Chapter Twenty-Nine: Medicinal Elixirs

Evening.

Chen Mu returned home, frowning as he carried two fish. He had been lucky enough to run into a fisherman at the East Market, and after much effort, spent 140 copper coins to snatch up these two. Then, the steward of a wealthy household appeared and bought the entire basket, fish and all. Chen Mu wanted to buy more, but there were none left.

"Two fish aren't enough," Chen Mu sighed, distressed.

The cured meat he had stored in his cellar was completely gone. Every day, he could only rely on eggs for protein. His physical conditioning techniques were demanding, and eggs alone couldn't support them.

"I need to find a way to get some meat."

...

Behind the Chen Family Village, in the deep forest, a faint scent of dampness and rotting leaves filled the air. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting mottled patches of light and shadow on the ground. A single crystal-clear droplet fell from a green leaf, landing in a palm-sized puddle.

*Splat!*

A large foot stepped into the puddle, sending muddy, yellow water splashing in all directions. Chen Mu scanned the path, used his machete to clear the obstructing branches, and continued deeper into the woods. He had been wandering the hills behind the village for the entire morning, all in hopes of catching some game to supplement his diet. Due to the lack of nutrition, the daily limit for practicing his skills had already begun to decline.

"It's a pity I don't know how to track game."

Experienced hunters could distinguish animal trails and knew the general activity ranges of various prey. Chen Mu knew nothing; his forays into the mountains were pure guesswork. He had assumed that simply entering the woods would lead to a quick catch, but alas, he lacked a protagonist's luck. He could only wander aimlessly.

"If only I could run into a wild boar, that would be great."

With his current Tier 3 throwing ability, paired with threaded iron lotus seeds, taking down a wild boar would be child's play.

By evening, Chen Mu returned to the hunter's cabin carrying an unidentified bird about the size of his two fists. He plucked and cleaned it with a sense of resignation. After all his work, he devoured it in a few bites. If he hadn't brought dry rations with him, he might have gone hungry!

"I refuse to accept this. I'll try again tomorrow!"

...

Two days later.

Chen Mu left the Chen Family Village carrying a basket of Thousand-Beard Grass and two wild rabbits. He had accepted his fate. After two days of wandering, the game he caught wasn't even enough to feed himself. The two rabbits in his hand were actually bought from a village hunter!

"Nothing is as simple as it seems," Chen Mu thought, feeling dejected. "If it comes to it, I'll just find a hunter and apprentice under him for a couple of months."

He had the Proficiency system; he feared learning no skill.

But two months was enough time for him to grind his physical conditioning technique to the Bone-Refining Stage. Chen Mu hesitated.

On his way back, he passed a small river. Walking across the bridge, he saw an angler on the bank and immediately approached him. He had hoped to buy some fish, only to find the man had caught absolutely nothing.

"How can you call yourself an angler and come up empty-handed?!"

If you can't catch fish, just throw a bottle of gunpowder and blast them! Chen Mu left, looking disappointed.

As he walked, a sudden thought struck him.

"If I can't catch fish, I don't just have to blast them—I can use medicine to catch them!"

He was a master of pharmacy! A plan began to take shape in his mind after just a moment of consideration. Chen Mu hurried home excitedly. Over the past half-month, his Pharmacy skill had already reached over 8,000 proficiency points. If he steeled his heart and dedicated a bit more time to it, he could soon break through to Tier 2. Tier 2 skills brought a qualitative change. Perhaps that vague plan could become clear. It would only take three to five days; he could afford the time.

...

The familiar cycle began again. Chen Mu shut himself indoors and read through those dozens of medical texts from cover to cover once more. He made one trip out, spending five taels of silver through Jie Jia’s connections to purchase several new medical books.

Five days later, Chen Mu closed the last book. A series of realizations suddenly crystallized in his mind: the properties of various drugs, how to enhance certain medicinal effects, how to mitigate toxicities, and how to combine them to create new functions. He even began to see a glimmer of understanding regarding the secret medicinal paste for the Goshawk Conditioning Technique.

"Now, it’s truly done."

...

Two days later, Chen Mu arrived at the banks of the White Wave River outside Qingshan County, carrying a large bamboo basket and a wine jar. He navigated expertly to a deep-water bend. Over the past two days, he had already been baiting this spot to attract more fish.

He opened the jar he had been cradling. He poured the secret, intoxicating bait—a mixture of wine, medicine, and boiled white wheat—into the river. This bait was a concoction he had created using his Tier 2 Pharmacy skill. It could quickly drug the fish without killing them, and there were no toxic side effects for humans who consumed them.

A quarter of an hour later, a layer of fish with their white bellies facing upward began to float on the deep-water bend.

"Haha, time to harvest!"

Chen Mu grabbed the long-handled net he had prepared and went to work. He didn't stop until his large bamboo basket was overflowing. There were still many fish on the surface, flipping and struggling as if they were drunk.

"I should have brought another basket," Chen Mu thought with regret. Fortunately, these fish weren't dead. They would be jumping around again once they recovered.

Chen Mu packed his gear, sealed the basket tight, and headed back to the city in high spirits.

...

At the Chen residence in Ping'an Ward, Chen Mu suddenly realized he had forgotten something. How was he supposed to store so many fish? Even if he wanted to keep them alive, he didn't have a fish tank. Moreover, the journey from the river was long, and a portion of the fish in the basket had already died. If he didn't process them quickly, they would soon rot and stink!

"A miscalculation. I didn't think this through."

Without time to dwell on it, Chen Mu immediately cleared out his rice jar. He put the living fish in water to keep them. As for the dead ones, he quickly gutted, scaled, cleaned, salted, and lit a fire to smoke them. He intended to turn them into smoked dried fish to extend their shelf life.

After a busy session, he finally finished.

"I wonder if this will work." It was his first time making smoked fish, and he felt quite uncertain.

...

The next day, Chen Mu sniffed the thick, salty, fishy stench and looked dejected.

"It failed."

He had tried his best. Unfortunately, his cooking skill was still only Tier 1, and it provided no help for the smoked fish.

"At least I still have some live ones left."

Next to the rice jar, another water vat had been added. Both vats were filled with water, and a good number of fish were swimming inside.

"I need to buy more vats."

Smoked fish didn't seem very reliable for now. The best storage method was to keep them alive.

"So, what do I do with these? Throw them away?" Chen Mu looked at the half-finished smoked fish hanging on a wooden rack. "I wonder if anyone in the East Market would want them?"

Although they had a fishy odor, they had been cured with spices and coarse salt and hadn't completely spoiled. In fact, if they were placed in a well-ventilated area, they might dry out and become genuine salted fish. Unfortunately, the environment in Chen Mu's home was clearly not suitable for that.

...

In the vendor street of the East Market, Chen Mu wore a bamboo hat and a set of worn-out brown clothes. His face was covered with a scarf, and he had used a medicinal wash to stain the skin on his hands and neck a reddish-brown color. He looked exactly like a weather-beaten fisherman.

He found a shaded corner, opened his fish basket, and shouted, "Smoked salted fish! Thirty copper coins each, first come, first served!"