Citun Pearls

Where there had originally been twelve cacti, there were now thirteen. The thing they were waiting for had arrived. Where was this extra cactus? According to Li Banfeng's memory, it was between the fifth and sixth cacti. Li Banfeng prepared to strike with his Tang dao, but Ma the Fifth signaled him to wait a moment longer. Both men turned their backs at the same time, looking away from the cactus. The cactus was currently devouring snake-head eels. It had opened the bag and skewered an eel with a spine-covered arm. Then, using its other arm, it sliced open a wound on its own body and stuffed the eel inside. This was how it fed, without making the slightest sound throughout the entire process. Ma the Fifth was estimating how fast the cactus ate the fish. The more it ate, the better, but they couldn't wait until it finished every last one. Otherwise, the cactus might flee—or something far more terrifying might happen. Since there was a fairly large catch of snake-head eels this time, Ma the Fifth wanted to wait a little longer. But Li Banfeng's ear twitched; using his Perceiving Spiritual Voices technique, he heard a voice: "There's more here." What did it mean, "There's more here"? Li Banfeng whipped his head around and found a cactus nearly two meters tall standing right before the two of them. That was close. Ma the Fifth had grown overconfident. The cactus had finished all the fish and was preparing to move on to the next course. This kind of cactus was called a Citun. It normally hid beneath the yellow sand and rarely showed itself. The Citun had an omnivorous diet, feeding on any bugs or snakes in the sand. But in this newland, only two kinds of food could lure them out from beneath the dunes. The first was the snake-head eel, the fish Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth had netted by the lake. Alive or dead, the Citun loved them all the same. The second food was humans—and it only ate them alive. A Citun possessed formidable combat strength. Once it made a move, Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth's combined fighting capability might very well not be enough to keep them from dying at its hands. Yet the Citun had a fatal weakness: so long as someone was watching it, it could not move. That was why Ma the Fifth and Li Banfeng had to turn their backs on the snake-head eels on the ground at first; only then could they lure it up from beneath the sand. A Citun arrived without making a sound and looked no different from any ordinary cactus, its shape virtually indistinguishable. Ma the Fifth had been able to confirm its appearance only by counting. The Citun made no noise while eating either, leaving Ma the Fifth to rely entirely on experience to estimate the time. His estimate had been slightly off this time because this cactus had an immense appetite and devoured the fish in no time. It was entirely thanks to Li Banfeng's Perceiving Spiritual Voices that they hadn't waited any longer; otherwise, both Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth might have ended up as a meal in its belly. Now there was no need to worry. Ma the Fifth and Li Banfeng kept their eyes locked on the cactus. As long as the two didn't blink at the exact same moment, it couldn't budge. "You need at least two people when coming to this desert to escape a Citun attack," Ma the Fifth said. Brandishing a short sword over a foot long, he leapt up and split the cactus in two. Clear, colorless sap flowed from the split cactus. Amid the fluid, Ma the Fifth gathered eight peanut-sized pearls. "This cactus has eaten quite a few people recently..." Ma the Fifth said, his expression somewhat grave. He fetched a waterskin and washed the slime off the pearls. Six were dark red, while two were bright red. Upon seeing the two bright red pearls, a faint smile surfaced on Ma the Fifth's face. His gamble had paid off. "Look, Brother Li. Citun pearls are food that the Citun hasn't fully digested. These six pearls were formed after it ate humans. Vengeful souls cling to them, so their quality is poor. "These two pearls formed just now from eating the fish. Those eels were dead long ago, so there are no vengeful souls attached to them. Their quality is top-notch. "If you take either of these two to Lüshuiwan, one alone can fetch three hundred thousand—more valuable than all six of those combined!" This was why Ma the Fifth had wanted to wait for the Citun to finish the snake-head eels; every extra bite might produce another pure pearl. Li Banfeng looked at the six dark red pearls and asked, "There's a vengeful soul on each pearl?" He activated his Yin-Yang Eyes, but saw no ghost fires. Ma the Fifth shook his head. "More than that. When it eats living humans, the pearls form slowly. Three to five people might not even yield a single pearl. Judging by the color, there are probably five or six vengeful souls attached to each one. Pearls like this are low-grade. You can sell them to the Song family for two thousand-odd dollars, and even in Lüshui City, you'd be lucky to fetch thirty thousand." The more vengeful souls attached, the lower the pearl's grade. But why couldn't he see them? Were they hidden too deep? Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and said, "If you remove the vengeful souls from the pearls, wouldn't they become top-grade?" Ma the Fifth gave a bitter smile. "That's easier said than done. People swallowed by a Citun are impaled by ten thousand thorns before they die. It's an agonizing death. Their souls lose their original spirits, leaving behind immense resentment. "To dispel the vengeful souls, you either need a magic artifact or you have to hire a Nightmare Cultivator. Such artifacts are rare, and Nightmare Cultivators themselves are few and far between. Cleansing the vengeful spirits completely would easily run over a hundred thousand. And if the process goes awry and ruins the pearl, you lose every penny of your investment. That's why hardly anyone does it." Li Banfeng said, "Hand the pearls over to me first. I have a way." "You have a way?" Ma the Fifth was half-skeptical, but he was doing this business to repay a debt of gratitude in the first place, so he handed all eight Citun pearls to Li Banfeng without hesitation. "Brother Li, keep them safe. Whatever you do, don't let anyone from the Song family see them on the way back. The Songs hunt Citun regularly too, but they don't use snake-head eels. They use living humans as bait to angle for them." "Living humans as bait?" Li Banfeng was taken aback. Ma the Fifth nodded. "In Lanyang Village, people who truly have no way left to survive will sign a contract with the Song family. They mortgage their lives for twenty thousand dollars to become bait people for the Songs. "The Songs bind the bait people tightly and throw them out into this desert. Since Citun fear being watched, they blindfold the bait people as well. "When a Citun shows up, if the Songs strike quickly enough, the bait person might just keep their life. But the Songs are primarily after the Citun; they only consider the optimal moment to hunt it, not whether the bait person lives or dies. As a result, becoming a bait person is a nine-to-one chance of death." Bait person. Li Banfeng had encountered yet another new term. "Brother Ma, how did you know Citun love to eat snake-head eels?" "I learned it from my family's ancestral records. The Ma family has a vast collection of books—more than any of the other great families in Puluo Province. Among the Ma family's descendants, some favored literary studies, while others favored martial arts; records for both could be found in our family archive. "I liked reading too, but I only read books about making money. It's a shame that I can never go back to the Ma family in this lifetime. There were so many good books in that archive, and so many ways to make money that I never mastered." Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "From earthen jade peaches to tiger-head lice, to snake-head eels, and finally to Citun pearls—was this whole chain laid out in a single book?" Ma the Fifth shook his head. "There was no chain. These things couldn't possibly appear in the same book. "There are over a hundred kinds of food earthen jade peaches like to eat, and rotten fish is the easiest to come by, which is why everyone knows that method. "There are also over a hundred kinds of insects that live on earthen jade peaches, but the tiger-head louse is just one of them. Not many people know about that. "Snake-head eels are extremely cunning. Without the right bait, you'll never catch one, and diving into the lake to catch them is exceedingly dangerous. Even if you catch them, they can only be used by Poison Cultivators to refine poison and don't sell for much, so rarely does anyone bother to hunt them. "Yet tiger-head lice are one of the few baits for catching snake-head eels, and in this Lanyang Village newland, it's the only one you can find. Very few people know this. "As for the Citun cactus, its diet is extremely varied. The records list over sixty types of bait alone, and snake-head eels are merely one of them. In the Lanyang Village newland, apart from living humans, they're already the easiest bait to find. "I took all those books I'd read in the past, broke them apart in my head, smashed the pieces together, and then staked out the Song family warehouse for days to figure out what this newland produces. Only then did I piece this chain together." Li Banfeng said, "Then we can just run this whole process every day from now on—angling for peaches, catching eels, hunting Citun." Ma the Fifth shook his head. "That won't work. If we keep doing it, the