Four hundred li east of Red Leaf Market, two figures were moving swiftly.
They were Shan Xionghai and Zhou Xun, on their way to hunt a Golden Spirit Mouse.
That day, after making up his mind, Zhou Xun found Shan Xionghai the very next day and agreed to the venture.
The two had agreed that all the harvest from this trip would be divided into three equal shares: each would take one share for participating in the hunt, and Shan Xionghai, as the discoverer of the Golden Spirit Mouse, would take an additional share.
"The Golden Spirit Mouse is naturally cautious and extremely alert. At the slightest hint of trouble, it will flee instantly. We need to buy Intoxication Fruit to use as bait, paired with a trap, and we'll achieve twice the result with half the effort!" Shan Xionghai said.
The Intoxication Fruit was a low-grade spiritual fruit commonly used for brewing spirit wine. It was not expensive; a single spirit essence could buy one.
"Leave that to me!" Zhou Xun took responsibility for this.
As for the rest of the items, such as spirit tools for storing monster blood and meat, and traps for capturing the Golden Spirit Mouse, those were all left to Shan Xionghai.
As a monster-hunting cultivator, Shan Xionghai already had these implements prepared at home. When Zhou Xun returned with the Intoxication Fruit, Shan Xionghai had already packed the gear and was waiting.
Early the next morning, they set off.
Each of them carried a huge bundle on his back; if they weren't cultivators, they would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.
"If only we had a Storage Pouch!" Zhou Xun sighed.
Yet even the lowest-grade Storage Pouch cost at least ten spirit stones—translated into spirit essence, that was over a thousand pieces, a fortune Zhou Xun had never seen in his life.
"My uncle has one, but he treasures it so much he never lets me play with it," Shan Xionghai said, a look of yearning in his eyes.
The two chatted as they traveled.
It took them a full five days to reach their destination.
This was an uninhabited valley surrounded by towering mountains.
The two lay flat on a hillside, looking down into the bottom of the valley.
Lush, towering trees grew straight up, completely untouched by human footprints. A mountain stream several feet wide divided the entire valley in half.
"With this place so remote, how did you ever find it?" Zhou Xun asked curiously.
"Because my uncle wasn't with me, I bypassed the main road on my return to the market and deliberately walked through uninhabited areas. Though it was a bit arduous, the advantage was safety."
"The day I was resting here, the sound of tiger roars suddenly came from the forest to the west, faintly accompanied by fluctuations of spiritual power, so I quietly crept over to take a look!"
"And I saw a tiger and a mouse fighting fiercely in the clearing."
"Although the tiger was merely a beast of the mortal world, its movements were swift and its body strong and powerful, so its strength could not be underestimated. The mouse, however, was a Golden Spirit Mouse—a rank one low-grade monster beast."
"There was a Golden Spirit Mouse, a foot long with a body covered in golden fur, fighting a magnificent tiger eight feet long with a coat of yellow and black stripes!"
"The tiger was ferocious and moved like the wind, continuously lashing out at the Golden Spirit Mouse. The Golden Spirit Mouse side-stepped and dodged with effortless ease, occasionally slashing open the tiger's flesh with its claws, and actually gaining the upper hand!"
"Flying into a rage, the tiger opened its jaws and whipped its head around to bite. Yet because it used too much force, a vulnerability appeared at its neck. The Golden Spirit Mouse slightly parted its mouth, and a golden blade flew out, slicing horizontally across the tiger's neck."
"With a muffled *squish*, the tiger dropped out of the air, convulsed a few times, and died!"
"Immediately after, that Golden Spirit Mouse dragged the tiger carcass—weighing several hundred catties—deep into the forest."
"I followed it too, crossing mountain ridges and small rivers for a full ten or more li, until it stopped in this very valley."
"Once the Golden Spirit Mouse entered the valley, it squeaked a few times into the air. Then four more Golden Spirit Mouses—one large and three small—rushed out from the valley and began to feast heartily on the tiger. I memorized the location of the valley and returned to Red Leaf Market."
After hearing Shan Xionghai's account, Zhou Xun couldn't help but marvel.
"To think that a mere rank one low-grade monster beast has the power to fight bears and tigers and use them for food!"
"How should we deal with such a fierce creature?"
Shan Xionghai smiled without answering. He untied the large bundle on his back, took out a bundle of white material, and gave it a gentle shake, transforming it into a large white net.
"This net is called the Spirit-Binding Net. It's woven from the silk of the rank one low-grade monster beast, the Human-Faced Spider. Although it doesn't rank among magic tools, it's extremely tough; ordinary low-grade monster beasts simply cannot break free. It's an essential item for us monster-hunting cultivators!"
Next, he took out three throwing spears. They were three feet long, pitch-black throughout, and their tips emitted a cold, faint glow.
"This is the 'Monster-Hunting Spear', a semi-magic tool most commonly used by us monster-hunting cultivators. Infuse it with spiritual power and hurl it, and no ordinary low-grade monster beast can block it. It's a top-tier sharp weapon!" With that, he handed one of them to Zhou Xun.
"And this one is—"
Following Shan Xionghai's introductions, a wave of envy welled up in Zhou Xun's heart.
They always said monster-hunting cultivators were wealthy, but he hadn't expected them to be *this* wealthy.
