Chapter 283: Chapter 175: The Effects of the Red Blood Pill; Foraging by the Sea, Part 2

Carrying the basket on his back, Cheng Zongyang swiftly descended the mountain and hurried toward the coast.

Luo Dingran, who was behind him, looked on with envy, wanting to go take a look himself. But as he gazed out at the boundless ocean, the memory of the giant Sea Beasts he occasionally saw leaping from the water to hunt made him instantly dismiss the idea.

’They look enormous even from this far away. Up close, they’d probably be as big as a small mountain.’

’This world is just too dangerous,’ he thought. ’It’s a shame there’s been no word on the High Tier Soul Crystal Stones the master requested. A Soul Slave whose Attributes can’t be improved is far too limited.’

After acquiring one hundred Low Tier Soul Crystal Stones, Cheng Zongyang had tasked him with trying to acquire High Tier ones.

They speculated that High Tier Soul Crystal Stones would impose fewer restrictions on a Soul Slave.

But attempts to acquire one for 1500, and even 1800 Points, had failed. The latest offer was set at 2000 Points per stone, and the listing was still active.

Down at the foot of the mountain, Cheng Zongyang carried his basket, using the Wind-Stepping Step technique to deftly maneuver as he rapidly approached the coastline.

A few minutes later, Cheng Zongyang came to a stop. He set the basket aside, took off his shoes, and, using his Tang Blade as a makeshift cane, stepped barefoot onto the fine sand. A nearly forgotten memory surged within him.

’The beach! It’s been so long!’

There were no bikinis, no pleasure boats, no beer and barbecue, but at least he could once again feel the sand and waves he had missed for so long.

The sea itself might be dangerous, but he had little to fear here on the shore.

As the cool seawater surged in waves, washing over his feet, Cheng Zongyang began to search for shellfish.

Since he’d come all this way, he was determined to have a seafood feast.

Thanks to his identification ability, Cheng Zongyang was able to pick out many unfamiliar specimens from the sand and toss them ashore.

He worked his way from the sandy beach to the reefs, collecting any sizable pips, clams, oysters, sand crabs, swimming crabs, razor clams, abalone, mussels, and even a few sea urchins washed up by the waves. He gathered nearly everything he could find, aside from fish.

’I’ve missed seafood so much.’

He finally emptied the original contents of his basket, setting them aside so he could use it to hold his haul.

BOOM—

Suddenly, far out at sea, a Sea Beast the size of a small mountain breached the surface. It spouted a geyser of water high into the air before slowly sinking back beneath the waves.

The surging water folded over itself, forming a three- to four-meter-high wave that rolled toward the shore.

Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang, who was standing by a reef, used his Wind-Stepping Step. Clutching the basket now overflowing with seafood, he leaped back toward the shore, escaping the massive wave.

’So much for sea fishing, then.’

Seeing that Sea Beast, even from afar, was like being an infant standing before a blue whale.

It was utterly staggering.

After that, Cheng Zongyang stopped his gathering and prepared to start a fire for a barbecue.

He had brought plenty of spices—some he had acquired from the County Town, but many others, like garlic, star anise, and pepper, had simply spawned in his item inventory.

It was a rare moment of leisure, and Cheng Zongyang allowed himself to completely relax.

He chopped wood, built a fire, and started grilling. Then he took out a bottle of low-proof fruit wine, eating as he cooked.

The fruit wine had been brewed by Li Ze, and it wasn’t half bad.

The long-missed flavors made his nose tingle with emotion.

He gazed out toward the distant sea, where a giant bird appeared to be hunting. Shoals of large fish fled before it, one after another, as if being driven forward.

However, before he could get too lost in his sentimental seafood feast, another boom suddenly echoed from the far-off surface of the sea.

At the scene that followed, Cheng Zongyang’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

His gaze traveled up from the distant horizon, following the object that was soaring into the sky. He was so transfixed he didn’t even notice the piece of oyster fall from his hand.

An unknown distance away, over the water, a winged creature soared into the heavens. It had the giant bird in its jaws and was circling in the sky. A spray—of either seawater or blood—rained down from above, and instead of scattering, countless fish below began to thrash and fight over it.

Cheng Zongyang immediately dropped what he was holding, rummaged through his things, and pulled out his binoculars.

In his past life, going to the beach without binoculars was a wasted trip.

He had brought them this time out of pure habit, even without any bikinis to look at.

