Chapter 474: Waiting for a Rabbit by the Tree Stump

With Xu Dayou taking the lead, they quickly found the herb warehouse He Lingchuan was looking for.

The warehouse had three main sections, with four kinds of herbs in total. Self-heal herbs were among those four, and they took up an entire room all on their own.

He Lingchuan asked, “Does Luo Depot have self-heal herbs stored anywhere else?”

“Yes, but those are scattered across seven or eight small storerooms, mixed in with other herbs. We checked inventory, but those places have at most about 240 kilograms, some as little as 24 kilograms, and nothing’s categorized,” the warehouse manager replied. He then pointed behind him at the warehouse room and continued, “But this one has already been sorted and packed: a total of 10,380 kilograms. It’s scheduled to ship to seven destinations within three days.”

“This is the one.” He Lingchuan went in personally, walked the space, confirmed the herbs were all there, and only then let out a long breath.

All that running around since last night had not been for nothing. At last, he had managed to seize the initiative for once.

“Does this warehouse always store self-heal herbs?”

“Yes. The warehouses in the town center have the most complete security, so they store the most valuable medicinal materials. These on the outskirts have always held cheap stuff like self-heal herbs, ephedra, that kind of thing.”

No one bothered stealing herbs that were not worth much.

General Ling still looked uneasy. “Could Wan Song just raid a few herb shops or apothecaries, snatch some self-heal herbs to get by, and call it a day?”

He Lingchuan looked at it. “Why do you think Mr. Mai and Wan Song chose Zhitian Township as their base?”

General Ling thought for a moment. “Because it’s easy to get herbs here?”

“If that really is a reason, then the monster puppet’s consumption of self-heal herbs can’t be small.”

If it only needed a handful here and there, they could just buy the supply from any apothecary. There’d be no need to settle in Zhitian Township. They must have chosen Zhitian Township because it allows for long-term, bulk purchasing without drawing suspicion.

Before He Lingchuan could continue, Jiao Yu cut in smoothly, “Mr. Mai has been exposed. They can’t stay in Zhitian Township anymore. They need to withdraw quickly. If you were Wan Song, and the aberrant creature under you can’t live without self-heal herbs, what would you do?”

General Ling blurted out without thinking. “Pull one big job, then disappear.”

If you were going to rob anyway, why rob small when you could rob big?

He Lingchuan patted one of the sacks beside him. “There are over 10,000 kilograms of self-heal herbs here. That should feed it for a while, at least long enough to find a new supply line.”

General Ling asked, “But would he even know to come here?”

“Wan Song might not, but Mr. Mai certainly would,” He Lingchuan said calmly. “Mr. Mai is meticulous. He likely planned his escape routes long ago. Luo Depot always has self-heal herbs moving through it. That makes this place their backup supply warehouse.”

In truth, an absurd idea had been nagging at He Lingchuan the whole time. However, it was something he had not mentioned to anyone, human or monster alike, and that was because he still needed proof.

“So what do we do now?”

“Set the stage, then wait by the stump.” He Lingchuan turned to Xu Dayou. “I heard the grass jelly here is amazing.”

“It absolutely is!” Xu Dayou laughed. “Every time I come to Luo Depot on duty, I have to drink a bowl! Once when I get here and once before I leave, at the very least!”

It was currently the middle of summer. The heat was so thick that a little movement left you sweating. True energy and origin energy could help temper the worst of it, but on a blazing day like this, a cold treat still hit just right.

So under Xu Dayou’s guidance, they found a dessert soup shop nearby.

The place had been open for over sixty years, and the craft had been passed down to a fourth generation. The grass jelly He Lingchuan ordered was made from boiling a bundle of the black grass jelly plant or mesona[1] into a thick extract, then soaking it overnight in cold well water until it sets into a firm jelly.

When a customer wanted it, they poured over osmanthus honey syrup and added a few pale pink glutinous rice balls. It slid into the mouth half-sweet, half-bitter. It cooled the throat, soothed the chest, and even tamped down that impatient restlessness simmering in the heart.

Best of all, it was cheap.

He Lingchuan downed two huge bowls, yet paid only four copper coins.

In Yuan, the osmanthus honey alone would have cost more than that.

Sugary drinks could be sold at a premium anywhere, except in Beijia, where even ordinary commoners used honey and syrup freely as everyday flavorings.

Here, variety was abundant, and prices were friendly.

That was why, whether in the Kingdom of Baoshu or the State of Chi Yan, sweets shops lined the streets, many of them becoming old, famous institutions. For example, the grass jelly He Lingchuan was eating now: the shop’s “immortals’ grass” formula was a proprietary secret. They claimed it used thirteen different herbs, and even the honey itself was blended from two kinds.

To live in a place where sweetness was so accessible, this kind of happiness was almost unheard of throughout the world.

The constables sat down to rest as well, ordering sweet drinks all around. One of them was even a black-bodied, white-striped skunk. It did not want grass jelly, only two bowls of honey water.

Of course, government work was not done by humans alone.

Summer days stayed bright longer, but now several thick clouds rolled in from the horizon, forcefully pushing the blazing sun aside and drawing down a curtain of darkness.

Lightning flashed through the clouds.

It seemed that a storm was coming.

He Lingchuan had been waiting for exactly this. He stood at once. “Let’s go back. It’s starting soon.”

* * *

Night brought wind and rain, grand and violent, drenching the world until heaven and earth seemed to lose all light.

The entirety of Luo Depot was blanketed by the constant pattering of rain, and not a single person walked the roads.

Dried herbs feared water more than anything, so even the busiest warehouses had no choice but to halt operations.

He Lingchuan’s people were distributed evenly among the nearby warehouses of various sizes. He and Jiao Yu, along with four or five others, took position at the main warehouse storing self-heal herbs.

