After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 342: Chapter 341: Second Madam Zhu’s Wealth

People roasted meat over bonfires. For the first time in a while, the territory of the Jiana Race showed signs of human life.

Just then, Dong Rui emerged from the Demon Nest. His hair was a mess as he followed the sounds and sat by the fire, rubbing his hands together.

He had his grass mask on, so his face didn’t frighten anyone. Still, Tuu Zhongli noticed the newcomer by the fire and frowned. ”And who might this be?”

’What’s he getting so worked up for? It’s not like this is his territory,’ Hee Lingchuan thought. He then said aloud, ”He’s the Pharmacist who was washed into the swamp with me. Second Madam Zhu wants him to concoct some medicines.”

”Where are you from?”

”The Yuan Kingdom.”

Tuu Zhongli was startled. ”That far?”

One of his men, sitting nearby, laughed while tearing into a piece of fish. ”I heard the people of the Yuan Kingdom can barely afford to eat. Is that true?”

Hee Lingchuan glanced at him sideways. ”Where did you hear that?”

”Ah, my relative lives in Xunzhou. He said people were starving to death, but the Royal Court kept raising taxes, desperate to squeeze out every last Copper Plate. The Xunzhou Governor had no choice but to rebel.”

Hee Lingchuan said coolly, ”The Xunzhou Governor’s rebellion isn’t for a reason as simple as that.”

”Oh?” This piqued everyone’s interest. Tuu Zhongli took a swig of wine. ”Tell us about it.”

”Where are you all from?”

”The Xing Kingdom.”

’The Xing Kingdom,’ Hee Lingchuan calculated silently. ’A small nation situated on a lower tributary of the Hanhe River, its territory isn’t even a tenth the size of the Yuan Kingdom’s. More importantly, it’s east of the Demon Nest Swamp, at least hundreds of miles from the Yuan Kingdom’s border.’

’I’ve heard the path is full of high mountains and steep ridges. It would be incredibly difficult for them to return the way they came.’

As Tuu Zhongli and his men urged him on, Hee Lingchuan selected a few current events from within the Yuan Kingdom to recount.

For the men from the Xing Kingdom, this was all firsthand news, fresh and exciting. Tuu Zhongli clicked his tongue. ”Sounds like a great time to make a name for oneself.”

As he spoke, Hee Lingchuan observed that these ”merchants” were clearly divided into two factions. One, led by Tuu Zhongli, ate and drank heartily, laughing and talking without restraint. The other sat silently by the fire, barely eating, their gazes shifting as if afraid to make eye contact.

Steward Zhao was among this latter group.

Just then, a snack was served: grubs dug out of rotten wood by the hospitable spiders.

These fat, white worms were an all-natural, organic food. You just tossed one into your mouth, crunched down, and it would burst with a squirt of juices. They were exceptionally nutritious, a godsend coveted by wilderness survivalists.

The grubs were still wriggling on a round leaf, a testament to their freshness. Hee Lingchuan and Dong Rui had been here for over half a month and were long used to eating them, but Steward Zhao’s face turned ashen at the sight, and he waved his hands in refusal.

Tuu Zhongli’s group, however, scooped them up and ate them one by one, even praising their taste.

Hee Lingchuan watched this scene, a thoughtful look on his face.

Dong Rui yawned repeatedly as he sat by the fire, grabbing a few grubs to eat. Hee Lingchuan leaned in and asked, ”Any progress?”

”No progress, but I did discover that the toxins from Second Madam Zhu’s body are quite useful...” Dong Rui lowered his voice. ”Are these bandits on the same side as Second Madam Zhu?”

Hee Lingchuan’s gaze shifted. ”You can tell they’re bandits?”

”In my life, I’ve dealt with at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, bandits and ruffians. These guys have a certain smell to them; you can tell right away.”

Right. This guy’s background was anything but ordinary. Besides being a research fanatic, he was also a long-term fugitive. There was no telling how many lowlifes he had dealt with.

At that moment, Steward Zhao clutched his stomach and got up, intending to relieve himself deep in the tall grass. Tonight’s food had been a mix of burnt, raw, and half-cooked, and his stomach couldn’t handle it.

Hee Lingchuan said, ”Let me go verify something.” Patting his rear, he stood up and followed.

Steward Zhao had just found a spot—dark and by the water’s edge. As he was about to unfasten his trousers and squat, he heard Hee Lingchuan call from behind him, ”That’s not a good spot. There are a lot of crocodiles by the water. Be careful you don’t get half your ass bitten off.”

Steward Zhao jumped in fright. Mumbling a ”Right, right,” he found another spot.

Seeing Hee Lingchuan still following him, he couldn’t help but ask, ”Mr. Hee, is there something you need?”

Before Hee Lingchuan could answer, one of Tuu Zhongli’s men came over. ”What are you two doing?”

”Taking a dump,” Hee Lingchuan answered quickly. ”There’s an empty spot right here. You want it?”

”You even take a dump together? Aren’t you worried about the smell?”

Hee Lingchuan pointed beside the man. ”There’s a fire ant nest over there. You dare to squat?”

The man quickly moved away.

Hee Lingchuan wandered off for a bit before going back to check on the large carts.

The clearing was lit up bright as day by a large number of fluorescent spores. The spiders were making trip after trip, moving things out of the Demon Nest and loading them onto the large carts.

The caravan delivered salted clay and miscellaneous goods here, so naturally, they had to be fully loaded with the special products of the Demon Nest Swamp for the return trip, to be sold for a high price.

An empty cart brings no profit.

Hee Lingchuan was dazzled by the variety of special products the Earth Cave Spiders brought out.

First, there were the bolt after bolt of Spider Silk, a popular hard currency in the outside world.

