Chapter 123 - 101: Establishing the Exchange Fee, Retrieving Snake Fangs from the Barren Mountain, a Big Business with Coarse Salt
...
Before returning to the faculty apartments, Chen Chong and the others first went to the traditional Chinese medicine clinic.
The clinic had been so busy recently that they hadn’t seen Shen Xinrou for two days.
As the team leader, Chen Chong naturally had to go check on her...
Before they even went inside, they saw a line of seven or eight people at the door, all students waiting to have illnesses or injuries treated.
Xu Jun sighed with emotion. ’She really is busy...’
Upon entering the clinic, the group was stunned. They hadn’t expected to see members of the Swordsmanship Club being treated for their injuries.
This was the second time they had run into each other since parting ways after slaying the Fear Wolves.
However, they had learned from Shen Xinrou that the two more seriously injured members of the Swordsmanship Club were quite lucky; their wounds hadn’t gotten infected during subsequent treatment.
Although they might not regain full mobility in their arms after recovery, they had at least saved the injured limbs. With a month of rest and frequent dressing changes, they should make a near-full recovery...
"Hey, brother!"
The more energetic Ning Feng immediately grinned, while Ning Yu, beside him, remained as calm as still water, giving Chen Chong a slight nod.
Chen Chong returned the nod.
"Brother Chong..."
A smile appeared on Shen Xinrou’s face when she saw Chen Chong arrive.
"You’ve worked hard these past few days. If you feel like you can’t handle it, you can close up and rest for a few days."
Shen Xinrou shook her head. "It’s fine. I can handle it. No problem."
"Alright, but still, take care of yourself. Don’t overwork."
"Thank you for your concern..."
Just as Chen Chong was casually looking around, about to head upstairs, Ning Yu spoke.
"Can I have a word with you?"
Chen Chong was slightly taken aback. "Of course."
Glancing at the many people inside, Ning Yu walked out, and Ning Feng followed close behind.
...
Out in the hallway, Ning Yu began.
"Can I ask, the Card that appeared after you killed the Terror Wolf King, was it a B-Level Ability Card?"
Chen Chong: "Yes. Didn’t you see it? The blue glow means it’s a B-Level Card."
"Then... why did a Card like that appear?"
"Huh?"
Chen Chong didn’t understand Ning Yu’s question at first.
Luckily, Ning Feng was there to explain. "What my sister means is, why did killing the Terror Wolf King drop an Ability Card? You have no idea, but ever since she saw you get a Card from killing the Terror Wolf King, she’s been acting like a madwoman. For the past two days, she’s been dragging us all over the place hunting beasts."
"In two days, we killed another four Fear Wolves and even a leopard, but we didn’t find any Ability Cards. So she’s very confused."
Chen Chong was a bit surprised. ’That intense?’
’Hunting down Fear Wolves?’
’Even killed a leopard?’
Ning Feng glanced at Ning Yu, then leaned closer to Chen Chong and whispered:
"Also, just so you know, my sister rarely talks to outsiders. She’s not good with words, so don’t take it personally. She might seem cold, but she’s a good person."
"She’s the captain, so she’s under a lot of pressure every day. Before, she spent all day practicing with swords and blades, just wanting to get good results for the team. After we crossed over, there were no more competitions, but to survive, she started training even more intensely."
"Ever since a few of our members got injured, she’s felt it was her fault. She’s been blaming herself nonstop and is desperate to get stronger. That’s why she’s been killing beasts everywhere, trying to get a drop like the Ability Card you got."
"But unfortunately, nothing dropped..."
Chen Chong nodded slightly, understanding what Ning Feng meant.
He wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t gotten any Cards to drop from killing beasts.
’The Terror Wolf King was a mutated Extraordinary Creature. Even though it hadn’t fully evolved to that stage, it was no longer an ordinary beast. That’s why a Card could appear.’
’How could ordinary Fear Wolves and leopards possibly drop Cards...’
’Besides, even if they were lucky enough to find another creature like the Terror Wolf King, the Card that drops might not be an Ability Card.’
Chen Chong was about to speak, but Ning Feng, who hadn’t shut his mouth once, interrupted him again.
"Even though we didn’t get any Cards to drop from killing all those beasts, we did manage to get one Ability Card. I guess you could call it luck. But my sister isn’t satisfied; she still wants to get more Ability Cards."
"Hmm?"
Seeing Chen Chong’s confused expression, Ning Feng explained:
"We found it. We just found the Ability Card lying around. Pretty lucky, right?"
"You found it? That’s definitely some great luck."
’Finding an Ability Card, even if it wasn’t B-Level, is incredibly lucky.’
’In all the days since we crossed over, I’ve never heard of anyone else just finding an Ability Card.’
Ning Feng was still talking, recounting the story of how they found the Card.
