Chapter 98: The Fisherman Reaps The Benefits, Slaughtering Chickens And Dogs
Fang Shu stared fixedly at the Precious Medicine on the ground, suddenly gaining enlightenment in his heart.
“This place is not a poison cave; instead, it is a medicine cave. One poison and one medicine, yin and yang complementing each other, perfectly matching the feng shui principles mentioned in the Hu family Treasure Book.”
He then looked at the poisonous powder permeating the cave and discerned its origins.
The Poisonous Moss in this cave must be centered around the Precious Medicine in the cave, absorbing medicinal power from the Precious Medicine to strengthen itself while also gathering the surrounding spiritual energy and infusing it into the Precious Medicine to enhance its efficacy.
The reason poisonous powder filled the cave was that these mosses wanted to monopolize this place and conveniently poison living creatures for nourishment.
Fang Shu marveled in his heart: “The wonders of life’s good fortune are truly miraculous. The array here has long been in disrepair, giving these mosses an opportunity instead.”
And for him, this was also an opportunity.
Fang Shu had no intention of indulging these mosses. He immediately used the Long Tongue Sword to pry up all the Precious Medicine on the ground, even scraping a few millimeters of thickness from the stone wall.
He weighed the item in his hand and found it to be the size of a palm, several times larger than the Lead Essence Treasure Bead from the previous cave.
Examining it closely, Fang Shu identified its general category. Its flesh was like congealed fat, brimming with spiritual vitality—it belonged to the ganoderma category, but not ordinary spiritual ganoderma or wood ganoderma; it was Flesh Ganoderma, also known as Tai Sui.
After recognizing the category of the Precious Medicine, he felt even greater joy in his heart.
Flesh Ganoderma has yin and yang, poison and spirit; its medicinal effects are polarized.
The evil kind is said to cause illness upon sight; the good kind is said to have the miraculous effect of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh and bone, making it an excellent spiritual material for health preservation and healing.
The lump in Fang Shu’s hand was full of vibrant spiritual vitality and had no effect on his qi and blood, clearly the “good kind” among Tai Sui.
Just as he was examining it intently, a change suddenly occurred in the medicine cave.
Bursts of spiritual light erupted in the cave, and the Poisonous Moss all around frantically spewed dust, making it impossible to see inside the cave for a moment, shrouded in a hazy blur.
Fang Shu almost thought the cave’s moss was targeting him, intending to increase the toxicity and poison him to death inside the cave.
But soon, he realized the surrounding Poisonous Moss was not targeting him; it was just blindly spewing poisonous powder, and after doing so, the moss itself suddenly withered.
In just a few breaths, the originally deep blue mosses all faded in color, lost their spiritual vitality, and became like dry grass.
This made Fang Shu understand.
With the Tai Sui Precious Medicine taken, these mosses had lost their continuous supply of medicinal power, their foundation severed, unable to persist, so they began frantically spewing powder in an attempt to reproduce themselves.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The thick poisonous powder floated in midair and began surging toward the outside of the cave.
Soon, the monsters guarding outside the cave noticed the disturbance inside and cried out in alarm: “Oh no, something’s wrong in the Treasure Vault.”
“Quickly notify the boss and that Cao fellow.”
“Damn it, why does my head feel dizzy? Yesterday’s wine has such a strong aftereffect…”
The monsters’ shouts echoed one after another.
Hearing this, Fang Shu’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly wanted to drill out along the tunnel, come quick and leave quick.
But after leaving the cave, he saw spiritual light at the end of the tunnel, as if it had already been sealed off. Charging out along the passage now would likely be walking right into a trap.
Calming his mind, he stopped and looked at the densely packed skeletons underground.
Fang Shu changed his approach. He had the Breath-Holding Insect, and the cave was shrouded in poisonous powder—better to stay still than move.
Even if Mine Owner Cao and the others came searching, fighting here would be better than fighting while surrounded by the enemy.
Immediately, Fang Shu stowed his items. He first put the Tai Sui in a box, affixed a talisman to seal the spiritual energy, then dug a pit and buried the box along with several Second Tribulation Breath-Holding Insects inside.
As for himself, he burrowed into the skeletons, took a Third Calamity Breath-Holding Insect in his mouth, and pretended to be a dead man as well.
After Fang Shu finished handling things, the poisonous powder in the cave grew even thicker, with most of the cave’s moss withered.
Soon, hurried footsteps appeared inside the cave, along with two figures moving about.
The two were dressed like beekeepers, their voices muffled as they spoke:
“What’s going on? Why is all this moss in the treasure cave dead? Did we harvest too much last time?”
“I kept saying to cut less, cut less. The key is you cut it and didn’t compensate the Poisonous Moss.”
If Fang Shu opened his eyes, he would find these two figures familiar—they were none other than Mine Owner Cao and his lackey Bei Demon.
The man and the demon chattered in the cave:
“What could I do? The marketplace has gone mad lately, saying some wilderness immortal cultivator caused trouble in the town. They’re investigating wild cultivators and extorting even me. Can’t have too many miners dying either.