The Earth Cave Spider Demons produced three or four types of silk. The most common type was astonishingly sticky and far more effective for making traps or fishing nets than any ordinary net. The higher-grade silk was less sticky but had excellent elasticity and toughness, perfect for making gloves and Soft Armor that were both light and sturdy, and impervious to fire and water.

Of course, the rarest, highest-quality silk could be used to refine Magical Artifacts. In particular, the Cloud Brocade personally woven by Second Madam Zhu couldn’t be blasted open even by a powerful Fire Bomb—Hee Lingchuan had tested it himself.

The spiders also brought out all sorts of dried herbs and insects. A swamp untouched by humans was a natural Treasure Vault. The medicinal ingredients were aged and potent. Even the dried eggshells of the Aphid Bull were a medicinal ingredient, which, when brewed and consumed by women after childbirth, could promote lactation.

The Fungal Mat in the Demon Nest also grew various types of fungi. Among them was the Illusion Mushroom, which had always been a key purchase for Tuu Zhongli’s uncle.

This mushroom was mildly toxic. A few bites would send a person into a state of blissful euphoria, likely inducing all sorts of hallucinations and causing them to see things, both real and imagined.

Most importantly, it had no other side effects or addictive properties. At worst, eating a large pot of it would cause diarrhea, or maybe a groggy head the next day, like a hangover.

Needless to say, such a thing was very popular in the outside world. Both humans and the Demon Race were willing to pay for the experience.

Hee Lingchuan was surprised that even the fluorescent spores could be sold.

These round, plump spores were slightly smaller than a steamed bun, but when dehydrated, they shrank to a third of their original size and stopped glowing, making them very convenient to transport.

After being soaked in water, they would swell back to their original size and could continue to emit light for about four months even after being detached from the Fungal Mat.

This was much better than candles or oil lamps. As a stable source of cold, white light, it was a high-quality option for uninterrupted nighttime illumination.

People would definitely love it. The only question was how the caravan would price it upon their return.

In less than a double-hour, the forty large carts were packed to the brim.

Seeing this, Hee Lingchuan understood: Second Madam Zhu’s wealth in the Demon Nest Swamp was truly in a class of its own!

She ran her business so diligently that she made all the other native Demons in the swamp look like paupers. No wonder they were green with envy. It was like being the village pauper, never knowing where your next meal was coming from, while the rich kid next door feasted on delicacies every day, the greasy aroma wafting into your home. Wouldn’t you start getting ideas?

Hee Lingchuan didn’t need to do the math to know that Tuu Zhongli had struck it rich.

Assuming, of course, that he was really a merchant.

Dong Rui came up from behind, clicking his tongue. ”Trading clay for specialty goods. This caravan really knows how to do business.”

Hee Lingchuan smiled. ”What caravan?” He had already concluded that these men were bandits. The caravan’s owner, Tuu Zhongli’s ”uncle,” had likely already met with a grim fate.

Watching a nearby spider walk away, Dong Rui lowered his voice. ”What’s the plan? Which side are you going to help?”

Bandits posing as a caravan, entering the swamp to trade with the Earth Cave Spiders, just to earn a bit of money on goods? Even a complete idiot could figure out that wasn’t possible.

Once the deadline arrived, if he couldn’t produce the Potion Second Madam Zhu wanted, it was likely a dead end for him. But he’d made a breakthrough in his own research over the past few days, which had cleared Dong Rui’s head and made him start planning for the future.

Hee Lingchuan just smiled. ”What about you?”

”These bandits might have some token that lets them leave the swamp.”

”You need to think about why they came here in the first place,” Hee Lingchuan said. ”Do you think they just want to fleece a Great Demon like Second Madam Zhu?”

This was still the territory of the Earth Cave Spiders; taking advantage of Second Madam Zhu wouldn’t be that easy. Besides, from their earlier conversation, they knew the Demon Nest Swamp had a nasty reputation in the outside world, no less dangerous than a Dragon Pool or a tiger’s den. People who wandered in by mistake almost never made it out, earning it the name ”Demon Cave.”

For this gang of bandits to dare enter and scheme against the Local Bully, they couldn’t be completely out of their minds, could they?

”They must have already thought of a plan.”

The two hadn’t exchanged more than a few sentences when one of Tuu Zhongli’s men left the bonfire and walked toward them. Hee Lingchuan had heard Tuu Zhongli call him Huang Mao earlier, probably because his sparse hair was yellowish.

Huang Mao stood beside them. ”The boss sent me to ask if you want to leave the swamp with us.”

’Throwing out bait to get us to pick a side already?’

Dong Rui said, ”Of course we do.”

”Then stay by the fire obediently. Don’t make a sound and don’t cause any trouble.” Tuu Zhongli had also heard that Hee Lingchuan had intentionally approached Steward Zhao.

Their original plan hadn’t accounted for two living humans suddenly appearing in the Earth Cave Spiders’ lair, neither of whom looked particularly honest or simple.

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

Hee Lingchuan asked, ”So when can we leave?”

”Soon. Uh, probably tomorrow morning.” Huang Mao pointed toward the bonfire. ”Go sit down.”

Hee Lingchuan’s gaze swept over him, then he suddenly pointed to the bamboo tube at the man’s waist. ”That kind of blowgun... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

It was half an arm’s length, made of mottled bamboo, and tied with a small hemp cord.

That’s right. Some of the waterlogged corpses that had floated into the swamp a few days ago had been wearing blowgun tubes just like that.

The color drained from Huang Mao’s face.

At that moment, a Spider Guard rushed over and said to Dong Rui, ”You two have been out too long. The Matriarch summons you back to the nest to work!”

Apparently, Second Madam Zhu was also worried that if these cunning humans gathered together, they might give Dong Rui an opportunity.

As for Hee Lingchuan, the idle freeloader, she wasn’t too concerned.