Pig Trough

Zhu Jiusi snorted twice and put away the scroll.

Something had definitely happened in District 33, but it had nothing to do with him. As long as it didn't affect him, other people's business had nothing to do with him.

He'd saved Monkey this time because they'd worked together in the Secret Realm, and after they got out, he'd taken Monkey's job to protect him once.

In Journey Survival, luck really mattered. Monkey was clearly one of those people blessed with tremendous good fortune.

Just from opening gourds, he'd gotten more than Zhu Jiusi had accumulated through killing and looting.

Putting feelings aside, simply getting on good terms with someone like him could bring plenty of rewards.

And Zhu Jiusi didn't associate with other people just because he liked them.

From her past life, he remembered Sword Seven as a cool, aloof woman with her own principles, someone who disdained scheming and betrayal.

On top of that, she had bizarre luck. Every day, she had to open a Dao Discussion Card, as if Journey Survival itself were pushing her forward.

If they ever encountered a special dungeon, she'd be his first choice for a teammate.

The Scholar, too. He swore like a sailor, but he was strong and had solid character.

That was enough!

While Zhu Jiusi was contacting Rain Seeker, the others had already started gathering the spoils.

Killing people and getting their gear was a universal rule—except for the three who'd crossed over from another district last time. They'd been struck dead by the Heaven Tribulation, and everything destroyed by the tribulation vanished without a trace.

Or perhaps everything they'd carried had turned into spiritual energy, nourishing the golden gourd?

Zhu Jiusi walked over. Monkey was already gleefully searching the corpses.

"Two Sword Nourishing Stones. These go to Sword Seven."

No one objected.

"A weapon. Brass Knuckles, with a special skill." He looked around, and White Beard's Fist raised his hand.

"Mine!" He hurried over, brimming with excitement. "I can compensate you with resources!"

A handy weapon with a special skill was certainly valuable, so compensation was only fair.

The others had no objections.

"Good!"

Monkey continued searching for treasure.

After the beginner stage, almost everything had become more formal. The only exceptions were the three basic resources, which appeared clearly when monsters dropped them.

Everything else was concealed. You had to pick it up before you knew what it really was.

Somehow, without anyone saying a word, the group had tacitly agreed to let Monkey do the searching.

"A trough..." He stopped halfway through, then looked at Zhu Jiusi.

It was a pig trough, meant for feeding pigs. A standard fixture!

Zhu Jiusi: "..."

"Let me see!"

If it were just a lump of rock, he certainly wouldn't want it. But if it had a special effect, Zhu Jiusi didn't care what it was.

As long as it had a real use, he'd be happy to cuddle up with a latrine stone.

Zhu Jiusi examined the lump of rock.

[Trough: Nest accessory. Can be integrated into the nests of pigs, cows, horses, and other Demon Cultivators.]

[Special attributes: detoxification, freshness preservation, palatability, and growth.]

A good find!

Zhu Jiusi snorted twice. "It's mine. I can compensate you."

This was clearly more valuable; he might have to throw in some supplies.

But he had money now. No problem!

Zhu Jiusi shuddered, and the backpack on his back fell to the ground and turned into a nest. The trough nudged its way over beside it, and an option appeared.

[Compatible accessory detected. Fuse?]

Of course Zhu Jiusi chose to fuse it.

[Fusion countdown: 23:59:58]

It would take a whole day to fuse.

Fortunately, the nest could still shrink back into a backpack during the fusion.

Monkey searched all the corpses, and the drop rate was surprisingly high this time. These people must have been through Journey Market, too; they had a lot on them.

There was enough for everyone to split.

By the end, neither Zhu Jiusi nor White Beard even needed to offer compensation materials, but neither of them got anything else.

Zhu Jiusi was perfectly satisfied with the Pig Trough.

Kill monsters, divide the treasure.

After that, the group had nothing to do but hang around on Monkey's road.

The Dao Discussion Card's mechanism was a bit rigid. They had to wait a full two hours before the road would split.

Of course, they could always kill Monkey.

"Come on, come on! What are you standing around for? I've got something good!" Monkey hollered, always eager for a lively crowd.

He hauled a pile of food out of the carriage.