His expression was animated, his hands gesturing wildly, making it impossible for anyone to get a word in edgewise.
Chen Chong was left speechless.
’They’re brother and sister, yet one is terrible with words and the other is a super chatterbox. How can they be so different?’
Ning Feng chattered on endlessly until he happened to glance back and saw Ning Yu’s expression gradually turning cold. He froze, quickly shut his mouth, and retreated behind her...
Ning Yu looked at Chen Chong.
It was as if she was waiting for him to answer her earlier question.
"Only Extraordinary Creatures can drop Cards. It’s impossible for ordinary creatures. While that Terror Wolf King hadn’t fully evolved into an Extraordinary Creature, it was already halfway there."
Chen Chong didn’t hide anything. This information wasn’t really a secret anymore; many people at the school were talking about it, and the members of the Swordsmanship Club themselves already knew.
They were merely curious as to why the Terror Wolf King had also dropped a Card. Now that he’d explained it to them, they probably wouldn’t go on an endless hunt for beasts anymore...
"I see. So only Extraordinary Creatures can drop Cards."
Ning Yu’s gaze lowered as if she was deep in thought.
"Then does that mean stronger Extraordinary Creatures will drop more, and rarer, Cards?"
"Er... yes."
Ning Yu said no more, continuing to ponder the issue.
Chen Chong felt something was off. "Don’t you go getting any ideas about the Blood-tooth Python or the Stone Claw Eagle. They’re not easy to deal with."
He had only been able to hunt the Unihorn Catfish thanks to the Tang Blade Ning Yu had given him. He had to give them a warning to prevent them from going down the wrong path.
Ning Yu nodded.
The two sides fell into silence once more.
"If there’s nothing else, we’ll head up?"
"Okay. Goodbye."
"Goodbye..."
...
Chen Chong and his group returned upstairs.
Before parting ways with the Swordsmanship Club, they had asked for a favor: they wanted to buy some coarse salt for curing meat.
After all, they had brought back too many Fear Wolves last time, and on top of the many beasts they had hunted in the past few days, their salt reserves were long gone. If they didn’t buy some to cure the meat, it would likely spoil in less than two days.
As for how they knew he had a salt well...
Shen Xinrou had most likely told them.
Although he hadn’t had a chance to advertise it yet, Chen Chong had specifically mentioned to Shen Xinrou during their last meal that, when she had time, she could tell the people who came for treatment that they had a salt well. Any students who wanted to buy salt could do so at the clinic, and they would be given a discount.
Perhaps because they had only recently crossed over, not many people needed salt yet. After all, without large quantities of meat to cure, a single bag of salt could last several people for a very long time.
Over the past few days, not many students had come to buy salt; he had only sold a dozen or so jin.
The Swordsmanship Club, on the other hand, had asked for a hundred jin of salt right off the bat, which stunned Chen Chong for a moment.
’Such a large amount of salt... that’s big business.’
But he really didn’t have that much in stock at the moment.
However, with Zhang Meng, Huang Mao, and the laborers working at full capacity, they should be able to produce it in two or three days, thanks to the salt well’s output.
After sorting the wild pheasants, wild ducks, and the day’s catch, and moving them all to the pen and fishpond, Chen Chong stared at the sunlight outside the window, lost in thought.
’It’s only noon...?’
He thought of the Blood-tooth Python corpse in the Stone Claw Eagle’s nest on the barren mountain.
’Those fangs must be the most important part of an Extraordinary Creature like the Blood-tooth Python. If used to create an Extraordinary Artifact, they would surely be the best material.’
’Now that the Stone Claw Eagle’s location is confirmed and there’s nothing else to do today, those snake fangs... it’s time to go get them.’
"Wang Biao, Zhang Meng, Jia Wen, and Huang Mao, you four stay here with the laborers and make salt. Produce the amount the Swordsmanship Club needs as fast as you can."
"Ah Jun, come with me."
After speaking, Chen Chong grabbed his gear and left directly with Xu Jun...
Only after they had walked out of the school gate did Xu Jun curiously ask where they were going.
Chen Chong didn’t hide it and told him their destination directly.
When he heard they were going to the Stone Claw Eagle’s nest, Xu Jun first froze, then became ecstatic.
He was clearly very interested in the lair of an Extraordinary Creature.
Seeing his reaction, Chen Chong felt a little helpless. His brother had no idea how far the barren mountain with the Stone Claw Eagle’s nest was from the school.
He vaguely remembered running there once with Wang Biao; they had nearly died of exhaustion halfway.
However, after using the Comprehensive Enhancement Card, his body had been greatly improved in every aspect. It probably wouldn’t be as difficult as last time.
This was also why he had brought Xu Jun along.
It was already approaching noon, so they were short on time. Only by running at full speed without stopping could they possibly make it back with the snake fangs before nightfall...
...