Chapter 925

"Can't catch up..."

Above the water surface, thick fog filled the air.

Several Ghost Mother Sect Grandmasters, relying on their movement techniques, walked on the water, silent in the face of the message transmitted by the Net Master from the water.

It was too late.

It had been three days since the elixir vein was destroyed; the opponent had hidden for a long time and finally reappeared.

Unfortunately, they couldn't capture them with sight or qi-mechanism, so pursuit required the Net Master to constantly transmit messages to correct the direction; with messages going back and forth, even with a speed advantage, it was difficult to close the distance, and now it had dragged on to the point where even if they caught up, the opponent would have run to other waters.

"The monk can run, but the temple can't; at worst, we go ashore! Just like the Southern Branch, we'll mess up a few prefectures! The elixir vein can't be destroyed in vain!" The Du-surname Jiang Zongshi was furious.

The Wang-surname person on the side wanted to speak but hesitated.

"Stuttering, speak if you have something to say!"

"Experts in the sect are being lost one by one; if we really provoke the usurpers, and they send a large army to encircle and suppress us, what should we do?"

"What do you mean by that?" Du Du Xuyao widened his eyes.

"Forget it, nothing."

Wang Haoze didn't want to argue and stopped speaking, but he had words in his heart.

During the Great Great Qian, life was lived one day at a time; in the Great Marsh, life is lived one day at a time. In the end, as long as there are people to offer sacrifices, what's the difference?

Why insist on revenge and counter-revenge, which will eventually bring fire upon ourselves and add to the turmoil?

In one's lifetime.

Why bother?

Du Du Xuyao looked around and saw no one meeting his gaze, and his teeth itched with anger.

Unknowingly, why did everyone love appeasement?

Suddenly.

The water surface surged, and a brownish-red tentacle broke off, curling into three large characters.

"Empress returns."

Everyone's expressions changed drastically.

"The Empress has been alarmed?"

Ever since the creation of the Yin-Yang Life-Death Position, the Empress had always been in a deep sleep, in a special state, rarely managing external affairs...

"Return quickly!"

Inside the deep-water cave.

In front of the Old Mother statue.

The headless Jiang Zongshi's body turned into a mass of black smoke, falling continuously into Yi Chen's mouth and nose; the gray-defeated color was like snow in spring, melting rapidly, revealing the lush green grass sprouting from the soil.

In the blink of an eye, the body turned into a dry, hard black lump, as if it were dead wood squeezed dry of moisture, and Yi Chen's complexion returned to normal.

"Order all river patrol stations in Jianghuai to strengthen patrols, collect more mugwort and calamus, and plant more along the riverbanks; report any abnormal signs of withering immediately, without error."

"Spring is warm and the ice is melting; the Huai River flood season is approaching. Re-survey all river embankments; those guarding the embankments must be increased to at least six people, with at least two Galloping Horse realm experts, and prepare three fast horses and two carrier pigeons.

Those with insufficient manpower should apply to the river patrol station; anyone with suspicious behavior, regardless of identity, is to be arrested first and interrogated later, without error!"

Ran Ran Zhongshi recorded them one by one and went downstairs to draft the orders.

Dozens of fast horses galloped out.

Returning to the river patrol station, Su Guishan issued multiple major decrees, requiring cooperation from all localities; the original peaceful winter life was broken, and life suddenly became busy.

Everything was finished.

The crowd began to process the harvest of this trip.

One by one, the large items were taken; Chen Chen Shixuan went directly to the Southern Zhili, accompanied by Wei Lin, without staying in Pingyang Prefecture for even half a day.

"The two heads are certain beyond doubt; although there is no evidence for the rest, I will report the situation truthfully. Everyone who landed on the island this time has performed a service, a great service!"

Su Guishan held a small teapot and leaned back on a lounge chair, looking joyous and refreshed.

The merit of this trip was not just the impressive killing of enemies; the important thing was that destroying the elixir vein had great strategic significance, and subsequently seizing the elixir tripods brought even greater benefits!

"For this trip, Chen Chen Shixuan gets the first-class merit, and you get the second-class merit!"

Liang Qu nodded.

The imperial court is annoyed by the Ghost Mother Sect, this blood-sucking louse, but it's a dead insect, and everyone is more concerned with how to squeeze gold coins out of the louse.

Seizing things is fundamental; killing people is incidental.

Those super-sized elixir tripods, several zhang tall, are no different from production lines; their price is comparable to a gold mine, and in terms of value alone, they are higher than a Jiang Zongshi's head!

"Uncle, roughly how many can there be?" Liang Qu asked, full of anticipation.

