nyslfriends Chapter 134 Treasure-Hunting Rat
Chapter 134 Treasure-Hunting Rat
soon.
Pei Buqi's squad galloped forward on horseback for about two hours.
The horses were given water to drink a few times during the intermission.
At this point, there were no other squads to be seen on either side, and the surrounding scenery gradually became more vibrant, with more greenery, as if they had entered an oasis and were surrounded by sparse bushes and forests.
Everyone became more vigilant.
The Gobi Desert may be desolate, but it is safe. After all, it stretches as far as the eye can see, and any dangers can be spotted in advance.
The surrounding scenery is beautiful, but it obstructs the view, making it less safe.
"Wait, my horse needs a rest..." Ji Jinliang called out again. His horse was sweating profusely and gradually fell behind the others.
Although he looks a bit sleazy, he is a true master martial artist. His family runs a security escort business and is considered an appendage of a certain aristocratic family; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to enter this circle.
Ji Jinliang could manage a half-hour journey, but the horse he rode was the best in the escort agency, though not outstanding. It could handle short sprints, but it showed signs of fatigue on long journeys.
Zhu Hecheng frowned. He was a man of somewhat sharp tongues, and said coldly.
"You've always been good at calculating, weighing and measuring."
"Then calculate how you're going to compensate us for the time we wasted waiting for you."
"You should know that exploring one more mile may yield a very different harvest, while missing one mile may result in returning empty-handed."
"How do you want this score settled?"
As he weighed the items, he shrank back, his beard trembling as he tried to explain.
"Then why didn't you say that walking just one more mile might lead to danger and leave no trace of your remains?"
Enraged, Zhu Hecheng raised his spear and smashed it down on Zhu's head.
"I'll teach you to say unlucky things!"
Yang Silang and the others did not stop them.
The higher one's cultivation level, the more one believes in the concept of luck; calculating weight and taels is a major taboo for everyone.
Ji Jinliang knew he had offended everyone with his slip of the tongue, so he didn't dare to fight back. He nimbly dodged on his horse, and the black rat on his shoulder trembled as it clung to its master's hair.
He took two hard blows to the back, and he winced in pain.
Fortunately, Zhu Hecheng did not use the gun's blade, but only held the gun upside down and hit the man, so he was hurt but not seriously injured.
A clang rang out.
Pei Buqi raised his serrated knife to block Zhu Hecheng's spear.
"Alright... put your gun away!" Pei Buqi said seriously, "Brother Ji, you should be careful with your words in the future."
"Furthermore, everyone ventures into the secret realm seeking nothing more than rare and precious treasures."
"Of the five-day itinerary, only two and a half days were actually spent on actual business, and now half a day has passed."
"Because of you, we've fallen far behind the other teams. How much of a difference will that be after two and a half days?"
"You should ride a good horse..."
Bai Lang suddenly spoke up from the side.
"By weight, your horse isn't even as fast as a donkey..."
A look of shame flashed across Ji Jinliang's face.
After discussing with everyone, Pei Buqi let Ji Jinliang decide for himself. If he went alone, he could do as he pleased; if he went with the group, they could only ride together. Ji Jinliang would be a mobile accessory, taking turns riding with others, and his horse would be a spare horse, used to carry everyone's harvest.
This way, everyone's speed won't be too slow.
Even if danger arises, there will still be one more Grand Martial Master in combat.
It's much safer to weigh things by weight.
However, there is a price to pay for weighing and measuring.
The group agreed to divide the spoils equally, but each person could only receive 70% based on weight, while the remaining 30% would be divided among the group as riding silver.
With a heavy heart, he could only agree to the weight and tael calculation.
The next step is to decide who to ride with first.
Zhu Hecheng had a stern face; he had just beaten Ji Jinliang, so of course he disagreed. Jin Xiangyu turned her head as if admiring the scenery outside. If Ji Jinliang were a handsome man, riding with him wouldn't be a problem, but his looks were too poor.
Zhuang Sheng frowned. He was strong and heavy, so he wouldn't be the first to be weighed; Bai Lang was thin, but he felt uncomfortable looking at the rat being weighed.
Seeing that no one reacted, Pei Buqi had no choice but to set an example by taking the lead himself.
