Catching Snakes

The weather was gloomy, and the temperature was much lower than yesterday. When a strong wind blowing from the north whistled through the long gorge, thick clouds and mist rolled with it. At times like this, Yu Ci always felt as though he were standing beside a majestic, boundless river, watching the gray-white giant waves of water overlap, surging forward endlessly. His mood would suddenly open up and expand, and any small, brooding thoughts would be washed clean away.

When people concentrate on doing something, no matter what the outcome, time always flies by.

In the blink of an eye, Yu Ci had stayed in Sky Rift Gorge for nearly half a month. The weather was turning worse and worse, and Yu Ci suspected that the year's first snowfall could begin at any moment.

The work of gathering Fish Dragon Grass had stalled—or rather, for the past half-month, it had not gotten off the ground at all.

Only at times like this did Yu Ci realize just how lucky he had been back then to discover such a patch of land dedicated solely to Shrimp Whisker Grass and Fish Dragon Grass. That was simply something met by chance and never by seeking.

In Sky Rift Gorge, the Shrimp Whisker Grass had inevitably withered. This strange medicinal grass would temporarily channel its vitality into the host trees, leaving behind only withered stems without any medicinal value, and it would not recover until the coming of spring next year.

At this time, the habitats of the Shrimp Whisker Grass were relatively easier to find. Leaving aside evergreen trees, those deciduous trees whose leaves happened to fall particularly late were very likely the dwelling places of this type of medicinal grass. Experienced herb-gatherers would mark these trees in hopes of a great harvest come the coming spring.

Yu Ci was doing the exact same thing, except that he valued places with signs of large-scale parasitism, for only in such locations could natural Fish Dragon Grass be born to trade for Good Deeds for him.

Everything would become clear next spring.

This winter, he was destined to spend it in Sky Rift Gorge.

This wave of strong wind passed through, driving the sea of clouds and mist far away. Yu Ci let out a breath, sliding all the way down the cliff face. Just before his speed was about to exceed the safety limit, he grabbed onto a nearly withered branch close at hand. The branch emitted a groan that could not bear the weight.

Yu Ci did not move. Before observing the clouds and watching the waves, he had already confirmed the target's location. In a cleft of the cliff ten zhang away, a grayish-brown Hidden Skin was concealed. This was a famous venomous snake of Sky Rift Gorge, with a small, striking protrusion atop its triangular head. It did not hibernate, possessed extremely high aggressiveness, and mainly relied on ambush after discovering prey. Even a giant beast like an elephant would drop dead instantly if bitten just once, making it terrifying.

However, as Yu Ci stared at the venomous snake, what he calculated in his heart was not the danger, but the reward: Hidden Skin snake slough, thirty deeds!

Just as he had told Daoist Yu Zhou, it was not only Fish Dragon Grass that could trade for Good Deeds. Li Chen Sect cultivators issued a large number of Good Deeds tasks for gathering medicinal herbs and minerals every year, many of which had their origins near Sky Rift Gorge. Although most of these scattered little trinkets were only worth one or two, or three to five Good Deeds, with very few exceeding ten, they still added up to a considerable income—provided one could find them.

The Hidden Skin before his eyes was a case in point.

The Hidden Skin had a rather long lifespan, and it was said that long-lived ones could live for over three hundred years. The secret to their longevity was believed to be their bizarre habits. This snake shed its skin twice a year; after shedding, it would bury the slough underground and dig it out to eat during the next shedding. It was said that this accumulated energy to complete the subsequent shedding work, and so on year after year, the same every time.

Because of this, the slough shed by this snake also had immense medicinal value. Especially for an old Hidden Skin that had grown for more than two hundred years, its shed skin was top-grade material for compounding pills and refining medicine, holding a very high value. On the bulletin board of Tongde Hall, a sect cultivator offered thirty Good Deeds as a reward to collect such old snake sloughs. In terms of unit price, it was even higher than natural Fish Dragon Grass, making it the Good Deeds task with the highest reward Yu Ci had collected.

Like the old Hidden Skin before Yu Ci's eyes, it had a lifespan of at least two hundred and fifty years and was shrewd and cunning. When shedding its skin, it had actually traveled from the two-thousand-zhang deep region where it normally operated all the way up to this rock cleft only a little over a hundred zhang from the gorge peak, ensuring that no natural predators could discover its tracks.

Pity that its luck was utterly terrible, for its every move had long fallen under the surveillance of the Zhaoshen Map. Yu Ci had calculated that recently was the season for the Hidden Skin to shed its skin, and early on he used the Zhaoshen Map to observe its living region, easily discovering this unlucky fellow that had abnormally climbed upward. From that moment on, the fate of this old Hidden Skin was sealed.

The old Hidden Skin had already found the area where it buried its slough, writhing its body and using the small protrusion on its head to turn over the soil. Digging a full half-chi deep, it finally revealed the snake slough whose color had turned deep black. Yu Ci stared at the display on the Zhaoshen Map, silently calculating:

Counting the snake slough, I've already accumulated one hundred and forty deeds. The harvest is not bad, but the obvious things have almost all been found. Later on, there might not necessarily be such an opportunity!

Amidst the sigh, Yu Ci made his move. The distance of ten zhang was crossed with just a light tap against the cliff face. The Hidden Skin had always been known for its alertness and sensitivity, but this time, it only had time to twitch its body before being split in two by the Sword Qi penetrating through the rock cleft.

Disregarding the two sections of snake body still struggling, Yu Ci took out the jade medicinal hoe given by Ye Tu to widen the rock cleft, which was only two fingers wide. With a few rustling sounds, the cleft was widened to a width of one chi, and Yu Ci reached his medicinal hoe inside, preparing to hook the snake slough out.

