Great Medicine

"In a famine year like this, it's perfectly normal for the price of rice to rise."

Lu Danian's tone was calm, and he did not seem overly surprised.

"If we stretch this rice and mix in some wild greens, it'll be enough to feed the three of us for most of a month."

Immediately afterward, he asked the most crucial question: "Have you found out everything about Chuanzi learning martial arts? How much will it cost?"

Mother Lu's face instantly filled with heartache:

"I've asked around. There are three proper martial arts halls in town that teach weapons. The tuition... The cheapest is the Martial Arts Hall opened by Master Zheng on South Street. He only teaches the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. The tuition is... ten taels of silver."

Her voice trembled. "And that's only the tuition for half a year! We'll have to pay the same amount every six months afterward!"

"Ten taels of silver?! That expensive?!"

Even though he had been mentally prepared, Lu Danian still sucked in a sharp breath at the figure.

What did ten taels of silver mean?

For an ordinary farming family, even in a year of favorable weather, after deducting land taxes and grain for food, being able to save two or three taels of silver was already considered quite good.

Ten taels would take several years to save, no matter what!

For a moment, Lu Chuan also felt that things were rather troublesome.

The five-cash piece of silver on the table looked so utterly insignificant before the enormous sum of ten taels.

After a pause, he said, "Father, Mother, don't worry too much. This money... I'll find a way."

"What way are you going to find?" Lu Danian interrupted him.

"That's a full ten taels of silver! Are you planning to rely on luck every day while going into the mountains?"

"Chuanzi, it's the dead of winter, and game is scarce. The fact that you managed to bring down this pheasant today already means you were lucky. Relying on that to save ten taels? Who knows how long that would take."

Lu Chuan's father had hit the nail on the head, so he did not argue.

Lu Danian sighed. "This money... I'll help you find a way."

"Father?" Lu Chuan and Mother Lu looked at him at the same time, both somewhat surprised.

A flash of inspiration struck Lu Chuan, and he suddenly remembered that Snow Fox. "Father, you... can you bring down another Snow Fox?"

He had almost forgotten that his own father had only just brought home a Snow Fox worth five taels of silver a few days ago!

And before he fainted the day before yesterday, Father had even promised that he would not let them starve to death...

Perhaps Father really did have the Burning Art to pass on to him!

A glimmer of hope also kindled in Mother Lu's eyes.

Lu Danian shook his head instead. "A Snow Fox? That sort of thing can only be found by chance, not sought. Finding another one would be difficult."

Then he changed tack. "I can't bring down another Snow Fox... but I know the location of a Great Medicine."

"A Great Medicine?!" Lu Chuan and Mother Lu cried out at the same time.

Those words were even more tempting than Snow Fox.

In the understanding of mountain folk, Great Medicine usually referred to rare medicinal herbs that had grown for many years. They were the finest among things like ginseng, lingzhi, and cordyceps—treasures that could often only be encountered by chance, never sought.

"Father, what kind of medicine is it... And why didn't you bring it back sooner?" Lu Chuan's interest was thoroughly aroused.

Lu Danian said in a deep voice, "Don't be hasty. The Great Medicine I'm talking about is a Yellow Essence. Judging from its stalks and leaves, it has grown for at least eighty or ninety years."

"Yellow Essence?" Lu Chuan searched through his memories.

He knew of the thing. It was common in the mountains, and its tuber could be used both as medicine and food. Physicians also called it "the Immortal's leftover provisions," and legend had it that taking it for a long time could make the body light and healthy.

However, the ones people dug up under ordinary circumstances had usually grown for only a few or a dozen years, and were worth merely a few dozen coppers. They could not be considered rare.

But once this thing had grown old enough, it was an entirely different matter.

Light flashed in Lu Danian's eyes.

"The longer Yellow Essence lives, the more medicinal power it accumulates. Hundred-year-old Yellow Essence has rich, mellow medicinal power and is the best for strengthening one's foundation."

"Once we sell this thing, Chuanzi, you'll have the money to learn martial arts!"

"Then why didn't you bring it back sooner?" Lu Chuan asked, puzzled.

"Do you think that hundred-year-old mountain treasure is wild grass growing by the roadside, something you can pick whenever you want?" Lu Danian gave a bitter laugh.

"That Yellow Essence grows on the face of a sheer cliff. To get there, you have to be lowered down from the top with a rope."

"Last time, I happened to glimpse it from the opposite mountain ridge while chasing an injured Rock Sheep."

His tone suddenly turned grave.

"But I didn't touch it then because beside it... there was a Companion Beast guarding it!"

"A Companion Beast?"

Lu Chuan's heart stirred. The term reminded him of the fantasy novels he had read in his previous life.

Could this world really have Exotic Beasts that guarded heavenly treasures and earthly wonders?

"That's right." Lu Danian nodded.

"Old medicines that have developed spirituality like this naturally emit a special fragrance. It has an irresistible attraction for the wild beasts in the mountains and forests."

"Ordinary wild rabbits and mountain rats will be unconsciously drawn over and move about nearby. Those little things, in turn, attract even more ferocious predators."

"Over time, powerful wild beasts will settle in wherever the medicinal fragrance is strongest. That's what a Companion Beast is."

Lu Chuan listened, utterly absorbed. He had not expected such an explanation to exist.

"Then... what Companion Beast guards this Yellow Essence?"

A trace of wariness flashed through Lu Danian's eyes.

"A Great Serpent."

"That Great Serpent's body is as thick as a bowl, and it's over twenty feet long! Its scales are pitch-black and gleam brightly."

"You never went to look in winter?" Mother Lu could not help asking.

Snakes hibernated in winter. In theory, they should have been vulnerable to a surprise attack.

"That thing's still there in winter!"

"That thing doesn't hibernate?" Lu Chuan could not help saying.

Lu Danian's voice carried a lingering fear.

"That's what makes it so sinister. Last time, I only threw stones from a distance, hoping to scare it away. Instead, it spat poisonous gas at me on the spot, and I nearly suffered for it."

"After I came back, I knew it was far too risky to handle alone. But it wasn't easy to find helpers either. After all, this was a fortune vast enough to defy the heavens and change one's fate."

As he said this, his gaze fell on Lu Chuan.

"But now, Chuanzi, you've grown capable too. The two of us can join forces."

"In a couple of days, once this heavy snow lets up a little, we'll make the trip together!"

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

After drinking several bowls of warming medicinal soup and getting some peaceful rest, Lu Danian's complexion had improved considerably.

His body had been tempered in the mountains over many years. His foundation was solid, and he recovered quickly.

Early that morning, Lu Danian sprang out of bed with ease.

"Chuanzi, stop sleeping! Fill the waterskins and bring the dry rations! Your father and I are heading out today!"

Lu Chuan had long since been unable to contain himself, but he still asked, "Father, are you really all right? How about resting for two more days?"

"No need!" Lu Danian waved his large hand. "If I lie around any longer, my bones will start rusting!"

The father and son began making careful preparations.

Just as everything was ready, Lu Danian habitually reached for the hunting bow hanging on the wall—but his hand grasped empty air.

"Strange. Where's my bow?"