In the blink of an eye, half a month slipped away like sand through fingers.
Days were bland but fulfilling.
Lin Mu acted like the most ordinary clan Steward. Reporting to the External Affairs Hall on time every day, handling some painless miscellaneous tasks.
In his spare time, he holed up in the stone hut in the Silent Stone District to polish his Primeval Essence.
Young Master Lin Feng, who had shone brilliantly in the Blood Forest, seemed to have vanished during this time. Rumor had it he was in seclusion digesting the resources bestowed by the clan, rarely showing his face.
This calm after the storm gave Lin Mu the most precious period of sedimentation.
One afternoon, the sunlight was just right.
Lin Mu flipped through the mission book on his desk casually. His fingertip stopped on a line: "Patrol Clan Peripheral Market."
This was a typical "Retirement Mission." Neither dangerous nor profitable. Usually, only old Stewards drifting through their days were willing to take it.
But for Lin Mu, this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
"Taken."
He picked up the seal, stamped it for himself, and then swaggered out of the External Affairs Hall.
This was the convenience of wearing this cyan robe. He didn't need to rack his brains for excuses to ask for leave like before. With just an official document, he could leave the clan's core monitoring area openly and contact the mixed fish-and-dragon outside world.
Lin Mu first circled the clan's formal market.
He pretentiously inquired about the business conditions of a few shops, conveniently buying some inconspicuous basic herbs and dozens of catties of durable dry rations as cover.
Until the sun slanted west. Confirming no tail behind him, he slipped into that familiar remote mountain forest at a corner.
Lin Mu traveled familiarly to a hidden valley stream he had scouted long ago.
He fished out a section of withered yellow grass root resembling dried ginger from his chest—the "Scent-Concealing Root" Old Ma had casually mentioned half a month ago.
"Hope it's useful."
Lin Mu started a small fire with flint, set up a stone pot, and threw the Scent-Concealing Root in to boil. An indescribable sour and weird smell permeated the air instantly.
Enduring the nausea, he stripped off his clothes and scrubbed himself ruthlessly from head to toe with this warm medicinal water.
It felt like being wrapped in an invisible film. Not only sweat, but even the Primeval Essence aura and faint blood evil stained from frequent contact with Gu worms over the past half month were thoroughly neutralized and covered by this weird smell.
After dealing with the scent, Lin Mu changed into a set of gear prepared long ago.
No longer a hunter's outfit, but an old long gown polished to a shine. He held an abacus with peeling paint in his hand, a deflated money pouch hanging at his waist.
He looked at his reflection in the stream.
The person in the mirror had a sallow face. His shrinking gaze revealed a hint of calculation. A living image of a down-and-out itinerant merchant who had run his legs off on the trade route, anxious to liquidate his backlog of goods.
"Just after the war, this kind of small merchant profiting from the dead is the least conspicuous."
Lin Mu nodded with satisfaction. Pressing down the brim of his hat, he turned and walked toward the direction of Grey Street.
...
Grey Street remained dead and lifeless, but there seemed to be an extra trace of restlessness in the air.
Just after the great war between the two families ceased, it was the peak period for the circulation of all kinds of black goods and stolen loot. The flow of lone cultivators coming and going was obviously much higher than last time.
Lin Mu hunched his back, mixing into the crowd. Familiarly, he pushed open the door of the dilapidated shop hanging air-dried organs.
"Shopkeeper... buying goods?"
Lin Mu's voice was timid and urgent. As he spoke, he looked back at the door vigilantly, as if afraid of being followed.
Behind the counter, Old Ma maintained that half-dead virtue.
He lifted his cloudy eyelids, his gaze sweeping over Lin Mu.
Those toxic old eyes narrowed slightly, seeming to distinguish something. But thanks to the divine effect of the "Scent-Concealing Root," plus Lin Mu deliberately changing his body shape and temperament, this time, Old Ma didn't call out his identity instantly like last time.
He just treated him as a passing stranger.
"What goods?" Old Ma asked lazily.
Lin Mu spoke no nonsense. Tremblingly, he fished out three small boxes wrapped tightly in oilcloth from his chest. He lined them up on the counter.
"Your eyes, please."
Old Ma extended a withered finger, flicking open the first box lid casually.
