The next day, Cui Hao took his bow and entered Second Mountain.
He planned to revisit the place where he had found Dragon Saliva Grass before. Perhaps he would find something useful.
On the way, he came across a few sprigs of Qingming Grass beside a small pool. He carefully dug them up and took them with him.
There was no Qingming Grass left on the outskirts of Second Mountain; it had all been dug up long ago. Only deeper in the woods could he still find any.
Just as Cui Hao was about to leave, he suddenly stopped. He returned to the pool and crouched beside a green plant.
"This is..."
Cui Hao took the Compendium of Materia Medica from his chest and compared the plant carefully.
Ginseng!?
He tucked the illustrated guide away and surveyed the area. Seeing no immediate danger, he took out his small digging knife and began to excavate carefully, working around the plant bit by bit.
Strength wasn't an advantage here; care was. As he slowly dug, the first thing he uncovered was the ginseng's fine rootlets.
After an hour's work, he unearthed a perfect ginseng root.
Judging by its appearance, it was about ten years old.
That was good. Ginseng was one of the four ingredients used to make Qi and Blood Powder. Five-, ten-, and twenty-year-old roots could all be used; only their medicinal potency differed.
Looking at it from another angle, the Qi and Blood Powder sold by Xuanhu Hall and Jiren Hall was remarkably potent, and every packet seemed to work almost equally well. Did they grow ginseng in bulk?
He wrapped the ginseng carefully and put it in the pouch on his chest.
The panel updated.
[Gathering: Beginner 274/300]
[Effects: Affinity with Plants +5, Danger Sense +5]
Cui Hao hesitated for a moment.
If he went back to where he had found the Dragon Saliva Grass, he might return late. If something unexpected happened, he could be forced to spend the night in the mountains.
But his cultivation had been steadily improving, and he had several effects stacked together. He decided it wouldn't be a problem and broke into a quick jog.
The journey went smoothly.
Late in the afternoon, Cui Hao reached the place where he had gathered the Dragon Saliva Grass for the second time.
Before him lay a gentle stone slope, its surface covered with fallen soil and vegetation. A channel ran down its middle, carved over time by water from a hot spring.
The channel was less than a meter wide. He had found the two Dragon Saliva Grass plants beside it.
He took a drink of water, ate some dry rations, then waded upstream and searched carefully once more. Finding nothing, he continued to the top of the slope.
The first thing that caught Cui Hao's eye was a few Blood Essence Grass plants growing on the surface of a dead tree trunk.
The leaves of Blood Essence Grass were dark red, with golden veins, and shaped like palms.
It thrived in sunlight and usually grew in open areas on wooded slopes.
It replenished qi and blood, and was the key ingredient in Qi and Blood Powder.
Cui Hao's lips curled up. If he took these Blood Essence Grass plants back, his day would be complete.
He glanced around to make sure the area was safe, then hurried to the dead tree and deftly gathered seven or eight plants. His Gathering skill leveled up.
[Gathering: Proficient 1/600]
[Effects: Affinity with Plants +10, Danger Sense +10, Resource Sense +5]
The instant the skill leveled up, Cui Hao felt a strange connection to the plants around him.
The Resource Sense effect improved his ability to detect rare herbs in a small area. When high-quality resources were nearby, it gave him a vague sense of their direction.
The sensation was still faint, but it filled him with delight.
He left a few Blood Essence Grass seedlings untouched, saving them for his next visit.
He turned to leave. Just as Cui Hao was about to go, a sudden unease rose in his heart. He spun around, nocked an arrow, and raised his bow.
Then a Striped Tiger appeared at the bottom of the slope, sauntering along at its leisure.
Their eyes met. It was the same tiger as last time. A voice in Cui Hao's heart told him that in a direct fight, their odds would be even.
Run? Unwise. He had the advantage of high ground, and the tiger couldn't make full use of its pouncing leap.
"Roar!" A soul-shaking roar rang out. The tiger charged uphill, all four limbs driving it forward, ready to swallow the man whole.
Whoosh!
Cui Hao made his decision in an instant. He raised his bow to full draw and loosed by instinct, without aiming.
The tiger tilted its head and dodged the first arrow.
The second arrow followed close behind. With a sharp thud, it struck the tiger's right eye and sank deep inside.
At the same time, the tiger pounced at him. Cui Hao immediately swung the ironwood bow in his hand.
Crack!
The bow smashed into the tiger's forehead, slowing its movement for the briefest moment. That was all the time Cui Hao needed to pull a short blade from beneath his tunic at his waist.
As the tiger knocked him down, he plunged the foot-long blade into its skull through the ear.