Right at that moment, his brow furrowed. The Zhaoshen Map that had been glowing continuously in front of him abruptly vanished, and a split second later, the flapping sound of wings came from the clouds and mist overhead.

So fast! This was Yu Ci's first thought.

It's this thing again! This was the second.

Trouble is here.

As this thought arose, a sharp scream descended from above: "My snake!"

Unexpectedly, the sharp scream still carried a childish tone, greatly startling Yu Ci. When he raised his head to look, the airflow from the flapping wings had already brushed against his face, and that voice cried out again: "You pay for my snake!"

A hint of a sob was already mixed in the tone.

He had actually seen the large bird circling above Yu Ci before—it was that kind of blood vulture that lived in the gorge, ferocious in nature and quite powerful in strength. But this blood vulture before him had clearly been tamed by someone, and in fact, Yu Ci was no stranger to the blood vulture itself.

Around the time he arrived at Sky Rift Gorge, a total of two controlled raptors had remotely monitored him. One was that goshawk that had welcomed him, and the other was this blood vulture before his eyes. Only today, this fellow was not here to monitor; someone was sitting on top of it, and more than one.

When the blood vulture circled for a second turn, the people on top jumped down. One large and one small, the large one holding the small one, their bodies seeming weightless as they drifted down, landing on a protruding rock two zhang away.

Yu Ci sized up the newcomers. The older one had ordinary features, was not tall, and looked to be in his thirties, appearing quite capable and fierce. Yu Ci already knew that this person's cultivation was exquisite, far surpassing his own, and had already reached the middle or even upper stage of Spirit Penetration—meaning he had already condensed an Yin Spirit.

The reason he could make this affirmative judgment was because previously in the Zhaoshen Map, he had already seen the light waves spreading within this person's cranium, which was precisely the omen of Yin Spirit achievement. This bit of experience had been gained from the two managers of Bai Ri Mansion, Lu Yang and Kuang Zheng, and later confirmed through a large amount of practice in Zhixin Temple.

One must know that whether an Yin Spirit was achieved or not made a difference as vast as heaven and earth. Before achieving the Yin Spirit, one still practiced brute force, with cultivation accumulating year by year and deepening bit by bit; but once the Yin Spirit was achieved, the astonishing potential within the hidden consciousness layer of the divine soul would be rapidly stimulated, making one's cultivation advance by leaps and bounds. Without taking too much time, one could leave cultivators who had not condensed an Yin Spirit far behind.

Judging by his recent experiences, facing cultivators who had not condensed an Yin Spirit, Yu Ci dared to claim a success rate of over seventy percent. But encountering figures at the middle stage of Spirit Penetration and above, he did not have the slightest certainty.

While he sized others up, the others were sizing him up as well. Their gazes met, and the newcomer cupped his fists:

"This Daoist friend, greetings."

The newcomer looked rugged in appearance, but spoke quite cordially and did not evoke dislike, so Yu Ci smiled and responded in kind: "You must be a Daoist friend of the Wanling Sect, greetings."

Having his words preempted, the newcomer was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that Yu Ci was not someone to be trifled with, and simply re-executed the courtesy: "Cheng Rong of the Wanling Sect. May I ask this Daoist friend's honored surname and great name?"

"You flatter me. Rogue cultivator Yu Ci, meeting Daoist Cheng."

Polite on the surface, Yu Ci still felt a bit of misgiving inwardly. When he was inquiring about news earlier, Cheng Rong's name was not quite as resounding as thunder, but it was certainly well-known. His status within the Wanling Sect was similar to that of powerful managers like Kuang Zheng of Bai Ri Mansion, holding a rather lofty position.

For a figure like this to personally step forward—even if it wasn't trouble, it was still trouble. Furthermore, there was a little fellow right beside him, glaring at him angrily.

The so-called little fellow was actually a jade-carved little girl with her hair tied in double buns, only eight or nine years old, wearing a lake-green shirt that made her skin look like mutton-fat jade. At this moment, her ink-dot-like eyes were misty with water, making her look all the more adorable.

Yu Ci laughed at the sight: "Then this is—"

"This is—"

"Shi Xin!"

The little girl refused to let anyone else speak for her, shouting in response. Then, she impatiently proclaimed Yu Ci's crime: "You killed my snake, you pay me!"

"Your snake? You raised it?" Before figuring out Cheng Rong's intentions, Yu Ci did not mind entangling with the little girl for a moment. He asked back with zest, "I certainly didn't see any collar or the like on this thing."

"This is my snake!"

The little girl of the Shi family emphasized once more, quite righteous and confident: "I placed a Soul Tethering Curse on this Hidden Skin, and I was waiting for it to bring me to dig out the snake slough, but you indiscriminately killed it. Pay me!"

"Ninth Girl, do not be rude to your senior."

Cheng Rong stopped Shi Xin's pestering with a drink, and instead smiled at Yu Ci: "This is the head sect master's youngest granddaughter, ranked ninth. She is usually spoiled and inevitably lacks manners. Daoist friend, please do not take offense."

Scolded, the little girl drooped her head and spoke no more. When Yu Ci heard the little girl report her own name earlier, he had guessed that she must come from an extraordinary background. Now that it was confirmed, amidst his amused laughter, there was also some astonishment in his heart. Lu Yang, the grand manager of Bai Ri Mansion, probably held an even higher position within the mansion than Cheng Rong did in the Wanling Sect, yet when facing Jin Huan's grandnephew, he was not as stern yet affectionate as Cheng Rong was here.

Being equally an important minister of a foreign surname, having this discrepancy was partly likely due to family discipline, and on the other hand, this Cheng Rong's identity was probably different from ordinary people.