"Hmph."
Chen Fan could not help but laugh helplessly. He found it hard to imagine that a great figure who could smash a mountain with a hammer took the time to dig Eerie Stones out of a latrine pit. Quite thrifty.
"Truly a senior."
Zhou Mo stood at the edge of the latrine pit, clasped his hands together, and spoke with solemn respect. "I used to wonder what cultivation one has to reach to smash through a mountain with a hammer and how many Eerie Stones he had burned through in cultivation."
"Now I understand."
"It is precisely this attitude of not wasting a single Eerie Stone that had brought him where he was at in cultivation."
"As the saying goes—"
"Difficult tasks in the world start with the easy; great undertakings begin with the small."
"Today, seeing the senior treasure even the most trivial things, I finally understand the meaning of 'The sage never attempts great things, and that is why he achieves greatness.'"
"I once fancied an overnight success. How utterly foolish I was."
"Senior, I have gained enlightenment."
"So you motherfucker's been enlightened?"
Chen Fan shot Zhou Mo an exasperated look. "You came here for enlightenment, huh? Everyone, go search elsewhere. Since we found one latrine pit, there must be more."
"That great figure couldn't possibly have taken all the Eerie Stones from every latrine pit."
"Also, smash all these in this latrine pit."
"Maybe there are some left at the bottom."
...
Another half shichen passed.
Chen Fan stood expressionless with Crippled Monkey and the others before a latrine pit, silent for a long time.
After digging the first latrine pit, they had already identified a pattern. Heyhey's parents did not like digging latrines too close to the lair. They had dug up a third, fourth, fifth, and eventually a total of six latrine pits in places some distance away.
One could say the harvest was substantial.
However, they did not find a single Eerie Stone, only a pile of fossilized feces.
"Young Master."
From his side, Crippled Monkey glanced at the fossils in the latrine pit, then ventured,
"Should we take all these fossilized feces back? Heyhey's parents seem quite powerful. After over a hundred years of decomposition, these might be useful in the future."
"Good point."
Chen Fan sighed softly. Though still somewhat disappointed, he accepted it readily and nodded. "Everyone, work hard. Pack all these fossilized feces into chests and take them back. They might come in handy someday."
Crippled Monkey's words were a reminder.
Eerie Creatures, especially those without intelligence, were keenly sensitive to such a scent. It could repel ordinary Eerie Creatures like an Eerie Fire did.
This counted as some gain.
As the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed. Could they, after digging for so long, return with nothing? How shameful would that be?
"Let's get to work."
Chen Fan clapped his hands and beamed at everyone, declaring. "These are all treasures. Take them all back. Don't leave a single piece behind."
"Station Master." Zhou Mo sidled over, proposing a possibility thoughtfully.
"We might have been mistaken about things all along. From the Eerie King's words, we learned that 180 years ago, a great figure referred to as 'You-know-who' left this place."
"The abyss pit and the canyon are a hammer crater caused by that great figure."
"It is known that this great figure was likely a cultivator of an exalted level."
"Probably not an Architect or something, as there is no debris nearby. But since he was a great figure, he likely had many followers. The latrine pits might not have been dug by the great figure personally, but by his followers. In that case, it wouldn't be strange for all the Eerie Stones inside to have been taken away."
"And then?" Chen Fan tilted his head to look at Zhou Mo; what he was getting at was lost on Chen Fan.
"What I mean is, if that's the case, then this senior might not be as admirable as I thought, not particularly worthy of respect."
"Better let it go and go work."
Chen Fan waved him away, then continued looking around, unwilling to give up.
As he walked about, he kept stabbing the ground with the God-Slaying Spear. He felt like a tomb robber now.
There was a nuance, however: others robbed tombs, yet he robbed feces.
Another half shichen passed. During this time, everyone packed the feces into chests, and the crocodile made several trips up and down the mountain and moved all back to the base.
Chen Fan lifted his gaze to the sky and finally took failure lying down. He had been stabbing the ground for a long time, but found no more latrine pits. These seemed to be all there was, and none had any Eerie Stones left.
"Let's go home."
Chen Fan casually thrust the God-Slaying Spear into the earth one last time, pulled it out, and was about to walk toward the crocodile for the trip back. It was getting late.
But at that moment.
He suddenly noticed a faint milky-white liquid dripping from the tip of the spear.
"What's this?"
Chen Fan was momentarily dumbstruck before snapping out of it. He was all too familiar with this: it was the very milky-white liquid a shattered Eerie Stone shed.
The spear he had just plunged into the ground had pierced through an Eerie Stone beneath.
"Hey!"
Bursting with excitement, Chen Fan looked toward the crocodile lying nearby, ready to give them a ride home, and shouted, "Don't lie around anymore! Come dig this place up. Let's see what's underneath."
"Could there be a latrine pit that wasn't extracted?"
Zhou Mo, Crippled Monkey, and the others also grew excited, rushing over and watching the digging crocodile with hopeful eyes. The hope that had been extinguished was rekindled.
Soon, the pit was excavated.
It was indeed a deep pit.
The previous latrine pits showed signs of digging. After taking the Eerie Stones, that great figure had refilled those pits—quite considerate.
Though this deep pit showed no signs of digging, nor were there fossilized feces.
At the bottom, there were no fossils, only soil-covered Eerie Stones. A host of white Eerie Stones were interspersed with many dark green ones, a dazzling sight for the beholders.