Chapter 104: Chapter 104

Right in the center of the glowing patterns, a strange plant had sprouted. It’s only three feet tall, looking as if it was made entirely of jade and yet semi-transparent, with snow-white branches and green leaves. It appeared bustling with vitality even in such a dark cave.

The roots of the plant had infinite strength, piercing through the rocks and deeply-rooted.

Three fruits, immature in appearance, hung on the branches.

One looked like a peach, the other like a green date, and the third like an orange.

It wasn’t clear if they were just not ripe, or they didn’t want to ripen.

Little Loach didn’t care about all that. Wiggling its tail and rushing in with its mouth wide open, its two golden whiskers excitedly twitched again and again!

The light from the pearls on the cave ceiling sprinkled down, creating seven layers of radiance between where Little Loach sprang out of the water and the plant.

Although each layer of radiance was as thin as cicada wings, they each contained extremely complex Array lines.

One could only guess what powerful person had set up this cave mansion those years ago, leaving behind such safe and powerful defensive measures.

But in front of an excited Little Loach, those measures were as good as nothing!

Little Loach burrowed its way through. Not that the radiant Arrays were broken—they remained intact—but somehow, Little Loach was able to slither past without any difficulty.

Just like how it bypassed the Ghost Account in the past.

Once the dunce arrived in front of the plant, the ground had peculiar patterns rising up like a ghost, rolling up like a folded fishing net.

However, it still wasn’t necessary. Little Loach seemed to exist outside this space, thus the glowing patterns merely captured the air!

Little Loach’s upper body had thickened and enlarged, with a wide jaw that could envelop the whole plant.

Swallowed it all in one go.

Even pulling out a handful of roots with three rootlike or fruitlike objects stuck to them. Looking as if they were not yet mature, they resembled peanuts, sweet potatoes, and ordinary potatoes, while small stones were mixed among the roots.

Little Loach flung its head a few times, shedding these small stones before raising its head and swallowing the roots and their attached fruits as a whole.

All the radiance within the cave seemed to solidify. Little Loach sensed something was wrong, shrunk its size, and slithered off the stone platform into the river water, ready to bolt away without stopping.

Just before it bolted, it seemed to have noticed a huge yellow stone standing next to the plant, with three ancient Chinese characters engraved on it.

It’s a shame that Little Loach can’t read; otherwise, it would have known that these characters were reading "Vanessa Garden".

The underground river was wide enough for Little Loach to flex its muscles. Its length of over twenty feet and formidable power helped it escape at an impressive speed.

In the cave, those frozen radiance suddenly intensified—but after Little Loach revealed its true form, they seemed to discover something, and then slowly calmed down, with a rather indifferent look.

Scared by its own shadows and fleeing in a panic, Little Loach quickly shrank its size and darted through the mud and sand, running back into the well. When it looked back, everything was steady and quiet, and it spewed out a long stream of bubbles.

However, it had no idea what it had eaten. It felt that this meal was quite different. How could it still not have been digested after such a long time?

Owen Bertram had just finished inspecting his five-toothed flying sword and was in high spirits when he noticed that the second one, Little Loach seemed to have a stomach upset?

Little Loach feels bloated and uncomfortable. Owen Bertram scooped it out of the well to see Little Loach pitifully resting its head on its big brother’s fingers, seemingly running out of energy.

Owen Bertram was puzzled, "It’s just a well, what could you possibly find that you ate yourself into this state?"

Little Loach couldn’t speak, and the golden light on its whiskers had dimmed a bit. It looked pitifully under the weather.

Although Owen Bertram blamed Little Loach, he felt sorry for it seeing it in such a state. He sighed and returned it to the wooden bottle. He then thought about whether he should find some herbs to make some spiritual pills to aid in Little Loach’s digestion.

But that’s all he could think, he was completely ignorant when it came to the path of the Pills.

This was already the fifth day.

According to the Horizon Bureau’s experience, five days should be enough to find all hidden Dandelion Killers—if they were not found, it meant there really weren’t any.

The Mechanical Dao Soldiers were exceptionally cautious today, slowly withdrawing from the Hunshui River and entering the Rogue River.

That was because some military officers, who had a high level of cultivation, had started to venture into the river to search. Stimulated by the high rewards, the military officers hit upon a great idea:

About a dozen or so people formed a group, nominating the one with the highest cultivation to go underwater, while the rest would contribute their strength with magical instruments, talismans, or pills to increase the diving officer’s power and ensure that they could oppose the beasts in the water.

After finding the Dandelion Killer and collecting the reward, the diver would take half and the rest would be divided according to each person’s contribution.

With several hundred military officers, at least more than twenty ventured underwater, greatly increasing the exposure of the Mechanical Dao Soldiers.

Surprisingly, this method was effective. After they dove into the water, almost all of them found Dandelion Killers at the bottom of the river—just like Uncle and his comrades harvesting pearls back in the day, each dive carried great risk; but once they found something, they were overjoyed.

Could it be that the respected officers of the Horizon Bureau have fallen so low?

On Lord Gordon’s desk, the number of Dandelion Killers was growing. The Old Fisher voiced some regret saying, "What a pity, they are all small pieces."

Strangely enough, although there were quite a few Dandelion Killers dredged from the river later, they were all but the size of a pinky finger.

Where did all the large ones go?

Though they were all Dandelion Killers, one seven feet in length could sell for three million Spirit Jades, but the small pieces could only be sold at the normal Dandelion Killer price. The gap was huge.

York Gordon laughed and said, "Are you still not satisfied? Think about how desperate we were a few days ago!"

The Old Fisher chuckled in embarrassment, stroking his beard and saying, "I’m being greedy, hahaha!"

This expedition was profitable after all. Although it fell far short of their initial expectations, it was a welcome change of fortunes.

York Gordon composed himself and said, "But today is already the fifth day. According to tradition, we should stop searching tomorrow and start dealing with the aftermath of the Magic Wave."

As he brought up this topic, everyone’s faces became serious.

We’re leaving tomorrow? Isn’t that a bit rushed?

York Gordon continued, "The Devin family has been pressing us from behind for several times."

"Humph—" a revered lord sneered, "It’s all because of that little girl from the Devin family who participated in this operation. Are they eager to distribute rewards? We’ve only delayed a few days, and they kept urging us incessantly!"

"I’ve seen that girl. She’s spoiled by the Devin family. Our status is not supposed to be calculated with a junior like her, but she doesn’t have the slightest respect for us old predecessors at all, constantly urging us."

The three lords voiced their thoughts, as the old officiants all looked at the Old Fisher. He stroked his whiskers and said, "The Devin family has people in the general government."

York Gordon stopped beating around the bush and said, "According to today’s harvest, the main source of Dandelion Killers is the river. If we search for a few more days, there will undoubtedly be more. If we leave now, will the predecessor be willing?"

The Old Fisher looked at York Gordon meaningfully and said, "Who said we are searching for Dandelion Killers in Extinct Village? Our three lords and four officiants, together with hundreds of diligent and loyal military officers, are obviously here to investigate the matter of the Magic Wave!

What if we found some suspicions, and they happen to be related to that girl from the Devin family... and what’s that young fellow’s name, the two of them?"

York Gordon’s eyes lit up, "Predecessor, that’s smart, really smart!"