"Brother Ji..." Yang Silang suddenly spoke up, "If you don't mind riding a donkey, we can team up."
Ji Jin was overjoyed and thanked Brother Yang profusely. He then leaped up, his movements as nimble as a large monkey.
With an extra seventy or eighty pounds of weight on its back, Daqing sensed the extra person and was about to throw itself off. Yang Silang grabbed its neck tightly, and it finally calmed down.
The group set off smoothly, and indeed, this time they were much faster.
Without its master to hold it back, the horse that was weighing the horses ran much more happily and followed at the back of the caravan.
"Brother Ji," Yang Silang asked with a smile, "why did your father give you this name?"
He chuckled awkwardly as he weighed the goods.
"Sigh... I weighed less than a pound when I was born. The doctor said I wouldn't live long, so my father gave me this name to add some weight."
The two chatted and laughed for a while, and gradually became acquainted.
Yang Silang changed the subject.
"Brother Ji, the light gold color around your eyes and your beard seems to have a rat-like brow. Is there any significance to that?"
His invitation to Ji Jinliang to ride together was certainly not out of kindness.
Instead, the "Record of Encounters with Demons" describes a type of demon called the Treasure-Seeking Rat, which is naturally adept at discerning the aura of treasures, has golden eyes and a golden beard, and feeds on gold and silver treasures.
The rat that measures weights and measures is somewhat similar, but it doesn't yet have any obvious demonic aura.
It might be a fledgling demon, or it might only have a small amount of bloodline.
The two were close at this moment. As Yang Silang was talking, his sixth sense, which was activated in his Niwan Palace, was indeed detected on the rat. It was not strong, but it was definitely there.
Without a doubt, this is a fledgling demon, but with enormous potential. It is one of only two true demons among the group of people. The horses ridden by the others have demon blood, so they can only be considered demon beasts.
Ji Jinliang gave an awkward smile and simply said that these rats were domesticated and nothing special.
He wanted to conceal his talents, and Yang Silang understood, after all, there were bound to be people like Pei Shihou.
Moreover, the treasure-hunting rat's talent is quite enviable. Yang Silang thought to himself that if he carried the rat with its weight on board, he might actually have a good harvest.
After traveling for half an hour, a patch of green grass appeared before them. The grass was long and arrow-shaped, like a bunch of arrows falling from the sky and landing on the ground. The grass covered half a hillside, interspersed with many flowers and green plants.
As everyone became more vigilant, a sudden realization dawned on them: the large expanse of greenery suggested the possibility of a valuable medicinal herb.
Suddenly, the rat on the counter stood up and squeaked twice.
Daqing was so excited that he sneezed twice, ran straight to the process, bent down and ate a piece in a few bites, even happier than if he had seen meat.
"Brother Yang... quickly stop your donkey..." Su Zhixiu, the daughter of a large merchant guild, was the most knowledgeable among them. "This is a top-quality exotic herb, arrow-shaped grass, a superior food for demonic beasts, which can promote their evolution..."
Yang Silang pointed to the arrow-shaped grass covering the hillside and laughed.
"Even if each of the seven of us carries a sack, can we fill this entire hillside with grass?"
Su Zhixiu slapped her forehead, realizing what had happened.
"Yes, let it eat if it wants, but be careful of its stomach. Most demonic beasts can't eat too much and can't handle the medicinal properties."
"It would be a waste of our resources to only pack arrow-shaped grass. A whole sack would be enough, as there must be other spiritual plants around it."
Pei Buqi made the arrangements immediately.
"I'll stand guard from this vantage point, ready to provide support at any time."
"You two work in pairs and search this hillside in sections."
"One person keeps watch, the other collects the evidence."
"Then gather all the spoils and divide them equally according to the rules. Of course, if it is a particularly valuable item, the person who found it can keep 50%. Does everyone agree?"
"Here are some bone whistles I bought in advance. They have a sharp, piercing sound that travels very far. Share them with everyone and blow them immediately if you encounter danger."
Everyone nodded, took the bone whistles, and put them around their necks. This is how teamwork works: some people keep watch, while others explore.
An equal share is also necessary, because no one can guarantee that they will make a discovery just because they are lucky.
