Deep in the wilderness, Xu Yi had entered no fewer than ten times. He was extremely familiar with the small paths leading into the depths.
After deviating from the main trail up the mountain, Xu Yi didn’t choose the small path he’d taken before this time. Instead, he entered toward an area where the trees were more densely packed.
He had carefully observed every inch of the places he’d been to, rarely missing any medicinal materials. This time he wanted to find some different things, so naturally he couldn’t take the original route.
The mountain forest environment was quiet and secluded, with high humidity in the air. The temperature was considerably lower than outside. Xu Yi wore a long narrow-sleeved tight-waisted cross-collar upper garment, with pants tied tightly at the ankles below. With each step he took, a small cloth bag made of cotton fabric tied at his left waist swayed back and forth. Inside was dried ginger and realgar, a snake-repelling medicine pouch Xu Yi had made.
This was an essential item for entering the mountain forest.
Besides the snake-repelling medicine pouch, Xu Yi also had insect and mosquito repelling medicinal powder. Before entering, he dissolved the powder in water and sprayed it on his arms, legs, and feet, achieving mosquito and insect repelling effects.
The formula used was also simple. What was used most was mugwort and mint, along with cloves, dried tangerine peel, and a small amount of realgar.
Realgar was an excellent medicinal ingredient. While repelling snakes, it could also repel insects and treat snake venom.
Deep in the forest, it was hard to guarantee nothing would happen. Although where there were snakes there were usually antidote herbs, Xu Yi didn’t plan to put himself in a situation without any preparation.
After the Limit of Heat, there were many more medicinal herbs that could be gathered in the mountains.
Not long after Xu Yi entered, he harvested quite a few good things. At this moment, he stopped in front of a depression. This puddle, which had formed who knows how long ago, had quite a bit of decaying matter floating on top, giving off the fermented smell of microorganisms.
Right beside this depression grew a wild ginseng plant.
Wild ginseng had very high requirements for growing conditions. It needed year-round temperatures below twenty degrees Celsius to grow. It was cold-resistant and preferred well-drained soil. If the temperature exceeded thirty degrees, it would stop growing. Moreover, neither depressions nor mountain ridges were suitable for wild ginseng growth. It preferred environments that weren’t low-lying yet were sheltered from wind.
Xu Yi hadn’t expected to see wild ginseng in a low depression.
He went to observe the wild ginseng’s leaves. The leaf shape was palm-like, with one compound leaf having five leaflets, each leaflet going from large to small, just like a human palm.
This wild ginseng plant had six compound leaves. In technical terms, it’s called “six-grade leaves.” During ginseng’s growth cycle, the leaf blades increased with time. By the sixth year, the leaves would grow to five compound leaves, technically called “five-grade leaves.” However, ginseng only grew a maximum of six compound leaves, which meant this ginseng was over six years old.
To know exactly how many years the ginseng had grown, one could judge from the rhizome scars and growth rings.
The emergency pills Xu Yi wanted to make required ginseng, this precious medicinal ingredient, for one of them.
Ginseng was hard to find. After entering the mountains so many times, Xu Yi had only encountered one plant today. He was naturally extremely happy. He put down the bamboo basket on his back, took the small iron shovel, and prepared to dig up the wild ginseng.
He squatted down and first checked the leaves and stem. During growth, wild ginseng would naturally shed its leaves and stem once starting from the fourth year.
At this wild ginseng’s rhizome scar area, there were twelve marks. Calculating it out, this was a fifteen-year-old wild ginseng!
A fifteen-year ginseng wasn’t anything special, but this was wild!
Wild mountain ginseng was different from ordinary artificially cultivated ginseng. For it to grow to this age wasn’t easy. One plant’s efficacy could even exceed over ten artificially cultivated ginseng plants. How could this not excite Xu Yi!
He carefully used the small iron shovel to dig open the soil around the rhizome scar area, then bit by bit cleared away the dirt around the ginseng.
