A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

Chen Mo's brain was working at lightning speed.

He gritted his teeth and silently took something out of his pocket—a slingshot he had made from tree branches and badger sinew.

He didn't target Wang Mang, nor did he target Zhao Si.

His gaze fell on the top of a large tree in the distance, where there was a huge bird's nest.

There was no time to hesitate.

Chen Mo picked up a pebble, pulled back the slingshot, aimed it at the bird's nest, and immediately released it.

"Whoosh"

The small stones, accompanied by a whooshing sound, landed squarely on the tree trunk next to the bird's nest.

"twitter!"

The entire nest erupted in an instant, with dozens of startled forest birds screeching as they flew into the sky, creating a loud noise in the quiet valley.

"What is that?!"

Wang Mang and Zhao Si were startled by this sudden turn of events and instinctively looked up in the direction the flock of birds had flown away.

Right now.

Chen Mo grabbed Sun Dazhu and the two quietly retreated, turning around and disappearing into the boulders behind them.

Wang Mang muttered to himself as he looked away, then looked down again. Apart from the footprint, there were no other objects around.

"Damn it, a bunch of hairy bastards." He spat. "Keep searching."

Neither he nor Zhao Si knew that just a few dozen steps away from them, a well-disguised vegetable garden was perfectly fine and nothing had happened.

The person they were looking for had already escaped danger.

However, Chen Mo's mind was not at ease at all.

The footprints are still there.

Wang Mang had already set his sights on this area.

How long can their secret base remain a secret?

The two of them, one after the other, quickly ran back to the cave under the cover of the rocks.

As soon as Sun Dazhu entered the cave, he tried to speak, but Chen Mo stopped him with a look.

Chen Mo put his index finger to his lips, tilted his ear to the cold rock wall, and listened intently.

The sounds of the wind in the valley, the rustling of the leaves, and the faint shouts and curses of Wang Mang and Zhao Si in the distance drifted over intermittently.

"Damn it, there's nothing there!"

"Brother Mang, those footprints..."

"Can a footprint feed you? I'm leaving! Bad luck!"

The footsteps and curses gradually faded into the distance until they disappeared completely.

Sun Dazhu finally let out a slow breath, and like a deflated balloon, he fell heavily to the ground, his back immediately soaked with cold sweat.

"That scared the hell out of me... so close, so very close!"

Chen Mo's expression remained unchanged. He walked to the cave entrance, gently parted the camouflage vines, glanced outside, and after confirming that no one was there, sealed the entrance back up.

"I can't come here often anymore." He spoke in a low but very firm voice.

Sun Dazhu was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening, and his face turned ugly. "Then... what should we do with our vegetable garden? The potatoes have just sprouted, and the beans are..."

"Leave it for now," Chen Mo interrupted him. "Let them grow on their own. Wang Mang has already set his sights on this area, and if we show up too often, we'll be more easily exposed."

His mind raced. The vegetable garden was a future possibility, but right now, survival was the most crucial thing. Wang Mang had only just discovered the footprints today; would he bring more people next time to examine this entire hillside piece by piece?

The cave is their lifeline; they cannot afford any mishaps.

"What shall we eat?" Sun Dazhu asked anxiously.

Chen Mo turned his gaze to the depths of the cave, where a deep underground river flowed. "Fish," he continued, "Let's focus on the river for now."

……

That night, Chen Mo lay on the cold stone slab, his consciousness surfacing in his mind.

The familiar, deep blue light curtain appeared precisely on time.

[Daily information has been updated, please select:]

[1. There is a deep pool in the middle reaches of the Qingshui River. Due to the lack of oxygen in the pool water during winter, many fish rise to the surface to breathe after the ice melts in spring. At this time, it is easy to catch fish weighing 30 catties or more. (This must be done during the day, otherwise it will be easily discovered by the villagers.)]

Second, in the pool below the waterfall on the back mountain, there are schools of cold-water fish that overwinter. The fish meat is quite delicious, and there are probably around 20 pounds of them. (The area around the waterfall is slippery.)

Thirdly, at the source of the irrigation canal outside the village, some villagers have illegally placed ten fishing baskets, each containing approximately fifteen pounds of fish. These baskets are available for borrowing. (There is a possibility of retaliation if the owner discovers this.)

Chen Mo's eyes lit up instantly.

Thirty catties.

This is a number that could change the current predicament.

Risks are easier to spot during the day, but if you act early enough, before dawn, you can minimize them.

Comparatively speaking, the waterfall is slippery and might cause people to fall and get injured, and stealing a fish basket would attract an unknown enemy, so it's not worth it.

"Choose option one."

He was silent.

In an instant, a clear picture unfolded in his mind.

The pre-dawn mist shrouded the river, and on the surface of a wide, deep pool, there were countless fish heads with their mouths agape—big ones, small ones, crucian carp, grass carp, common carp… They seemed to have their throats choked by an invisible hand, floating helplessly on the surface, only instinctively opening and closing their mouths, greedily breathing in the cold air.

Most of them were already in a state of near death.

This is practically like picking up fish.

At dawn, just as the sky began to lighten with a hint of white, like the belly of a fish, the village's most hardworking man was still asleep.

Chen Mo woke Sun Dazhu up.

"Let's go, grab our gear, we've got a big job."

The two didn't say much. They carried the largest sack in the house and two large nets. Under the dim starlight, they quietly walked out of the cave one after the other.

They avoided the village and deliberately took the difficult paths, and soon arrived at the deep pool indicated by the system.

The sight before him made Sun Dazhu gasp in shock.

It was exactly the same as the image in Chen Mo's mind.

The surface of the pool was almost completely covered with fish, some as long as a foot or more, others as small as a palm. They shimmered silvery-white in the dim morning light, and there were also a few large, dark catfish floating quietly on the surface, motionless.

"My God..." Sun Dazhu's voice trembled, "This...this could be the Dragon King manifesting himself?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get to work!"

Chen Mo gave a low shout and was the first to dip the net into the water.

Once the net is cast, there's no need to aim carefully; a casual scoop yields a full net, heavy with fish that can't struggle.

The two men were like two machines that never stopped, constantly repeating the same action: catching fish, pouring the fish into sacks, and then catching fish again.

The fish, weakened by lack of oxygen, offered little resistance, merely flicking their tails symbolically before being tossed into sacks.