Chapter 61: Plan

Shen Shuibi stayed in a clearing in the woods.

"Dududu~, Lululu~." She hummed an unknown tune, while tidying up the various furs and bones in her basket, and simultaneously absorbing the Lunar Qi.

It was probably like eating snacks.

The moon, or Taiyin, naturally emits Lunar Qi when it hangs high, spreading across the sky and benefiting the world.

In the cultivation of Yao creatures, Taiyin is a very important part; they generally need to absorb Lunar Qi for their cultivation.

But for Shen Shuibi, this was only considered a snack.

Her cultivation was not based on the methods of the Demon Dao, but rather the orthodox Daoist cultivation method. Mount Luofu is one of the ten great grotto-heavens of the Dao, and although she is a Yao, she is a naturally rare species. Even the demon-exorcists, who are most hateful of Yao, would not harm her.

Instead of being called a demon beast, her kind is generally referred to as a Spirit Beast, or Immortal Beast, and is regarded as an auspicious sign.

Furthermore, she possesses a Body of Purity, unblemished by dust, immune to heat and cold, impervious to all poisons, and requires no food or drink. She can survive by consuming the Qi that naturally exists between heaven and earth.

Although she is a rabbit, she is not an ordinary rabbit.

"Hmm, it should be about time for him to come back, right? We should be able to depart today, shouldn't we? I think we're going to Yi County?" Shen Shuibi mused while organizing her luggage.

Seventeen days had passed since Li Qi fell unconscious.

During these seventeen days, Shen Shuibi watched Li Qi diligently practice daily, and at the same time, waited for the old horse's injuries to heal.

After the Evil Qi was removed, with the help of the Great Forest Wood Qi, the old horse recovered very quickly.

A few days ago, his movements were no longer affected at all, but Li Qi insisted on waiting until he was fully recovered before leaving.

According to Li Qi, sharpening the knife does not delay the woodcutting. Once everything was ready, they would follow the main road to Yi County, replenish their dried provisions and luggage, then prepare to ride the horse and head straight towards Empress Luofu.

With the old horse, traveling eight hundred Li a day, even a journey of ten thousand Li would only take a little over ten days.

Ten thousand Li, that's beyond the Great Deer Kingdom. At most, a month or two of travel, and they would surely find Niangniang!

This was much faster than running on foot.

As soon as she thought of this, Shen Shuibi was overjoyed and couldn't help but hum.

She was about to see Niangniang!

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Riding the old horse and carrying a goat on his back, Li Qi returned to his temporary small camp.

Shen Shuibi was still the same, almost unchanged; when she closed her mouth, she exuded Immortal Qi, but when she opened it, silliness poured out, yet occasionally she could speak eloquently, with a sense of having a mind full of poetry and literature that naturally radiated brilliance.

It was quite contradictory.

Li Qi tossed the goat onto the ground, greeted Shen Shuibi, and began skinning and butchering it.

The rice cakes had long been eaten. For the past few days, Li Qi had been eating meat, hunting daily with the help of the old horse, or fishing if he couldn't find game.

He hadn't dared to do this before because his combat ability wasn't great, and he couldn't run fast. If he left the main road and encountered danger, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Don't think that because Li Qi has Carp Current Intent, catching and fishing is simple.

There's more than just fish in the water.

If you dive down and encounter a water monkey staring at you, you'll be as good as dead.

Li Qi, who valued his life, would never take any risks before he was confident, even when looking for water sources, he would never leave the main road by more than a Li.

However, ever since Carp Current Intent was mastered and the old horse's injuries healed, his courage clearly grew. He dared to go deeper and even actively hunted and fished.

After all, even if he encountered danger, if he couldn't win, couldn't he still run? How many wild beasts could run faster than the old horse? That was a Dragon Steed!

Besides this factor, there was another reason: his dried provisions had run out.

If he didn't hunt, he would starve to death.

However, the good news was that ever since he started eating meat and fish, the progress of Carp Current Intent had advanced by leaps and bounds.

The martial Dao methods, which prioritize perseverance and then resources, truly live up to their reputation.

People who eat meat every day progress much faster than others.

Over the past few days, Li Qi had also accumulated some animal hides and bones. The meat was eaten, but the hides and bones could still be sold for some money.

Originally, he also planned to gather some wild mountain produce to sell, but as for things like wood ear mushrooms, he did gather them.

But he didn't know how to preserve them…

He tried drying wood ear mushrooms, making them into dried wood ear mushrooms and so on.

But they quickly rotted.

Without the skill, it was better to give up. He just gathered some to eat himself each day to vary his diet.

As for other mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, he didn't dare to gather them.

What if he couldn't recognize them and ate something poisonous? The Baiyue region, the Shiwan Mountains, although rich in mountain delicacies like mushrooms, has tens of thousands of varieties. If not an experienced mountain dweller, an ordinary person who gathers them to eat would surely die.

Li Qi didn't want to see little people dancing before his eyes after eating.

After skinning and butchering, Li Qi put the offal into the river to wash. After washing for ten minutes, the peculiar smell would be gone. As for the meat, it could now be put into the pot to boil.

Fortunately, he had plenty of salt and other mountain delicacies for seasoning, so it wouldn't be too unpalatable.

Some was boiled in the iron pot, and some was skewered on tree branches and roasted. It would be ready to eat soon.

One goat, after boning and draining the blood, yielded about sixty to seventy catties of meat, enough for Li Qi to eat for two days.

Ever since he started cultivating the martial Dao, his appetite had doubled, there was nothing he could do about it.

The old horse also got a piece of meat. Although horses are herbivores, they occasionally eat meat to supplement protein. Li Qi knew that some important figures would feed their horses bird eggs and the like. As long as it wasn't too much, there would be no problem, and it could even increase their nutrition.

The old horse also knew this, ate a piece of meat, and then galloped off to forage for himself.

In the Shiwan Mountains, there was grass everywhere, so there was no need to worry about not having food.

Although he was old, after his injuries healed, he was still full of energy!

As Li Qi busied himself with preparing food, Shen Shuibi leaned over and asked happily, "Li Qi, are we leaving after tonight?"

"Yes, just as we planned before. First, we'll go to Yi County, sell these animal hides, bones, and fresh mountain produce, then buy some dried provisions and travel gear, and change our clothes. Then we can ride the horse through the Jianghu and also go find Empress Luofu," Li Qi said with a smile.

"Finding Niangniang is not 'also'!" Shen Shuibi angrily waved her fists.

Although she was usually very gentle, even a little timid, when it came to Empress Luofu, she was never vague.

It was normal, Li Qi could understand.

To avoid exposing Empress Luofu, she had directly crippled her own cultivation.

For a dignified fifth-grade expert to go to such lengths showed how deep her feelings were.

"Just kidding, just kidding." Li Qi looked up, roasting meat, and then said nothing more.

The camp fell silent.

Was he joking?

Actually, no, he was probing.

Li Qi had always been a person who looked ten steps ahead for every step he took.

He was already thinking about what would happen after finding Empress Luofu.

After finding her… Shen Shuibi would definitely leave him and go with Empress Luofu.

At that time, what would he do?