"We've hit paydirt!"
Zhou Mo, Crippled Monkey, and the others stood by the pit, looking at the Eerie Stones in the soil, their faces filled with enthusiasm.
"Station Master, we've really found them. There are so many here."
"But it doesn't seem like a latrine pit, as if someone hid these Eerie Stones here."
"I must have got it figured out." Suddenly, Zhou Mo had an epiphany. "I should've realized it sooner. You see, this important figure must have had many attendants. Before leaving, he had them dig out all Eerie Stones from the latrine pits, right?"
"But since they're human, they were not above selfishness. Those attendants must've grown greedy. They didn't turn over all the Eerie Stones. Instead, they dug a deep pit and hid some Eerie Stones here, planning to come back later to retrieve them."
"But for some reason, they've never returned."
"..."
Chen Fan stood there with a complicated expression, looking into the deep pit dotted with Eerie Stones.
He then glanced at Zhou Mo, who seemed to have had a sudden realization, and the crocodile, which also seemed to have figured something out.
Yes, not only had Zhou Mo instantly understood, but even the crocodile appeared to have grasped something.
The latrine pit they had dug up earlier was too old. Even the crocodile couldn't smell anything. The feces had already fossilized and did not stink at all.
Zhou Mo's guess was wrong.
Had Zhou Mo speculated accurately, it would have been impossible that they hadn't returned for so long to retrieve the Eerie Stones they had buried.
As 180 years had passed, they would've died long ago.
Moreover, since they followed such an important figure, they wouldn't be so shortsighted as to do something so foolish, getting greedy over such a small batch of Eerie Stones.
There was only one possibility left, but it was too disgusting, and he wouldn't let it pass his lips.
"Alright."
Chen Fan interrupted everyone in the middle of speculation and said with a smile, "No need to overthink it. No matter whose they are, if we find them, they're ours."
"Let's get to work. Gather all these Eerie Stones and take them home."
Half an hour later.
All Eerie Stones from the deep pit had been unearthed. During this time, Chen Fan searched all around but found no more pits.
"Station Master, one thing is just too strange."
All seated on the crocodile's back, they were heading back down the mountain. Zhou Mo tightly gripped the protruding scales, his smiling face betraying a mix of excitement and confusion.
"Got any idea where the Eerie Stones in that pit came from? It makes me uneasy using them without knowing that. It feels like someone might come knocking at any moment to demand them back."
"And there were so many Eerie Stones in that pit."
"Way more than the total from Heyhey's two latrine pits."
"..."
Chen Fan kept a straight face. He glanced at Zhou Mo, who looked full of curiosity, paused for a moment, then sighed and revealed with a low, despondent tone, "That was nothing but a latrine pit—Heyhey's parents' latrine pit."
"The Eerie Stones inside naturally came from Heyhey's parents. Where else could they have come from?"
"That can't be right." Zhou Mo scratched the back of his head with a goofy look. "If they came from Heyhey's parents, why was there no feces at all? The previous latrine pits all had feces. Even though a long time has passed, those feces would've turned into something like stones."
"Because Heyhey's parents were rather particular."
Chen Fan said with an unreadable emotion.
As soon as he finished speaking, Crippled Monkey and Pockmark Wang, who were sitting nearby, exchanged a glance and immediately saw the light.
They silently spread their hands open in the rain, letting the rainwater wash over them.
"Particular?"
Zhou Mo, sitting on the crocodile's back, looked in bewilderment at the people around him. Why did it feel like everyone else had understood?
So that pit really was Heyhey's parents' latrine pit, not where some attendant of that great figure had secretly buried Eerie Stones?
...
Soon.
The group returned to camp. It was already getting late, and in a little while, it would be dark.
Chen Fan hopped down from the crocodile and admired the city wall of Cave No. 1. Chen Fan could find no other place that felt more like home. He smiled at Wang Kui, who had come out to greet them, and said,
"You've stored the stones we sent back earlier, right? We've brought back another batch of Eerie Stones this time. Store them all in the warehouse."
"Got it!" Wang Kui strode forward excitedly. "Station Master, we got so much this time?"
"As you saw."
Chen Fan waved cheerfully at Qi Chong, who had just come out. "Light the fire and cook something, especially that octopus head, for Heyhey. Tonight, we'll give him a feast. He did a good job today."
Then, he walked into the camp alone, ready to take stock of the camp's gains and plan the next phase.
"Crippled Monkey."
After Chen Fan left, Zhou Mo, scratching his head, stopped Crippled Monkey, who was about to walk away, and couldn't help asking.
"What did the Station Master mean by 'Heyhey's parents were particular? If that deep pit was a latrine pit, why was there no feces inside? Not even dung fossils?"
"..."
Crippled Monkey paused for a moment before explaining with feeling,
"It means Heyhey's parents did their business dry in the earlier latrine pits, but in the last one, it was all loose stool."
"It's called dry-wet waste separation."
"Otherwise, you see, if those dry and wet get mixed in one latrine pit, isn't that disgusting? During the rainy season, wouldn't it splash everywhere?"
"So, Heyhey's parents dug separate latrine pits. When they had dry waste, they used the earlier pits. When they had an upset stomach, they used the last pit."
"What had been in the earlier pits was taken away by that important figure. The last pit, maybe because it was too disgusting, that important figure didn't want those in it."
"But after all these years, the feces in the earlier pits turned into stones, while those watery within the last pit got absorbed by the soil. So, when we dug it up, there was nothing left—except Eerie Stones."
"Thankfully, Heyhey's parents were particular and liked to keep the dry and wet separate."
"Otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten this windfall."
"Alright, let's get ready for dinner."
"Heyhey did a great job today, a really big one. The young master is going to give him a feast. I'm going to pick his teeth."
Crippled Monkey patted Zhou Mo's shoulder and strolled into the cave with a sigh.
Zhou Mo stood stock-still, stunned for a moment, before suddenly understanding and giving a thumbs-up, exclaiming,
"Particular."
But then, he tilted his head in thought and muttered to himself,
"If that's the case, it seems this senior didn't live up to the standards of 'The sage never attempts great things, and that is why he achieves greatness."
"He didn't want the watery part? Only took those dry?"
He believed that, had it been him, he would have been more broad-minded.
He definitely wouldn't let go of the watery part. He'd take it all.