Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 46 The Guide: Man, the sea urchin is working over here.

Wang Cheng refrained from helping due to the other party's requirements for the religious rituals. After watching for a while, he was certain that no further accidents would occur.

If Han Shushu tidies up slowly by herself, she can clean them all up in a day or two.

This was, after all, the place where Han Zechang, the "River Rat," personally chose for his niece's advancement; even if there was danger, it couldn't possibly come from the sunken ship itself.

I greeted her and then we went our separate ways.

After carefully searching through the seaweed nearby, he quickly found his target.

It was a black sea urchin the size of a human head, covered with dagger-like spikes, looking like a meteor hammer from a distance.

They are slowly moving through the seaweed using their tube feet and spines, feasting on their food.

[Rare Goods: Monkey Brain and Sea Urchin from 100,000 Sea Delicacies, weighing 1.7 jin]

Sea urchin roe is sweet and delicious, and can replenish vital energy and spirit. It is a nourishing delicacy even for officials of the middle rank.

Value of goods: 210 incense money
Contraindication: Eating sea urchin roe will cause you to lose your ability to speak within a day, and you will only be able to make "ooh ooh ooh" sounds like a monkey. Eating peaches or bananas can help.

Eating the monkey brains inside ten monkey brain sea urchins will grant you a permanent special ability: Eye in the Brain.

It can greatly enhance an official's already sharp senses and physical control, allowing them to see inward, have unobstructed night vision, anticipate enemy moves, and be unafraid of surprise attacks.

After reading the message, Wang Cheng discovered an unexpected surprise:
"The skill of 'eye in the brain' is a divine skill for water-class officers."

The difference in lighting between the open deck and the cabin of a sailboat is extreme, and this contrast in light and darkness can be deadly during boarding maneuvers.

Many of the Frankish pirates wore eye patches, making them look like blind one-eyed dragons. In fact, they did this so that they could always keep one eye to adapt to the dark and switch combat modes as quickly as possible.

Encountering even one of the other 100,000 sea delicacies would be a matter of luck, let alone ten. But with monkey brain sea urchins, these social creatures, there's a much better chance!

Wang Cheng immediately swam back to the surface, took the two items from Zhang Wu, and then dived back underwater.

The four water-dwelling officials—the Sea Scooper, the Treasure Hunter, the Pearl Diver, and the White Water Boy—each have their own taboos and unique skills when retrieving treasures.

Among them, the "treasure hunters" are the most particular when they work.

They have their own set of theories, believing that mountains are yang and water is yin, and that in places where mountains and waters are beautiful and spiritual, there must be various treasures born from the union of yin and yang and the formation of earth veins.

These treasures are mostly hidden deep within mountains and rivers, seizing the creations of heaven and earth, absorbing the mysteries of the sun and moon, and suppressing the feng shui and destiny of a place.

To seize something by ordinary means will surely bring divine retribution and misfortune; only by using esoteric methods and the Five Elements ritual can it be obtained cleverly.

This trade is called "Biebao" in the south and belongs to the water class, while it is called "Qianyang" in the north and belongs to the ground class. Both are outsiders' businesses.

Their most common method is to divide natural treasures into five categories and use the relationships of mutual generation and restraint among them to acquire various treasures.

For example, ginseng harvesting, which everyone is familiar with.

Ginseng that has grown to four leaves is believed to possess spirituality. Therefore, before digging up ginseng, one must first press down the ginseng leaves with copper coins and then tie them with red rope. This is the method of taking metal to overcome wood.

For example, the 100-year-old snow dragon belongs to the earth element, and wood overcomes earth, so it can only be captured with a wooden rake;

Even when the monkeys went to steal the ginseng fruit, the local deity said that the fruit would fall when it encountered gold, wither when it encountered wood, dissolve when it encountered water, burn when it encountered fire, and sink into the earth, which was based on this principle.

Bai Shuilang's overall skill in obtaining treasures may not be as good as that of the treasure hunters, but when it comes to capturing 100,000 sea treasures, no one can rival Bai Shuilang!
Just by listening to the name Hou Ying [Otter Sacrifice Fish], you can tell what his original profession was.