This warehouse covered about 300 square meters, built in a neat square. Its beams were especially tall, set about 6.7 meters off the ground. The roughly 10,000 kilograms of self-heal herbs were stacked in orderly piles, taking up only half the space.

Oh, and in the corners stood several black jars.

He Lingchuan and Jiao Yu took to the beams, lying in wait above.

It had already been six hours since they returned from the grass jelly shop.

It was nearing midnight. The warehouse remained dead silent. Nothing seemed out of place.

He Lingchuan peered through the high ventilation window. Outside, he could not see a single human silhouette.

Fortunately, Jiao Yu was a born ambusher, a predator accustomed to patience. It did not complain once.

Then, suddenly, a clatter sounded from below.

He Lingchuan’s nerves snapped tight.

But he quickly realized it was only a small twig, blown loose by the wind, dropping to the floor.

Lightning ripped across the sky again and again, turning the fields briefly bright as day.

He Lingchuan abruptly reached out, patted the tiger’s back, and pointed urgently out the window. “Look!”

Jiao Yu whipped its head around, and all the fur on its body instantly bristled.

Outside the opposite window, something enormous had appeared. It was black and indistinct in the rain, and its outline was impossible to see clearly, but it was at least as tall as the warehouse itself.

If not for the lightning briefly illuminating the storm-dark sky, no one would have noticed it at all.

Then the window went dark again.

“Move!”

Reality never really played out as planned. He Lingchuan had assumed the aberrant creature would surface from beneath the warehouse floor.

Instead, it had appeared outside the warehouse.

The warehouse was spacious, but that thing was absurdly huge. There was no way it could squeeze inside.

Luckily, He Lingchuan had a backup plan. He spun around and darted out through the opposite small window.

Jiao Yu followed close behind.

For the constables and monsters stationed around the other herb warehouses, the rainy night had been long and dull.

Xu Dayou yawned for the tenth time, wiping away the tears that had pooled at the corners of his eyes. Beside him, General Ling remained intensely focused, staring at the herb warehouse without blinking.

These monsters’ stamina really is something else. Ordinary humans can’t even begin to compare.

The view outside was monotonous. There was only endless rain and unmoving dark shapes.

Eh?

Something about the warehouse across the way felt wrong. As if a massive shadow had appeared behind it.

But lightning flashed and vanished in an instant, and the world plunged back into darkness.

What was that?

Xu Dayou thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed them hard. When the next bolt of lightning split the sky, the warehouse still stood there, unchanged.

The huge shadow was gone.

So it really had been a hallucination?

But then Jiao Yu suddenly burst from behind the warehouse, releasing a long, piercing roar. “Loose arrows at the warehouse!”

The tiger’s roar cut through the rain like a thunderclap exploding right beside everyone’s ears.

Warehouse doors all around flew open. People rushed out with bows and crossbows, raising them and loosing arrows!

Each arrow had a long rope tied to its shaft.

Even though they had not seen any other suspicious figures, the moment Jiao Yu gave the order, they obeyed without hesitation.

Drillwind beasts also smashed open the warehouse doors they were hiding behind, shooting out like arrows themselves.

The distance of about thirty-three meters was but a mere two steps for them.

They lowered their heads, like bulls goring a man, and drove their spiraled horns straight into the outer wall of the herb warehouse!

Almost at the same time, the volley of arrows arrived, striking the warehouse as well.

It was such a huge target that even He Lingchuan—if he were still a beginner at archery like he had been months ago—could not possibly have missed.

Then something bizarre happened.

The arrows struck and slid off, not a single one embedded into the wall.

Even the drillwind beasts’ horns failed to punch through. They only carved deep grooves and produced three clear clonking sounds.

That sound alone said everything. The wall was not only extremely hard, but it was also hollow.

The two drillwind beast guards stumbled back a few steps, shaking their heads, dazed by the recoil.

Only General Ling’s horn managed to sink in about half a finger’s depth, and even then, it seemed not to have pierced flesh. That one impact could have sent an elephant flying, yet the “warehouse” did not budge at all.

General Ling had to wrench its horn free, then shook its head again.

Even it felt a little dizzy.

Now everyone could see the problem.

The warehouse was supposed to be made of wood, so how could it be this solid?

Even if warehouses were normally reinforced with talisman arrays, those were meant to resist water, fire, and pests. They were not supposed to have anything to do with sheer hardness.

Worst of all, after absorbing that wave of attacks, the warehouse began to sink, and fast.

Yes, it was sinking into the ground.

If they did nothing, in three to five breaths, it would vanish completely underground.

This thing can run? And that quickly?

Fortunately, when General Ling had charged in to ram it, it had also been roaring at the top of its lungs, “Activate the array! Damn it, activate the array now!”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The moment those words left its mouth, the official token on Jiao Yu’s neck began to glow.

Centered on the self-heal herb warehouse, seven points on the ground within roughly sixty-seven meters lit up with a faint yellow glow. Those were the array talismans buried beneath the earth, activating in sequence.

A constable stood at each array talisman point, blade in hand, guarding it.

The ground did not appear to change; there was still mud, still puddles, and still footprints filling with rainwater as people ran. However, the warehouse’s sinking stopped abruptly.

This was one of the formations Beijia used widely in war: Escape Spell Prohibition.

It was commonly deployed in siege defense and positional warfare, blocking enemy earth-escape and water-escape spells, preventing opponents from slipping into one’s territory to sabotage from below. It was a brutally practical method.

After all, monsters’ talents and techniques came in endless, strange varieties.

1. Fun Fact: Yes, the herb used to make grass jelly is called black grass jelly or Chinese mesona, scientific name Platostoma palustre. Also, the literal translation of Chinese mesona (仙草) is immortal grass. ☜