novelraw Chapter 61: The Plan
Chapter 61: The Plan
Shen Shuibi lingered in a forest clearing.
"Doo-doo-doo~, lu-lu-lu~." She hummed an unknown tune, tidying the furs and beast bones in her back basket while simultaneously absorbing the Qi of Grand Yin.
It was probably like snacking to her.
The moon, which is Grand Yin, naturally emits the Qi of Grand Yin when it hangs high in the sky, spreading it across the firmament and bestowing it upon the world.
In the cultivation of demon-kind, Grand Yin is a crucial element; they almost all need to absorb the Qi of Grand Yin for their practice.
But for Shen Shuibi, this was merely a snack.
She did not cultivate the methods of the demonic path, but rather orthodox techniques. Luofu Mountain is one of the Ten Great Grotto-Heavens of the Daoist Gate. Though she was a demon, she was also a naturally born extraordinary creature, so even the most demon-hating exorcists would not harm her.
Rather than a demonic beast, creatures like her were generally called Spirit Beasts or Immortal Beasts, regarded as auspicious omens.
Furthermore, she possessed an Immaculate Body, which remained untouched by dust, impervious to heat and cold, immune to all poisons, and required no sustenance, subsisting on wind, dew, and the natural Qi of heaven and earth.
Though a rabbit, she was no ordinary rabbit."Hmm, he should be back soon, right? We should be able to depart today, perhaps for Yixian?" Shen Shuibi mused while arranging her belongings.
At this point, seventeen days had passed since Li Qi fell into a coma.
During these seventeen days, Shen Shuibi watched Li Qi diligently practice every day, and at the same time, she awaited the old horse's recovery from its injuries.
After the malevolent energy was purged, with the help of the Great Forest Wood Qi, the old horse's recovery was also swift.
A few days prior, its mobility was completely unimpaired, but Li Qi insisted on waiting until it was fully healed before leaving.
According to Li Qi, "sharpening the axe does not delay chopping wood." Once everything was complete, they would follow the main road to Yixian, replenish their dry rations and luggage, and then prepare to ride the horse, journeying straight towards Lady Luofu.
With the old horse traveling eight hundred li a day, even a journey of ten thousand li would only take a little over ten days.
Ten thousand li! That's already outside the Great Lu Kingdom. At most, a month or two of travel, and she's sure to find her Lady!
This was much faster than running on two legs.
Upon this thought, Shen Shuibi became gleeful, unable to resist humming to herself.
She would soon see the Lady!
...
Riding the old horse and carrying a goat on his back, Li Qi returned to his temporary small camp.
Shen Shuibi was still the same, almost unchanged; she was ethereal and graceful when silent, but utterly foolish when she spoke, though occasionally she could utter profound words, possessing a certain air of inherent elegance stemming from a mind steeped in poetry and prose.
It was quite contradictory.
Li Qi tossed the goat onto the ground, greeted Shen Shuibi, and then began to skin and butcher it.
The rice cakes had long been eaten. These past few days, Li Qi had been consuming meat, hunting daily with the old horse's help, or fishing if he couldn't hunt.
He hadn't dared to do so before because his martial prowess was lacking, and he wasn't fast. If he strayed from the main road and encountered danger, he wouldn't be able to escape.
One should not assume that because Li Qi possessed the Carp Flowing Intent, catching and fishing were simple.
There was more than just fish in the water.
If one were to dive in and encounter a Water Monkey staring back, then one could only wait for death.
Li Qi, who treasured his life, would never take even the slightest risk before being confident. Even when seeking water sources, he would never stray more than one li from the main road.
However, since he had mastered the Carp Flowing Intent and the old horse's injuries had healed, his courage had noticeably increased. He dared to venture deeper, even actively hunting and fishing.
After all, even if he encountered danger, if he couldn't win, couldn't he at least run? How many wild beasts could outrun the old horse? It was a Dragon Steed!
Besides this factor, there was another reason: his dry rations were depleted.
If he didn't hunt, he would starve.
However, the benefit was that since he began eating meat and fish, the progress of his Carp Flowing Intent had advanced by leaps and bounds.
The martial path truly lived up to its reputation: willpower is paramount, followed by resources.
Those who ate meat daily progressed much faster than others.
After these past few days, Li Qi had also accumulated some beast hides and bones. The meat was gone, but the hides and bones could still be sold for some money.
He had originally planned to gather some wild mountain produce to sell as well, but while he had gathered edible fungi like wood ears, he didn't know how to preserve them.
He tried drying them into dried wood ears and the like.
But they quickly rotted.
Without the skill, he decided to give up; he would just gather some for himself to eat daily to vary his diet.
As for mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, he didn't dare to gather them.
He couldn't identify them; what if he ate a poisonous one and died? The Baiyue region, with its Ten Thousand Great Mountains, was rich in mountain delicacies like mushrooms, but there were tens of thousands of varieties. Unless one was an old mountain dweller, an ordinary person gathering them to eat would surely die.
Li Qi certainly didn't want to see little people dancing before his eyes after a meal.
After skinning and butchering, Li Qi rinsed the offal in the river. After about ten minutes, the peculiar smell was gone. As for the meat, he could begin cooking it in the pot immediately.
Fortunately, he had plenty of salt and other mountain delicacies for seasoning, so it wouldn't be too unappetizing.
A portion was boiled in the iron pot, and another was skewered on branches and roasted. It would be ready to eat shortly.
One goat, after being deboned and bled, yielded about sixty to seventy catties of meat, enough for Li Qi for two days.
Since he began cultivating the martial path, his appetite had doubled; there was no helping it.
The old horse also received a piece of meat. Although horses were herbivores, they occasionally ate meat to supplement protein. Li Qi knew that some important figures would feed their horses bird eggs and the like; as long as it wasn't too much, there would be no problem, and it could even increase their nutrition.
The old horse understood this, ate a piece of meat, and then galloped off to forage for itself.
In the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, there was grass everywhere, so there was no worry about food.
Though it was old, it was still full of vigor after its injuries healed!
While Li Qi busied himself with the food, Shen Shuibi approached him, asking happily, "Li Qi, are we leaving after tonight?"
"Yes, as we planned before, we'll first go to Yixian to sell these furs, bones, and fresh mountain produce. Then we'll buy some dry rations and travel supplies, get new clothes, and then we can gallop through the lands and, incidentally, find Lady Luofu," Li Qi said with a smile.
"Finding the Lady is not incidental!" Shen Shuibi angrily waved her fists.
Although she was usually gentle, even somewhat timid, when it came to Lady Luofu, she was never ambiguous.
It was quite normal; Li Qi could understand.
To avoid exposing Lady Luofu, she had directly crippled her own cultivation.
For a Fifth-Rank expert to be willing to go to such lengths showed the depth of her affection.
"Just a joke, just a joke." Li Qi looked up, roasting the meat without speaking further.
The camp fell silent.
Was he joking?
Actually, he wasn't; he was probing.
Li Qi was always a person who looked ten steps ahead.
He was already contemplating what would happen after finding Lady Luofu.
After finding her... Shen Shuibi would surely leave him and go with Lady Luofu.
What would he do then?
...