Chapter 194: The Worst of Smells (2/2)

Ming Yue managed to catch a whiff of whatever that vial had and wrinkled her face. Hei Yue and Xiao Yin accompanied her, both of them cowered away from just one sniff.

”Ugh, what is that?” she couldnt help but ask him.

Lao Gan answered with a hapless smile.

”Something I procured in the Chou Kingdom, which exists on an island by the northwestern corner of the continent. It is a popular fermented sauce that is incredibly smelly and equally delicious. It was one of the worst and yet most satisfying experience. This was a bit of a gamble but with its smelliness, I thought this would work”, he explained.

”Oh”, Ming Yue certainly underestimated this man's dedication for food.

Traveling for something like this seemed incredibly stupid but it certainly showed his determination. The fact that he ate this fermented sauce served to reinforced this.

She helped him up and they both looked in to the direction of where the deer escaped. It left broken trees in its wake. In a distance, they heard its pained cries as it continued suffering the pungent smells.

Lao Gan patted his clothes and checked his wooden backpack, making sure that nothing was broken.

”Well, that was certainly an encounter. One that I do not want to experience again.”

He sighed a breath of relief knowing that there were just a few surface scratches.

”Well then, I suppose we should get away before the Prima Frost Deer returns”, he said.

Agreeing to his suggestion, they quickly fled the area, getting as far away as they could. They travelled without resting, only stopping when the moon was directly above them. That night, Ming Yue had hunted a small boar for everyone to eat.

At that time, Lao Gan fished out the same vial from before. He looked at Ming Yue and the others before holding the vial at them.

”Do you guys want to try some? It's not the best smell but it has a fascinating taste, it goes especially well with wild game” speaking enthusiastically, his eyes glowed as he shared the vial with them.

Ming Yue hesitated before declining, just that first whiff was enough to ward her off. As much as she trusted his words, she was not ready for that. As for the two beasts by their side, Hei Yue grabbed his piece of boar meat wiht his jaw and quickly retreated as Xiao Yin did the same.

Lao Gan merely shrugged and opened the vial, pouring the thick reddish brown sauce onto his meal. He then devoured it cleanly and enjoyed every last part. From then on, Ming Yue did not breathe when she spoke with him, his smelly breath was truly putrid and not even the clearest of spring water could get rid of it.

But like magic, the smell suddenly disapeared from his mouth after a few days. There wasn't even a trace of it left. Soon enough, The winter landscape had changed and resembled the summer season, with the humid air. The trees were incredibly healthy and flowers bloomed. The bussing of insects was the only thing they heard. The heat was enough for Lao Gan to roll up his arm sleeves all the way to this shoulder.

As for Ming Yue, she wasn't quite bothered by the warm air and barely sweat while Lao Gan breathed heavily and fanned himself.

Apart from the numerous bugs, this area wasn't incredibly dangerous. It was certainly annoying with the bug bites but luckily, Lao Gan had another trinket ready for this moment. It was just another few days before they reached the end of the forest and saw the mountains before them.

There was a countless number of mountains, sharing one particular feature. The peaks were dyed black while the summit of the largest mountain was surrounded with black clouds.

That particular mountain was the infamous Merciless Storm Peak.