Birds of a Feather

Zhang Yuan's joy was written all over his face.

This trip into the mountains had been purely to make money.

Zhang Yuan had already decided that he would save up the silver needed to buy a house and settle down in the shortest possible time.

If he could not earn enough in one or two days, then he would do it in three or four. In any case, he would make a trip into the deep mountains every day, and he would surely gather enough.

Yet he had never expected to discover a Rock Ginseng.

Just from the number and size of its ginseng fruits, Zhang Yuan could tell that this Rock Ginseng was very old.

And the older the Rock Ginseng, the more valuable it was.

Perhaps a single root would be enough to trade for a house in the County Town!

But Zhang Yuan was not swept away by excitement, nor did he immediately begin digging.

Dragging the Rock Sheep's carcass behind him, Zhang Yuan first returned to the bottom of the cliff.

The Crow Spirit was waiting there!

Zhang Yuan skillfully slit open the Rock Sheep's belly with his dagger and dug out its organs for it to feast on.

Then he climbed back up to where the Rock Ginseng grew.

He carefully examined the crevice where the Rock Ginseng was growing, then took the cloth bag hanging from his waist and grabbed a large handful of dried grass powder from inside.

He suddenly hurled it into the rock crevice!

Dust billowed out, carrying a strong medicinal scent with it.

The next instant, a black shadow shot out from the crevice and pounced like lightning at Zhang Yuan, who was right beside it!

But Zhang Yuan had long been prepared. He had already opened the mouth of his cloth bag and was waiting.

The black shadow plunged straight inside!

It was a large black-scaled, gray-spotted snake four or five feet long. Its long body was as thick as a baby's arm, and under the sunlight, the scales on its surface gleamed with a heart-palpitating sheen.

Zhang Yuan gripped the bag's opening in one hand, his five fingers closing like iron pincers around the snake's vital seven-inch point!

This was not the first time Zhang Yuan had found Rock Ginseng.

In fact, he had dug up several before, but they had all been too young to fetch a high price.

However, Zhang Yuan knew that Black Horned Vipers usually dwelled beside Rock Ginseng.

Black Horned Vipers were venomous snakes. They liked living in shady mountain cliff crevices and shared some kind of symbiotic relationship with Rock Ginseng.

Therefore, to dig up Rock Ginseng, he first had to deal with the Black Horned Viper!

Zhang Yuan's secret weapon for catching snakes was precisely the cloth bag used to hold the dried grass powder. It was exceptionally thick.

The Black Horned Viper's vital point had been seized, its head was wrapped inside the cloth bag, and a large amount of dried grass powder had covered its mouth, nose, and eyes. Its sharpest venomous fangs were effectively useless.

It instinctively struggled and fought back, its thick body coiling around and tightly constricting Zhang Yuan's arm.

But it was completely useless.

Clutching the Black Horned Viper's vital point, Zhang Yuan ruthlessly strangled the large snake alive!

Black Horned Vipers were highly venomous, but also delicious. Their soup was utterly superb.

After considering it, Zhang Yuan still gave up the tempting thought of taking it home to eat and sacrificed it to the Divine Nest on the spot.

What Zhang Yuan lacked most right now was Source Essence. Whether it was for upgrading the Divine Nest itself or its vessel, no amount would ever be enough!

To his surprise, this Black Horned Viper gave him 0.5 points of Source Essence.

It was another aberration.

Only after dealing with the Black Horned Viper did Zhang Yuan take out the herbal-gathering tools he carried with him and focus on the Rock Ginseng growing inside the crevice.

Rock Ginseng grew in a special environment, making it correspondingly difficult to harvest.

If someone who did not know what they were doing grabbed its stalk and yanked, they would absolutely snap it off, causing its medicinal potency to rapidly drain away.

Then it would no longer be worth much.

Using a specially made long-handled digging spoon and hook, he slowly removed the soil and drew out the ginseng roots that had burrowed deep into the crevice.

It took half a shichen from beginning to end before Zhang Yuan finally dug out the entire Rock Ginseng intact.

