Chapter 340: Zhu Erniang's Background

People built bonfires and roasted meat, and the Ganar tribe's territory was bustling with activity once again.

Just then, Dong Rui emerged from the Demon's Den, his hair a mess, and followed the sounds to sit by the fire, rubbing his hands together.

He was wearing his straw mask again, and his appearance didn't alarm anyone. However, Tu Zhongli still noticed the new person by the fire, frowned, and asked, "And who might this be?"

He Lingchuan thought to himself, *What are you getting so antsy about? This isn't your territory.* He replied, "He's the alchemist who got swept into the swamp with me. Madam Zhu wants him to concoct some medicines."

"Where are you two from?"

"The country of Yuan."

Tu Zhongli was surprised: "That far?"

One of his subordinates, sitting nearby, was devouring fish and meat as he chuckled, "I heard people in Yuan are starving. Is that true?"

He Lingchuan glanced at him. "Where did you hear that?"

"Oh, my relative lives in Xinzhou," he replied. "He said people are starving to death, and the royal court is desperately raising taxes, practically digging three feet deep for coppers. As a result, the Governor of Xinzhou rebelled."

He Lingchuan said coldly, "The Governor of Xinzhou's rebellion wasn't for such a simple reason."

"Oh?" Everyone grew interested. Tu Zhongli took a sip of wine. "Tell us about it."

"Where are you all from?"

"The country of Xing."

He Lingchuan calculated silently. Xing was a small country on a downstream branch of the Han River, its territory less than a tenth the size of Yuan. The crucial point was that it lay east of the Demon's Den Swamp, at least hundreds of miles from Yuan's border. He had heard the journey back was through treacherous mountains, making a return trip by the same route extremely difficult.

Tu Zhongli and the others urged him, so He Lingchuan picked out a few current affairs from Yuan to discuss.

For the people from Xing, this was first-hand information, sounding fresh and exciting. Tu Zhongli clicked his tongue, "Sounds like a great time to make a name for oneself."

As He Lingchuan observed, he noticed that these merchants were actually divided into two distinct factions. One faction, led by Tu Zhongli, ate and drank heartily, laughing and chatting freely. The other faction sat silently by the fire, barely eating, their eyes darting around as if afraid to make eye contact.

Manager Zhao was among the latter group.

Just then, a snack was offered: a handful of grubs, dug out of rotting wood by the hospitable spiders.

These plump, white grubs were all-natural, green food. Pop one in your mouth, bite down, and it burst into a pulp. They were exceptionally nutritious, a coveted boon for anyone surviving in the wilderness.

The grubs were still wiggling on the round leaves, a sign of their freshness. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had been living here for over half a month and were long accustomed to eating them, but Manager Zhao looked ashen and waved them away.

Tu Zhongli and his group, however, scooped them up and ate them, one after another, praising their taste.

He Lingchuan watched this scene, deep in thought.

Dong Rui sat by the fire, yawning repeatedly, and casually grabbed a few grubs. He Lingchuan leaned closer and asked him, "Any progress?"

"No progress on that front, but I did find Madam Zhu's toxins to be quite useful..." Dong Rui lowered his voice. "Are these bandits working with Madam Zhu?"

He Lingchuan's gaze shifted. "You can tell they're bandits?"

"I've dealt with at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, bandits and ruffians in my life," Dong Rui replied. "These people just have a certain smell; I can tell immediately."

Right, this fellow's background was unusual. Besides being a research fanatic, he was also a long-time fugitive who had interacted with countless unsavory characters.

At this moment, Manager Zhao stood up, clutching his stomach, needing to relieve himself deep in the bushes. Tonight's food—some burnt, some raw, some half-cooked—was not sitting well with his stomach.

He Lingchuan said, "Let me go verify." With that, he patted his backside, stood up, and followed.

Manager Zhao had just found a spot, dark and by the water, and was about to unfasten his trousers and squat down, when he heard He Lingchuan from behind say, "This isn't good. There are many crocodiles by the water. Be careful not to lose half your backside."

Manager Zhao was startled, uttered a couple of "Ohs," and moved to a different spot.

He saw He Lingchuan still following him and couldn't help but ask, "Mr. He, is something wrong?"

Before He Lingchuan could reply, Tu Zhongli's subordinate had already come over and asked, "What are you two doing?"

"Taking a dump," He Lingchuan quickly replied. "There's another spot here, want it?"

"You're going to relieve yourselves together? Aren't you afraid of the smell?"

He Lingchuan pointed next to him. "There's a nest of fire ants there. Do you dare to squat down?"

The man quickly moved away.

He Lingchuan went to wander around elsewhere for a bit, then returned to look at the large carts.

Lit by numerous fluorescent spores, the entire clearing was as bright as day. The spiders were repeatedly bringing items out of the Demon's Den and loading them onto the large carts.

The caravan delivered salted clay and sundry goods here. On the return trip, they would, of course, be fully loaded with specialties from the Demon's Den Swamp to sell at a high price.

No journey was ever wasted.

He Lingchuan was dazzled by the array of specialties the Cave Spiders were bringing out.

First, the bolts of spider silk were a popular hard currency outside.

