Chapter 219: Crystal Ball, Fufeng Grass

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Crystal Ball, Fufeng Grass

Zhang Yun didn’t actually know much about the tracks snakes left behind. To get a point of reference, he deliberately looked back at the path the cobra had just taken. Earlier, it had been fleeing after being stabbed, so it had moved faster and heavier, leaving more obvious tracks. Under normal circumstances, the marks should be much lighter, but it still provided some sort of reference.

"Holy shit! What’s going on?" Zhang Yun was observing carefully when he noticed something strange at the spot where the snake had died. Since it had been pierced by the Blood Demon Blade, even though most of its blood seemed to have been absorbed by the blade and some remained inside its body, the ground should still be stained with blood. But now, there was not a single trace left!

This was snake blood, much thicker than water. It was impossible for it to be completely absorbed into the soil. Besides, even if it had seeped down, the surface should at least be stained red; it couldn’t possibly leave no trace like clear water.

Zhang Yun couldn’t help but look back at his pants. "Did I sit on it just now and get all the blood on my pants?"

Earlier, he had bizarrely dabbed some blood onto Qi Luo’s pants as a cover-up. If the back of his own pants was stained with blood, that would be a hilarious disaster! It was perfectly normal for a girl to be caught unprepared when her time of the month came. But if a man was bleeding from his backside, the kind-hearted would guess he had severe hemorrhoids, while the malicious would assume he’d taken it up the rear.

Fortunately... his pants weren’t stained. Furthermore, he clearly saw where he had been sitting, and he could see the imprint right next to the spot. Zhang Yun took another look at his surroundings, confirming from the tracks that he had not mistaken the location.

"Could there be something underground?" He immediately used his hoe to dig carefully. After digging about a foot down, he saw that the soil was slightly reddish. "Did the blood seep down here?"

He dug a little more cautiously and immediately discovered something. Buried in the soil was a bead. It was slightly crimson. He wasn’t sure if it had been buried here on purpose or if it had originally fallen on the ground and sunk over the years, washed down by the rain.

Zhang Yun wasn’t afraid of poison anyway. To avoid damaging it with the hoe, he simply brushed the dirt aside with his hands and dug it out.

Actually, when he saw the crimson color, he felt a little flutter of panic, afraid that it might be an eyeball... But when he picked it up and took a look, it was about the size of a tennis ball. It looked like a translucent, Crimson Crystal Ball. Zhang Yun intentionally tried to absorb from it, but he couldn’t feel any Energy inside.

"Is it just a toy Crystal Ball?"

The probability of one appearing in these desolate mountains where no one ever passed was far too low. Moreover, the cobra had fled over here just now and died right above it, with its blood seeping down toward it... Zhang Yun examined it for quite a while but couldn’t spot anything unusual.

"Bloodstains... seeping... absorbing blood?" A thought sparked in his mind. The Blood Demon Blade had a similar effect. Could it be the same type of item?

He immediately entered the Peach Blossom Spring Space, took out the Blood Demon Blade, and placed it together with the Crimson Crystal Ball. As a result... they neither attracted nor repelled each other. However, Zhang Yun still firmly believed that large snakes possessed a certain spiritual sentience. There were no exotic flowers or rare fruits around here, so since he had just found this item, he would treat it as a rare treasure.

Since he couldn’t find any clues right now, he decided to put it away first. He could examine it later when he had the chance. If it turned out to be just a decorative glass Crystal Ball, it wouldn’t be worth keeping.

After storing them in the Peach Blossom Spring Space, Zhang Yun sensed for the Overlord Crow again. After being disciplined, the bird had been searching quite obediently. He just didn’t know if its beady bird eyes had seen clearly or if it remembered what to look for. Distracted by the Crimson Crystal Ball, Zhang Yun had lost most of his interest in continuing the snake hunt. He briefly checked to ensure there were no snake nests nearby and left it at that.

The Crow was still flying low, conducting a carpet search. Having nothing better to do, Zhang Yun sliced open a melon and leaned against a tree trunk to eat it. He had originally planned to check his phone and ask Zhang Lifeng if there were any further clues. Since the old man knew about Fufeng Grass, he might have ventured into the mountains to gather herbs before and could point out a general area, which would save a lot of time.

