One last pearl left
The vicious dog joined the team looking for pearls. Tian Baozhu improved the process. The three of them went to look for river clams first. When they had a certain number, they let the vicious dog sniff in the pile of clams. If there was no clams, it would shake its head. If it smelled something, it would bark three times.
Then, they sniffed the remaining pile in groups of ten. If there were no pearls, they passed; if there were, they barked. Finally, they had a vicious dog dig out the pearl-bearing clams from the ten piles, and they opened them.
The vicious dogs used their sense of smell to find things, and their efficiency was indeed much faster. However, the problem they faced was still the same as before: there were too few clams containing pearls.
So even if they went looking for it early in the morning, they still found it near dark.
Tian Baozhu planned to stay there and search like Meng Po did before, not going back to the dormitory to rest. When she was tired, she would sit by the river and continue searching after she had rested enough.
But Hei Wuchang did not allow it, as he was afraid that the unknown area would have a negative impact on Tian Baozhu again.
"You need to rest." He was firm on this issue. "You go back with Meng Po, and I will stay with He Bian Yi."
Meng Po: "You two go, the vicious dog and I will stay and look for it."
The vicious dog by the river: "Woof woof! (I don't want to be with you!)"
…
Everyone had opinions on how to distribute the work, and Tian Baozhu compromised a little. As soon as it got dark, they went back, the four of them together.
※※※
In the past few days, Tian Baozhu and her colleagues have been inspecting the red spider lily experimental field every morning, asking employees about the progress of yesterday's work, and then arranging the tasks for the day.
Then continue to accompany Meng Po to find pearls.
They searched along the river continuously, but many times they looked for hundreds of clams but didn't find a single one.
The vicious dog was anxious, so it simply jumped into the river and sniffed the clams directly. However, because it was in the water, the smell was diffused, so the time it took was not much less than the method used by the three people. However, it went directly into the river to search, and the results were indeed gratifying. One dog found several clams with pearls.
Time entered the countdown. From five days left, to four days... and then to the last day.
Today they came to a wider part of the riverbed, and the number of clams suddenly increased sharply, and the chance of getting pearls naturally also increased sharply.
"Okay, I got one." Tian Baozhu carefully opened the one-in-a-million-mile clams, took out the pearl, quickly closed the clams, and returned them to the water. A clams that can produce pearls is very likely to produce new pearls.
"I have two pearls in one box here, and I took them out too." Meng Po announced the good news to Tian Baozhu not far away.
Hei Wuchang was still working silently. Although he did not announce the good news, there were already four of them placed side by side at his feet.
Tian Baozhu did some mental calculations and concluded that she had found seven pearls today. Adding this to the total from the previous few days, they now had a total of twenty-six pearls.
She asked Meng Po, "Meng Po, how many pearls are needed to make a full dose of Meng Po soup?"
Meng Po said: "According to the current number of ghosts who need to be reincarnated, thirty are needed."
"That means we only need to find four more to complete the mission."
It’s not too few either. Tomorrow is the day when the Ghost Gate opens. Time is running out. With four, maybe I can find them if I’m lucky, but if I fail, I’ll just regret it.
If the potion is insufficient, the reincarnated ghosts will not gain sufficient enlightenment, and will become stupid when they are reincarnated as humans...
This is impossible. Reincarnation is a big deal. If there are not enough pearls to dilute the effect of Meng Po soup, Tian Baozhu will feel guilty. Meng Po must feel the same way, so she broke her previous idea of fighting alone and came to her for help, seeking their help.
While they were talking, Hei Wuchang silently opened two more pearls.
"We only have two more to go!"
Meng Po and Tian Baozhu hugged each other. Okay, we've only just started today, and there are only two left to reach our final goal.
Meng Po's puppet double held Tian Baozhu's hand, excited like a child. Since she and Tian Baozhu got along, she has indeed become much more childish. After cheering each other on, they plunged into the search again.
Tian Baozhu soon found another one, and victory was just around the corner, but no new pearls were discovered after that...
"No, there's only one left, but why is it so hard to find? We've already searched so many clams, but still can't find any pearls."
It was already dark, and Tian Baozhu took out the spirit-calling bell and injected energy into it, and then there was some light.
Hei Wuchang said, "Go back. It's not suitable to stay here for long after dark."
"But if only one pearl is missing and the ingredients are incomplete, some of the ghosts will be confused when they drink the Meng Po soup tomorrow. They may not know the reason behind this, but we do. After knowing this, we will feel guilty. Senior, you also want them to be reincarnated perfectly, right?"
“…”
Hei Wuchang didn't say anything else and didn't refute her.
"We still have this spirit-calling bell, so we can hold on for a while. Maybe we'll find it soon..."
Before Tian Baozhu could finish her words, strange humming sounds were heard all around, as if driving them away.
Hei Wuchang said: "You guys go back."
"Senior, what about tomorrow—"
"You guys go back, I'll stay and keep looking until I find it. Come find me again tomorrow during the day."
"Leave you here? This is a dangerous place! If you want to stay, then I can stay too. I have a spirit-calling bell as a lamp, and I can help you light the way."
"My eyesight can see even in the dark, so you don't have to worry."
