Chapter 341: Zhu Xiuer

People were tending to bonfires and roasting meat; in the territory of the Jiana tribe, there was once again a sense of human vitality. At this moment, Dong Rui walked out of the Demon Nest, his hair a tangled mess, following the sound. He sat by the fire and rubbed his hands together.

He had put on that grass mask again. His appearance didn't frighten the others, but Tu Zhongli still noticed the extra person by the fire. He frowned and asked, "And who is this?"

He Lingchuan thought to himself, *Why are you so impatient? This isn't your territory. * "He's the apothecary who was swept into the swamp with me. Zhu Xiuer wants him to concoct some medicine."

"Where are you people from?"

"The Yuan Nation."

Tu Zhongli was startled. "That far?"

One of his subordinates, who was sitting nearby, laughed while devouring fish meat. "I heard that the people of the Yuan Nation are barely able to eat. Is that true?"

He Lingchuan glanced at him sideways. "Where did you hear that?"

"Ah, my relative lives in Xunzhou. He said that people are starving to death, yet the Royal Court is still desperately increasing taxes, as if they want to scrape the earth three feet deep just to find copper coins. There was no other way, so the Xunzhou Inspector rebelled."

He Lingchuan said coldly, "The Xunzhou Inspector's rebellion wasn't for such a simple reason."

"Oh?" Everyone became interested. Tu Zhongli took a sip of wine. "Tell us about it."

"Where are you people from?"

"The Xing Nation."

He Lingchuan calculated silently. The Xing Nation was a small country through which a branch of the Hanhe River flowed downstream; its territory was not even one-tenth the size of the Yuan Nation. The point was, it was east of the Demon Nest Swamp, at least several hundred miles away from the Yuan Nation's border.

He had heard that the way back was full of steep mountains and treacherous ridges; returning the way they came would be too difficult.

With Tu Zhongli and the others urging him, He Lingchuan picked some current events from the Yuan Nation to talk about.

For the people of the Xing Nation, this was all first-hand news, and it sounded fresh and exciting. Tu Zhongli clicked his tongue. "It sounds like a great time to build a career and achieve success."

He Lingchuan observed them and discovered that these merchants were actually divided into two distinct factions. One was led by Tu Zhongli, eating meat and drinking wine heartily, laughing and talking without restraint; the other sat silently by the fire, barely eating, their eyes shifting as if they didn't dare to make eye contact with anyone.

Among the latter group was Steward Zhao.

At this moment, a snack was passed up—grubs that the hospitable spiders had dug out of rotten wood.

These fat, white worms were pure, natural, green food. Toss them into your mouth, bite down with your upper and lower teeth, and they would burst with juice. They were exceptionally rich in nutrients and were a coveted treasure for people surviving in the wilderness.

These grubs were still wriggling on the round leaves to show they were very fresh. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had lived here for over half a month and were long used to eating them, but Steward Zhao looked pale at the sight and waved his hand in refusal.

Tu Zhongli and the others, however, scooped them up and ate them, one after another, even praising the good taste.

He Lingchuan watched this scene, lost in thought.

Dong Rui sat by the fire, yawning repeatedly, and grabbed a few grubs to eat. He Lingchuan leaned over and asked him, "Any progress?"

"No progress, just discovered that the toxins in Zhu Xiuer's body are quite useful..." Dong Rui lowered his voice. "Are these mountain bandits with Zhu Xiuer?"

He Lingchuan's gaze shifted. "Can you tell they are mountain bandits?"

"In my life, I've dealt with ten thousand fierce bandits, if not eight thousand. These people all have a certain scent; I can smell it the moment I get near."

Right. This fellow's identity was unusual. Besides being a research fanatic, he was also a long-time wanted fugitive who had dealt with countless people from the lower rungs of society.

At this time, Steward Zhao clutched his stomach and climbed up, intending to go deep into the grass to relieve himself. Tonight's food was a bit burnt, some was raw, and some was half-cooked; his stomach couldn't quite handle it.

He Lingchuan said, "Let me go verify something." As he spoke, he patted his backside, stood up, and followed.

Steward Zhao had just found a spot, dark and near the water, and was about to unfasten his pants to squat down when he heard He Lingchuan behind him say, "This place is no good. There are many crocodiles by the water; be careful you don't get half your backside bitten off."

Steward Zhao was startled, made a few "oh, oh" sounds, and changed to another spot.

Seeing He Lingchuan still following behind, he couldn't help but say, "Mr. He, is there something you need?"

Before He Lingchuan could answer, Tu Zhongli's subordinate had already followed over and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Going to the latrine," He Lingchuan answered preemptively. "There's still one spot here; do you want it?"

"You have to go to the latrine together? Aren't you afraid of the stench?"

He Lingchuan pointed to the side. "There's a nest of fire ants there. Do you dare to squat?"

The man quickly dodged away.

He Lingchuan went off to wander elsewhere for a bit, then went back to look at those large carts.

With a large amount of fluorescent spores providing light, the entire clearing was as bright as day. The spiders were moving things out of the Demon Nest, one trip after another, and placing them onto the large carts.

The merchant caravan sent salt-clay and miscellaneous goods here, so on the return trip, they naturally had to be fully loaded with the specialties of the Demon Nest Swamp to sell for a high price back home.

Goods do not travel empty.

He Lingchuan saw the specialties the cave spiders were moving out and felt dazzled.

First, those bolts of spider silk were the hard currency popular in the outside world.