Damn it, I’m not even in the town.”
Soon, the man and the demon groped their way to the center of the cave. They carefully lifted the moss marks on the ground to check the Tai Sui Precious Medicine hidden inside.
The expressions on the man and demon’s faces froze as they stared at each other:
“Where’s that huge lump of Precious Medicine of mine?”
Instantly, the man and demon’s gazes changed; they stared tightly at each other, suspicion arising.
“Return it now, and it might still be in time.”
“You’re right. Master, why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? Keeping it here, you can harvest it every month. Taking it all would cut off the root.”
This situation was something Fang Shu, hiding among the corpses, hadn’t anticipated.
The two hadn’t even searched or checked for outsiders or little monsters; they immediately suspected each other.
Even more unexpectedly for Fang Shu, two auras surged up in the cave, and it seemed the Bei Demon struck first.
Mine Owner Cao fumed: “You dog thing! After I raised you for so many years, this is how you repay me.”
The Bei Demon spoke: “Old thing, I’ve wanted to take you down for a long time. You’ve wanted to run too, right? If you run, us monsters become the scapegoats?”
Bang bang bang!
Waves of magic power fluctuated violently in the cave’s thick fog, mixed with various wolf howls.
Fang Shu was even more stunned by the man and demon fighting each other.
For a moment, he suspected they were feigning a fight to lure out the hidden thief.
But when he boldly used the Gold Seeking Insect on his forehead again to probe the dragon veins and qi, he found the two auras in the cave had been greatly consumed, with one already weak and at a disadvantage.
At the same time, a bloody scent rose in the cave, and some moss, absorbing it, halted its withering.
“This man and demon are really fighting!” Fang Shu thought to himself.
Crack crack!
Mine Owner Cao lay on the ground, incredulous: “When did you… become a Second Tribulation old demon, and fully cultivate…”
The Bei Demon’s shrill voice rang out coldly: “Of course, thanks to Master’s grace, refined using the Precious Medicine.”
These words made Mine Owner Cao’s eyes widen; cold sweat poured from him. First unwillingly questioning, then begging in a low voice.
The Bei Demon laughed:
“All the managers up and down the mine are us monsters; you’re the only human. Making moves isn’t hard.
Hand over the stuff quick, or don’t blame me for being impolite!”
Mine Owner Cao pleaded humbly: “It really wasn’t me. Let me live, and I’ll let all you monsters leave this place.”
Immediately, a barrage of suspicion mixed with interrogation and curses echoed in the cave.
“I’ve wanted to act for a long time, but didn’t expect you, so burly, to be even faster than me!”
“Dog spawn! You beast…”
Watching up to this point, Fang Shu’s doubts vanished. No matter how good their acting, he had to take a bold chance.
So while the Bei Demon was interrogating, he suddenly opened his eyes and leaped up from the corpses, spitting out the Long Tongue Sword from his mouth.
Sizzle!
With one sound, the Tongue Sword lunged forward, shattering the Bei Demon’s neck.
In the hazy poisonous fog, the Bei Demon’s ferocious face stiffened; it couldn’t believe someone could hide silently in such a poisonous cave.
The demon’s throat writhed, trying to breathe, but poisonous powder poured in, killing it faster than Fang Shu expected.
The blood spraying from its neck was absorbed clean by the moss on the ground, with moss spreading and growing, locking it in place.
But Fang Shu didn’t waste the demon’s corpse. He flicked the Tongue Sword, which drilled into its body, plundering all its Precious Blood.
This sudden scene stunned Mine Owner Cao, sprawled on the ground.
In a flash, he realized someone had been watching from the side.
Heart pounding, too late for regret, he hurriedly called out: “Well killed! Thank you, hero, for slaying this traitorous Bei Demon. I have money and grain to give…”
The fellow smoothly promised a pile of benefits, adding: “This mine, I’m willing to share with the hero; every month, open the mine and dig for the hero.”
Surprisingly, this Cao fellow first offered heavy rewards, then long-term mining income to tempt—enough to fool many.
But Fang Shu was here only for quick money, and he would soon attend the Immortal Sect selection; so-called steady income held no temptation for him.
“Oh? Tell me more?” Fang Shu said.
Mine Owner Cao was overjoyed.
But with a sizzle!
The Long Tongue Sword, sated with the Bei Demon’s essence blood, flicked again, easily piercing Mine Owner Cao’s throat too, sending an even thicker bloody scent that agitated the cave’s moss.
Thus, this demon and man were easily slain by Fang Shu, the “fisherman,” both dying in the treasure cave.
After dealing with the man and demon, even Fang Shu felt dazed at how smoothly it went—killing these two old immortal cultivators was like killing chickens or dogs.
Unknowingly, had he grown to such a level?
Quickly, Fang Shu snapped back.
Such people gathered and infighting over treasure were fragile as chickens or dogs, scattering at a single kill—not to mention he had Treasure Bugs, him in the dark, enemies in the light.
With the mine owner here dealt with, Fang Shu’s gaze shifted.
He looked around, his thoughts extending from this treasure cave to the entire mine.