A light, spirited wind breath overflowed.
Rank 1 Wind-Treading Gu. Wind Path movement Gu. Not a peerless item, but a scarce commodity in this mountain terrain.
Old Ma's eyelid twitched. Saying nothing, he opened the second one.
Rank 1 Savage Stone Gu. The earth-yellow carapace bore a few fine scratches, clearly left after a tragic battle, but this didn't affect its value. Instead, it proved its hardness.
When the third box was opened, Old Ma's finger finally paused.
It was an ordinary Iron Leaf Gu.
But on this Gu worm, there was an extremely faint mark, difficult to erase completely—a trace left by the unique refinement technique of the Black Blood Stockade clan. Although processed by Lin Mu with special methods, an expert could still see the clue.
"Wind-Treading, Savage Stone, Iron Leaf..."
A sharp glint exploded in Old Ma's cloudy eyes.
He raised his head. His gaze was no longer looking at a fat sheep to be slaughtered, but carried a trace of meaningful scrutiny.
"Wind Path, Earth Path, Wood Path... quite a wild road."
Old Ma chuckled, revealing wind-leaking black teeth. His voice was hoarse:
"Recently, Black Blood Stockade and White Bone Stockade fought fiercely. These few items are standard equipment in the signature teams of those two families."
"It seems your Excellency has made quite a fortune in the pile of dead bodies during this time."
Hearing this, Lin Mu's originally cowering expression retracted instantly.
He straightened his back. His eyes returned to that familiar calmness and indifference. His voice no longer trembled:
"Just scraping a living. Old Ma, name a price."
"Hoh?"
Hearing this familiar address and tone, Old Ma froze. Then, realization dawned. He pointed at Lin Mu and laughed loudly:
"Good kid! I was saying, where did Grey Street get so many new faces who know the rules? So it's you!"
He wasn't annoyed. Instead, he nodded with even more appreciation.
"Used Scent-Concealing Root? Not bad. The smell is gone cleanly. Even this old man almost looked away."
This was recognition.
In the black market, deceiving Old Ma's eyes was itself a proof of strength.
Since they were acquaintances, there was no need for those vain probes.
Old Ma picked up the abacus, clacking it for a while:
"Wind-Treading Gu, scarce goods, one hundred sixty. Savage Stone Gu, hard currency, one hundred eighty. This Iron Leaf Gu is ordinary, but the quality is good, counting you eighty. Plus the bits and pieces..."
He stopped his movements, giving a number:
"Total four hundred eighty Primeval Stones. This is for the sake of an acquaintance's face. For anyone else, with goods bearing clan marks, I'd suppress at least twenty percent."
Four hundred eighty.
Even a line higher than Lin Mu's expectation. Clearly, the Charcoal Stone Gu transaction last time and the progress in disguise this time made Old Ma thoroughly treat him as a "High-Quality Supplier" worth long-term cooperation.
"Deal."
Lin Mu nodded refreshingly.
Money and goods cleared.
Lin Mu pocketed the heavy bag of Primeval Stones. Adding his original savings, his liquid capital now broke the seven hundred mark. The resources to charge for Rank 1 Upper Stage were thoroughly complete.
Transaction happy, the atmosphere relaxed a few degrees.
Old Ma put away the Gu worms, in a good mood. While wiping the counter, he spoke as if chatting idly:
"Recently, you'd better not run to the west."
"Oh?" Lin Mu's movement paused.
"Although the two families have a truce on the surface, that's just catching breath after gods fight."
Old Ma lowered his voice, pointing west. "Heard White Bone Stockade is acquiring large amounts of 'Perspective Gu' and 'Earth-Listening Gu' recently."
"Although that old ghost handed over the array map, this backup hand... is hidden deep."
Lin Mu's heart moved.
Perspective and Earth-Listening. Both reconnaissance methods. What was White Bone Stockade guarding against? Or... searching for?
"Many thanks for the reminder."
Lin Mu cupped his fists in salute, asking no more.
He turned and pushed open the shop door, walking back into the sky-filling grey mist.
Behind him, Old Ma watched his back, puffed twice on his pipe pa-da pa-da, and muttered to himself:
"This kid grows too fast... Seems in these chaotic times, there will be one more man-eating wolf."