Only now did the black-clad figures realize they had been tricked by Zhao Ya, and naturally, they felt full of shame and anger.
"Miss, should we investigate these two boys?" one of the black-clad figures asked coldly.
The woman shook her head, "No need, it’s not worth such a big effort for those two, especially with the beast tide about to come. Yunxiao County might not even have a few people surviving."
The woman indeed admired Zhao Ya.
But it was just mere admiration.
After all, to her, Yunxiao County seemed like a remote backwater.
Even if Zhao Ya did catch her attention, it wasn’t worth going to great lengths for him.
With that, the woman led her subordinates away.
At the same time, Zhao Ya also returned to the commandery with Nie Jingnian.
"You keep the exotic insect, and we will share the bait cost and the egg yield," Nie Jingnian said first.
After this incident, Nie Jingnian was deeply impressed by Zhao Ya.
Especially the final act of discreetly poisoning that woman and her subordinates for safety, which astonished him.
He hadn’t known that this newly rising star, who had been in the limelight recently, had such tactics.
So, without waiting for Zhao Ya to speak, he took the initiative to suggest.
There was no reason for Zhao Ya to refuse.
After agreeing on the delivery date and other trivial matters, Zhao Ya returned home.
It was already late at night.
Zui’Er was still awake.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Zhao Ya return safely and hurriedly went to prepare a meal for him.
Zhao Ya indeed felt a bit hungry.
Although dried meat could replenish the body’s needed Qi blood, it’s not a solution to eat this all the time; regular meals are still necessary.
While Zui’Er was busy in the kitchen, Zhao Ya took out the small box thrown by that woman.
Upon opening, there were twenty pieces of dried meat inside.
Picking one up for careful examination, he found it was entirely reddish-brown with visible fine muscle patterns, clearly different from the snake dried meat and eel dried meat he had eaten before.
It should be from exotic beast meat.
An inviting aroma of blood and flesh wafted out, tempting Zhao Ya’s appetite.
However, he resisted the temptation and put the dried meat back.
Even though Zhao Ya now had immunity to a hundred poisons, he decided to inspect them carefully just to be safe, and only eat after ensuring there were no issues.
Meanwhile, Zhao Ya recalled the woman’s mention of the level five dried meat.
Could it be that exotic beast dried meat has a detailed grading system?
And what level was the golden-spotted black eel dried meat he had eaten before?
Zhao Ya noted this question and planned to inquire about it in a couple of days.
At this point, Zui’Er had finished preparing the meal, and after eating a good meal, Zui’Er cleaned the dishes and went to sleep.
Zhao Ya then began to inspect the harvest of this time.
The primary thing was, of course, that exotic insect.
Zhao Ya took out the specially-made box, carefully opened it, and saw the exotic insect curled up inside in hibernation, its skin no longer pure white but showing a gray-brown color.
Zhao Ya wasn’t too surprised by this since he had inquired specially that captured exotic insects often go through a stress period for some time.
They need to gradually adjust before they return to normal.
Zhao Ya covered the box again, planning to buy some food that exotic insects like from the market tomorrow.
That is the foundation for his future prosperity, so it needs to be treated with care.
Then Zhao Ya took out a piece of level five dried meat, after a careful inspection, confirming no problems, he swallowed it.
Instantly, Zhao Ya felt like a Qi blood bomb had exploded in his belly, with an abundance of Qi blood surging out, and of very high quality.
Fortunately, Zhao Ya had the talent of Water and Valley Essence; otherwise, an ordinary person might have had a nosebleed spurting out, or even their blood vessels might burst.
Even so, Zhao Ya murmured lowly as his liver and heart activated together.
The heart refined the Qi blood, the liver stored it, and the remainder circulated within the body.
Zhao Ya went to the courtyard, took off his shirt, and began cultivating with the surging Qi blood.
After a set of practice, Zhao Ya’s face was full of joy.
This level five dried meat was indeed remarkably powerful.
Just one piece made all of Zhao Ya’s skills soar, and the unlocking progress of both the kidney and spleen went up by three percent each.
At this rate, after consuming all twenty pieces of dried meat, the unlocking of the two organs should reach at least fifty percent.
By then, the talents of these two organs will also gradually manifest.
The next day, Zhao Ya went to the exotic beast meat market early to buy some high-quality exotic insect bait.
Though called bait, it’s actually some specially processed low-grade exotic beast dried meat.
It’s quite cheap, as not many people have exotic insects, and many are not buying it to feed exotic insects but other exotic beasts.
Last night, during the distribution, Nie Jingnian had already left enough money for Zhao Ya.
So today, Zhao Ya bought enough bait for the exotic insect to last a month in one go.
However, during the purchase, Zhao Ya noticed something strange.
The exotic beast meat market became unusually active, with all sorts of strange and exotic beasts appearing in the market, along with unknown meat fields and neatly divided organs.
Feeling curious, Zhao Ya asked a few familiar vendors for information.
"Don’t you know? Recently, there have been significantly more exotic beasts in the mountains around our commandery, and many people have switched to become exotic beast hunters, intending to make a fortune from it," one vendor said with a smile.