Chapter 14: After the Purification, Has the Recipe Changed?

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Gu Xiaomai stared anxiously at Mi Tang, worried that once he learned those roots were medicinal herbs, he would confiscate them all. Mi Tang was not surprised by Gu Xiaomai’s intention to use the herbs to improve her health. When the pioneering team first arrived, Wei Gang had already informed them about Gu Xiaomai’s situation, but no one expected her to recognize medicinal herbs. People who could identify herbs were rare these days, and even fewer knew what they looked like. Consequently, the price of Qinghua’s medicinal herbs was much higher than that of ordinary plants. Unfortunately, none of them recognized the herbs, so even when they encountered them, they failed to identify them—just like this time when Jiao Yang had made a mistake. Thinking of this, Mi Tang felt like laughing; it served Jiao Yang right for being so stingy.

After Jiao Yang left, Mi Tang said, “Give me a portion as well, and keep the rest for yourself. Next time you find these, you won’t be able to keep any. Did anything unusual happen in between?” Gu Xiaomai breathed a sigh of relief and set aside some for Jiang Chen’an and Yumi. The remainder would be enough for her to use for a long time.

Recalling the process of cleaning the herbs carefully, Gu Xiaomai said, “Nothing special. We just used the small brush tied to the stick, dipped it in river water, and brushed the soil off the roots. We didn’t dare to put our hands into the water.” Jiang Chen’an nodded beside her; indeed, they had only been brushing off the dirt on the roots in a very normal way.

Mi Tang continued, “What is the small brush made of? Let me see.” Gu Xiaomai went out and brought back the small brush she had casually tossed into her bag earlier, now drying in the sun alongside the herbs. She also took one of each of the three herbs for Mi Tang to inspect. “Here, it’s made from common weeds by the riverside.”

Mi Tang examined the brush; it was indeed made of common riverside weeds he had seen before. “Next time you go to the riverbank, don’t get too close to the water. Now go on and continue your work.” After giving this reminder, he let them leave, quietly hiding the brush behind his back.

Returning to Plot 34, Yumi approached Jiang Chen’an eagerly. “Chen, right?” Jiang Chen’an nodded. Yumi continued excitedly, “How much?” Jiang Chen’an showed a hand gesture to indicate the amount. Yumi’s eyes widened in astonishment. “This much?” With each unit worth 3,375 points, the total must have been close to a hundred thousand.

Turning to Gu Xiaomai with excitement, Yumi said, “Selling Qinghua animal meat can earn a lot of points too. How about the three of us team up to hunt Qinghua animals in the future?” Gu Xiaomai didn’t hear Yumi’s suggestion; her attention was still on Mi Tang’s earlier questions. His inquiries seemed focused on uncovering any unusual details about the entire attack incident, including the small brush he had taken.

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Could he be suspecting that something had attracted that big catfish and caused it to attack? But what could it have been? It wasn’t until Yumi poked her and called out again that Gu Xiaomai snapped back to reality. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you just now.” “What are you thinking about? I said, how about we hunt Qinghua animals for points in the future?” Yumi’s face remained thrilled.

“That’s fine! But we need to improve our skills first. Luckily, Mi Tang showed up this morning; otherwise, Chen and I might not have survived.” “True.” Jiang Chen’an’s excitement from the large points reward faded, and Yumi calmed down, but he didn’t give up. “Chen, call me to train with you tomorrow!” “Sure,” Jiang Chen’an agreed immediately.

They needed the training. If they encountered contaminated creatures again, even if they couldn’t defeat them, they should at least be able to hold out until soldiers from the camp came to their rescue, like Gu Xiaomai had done yesterday.

Gu Xiaomai asked, “Chen, you said contaminated creatures attack people proactively. Do Qinghua animals do the same?” “Usually not. Qinghua animals are weaker than contaminated ones and often live in mixed groups with normal animals. However, if their territory is invaded and their safety threatened, they will attack proactively.” “Why do you think that fish tried to drag me into the river this morning?” Jiang Chen’an shook his head; he didn’t know either. At first, he had assumed it was a contaminated fish and hadn’t thought much of it. After learning it was a Qinghua fish, he realized something was off but couldn’t pinpoint why.

The reason unknown to these two was also what Mi Tang wanted to find out. He carefully reviewed their conversation but couldn’t find any reason that would cause a Qinghua fish to attack first. So, he returned to camp with the items.

Seeing Mi Tang return, Jiao Yang immediately asked, “Did you find out?” Everyone at the camp headquarters looked over. “It’s both said and unsaid,” Mi Tang replied. Zhu Xingjie also looked over. “Explain clearly. How can it be both said and unsaid?” “Those roots that Captain Jiao didn’t want yesterday are medicinal herbs: Angelica, Codonopsis, and Astragalus,” Mi Tang said, glancing at Jiao Yang.

Jiao Yang felt as though the sky had fallen. Medicinal herbs! They were worth much more than ordinary Qinghua plants! Ah, this was maddening! These should have been his—or rather, the camp’s!

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Jiao Yang’s face flickered through a variety of emotions, and Mi Tang enjoyed the spectacle. He recounted the conversation among the three in detail. “Gu Xiaomai went to the river this morning specifically to clean these roots…” Then he handed the roots and the small brush over for everyone to examine closely.

Everyone gathered around, scrutinizing the roots and brush. Jiao Yang’s regret was plain to see. He was still too young and inexperienced. This couldn’t go on; he had to find someone to get a book on medicinal herbs so this kind of mistake wouldn’t happen again.

“Why do you think the Qinghua fish attacked this morning?” Zhu Xingjie asked. Everyone’s eyes focused on the three herbs. Zhu Xingjie was skeptical; before the disaster, he had never heard of fish eating medicinal herbs. Wasn’t it always big fish eating small fish, small fish eating shrimp, or fish eating aquatic plants? Had the fish’s diet changed after Qinghua transformation? The experts never mentioned such a thing!

Despite his doubts, he decided to have someone try an experiment. “Let the Jin-attribute psychokinetic users make a net, and try it at the river. If they can figure out how to catch Qinghua fish, we won’t have to worry in the future.”

The river between the camp and Mountain No. 1 was quite wide and deep. After setting up the camp here, they had sent people to clear contaminated creatures upstream and downstream but found no Qinghua fish at the time. They had even tried to trace the river’s source, but it was too far, and the camp’s insufficient manpower made it impossible.

Seeing there was nothing more for him here, Mi Tang returned to the pioneering team and told everyone to rest. “You all know what happened this morning. The camp will send people to clean the river again this afternoon, but since the water is deep, some creatures may escape. In the future, try not to go to the riverbank alone.”

“And you must have heard the animal howls on Mountain No. 1 last night. Work will continue on the pioneering tasks these days. Once Mountain No. 1 is calm again, we will resume searching for Qinghua plants.”

After finishing, Mi Tang dismissed everyone. Gu Xiaomai asked Jiang Chen’an for the Angelica and Codonopsis plants. “When did the animals howl last night? I didn’t hear anything.” Yumi asked, “You didn’t hear?” Gu Xiaomai shook her head. “I went to bed early last night.” Jiang Chen’an handed her the Angelica and Codonopsis plants. “If you didn’t hear it, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter much. Why do you want these?”