Origin Mulberry Fruit into wine, daylight had already broken. Shen Mu didn't choose to rest. Instead, he began body tempering again.

It wasn't until noon, after he had practiced the Army-Breaking Saber Technique once more and rinsed off in the stream beside the Bamboo Shed, that Shen Mu returned to his room to rest and recover, conserving his strength for that night's operation.

When the early hours of the morning arrived, Shen Mu, well-rested, left the Bamboo Shed and headed for Zhou Xuan's under the moonlight.

An oil lamp was lit inside Zhou Xuan's Bamboo Shed. By the time Shen Mu arrived, most of the Guardians were already there, while several others were still on their way.

"Brother Hong, take a look. Is this an Origin Cicada?"

Shen Mu took the cloth pouch from his waist and handed it to Hong Jingcheng, smiling sheepishly. "But I searched all ten mu of Origin Mulberry Fields and found only five."

Hong Jingcheng took the pouch and opened it. He nodded with a smile. "That's right. This is an Origin Cicada."

"Brother Shen, you were lucky enough. I only found four last night."

Guo Jinchuan shook his head and sighed. "Although Origin Cicadas are practically blind at night, once you find one, you can catch it easily."

"But for us, finding one in the dark is no easy task."

Based on Shen Mu's experience searching for Origin Cicadas the previous night, picking Origin Mulberry Fruit had taken up some of his time. If he had spent all of it searching for Origin Cicadas, he could probably have covered around thirty mu.

Hong Jingcheng had a total of sixteen Guardians under him. Including Wei Bo, his bodyguard, there were seventeen of them.

To avoid any mishaps, Hong Jingcheng arranged for them to work in pairs. Shen Mu was teamed up with Wei Bo.

The two of them were responsible for searching sixty mu of Origin Mulberry Fields. With nine teams, they could search about half of Emerald Cloud Valley in one night. They would need to work another night to finish searching all the Origin Mulberry Fields in the valley.

No one could say for sure how many Origin Cicadas they would catch in the end.

About the time it took to burn an incense stick passed, and all the Guardians under Hong Jingcheng had arrived.

Hong Jingcheng glanced around, then said solemnly, "Now that everyone's here, let's get moving."

Everyone nodded and followed Hong Jingcheng out of the Bamboo Shed.

Several gourds hung from Hong Jingcheng's waist. They contained the knockout smoke he had prepared in advance.

Seeing how cautiously everyone was acting, Shen Mu couldn't help feeling secretly amused.

Who would have thought that the people charged with guarding the Origin Mulberry Fields would now be stealing from under the Firewood Gang's nose right here in Emerald Cloud Valley?

Although they weren't touching the Firewood Gang's interests by capturing Origin Cicadas, Shen Mu still found the whole thing peculiar.

When they were about thirty paces from the Bamboo Shed of their first target, everyone stopped at Hong Jingcheng's signal, so as not to alert the Guardian inside. Hong Jingcheng went alone through the darkness, uncorked a bottle, and released knockout smoke inside the doorway.

"All set."

A short while later, Hong Jingcheng returned and looked at two of the people gathered there.

"Yuan Wenxuan, Sun Jing, this field is your responsibility."

"Got it."

Yuan Wenxuan and Sun Jing nodded, then each took a black cloth from his clothing and covered his face before heading into the Origin Mulberry Field.

The rest went the same way. Hong Jingcheng would slip forward in the dark and release knockout smoke, making the Guardian inside the Bamboo Shed fall asleep. Then he would return, and the others would go into the Origin Mulberry Fields to catch Origin Cicadas.

A moment later, Shen Mu and Wei Bo were also assigned an Origin Mulberry Field to search for traces of Origin Cicadas.

With black cloths covering their faces, the two crouched low and crept into the field. Then they split up, searching in opposite directions for Origin Cicadas resting on the trees.

Before Shen Mu had found his first Origin Cicada, a cry came from the distance.

Wei Bo had clearly caught one. The Origin Cicada let out a piercing, grating cry, and Shen Mu paused, glancing toward the Bamboo Shed.

No sound came from the Bamboo Shed. The Guardian inside had clearly already fallen asleep after inhaling the knockout smoke.

Shen Mu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief before continuing his tense, orderly search.

About an hour later, Shen Mu and Wei Bo met up in the Origin Mulberry Field. That meant they had searched all ten mu of the field.

"Brother Shen, how many did you find?"

Wei Bo pulled the black cloth from his face and greeted him with a smile.

"Eight."

Shen Mu gave him the answer. Finding those eight had taken a great deal of effort.

He couldn't help thinking that catching Origin Cicadas at night wasn't easy at all.

He'd have to take back what he'd said before about catching Origin Cicadas being as easy as picking up money.

"What about you, Brother Wei?"

Shen Mu asked.

"Heh, looks like I had better luck. I caught eleven."

Wei Bo chuckled, then continued, "Come on. We've searched this field once already. Even if we missed any, they won't be easy to find."

Shen Mu nodded, and the two headed for the rendezvous point Hong Jingcheng had arranged.

"Bang!"

But before they had taken more than a few steps, a signal arrow exploded with a crash in the night sky, about a mile away.

Shen Mu and Wei Bo both stopped short.