Through the binoculars, Cheng Zongyang stared intently at the thing in the sky, his mouth gradually falling agape.

’Is... is that a snake? A snake with wings?’

Within his field of view was a colossal, elongated serpent. It had no legs, but a pair of appendages—he couldn’t tell if they were fins or wings—grew from its upper back.

It was eating the giant bird as it flew, bits of flesh and blood raining down. It was gradually drawing closer to the shore, apparently attracted by the smoke from his fire.

He was too far away to use his identification ability, but seeing the creature’s trajectory, Cheng Zongyang grabbed his Tang Blade, abandoned everything else, and bolted for the forest.

’That’s too damn terrifying!’

’A giant flying snake actually exists!’

The moment he reached the tree line, the winged serpent dropped its prey. The massive carcass slammed down right where his campfire had been.

’My seafood barbecue!’ Cheng Zongyang, hiding behind a tree, covered his face in dismay as he shielded himself from the shockwave of the impact.

’I finally get to have a decent barbecue, and you have to come and ruin it!’

Cheng Zongyang cursed inwardly but didn’t dare move from his hiding spot.

The body of the dead bird was as large as a pterosaur from the movies.

Just then, the giant serpent descended to the ground. Flicking its tongue, it began to circle the barbecue spot, as if it had sensed the smell of cooked food.

Only now did Cheng Zongyang get a true sense of the giant serpent’s incredible size.

It was at least twice as large as the Black-Horned Python he had encountered before.

But his identification ability only worked within a three-meter radius, so he couldn’t get a reading on it.

THUMP. A dull sound came from the giant bird’s corpse. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The giant serpent had sent the bird’s corpse flying with a flick of its tail, revealing what was underneath.

Now the serpent knew where the smell was coming from. It seemed to find the scent unpleasant, however. After a glance around, it dragged the giant bird’s corpse with it and slithered back into the sea.

Apparently, it didn’t have a habit of wasting food. Cheng Zongyang felt a pang of disappointment; he had been hoping to scavenge some leftovers.

Cheng Zongyang slowly emerged from his hiding place.

He walked over to his ruined campsite. Looking at the scene of utter devastation, he angrily flipped both middle fingers at the sea.

’I barely got to eat any of my goddamn seafood feast!’

Resigned, he began to pack up his things to leave. As he did, however, he noticed a significant amount of blood splattered on the seashells. One large shell held at least a hundred milliliters of bright red blood. He even found a few scattered, fist-sized chunks of flesh.

’Could this be from the giant bird?’ Cheng Zongyang’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly tilted back his head and finished off the water in his bamboo canteen.

He shook the canteen dry and carefully poured the precious blood from the shells into it.

All told, he collected two or three hundred milliliters.

Cheng Zongyang also packed the chunks of flesh, then used his identification ability on them.

—

[Flesh of a Cyan Sand Bird]

Introduction: The flesh of a common avian Exotic Beast from the South Sea Region of the Wilderness World.

Grade: ★

Species: Exotic Beast

Ability: Sound Wave

Ability Introduction: ... (omitted)

—

Cheng Zongyang was a little disappointed when he read the introduction. It was just a common, One-Star Level Exotic Beast.

Still, he wasn’t one to be wasteful. He carefully packed up all the flesh and blood, gathered the rest of his belongings, and quickly headed back.

He barely got to eat any of his rare seafood feast, but at least he learned a valuable lesson: even the beach could be the site of an unexpected catastrophe.

"Master, are you alright?"

Luo Dingran was the first one to greet him upon his return to the territory. The giant serpent’s appearance had naturally drawn everyone’s attention.

However, since they had seen Cheng Zongyang leave the area beforehand, they hadn’t been overly concerned.

"I’m fine," Cheng Zongyang said with a dismissive wave, then added regretfully, "A shame about my seafood, though. It’s all ruined."

Luo Dingran smiled. "If you enjoy it, Master, I can have people gather some to store in the Preservation Warehouse. Then you can eat it whenever you wish."

Cheng Zongyang chuckled. "No need. The fun of foraging on the beach is in the process, not the outcome. Don’t worry about it. If I get a craving again, I’ll go get it myself. You can get back to your duties. I’m going to look for Zhang Jinquan."

With that, Cheng Zongyang took the two new items from his basket, leaving the rest of his haul in the marketplace hut.