The soil in the depression had accumulated quite a bit of decayed fallen leaves over the years. The surrounding soil was deep black and loose. Xu Yi directly used his hands to dig, and before long, he had dug out this wild ginseng.
After clearing away the soil on the ginseng, Xu Yi checked the growth rings on the ginseng again. Generally, ginseng only produced growth rings after four years. This one had eleven rings. It seemed fifteen years was certain.
Wild mountain ginseng spread by seeds. If there was one wild ginseng plant in this depression, then there might also be a second or third plant nearby.
However, Xu Yi felt the probability was low. He wrapped the wild ginseng in his hand with a handkerchief and placed it in his shirt, planning to first search the surrounding area in a circle.
As expected, there wasn’t a shadow of another wild ginseng plant around.
Xu Yi didn’t feel regretful. The depression itself wasn’t suitable for wild ginseng growth. Who knew how this one had arrived here. Being able to encounter it, Xu Yi felt it was more a matter of luck.
An hour later.
Xu Yi had circled around in the deep mountains. Not finding a second wild ginseng plant didn’t discourage him, because afterward, he found several more medicinal materials needed for the emergency pills.
Medicinal materials were divided into expensive and cheap, but there was no need for such fine distinctions. As long as they were used well, every medicinal material was a treasure.
Satisfied, he found another quiet little path. He raised an eyebrow and followed the path down the mountain.
After walking for a while, Xu Yi suddenly heard weak groaning.
He stopped in his tracks, squinting as he listened carefully, discovering this sound was more like something a human would make.
Not many people could enter the deep mountains. Setting aside someone like Xu Yi who had some skills and great courage to enter, that left hunters who ran through the mountains hunting year-round.
Xu Yi didn’t hesitate. Following the direction the sound came from, he quickly walked in that direction.
Before long, on a slightly sloping downward surface, Xu Yi saw a hunter lying there.
This hunter looked only in his early twenties, somewhat rough-looking. He carried a crudely made wooden bow on his body and still gripped a machete in his hand. Beside him was a poisonous snake that had been cut into two sections.
His face was pale with a greenish tint, covered in cold sweat. His slightly open mouth trembled involuntarily, making meaningless fragmented moans, intermittent. He still had consciousness and a strong will to survive. Even though his body was breaking out in cold sweat, he still forcibly endured the bone-piercing cold sensation in his body, occasionally raising his voice, hoping that people passing by nearby could hear him.
However, this could also easily attract other animals.
When Xu Yi came over, he saw a wild dog that had sniffed its way over.
Xu Yi’s brow furrowed. He threw a tree branch at the menacing wild dog and rushed over with a machete, his manner fierce, making low warning sounds from his mouth. The wild dog was greatly startled by his sudden appearance. Seeing that Xu Yi was not to be trifled with, it ran off some distance with its tail between its legs. It was reluctant to leave completely but didn’t continue forward either.
Xu Yi waved the machete a few times and came to the hunter’s side without relaxing his vigilance.
Only then did he see that the hunter’s left ankle had stepped into a bear trap. The sharp iron teeth of the bear trap were deeply embedded in the flesh at his ankle.
Fortunately, this hunter hadn’t panicked and tried to pry open the bear trap, so blood loss wasn’t too severe.
He kept breaking out in cold sweat because he’d been bitten by a poisonous snake.
Hearing footsteps approaching in his direction, Zhang Tiegou forced himself to open his eyes despite his drowsiness. After seeing it was a person, he breathed a sigh of relief. But then, after seeing Xu Yi’s face, he fell silent.
This person… was too young.
Seeing him open his eyes, Xu Yi said, “How do you feel?”
Zhang Tiegou was somewhat bewildered but still said weakly, “I feel like I’m going to die.”
“Mm.” Xu Yi nodded. “If the wound from the snake bite isn’t treated soon, you really will die quickly.”