Bread, red bean buns, steamed buns, flower rolls, and even more than a dozen hot dishes!

They hadn't exchanged for dishes at Journey Market. Rain Seeker had calculated that it wasn't worth it!

The actual value of goods at Journey Market didn't match their wealth value.

For example, a Life Stone cost ten Bronze Gourds to exchange for, but its wealth value was only 50.

At the time, Rain Seeker had worked out the best option and struck a balance between what was useful and what had a high wealth value.

The moment Monkey laid out the dishes, everyone's eyes lit up.

Even Zhu Jiusi's eyes shone. It had been quite a while since food had come out of his gourd. He'd been living on plant roots and fruit.

The last time he'd eaten anything different was when Heals Stomach Not Body had roasted wolf meat.

Its taste was hard to describe. Zhu Jiusi suspected that guy had bought his chef's certificate.

At that moment, even the sight of a plain steamed bun made him feel like he couldn't walk away.

Even Sword Seven's cool gaze lingered on an apple twice.

Zhu Jiusi snorted and went straight to the steamed buns, eating with gusto.

Ever since he'd become a pig, he hadn't been able to laugh properly. When he tried, it just sounded like a pig snorting to everyone else.

There was no need to feel awkward about eating someone else's food. He chewed, and the bun's distinctive sweetness burst across his taste buds.

Zhu Jiusi narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

Sword Seven glanced at him from the side and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Although he'd turned into a pig, he hadn't actually started eating like one, slobbering as he wolfed down his food. Otherwise, she'd have been squirming in her seat.

Apart from the mud covering him, this pig was fairly clean. The Pig Nest he'd just brought out even had leather furnishings inside, almost like a sofa.

"Cave Master, young friend, is there a reason you're covered in mud?" White Beard asked, eating two buns in a couple of bites.

Compared to Zhu Jiusi, he was the one with no sense of decorum. Since entering Journey Survival, he hadn't gotten food from a gourd even once. Now, the moment he saw something to eat, he didn't give a damn about appearances.

Zhu Jiusi nodded as he chewed. "The mud came out of a Silver Gourd. It counts as armor."

White Beard nodded. No wonder the mud didn't fall off.

He didn't ask anything more. Zhu Jiusi had already said it was armor, and it wouldn't be appropriate to pry further.

Once they'd eaten their fill, the Scholar stretched. "We've still got over an hour before we can go back. How about holding a trade meet? We could exchange things we don't need."

Their last gathering had been too rushed, with no time to spare. This was a good chance to make up for it.

Naturally, no one objected.

Zhu Jiusi was the first to bring out a Shaft Orientation Device.

"I'll trade it for basic materials or something that can be used with a Beast Nest."

Several people's eyes lit up the moment he brought it out.

Sword Seven set down something shaped like an enormous rib, like the rib cage of a dinosaur. "Trade!"

[Beast Skeleton: The skeleton of an unknown beast. The passage of time has stripped it of its unusual properties, but it remains extremely hard. Can be fused with a Beast Nest to greatly increase its sturdiness.]

"Deal!" Zhu Jiusi nodded and put the skeleton into his bag.

His Pig Nest was fusing with the Pig Trough. He'd have to wait until that was done before he could fuse the skeleton.

They traded for an hour, each getting what they needed. Not everyone found something they were happy with, but it was a decent start.

They could keep holding these trade meets in the future.

The hour passed quickly. Sword Seven disappeared first, followed by Zhu Jiusi.

Back on his own mountain road, everything was unchanged.

He set down the nest. A section along the edge was writhing and shifting; the trough was fusing into it.

Zhu Jiusi glanced at it, then ducked into the nest. Only then did he smack his forehead in dismay. What a pig's brain! I forgot something.

He privately contacted Sword Seven again and asked her to help open the bottle of Moon Essence Dew.

Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword: "Wait. Killing a monster!"

She'd just gotten back and had already run into a monster. Her luck was awful...

Zhu Jiusi was teasing her in his head when his eyes slowly narrowed. A sinister chill crept up behind him.

He turned around and saw a huge, dark-green serpent, as thick as a man's thigh, coiled around a tree. It flicked its tongue and stared straight at him.