Just the gear Shan Xionghai had brought was worth more than seven spirit stones.
"For this operation, I get a one-third share—I'm really getting the better end of the deal!" Zhou Xun thought to himself.
After introducing all the equipment, Shan Xionghai led Zhou Xun to begin setting up.
Once the setup was complete, the two hid themselves up in a tree.
They smeared a powder on their bodies that masked their scent, then circulated their Breath-Concealing Arts, the left hand steadying a tree trunk and the right hand gripping a throwing spear, staring intently in the direction of the valley.
Lying under the tree was a fist-sized, emerald-green fruit emitting an intoxicating fragrance—none other than the Intoxication Fruit.
"When that spirit mouse comes out to taste the spirit fruit, you and I will strike at the same time!" Shan Xionghai lowered his voice and whispered.
Zhou Xun nodded and said no more.
The entire forest was dead silent; apart from the rustling sound of the wind sweeping through the leaves, there was not another noise.
After lingering for less than a quarter of an hour, Zhou Xun's gaze suddenly locked onto a spot.
A patch of bushes more than thirty paces away rustled, and out crawled a foot-long squirrel. Its entire body was a golden-gradient color—without a doubt, a Golden Spirit Mouse.
It poked out its head, its nose twitching and its round eyes rolling in their sockets.
Very quickly, it spotted the Intoxication Fruit under the tree.
However, instead of rushing straight over, it walked cautiously around the perimeter several times.
After testing the area multiple times and finding no danger, it finally paced over to the front of the Intoxication Fruit and sniffed it with a look of intoxication.
Zhou Xun and Shan Xionghai exchanged a glance, a piercing cold light flashing in their eyes. Slowly, they raised the throwing spears in their hands, infused them with spiritual power, and prepared to strike.
Suddenly, the Golden Spirit Mouse stopped moving, leaped back a few paces, and squeaked at something behind it.
"Squeak—"
Zhou Xun's heart tightened, thinking they had been discovered.
Immediately afterward, an answering "Squeak—" echoed from the valley.
As it turned out, upon discovering the Intoxication Fruit, this Golden Spirit Mouse had no intention of hogging it all to itself; it was calling its family over.
Soon, the bushes rustled again, and four more Golden Spirit Mouses—one large and three small—ran out, all of them golden-gradient in color.
The moment those four Golden Spirit Mouses appeared, they were drawn to the Intoxication Fruit. They swarmed it rapidly, first greedily inhaling the fragrance and then digging in with relish.
Seeing the five Golden Spirit Mouses now in the clearing, Shan Xionghai felt his scalp go slightly numb.
"Damn it!"
The three little ones were one thing, but those two adult Golden Spirit Mouses were truly difficult to deal with.
He had witnessed with his own eyes how the Golden Spirit Mouse hunted tigers.
Originally, he had planned to use the Intoxication Fruit to lure out and kill one first, and then deal with the remaining one. Now, however, he would have to let Zhou Xun first entangle the other adult Golden Spirit Mouse.
Once he killed this one, he would join forces with Zhou Xun to dispatch the other.
As for the three little ones, there was no way to worry about them anymore.
With that, Shan Xionghai cast his gaze toward the other adult Golden Spirit Mouse and exchanged a meaningful look with Zhou Xun.
Seeing this, Zhou Xun understood in an instant and gave a slight nod.
No sooner said than done.
The two men fiercely hurled the throwing spears, which had long been infused with spiritual power, straight down toward the ground below.
True to its reputation as a creature with sensitive spiritual perception, the Golden Spirit Mouse sensed the danger the instant the two launched their attack, kicked off with its hind legs, and tried to flee.
Seeing the Golden Spirit Mouse's movement, Shan Xionghai felt a jolt in his heart, thinking *not good*.
Sure enough, he missed!
The spear tip grazed past the Golden Spirit Mouse's hind leg, tearing away a shred of flesh, but failed to hit a vital spot.
Fortunately, the moment he attacked, he flicked the "Spirit-Binding Net" at his waist, shaking it downward just in time to cage that very Golden Spirit Mouse within it.
"Phew, close one!"
He immediately drew the other throwing spear from his back, leaped down from the tree, and impaled the trapped Golden Spirit Mouse.
Only then did he have the leisure to look toward Zhou Xun's side.
That single glance left him staring in dumbfounded shock.
He saw that the other large mouse had been pierced right through the chest by a throwing spear and pinned fiercely to the ground. Zhou Xun was in the midst of pulling the spear back out.
"I am a monster-hunting cultivator tempered in the Hundred Desolate Mountains, yet I can't even compare to a wet-behind-the-ears novice!"
Shan Xionghai shook his head hard and opened his mouth to speak, but Zhou Xun interrupted him.
"The three little ones got away, let's chase them!"
Only then did Shan Xionghai snap back to his senses, a wave of sheepish embarrassment washing over him. To think that he, a dignified monster-hunting cultivator, had made such a blunder and needed a novice like Zhou Xun to remind him.
Seeking to salvage his pride, he said:
"I'll chase the two on the left, the one on the right is yours!"
Zhou Xun had no objections, so the two of them didn't even bother to pack up their prey, grabbing their spears and giving chase.