Unfortunately, the signal nearby was poor, and he could barely connect to the internet... He could only eat his melon in silence.

Just as he had eaten his fill, he sensed the Crow approaching rapidly. He looked around and, sure enough, it was flying back. Earlier, it had already expressed its submission purely through its consciousness. Now that it came over and saw Zhang Yun in person, it grew nervous again, terrified that he would snap its neck.

"CAW CAW!"

This Crow had some spiritual sentience, but its ability to express itself was limited. It was worse than a trained dog. Zhang Yun tossed the remaining melon for it to eat, then transmitted a thought to it, "Lead the way! If you got it wrong, see if I don’t pluck all your feathers out!"

It was unclear if the Crow fully understood, but it was visibly gripped by a fresh wave of fear.

Grabbing his hoe, he followed the Crow across the mountains and ridges. With Zhang Yun’s current physical fitness, he didn’t find it very exhausting, and the melon he had just eaten was quite refreshing. But ultimately, he couldn’t match the Crow’s flying speed, so it had to slow down and wait for him. To make matters worse, he had just experienced the joy of flight through the Crow’s perspective. Now, the fact that he couldn’t catch up even when running left him with a slight sense of disappointment.

A dozen minutes later, they arrived at a hillside. The Crow stopped in front of a patch of grass and let out a caw. However, judging by its demeanor, it wasn’t too certain. It was waiting for Zhang Yun to inspect the find, not daring to claim credit just yet.

Zhang Yun wasn’t sure himself either... He took out his phone and carefully compared the pictures. He felt that after searching for most of the day, this was the closest match.

"There’s a signal here!"

Zhang Yun immediately made a video call to Zhang Lifeng and switched to a close-up for him to see.

Zhang Lifeng put on his glasses and took a close look. "That’s right! This is Fufeng Grass, but it’s just a common one-year-old stalk. I don’t know if ten-year-old Fufeng Grass even exists. Try to find the largest, most plump and sturdy ones, and I’ll take another look when you get back."

"Got it!"

Zhang Yun didn’t let him see much of the surrounding environment and hung up directly. There was a whole patch of Fufeng Grass nearby. They all looked basically the same, and none were significantly larger than the others.

Zhang Yun waved his hand. The Crow was very nervous, but it still flew over. He grabbed it by the neck and, amidst its terrified caws, brought it back into the Peach Blossom Spring Space.

"Stay in here and behave. If I’m in a good mood and remember you, I’ll let you out for a spin."

The Crow had nearly been scared to death, terrified that its neck was going to be snapped. How could it dare to demand flying outside for a spin? Escaping was even more unthinkable. It just shrank behind a giant rice seedling and hid itself.

Zhang Yun immediately transplanted a portion of the Fufeng Grass into the Peach Blossom Spring Space. Based on the ginseng’s effect where one hour equaled one year, he would be able to harvest them by midnight. He didn’t plant too much of it. This thing was only useful for Zhang Lifeng’s folk prescription, whereas ginseng was universally recognized by everyone.

Now that he had finally sorted out the Fufeng Grass, Zhang Yun identified the general direction and headed back. Passing by the ginseng area, he transplanted another batch of ginseng seedlings. To avoid confusing himself, he divided them into different plots, marked them with branches, and recorded the time in his phone so that he could sell them according to the different required ages.

By the time he returned to the village, it was already 3:00 PM. When the villagers saw him, they all winked and made faces at him, and some even followed him straight home.

"What are you guys doing? Is there something on my face?" Zhang Yun asked. He analyzed the situation in his head. "Did Zhang Long and the others say something? No, that can’t be it. They all look like they’re just here for a good show."

"Heh heh! Your romantic luck is off the charts! While others can’t even get a wife, you have another bride dropping out of the sky for you!" someone finally couldn’t help but spill the beans.

"..."

Zhang Yun’s eyes widened. "Is Ouyang Mingruo here again? No! If it were Mingruo, they wouldn’t say my romantic luck is off the charts, and they wouldn’t use the word ’another’."