In the past, when Wang Cheng caught parrotfish and amberjack, he didn't need any special techniques; fishing nets were enough.

This time, the target was a large group of monkey brain sea urchins, which belong to the wood element, so he had to be cautious.

According to the principle of mutual generation and restraint of the five elements, specifically the element of metal restraining wood, a skilled craftsman was commissioned to create a "Diamond Pouch" woven from gold thread, silver thread, and ramie thread, along with a heavy, dark iron hook. Once something is caught in the pouch, it will never be able to escape.

And the handle was specially lengthened, just to...
clang--!
A long, crisp sound.

The moment the iron hook approached the sea urchin, one of its sharp spines suddenly retracted and then shot out like a crossbow bolt.

It was only after leaving a tiny scratch on the surface of the iron hook that it was flung away and slowly drifted down to the seabed.

Wang Cheng, quick-witted and agile, used his long-handled iron hooks and Vajra Hook to capture them all in one fell swoop.

Even after the monkey brain and sea urchin fell into the pocket, it continued to resist, its body bristling with sharp spikes, a third of which shot out in all directions.

If an ordinary predator dared to touch it, it would be instantly turned into a hedgehog.

However, even bullets fired underwater can only travel a maximum of three feet. The attack of this monkey brain sea urchin was similar; it couldn't even touch Wang Cheng at the other end of the long handle, leaving him completely at Wang Cheng's mercy.

He pressed on and, with just a quick search, caught two more near the shipwreck.

But when Wang Cheng was about to continue the search, he discovered that in just a short while, all the other sea urchins that should have been living together had disappeared.

"Strange? Could it be that these monkey brain sea urchins have the habit of warning their companions?"
This is troublesome.

Just as Wang Cheng was at his wit's end, he suddenly heard the sound of water churning behind him. He turned around abruptly and found a large red fish swimming towards him.

The fish was entirely fiery red without any other colors, and it was at least five feet long. Wang Cheng recognized it as a damselfish.

It's grown this big; it's practically a spirit now.

Unfortunately, sea bream is delicious, but damselfish is not, and neither are they considered highly nutritious seafood delicacies. Even if they were offered to him, he had no interest in catching them.

Just as he was about to swing the iron hook to drive it away, the damselfish unexpectedly swam over and circled around him, then wagged its tail and disappeared into another patch of seaweed.

He even stopped halfway, glanced back at Wang Cheng, and kept blowing bubbles as if signaling him to hurry up and catch up.

"What's happening here?
Wait a minute! Damselfish? Sea urchin? I feel like I've heard this combination somewhere before.

A sudden inspiration struck Wang Cheng, and everything became clear.

The damselfish also has another nickname: "the farmer of the sea".

They not only feed on seaweed, but also cultivate seaweed fields on the seabed, just like humans do.

It diligently eats up the algae it doesn't like, while protecting the seaweed it does like, and even drives away mayflies and mysids to fertilize the seaweed.

However, their biggest enemy is the sea urchin. These spiky thieves, which make it impossible for fish to bite them, often invade the seaweed beds of damselfish and eat the crops.

In this situation, if they encounter 100,000 sea creatures that can shoot out sharp spikes, they might not only fail to protect their vegetable garden, but also lose their lives.

Damselfish can't drive away sea urchins and can only watch helplessly as these bullies come and eat and take them. Fortunately, humans happen to be the natural enemy of sea urchins!
In his previous life, Wang Cheng had watched some documentaries and knew that damselfish were very intelligent. Through observation, they discovered that the number of sea urchins would decrease after the appearance of humans, and gradually formed a "guide" behavior, leading humans to their vegetable gardens to catch sea urchins.

It will also attract divers to follow it by swaying left and right.

"Clinging to powerful figures" can be considered a racial talent of damselfish.

Clearly, this is yet another instance of the old farmer's anger!
When Wang Cheng looked up at it again, he seemed to hear a solicitous call in his ear:
“Ren Sang, the sea urchins are working over here.”

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(End of this chapter)