Peach-Angling

That evening, ten young men followed Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth toward the newland. All along the way, the ten carried ten gunnysacks of rotting fish on their backs. These were dead fish Li Banfeng had bought from the market the night before. Tied up in sacks and left under the sun to stew for an entire day, their stench carried dozens of meters even upwind. The journey was no easy trek for the ten young men. A dark-skinned, burly youth hadn't even walked two li before his face turned pale from the fumes. "Are these two heading to the newland for peach-angling? Why else carry such foul-smelling fish?" Another handsome youth dressed in blue nodded. "Looking at the season, they must be out angling for peaches. But this isn't work they can handle—there's no money in it at all!" A skinny youth in a yellow shirt said, "Who cares whether they make money? As long as we get paid, that's what counts. We'll set the price with them in a bit. Picking peaches has to follow the going rate, or we walk." Earthen jade peaches were one of the most common quarries in Lanyang Village's newland. Indeed, Ma the Fifth's plan for this trip was to lead them peach-angling. The group walked all the way to the village's southernmost edge. Houses were gone here, replaced by the occasional tent. Many didn't even have tents, bedding down directly on pallets on the bare ground. At the border of the newland, there was no telling what might crawl out. Fall asleep in one piece tonight, and by the next morning, not even your corpse might remain. These people had largely given up hope of living. Having a mouthful to eat was already a blessing. They stayed beside the newland only because they truly had nowhere else to sleep—they couldn't even secure a spot under a bridge. The group left the village and entered a forest. There was nothing remarkable about these woods other than their dense foliage. Reaching the center of the forest, five of the youths, under Ma the Fifth's direction, untied the ten sacks of rotting fish and set them on the ground. The twelve took their positions: the ten young men guarded the upwind slope, while Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth guarded downwind. Ma the Fifth kept reassuring Li Banfeng. "Brother Li, the peach tree is bound to approach from downwind. We have to keep watch here so we can give the orders." His face deathly pale, Li Banfeng muttered, "Don't speak. Another word and I'll vomit." "Come now, Brother Li, it can't be that bad! It smells fine to me!" "Say one more word and I'll throw up all over you." Li Banfeng was not being delicate. His sense of smell was extraordinary, and positioned downwind, the stench of rotting fish poured into his nostrils, nearly doing him in. By four-thirty in the morning, with daybreak approaching, movement finally stirred in the woods. Squeak—creeeak— Something was moving between the trees. Li Banfeng quietly put on the Thread-Hook Earring and activated his Perceiving Spiritual Voices technique, wanting to hear what sound it made. Screeech! A shrill shriek pierced Li Banfeng's eardrums with agonizing pain. Once the ringing subsided, beneath that piercing cry, he heard a rasping roar: "Fragrant... so fragrant..." Fragrant? Li Banfeng sorely wished he could sit down and have a word with it about that. Rustle— Leaves rustled loudly. Ma the Fifth warned everyone to get ready. An earthen jade peach tree was drawing near them. Amid the foul stench, Li Banfeng could already catch the faint scent of peach blossoms. Creak, creak, creak... The rasp of rubbing bark scraped continuously as a "giant python" over a meter in diameter slithered slowly beneath the trees. Anyone visiting Lanyang Village's newland for the first time would have been frightened out of their wits by such a massive python. Yet quite a few among these youths had done the peach-angling trade before. They knew this was no python—it was a root of the earthen jade peach tree. This root seemed to serve as the peach tree's nose, probing about in search of scents. When it passed Li Banfeng, the root showed no reaction. A second-tier Dwelling Cultivator was automatically ignored. When it passed Ma the Fifth, however, the root reacted. It climbed onto the branches and approached Ma the Fifth, fine rootlets slowly sprouting across his body. Sweat broke out on Ma the Fifth's face. He was terrified. Experienced though he was at peach-angling, experience never ruled out accidents. An earthen jade peach tree was still a tree, lacking much intellect, but its combat strength was by no means low. If the rootlets bound Ma the Fifth, an unranked Joy Cultivator would be nothing more than an appetizer to it. After a tense moment, the rootlets ceased bothering Ma the Fifth and surged toward the pile of rotting fish on the ground. The peach tree knew a human was nearby, but this person's appeal couldn't begin to compare with the rotting fish. The thick root plunged headlong into the pile of rotten fish, sucking voraciously. Through the Thread-Hook Earring, the peach tree's cries kept coming: "Fragrant, so fragrant!" Before long, several more roots plunged into the pile, and the mound of rotting fish shrank at a visible pace. Seeing the time was ripe, Ma the Fifth led the group along the roots to find the peach tree concealed nearby. This peach tree was thick enough to require three men to encircle it, and its massive canopy could easily support a wooden cabin. Beneath the tree lay exposed root systems; dense tangles of roots stretched out well beyond normal sight. This tree had only just arrived in this forest. Li Banfeng was deeply curious: how did such a massive tree move through a forest so dense? Now was not the time to ponder such things; their time was extremely tight. Twelve people, each carrying a cloth bag, leaped onto the peach tree as fast as they could while it was busy devouring the rotting fish. Above in the canopy, tucked beneath the leaves, fist-sized earthen jade peaches were their quarry. The peach tree shuddered abruptly a few times, much like a person suddenly afflicted with fleas, feeling uncomfortable. Two of the youths nearly fell from the branches, only to be hauled back up by Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth. In peach-angling, the more hands the better; not only was harvesting more efficient, but people could look out for one another. Under no circumstances could anyone fall down. Drop among those roots, and a living, breathing human would be devoured in an instant, bones and all. The peach tree soon settled down, paying no further heed to the few fleas upon it, and focused entirely on gorging on the rotting