Chapter 48

The situation ended with Yu Qing's concession, and the people who had been troubled by the situation breathed a sigh of relief. Tie Miaqing hurriedly had Sun Ping prepare spirit rice for Yu Qing, and of course, some other food to reward him.

When the food was ready, the sky was already faintly showing the first light of dawn.

Although the food was prepared for Yu Qing, it was impossible to let the others stand by and watch, so five bags of spirit rice were cooked.

A group of people gathered around the campfire to enjoy the meal. Yu Qing, holding his bowl, wolfed down his food while frequently urging the insect, "Insect, eat more, eat more. Look how thin you are. This is good stuff, you need to eat your fill. Brother Xu, you should eat more too."

Originally, there was no plan to prepare food for Xu Fei and the insect, but Yu Qing insisted on pulling them to eat, and Sun Ping and the others couldn't say anything.

A large pot of spirit rice was not enough to fill Yu Qing's stomach, and he didn't want Cheng Shanping and the others to eat too much. Since the food wasn't paid for by himself, he kept urging the master and servant to not be polite.

The insect nodded, a satisfied smile on his face, feeling deeply moved. He found that Master Shiheng was really nice and didn't treat him like a subordinate at all.

He now listened to Yu Qing very well. Yu Qing told him to eat freely, and after urging him a few times, the insect indeed followed his advice.

Xu Fei, on the other hand, was more "mature," somewhat sensitive to others' reactions, and restrained his usual big appetite. He ate a small bowl and put it down, knowing that spirit rice was expensive and fearing that it would upset the others. When Yu Qing urged him to eat more, he said he had already eaten a meal earlier and was full, showing a lot of grace.

After eating and drinking to their satisfaction, Yu Qing sat cross-legged on the spot to recover, and the group helped him guard.

There was no choice; the group now relied on him, and besides, he had spent the whole night using his powers to resist the smoke, which was indeed a significant drain.

The captured fire cricket seemed to have tired itself out and no longer struggled violently. It probably realized that it couldn't escape that way and only occasionally chirped, making a strange "didi" sound, loud and clear...

When the sun rose high, Yu Qing, who had regained his energy, finally finished his meditation.

He still had to take the exam and didn't want to waste too much time here. He also wanted to resolve the matter quickly and took the initiative to enter the cave again.

However, the wood left in the cave was not enough, so Yu Qing had them cut another tree and bring it in.

But this time, it didn't seem to go smoothly. A whole day passed with no response, and another night passed with no response.

The next morning, after burning all the cut wood, Yu Qing came out, covered in smoke. Tie Miaqing and the others greeted him, but their hopes were dashed when Yu Qing took out an empty iron can.

He explained that the fire cricket had not come out again.

Tie Miaqing comforted him a few words, but Yu Qing waved his hand, not accepting it, and asked, "Do fire crickets live in groups?"

Tie Miaqing hesitated, "I don't know. There are few records about fire crickets, just a few words, and there's no content about this."

Yu Qing looked around at the group, "Have you seen more than one in the places you've searched before?"

They shook their heads, and Tie Miaqing said, "No."

Yu Qing: "So, no one has seen fire crickets living in groups?"

The group roughly understood what he meant. Zhu Shangbiao asked, "Do you want to try a different place?"

Yu Qing: "We've only seen one here, and we've already caught one. We waited a whole day and didn't see a second one. There's no need to continue gambling on something unknown. We should use this time to travel and look in places where they have been seen."

His reasoning made sense, and no one objected. They immediately packed up and set off for another underground cave where they had previously found a fire cricket.

On the way, Cheng Shanping greeted Tie Miaqing near the "Linyuan Pavilion," "Madam, I accidentally spilled some salt earlier. If I don't have salt for the food later, it won't taste right. You go ahead, I'll go to the 'Linyuan Pavilion' to get some and catch up with you."

Tie Miaqing reminded him to be careful.

After about half an hour of navigating through the complex terrain, Cheng Shanping finally caught up with the group.

It took them half a day to find the entrance to the cave where they had previously seen a fire cricket.

Yu Qing didn't try anything new and followed the old method, starting by cutting down trees.

The miscellaneous tasks were done by Tie Miaqing's group, and Yu Qing didn't have to do them.

Everything was set up, and the group from Miaqing Hall retreated from the tunnel and waited at the entrance again for a long time...

The moon hung high, unusually bright.

A thin mist slowly descended, enveloping the earth. The undulating mountain ridges under the moon and mist resembled the black back of a sleeping dragon.

At the foot of a steep cliff, there were large piles of scattered rocks, broken stone sheep, and stone horses, as well as many large, abnormally sized, and broken stone statues. Inside the cliff wall, several giant skulls were embedded, petrified and seemingly imprisoned in the stone.

Occasionally, faint firelight flickered from within the giant skulls, casting a pale, eerie glow.

A group of people in black nightclothes sat cross-legged at the foot of the cliff, resting. Most of them had various tools and weapons nearby, such as shovels, picks, grappling hooks, and swords.

