Chapter 51: Five Spirit Fat

After Chen Wuji ate the vegetable porridge Huo Sanniang prepared this morning, he took his own food supplies and went into the mountain.

Since there was nothing to sell today, he had relatively ample time to wander around the mountain.

The first thing he did after entering the mountain, Chen Wuji inspected a circle of traps.

But after the inspection, his complexion directly fell.

Today's trap harvest was scant, it could even be described as miserable.

Out of nearly twenty traps, there were only two wild hares and one big fat mouse.

If he isn't mistaken, this thing should be called a bamboo mouse.

In the years before short videos rose, he, who raised bamboo rats, liked watching them; they were said to be quite tasty, but Chen Wuji never got to try.

What made Chen Wuji even more frustrated was that more than half the traps had been destroyed and needed to be reset.

The prey caught by those ruined traps were probably larger; the site looked as if struck by a tornado, full of gouged pits, animal pelts and bloodstains.

He arrived a bit late; had he come yesterday afternoon, he might have gotten a decent haul.

What a pity…

Chen Wuji's aching gut almost turned Qing.

"It's all Yuan Laoer's grandson's fault, this debt is on your head, you bastard!"

Chen Wuji cursed and scolded Yuan Laoer's ancestors up to the eighteenth generation, then individually reset each destroyed trap.

After finishing, he rested briefly and chose West Mountain among the pond, the summit, and West Mountain.

He hadn't been to that area of West Mountain yet and wanted to see if there were any aquatic products.

If there's no harvest there, he'll risk it on the summit.

He's been to that place twice, each time fraught with danger.

When there's a harvest, Chen Wuji doesn't want to risk that place.

Although that place's high risk often brings high reward.

But Chen Wuji cares more about his own life.

West Mountain collectively refers to the area west of Shenxian Ling, absurdly vast; from the summit you can't see its edges, and the central region is probably never been visited.

The hill Chen Wuji stands on now is actually the foot of Shenxian Ling; climbing up this mountain, bypassing the beast‑filled summit, then crossing a few more hills, will almost reach Shenxian Ling.

Although it's a mountain, it's not one you can see the peak at a glance; it stretches for miles, spawning several massive ridges.

Among these ranges, Shenxian Ling is the only peak with a name.

Tying the rabbit and bamboo rat to his waist with rope, Chen Wuji gripped his bow and arrow and headed toward West Mountain.

The dense forest was extremely quiet, so quiet that Chen Wuji could clearly hear his own breathing.

A wild fruit suddenly fell from the treetop and happened to land right on Chen Wuji's head.

He looked up and saw an adorably clueless squirrel.

It perched on a branch, its two front paws still clutching something, mouth slightly open, two long healthy teeth glinting.

The thing in its paws suddenly fell, leaving it momentarily stunned, now staring blankly at Chen Wuji below.

"Be careful, you know, littering on the mountain isn't good either; luckily this thing of yours isn't too painful, otherwise I'd definitely use your mouse life to soothe my injured brain!" Chen Wuji laughed and scolded.

This little thing is still oddly cute.

The squirrel was startled by Chen Wuji's shout and suddenly leapt down from the branch.

Then it watery‑brightly flew past Chen Wuji's line of sight.

"Whoa, a flying squirrel!"

Chen Wuji's eyes lit up, and he sprinted after it.

Flying Squirrel, this guy's droppings are the famed Five Spirit Fat.

The mouse flies ahead, the person chases ahead, and in a blink it darts hundreds of meters away.

Although the Flying Squirrel can fly, it doesn't go far; each glide is only a few dozen meters, and it slows down more each time, seeming to exhaust after a few strokes.

"Your wings are a bit redundant, stop flying, let's chat; do you produce a lot of droppings? Fill a sack for me, I don't want your life!" Chen Wuji shouted from behind.

Hearing that, the Flying Squirrel grew even more nervous, running and flying, darting and soaring among the treetops.

Perhaps it didn't understand what the human behind it was saying, but it probably sensed Chen Wuji's intent to drain its guts, so even as it ran slower, it tried harder.

However, Chen Wuji seemed no longer to need it as a guide.

He saw another Flying Squirrel and a tree hollow on the canopy ahead.

Looking around carefully, Chen Wuji's mouth curled into a grin.

There's more than one tree hollow!

A quick glance already revealed four.

He hadn't heard that this thing was communal.

But Chen Wuji likes their gregariousness.

Living together is great.

"Thank you, big squirrel, you really are a good squirrel! Don't be nervous, I truly don't want your life, I'm just helping you clean the holes so you don't choke on your own droppings." Chen Wuji laughed, rubbed his hands, untied the rope and prepared to climb the tree.

He didn't know the exact price of Five Spirit Fat in Da Yu, but gathering this stuff is as difficult as harvesting bird's nest, so the price certainly isn't low.

He hooked the rope onto the tree trunk, and Chen Wuji, using hands and feet, began his arduous first tree‑climbing debut.

During his school years, he once felt inferior about being from a Nong Symbol Symbol Symbol Symbol Symbol village.

But now, he must thank that he's a Nong Symbol Symbol Symbol Symbol Symbol kid.

Otherwise, even knowing the Flying Squirrel's droppings are Five Spirit Fat, he could only stare at the feces in dread.

A tree standing about ten meters tall can't be climbed without some experience.

Even though Chen Wuji learned to climb trees as a child, it still took him a while to reach the main trunk.

The Flying Squirrel's self‑made home is very large, the kind with doors and windows.

Chen Wuji sat on a tree trunk for a while, then finally took off his clothes and began cleaning the Flying Squirrel's chamber; inside there was actually a lot of stock, with chunk‑shaped and grain‑by‑grain tiny droppings forming a thick layer.

In modern medicines, Spirit Fat Lump looks even more filthy, but its price is actually higher.

It's just that in this era the market conditions are unknown.

Chen Wuji, whether it was grain‑by‑grain Spirit Fat Rice or Spirit Fat Lump, took everything as ordered.

No wonder ancient people were particular about naming; just by the name, who would know this thing is actually squirrel droppings—pure droppings are Spirit Fat Rice, and those mixed with urine become Spirit Fat Lump.

From a tree hollow, he extracted nearly five jin of Five Spirit Fat.

The Flying Squirrel looks cute, but also seems filthy; it has accumulated so much droppings without even dealing with them.

Moreover, they seem not to like defecating outside; even if it uses the outdoor bathroom several times, it shouldn't accumulate this much.

"Next."

He tightly wrapped the collected Five Spirit Fat, tied it to his waist, and Chen Wuji painstakingly descended the tree, rushing to the opposite one.

If every tree hollow yields such a harvest, he should be able to make a modest profit today.