Silence.
It had all begun in a flash of lightning and thunder, then ended in the blink of an eye.
Pinned beneath the tiger, Cui Hao looked up at the sky. The clouds were white, the sky was blue.
He pushed the tiger's corpse aside and reviewed the fight. It had lasted less than two breaths, a battle over in a flash.
He looked over the tiger's body. It weighed well over nine hundred pounds. How was he supposed to get it home?
Noticing a Mountain Demon lurking nearby and watching him with ill intent, Cui Hao sprang forward and grabbed it by the ankle, yanking it down just as it was about to climb a tree.
At last, he had a chance to put his Broken Fist to use. His fists, big as sandbags, gave the Mountain Demon a thorough beating and persuaded it to help him.
Late in the first half of the night, at the end of the xu hour.
"Two people" carried something into Willow Tree Village and brought it into Cui Hao's home.
"Ah!" Su Yun opened the courtyard gate and was badly startled by the Mountain Demon's ghastly face. Her little face turned pale. She backed away as she pulled a hidden weapon from her chest, about to activate it.
"Sister Yun... don't panic," Cui Hao said, stopping his wife. "Bring me the chicken from inside."
"Chickens lay eggs. Will a rabbit do?"
"That'll do too."
A moment later, Su Yun came out of the kitchen holding a live gray rabbit upside down. Cui Hao tossed it to the Mountain Demon. "Get lost."
How could the Mountain Demon dare accept anything? Once it had permission, it dropped the rabbit and ran. It fled through the courtyard gate and vanished in a flash.
"Brother Hao... this..." Su Yun stared at the Striped Tiger, which nearly filled the courtyard, too astonished to speak. She took half a step back, then saw it was Cui Hao and asked in a trembling voice, "This... did you kill it?"
"How about that?" Cui Hao wiped the sweat from his face, a rare flash of pride in his eyes. "Is your husband good for something after all?"
Su Yun finally came to her senses. Her eyes were full of admiration and lingering fear. "Good for something? You're amazing! My great hero, come inside and rest. The food's been kept warm in the pot."
She said the words, but her eyes were still fixed on the enormous tiger, filled with fear, pride, and joy all at once.
"Sister Yun, I'll bring the food." Lingdang, who had closed the courtyard gate, ran to the kitchen ahead of her.
Before long, Cui Hao was eating a hot meal: white rice, venison, and boiled wild greens.
At the same time, Su Yun brought warm water to wash Cui Hao's feet.
"Brother Hao, what should we do with the tiger?"
"I've been feeling terribly drained lately..." Cui Hao thought for a moment before answering. "We'll skin it and sell the pelt. We'll keep the meat and blood for ourselves."
At the mention of feeling drained, Su Yun's little face turned red. How was he drained? If she didn't have seven days off each month, she would hardly ever get any rest.
Thinking of this, Su Yun looked at Lingdang. "Lingdang, wash Big Brother Cui's feet for him. I'll go boil some water."
Lingdang obediently squatted down to wash Cui Hao's feet, her movements gentle and meticulous.
Cui Hao let Lingdang wash his feet. If he refused, it would only make her feel uneasy.
After a simple supper and a foot bath, his fatigue eased. Cui Hao handled the tiger's carcass himself, faintly sensing that tiger meat was an extraordinary food, one that could greatly benefit his cultivation.
He dug a pit in the courtyard and stood the tree trunk they had used to carry the tiger upright. Then he hung the nearly thousand-pound beast upside down, suspending it above the ground.
He pulled the iron arrow from its eye and the short blade from its ear.
Thick tiger blood poured out like a spring, gushing into a basin. The stench of blood quickly filled the air, hot and pungent, with the wild, musky sweetness unique to mountain beasts.
They collected a full forty or fifty pounds before the flow finally began to slow.
Next came the skinning.
Su Yun and Lingdang helped hold the tiger in place on its back.
To preserve the pelt intact, Cui Hao's care and patience were fully roused. Starting from the center of the lower jaw, he cut along the neck, chest, and belly, all the way to the tail.
He made the incision entirely along the midline of the body's underside. Then, like removing a tight-fitting garment, he carefully peeled the hide away from both sides of the body toward the back.
Throughout the process, his movements were as gentle as if he were unfastening an extraordinarily precious silk gown.
Where hide clung tightly to flesh, he worked it loose with the back of his knife or his knuckles, never pulling too hard.
When he reached the limbs, he made circular cuts and slipped the hide off each leg like a sleeve.
The head required even finer work. He carefully separated the skin around the ears, eyelids, mouth, and nose, making sure the openings remained intact.
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