"In the memorial, I reported sixty for you; the matter of the White Ape providing clues is under discussion—after all, it is a demon, so we need to wait for the River Governor to evaluate it."

Hiss!

Liang Qu's heart stopped.

Sixty great merits!

His assessment after the New Year, thanks to the dog-head fish and pufferfish matters, earned him two; counting them up, it's eight plus two, and the remaining ten, plus sixty, makes a total of seventy!

He could exchange them for more than one portion of Great Medicine; if he exchanged them for lower-grade ones, three portions would probably be fine!

"Don't be happy too soon." Su Guishan poured cold water. "Reporting is one thing, whether the imperial court agrees is another. You were the main force for the two First-Realm Jiang Zongshi heads, plus the harvest from the operation; I estimate it will be around fifty."

"That's not bad." First raising, then suppressing.

Liang Qu was indeed disappointed, but that emotion was quickly cast to the back of his mind.

It was worth it!

A Xu Yue Prince token is only worth a few tens of thousands of taels.

This operation didn't just yield great merits; he had a pile of medicine hidden in his vortex palace!

It was all Water-Marsh Essence!

"Alright, the internal fear is urgent, suddenly icy, suddenly fiery. After the major events, there's no rush to arrange follow-up matters; you are specially granted five days of leave to settle your mind and body."

"Uncle, five days of leave is unnecessary; I was born with a big heart." Liang Qu smiled. "Besides, today is already the fourth of April; in two days, I'll take my family and head west."

Heading west...

Su Guishan looked out the window.

Spring looks at the mountain eaves, the stones are warm and moss grows.

Green reeds by the river are growing vigorously; it's even more sultry at noon, villagers are singing, and boats are coming and going.

Unknowingly, another spring has passed.

Seeing the greenery, the exhaustion after the fighting suddenly dissipated by more than half.

"Time passes quickly... Alright, go quickly; it's an eventful autumn, go and invite Master Master Mingwang back as soon as possible, so I don't have to worry about the Ghost Mother Sect going crazy! You can also go to the Great Snow Mountain to earn more merits with a light heart."

"Yes!"

Pond.

Vortex Palace wide open.

The fat catfish that snuck out entered first, and in less than a quarter of an hour, it swam out.

The Otter, the Great Da He Li, and the Little Finless Porpoise had been busy for a long time, and the fat catfish brought everything out in one go.

The big mouth opened.

The Da He Li and Otter families were busy non-stop, placing the medicine bottles on the trestle bridge; Liang Qu opened a bottle of Treasure Fish Pills, ate one first to confirm it had Water-Marsh Essence, and swallowed the remaining nine.

Water-Marsh Essence +425】

Water-Marsh Essence:】

Splash.

The lotus leaf lifted slightly.

Two frog eyes poked out, looking left and right, and webbed claws quietly reached toward a red gourd.

"Frog Master!"

"Cough, Liang Qing." The old toad felt no guilt, calmly picking up the red gourd, opening it to look and smell, as if concerned about the quality of the elixir. "This elixir is refined just so-so."

Liang Qu was surprised: "Frog Master also understands alchemy?"

"A little, a little."

"To be well-read in the past and present is to be a learned frog." Liang Qu gave a thumbs up. "Frog Master truly has the breadth of mind of the five lakes and four seas, and the talent and strategy to govern the world!"

The old toad proudly puffed out its belly.

"If Frog Master doesn't mind, you can take thirty percent of these on the side."

Liang Qu pointed to his right side.

Like the Great King Lotus Seeds, with Liang Qu's current foundation, these elixirs didn't have much effect; if he ate too many, the medicinal properties would clash, and he might get diarrhea from the medicinal poison, requiring a period of digestion; he was only interested in the Water-Marsh Essence inside.

Most of the elixirs in the Ghost Mother Sect were Treasure Fish Pills, which were very much to his taste; however, the elixirs had lost essence after being stored for a long time, and a considerable portion inside had already lost everything, belonging to "waste products."

He had intended to leave them all to the Dragon-Man tribe, but since the old toad came, taking out a portion was a favor that cost him nothing.

The old toad's eyes lit up.

"Liang Qing is truly a worthy assistant to the tribe!"

Successfully promoted from a loyal minister of the Frog tribe to a worthy assistant to the tribe.

Liang Qu felt happy in his heart.

After being happy.

He sensed something was wrong, calmed his mood, and asked while swallowing medicine.

"Frog Master came today, is it to ask about the sale of Treasure Fish?"

"Exactly, exactly." The old toad put medicinal herbs into its yellow skin bag. "Half a month has passed, I don't know how many Liang Qing has sold?"

"Currently, a total of thirteen portions have been sold, totaling two million five hundred thousand taels of silver!"

(Chapter end)