Songs will definitely get suspicious. This lead is valuable, sure, but it isn't the only one I know." Li Banfeng nodded repeatedly. A man like this was destined to make money. The two returned to Lanyang Village. To keep up appearances, Ma the Fifth carried the sack of rotten fish on his back as before. Song Jiasen was out taking his morning stroll in the village. Spotting Ma the Fifth, he laughed and said, "Fifth Young Master, throw that sack of rotten fish away. The smell is awful, and by the looks of it, maggots are already crawling in there." Ma the Fifth sneered. "If Boss Song were generous enough to bestow a few extra copper coins for meal money, I wouldn't have to live in such dire straits." Song Jiasen wore a look of surprise. "Why say such a thing, Fifth Young Master? Are you still holding a grudge over the peaches? I'm helpless here as well—this has been Lanyang Village's rule for years. I can hardly break precedent just for the Fifth Young Master. "How about this? If the Fifth Young Master doesn't mind, come have dinner at my humble abode tonight. As long as I have a bite to eat, I certainly won't let the Fifth Young Master go hungry." In just a few brief words, the sarcasm was laid on thick. Ma the Fifth said nothing. The two returned to the wooden cabin together. Ma the Fifth went to catch up on sleep downstairs, while Li Banfeng retreated into the Portable Abode. Seeing Li Banfeng return, the gramophone hissed with a whoosh, spewing a plume of steam that enshrouded the entire main hall. "Oh dear~ Husband, I can't live like this anymore. Your humble servant is about to starve to death!" Li Banfeng waved his hand, clearing away the steam before him, and took out a Citun pearl. "Wife, take a look and see if the ingredients on this are edible." "This thing... It really is edible!" The gramophone's Yin-Yang Eyes were clearly superior to Li Banfeng's. After scrutinizing it for a moment, she said, "This is a Citun pearl, isn't it? It's been quite a few years since I last saw one." "What are these pearls used for?" "They're supplementary materials for refining magic artifacts. Citun pearls can lock in spirituality, and lock it tight. The purer the Citun pearl, the more suited it is for artifact refining, because it can lock in a single kind of spirituality without interference from extraneous spirits. "This pearl of yours has eight dead souls inside. Pearls like this are impure, and the spirituality they lock in gets disturbed, so they won't fetch a good price. Just let your servant eat them." Li Banfeng sat down beside the gramophone and reasoned coaxingly, "Wife, it would be a shame to waste such a good pearl. Could you eat the dead souls and leave the pearl behind?" Hiss— Clatter-clatter— The gramophone was very reluctant. "Husband truly is greedy for money, refusing to let your servant enjoy a hearty meal. Oh well, your servant will give it a try. "Citun pearls lock in spirituality very tightly, and that's not just talk. Even your Yin-Yang Eyes couldn't see where those dead souls were. "These dead souls have lost their original spirits and merged with the pearl. Though your servant has ways to peel the vengeful souls away, if the pearl gets damaged, you mustn't blame your servant, Husband." "I won't blame you, I won't blame you! Go right ahead, Wife. If it breaks, it's on me!" As long as even one pearl was saved, Li Banfeng would turn a massive profit. The gramophone caressed the pearl with steam for a few moments, and a dead soul peeled away from it, sucked into the gramophone's horn. Despite the wife making it sound so difficult, in less than five minutes, the first pearl was finished. The dark red turned into a bright, vivid red, swept completely clean of all vengeful souls. Seeing moisture beading all over the horn, Li Banfeng wiped it tenderly. "You've worked hard, Wife." "Oh dear~ It wasn't really that hard, but the grievance in these dead souls was so heavy that it tasted rather spicy." Spicy... "Do you like spicy food, Wife? I have more here!" Li Banfeng pulled out the remaining five pearls. The gramophone giggled, the steam it exhaled tinted with a faint rosy blush. "Oh dear, Husband, I knew you doted on your servant." In less than half an hour, all the Citun pearls were treated. The wife let out a burp of satiety and went to sleep. Cradling the top-grade Citun pearls in his arms, Li Banfeng lay down on the bed and fell asleep as well. ... When evening came, Li Banfeng brought the six top-grade Citun pearls to Ma the Fifth. Ma the Fifth was astonished beyond measure, unable to fathom what method Li Banfeng could have used. He didn't pry either, knowing that such a technique would never be revealed lightly. "Brother Ma, I'll leave offloading the goods to you." Ma the Fifth nodded. "Brother Li, walk with me to the village entrance. I'm afraid of being ambushed."