The Cave Spider demons produced three or four types of silk. The most common had astonishing stickiness, making it infinitely better than ordinary nets for traps or fishing. Higher-grade silk had less stickiness but excellent elasticity and toughness, making it lightweight, durable, and impervious to water and fire for crafting gloves and soft armor.

Naturally, the scarcest, most advanced silk could be used to refine magical artifacts. Madam Zhu's hand-woven cloud brocade, in particular, was so strong that even powerful fire bombs couldn't tear it apart; He Lingchuan had tested it himself.

The spiders also brought out various dried herbs and insects. Swamps untouched by humans were natural treasure troves. The medicinal herbs were aged and potent. Even dried aphid-cow eggshells served as a medicinal ingredient; when boiled, they could help new mothers produce milk.

The fungus mats in the Demon's Den also hosted various fungi. Among them, the Rainbow Mushroom had always been a priority acquisition for Tu Zhongli's uncle.

This mushroom had a mild toxicity. A few bites would make a person feel ethereal, often inducing various hallucinations, causing one to see things, both real and imagined.

Most importantly, it had no other side effects and was not addictive. At worst, eating a large pot of it might cause diarrhea or a slight headache the next day, like a hangover.

Needless to say, such an item was very popular outside; both humans and demons were willing to pay to enjoy it.

He Lingchuan hadn't realized that even fluorescent spores could be sold.

These plump, spherical spores looked only slightly smaller than steamed buns. But after dehydration, their volume would shrink to one-third of their original size, and they would stop glowing, making them convenient for transport.

When soaked in water, they would swell back up, and even detached from the fungus mats, they could continue to glow for about four months.

This was far better than candles or oil lamps. And as a stable, cool white light, it was an excellent source of continuous illumination at night.

People would surely love them; it just depended on how the caravan priced them back home.

In less than an hour, all forty large carts were fully loaded.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan understood: Madam Zhu's wealth in the Demon's Den Swamp was truly unparalleled!

Her diligent management made all the other wild native demons in the swamp look like paupers, no wonder they were envious. It was like being the poorest person in a village, barely making ends meet, while the rich kid next door feasted on fish and meat every day, their oily aroma drifting into your home. Wouldn't that make you have other ideas?

He Lingchuan didn't need to do the math to know Tu Zhongli was making a fortune.

Of course, that was assuming he truly was a merchant.

Dong Rui walked over from behind. He clicked his tongue. "Trading clay for specialties—this caravan really knows how to do business."

He Lingchuan chuckled, "A caravan? Hardly. I've already determined this fellow is a bandit. The caravan owner, Tu Zhongli's 'uncle,' has likely met with misfortune."

As the nearby spiders moved away, Dong Rui lowered his voice. "What's the plan? Which side do you want to help?"

Bandits impersonating merchants entering the swamp to continue trading with the Cave Spiders just to earn some money from goods? Even a dimwit would know that's impossible.

Once the deadline arrived and he couldn't produce the potion Madam Zhu wanted, it would likely be a dead end for him. In the past few days, his own research had progressed, and Dong Rui's mind had cleared, prompting him to start planning for the future.

He Lingchuan smiled. "What about you?"

"These bandits might have some token that allows them to leave the swamp."

"You need to think about why they came in," He Lingchuan said. "Do they want to exploit a powerful demon like Madam Zhu?"

This was still Cave Spider territory; taking advantage of Madam Zhu wouldn't be easy. Furthermore, they had just spoken with others and knew the Demon's Den Swamp had a bad reputation outside, almost like a dragon's pool or tiger's lair. Few who entered had ever left, earning it the name "Demon's Lair."

These bandits dared to come in and scheme against the local power; they couldn't possibly be insane, could they?

"They must have a plan already."

The two had barely exchanged a few words when Tu Zhongli's subordinate left the bonfire and walked towards them. He Lingchuan had heard Tu Zhongli call him "Yellow Hair" earlier, likely because his hair was thin and yellowish.

Yellow Hair stood beside them. "Boss sent me to ask if you want to leave the swamp with us."

They were throwing out bait to recruit allies right away.

Dong Rui replied, "Yes."

"Then stay put by the fire, keep quiet, and don't cause trouble." Tu Zhongli had also heard that He Lingchuan was intentionally approaching Manager Zhao.

Their original plan hadn't accounted for two living people suddenly appearing in the Cave Spiders' lair, and neither of them looked simple-minded.

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

He Lingchuan asked, "When can we leave then?"

"Soon. Uh, probably tomorrow morning." Yellow Hair pointed towards the bonfire. "Go sit down quickly."

He Lingchuan's gaze swept over him. Suddenly, he pointed to the bamboo tube at Yellow Hair's waist and said, "This kind of blowgun... I think I've seen it somewhere before."

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

That's right, some of the floating corpses that had drifted into the swamp a few days ago had this type of blowgun attached to them.

Yellow Hair's expression changed.

At this moment, a spider guard rushed over and said to Dong Rui, "You've been out too long! The Old Ancestor wants you back in the lair to work!"

Clearly, Madam Zhu was worried that these cunning humans gathering together might give Dong Rui an opportunity.

As for He Lingchuan, a mere idle eater, it didn't much care.