Chapter 304: Chapter 296: Luring Leeches with Blood

Seeing that she was about to go out again, Zhao Lan quickly stopped her. "Where are you off to now?"

Bai Zhi replied, "I’m going to the village entrance to find some herbs. I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

How could Zhao Lan not worry? She was about to offer to go with her, but before the words were out of her mouth, Bai Zhi had already hurried away.

By this time, the sky had fully brightened, and the number of people in the village was gradually increasing. When the villagers on the road saw Bai Zhi, they all crowded around to greet her.

"Zhi, what on earth happened to you and Hu Feng last night? We searched for half the night and couldn’t find you. How did you get back on your own?"

Bai Zhi smiled. "Thank you all. I didn’t come back by myself. Hu Feng and I fell down a slope, and A Wu came back to the bottom of the hill last night to rescue us."

A young man chimed in, "No wonder. I couldn’t sleep last night and was sitting on my courtyard wall drinking. I thought I saw A Wu head out with a torch. I was puzzled at the time."

Bai Zhi was grateful, but she was in a hurry to find leeches and in no mood for small talk. Just as she was about to excuse herself, a thought struck her. ’If I need leeches, why not just ask them? They work in the fields every day; they’re bound to know where I can find some.’

"Uncle Li, do you know where I can find any leeches?" Bai Zhi asked, turning to the man standing beside her.

Li Santong looked at her curiously. "What are you looking for leeches for? Those things are filthy!"

"I have a use for them. Do you know where I can find any?"

Li Santong said, "It’s already autumn, so there probably aren’t many of them around. The fields are dry, so there are definitely none there. I’m just not sure if there are still any in the irrigation ditches."

The young man beside Li Santong added, "There are. The other day, I saw one stuck to the Wu family’s water buffalo. It was big and fat—I can’t imagine how much blood it had sucked."

Bai Zhi knew which ditches they were talking about. She immediately excused herself and headed over.

The water was cold on an autumn morning, so the leeches were likely hiding. They would only emerge when the temperature rose and prey appeared.

To draw them out now, the only way was to use bait.

Leeches crave blood, so she would offer her own to draw them out.

She stopped beside the ditch, took off her shoes, and rolled up her trouser legs. Then, taking out the dagger she’d brought, she made a cut on each of her calves. Fresh blood immediately began to well from the wounds.

With her two legs bleeding, she waded slowly through the ditch, from one end to the other and back again. When she climbed out, sure enough, four or five fat leeches were clinging to her calves.

Just then, Li Santong and two other villagers walked over, carrying hoes on their shoulders. When they saw the scene, their jaws almost hit the floor.

"Zhi, what are you doing? Why would you hurt yourself just to catch a few leeches?" Li Santong rushed forward in a few quick strides and helped Bai Zhi pluck the leeches from her calves.

Bai Zhi took out a handkerchief, and Li Santong placed the leeches he had removed into it.

"Uncle Li, these leeches are very important, and I need them urgently. I had no choice but to use my own blood to draw them out. Otherwise, there’s no telling how long it would have taken to catch them."

Li Santong didn’t understand. "What do you need such filthy things for? You can’t eat them."

Bai Zhi smiled. "I have my own uses for them. Uncle Li, let me ask you something: do you know where to find a pangolin?"

The young man beside Li Santong immediately pointed to the distant mountain range and said, "Luoying Mountain, of course. You’ll only find something like that in the mountains, not around here."

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