fish. Now was the prime moment to harvest peaches. They had to be quick. How many peaches they could pluck before the tree finished off the fish depended entirely on their skill. Li Banfeng was the fastest. Not only were his hands quick, but his feet were swift as well. As a journey cultivator, he moved freely through the branches. Before long, he had plucked two full bags of peaches. The others were nowhere near as fast. Every peach had to be picked with utmost care, and whenever someone lost their footing, they needed those around them to steady or grab them. By the time each person had barely managed to fill a bag, the pile of rotting fish was already more than seventy percent consumed. Ma the Fifth glanced at the rotting fish and shouted, "Withdraw!" The group secured their bags and swiftly departed from the peach tree. Any later, and it would be too late. The earthen jade peach tree had a diverse diet. It loved rotting fish best, but it didn't mind having something else on the side. The group rushed out of the forest at top speed. Halfway back, Li Banfeng stood atop a branch and glanced toward where the peach tree had been. The peach tree was gone. How it had vanished was anyone's guess, as if it had never been there at all. Had this peach tree been grown by a Tillage Cultivator, or had it cultivated on its own? There was no telling. Tonight's hunt was over. They had been fortunate enough to run into an earthen jade peach tree. What if they hadn't? Then the trip would have been for nothing. The hired hands still had to be paid, and while the rotting fish could barely be kept until tomorrow night, the venture would have ended at a loss. The group returned to Lanyang Village. Along the way, they came across a breakfast vendor, and Ma the Fifth bought fried dough sticks and fried dough cakes to share with everyone. Watching Ma the Fifth and the others leave, the breakfast vendor hurried to pack up his stall and deliver word to Tang Tianjin, the head steward of the Song family. Upon receiving the message, Tang Tianjin immediately reported the matter to the head of the Song family—Song Jiasen. Buying breakfast—was such a trivial thing worth reporting to the family head? The breakfast was nothing; the peaches were the point. "Master, that Fifth Young Master of the Ma family took men to hunt in the newland." In Lanyang Village, hunting was one of the villagers' primary sources of income. And Lanyang Village was the Song family's turf. Hunting in the newland required checking in with the Song family beforehand, and whatever was hunted had to be unloaded through the Song family. For Ma the Fifth to hunt without greeting the Song family first was considered an offense. Song Jiasen took a sip of tea, ate a bite of pastry, and asked, "What did he hunt?" "Earthen jade peaches. He hired ten men and angled back over a dozen bags." Song Jiasen pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "What's he hunting peaches for? That isn't a trade he can run. He won't make a copper." The steward said, "Master, whether he makes money isn't our concern, but his actions violate the rules. Picking peaches without greeting us first—he's looking down on us." Song Jiasen gave a soft chuckle. "A few days ago, Ma Junyang had no money for rent and stayed in a shanty. These past couple of days, who knows where he scraped up some coin, but he moved back into a small building. "These young masters from wealthy families simply can't endure hardship. His lodging improved, but after paying the rent, his funds are probably running dry. "Let him have those few peaches. When he comes to unload them with us, pay him the going rate. Once he realizes there's no profit in it, he won't do it again." "Master, the Ma family has plenty of connections in the city. Though Ma the Fifth was cast out of the household, his roots aren't severed completely. What if he doesn't unload them through us?" Song Jiasen raised his teacup, took another sip, and said nonchalantly, "Then we won't tolerate him. If he doesn't sell through us, he won't take a single peach out of Lanyang Village." ... Ma the Fifth brought the men back to their lodging. Each held their bag and stepped up to be weighed one by one. For each jin of peaches, Ma the Fifth paid one hundred dollars. In Lanyang Village's newland, that was the going rate for picking peaches. Some had quick hands, picking fifty jin and receiving five thousand dollars. Others were slower, picking ten jin and getting one thousand dollars. Over a dozen bags of peaches totaled more than three hundred and eighty jin. Excluding Li Banfeng's and Ma the Fifth's share, over thirty thousand dollars was paid out in total. What were these peaches used for? The flesh of an earthen jade peach was a supplementary ingredient for alchemy, and the peach pit was top-grade medicinal material. How much could these peaches sell for? According to the purchase price paid by the Song family, one hundred dollars per jin. This was absurd. Buying at one hundred dollars a jin and selling at one hundred dollars a jin meant Ma the Fifth didn't earn a cent on this run. Not only did he fail to profit, he took a loss. Buying rotting fish cost money! In Lanyang Village, the only ones who made money picking peaches were the Song family, because selling peaches in the city fetched five hundred dollars a jin—a fivefold windfall. But could Ma the Fifth take the peaches out? He could not. The Song family would never sit idly by and watch Ma the Fifth carry over a dozen bags of peaches out of the village. That would cut off the Song family's revenue and slap them across the face. Then what was Ma the Fifth after with this business? The handsome youth in blue asked, "Bosses, you're not planning to sell these peaches back to the Song family, are you? Just a word of warning: there's no money to be made doing that." Ma the Fifth smiled. "Boss Song is a friend of mine. You might not make money, but I'm different." The youth didn't dare press further. Having received their money, the group took their leave one after another. Only two people remained in the wooden house. Li Banfeng drew water while Ma the Fifth soaked the peaches. After soaking for over an hour, seven to eight hundred worms floated to the surface. Earthen jade peaches had high sugar content and easily attracted insects. From the seven to eight hundred worms, Ma the Fifth picked out over fifty spotted green caterpillars and handed them to Li Banfeng. "These bugs are called tiger-head lice. Brother Li, be sure to keep them safe." Li Banfeng put away the green caterpillars and went to the market to buy fish. Ma the Fifth took the peaches and went to unload them with the Song family.