Though he said this, he had already squatted down, tearing open the place where the hunter had been bitten by the poisonous snake. Looking at the two purple-black fang holes, he used a handkerchief to press around the area and squeezed out slightly darker colored blood.
After squeezing out the poisoned dirty blood, Xu Yi wiped it with the handkerchief.
Zhang Tiegou forced himself to hold on, struggling to sit up. Looking at the busy young man before him, he sighed and said, “Don’t bother. I recognize that poisonous snake. If there’s no antidote within two hours after being bitten, I’ll die.”
An old hunter in his village had died this way from a snake bite.
For people like them who entered the mountains year-round, living off the mountain, they always had to give something back. He hadn’t checked the almanac when he went out today. He didn’t know if it was an inauspicious day to go out.
The medicine pouch he’d bought to repel snakes was useless.
He really couldn’t trust those traveling peddlers. They’d sold him a fake medicine pouch.
What poured out wasn’t realgar and other medicines, but some unknown wild grass.
Xu Yi said calmly, “Then do you have any last wishes?”
Zhang Tiegou: “…”
This person was really direct.
But having reached this point, having someone to accompany him was better than dying alone in a mountain where no one knew.
He didn’t feel so sad anymore and shook his head, saying, “I’m not married yet. I’m the only one in my family. If you don’t mind, young sir, help me collect my corpse. There are still eight strings of cash at home. I’d been saving for a long time to marry a wife. Consider it the fee I’m paying for collecting my corpse.”
Listening to this, Xu Yi couldn’t help but smile. “Seems like a profitable deal.”
Zhang Tiegou was infected by his smile and also laughed. “Naturally. I, Zhang Tiegou, never take advantage of others.”
This time, Xu Yi didn’t answer him.
While talking with him, Xu Yi had already untied the medicine pouch at his waist and poured out some of the ground medicinal powder inside, applying it to the place where the poisonous snake had bitten.
Zhang Tiegou noticed this and opened his mouth. “You…”
He recognized what medicine that was.
Xu Yi said, “It’s realgar and dried ginger. These two medicines can detoxify snake venom, but you’ve been bitten for quite a while now. You’ll need to take something else too.”
The “something else” he mentioned was naturally medicinal herbs that could detoxify snake venom.
There were some right around where Zhang Tiegou was lying. A medicinal herb called dayflower.
Dayflower could treat snake bites and could also treat symptoms of unconsciousness and delirious speech caused by inhaling miasma poison. It also had therapeutic effects on heat dysentery.
Xu Yi walked over, dug up several plants, and came back. Given the current conditions, he used a stone to crush one dayflower plant, applied it to the wounded area, then tied it securely with a cloth strip.
Zhang Tiegou watched his movements, quick and practiced, and knew he’d encountered an expert. At this moment, he finally had the energy to observe Xu Yi.
Then he discovered that Xu Yi still had a large bamboo basket on his back, filled with quite a few strange things. “Wild grasses” he’d seen and hadn’t seen before.
Zhang Tiegou: “…” How had he not noticed this before? Hope was instantly renewed.
“Young sir, are you a doctor?” He swallowed, his throat dry, and asked.
Xu Yi nodded, saying he was a doctor, then went to examine his injury trapped by the bear trap.
Zhang Tiegou asked, “So I don’t have to die?”
Xu Yi: “You won’t die.”
After speaking, he looked up at his complexion and said slowly, “You’re no longer sweating.”
Hearing this, Zhang Tiegou felt that the cold sensation shooting through his body had actually disappeared. Although his ankle transmitted waves of bone-piercing pain, that frightening feeling of weakness was gone.
Could it be that the snake venom in his body had been neutralized?
“Thank you for saving my life, young sir. Rest assured, even if I don’t die, those eight strings of cash are still yours. Hahahahaha…” Zhang Tiegou laughed heartily. Laughing and laughing, his leg suddenly hurt sharply, and he cried out in pain with an “Ah.”
It turned out that the bear trap at his ankle had been pried open and removed by Xu Yi with both hands.