"Hei Wuchang, you blockhead!" Tian Baozhu stamped her feet in anger and cursed him inwardly. How could she make him understand that they were partners? She didn't want to leave him here alone in danger.
He was worried about her health, but did he know that Tian Baozhu was also worried about his safety?
Tian Baozhu said, "How can we let you fall into this dangerous situation alone? Right, Mengpo?"
But Meng Po seemed to be considering Hei Wuchang's suggestion.
※※※
Tian Baozhu was overwhelmed, thinking that these two people were really messing around. But she couldn't think of a way to have the best of both worlds. Although there was only one missing key, it was the most fatal key.
"Okay, sister, let's go back. We will pick him up tomorrow and let the vicious dog accompany him. It shouldn't be that dangerous. Don't worry about it." Meng Po was about to look for the vicious dog by the river, but found that there was no trace of the dog.
"Strange, where is the vicious dog? Where did it run off to? It's causing us trouble at this critical moment." Meng Po cursed.
Tian Baozhu was also anxious. These two people were making her worry. She raised the light and shouted into the darkness: "Xiao Quan, where have you been? Come back soon!"
"Woof." Tian Baozhu seemed to hear a voice. To confirm, she called out again: "Xiaoquan, is that you? Where are you?"
"Woof woof."
She heard it. It was responding from behind a rock about as tall as a person, at the corner of the river.
She ran over there with the soul-calling bell, and Meng Po and Hei Wuchang followed her.
When they got there, they saw the vicious dog fighting with something by the river.
Upon closer inspection, the vicious dog was lying under a stone. There was a river clam on the stone. Its shell was stuck to the moss on the surface of the stone. The vicious dog dug at it with its claws and bit it with its mouth, but it couldn't get the clam out.
"What are you still doing here, little dog? Let's go back." Tian Baozhu grabbed it and hugged it, but unexpectedly it jumped back to its original place and continued to fight with the river clam.
Seeing Tian Baozhu's confusion, she barked twice more. Meng Po then acted as an interpreter: "You said there are pearls in this clam?"
"Woof!" A very confident bark of a dog.
The three of them were overjoyed. Tian Baozhu said excitedly, "Xiao Quan, are you sure?"
"Woof!" Another affirmative sound.
The last puzzle piece has been found!
But it takes a lot of effort to get it out. The puppy couldn't get it out for a long time, so it must be stuck very tightly.
"Let me use a rake to take it out." Tian Baozhu took out a rake from the hidden space and stretched it to a size suitable for digging. She didn't dare to use too much force for fear of damaging the small river clam.
The rake was still too big, and even if the tip was shrunk, it was still several times larger than the clam. She only dared to use it to scrape the moss around the clam. To touch the clam body, she needed a more sophisticated tool.
Tian Baozhu looked at her hands. How about the Ring of Awakening? Perhaps it could be used.
It was inconvenient to work with the sobriety ring on her hand, so she usually threw it into the hidden space.
She took it out and put it on her hand. She tapped the edge of the clam and the whole clam fell into her hand intact.
Perfect.
She unlocked new ways to use it, so she could use it again when she encountered it in the future. Tian Baozhu learned quickly, so her farming experience was always good.
Tian Baozhu spread out the river clam in her hands, and the vicious dog sniffed it, and it immediately barked, as if to say: Yes, this is it, there is a pearl inside!
Tian Baozhu used the light of the spirit-calling bell to shine inside again, and indeed she saw a shadow, and it looked like there was more than one pearl inside the shadow.
Tian Baozhu handed the river clam to Meng Po.
Meng Po said, "Let me pry it open and see." With swift skill, she used her puppet's fingers to pry the shell open, revealing three pearls nestled within. With a scrape of her puppet's fingers, they rolled out effortlessly, without injuring the clams. The shell quickly closed, and they returned the clams to their original location.
Clams that already have pearls will also have a high chance of generating new pearls, and the range of movement of river clams is not large, so you can still pick them here when you come next time.
The three pearls are round and smooth, gleaming faintly in the dark night.
Tian Baozhu said happily, "It's really beautiful. That's great! We've found all the pearls we need this time, and there are two extra ones for next time. Little dog, you've also made a contribution. That's great."
Meng Po also praised it: "You did a great job, it's not in vain that I accepted you."
"Woof woof woof." The vicious dog straightened up proudly. Of course, I am a master.
Meng Po also thanked Tian Baozhu and Hei Wuchang for their hard work in helping her to reincarnate smoothly during this period of time.
Tian Baozhu smiled and nodded, and Hei Wuchang also nodded.
After collecting enough pearls, they hurried back.
Meng Po next needs to organize all the herbs for Meng Po Soup so that they can be used when the Ghost Gate opens tomorrow, so Tian Baozhu didn't bother her too much. She and Hei Wuchang each returned to their own dormitories.
The task of helping Mengpo find the ingredients for Mengpo Soup has come to an end, and they have to return to their own jobs.
The helping staff have opened up new land these days, and she is going to divide the bulbs and plant a new batch of flowers.
The Ghost Gate will open tomorrow, and Meng Po is always very busy. The red spider lily seeds that Meng Po lent them have grown into bulbs, so she will go and deliver some to her personally.
Okay, write it down. Tian Baozhu added another note to her notes, but she didn't know that the next day when the Ghost Gate opened, two major events would come.
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