A middle-aged man, the leader of the group, stood on a stone statue, enjoying the moonlight. He had a short beard, and his sallow face was not noticeable in the night.

The night was quiet, but the insects chirped.

A tall, bearded man appeared and landed at the foot of the stone statue where the leader stood, bowing and saying, "Sir Cui, we intercepted a small demon outside. It claims to be from the 'Linyuan Pavilion' and was sent by an old friend of yours to see you."

Sir Cui, whose name was Cui You, was an officer of the "Jianyuan Hall" in Youjiao Port, and he was on the same mission as the group.

Hearing this, Cui You, standing on the stone statue, his eyes flickered, and he said in a deep voice, "Bring the person here immediately."

"Yes." The bearded man quickly left.

A short while later, he indeed brought a small, thin demon with a mustache, looking like a scholar.

After confirming Cui You's identity, the demon bowed, "I am Hu Tiandi from the 'Linyuan Pavilion,' and I have come to see Mr. Cui."

Cui You flashed to his side, bowed with a smile, giving the demon full respect, "Brother Hu, what did my friend say?"

Hu Tiandi shook his head and said, "He didn't say much. He said he had prepared the medicine you asked him to, and that your injury couldn't be delayed. He had important matters and couldn't come in person, but he knew I had some friends here who could find you, so he asked me to urgently deliver the medicine to you." He then took out a porcelain bottle from his chest and presented it.

A tall, bearded man named Wu Kuang, standing nearby, looked at Cui You in surprise, not knowing when he had been injured.

Cui You took the porcelain bottle, removed the stopper, and sniffed it. His eyes flickered strangely, and he smiled, "It's indeed good medicine." He put the medicine away and took out a silver ticket worth a thousand taels, presenting it, "Thank you, Brother Hu. This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope you won't refuse it."

The demon Hu Tiandi, who had already received some benefits for the long journey, didn't refuse Cui You's additional gift.

After giving the benefit, he sent the demon away.

When Wu Kuang returned from seeing the demon off, he was about to ask when Cui You had been injured, but Cui You was already eager to give an order, "Wake everyone up and set out immediately!"

Wu Kuang was stunned and asked, "Where to?"

Cui You smiled, "The 'Linyuan Pavilion'!"

"Uh..." Wu Kuang was taken aback, looking back at the direction the demon Hu Tiandi had gone. Since the demon had already brought a message from there, why were they going there? He didn't understand but knew there must be a reason, so he followed the order and quickly woke everyone up.

After everyone and their equipment were ready, they quickly moved through the vast night.

They crossed mountains and valleys, almost without stopping, until the sky began to lighten, and they finally arrived near the 'Linyuan Pavilion'.

Cui You, surveying the surrounding terrain, focused on the highest mountain near the 'Linyuan Pavilion'. He waved his hand and led the group there.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Cui You looked around and focused on a large rock. On top of the large rock was a small rock, about the size of a fist, with a simple arrow pattern drawn on it.

He quickly landed on the large rock and stared at the small rock on top of it. The small rock had a simple arrow pattern drawn on it.

He adjusted his position, following the direction of the arrow, and then waved to Wu Kuang, pointing to the small rock on the large rock and the arrow pattern, "Follow the direction of the arrow. On the way, keep your eyes open and look for similar markers."

Wu Kuang was surprised. Someone had left markers for them. He couldn't help but ask, "Officer, our main task is to catch fire crickets. Is it worth wasting time on unrelated matters? What are you planning to do?"

Cui You: "Don't ask too many questions. Everyone, please bear with it a little longer. You will know in due time."

Wu Kuang had no choice but to follow the order. He called everyone over, pointed to the arrow marker, and explained the tracking method and direction. The group then quickly set off again...

In the early morning, the branches were glistening with dew.

Tie Miaqing's hat was covered with fine dew. She had been waiting at the cave entrance since before dawn, and no one could persuade her to stop, understanding her anxiety.

Just as a drop of dew fell from the brim of her hat, she suddenly stopped and turned to face the dark cave entrance.

The sudden stop of her small steps also caught the attention of Sun Ping and the others, who gradually looked over. Seeing the situation, they all stood up and went to the cave entrance to listen. Indeed, the familiar "ding ding" sound came again.

When Yu Qing's figure appeared, everyone's eyes were fixed on the can in his hand, knowing what it meant from experience.

"Madam, let me rest and recover for a while before we head to the next place."

Yu Qing handed over the vibrating metal can, removed the towel covering his mouth and nose, and casually said, "It's not a big deal." He deliberately maintained his composure, greeted Xu Fei and the insect, and found a place to sit.

Upon confirming that the can contained another captured fire cricket, Tie Miaqing was overjoyed. She turned to see Yu Qing's appearance and immediately told Sun Ping, "Cook the spirit rice!"

"Okay." Sun Ping also responded joyfully and turned to instruct her husband, "Go and prepare it."

"Sure thing." Zhu Shangbiao excitedly went to prepare.

Seeing the group's reaction, the insect felt a sense of pride and his eyes sparkled. He couldn't help but praise Yu Qing in Xu Fei's ear, "Master, Master Shiheng is really amazing!"