Chapter 443 “Healing Porridge”
It was already around dawn by the time Ling Yue returned to the herdsman village, that’s long after Lan Caier and A’bone had returned from their hunt.
“Ling Yue, where did you and Jin Wu Monster go? When we got back we couldn’t find you anywhere.” The big girl quickly asks, worried about her younger sister’s condition.
Understanding this was partly her fault for not leaving a note behind, Ling Yue immediately went over her story of that night. As guilty as she was, she nevertheless didn’t forget to get back to business by calling everyone over to explain the plan of cooking up the captured preys. Of course, that’s after she immunizes them with her spirit smoke.
Naturally this would leave A’bone quite bitter in the heart to know the cruel fate of her “families” there. She’s been raised within the great jungle forest here, meaning she will forever hold a special place for the wild animals of this world in her heart. To so cruelly use them in such a fashion, it was akin to slicing off a piece of own flesh.
Nevertheless, after weighing the possibility of saving thousands of lives through this method, the wild girl had to relent with a nod. There’s just no other way, not in the near vicinity anyways.
………………………
While things were progressing smoothly on their end, some unwelcomed guests seems to have dropped in on them not long after. It was Hong Ming Yue and Luo Song, the pair only just returned to the village after leaving the Underground City. And to their surprise, the first scene they saw was Ling Yue directing the villagers to cook up a wok of porridge.
“It can’t be that you intend to treat the strange disease with only this porridge right? Quit dreaming! If my treasured gourd can’t do it then what can a wok of porridge do?” The man immediately starts ridiculing the girl upon sight.
Luo Song had always been the snobbish type, that’s why he still held a grudge against the lass after that shaming in the palace.
“I actually don’t find any problem with this. Even if it doesn’t completely cure the disease, it can still bring great benefit to the villagers by boosting their immune system and body strength.” Clearly trying to shield Ling Yue with his words, the Sixth Prince took the initiative to taste the first bowl of congee created by boiling rice and plenty of herbs and minced meat in there.
In response to this proactive approach, it’s only normal that the villagers wouldn’t hold back either. Lining up quickly, they too began taking their first sip of the porridge.
“Sir Luo and Princess Ming, would you two like a share too?” Prince Hou Qi kindly offers them despite the obvious first impression those two held.
But an offer was still an offer. Reaching out her hand for a bowl, it was Hong Ming Yue who settled the awkwardness here, thus forcing her partner too to take one.
“Gros- the taste is barely passable….” Initially the snobbish brat wanted to say how unpalatable it was, yet that word could never finish itself. The reasoning, it’s far better than whatever they had in the Three Life Valley!
Aromatic and gummy to the tongue, this was divine in how much fragrance the simple dish could muster. Forget about the villagers, even Luo Song and Hong Ming Yue was starting to feel refreshed after a night’s worth of activity from consuming their portion.
This is? Though they couldn’t quite figure out why but their senses are telling them there’s something special about the congee.
Che~ Such good stuff and its wasted on a pair of pigs…. Grumbling to herself, Ling Yue lamented the fact that she had to waste such good stuff on the ungrateful pair.
In truth, if not for the fact that they are about to head deep into the Northwestern Plains and might require these two extra “hands”, Ling Yue would never spare the enemies this pleasure of savoring her great creation from the Red Mist Sky.
Every item within the porridge had been personally harvested from her pocket dimension. The rice was from her personal wheat field, the water from the Rainbow Creek, and the herbs are specially picked from her herbs field. To say this was the ultimate congee porridge was no understatement. Well, the meat was from the nearby lands, but she can’t exactly start slaughtering her own animals inside the Red Mist Sky now can she?
Without any surprise or deviation from the script, all of the villagers were quickly reinvigorated with strength after their very first bowl. This also included the usually frail and weak individuals here, making them more resistant to the infection of the black fog.
“Sister Caier, Jin Wu Monster, we’ll have to bother you two to continue bringing in more of these animals from the nearby forests. Preferably bigger ones if you can. As for I, A’bone and Hou Qi (prince), we will first search the deeper parts of this region for the cause of this outbreak.” Once the infection in this village was partially alleviated, Ling Yue figured its time she began the next phase of her plan.
She knows, though they have three months to settle this matter at the order of the king, its still very tight in terms of timeframe.
Just like that, the party was quickly separated into two groups: one led by Lan Caier to hunt for more animals in the forest, while Ling Yue led the second group into the depths of the darkness using the village chief as their guide.
“Lady Ye, the darkness in this vicinity is the thickest. I’m sorry but I can’t go any further than this,” the village chief apologizes after spending hours leading them across the landscape.
As an ordinary person without an ounce of cultivation, this was far more than what most could’ve done under these conditions. As such, no one can blame him for anything.
“Don’t worry about us, please be careful on your way back.” Dismissing the kind sir, the group continues to push forward where the darkness grew even thicker.
According to Ling Yue’s memory, the area up ahead should be very close to the Black Valley already, which also raised her suspicion the more they walked.
Then before long, A’bone’s experience in the wild had once again come in handy: “Hey Boss, there are a lot of tracks left behind by high-leveled spirit beasts here, about a dozen or so ninth rank ones and thirty something eighth ranked ones. And look at the way they moved through this part, it’s so neat like someone was commanding them to go in a specific direction.”
Understanding the seriousness of that claim, the rest of the group were all casting their gaze over to the girl with doubt and worry in their eyes.
“It’s not possible to dive any further in. If you lot want to die then go ahead, don’t drag us in with you.” Cynical in his words after learning what danger awaited them, it was Luo Song who first objected to the idea of further investigating due to his own cowardice.
But before the group could continue any further with their bickering, the black fog up ahead had suddenly begun to move and rolled over to envelop them from head to toe. Though Hong Ming Yue and Luo Song had both partaken in their own resistant pills to fend off the matter, it’s clearly not enough because their clothes were soon covered in a layer of frost. Then as if that wasn’t enough, a surge of multiple energies waves had swooped over, striking the group from many angles.
“It’s the spirit beasts!” One of them exclaims, warning the group.