Its roots, stalk, and fruits had suffered almost no damage at all.

After removing the dirt clinging to its surface, the fresh ginseng weighed roughly five taels. Its age was estimated at sixty or seventy years.

That was already extremely rare.

After all, among the Rock Ginseng Zhang Yuan had harvested before, the most valuable one had not even been ten years old.

He estimated that this Rock Ginseng could sell for at least a hundred taels of Snowflake Silver.

It really could be exchanged for a house in the County Town.

Carefully wrapping the Rock Ginseng in the cloth bag and tucking it into his breast, Zhang Yuan returned to the ground.

The Crow Spirit and the pile of organs had vanished, leaving behind only the Rock Sheep's body.

And a Black Feather floating in midair.

Zhang Yuan paid it no mind. He was already used to Crow Brother's way of doing things. Hoisting the Rock Sheep onto his shoulder, he headed out of the mountains.

Guided by the Black Feather, Zhang Yuan made it back to Chen Family Village without incident once again.

Night had only just fallen.

Zhang Yuan had returned in time and had not put himself in danger.

But inevitably, the prey slung across his shoulder once again stirred the villagers' envy, jealousy, and resentment.

This was not the first time Zhang Yuan had brought down a large beast!

Last time it had been a Wild Boar, and this time it was a Rock Sheep. How could his luck be so good?

Everyone could not help but see Zhang Yuan in a new light.

Many people suddenly realized that this young man from outside the clan had truly grown into an adult, fully capable of shouldering a household on his own.

Some villagers were already secretly considering whether to take Zhang Yuan in as a son-in-law.

He had the ability to support a family, so what did it matter if he was an outsider?

Suddenly, a figure blocked Zhang Yuan's path.

It was none other than Zhang Xiong, who had arrived in Chen Family Village earlier that day!

Zhang Yuan's heart tightened, and he immediately stopped. "Martial Master Zhang, may I ask what you need?"

Zhang Xiong stroked his chin and asked with a half-smile, "This Rock Sheep you caught is quite good. Are you selling it?"

Zhang Yuan hesitated, showing an awkward expression.

Then he gritted his teeth and said, "If Martial Master likes it, then I'll give it to you!"

He took down the Rock Sheep, which weighed over a hundred jin, and placed it before Zhang Xiong.

There was no helping it. He had entered the mountains a little late today and returned too late as well. Otherwise, Zhang Yuan could have gone straight to the County Town to sell it.

Prey like a Rock Sheep sold very well in the city.

Zhang Xiong laughed. Taking out some broken silver, he handed it to Zhang Yuan. "Would a dignified Martial Master really take advantage of you?"

Zhang Yuan accepted the broken silver with fearful gratitude. "Thank you, Martial Master!"

Yet though he looked respectful on the surface, inwardly he wanted to gift the man a grass mud horse!

A gutted Rock Sheep like this would have fetched two or three taels of silver in the County Town without any problem.

Yet Zhang Xiong made it sound so nice, but the broken silver he gave was worth at most half a tael.

Had he known this would happen, Zhang Yuan would have been better off sacrificing it directly.

This Martial Master before him had a heart as black as maggots. He and Chen Yuanwai, the Weasel-faced Advisor, and the rest were completely birds of a feather!

"You're not bad."

Zhang Xiong nodded, then suddenly asked in a tone whose meaning was hard to read, "I heard you followed Gao Ze for three years?"

Zhang Yuan paused before understanding—the "Gao Ze" Zhang Xiong spoke of was Hunter Gao.

"Yes." He gave a bitter smile. "It's just that some time ago, Master Gao stopped letting me go to his house to help."

Zhang Yuan's face was full of helplessness and disappointment, as though his heart had truly been wounded.

"Mm."

Zhang Xiong did not continue questioning him. He picked up the Rock Sheep from the ground and strode away.

Watching the Martial Master's retreating figure gradually disappear, Zhang Yuan's eyes darkened as deeply as the night sky.

His prey was not so easily swallowed!