In this way, equal distribution ensures that everyone will gain something, which is conducive to teamwork.
Of course, for particularly valuable items, the discoverer would keep 50% of the value without feeling that others were taking advantage of them, thus avoiding any sense of imbalance.
Having practiced martial arts, most of them had experience in team battles against external enemies, so they naturally had no objections to this.
Pei Buqi spurred his horse and galloped towards the mountaintop.
It was a gentle slope, and he quickly reached the top, jumped onto the saddle, stood up, and looked around warily with his knife in hand. A piece of red silk was tied to his long-handled serrated knife.
The group agreed that when the whistle blew, the direction the red ribbon pointed to indicated potential danger, and the others would immediately drop what they were doing and rush to provide support.
Zhu Hecheng and Su Zhixiu formed one team; Zhuang Sheng and Bai Lang formed another team; Yang Silang and Ji Jinliang formed a third team, dividing the sunny slope into three sections, each searching independently.
The group rode forward on horseback.
Ji Jinliang jumped off the donkey and rode back to his escort horse. The horse wouldn't get tired from the short distance, making the search much faster.
Big Green was also very cunning. It ate as it ran. Heaven knows how it could keep its neck twisted and its body twisted into a pretzel while still running steadily on all four hooves and carrying Yang Silang steadily.
He rode alongside him, weighing and measuring.
Yang Silang discovered a merit in this person. Perhaps it was because of his work as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), but this person was very knowledgeable and could recognize most treasures with the naked eye.
Not to mention there was a treasure-hunting rat squeaking nearby.
He would occasionally jump off the saddle, cheerfully unfurl his snakeskin bag, take out a hoe, and begin digging.
"Brother Yang, look! This is the Forget-Me-Not Grass, a key ingredient in Taoist elixirs for calming the mind and achieving tranquility."
"And here, over here, this is the Resurrection Leaf, commonly known as the 'Ginseng King.' We martial artists only need to hold one leaf in our mouths to keep ourselves alive when seriously injured!"
"Hmm... This stone is jet black, with what appears to be specks of starlight mixed in. It's a piece of Shattered Star Iron ore! Even a small piece is enough to transform ordinary swords into divine weapons!"
"Hiss... Brother Yang, don't come any closer. This seven-leaf flower looks bright, but it's actually highly poisonous. Look, not even grass grows around it. Let's stay away from it."
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the bag in Ji Jin Liang's hand was already more than half full.
Yang Silang saved himself the trouble of walking on a donkey; he only needed to keep watch with his iron spear. As for Daqing, he lowered his head and ate the arrow-shaped grass voraciously, even swallowing the seven-leaf flower when no one was looking.
Seeing that it hadn't shown any signs of poisoning after a while, Yang Silang finally breathed a sigh of relief. This donkey didn't seem to be afraid of poisonous creatures.
"Brother Yang..." Ji Jinliang looked back and found that the others were too far away to see them. He rubbed his hands and laughed, "Look, on this hillside, I picked these by riding my own horse; and without me, you probably wouldn't be able to tell which treasures you're looking for."
"Look, after everyone has divided the harvest, could you give me another ten percent?"
He still felt he had been taken advantage of, and the thought of having to give away 30% of his earnings as riding credits made his heart bleed.
Yang Silang laughed heartily, finally realizing that this man's reputation for being stingy was well-deserved.
"Brother Ji, why don't you go and talk to the others? If they agree, I have no objection."
Ji Jinliang was rebuffed, and he gave an embarrassed smile, feeling utterly humiliated. He became dejected, wanting to turn on everyone but afraid of being abandoned, so he could only sulk inwardly.
The big green dog, which was munching on arrow-shaped grass with its head down, suddenly raised its head and barked loudly.
It suddenly leaped up, raised its front hooves high, and stomped down!
Caught off guard, Yang Silang sat on the saddle and was lifted into the air, his legs... Open your eyes and look down.
Suddenly, a bulge appeared on the flat ground, and then a black scorpion the size of a fist emerged. The scorpion had a shiny black carapace all over its body, two pincers in its mouth, two long pincers in front of its body, and purple venom glands with bright, inch-long venomous stingers on its rear end.