Chapter 29: Walnut Boats

Everyone looked up and let out a long "wow."

Even though they already knew Sun Fuping was the Imperial Preceptor and possessed extraordinary means, everyone was still shocked to see this scene.

He Lingchuan, however, heard Zeng Feixiong mutter softly: "Is that thing a Profound Crystal? First time seeing one." His voice was full of wonder.

"It's green, just a low-grade Profound Crystal," He Lingchuan said with his characteristic understatement.

As it turned out, Nian Songyu heard this and immediately turned to ask: "Do you have medium or high-grade ones?"

"No, of course not!" He Lingchuan laughed it off. If he admitted it, he would have to surrender them, right? Who told him he really did have some? In He Lingchuan's storage bag at this very moment lay a Profound Crystal, though it was dark green and of even better quality than the one Imperial Preceptor Sun had fed to the walnut boats.

Profound Crystals are the solidified form of the world's spiritual energy, usually produced only during periods of spiritual energy eruptions. After humans collect, purify, and refine them, or add various materials to them, they can be turned into all sorts of Profound Crystals of different grades.

This stuff has many uses; it can replenish true qi for mages or demons, serve as the motive power for mechanical puppets, drive arrays, and so on. These three little walnut boats looked inconspicuous, but the cost to drive them was not low.

A long time had passed since the last great spiritual energy eruption, and as Profound Crystals were used, they became fewer and more expensive. Imperial Preceptor Sun used them casually to drive the walnut boats, while He Lingchuan had only one in his possession, a grand gift given to him by an envoy from the northern demon kingdom for doing a favor.

One person uses luxury items as fuel, the other keeps them as offerings; the difference in status and wealth was immediately apparent.

While he was observing carefully, Nian Songyu was asking the sand bandits: "Do you have any other tricks that can help?"

Situ Han was also admiring the walnut boats, and upon hearing this, he shook his head repeatedly: "There are too many people, most of our crude methods won't be of any use."

Nian Songyu had only asked on a whim and didn't truly believe they had any good methods. He Lingchuan, however, smiled and said: "You didn't bring your fragrant balls out this time?"

"We did." Situ Han pondered for a moment, looked at Sun Fuping, and felt a bit embarrassed, "It's just that they aren't... presentable!"

"Saving lives is what matters; whether it's elegant or not is unimportant."

Nian Songyu asked Situ Han: "Is it useful? Does it work well?"

"Generally, it works well." Situ Han patted the hull of the boat, "How can this treasure be made to move?"

Nian Songyu didn't hide it from him: "Profound Crystals."

Every second burned money. Situ Han thought for a moment: "If we're lucky, perhaps the two lords won't need to consume Profound Crystals."

Even Sun Fuping became interested at this: "Oh?"

Profound Crystals are rare and should be saved whenever possible; this stuff is priceless and unavailable, and ordinary people couldn't buy it even with silver.

Situ Han humbly emphasized once more: "If we're lucky!"

"Give it a try then," Nian Songyu said indifferently. "If it doesn't work well, it will be a delay of official business, and I will throw you off the boat to feed the monsters."

Why did I open my mouth! Situ Han really wanted to slap himself a few times: "Then please everyone, cover your noses."

Cover...? He Chunhua saw his eldest son and the group of bandits all lift their face cloths to cover their mouths and noses, so he followed suit.

They saw Situ Han give an order to the rear, and the sand bandits brought out a box. Upon opening it, the box was lined with soft padding, and in the center lay a bulging, bubble-like object.

Nian Songyu looked it over but didn't understand: "What is this?"

"Commandant Nian has never seen a pig slaughtered, have you?" He Lingchuan laughed, "This is a pig's bladder, which can be inflated by blowing into it. It's nowhere near its maximum expansion right now."

Seeing him so smug, He Chunhua couldn't help but grumble inwardly. This guy had been raised on the best of Black Water City since childhood, a standard rich kid and noble young master; logically, he shouldn't have known about pig bladders. But he was just too mischievous; he used to love filling pig bladders with water, hanging them on the old tree on the main street, and whenever he saw someone he didn't like, he would flick an iron needle at it just as they walked under the tree...

Nian Songyu had always been accustomed to a life of luxury; how could he have seen this? He didn't even often eat low-grade meat like pork, so he frowned in disgust upon hearing this: "What is it used for?"

"Good sealing, otherwise we'd suffer eight hundred injuries ourselves first." Following He Lingchuan's explanation, the sand bandits took out a large piece of cured meat, tied it with a thick rope, then untied the binding on the pig bladder and poured the contents stored inside onto the cured meat.

It was a viscous, dark green liquid that not only bubbled but occasionally seemed to emit a wisp of white smoke.

The moment it saw the light of day, the sense of smell of everyone nearby suffered a devastating blow.

This odor was like a severe case of athlete's foot that had been stewing in an airtight boot for a month or so, mixed with the body odor accumulated from not bathing for half a year, and the finishing touch was the unique scent brewed by dead fish and rotten shrimp piled up year after year in the dark corners of a smuggling wharf.

It was a masterpiece of fishy, rank, and pungent odors, stinking with both style and substance.

Soldiers in the army who were too slow to cover their noses vomited with a "wow."

The most terrifying thing about this smell was that once you smelled it, your body would firmly remember it, making it hard to forget for a long time.

Infected by this, those who were originally holding back could no longer endure it and collapsed, clutching their stomachs and vomiting in a heap.

Fortunately, the sand bandits quickly threw the cured meat into the sandy ground and covered it with a few handfuls of sand, and with the strong winds of the desert, the stench was blown away after a short while.

Everyone gasped for air, never having felt that breathing was so wonderful.

Nian Songyu's face changed color: "Absurd! What on earth is the use of this thing?"

He was also feeling chest tightness and the urge to vomit, and he had to restrain himself repeatedly to keep from doing so, but when he turned his head and saw He Lingchuan's beaming expression, he really suspected that this little brat was taking the opportunity to mess with him!

So stinky, who could avoid being hit? "Just watch." He Lingchuan was unperturbed and pointed casually at the sand pit where the meat was buried.

Everyone took a look and discovered that, with the sand pit as the center, one after another, ripples were emerging on the sandy ground, varying in depth, but all extending rapidly outward. Clearly, quite a few creatures had been hiding under the sand, and after being fumigated by the cured meat, they had all fled in a panic.

It was not only effective against humans; that thing also had powerful lethality against mutated monsters and demons.

Even because the latter had a keener sense of smell than humans, the trauma they suffered to both spirit and flesh was even more severe.

"Being able to smoke out mutated beasts is not bad. What other uses are there?" This move still surprised Sun Fuping a little. Poison gas attacks were something he had never considered when making his plans; it seemed that the crude methods of country folk were sometimes quite useful.

"Just this is far from enough!" Nian Songyu squeezed his knuckles. These sand bandits and the He father and son knew each other; were they teaming up to deal with him?

Situ Han saw that his expression was actually unfriendly and was confused: "Wait, wait a moment, the key to crossing the desert is coming!"

It's coming? What's coming?

(End of chapter)