The silk produced by the cave spider demons came in three or four varieties. Even the most common had astonishing stickiness; using it to make traps or catch fish was countless times more effective than ordinary nets. The higher-end varieties had less stickiness but excellent elasticity and toughness, making them perfect for crafting gloves and soft armor—light, sturdy, and impervious to water and fire.

Of course, the rarest high-grade goods could be used to refine magic treasures. Especially the cloud brocade woven by Zhu Xiuer herself; even powerful fire bombs couldn't blast through it. He Lingchuan had tested it himself.

The spiders also brought out all kinds of sun-dried herbs and dried insects. A swamp where humans had never set foot was a natural treasure trove; the medicinal materials were well-aged and effective. Even the dried eggshells of the aphid-cattle were a medicinal ingredient; when boiled for women after childbirth, it could promote the production of breast milk.

The fungal mats in the Demon Nest also grew various types of mushrooms. Among them, the phantom-colored mushroom had always been a key item sought by Tu Zhongli's uncle.

This type of mushroom had mild toxicity. If a person ate a few mouthfuls, they would feel "immortal," and it was very likely to produce all kinds of hallucinations, with things they should or shouldn't see floating before their eyes.

Most importantly, there were no other side effects, and it wasn't addictive. At most, if you boiled a big pot and ate it, you would get diarrhea, or your head would feel a bit dizzy the next day, like a hangover.

Needless to say, this kind of thing was very popular outside; both humans and demon clans were willing to spend money to enjoy it.

He Lingchuan didn't expect that even the fluorescent spores could be sold.

These plump spores looked only a little smaller than a steamed bun, but after dehydration, their volume would shrink to one-third of the original, and they would stop glowing, making them quite convenient for transport.

After soaking in water, they would swell back up, and even when separated from the fungal mat, they could continue to glow for about four months.

This is much better than candles or oil lamps, and as a stable cold white light, it is a high-quality light source for uninterrupted illumination at night.

People would definitely like it; it just depended on how the merchant caravan priced it when they took it back.

In less than an hour, the forty large carts were packed full.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan understood: Zhu Xiuer's family fortune was truly uniquely wealthy in the Demon Nest Swamp! It managed its business so diligently that it made all the other wild indigenous demons in the swamp look like paupers. No wonder they were jealous. It was like being a pauper in a village, unable to afford the next meal, while the rich kid in the village ate meat and fish every day, the oily aroma drifting all the way to your house—just ask yourself if you wouldn't start having other thoughts? He Lingchuan didn't need to do the math to know that Tu Zhongli had made a fortune.

Of course, that was assuming he was truly a merchant.

Dong Rui walked over from the back and clicked his tongue. "Trading clay for specialties—this merchant caravan really knows how to do business."

He Lingchuan smiled. "Is it still a merchant caravan?" Since they had already determined these fellows were mountain bandits, the owner of the caravan, Tu Zhongli's "uncle," had likely already met with an accident.

Watching the spiders on the side walk away, Dong Rui lowered his voice. "What do you plan to do? Which side do you want to help?"

Mountain bandits pretending to be a merchant caravan to enter the swamp and find the cave spiders to continue trading—was it just to earn some money from goods? Even if you thought with the brain of Number 34, you would know that was impossible.

Once the time limit was up, if he couldn't produce the medicinal liquid Zhu Xiuer wanted, it would likely be a dead end. In the past few days, his own research direction had made new progress, and Dong Rui's mind had cleared up, so he began to plan for the future.

He Lingchuan smiled. "What about you?"

"These mountain bandits might have some token that allows them to leave the swamp."

"You have to think about why they came in," He Lingchuan said. "Are they trying to scrape some profit off a great demon like Zhu Xiuer?"

This was still the cave spiders' territory; it wasn't that easy to take advantage of Zhu Xiuer. Besides, they had just talked to the others and knew that the Demon Nest Swamp's reputation outside wasn't very good—it was no different from a dragon's den or a tiger's lair. People who accidentally wandered in almost never got out, so it was also called the "Demon Cave."

This group of mountain bandits dared to come in and scheme against the local tyrant—they couldn't have lost their minds, right? "They must have already thought of a way."

The two hadn't chatted for long before one of Tu Zhongli's subordinates left the bonfire and walked toward them. He Lingchuan had just heard Tu Zhongli call him "Yellow-Hair," likely because his hair was sparse and yellowish.

Yellow-Hair stood beside the two. "The boss asked me to come and ask you: do you want to leave the swamp with us?"

Throwing out bait to pick a side as soon as you arrive? Dong Rui said, "I want to."

"Then behave and stay by the fire. Don't make a sound and don't cause trouble." Tu Zhongli had also heard that He Lingchuan intended to get close to Steward Zhao.

In their original plan, they hadn't included the cave spiders' lair suddenly having two extra living people, who didn't look like honest types either.

At this critical juncture, they didn't like variables.

He Lingchuan asked, "Then when can we leave?"

"Soon, uh, it should be tomorrow morning." Yellow-Hair pointed toward the bonfire. "Go sit down quickly."

He Lingchuan scanned him and suddenly pointed to the bamboo tube at his waist. "I seem to have seen this kind of blowpipe somewhere before."

Half an arm long, mottled bamboo, tied with a small strand of hemp rope.

Right, the water-bloated corpses that had drifted into the swamp a few days ago—some of them had been wearing these blowpipe tubes.

Yellow-Hair's expression changed.

At this moment, a spider guard ran over and said to Dong Rui, "You've been out for too long. The Old Ancestor is calling you back to the nest to work!"

Clearly, Zhu Xiuer was also worried that these cunning humans gathering together would give Dong Rui an opportunity.

As for He Lingchuan, an idler who just ate for free, it didn't care too much.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 342 =====