Chapter 558 - 559: Island
Chapter 558: Chapter 559: Island
Relying on his familiarity with this stretch of the sea, coupled with the scouting he had done the previous day, Gu Kaiyuan quickly located the island.
Looking at the dwarves lying on the beach, Bai Suihe curled her lips in disdain at their attire. Sure enough, they were a race without any cultural heritage. What on earth were they wearing? It was simply an eyesore.
Some unknown birds had landed on the beach, pecking at who-knows-what. The moment the family stepped off the boat, the birds were startled and flew away. However, they didn’t go far, perching on nearby branches to observe the newcomers.
The weather was sweltering. Even though only a single night had passed, the poor hygiene of these people meant the area already reeked of a foul stench.
Gu Kaiyuan quickly led them around the beach, heading toward the small hill in the back. Spotting a trodden dirt path, he took the lead and walked ahead.
Gu Xingyang had already been woken up by now. Bai Suihe hadn’t forgotten her main purpose for bringing this little ancestor along today; they really needed her help.
"Mother, isn’t this island a bit too small? It seems to be just a small dirt mound. You can see the end of it with a single glance.
"If these people were going to pick a spot, they could have at least chosen somewhere with good feng shui," Gu Xingyang said, her tone full of disgust. If the place were a bit bigger, it could have served as their temporary foothold.
"Let’s get to work first," Bai Suihe said, giving her a light pat. "See where they hid their things."
Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Suihe could certainly search for it themselves, but despite the hill’s small size, combing through it would still take time.
"Don’t worry, Mother. Leave it to me!" Gu Xingyang puffed out her chest, then quickly warned, "Father, don’t take another step forward. Ten meters to your left, there’s a snake raising its head, glaring at us like we’re prey."
Bai Suihe’s eyes lit up. "What kind of snake is it?"
Ever since she began studying medicine, she had long overcome her minor fear of snakes. In fact, she had grown increasingly interested in the venom they carried.
"It’s a king cobra," Gu Xingyang said, curling her lips. "It’s super fierce. I wonder why it didn’t bite those shorties earlier."
A snake that helped their enemies bully them was not a good snake.
"Don’t be afraid." Bai Suihe smoothly handed her daughter over to Gu Kaiyuan. "We’ve been using quite a lot of medicinal powder lately. I might as well take this chance to restock our inventory."
As she spoke, a snake-catching cage suddenly appeared in her hand. Snatching up a large, sturdy branch from the ground, she dashed forward before Gu Kaiyuan could even stop her.
He didn’t even get a clear look at how she did it. Before he knew it, the two-meter-long king cobra was already pinned firmly under her stick, its tail tightly wrapping around the thick branch.
Bai Suihe’s eyes brimmed with joy. "What a great find! If I bring this back, Nanny will definitely love it."
She had just been talking about taking another trip into the mountains specifically to hunt for these reptiles. To think one would deliver itself right to her doorstep!
With a swift pinch right behind the snake’s head and a smooth sweep of her hand, the previously arrogant king cobra found itself curled up inside the catching cage. It was relocated before it could even figure out what had happened.
Bai Suihe secured the lid tightly, then hefted the cage in her hand to gauge its weight. "It’s got some decent size to it. It shouldn’t die easily once we start raising it."
Watching Bai Suihe’s fluid execution of the catch, Gu Kaiyuan shook his head with a wry smile. Who would have thought that the doted, pampered legitimate daughter of the Bai Family would possess such a wild, uninhibited side?
He still remembered when she first married him. While they were strolling in the garden, a mere moth fluttering onto his clothes was enough to make her immediately dart far away. Contrasting that memory with the fierce and capable woman standing before him gave him a surreal feeling.
Bai Suihe placed the snake cage into her spatial domain, then smiled at Gu Xingyang with pure praise. "My daughter is the sweetest. You gave me such a huge gift the moment we arrived!
"Keep your eyes peeled for me. We’re taking every single good thing we find."
Gu Xingyang nodded with a beaming smile. That stinky snake dared to glare at her just now? Later, she would definitely make her mother pull out its fangs. Let’s see how arrogant it could be then.
Along the way, Gu Xingyang helped Bai Suihe locate a few more medicinal herbs before finally tracking down the treasures hidden by those shorties.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly "hidden." Behind the small dirt mound, there was a tiny cave propped up by jagged reefs. A narrow stream of fresh water trickled just outside its entrance, which was likely the main reason these people had chosen to settle here.
It was just that these people were far too filthy. The moment they stepped up to the cave, a nauseating stench hit them squarely in the face.
Startled, Bai Suihe quickly covered her nose and mouth, holding her breath as she retreated a few paces. Once she was sure she was out of the stench’s immediate blast zone, she lowered her hands. "What’s inside?"
If there wasn’t anything valuable, she wouldn’t even bother going in.
Gu Xingyang blinked her innocent little eyes. "Mother, there are still some good things in there. There is some loose Silver, along with a lot of grain.
"The bulk of it consists of dried goods. It looks like the loot they plundered from that village earlier."
Bai Suihe retrieved a long strip of cloth from her spatial domain. Tearing it into two equal halves, she tied one piece over her face to cover her nose and mouth, then gestured for Gu Kaiyuan to follow suit.
Gu Xingyang felt a bit wronged. "Mother, why didn’t you think of me? I don’t want to smell the stinky stuff either."
In a flash, Bai Suihe picked her up, slipped back into the spatial domain, and deposited her onto the bed in the bedroom. "There are definitely a lot of germs in there. You shouldn’t join in on the mess.
"Once I find all the good stuff, I’ll let you pick what you want."
Gu Xingyang thought about it and found it reasonable. After all, she was still a baby; she required special care.
Bai Suihe followed Gu Kaiyuan into the cave. Aside from obvious traces of daily living, the place was completely empty, exactly as Gu Xingyang had said.
It seemed the scene Gu Kaiyuan witnessed last night—their gathering to pray together—had simply made it perfectly convenient to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
After lighting a torch, they spotted a pile of firewood in the center of the cavern. Gu Kaiyuan set it ablaze, and soon, the entire cave was brightly illuminated.
The cavern, spanning about three hundred square meters, had likely been their gathering place for a long time. Several spots were blackened by soot, and piles of dry hay sat in the corners, littered with messy, discarded clothing.
The grains and dried goods Gu Xingyang had mentioned were all piled up at the very back of the cave. Perhaps because it was food, these people had actually bothered to keep it organized, stacking everything in an exceptionally neat manner. Without a second thought, Bai Suihe swept all of it into her spatial domain.
In addition, Bai Suihe gladly accepted the loose Silver and copper coins tucked away in the corner.
The fact that there wasn’t much loot made it clear that the village they had plundered didn’t exactly have a high standard of living. Giving those deranged savages a swift and painless death was truly letting them off too easy.
As for the weapons scattered throughout the cave, Gu Kaiyuan viewed them with utter disdain. Still, he refused to leave them behind. If any of their accomplices ever found their way here in the future, leaving the weapons would simply be giving them an advantage.
He had Bai Suihe store all the iron weapons away. They could see if the metal could be melted down later and reforged into something else.
After looting the place entirely bare, they let Gu Xingyang out of the spatial domain to confirm that absolutely nothing had been left behind. Only then did they board their boat, rushing back through the night.